Epoch of Twilight

"Huh!" Luo Yuan stopped as he saw a pile of bones in the shrubs.

He could not tell if the bones belonged to humans or mutated beasts in the jungle. The entire jungle was filled with dead bodies and skeletons, but what attracted Luo Yuan’s attention was a sharpened wooden pole close by. Instead of a pole, it was more of a pillar. It was as wide as a big bowl and was four meters long as if the two broken parts were patched together.

He picked up the smaller part, and it weighed almost 300 kilograms.

It was surely not a weapon that was used by a human!

Luo Yuan frowned. Enduring the horrible stench of rotting flesh, he cleared away the shrubs so that he could see the complete skeleton. It was only the torso of a body, and the lower extremities were nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was eaten by a mutated beast, he thought. A maggot that was the size of a thumb wiggled around in an eye socket.

Luo Yuan manifested his aura, and countless poisonous insects scuttled out from underneath the skeleton. Upon closer examination, the skeleton looked like it belonged to a primate which was much bigger than a human. Its upper body was already two meters long and with the addition of its lower body that had disappeared, it was estimated to be five meters tall. Its head was enormous, almost the size of a washbasin. Luo Yuan took a better look at its head and was surprised to find out that its head was different from the common primate. Instead of a rounded skull, it was more like a slanted cylinder, where the back of its head was long.

Looking at the rotted beast’s skin next to it, the signs showed that it had belonged to an intelligent race. Luo Yuan stood at the spot and closed his eyes. He sniffed the air around him to catch the scents of the area. The smell of dead bodies, plants, beast skins and decayed leaves filled his nostrils. To put it simply, Luo Yuan’s smelling ability had exceeded that of a hound. He could tell that there were more than a thousand species of plants in the jungle.

The dead body had rotted and the skeleton was the only thing left. He was not sure how long it had been there. As it had been awhile since it rained, he caught a scent that he roughly identified to where the killer of the dead primate had gone. Following the smell, Luo Yuan found three more dead bodies about hundred meters away. There seemed to have been a battle fought in those shrubs.

Luo Yuan realized that the smell was stronger as he got closer. It was obvious that there was not only one, but a troop of them. They had divided into several groups and went in different directions. Luo Yuan estimated there were at least eight of them that were perhaps there to hunt before they were attacked. The way the first one of them was killed, Luo Yuan knew that the attacker was strong, as two of them died shortly after, while the rest ran for their lives.

But it was all an estimated guess. To Luo Yuan, the only good news was that the powerful odor made it easier for him as he charted his path, so he did not have to spend more time exploring the jungle. He hasten his footsteps and leaped onto a branch. Like an ape, he traveled along the canopy like a quiet spirit.

There were more and more artificial trails ahead where most of the trees were chopped away. Suddenly, he stopped. He jumped to hide between the branches, and he looked from afar. There was a rustling sound headed in his direction, and he saw around 10 odd-looking giants appeared through the trees.

The giants had rock-hard muscles and they gave off an aura of immense strength. Their heights ranged from four meters to more than six meters. They were hairless and their skin was tan. Their cylinder-shaped heads made them look like they wore chef hats.

The difference between them and the common mutated beasts was that there was a thick beast skin tunic tied around their waists and they held weapons in their hands. Of course, to humans, their weapons were crude as most of them were just wooden bats. What surprised Luo Yuan was the leader brandished a steel ax that was one meter wide.

The ax was poorly forged. Apart from its terrifying size, the surface was rugged and the edge was blunt. There were gaps everywhere and even some tiny cracks on the handle. But it was real steel, the silver-grey shine made Luo Yuan concern.

Stone Age, Bronze Age, Black Iron Age, to the Iron Age of the First Industrial Revolution. The human civilization also had an evolution of the usage of such material. Although such arguments were somehow biased, being able to utilize steel showed that this intelligent race had mastered the skill of metallurgy.

Luo Yuan felt a chill rise within him. The intelligent race he encountered the last time used fire, but this race had knowledge of steel, and possibly other metals. The evolution of the civilization of such a race scared him. Human took millions of years to get to where they were today but the intelligence of such a race, after the apocalypse, was skyrocketing. Could humans ever defeat, or even match such a race of giants?

He stared at the troop of giants and had a strong urge to kill them. No matter what, he belonged to the human race. If the reconstruction area was destroyed, even if he escaped, he would be left to wander around and struggle for his life.

Slowly, Luo Yuan took out his saber and descended lightly from the branch.

"Human!" The leader shouted as he saw Luo Yuan and the gang was alerted to the threat.

The word ‘human’ shocked Luo Yuan. He squinted his eyes and looked at the giant. He sensed their fear when they first saw him, but they were then relieved when they found out that he was alone.

"Surrender, live; Fight, die!" The leader of the pack bellowed furiously. His voice was deep with a choppy accent. He waved his hand, and the rest of the giants surrounded Luo Yuan in an instant.

Luo Yuan did not even flinch as they advanced. He looked around him and scoffed, "You guys can talk?"

"Surrender, live. Fight, die!" The leader repeated himself.

"It seems like you can only say that. Prepare to die then." Luo Yuan swung his Zhanmadao and an invisible force shot out of the tip of the saber, extending approximately two meters away. It was not the glow of the saber but the Chi that came from the Zhanmadao itself.

"#%#@" Looking as Luo Yuan attacked, the leader lost his patience. He roared a battle cry and charged in ready to capture the ‘human’. However, the rest did not move at all. They were stunned and wondered where did that tiny human had gone. Next thing he knew, he felt pain in his throat. He touched his throat, and suddenly, he was levitated into the air and started spinning...

More than 10 heads fell to the ground around Luo Yuan, a crimson rain of blood followed. He sheathed his saber and proceeded to walk forward. He frowned to himself. Although they were smart, it was impossible that they learned the human language on their own. Moreover, with the way the giant attempted to get him to surrender and the odd steel ax, he had a sense of suspicion to all that happened.