The Primes

"That's it! Armstrong, it is time for you and your entourage to leave. Leave Land Climax immediately!" Regina declares in an authoritative tone that left no room for refusal.

But since Armstrong is not someone to bow before others, he vehemently refused. "What?! You can't just decide such a thing and expect me to abide by it on a whim. Besides, I don't think it is in your position for you to make the decision about who stays and who leaves." Armstrong stated while crossing his arms.

If he is to abide by Regina's words, it would be an act of fear. And such act is one that is much more stinging than the humiliation he suffered back at the lobby.

Besides, if word is to get to his Horde that he actually let a female Lycan ride him, the respects and admiration he usually receives would disappear as they would think he is nothing but a mere pushover.

"Are you trying to incur the wrath of the House Of Lycans upon yourself, Armstrong?" Regina asks with narrowed gaze, her sapphire blue eyes slowly taking the shade of scarlet as they turned deep red. An indication of the kind of Lycan she is and her position in the House Of Lycans.

Armstrong shudders instinctively as he felt the purest feeling of fear sprouting from the depth of his heart. It is no mistake to say that a single Lycan could go head to head against a dozen Minotaurs and come out successful. That is to show the disparity of strength that exists between the two race of Carnal Shifters.

Also, Armstrong finally realize that he is making a mistake by challenging a girl whose rank in her House should not be underestimated.

Sure, top powerhouses of the Horde Of Minotaurs could also succeed in a face off against Lycans, Armstrong can't be considered as one of those powerhouses as he barely does anything for himself neither has he taken the liberty to train his Carnal Gene to such full capacity.

The only thing Armstrong is good at is flaunting his wealth and status while using his Horde's name in a bid to command respect from people while bending them to his will. For this reason, Armstrong is a weak Minotaur who relies on the influence of his Horde to achieve greatness as he has no strength of his own.

Therefore, Armstrong knows better than to incur the wrath of the fearsome Lycans upon himself. However, if he is to go down, Armstrong would make sure not to go down alone.

With the perfect person to go down with him in his mind, Armstrong gritted his teeth as he says, "If you truly find me as an eyesore, then I bet you that I am not the only one in the Tourist Center."

Regina coldly stare at Armstrong while waiting for him to finish speaking. Though she couldn't be bothered by his statement, she nevertheless made him speak up the rest of his words as she is quite intrigued, a little bit, in what he is about to say.

"What do you mean?" Regina questions with a tinge of impatience in her tone.

"That his kind are not welcome in Land Climax too!" Armstrong blurted out as he points at Romeo with a vicious look on his face.

However, Romeo wasn't paying attention to the pair of aristocratic Carnal Shifters since they begin their argument as he was deeply engrossed in the heated conversation going on between him and his Carnal Consciousness.

*Ding: Romeo, since you are already aware of the Dark War that took place a century ago, I shall make the rest of the story about the Primes short.*

The Dark War, as the humans call it, is a war that almost brought humanity to the verge of extinction had it not been for the timely intervention of THRIVE.

The War was one the humans fought, not against themselves for the sake of power or any other related stuffs, but for themselves so as to ensure their survival as they battled against a group of beastly creatures called the Primals.

Humanity, whose curiosity later got the best of it, was tampering with inter dimensional transportation technology (IDTT). With this kind of tech, humans were hoping to be able to explore outer space without the need for space shuttles or rockets.

Also, at that time, the search for intelligent lives in the universe was quite intense as humans tend to send radio signals and frequencies into the depth of the void and owing to this search, the option of using IDTT to enhance their quest was sealed.

During the process of testing the technology, humans, unintentionally, opened a wormhole from which several dangerous creatures sprung out.

These creatures were unlike the intelligent lives humanity was hoping to find as their mode of conduct was highly driven by the primal instinct for survival in this strange new world the beasts found themselves.

For this reason, these deadly creatures went berserk as they roamed the entire planet with killer instinct, creating havoc wherever they are found. Seeing that this creatures can't be tamed, humans had no choice but to wipe out the Primals.

This option led to the Dark War that almost led to the eradication of humanity as every known offence committed against the Primals are met with an astonishing defence from the beasts.

Bullets tend to crumble like paper upon contact with a Primal's skin, grenades felt ticklish to them when it explodes and even nuckear bombs can do the massive damage of just leaving a scratch on a Primal's body it comes in contact with. It is as though these creatures are invincible against attacks.

No one knew what could weaken the Primals until the rise of THRIVE which brought forth the concept of Carnal Shifting by harnessing the supernatural side of humanity through Carnal Gene.

Since science was unable to pack a punch and deal a great blow to the Primals, then the supernatural was the punch itself as it ends up dealing a massive blow to the Primals. This was how humanity was saved and emerged victorious over the Primals and also how the hierarchy of evolution came into play.

*Ding: The Primes are known as the rulers of the Houses Of Carnal Shifters. For each House, there is a Prime and a group of Primes is what you refer to as THRIVE.*

Romeo pursed his lips in understanding. He already knew that the Primes are the apex Carnal Shifters but what really intrigue him is the way they are related to the whole Carnal Shifting concept.

*Ding: Now that you know Primes are the apex in the world of Carnal Shifters, it is about time you know about the role they played in the Dark War.*

'Seriously, would you just get on with whatever you want to say already.' Romeo demanded impatiently.

*Ding: Patience, Romeo. I can hear all of your thoughts, remember? Though the Primes are the apex Carnal Shifters, they are also the first and true Carnal Shifters in the entire planet.*

'Okay, that is disconnecting. I thought those with a Carnal Gene can also be considered as true Carnal Shifters?' Romeo asks.

*Ding: The stories you've heard portrayed human beings to possess Carnal Genes of their own accord but the reality is quite the opposite. No humans possess a Carnal Gene. The only reason they tend to become Carnal Shifters is because of the donation of Carnal Genes they received from the Primes.*

Romeo's mind exploded at this shocking revelation. That would explain why they are called Primes and are known as true Carnal Shifters. So it turns out that humans never possess the Carnal Gene to begin with but we're only given this miraculous Genes by the Primes.

'If what you said is really true, then how would you explain the amount of people who are Carnal Shifters today?'

*Ding: According to the 'gene' in it's name, Carnal Genes can be transmitted from parent Carnal Shifters to their offsprings as a trait. But answering your question, the first Carnal Gene donation took place a century ago where statistics has it that the amount of humans who benefitted from this Carnal donation are over a hundred million people. At that time, the number is roughly half the population of humans that roam the planet and the humans need for the Carnal Gene was as a result of the dire situation the Dark War put them into.*

Romeo held his breath as his Carnal Consciousness recounted the events from a century ago. It turns out that the major way THRIVE enabled humans to thrive was through the influence of Carnal Genes which it donated to trigger a supernatural evolution. While this can be thrilling, it is also equally terrifying and dangerous.

Also, since over a hundred million people volunteered to be Carnal Shifters at that time, then it is possible that the number would have soar higher due to the extent of time from one hundred years ago to this moment. The fact that Carnal Shifters tend to live longer would also increase the population.

Perhaps the story about Carnal Genes being borned along with humans is a result of the testament of the offspring of those who first received the carnal donation. That would also explain why not all humans possess Carnal Genes.

However, while Romeo now know about the major history behind Carnal Genes, there are still several questions swirling in his mind which is getting him confused.

For starters, if Armstrong is not a member of any of THRIVE Houses neither is he a descendant of a THRIVE Carnal Shifter, then how could he possibly be a Carnal Shifter, especially a Minotaur Carnal Shifter which Romeo had never heard of?

Secondly, his Carnal Consciousness made mention of the carnal donation that occurs a hundred years ago as the first donation, does that imply that there were other donations?

Thirdly, his consciousness made it clear that he is composed of Carnal Genes as he is a laboratory experiment. Romeo really wants to know if there are hybrids just like him and he also wants to know what his consciousness meant by calling him a lab experiment.

Before Romeo could ask those questions and clear his doubts, he heard a statement that immediately drenched his back in cold sweat.