JUDGEMENT OF THE WILD

The city hummed with life as the sun cast a pale glow over Thalamis. Towers of steel and glass stood side by side with ancient structures reinforced to withstand monstrous assaults. Every corner buzzed with a blend of the old and the futuristic. Above the crowded streets, electronic billboards flickered, broadcasting news of a newly discovered dungeon in the Western District.

San Vasquez stood outside a corner café, cigarette dangling between his lips. His eyes scanned the morning headlines. The world kept spinning, its chaos relentless.

"Yo, Vasquez! Brooding again?"

San turned, one eyebrow raised, as a man with tousled brown hair and grease-streaked coveralls approached. He carried the easy smile of someone who didn't take life too seriously....until he had to.

"Leonard 'Leo' Parker," San muttered, smirking as he took a drag. "Still smelling like engine oil, I see."

Leo grinned. "Oil smells better than that self-righteous crap you breathe in court. You keep punching laws in the gut; I'll keep fixing what people break. Fair deal?"

"Yeah, sure," San said, flicking ash onto the pavement. "It's not like I'm single-handedly keeping this city from imploding or anything."

Leo laughed. "You and your god complex. I swear, one day, you'll find a beast with a bigger chip on its shoulder than you." He motioned toward the table. "Sit down. I'll buy you something that doesn't burn your lungs."

They settled into the creaking chairs as San tossed his cigarette aside.

"How's the case?" Leo asked, leaning back.

"Same shit, different day," San replied. "Awakener mauled a guy. Defense says instinct. I say negligence. We wait for the judge to decide whether the law actually means anything."

Leo chuckled. "The courts are slower than a rusted bolt in a beast's jaw. You ever think about doing something… different?"

San's gaze sharpened. "No. I don't walk away from fights."

Leo nodded, a flicker of understanding passing between them.

---

Phases of the Beasts

The Awakening had not been a single event but a series of phases that reshaped the world over centuries.

The First Phase was chaos. Gates tore open in the sky without warning, spewing monstrous beasts that razed entire cities. Humanity had no defense, no warning just raw, unrelenting carnage. Entire regions were lost before governments could respond.

But not all beasts were hostile.

The Second Phase brought understanding. Some creatures, driven by instincts far more complex than simple aggression, coexisted peacefully or atleast didn't directly torment humans. They became partners, protectors, even companions to humans willing to bridge the gap. Laws were written, cities rebuilt with fortified zones, and the world began to adapt.

Then came the Third Phase, the creation of dungeons. Unlike gates, which appeared sporadically as portals to unknown worlds, dungeons were fixed locations where monsters thrived. Dangerous and lucrative, they drew adventurers, criminals, and corporations eager to exploit their treasures. The balance between survival and profit blurred.

"Think they'll ever fix the gate warnings?" Leo asked, biting into a croissant.

San snorted. "Fix them? Gates pop up like pimples on a teenager's face. You'd have to rewrite reality to predict them."

"Yeah, well, tell that to the people who live in slum zones."

San sighed. The city's class system was a beast in itself.

At the bottom were the normals who were just ordinary humans, powerless, scraping by. Above them were the Awakeners, those gifted with abilities born of the Awakening's aftermath. Stronger, faster, more dangerous. And at the top, an elite class that pulled strings and rewrote the rules, far removed from the chaos of everyday life.

"Even among awakeners, you've got divisions," San said. "Some think power makes them gods. Others? They're just trying to survive."

Leo nodded. "And where does that leave you?"

"Me?" San leaned back, a dark grin playing on his lips. "I'm the guy who reminds them gods can bleed."