Dust sputtered beneath them in chaos as Hartley landed softly with Zhi Ruo in his embrace. The sun was beginning to dip to the west, losing some of its lustre and elevating the dreary gloom of the evening.

Finger sized cracks were spread all over the terrain, the hard dry ground resembled shattered glass under Hartley and Zhi Ruo's feet.

The wind blew across the barren lands with its sparse wildlife and scant vegetation, fluttering the robes of the couple who stood in a landscape of desolation staring at the massive beast-man with apprehensive eyes.

Forty meters away the beast-man dressed in a skirt made of beast pelt stood his ground, standing with his spear that was at least four meters tall held upright.

A small bloodstain at his feet was the only reminder left of the old man who had been involuntarily leading the way.

Locking eyes onto the couple with a dark glare, the beast-man with his huge shadow looming behind him at an angle, crouched in an attack posture and growled viciously.

The low pitched throaty sound rumbled like a jet coming over the horizon at low speed. His bloodshot squinted eyes portraying his vicious intentions towards the humans.

"Hartley." Zhi Ruo's voice almost cracked as she spoke, then there was a silence. She wanted to suggest turning around and leaving, the sight of the hulking beast-man sent chills down her spine.

It was also Zhi Ruo's first time seeing a beast-man and now she understood why the old man was scared shitless, he had a right to be.

Hartley held her closer in reassurance, she swallowed down her timid words and trusted in her husband's judgement.

"Don't worry Ruo. Nothing will happen to us," Hartley whispered.

Hartley didn't fear anyone below the saint realm but he would rather not engage in battle with the beast-man, he was hopeful of finding a peaceful way of getting pass. Humans entering the barren lands already had a bad reputation, Hartley didn't want to make it worse.

The silent stand-off lasted for several tense moments.

"I am Drago, guardian of the Loski tribe." The beast-man spoke the language of the Aldora continent perfectly as he thumped the butt of his spear into the ground sending pieces of earth flying.

"All human invaders will be slaughtered, not one of you warmongers who come to rob, kill and pillage will be spared."

The silence was broken by the thundering voice of the beast-man as he pointed his spear at the couple with aggression. His deep voice rumbled through the air like a mythical god as he pushed out his chest with pride.

Peeling back the hood of his robe and exposing his face to the beast-man Hartley replied, "We mean you no har..."

Before Hartley could finish,

Drago performed a quick set of finger gestures with his left hand.

The dormant wind elements in the air was summoned to him instantly, a burst of bright green light wrapped around his massive silhouette as he pushed off with his left foot, cracking the ground and leaving a massive footprint in the hard earth behind as he shot forward like a bullet.

He leapt through the air on a stream of green light, growling and baring his sharp fangs catapulting towards the couple with spear outstretched.

The wind moaned and whistled, dust whipped around in a frenzy behind the giant beast-man who moved as swift as a canary freed from its cage..

Hartley held Zhi Ruo with one arm, both were enclosed in the translucent sphere that twinkled with blue flashes of light intermittently .

It was startling how fast the massive beast-man was closing the distance, it was like seeing an elephant fly.

Hartley hadn't seen anyone below the saint realm with such blistering pace.

Manipulating gravity Hartley quickly floated backwards at speed within his sphere, holding Zhi Ruo close with his left hand and manoeuvring out of range. Hoping to not aggravate the situation further.

The spear made from the bone of what must have been a gigantic creature, came screaming through the air aimed at Hartley's chest.

Seeing the couple trying to retreat the enraged beast-man outlined in shimmering green had flung his spear at them with lightning speed, even worse was that he wasn't far behind the spear and closing in fast.

Hartley engaged his state of focus, time around him slowed to one tenth of its normal speed. His blue elemental long sword extended from the palm of his free hand liked a light sabre.

With a flash of blue, Hartley's sword came down vertically in a straight line slicing through the full length of the bone spear like tofu. A fountain of sparks burst into the air as the massive bone spear separated in two.

Both halves went peeling away in opposite directions, one half went zipping by Zhi Ruo's left and the other flew by on Hartley's right and went crashing into the earth behind.

The bone spear had distracted Hartley long enough for the beast-man to get within range of the sphere.

With some quick gestures of his left hand, this time the dormant earth elements came to life as they were summoned to the beast-man, outlining his massive right fist with brown flash of light.

Hartley and Zhi Ruo was still retreating in the sphere when it suddenly turned to solid blue in defense, a split second later the fist as big as two cinder blocks landed.

A sudden flash of light dyed the evening in blue accompanied by a thunderous boom, the fist rammed into the sphere warping its shape.

Blue sparks went flying from the point of contact into the air and raining back to the floor like confetti.

Wavy lines rippled and swirled around on the sphere as it wobbled and went rifling back with Zhi Ruo's screams echoing out.

The sphere came to a halt in a cloud of dust one hundred meters later, turning translucent again exposing its occupants.

Zhi Ruo was white as milk, her eyes wide as she gasped for air and staggered into Hartley's arm as if she had been on a theme park roller coaster ride.

The beast-man growled to sky with unfiltered rage seeing them unharmed and came dashing forward again, flowing through the air with a steak of green trailing his silhouette.

Immediately Hartley made a decision while supporting the flustered Zhi Ruo. There would be no bargaining with the beast-men. He wouldn't put Zhi Ruo in harm's way again.

The animosity and hatred between beast-men and humans couldn't be resolved with dialogue right now. The hatred visible in the eyes of Drago couldn't be reasoned with..

As the massive beast-man closed in again, a gravity pulse was ejected from Hartley's sphere. A circular blue wave surged out with Hartley and Zhi Ruo at the centre, moving outwards like an extending halo sweeping the ground clean and shattering any obstacles to dust.

250 gs slammed into the airborne beast-man, the pulse flung him aside like a rag doll with a deafening howl of pain.

The massive beast-man pitched and bounced along the ground sending chunks of earth exploding out and a huge dustcloud scattering. He slid to a stop creating a huge trench in his wake.

There was a commotion in the nearby village, more beast-men from the small village gathered in the distance shouting in panic for other beast-men warriors to join the fray.

"Stay safe," Hartley said to Zhi Ruo who was regaining her composure. Ice blue mist surged around is body twirling end over end. He took a step forward and disappeared.

Hartley re-emerged from a spatial crack at the side of the beast-man.

Drago roared in defiance as he jumped back to his feet with a shower of pebbles and dirt falling from his golden fur.

He summoned the earth elements again for maximum defence in close quarters combat. His giant frame was suddenly covered in a bright brown glow as he prepared to use his physical strength to crush the human.

Unfortunately he would be on the receiving end of the combat ...

The colour bled away from the dreary barren lands, the gloom of the infertile and bleak surroundings replaced by the sharp black and white of an old canvas painting. This was monochrome. Hartley's time domain.

The bulky beast-man was frozen in time along with dust and debris falling from his tangled fur. The chaotinc scene came to a stand-still void of any movement or sound.

Hartley didn't hesitate.

Hartley's height only reach about his abdomen, Hartley delivered a punch using compressed circulation technique to the side of the beast-man. There were three flashes of blue that lit up Hartley's time domain.

The punch landed.. Rib bones shattered with an audible crunch, the beast-man more than twice the size of Hartley went flying out.

Time restarted as the beast-man howled to the heavens in pain, he was blasted back puking up a mouthful of blood.

When his massive body landed 20 meters away the earth shook with tremendous force. A wooden building in the village 50 meters away immediately collapsed, sending a few beast-men scurrying.

There was an eruption of dirt, stones and flakes of the hard ground that rose 50 meters into the sky, blotting out the evening sunshine and creating a massive shadow on the lands below.

When the dust cleared there was silence, the beast-men gathered at the nearby village were shocked into disbelief, laid in a ten meter crater was Drago the mighty beast-man warrior with his golden fur bloodied and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

The beast-man had taken a heavy beating, his chest rose up and down in laboured breathing. One arm lay crooked, obviously broken

He looked up at Hartley with hatred filled eyes.

He had survived eight decades of incursions by radicals from the human race crusading into the barren lands and now in defeat he was deflated by the shame, he prepared for a warrior's death at the hands of one of the despicable humans.

The young cubs and females of his village would be mercilessly slaughtered if other beast-men warriors didn't arrive in time was all he could think about as he waited for death.

The battle could have been won with Drago's death but Hartley had no deep rooted hatred for the beast-men, it was humans who constantly invaded their lands trying to eradicate them.

Hartley couldn't have expected the beast-man to differentiate him from the other men who had rampaged through the barren lands on a murderous mission of ethnic cleansing.

Zhi Ruo removed her hood revealing her beauty as she walked over looking at the beast-man with sympathy.

"We really didn't come meaning you any harm, please forgive us were only looking for somewhere." She said.

The beast-man growled in frustration and turned his face away with a single tear running down his cheek.

"Come on let's go Ruo." Hartley saw that beast-men reinforcements had finally arrived and were rushing over from the distance****

Night in the barren lands was a stark contrast to day, the hard ground reflected the faint moonlight. Temperatures dropped drastically, not enough to affect the couple but the difference was definitely noticeable.

Hartley and Zhi Ruo roamed the dark wilderness, avoiding all villages and patrols, After trekking for hours they came upon one of the largest beast-men villages they had seen so far.

On his short time spent in the barren lands Hartley had learned that not all beast-men were 3 meters tall like Drago.

Some had the dimensions of the average human while others were evens smaller.

The guardian's at the villages on the outskirts of the barren lands were beast-men warriors like Drago, they were specially trained beast-men assigned to protect those whose status weren't high and were forced to live further away from the sacred grounds.

The village facing Hartley was where the x was written on the map. This village had huge beast-men protecting it on all sides even at night.

At the back of the village there was a huge rocky basin. It had a huge weather-worn stone statue facing the village. Standing At least 50 meters the statue depicted the figure of a beast-man donning a crown and holding a sword.

This was the sacred grounds of the beast-men and the entry to the pocket dimension.