The Mechanical Era

Kyle was aiming down the barrel of his gun, pointing at the walls of trees that comprised the forest, ready to shoot. In the meantime, Oliver looked through a spyglass to see whether he can spot any demons incoming, while Martin just kept his eye on demons coming in from the sides.

The men were all slightly sweating from the heat, staying perfectly still as their hearts beat rapidly. From what they know, these were the months of the demons, so they expected a sort of wave to come hit them.

"Do you see any over there?" Kyle asked the other two.

"Um... I don't think... Oh, wait!" Oliver pointed his finger at the forest.

"Yes! There! Coming in just to your right!" he proclaimed. Kyle slightly turned to the right, only stopping after seeing some kind of white gas oozing in the dark. Kyle pointed his gun at the creature and started at it.

"Shit... Look at that thing..." Martin remarked. It was the first time they have seen a demon in their lives, mainly because they all were safe and settled on the island. Now, one of them was staring right at them.

Suddenly, it jumps out of the dark forest and starts running toward them, revealing itself to be a demonic boar, with a white mana crystal on its forehead. Kyle takes his aim, waits for it to get closer, and fires his rifle.

click. Bang!

The metal ball wooshed across the landscape and hit the head of the demon. It immediately falls down on the ground, rolling over and making a large dirt cloud, before coming to a stop. As the brown dirt cloud settles, they can see that the beast was not moving.

"Is it dead?" Martin asked.

"Don't know. It doesn't seem to be moving. What do you think Moneymaker?" Oliver asked. Kyle was too busy reloading his gun to be listening. It was only when they tap his shoulder that they got his attention.

"Moneymaker?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think? Do you think it is dead?" Martin asked while pointing to the beast that Kyle had killed.

"Does it matter? I mean, it stopped. That works for me. Besides, aren't those things supposed to regenerate if it isn't?" he suggested. The men all carefully looked at the demon for a few minutes, waiting to see if it moves.

"...It doesn't seem to be alive," Kyle remarked.

"Can someone go check?"

"No way partner! What if more of them demons approach us?" Oliver replied, feeling a little frightened.

"Well, there doesn't appear to be any approaching. It might be safe. You all mind if I go take a look?" Kyle suggested.

"Alright. Sure Moneymaker," Martin replied.

"Alright. Make sure to watch over me." Kyle replied, before heading out. Having his gun loaded, decided to slowly walk up to the corpse of the hideous and disgusting beast, bleeding out on the ground.

Kyle looked around as he pointed his gun at it. He sees no signs of breathing or movement from the creature. The mana crystal itself seems to be broken into pieces, and the demonic boar's eyes were no longer oozing. With this information in mind, he turns back and gives a thumbs-up.

"This one is dead!" he proclaimed. Martin and Oliver both gave a sigh of relief, thankful that the demon was killed so quickly.

"Well. That makes sure to put out to rest. I sure hope we encounter those bastards so far," Martin hoped. Oliver, although looked relieved, became a little confused.

"Damn, that was much easier than I'd thought. Thank god..." Oliver remarked.

Before they could calm down, Martin spots another demon, looking at them. He immediately freaks out and points toward them.

"Both of y'all! Look! Another one!" he points to the forest. This time, it appears to be a small demonic wolf, with a green crystal on its head; indicating that it is slightly more powerful. Taking no chances, it immediately ran up towards the pair, as it was instructed to do so.

Oliver and Martin immediately took their shots, hitting the wolf in the leg and body. However, it started to use magic quickly regenerate quickly, to start running toward them once again.

"Oh, dear lord! Partner, you better be able to reload your weapon quickly! Otherwise, we are all would be fresh meat!" Oliver pressured Kyle. The wolf had at that point, fully recovered. It started dashing toward the men.

As it came closer, it growled and roared at the men, intimidating them. It had opened its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth, and drooling mouth.

"PARTNER?!?" Oliver screamed. Just as the wolf jumped,

Kyle reloaded his gun and aimed it at the demon. Just as the demon was right in front of them, he pulled the trigger, firing a round straight through its head. Blood splatters all over the ground and the beast is stopped just below their feet.

Kyle's shot had managed to do the trick. The brain was met with the power of a high-speed metal projectile, instantly killing it off. Oliver and Martin gave out a huge sigh of relief and congratulated Kyle for his shot.

"That was a good shot there Moneymaker! Have you been practicing?" Martin asked. They were impressed by Kyle's accuracy. Kyle smiles it off and just nods in agreement.

"Just a little bit, but thank you. I couldn't have done it without you two. If you haven't stopped the beast, I am pretty sure that we would all be dead," Kyle replied humbly.

The men start to reload their guns, placing the gunpowder and bullets down the barrel, before poking them all the way in with their rods. After Kyle reloads his weapon, he turns to his pals.

"Hey, can I have it?" Kyle asks the two men.

"Have what partner?" Oliver asks. Kyle points to the wolf demon that they had just killed.

"The demon wolf? What does it have to offer you, Moneymaker?" Martin asked.

"I want to nab that crystal on its head. I might be able to sell it for a couple of coins in the city," he remarked.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? You shouldn't keep on waiting for your reward, now should you? Go! Go get it!" Martin encouraged. Kyle smiles.

"Thanks."

Kyle gets on his knees and takes the crystal. He uses both his hands to rip off the green mana crystal from the creature's forehead. It was in the shape of a very ruff round ball, with double the radius of a 1-cent coin. It had this glowing emerald-green hue to it, like some kind of special jewel. Kyle places the mana crystal in his pocket and gets back up.

"You got the crystal?" Martin asks

"Yes. I did." Kyle replies.

"That is good. Say, how much is a mana crystal worth?" Martin questions, curious as to how much money would Kyle get.

"Think it depends on the color. The white ones are really cheap, you can get something for green and blue, but what we should really be looking out for, are the yellow and violet ones. Those things cost a fortune," Kyle educates the two.

"That is really interesting, fellow partner! Say, we should go head out someday, and gather some crystals. Don't ya think?" Oliver suggests.

"Not sure about that. Violet and Yellow Mana crystals are very hard to get. I heard that it even takes a skilled knight to get one, and that was if they were lucky."

"Hey! Keep your eyes open everyone. There might be another demon approaching us any minute now," Martin instructs. They keep on watch once again, trying to see if there are any demons around.

3 dozen minutes pass, and there is no sign of any demon wave. At that point, the three were starting to wonder why. They were told that there was a wave incoming, but so far, they have only seen and killed a few.

"Say, do you guys think that they might be coming in from a different area?" Oliver suggested.

"Don't think so. From what I heard, a demon wave was going to be coming in there through the forest." Martin replied. Kyle, who started questioning where he got his information from, asked Martin a question.

"Say, who was the person that told me there was a demon attack?" asked Kyle.

"Don't know. I heard it from someone else. He claimed that someone saw them approaching when he went out to get some berries in the forest." Martin explained.

"Berries? Who the hell goes to the forest to get berries?" he asked.

...

A lone figure wearing an acorn gray robe walked deeper into the forest, sweating and breathing heavily. He was rather tired, after exhausting a lot of his power. He walks straight past the demons, who all just ignore him.

"Bah... Those pesky humans. Always giving us trouble with their minds. Why couldn't they be like the rest of them," he mutters to himself.

He makes his way to a rock and takes a seat. After maintaining a relaxed position, he puts his hands on his forehead. For the next few minutes, he sits there in silence, just waiting.

"Hmm... I see," he mutters before entering another period of tranquility.

"Good. Very Good. Yes. You have done an excellent job." he mutters. He then takes his hands off and looks up toward the sky.

'Those weapons... they will certainly be a pain. Oh well, not that it will matter anyway. There will be here soon...' he thinks before smirking.

'...and personally, I just can't wait.'