Chapter 12 Echidna?
Sam P.O.V.
Today, I feel like I fell off a cliff. Again.
I slept with Tenka last night—innocently mostly—otherwise, my power would be completely emptied. She must be tired too, from passing her power back to me in a loop while we slept. Yesterday, in the heat of that battle, she went partially berserk. Her aura flared out of control, cold and predatory. Luckily, she had Red there to ground her and stop her from losing herself.
In my case, I just lost it for a minute. I went feral until my inner power flooded my brain and forced a reboot, stopping the madness.
I used an insane amount of power in one shot to boost my physical stats. Now my eyes are bloodshot, feeling like they're full of sand, and my muscles ache big time. Every fiber feels torn. This "super-state" might seem useful, a trump card for emergencies, but to me it is just a crude brute-force method. It's a key to unlocking the body's full potential, sure, but jamming the key in so hard you almost break the lock isn't smart. It's nothing I couldn't have done with slow practice and safety over time.
Let's keep that technique for dire emergencies only.
I check on Salaba. Her wound seems fine. She has a new scar above her left breast, marking the spot where the arrow pierced her. It went through her shoulder and into the pectoral muscle at a strange angle. I had to slice the pectoral open slightly to remove the barbed arrowhead safely. I just cut the head off and removed the shaft by pulling it out from the shoulder side.
My medical skills have increased a lot thanks to practicing on Barabas. I found things you can't understand until you put them into practice with energy manipulation. Concepts like the "frequency" or "type of power" needed to heal different tissues. Organs need a slow dense pulse, bones need a sharp rigid frequency, muscles and tissue need something warm and fluid.
Which brings us to the scar above her breast. It's thin and red, still healing. I touch it gently to check the heat, and she wakes up because of my tickling. Normally, any woman from my old world would look shy having her breast exposed in front of a guy, even a "nice stud" like me. But the concept of body shame doesn't really exist for this tribe. At least, not in the same way.
She smiles at me, sleepy and warm. Then she stretches her arms, grabs my head, and lowers it down slowly. I thought she was going for a kiss on the lips, but she pulls my face into her chest, right next to the scar.
God bless this culture.
I just lie on top of her, careful not to put weight on the wound, and start kissing the skin around her breast carefully. Salaba has pale, milky white skin, and her nipples are a beautiful pink. She saw me looking hungry earlier, I guess...
(I knew she felt motherly toward me, but this is... really nice, hehe.)
It gives me the chance to look at the scar closely without being clinical. I carefully kiss the red line and pour the pitiful amount of power I have left into it to speed up the fading process before falling asleep again.
In Heaven.
I wake up later, hearing vibrations rumbling through the chest I'm lying on. Salaba and Tenka are talking in hushed tones. Once they see I'm awake, they both hug me, squishing me between them.
I grunt.
"Ouch..."
(My body hurts. Every muscle is protesting.)
They let me go, giggling.
"I'm hungry."
They look at each other and nod like co-conspirators. They push me back down on the bed when I try to rise.
"You stay here." The command comes in stereo.
(We were supposed to leave today, move the camp, but I'm wasted. I honestly don't want to walk...)
They come back a few minutes later with a big wooden tub of food. Dry meat, roasted veggies, and handfuls of sweet berries. I smile. It's a feast.
(I really need to show them how to cook properly one day. Spices would change their lives.)
"Thank you, babes."
Between two mouthfuls, I ask, munching on a piece of jerky.
"Tenka, how are Red, Barabas, and the others?"
"Finish your food. They are fine." She chides me like a mother hen.
Once I finish my meal, feeling slightly more human, I just put on some loose pants and go out.
My four precious beasts are there, sagely waiting for me in the clearing.
Red is the first to react. Gary, who was perched on the wolf's head, flies immediately to my shoulder.
("MASTER!")
"Awouuuuu!"
"Hey buddy, morning."
I pat Red's massive head. He leans into my touch and pours a bit of his power into me, which I accept gladly. It feels cool and refreshing, like mountain water.
"Thanks, Red."
Then I go to Berth, the giant boar, whom I hadn't seen for a while since he was guarding the supplies.
"Hey you! Thanks for staying out of the battle, or we would be eating some braised pork full of arrows today! Hahaha!"
"SNORT!"
He shoves me with his snout, nearly knocking me over.
"I'm just joking, buddy!"
He puts his wet snout on my chest and pours a literal waterfall of power on me. It's heavy, earthy, and dense. I feel bloated on a cellular level. XD. I was already full of food, and now I'm stuffed with mana.
Once he stops, I feel a little woozy. It feels like ants crawling all over and inside my body, repairing all of the micro-tears and damage I sustained from the Overdrive. Even my brain itches. I just breathe and let the feeling pass for a few minutes. His power reserves are insane!
"Thank you, Berth. That was awesome!"
I pat his huge snout, rubbing behind his tusks, then go to Barabas.
The giant red bear is sitting on his haunches, looking regal despite his bandages.
"How was it? Didn't expect to find your quarry so soon, did you? Hein?"
Barabas grunts, a low rumble in his chest.
Barb: ("I wish we could have gotten the other one, the leader. But thank you. I feel calm. It's like part of the weight on my mind is gone.")
I put my hand on his head to pat him, but I quickly get dragged inside his mindscape. The transition is jarring.
Whoosh.
I look around. Surprisingly, we are not in a volcano anymore.
We are in a lush green field. The volcano is still there, smoking in the distance, but here it is peaceful.
Then my eyes lock on a weird scene.
Barabas, in his massive bear form, is sitting on a delicate, white frilly garden chair. It looks like something out of a Victorian tea party. Next to him is a small round table, a lace umbrella, and an empty seat. He is delicately holding a teacup in his giant paw, sipping tea.
I can't help but cross the image with the one of Echidna from Re:Zero.
"Bwahahahaha!"
God, I roll on the grass floor, crying out of laughter. My stomach hurts.
"ROAR!"
He roars in embarrassment, spilling his imaginary tea.
I calm down after a while and sit in the empty chair beside him. It creaks under my weight. I can't help to notice the glimpses of wisdom and royalty radiating from him. Of course, the dignity is completely destroyed by the strange setting he chose. W.T.F?
Barb: ("I didn't choose this... I just appeared here after killing Marcus. The last memory I watched from your mind was that anime. A mindscape is like a dream... So it ended up like this. It is... comfortable.")
I look at the cup of tea.
(No way! Burp.)
"You didn't use your fluids for this, right?" I ask, pointing suspiciously at the cup.
"Hahaha!"
Barb: ("Fuck it.")
He throws the table aside and starts to run after me. Like that, we play tag in the mindscape. I imitate Marcus, the jester's annoying laughter, dodging his swipes.
He is PISSED at me.
I fake the use of the chains like Marcus did, visualizing them in my mind. But then... they really appear!
Clink! Rattle!
Golden chains burst from the air, wrapping around his leg. They are sturdier than the ones Marcus could conjure. Some of them appear from thin air, creating little ripples of space. This is our shared mind space, so imagination rules here, but it still startles us both.
"W.T.F!" x2
I release him from the chains while we look at each other incredulously.
"Try it too!!!" I shout.
In his case, four huge rusty chains with giant links burst out of the ground. They shoot at me fast. The links are the size of my chest. I dodge just in time.
CLANG!
Once I avoid the clash between the chains, they produce a strong ringing sound. Like a huge hammer hitting an anvil. The sound wave knocks me back.
"Damn! That was dangerous!"
(My head would have exploded like a watermelon dropping from three stories if that hit me!)
"This is your mindscape. Even if we share some of it, we don't know much about the rules here... I haven't even gone to my own mindscape yet..."
We go back to our seats, which have reappeared, and calm down.
"By the way... How did you come up with that stuff from my world?"
(The mindscape seems exactly like that anime to me, so I can't help but ask. I'm worried he has memories he should not have. Does he know about my past life on Earth? My browser history?)
Barb: ("Boy, don't search too far. Contrary to you, who is thirty-seven years old with both lives combined, I am around one hundred and fifty years old. Even those shameful memories are etched into my brain now. Even that time when your mother walked in on you...")
"SHUT UP, YOU CREEP!"
"Bwrooaaahahahahaaha!"
"So you can gain power by eating our enemies now? I'll force-feed you every one of them, you jerk!"
He's still laughing, rolling on the floor in bear form. It's his turn to mock me.
I can't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. We are both idiots.
Once we calm down, I ask a serious question.
"Do you think we can bring Tenka, Red, and the others here? Into this space?"
Barb: ("No. They are too young for now. This place is linked to my soul. I gained it by a fluke. My powers, too. I used to be a King in this forest. But the humans killed my kin. I broke my limits then, through rage, and gained a long and painful life. All that pain made my mind evolve. Then you came in. You healed my wounds at the cost of your own well-being. I don't know how long I had left to live before you came into my life. So, I dragged you in here to survive, and I watched your memories while you slept or trained... Well, some of them. It's only been two weeks since we met. Don't worry, I'm a beast, I saw and did more shameful things compared to both your lives, hehehe.")
"Erg... Teach me, at least, how to do that soul reinforcement stuff."
Barb: ("Ok.")
Snap.
The scenery changes instantly. I appear inside the volcano. The heat is unbearable.
"You're kidding."
Barb: ("No, boy. The only way I know to reinforce the soul is pain. Pain of the soul, that is. You are very lucky that you have this body and a powerful soul already, you will not have to suffer as much since you adapted a lot faster than I did. Now, run.")
I wake up in the real world first... gasping for air.
(Why is there always pain involved? Is it the gods laughing at us for trying to get better? You want power? Here, have some lava.)
I organize the departure.
I tell Temate to gather everybody and head North. They are to go to Barabas's territory, the old bear den, and build a fortress there. At least build the ramparts before I come back.
His territory is safer than elsewhere. It's high in altitude, giving a clear view of the only road in, and plenty of time to dispatch any enemies climbing the slope. Plus, the lingering scent of the "Desolate King" keeps smaller predators away.
I keep Tenka, Gary, Barabas, and Salaba with me. Sal and Barb need to rest and heal properly, and I just don't want to be apart from Tenka again. Not yet.
Red and Berth can keep the main group safe on the road. Red didn't want to go alone, he whined quite a bit, hehe. I understand him, but the training Tenka and I are doing now... he can't do it yet. In his case, his soul is small and fragile. If I pulled him into the volcano, he might burn up.
Even Gary gets to stay, since the tribe now has their own tamed birds for scouting. He reluctantly left my shoulder to go with the main group to act as their aerial guide.
Like that, I passed a week. It was half bliss with the girls, recovering and training, and half hell in the volcano with Barabas.
- Temate's P.O.V. -
(Damn that guy. He just dumped all the work on me. Again.)
Of course, I'm the right choice for the task, I'm a natural leader, but he just ordered me around like I'm his pet. Huff.
I look at the group of women and children waiting for orders.
"Let's go, everybody. The Stinky Man will stay here for now to cover our tracks."
One of the older women, Nalia, perks up.
"What? He's a man?!"
The whisper spreads through the crowd like wildfire.
"Of course he's a man! You can't fool these old eyes. He moves like one, too. Look at those shoulders!"
"Nobody said anything about it!! I bathed in front of him!"
"...Yada yada..."
The gossip explodes. Some women are blushing, some are angry, and some are grinning.
(Haha, let's see how you deal with that when you come back, Sam. You wanted to be mysterious? Now you're the topic of every conversation.)
Little did I know, the nightmare I created isn't a bad one for him. It's going to be a nightmare for me trying to keep these women focused on building a wall instead of fantasizing about the "Stinky Man."
"Let's GO!" I shout, cutting through the chatter.
"Where are we going?"
"We go North! To the Bear's Den!"