Three Ethisians scaled down the steep slopes of a valley skillfully with their sights set on a small settlement built within the confinements of large trees. The time of day was high noon with temperatures soaring. The creatures of the day either hid in dens, covered themselves in dirt, or stood under sheds to protect themselves from the unforgiving planet’s sun. Despite the area being surrounded by a thick forest, the climate was contradictory with intense temperatures and little to no rain, even though there were multiple underground caverns filled with volumes of glistening fresh water. The valley was millions of miles away from the nearest source of water, and yet it still managed to maintain a luscious environment with healthy vegetation growing at the center of the valley and its edge, nothing else in between apart from large rocks and deep pits. With the temperatures rising came an ungodly thirst that drove some beasts to kill each other for a taste of blood. However, even that wasn’t enough, for most creatures would die under the intense heat, resulting in their blood evaporating. The Ethisians weren’t immune to this, for they too were affected by the heat. Their larger bodies with thick hides and bulky scales required moderate temperatures for them to thrive. Unfortunately, the hot and dry air blowing at them, with dust devils forming occasionally, made it difficult for them to move as swiftly as they had hoped. What would have taken a quarter of a day for them to cover was going to take half, for they sat under the cover of a large rock offering them shade from the unforgiving hand of Mother Nature. With nowhere else for them to go in the meantime, the two High Grades found it to be a perfect time to engage their High Ruler in conversation about their Blood Mutants. Unlike them, Enor had fought side by side with the two Humans at the start of the War and had seen firsthand what they were capable of. By the time the likes of Enoris, Elenor, and Commander joined the ranks, the Ethisian Humans had pulled out from the War and were given the very valley they were in as their own. "Tell us about the Humans, High Ruler," Elenor asked, showing her desire to learn. "What are they like? How do they behave? What drives their species? How do they conduct themselves? Have they managed to conquer their galaxy or even make contact with their galaxy’s species?" Enor looked at the two and laughed, surprised at how little they knew about the Humans. Since they needed to pass the time, he positioned himself in a comfortable position and began to elaborate. "You two already know that our Humans once fought for the Granians, correct?" Enor, surprised that the High Grades showed an interest in the Humans, began elaborating on how the Granians acquired the first Blood Mutants before they were turned over to the Ethisians. "Listen well." [Eighteen Years Ago...in Human years that is] A great war broke out between the Granians and the Ethisians during the period when the two species fought for the thousands of free planets in the Akrina Galaxy. This was the third generation of Granian and Ethisian kind carrying out the war that their forefathers began, a war that would determine which of the species would become the powerhouses of the galaxy. During that time, hundreds of millions of lives were lost, planets were either conquered or destroyed, and billions were displaced with no permanent places to call home. The species strong enough to defend themselves limited their involvement in the war, often finding themselves yielding to either side. With this back-and-forth ongoing between the two species, victory was certainly guaranteed for the Ethisians, who had taken more than half of the galaxy for themselves. Their larger size, ferocious battle tactics, and superior technique, combined with the support of allied species, gave them the upper hand and eventually the victory they needed. The Granians, a proud and stubborn race, were reluctant to lose the war that their forefathers fought so hard to win. Instead of throwing in the towel, they resorted to using unconventional methods to enhance either themselves, their war slaves, or their weapon systems. New discoveries were made, such as biochemical gases that changed the genetic makeup of wildlife species, weapons capable of destroying dwarf planets, and the use of symbiotic lifeforms on their bodies to compensate for the different environmental makeups throughout the galaxy. Despite these new advancements, the Granians were still on the losing side, which pushed them to seek other unorthodox methods to use, leading them to the discovery of the Blood Mutant Planet. The discovery was made by Lord Grim, who, by then, was a General in the Granian Army. Granted with a fleet of only two thousand strong soldiers, the Granians landed on the planet and discovered a new revelation, a species so wild and powerful that they would have conquered the Universe if they had the knowledge to do so. Blood Mutants, at that time called Blood Species. Their long humanoid bodies, exaggerated fits of aggression, and an unholy ability to drain blood from any creature of their choice made them a target to the Granians, who wanted to exploit and use this power as their own. As one may have guessed, controlling something wild and mindless was never an easy task to begin with; a fact that the Granians came to learn the hard way. Of the two thousand Granians in Grim’s fleet, only less than three hundred escaped with their lives, with the rest either killed, eaten, or drained till nothing but shells of their bodies were left behind. You’d think that such gruesome exhibitions of strength would have sufficed to send the message, but it did no such thing. Rather than being scared of the Blood Species, Grim and the three hundred were drawn to their power and petitioned for them to be used in the war. At that time, Lord Grania, who had just recently begun leading the Granians, was skeptical of the Blood Species. That was until he himself had seen what they had done to his people. Grim thought it wise to bring along the dead bodies of their comrades who were drained. The sight of their bodies brought fear to the Granians, which later turned into a desire to manipulate that power as if it were their own. Now that Lord Grania had given the green light, an army of twenty thousand Granians, mechs, and ships, all led by General Grim, was commissioned to the Blood Species’ planet where they carried out a mass extinction. Official source ıs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵