The Final Day of the Wave
It was the third and final day of the Wave. The Jackrixis had taken both victories and losses, and now they had to endure just a little longer.
Some tribes had been completely destroyed either wiped out or forced to scatter, their survivors joining other clans or wandering alone. Still, many Jackrixis endured, their skills sharpened and their instincts hardened by two days of relentless struggle.
As the sun rose once again and the moon dipped below the horizon, they stirred. Exhaustion hung on every movement. They had fought in shifts to ease the toll, but two days of constant vigilance had drained them.
Yet the clans still stood strong. Each group leaned on its traditions, its specialties, or simply its unity, and they had held. In this trial, one truth rang clear: when a tribe worked together, they could do incredible things.
The Wild Wings in the Jungle
In the dense jungles, the Wild Wings clan had been forced back toward the nesting grounds of their feathered companions. The Jackrixis believed they were still in the outer reaches of the jungle. They didn't realize they were entering the true heart of the territory the realm of the elder Venxes.
The younger birds, the ones the Jackrixis had bonded with, lived at the jungle's edge. But deeper within, the elders had been watching quietly, observing both their descendants and these strange new Jackrixis allies.
It turned out that the Wave had not touched these elders. Perhaps it was their intelligence, or their bond with the rixis, or simply their sheer will but they had endured. And, in truth, they had done more than endure.
Unbeknownst to the Wild Wings, the elder Venxes had been protecting them from the very start. They slew many of the more dangerous monsters that slipped into the jungle, for two reasons:
To keep their home intact, safe from the corruption of the Wave.
To protect the Jackrixis, whose presence amused them and whose resilience they admired.
But even the elders could not keep back everything. On the final day, the numbers were too great. They intervened still, but the Wild Wings had to stand as well.
The clan split into two groups:
One fought on the ground, holding the line with weapons, claws, and fists.
The other took to the trees, providing cover and ranged strikes, while relaying warnings when the tide shifted.
They fought as they always had watching each other's backs, calling out threats, and pushing together against the tide. And overhead, the elder Venxes descended in flashes of color and power, slamming into the largest creatures and ripping them apart.
Still, the cost was heavy. When the sun rose and the final tide ebbed away, bodies of Jackrixis and Venxes alike littered the jungle floor. The Wild Wings were battered and grieving, their tribal homes left in shambles.
They buried their dead beneath family trees, honoring them as part of the cycle. The Venxes, too, mourned their fallen kin in silence.
In his space, Jack paced furiously, biting his nails as his eyes never left the screens.
"This was pretty bad… not a complete shit show, but I think six to eight tribes were lost. That's a hundred maybe three hundred Jackrixis gone."-Jack
"Shouldn't it be over now?"-Jack
[It is wrapping up now, host. It will not be more than an hour or two.]
"Thank god… Or is it thank me now?"-Jack
Day 3 for the candidates
The Wave ended at different paces across the world. Some races still fought, others cleaned up, and some collapsed into exhausted silence.
Candidate 1 – Hector Venules (Age 33)
Main Race: Demon Hounds
The hounds were bloodied but victorious. They had crushed the silver-furred menace and feasted until they were bloated. Many had fallen, but their breeding rate meant they would recover within a year or two.
Candidate 2 – Nancy Little (Age 41)
Main Race: Little Blues
Nothing had changed. The blizzard walls stood unbroken, and no shadows pressed against them anymore. The Blues finished their makeshift defenses and waited in silence, hoping for a future where they could do more than hide.
Candidate 3 – Ida Kerry (Age 29)
Main Race: Venoids
The waters had gone still. Too still. After fending off the Wave, the Venoids retreated, unwilling to remain in that unsettling part of the ocean. They vowed never to return to those cursed depths.
Candidate 4 – Gabriela Campos (Age 22)
Main Race: Light Sprites
The sprites gathered the bodies of the fallen beasts, allies, even corrupted treants and returned them to the soil. It was a grim ritual, one that would scar their hearts for generations, but it was the only way forward.
Candidate 5 – Chase Stone (Age 21)
Main Race: Giant Owls
Two wounded owls fled their burning nest, wings battered, feathers charred. But there was no salvation. Within minutes, they collapsed from their wounds.
Chase Stone the only candidate to fall was erased. His existence snuffed out before he could scream or cry for help.
His race, however, was not destroyed. The owls were scattered into the world, left to live without a guiding master.
Candidate 6 – Naya Kabir (Age 34)
Main Race: Weaver Queens
The Wave ended but their nightmare had just begun. The weavers turned on each other in a frenzy, caves and forests erupting in civil war. Nobody could say who struck first the elders or the young but the result was carnage.
Candidate 7 – Wagner Hoffman (Age 55)
Main Race: Draconic Fledglings
The lizardmen emerged from the Wave as lords of the swamp. They had learned to cooperate, if only temporarily, and no beast dared challenge them now. But arrogance was already setting in. Each thought himself greater than his kin and greater than any other race.
Candidate 8 – Hyun Jee Park (Age 27)
Main Race: Ever-Swarm
The swarm cleaned like a machine, cutting and carrying prey back to their nest. Their hive had grown vast fortified tunnels above, sprawling networks below, and at its heart, the queen's chamber. The Wave had only strengthened their momentum.
Candidate 9 – Evaline Sato (Age 19)
Main Race: Ocean Lords
The shark-men were almost disappointed. With the Wave gone, the ocean's monsters remembered their fear and fled. The lords returned home, playing roughly with their young. They loved their offspring in their own way but blood and battle always came first.
■THE WAVE HAS FINISHED■
■CANDIDATES SURVIVED: 9■
■CANDIDATES LOST: 1■
■CANDIDATE 5 (CHASE STONE) HAS FALLEN■
■RACE WILL NOW BE RELEASED WITHOUT IT'S MASTER■
■A REWARD WILL BE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO HAVE SURVIVED■
■YOU WILL BE GIVEN 3 OPTIONS■
■WELL DONE AND GOOD LUCK■
"Okay, what the fuck!?"-Jack snapped.
[Something wrong, host?]
"Yeah, my ass is raw!"-Jack
[…Host, should I inform the Game Master of your mental breakdown?]
"What do you mean!? I'm mad someone just died like that. I know it was me or him, but he was still a human being. He had family and friends!"-Jack
[Ah. It seems you are still struggling with the realities of the Game]
"What the hell are you talking about now?"-Jack
[It is simple, host]
[This Game is a reflection of life and death itself]