Duel with Homo Erectus

I've heard some reports from fellow researchers that the Homo Erectus' hip bones are similar in shape and size to ours, which could mean they have given up climbing for walking... but aren't they a little too fast compared to what our current data know about them?!

It was the following morning. Kyriaki once again woke up at the crack of dawn, ready for another day of adventure. Along the way to gather some prey for breakfast and dinner, she stumbled across the same group of Homo Erectus that she had seen the previous day. 

"As expected, the original thirteen survivors are all present. And it looks like they had replenished their numbers by using the unexperienced, younglings." 

Despite the need for food for the day, Kyriaki fought back against her instincts and started to follow the group of Homo Erectus. Her throat was dry, and water was a pressing concern, however, Kyriaki dismissed those problems in her mind. 

The large group of around fifty individuals carefully made their way through the dense forest that was to the west of the cave, with their goal of hunting prey. There was nothing wrong with that, in a world, or time when technology was in its infant stages, it was survival of the fittest. There was no technology to perverse food for extremely long periods, there was no technology to grow meat and produce in artificial methods nor was there technology to assist those in need. 

That was the harsh reality. And Kyriaki knows this. She had forgotten about her ability that a god granted, and when the beast had killed her, or her male version at the time, she—he felt fear. However, he was able to come back to enjoy life once more, this time as a female version of himself, but no one else apart from Kyriaki holds this kind of power. 

If you die, then that was it for you. There are no means of revival or resurrection. Death is permanent. And all living beings are scared of death.

Kyriaki cautiously trailed behind the group of Homo Erectus as they ventured into the heart of the dense forest. The ancient human species communicated through primitive grunts and gestures which Kyriaki marvelled at. The opportunity to observe and learn more about these early humans had her curiosity overriding any other apprehension.

The forest they were travelling through was alive—birds were chirping and leaves rustling. Tall trees were towering over the group as they stood thirty metres or higher, with their leaves forming a green canopy, barely allowing any light to hit the ground at all. 

Despite the poor lighting conditions, the group which was led by a larger Erectus compared to the others, effortlessly navigated across the forest's wilderness. As they moved deeper into the forest, the atmosphere changed and it became more cold, eerie and most importantly, more moist. In the far distance, Kyriaki would see a thin layer of fog forming.

"The one in the front seems to be the alpha male of the hunting group. He walks slightly faster than the rest of the group at around 3.5 km/h, with the rest at around 3.3 or 3.4 km/h. A little off from the modern estimation of 3 km/h for Homo Erectus. Fascinating," she mumbled, taking notes down. "Well, I should part ways with them now. I need to secure water first, then food. Since the forest's air has become moist, there should be a water source nearby..." 

But then, the sound of footsteps suddenly stopped. Confused, Kyriaki immediately turned around to see the alpha male of the group issuing 'orders' to the group. 

"What's going on? Did they get into trouble? Or... did they find prey?" she grinned ear to ear. Generally, the recommended calorie intake for males is two thousand five hundred, while for females; two thousand. 

As for Homo Erectus, since their brains are larger and they also have a similar body size to us, Sapiens, their average daily intake is around three thousand calories, give or take. And their diet mainly consisted of nuts, fruits and meat. 

It depends on the cut of meat, but one Erectus would need around a kilogram of meat to reach that three thousand calorie mark. Multiply that by fifty, that's over fifty kilograms of meat alone. Since a large animal like a deer could easily provide fifty to a hundred kilograms of meat, it would be like a buried treasure just waiting to be discovered. 

There's no need to hunt myself! If the group of Erecti do the work for me, I can save myself a fair decent amount of energy while I can search for water in the meantime. However, I should acquire the meat first by cutting some off when the group isn't looking and then I will move...

And that was her plan. She patiently hid behind some tall grass and observed the situation. She also watched the group's warriors ready their stone spears and axes and prepare themselves to hunt the prey, which was a large animal with similar features to a deer. Of course, it was probably not from one of the subfamilies of the Cervidae family, but rather a species that has its roots in the Artiodactyla order. 

The deer-like creature had majestic antlers that were sturdy, thick and powerful. Its coat shimmered in the dappled sunlight and its powerful leg muscles overshadow even the largest of human muscles. 

Despite the deer-like creature's majestic and grand appearance, the Erecti was ready to hunt it. They already had surrounded the deer, and they were now merely waiting for the order to attack. Fortunately for the group, the deer-like creature still hasn't noticed the dangers that lurk just around it. 

Who will make the first move? I shouldn't be doing this, but this is getting interesting! I want to continue watching this!

Minutes pass with everyone being in roughly the same position. Then, in a sudden burst of movement by the alpha male of the group, he led six other Erecti warriors and ran straight for the deer. 

Naturally, the deer flinched and ran away, however, it was already too late for the deer to escape. It was already surrounded after all. When the deer-like creature headed towards the direction where ten Erecti warriors were lying in wait, they all stood up and appeared at once, freighting the deer and it caused it to head back to the direction of the alpha male and the six other warriors he commanded. 

Spears were thrown, stones hurled, as the Homo erectus engaged the deer in a dance with nature. Kyriaki's breath caught as the scene unfolded—a primeval ballet between predator and prey.

The Erecti warriors, who were all armed with collective determination, managed to wound the deer. Yet, the majestic being fought back fiercely, its antlers glinting like daggers in the sunlight. This was a raw representation of survival in the ancient world, one that Kyriaki had never experienced before. 

Eventually, despite the fight that the deer gave to the group, the overwhelming numbers and the weapons they had on hand conquered the overwhelming might of the deer and the the once majestic and grand deer-like creature has become mere prey for these ancient humans. 

It's time to strike. Let's go.

The fight between the group of Erectus and the deer left Kyriaki in shock and awe. It was an exact representation of Kyriaki's beliefs and theories about how early humans hunted their prey. However, it wasn't the time to be in awe. There was merely a split moment where no one was looking at the deer because they were all busy celebrating their victory. 

Quitely, Kyriaki sneaked towards the body of the deer and he was able to do so without getting caught. Then, she pulled out her short sword and started to cut a large chunk of its right shoulder. It was the easiest part of the body to cut off for its size, and despite not being as tender as other cuts, the sheer size of the deer's shoulder would provide days' worth of meat for Kyriaki. 

However, just at that moment when Kyriaki had almost finished separating the leg from the torso, one warrior of the Erecti group broke off from celebrating and took a glance at the prey they just defeated. 

He growled and screamed in a primitive way to warn or tell the others about the problem they had on hand. 

"Oh... hey there," she said. The group rushed towards her and attacked. Kyriaki pulled out her short sword from out of the leg and aimed to cut off the head of the attacking Homo Erectus. Although the speed of her strike was fast, the warrior was barely able to react in time, only costing him a hand compared to his life. "Lucky bastard." she grumbled in annoyance. 

They will likely attempt to chase me if I run away... so I must face them in battle. These guys should be the group's warriors, so defeating them should make the others give up.

An effortless horizontal swing of Kyriaki's blade cut off another warrior's head. Blood spattered onto her clothing but she didn't mind it. The head landed metres away with the eyes still moving around trying to figure out what was going on, and the body fell to the ground. Shocked by the sudden loss of a member, the other warriors backed off a little.

However, that wasn't enough to make the warriors give up yet. Three came charging at the same time, one from the front and two from the back, just like how they would hunt an animal.

Kyriaki stopped the warrior's stone spear and grabbed it. She then spun around with the warrior still holding onto the spear, which caused him to crash into the two at the back. Kyriaki threw the spear at the first warrior into his chest, killing him. The two who were knocked down were unconscious due to the impact their head had on the ground. 

"Aah. It feels perfect to be able to move around like that again. A young body is just the best!" she said.

But the fight wasn't over just yet. The alpha male of the group saw his warriors fall one by one to this mysterious person and decided he had to make a move, otherwise, they might get wiped out. So, walking up to the female warrior, he used some symbols and body language to the rest of the group, and they stepped back. 

A 1v1 duel? That's interesting. He's large though. Much larger than the other warriors of this Homo Erectus settlement that's for sure. He's nearly my height, I think, which means he's at least 1.7 metres tall. And combined with the fact that Homo Erectus are around two to five times stronger than Homo Sapiens by sheer strength, overpowering him would be difficult. But I am much faster than him. Thus, I should be able to take him down. 

Kyriaki ran towards the warrior. She dodged a punch from the warrior by sliding through his legs. She ran towards the warrior again and slid through his legs. 

It's so easy to get under him. This means the reproduction part of the male body, the penis and the testicles are easy targets to inflict short yet extremely painful blows! And if I can bring him down to his knees, then inflicting damage to his neck or head would be easy-as. 

And thus, that was what happened. Like before, Kyriaki slid through the warrior's legs but this time, as she was coming out of the other side, she kicked the warrior's testicles with her leg. Kyriaki was playing dirty, but who would have the intelligence to complain at this point in time? Not Homo Erectus.

A loud scream came out of the warrior as he fell down to the ground in pain. Wasting no time, Kyriaki cut the warrior's head clean off. 

"Welp, that was pretty easy," she said. She then turned to the remaining warriors in the group. "Does anyone here still want to challenge me?" she asked them. As expected, they do not understand what Kyriaki is saying but her body language gives her intention to the warriors.

'I'll take you on. If you are strong enough that is' was what her body language was saying. With their strongest effortlessly killed by Kyriaki, the group bowed down. They got onto their knees, weapons lowered and were genuinely scared of her. 

"Oh? What's going on here?" she asked herself. "Based on what they're doing right now, are they worshipping me? But Homo Erectus shouldn't- wait. No. I shouldn't base my actions and thoughts on what I know about them from the modern day. Didn't that god tell me to experience things that we in the modern day couldn't?" 

Seizing the moment, and with a deer leg in tow, Kyriaki hastily disappeared into the fog that was condensing rapidly. Her body was severely dehydrated, and finding a freshwater source was necessary. 

I might die of dehydration within a few hours... I'm already experiencing some symptoms of it, like dry skin, thirst and fatigue. I must hurry!

Kyriaki was no expert on navigation. Thus, she wandered the forest, hoping to find a water source. And since her body was dehydrated, she was unable to carry the heavy leg of the deer. Instead, she opted to drag it alongside her, creating a small trench following her steps. 

Minutes go by without any luck, and Kyriaki honestly believes that dying from dehydration is her fate. Her vision was starting to get blurry and weak, her body was tired from all of the walking she did. 

Kyriaki popped down to the forest's dirt floor to catch her breath, while reminiscing the times when she drank water. 

I'm such an idiot. I followed those guys instead of gathering water. This is karma, isn't it?