Breakthrough? Let's see who has it better

Barcova finally got back to his settlement. Unlike the lavels, the vasils built their settlements on elevated grounds such as at the face of a cliff or along the Bayu. Barcova's settlement could be said to be a city, as it had all the trappings of one.

The vasils may not be as huge as the lavels, but they had convertible shoulders. This, in essence, meant that they could change the angle at which the shoulder blades were attached to the body.

They could change to allow them increased maneuverability in flight. This involves folding one's shoulders to be attached to the back of the body. This was followed by the unfolding of their scaly wings leading to flight. On landing, the vasils would fold their wings and convert their shoulders to a more dexterous position, allowing for easier movement of hands.

This feature made the vasils unparalleled in matters concerning the movement of hands, at least on planet Endar. Across the galaxy, humankind still were the kings of dexterity, closely followed by the elven race. However, on planet Endar, the vasils stood out.

The obvious advantage brought about by this was that the development of the vasil culture and economy received a huge boost. At the start of civilizations, the lavels had lorded over the vasils due to being bigger than they were. This meant that they were higher on the food chain and they would even intimidate the vasils into servitude.

The vasils were generally smaller and couldn't hunt very well. They were also constantly being victimized by the lavels and had they not had the ability to fly, they would have already been conquered by their nemesis.

The one thing they had going for them was that they were innovators. A vasil wouldn't let a problem tie them down, they would think up a solution to said problem, and the easiest solution was, of course, inventing a fix.

At first, this character had been looked down on by the lavels and indeed other vasils, but over time, they realized that this was the future. However, by this time, the vasils had already pushed forward and made massive leaps in their innovations, making them a proper boost.

For instance, one of the most revolutionary inventions had been a form of the catapult, which was later modified to what seemed like a very rudimentary bow and arrow. However, these two inventions had had such a massive impact on the war. Before them, it was commonplace for lavel bandits to sneak into vasilian territories and plunder. With the new weapons, the bandits would be shot down before they reached the target destination.

The only reason why the vasils did not change up and start attacking the lavels was the quality of the weapons. These weapons were good for defense but such a liability due to their inefficiency. At least at home, they could make up for their weaknesses by erecting walls and building shelters at the face of cliffs.

With the advent of technology, then job specialization began to take effect. The same vasil working on weapons would not be the same that would go hunting and still the same that would match into battle if need be. Different individuals took up these roles, hence the one thing that is needed to truly make a settlement run was none other than trade.

Trade was at its most rudimentary. They used barter trade for they had yet to discover money and currency. Hence, all they could do was exchange what they had of value, with what they wanted from those who have it.

Through this system, hunter vasils would trade meat and hide for hunting weapons with weapon-making vasils. These goods would be used in the production of the new weaponry. Of course, the system was not perfect, but at the moment no one had come up with a better system.

Trade became such a major activity that some only specialized in trade, the merchants. The merchants didn't have a trade per se, while others hunted, gathered, made weapons, materials, and alchemy, among other trades in the young robust vasilian economy, the merchants would gather these materials and use them to exchange.

The routine of a merchant would involve going to all the skilled workers and exchanging the finished products for meat and raw material, then they would go and await the hunters and gatherers who would haul in their catch late in the evening. Here they would exchange with food items and other material which they would use to exchange with the skilled workers the following day, and thus, very well functioning cities had been born.

Barcova had started as a gatherer but quickly realized that true wealth lay in the actual trading. As a gatherer, his work had been to go into the wild and get materials that were used within the community. He would get herbs required by alchemists, fruits and nuts for the populace. Though they were a predominantly carnivorous race like the lavels, they still indulged in fruits, some vegetables, berries, and nuts.

However, he realized that while he was hauling in quite a substantial amount, most would end up in the traders' stores. On further investigation, he realized that due to their stockpile of resources, they were the actual shot callers, and using their stores, they could even command and employ other vasils, and own lavels.

As a small vasil, Barcova had been far removed from most vasilian settlements, as his clan was segregated. However, due to the threat of lavelian bandits, smaller clans had had no choice but to band together. He could still remember that day when the clan head had decided that it was time to join.

It hadn't been an easy decision at all for the clan head, as many in the clan preferred to retain their independence, including himself. No, it had been a hard felt decision that many opposed. This was because of the infamy of vasils that lived in the city. Their ruthlessness and cruelty were well known, and to simple country folk like these vasils, joining such organizations was beyond scary.

It wasn't until some lavelian bandits had been spotted nearby that the clan decided to up and move. Their clan neither had the technology nor the sophistication to craft weapons of war and the simple ones they had had all been traded from bigger settlements and cities. Hence, placing safety above self-interest, they decided to move, only, they were too late.

What they didn't know was that the lavelian bandits had been closely observing their settlement. By then, it wasn't uncommon to find even small settlements having war weapons, so they had been keeping a keen eye to see how the vasils would react. To their joy, they were packing up and leaving, and to a mind of a predator, only prey runs!

What followed was a vicious attack, of which many fell. Among the fallen were Barcova's parents. His mother had given her life trying to get him away, and his father had been among the warriors defending the community, and sadly, none had made it. Not even the clan head.

An orphan in a big city, he quickly adapted to the ways of his new surroundings, and by the time he was hitting adolescence, he was an accomplished merchant with his shelter and store. The vasils built their shelters by burrowing deep into the caves where their settlements were. Their stores were also dug deep within these caves, with some form of coverage to protect their property.

Even then, Barcova was not strong enough to protect his loot, hence he had to sort a place where he would hide his wealth until he was strong enough to keep it. He had once been cornered while caught stealing, and coincidentally, this was the event that caused him to breakthrough.

The vasils were like man-sized bats while flying, only instead of fur, they had scales. While in some human planets Dane had been to reptiles were considered gross, in most of the universe, they were majestic creatures. After all, even the dragon was of reptilian descent. On planet Endar, they were right up there alongside the lavels.

The vasilian scales varied in color, but they would also change depending on the mood and emotion they were feeling. One vasil turned completely white, a sign of complete and utter shock, the moment he stepped into his shelter, and he almost went out to check of he had entered the right one.

***

Bamboo was reveling at the feeling of toying with Hasilo. Every punch he threw was full of power and accuracy, and he was not giving Hasilo a chance to breathe. The brute had pinned him down all his life, and now it was Bamboo's turn, and he was holding nothing back!

Midway through a counter strike, he sensed more threat from Hasilo than there had been. Instinctively, and with the help of the elemental blessing, Quick Reactions, he changed his stance mid-strike and leaned back. Splitting seconds later, a whistling paw from Hasilo flew where his head would have been had he been any slower. The wind generated by the power behind that attack caused even his growing mane to stand still in shock.

Could Hasilo have been holding back? Was he finally getting down to business? For a moment, Bamboo considered this possibility, but he quickly discarded it. For one, he and Hasilo had fought multiple times, and he had never exhibited this kind of strength. Secondly, a brute like Hasilo wouldn't know what the meaning of the word subtle was.

Observing, he realized the color of Hasilo's paw had changed, being a darker shade of grey. Could it be that Hasilo too had gained an ability? Thinking back, Bamboo remembered that he too had broken through in a battle, and it was only after sufficient push did he pass. It made sense that Hasilo too had gone through what he had.

As realization dawned on his face, he was almost hit by another strike by Hasilo. The man seemed to have grown a head taller than he was. Hasilo's movement seemed robotic, monotonous and easy to predict, though this thought was only noticed by two individuals. One was Bamboo, and the other was Dane, who was currently dancing in glee in his cave while watching the fight.

Indeed he had hoped something like this would happen, but watching Hasilo breakthrough, he couldn't help but rejoice in ecstasy, especially since Hasilo too had gained an elemental blessing. While elemental blessings were extremely rare, chances of occurring were higher on a young planet. Also, this was the first generation of lavels under the red sun, they were bound to receive plenty of abilities.

With growing excitement, the crowd was up on their feet, cheering! This battle had long proceeded away from the expected. First, the weaker had seemed to take the initiative of the battle, a fact that had thoroughly excited Maple.

Next came this ... miracle! Hasilo had broken through. Yes, they had noticed, for the lavel had indeed grown bigger, with layers of muscle added to his already large built frame. This was the elemental blessing Dane was rejoicing, and only those that had a high affinity for the rock element could ever hope to receive this blessing.

Hasilo's ability was that he could assimilate part of his body with the rock element. At the moment, he had only assimilated his paws, which meant that they held more power, and hence more thrust. However, his elemental blessing, Growing Rock, increased his size and strength, making him bigger and stronger. A true power up indeed.

By now, Bamboo could no longer dodge, and all he could do was block the attacks. By now, he had given up on counter-attacks. He had been so close, would he lose now? What possible reason did he have to hold back his power, his ability? Here he was, about to claim his place in society, and this brute that had hampered him was trying to show off his new abilities. No doubt Hasilo probably thought he had won, and he, Bamboo, couldn't come up with an answer. Well Hasilo, let's see who has it better!

In an instant, Bamboo deflected an incoming paw strike with his left paw, while leaping to the left as he knew the next attack would come from the right. It seemed as though his right fist was glowing as he swung it to meet Hasilo's face. He ignored another incoming attack, intending to trade blow for blow.

The attack was so sudden that it even caught Hasilo off guard, which was the intended effect. Before he could react, a stinging strike was followed by a violent pain surging within his body. This overpowered his body and his limit was reached. As his vision blackened, the last thing he saw was electric arches on Bamboo's paw.