Born a Monster

Chapter 7

Dreamtime

“Are you here? Are you with me?” The voice was distant, but drawing nearer.

“Are you here? Are you with me?” it repeated.

“I am here.” I replied.

The sense of nearness intensified. “Ah, I had thought you would be dreaming. Again, life proves me correct.”

.....

It was, of course, the Gordvork.

“My name is Birimirihiirp. What is yours?”

“I am called Rhishisikk.” I said.

“My name means Wanders in the Mist. What does yours mean?”

” I – My name means Hello, Please Don’t Kill and Eat Me.”

He burst out in laughter at that. “I admit it, that was my first intention. But then I thought that arranging such a scene was beyond the trickery of the fey.”

“What are the fey?”

“Those tiny tricksters to the north. Whether they call themselves Fairie or Sprite or Windling, all are possessed of wicked senses of humor. Whenever a new animal shows up that isn’t supposed to be in the woodlands, it is normally their doing.”

“So I can expect pranks from them?”

“When they bother paying attention to you, yes. I find that so long as you leave them alone, they will also not bother you. It is difficult for them to focus on one thing for long. So I doubted that they had trained an animal just to poorly grind things.”

“Poorly? What am I doing wrong?”

“Well, for starters, you are holding the pestle wrong...”

And so my lessons began, both in the language of the Gordvork people and of alchemy. But it was not just that, there were also lessons in hunting and fishing and foraging, in cooking and weaving and sewing, and even down to the cleaning of pots and endless removing of trash.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Not every Shaman learns to walk in the Dreamtime. It is tiring, and consumes mana. Although most forms of mana can power Oneiromancy (Dream Magic), it also has its own Dream Mana, which is difficult to employ in the waking world.

Also, every now and then, even the most powerful of dreamwalkers need to rest.

#

Cooking, I learned, was more than a survival skill. It could actually improve the nutritional value of food. Somehow, the System absorbed energy from Stamina and Sanity, and this translated into food that was better to eat.

[Discovered – Food is Love: 15 Cooking XP. After divisor, 1XP has been awarded.]

What? Wasn’t my divisor seven? That should have been worth two points of XP!

I decided to ask Birimirihiirp about it.

“Do not fret over experience points, these are small things. What you truly wish out of your cultivation are the free development points. Whenever you want to unlock class abilities or bonuses, whenever you wish to gain new cooking recipes, you will consume these points to unlock this knowledge.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever needed to unlock a recipe with development points. I think I’ve only unlocked the one Hunter ability with them.”

“Oh, how many development points do you have now?”

“None.” I admitted. It was true, the night before I had unlocked Bubble, Bubble. It was an Herbalist ability that protected me from four points of Thermal (fire) damage twice a day. Maybe not life-saving, but any Cook knows that small burns will happen from time to time.

“Let me demonstrate, then.” He taught me a new tea compound, a mix of basil and nettle. I prepared it for him. He seemed – wordless, for once.

“I don’t see why that’s a surprise. We’ve been training my Mixing and Brewing, and my Cooking training under you started with tea.” It was true, he cooked all our meats, and I brewed the beverages – and was allowed to cook the plants I ate as well.

“I have never met a being without at least a few development points.” He admitted. “How are you continuing to learn without them?”

“Do most beings need development points for that?”

He shrugged. “Most beings. The process of learning by trial and error? If such exist, it must be a comedy of unsurpassed stupidity. I should like to see it, but I would not choose to live like that.”

“I’m not sure. My System calls it my Usage cultivation method, but there’s no attached XP meter.”

“That, young friend, is trial and error.”

“Well, whatever it is, it seems to work. On subskills, mostly, but I sometimes gain skill ranks as well.”

“Is that how it works?” He waggled a finger at me. “You have a most unique mind.”

“I guess so.”

“Now, let us get you to practice walking.”

I didn’t understand the advantage of walking upright. It seems to me that it didn’t help goblins all that much. Even the bear, capable of doing so, prefers to walk on four limbs. And, although Birimirihiriirp kept telling me not to, I practiced walking on my forelimbs as well.

Crouching and squatting were also difficult lessons for me. It was so much simpler to just plop down onto all fours.

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Why all this walking and spear fishing and if you like tea so much why not brew it yourself?”

“Because the brewing of tea and alcohol is women’s work.” His tone implied that the answer was obvious. “Besides, you asked many questions about my people, about my village. You must want to walk among them some day?”

“Walking seems over-rated.” I snapped.

“Every child learns to walk upright. If you wish to be regarded as more than a wild pet, you also must learn.”

“I’ve-”

“To the point where it is second nature to you. Where you no longer think about going on all fours. Where – ”

I let the rest of his words wander off on their own. “Why are you trying to civilize me?”

He regarded me calmly. “Well, that should be obvious. I mean to take you for my wife, when you are old enough.”

Well, it hadn’t been obvious to ME. I mean, yes, Protean. I’ve proven since then that gender is more of a convention than a lifelong commitment for us.

“Uh, male.”

“No, young friend, you need-”

I pulled my genitalia from my groin-pouch.

He screamed, such as his people can do so. Compared to the fury of Eihtfuhr, Birimirihiirp expressed his anger more physically, thrusting his spear into the ground, and pounding himself and trees with his fists, and uncontrolled weeping, which I had only done when in great pain. And then he was done, and became Birimirihiirp again.

“Well, such is the nature of things then. I must thank you, young friend.”

“For keeping the campsite?”

“For showing your elder the truth of things. I am lonely, and must needs return to my people and seek a wife.” He began packing.

“You mean to leave now?”

“It is not far, I can make it tomorrow if I leave now.”

“But – I haven’t learned to make healing potions yet.”

He rattled off a formula that I didn’t catch, but it was there when I checked the System. It was greyed out, so it wasn’t something I could do automatically. But I could read and understand it.

“Birimirihiirp?”

“What else, young one?”

He turned to find me standing, with the tips of my fingers in contact. It had taken me days, dedicating hours, to learn the squat-bow properly. Or at least properly enough that I didn’t pitch forward onto my face.

“This young one thanks you, elder, for your wisdom and experience.”

He almost broke out laughing. “That is something you will want to practice, young one. Good bye.”

“Good bye, elder.”

And then he turned and began walking to the southwest, croaking loudly. When I recognized odd words, I realized he was singing.

Well, good for him.

#

I wasn’t the most puissant hunter at this point, but the river eels were wary of my larger size. I caught a wolf watching me from a distance, and of course the squirrels greeted my return with angry chitters and thrown debris.

I never found Eihtfuhr, or anything that resembled a nest where he might be sleeping. But I was able to find a quiet place in the wood, where even insects were subdued.

Over the week or so that I’d been with the gordvork, I’d been sleeping at night. But dream mana had the drawback – or advantage – that unfocused usage put the user into a deep slumber.

.....

This may seem wasteful, and maybe it was. Between skills and evolution and sensory improvements, I could fill my biomass meter in ten days. If, that was, I could keep my System from sneak-thieving points for minor improvements that I didn’t need. I mean, I liked the fact that my eyes were able to adjust to brighter lights now, but I didn’t notice a lot of Optical Flash attacks in nature.

I awoke at night, knowing Eihtfuhr was there.

“So, have you learned of healing potions?”

“Let me show you.” I responded.

#