POV Main

Dee was my friend. I believed that, because I was my own friend. And Dee was someone similar to me. You know this stories about people? Maybe you even saw them? Mother and daughter both have strong, similar characters and they can’t stand each other in grown up life. Maybe you see it at work or in school, that there is brand of people, that are very alike, but are throwing themselves to each other throats. They hate another version of themselves, compete with themselves. I knew, I wasn’t like that. I was able to get along with others and with time I was able to even better get along with myself. There was time in my life, when I swore to myself, that I would not deceive myself, that I would stay truthful. I couldn’t live to this vow, to this standard. I didn’t hate myself after. I had mercy over myself and empathized myself. How to make you understand better? I wanted honestly to act more truthfully to myself. I was the one that was acting. Still, I weren’t able to do it all the time. As there was part of me that didn’t listen. If you ever would found out, that you are flawed at your core, what would you do? Self-destruct, forget, lie to yourself, throw it as world’s fault, or have mercy over disabled? I don’t know, if it’s true but I think, that all humans are imperfect. And for almost all of us, this imperfection is so big, that we can call ourselves as at least partially disabled.

There is only one way to become your own friend. You need to feel, that you are flawed and you need friend to help with following consequences of yours flaws.

After Dee got to third level, he told me many things. But there was one thing, that hurt me a lot. Dee said, that from beginning he instinctually was influencing my opinion about him. He was influencing my picture of our relationship in my very mind. He was raising my positive feelings to him. He even couldn’t stop doing it, as it was instinctual defense mechanism.

I was imagining my own clone with cloned mind. Would I like another myself then? Would I be able to cooperate without much conflict? I believed I would.

Dee wasn’t me. He was becoming me with time, but he would never be hundred percent similar to me. He had his own origins and like all what is alive, its own hidden, unconscious agenda.

Could I accept it? I could. Was it my decision on was I manipulated. I didn’t know. I trusted that even without influence, I would decide the same.

I even joked to Dee, that I was being isekaied into the same world, I was born into. He argued joking, that he was being isekaied and my memories was help from some goddess to accommodate.

Second ugly info didn’t hurt me much. It was sad, but I could see it coming, if I thought about it a little.

Each absorption of biomass before Dee’s growth spurt was higher and higher. To get to first level he needed few of my blood drops. To second level it was about liter of blood. To third level I provided him daily with about liter of blood, few kilos of fresh flesh, I added also some other things to experiment with diet. If not for incident after Mokotov field meeting, Dee would need about two and half week to get there. To level up to level four, Dee would need ten times more of resources. There was also limit on absorption daily, so one stone couldn’t absorb infinite amount of goods.

But way of serving, literally rituals, and quality of biomass could lessen amount and time. Sadly biomass with developed nervous system was preferred. To shorten time of absorption, sacrificing living being on altar made of alive stone was best ritual.

Aztecs were clearly influenced by living stones, I was sure of that. If you know nothing about happy civilization of Aztec tribe, I would recommend some documentary. I you would prefer adventure with little horror themes, just watch Apocalypto by Gibson.

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So, the best, shortest way for Dee to grow was to sacrifice people on Dee as sacrificial altar.

Well, I earlier was doing everything to find other solutions. To be part of human society, to possible highest extend. My solutions were valid, just slower and less efficient. If there was no Ahriman’s Order I could live slowly and slowly grow Dee. I got that feeling of urgency, that from some level of growth ancient stone rules would let for physical host bullying and perhaps even killing later. If Ahriman’s Order could grow to that level before we were ready, we would be destroyed. I was not only talking about Diana, because Diana would have her own problems due to merge. I was afraid of cult as a whole, because I was sure that human sacrifices was that, what cultists liked to do the most. I just hoped, that they were as dumb as cultists usually are.

So I was thinking about source of human sacrificial pawns.

After armistice in Russia-Ukraine war, there were only skirmishes in that time. Some armies were still left by boundaries of countries and death still happened. Hatred was so high, that they were trying to kill each other even with announced armistice. Maybe I could go there and take some pawns for myself? During the war, killing wasn’t so clearly bad, as in times of peace. There was risk that I could die there.

I heard about practices in White Russia with migrants. Their money were stolen and they were often left by Poland boundary to die in forests, as there was a wall at the border. It would be quite easy to hijack group of migrants. There was risk, that reporters would track me down.

I had one more idea, but it was disgusting, moreover I needed money and manpower to go with it. It was about using what was already working.

POV Vivaldi

I was in the middle of the woods. I was hunting here more than once. I had hunting card, was member of hunting club and had license for hunting gun. Since I found stone, I was using this hobby of mine to grow it. I called entity locked in stone Thor.

When Thor grow lately, he told, that he is modeling himself mentally after me. It was nice, but I was more interested in potions he could make. We made a deal, I would help him grow and he would strengthen me. If not for Diana, I would be the strongest.

Thor said, that she was a cheat. She was burning her life force for premature growth. Still, she touched me with magic and I almost fainted.

I asked Thor, if some ancient rule shouldn’t guard me. He told me, that after next growth, rules should let me bully similar levels. Due to Diana’s special circumstances, she could do it already.

The best thing after I found Thor was magic, he was helping me to master. By using it, I was able to persuade women to sleep with me with three of four efficiency request. I knew, these women I saw at club or at gym weren’t hardest to get, but before, I was quite unlucky with miserable results.

I changed lately. I was looking more healthy and handsome. I was more confident in myself. My all life looked better.

I went around woods. I was checking, if there were other hunters. There were some rules to hunting and there shouldn’t be anybody, but I wanted to be sure. Then I found little herd of bison. Bison is a massive animal and shooting to them is allowed only in special cases. I waited for them to move more to the middle of forest. Then I shot one. Rest of them run. He wasn’t dead. He was hurt and stunned. I quickly moved to it and stunned it with metal baton. Its head was bony and furry and I needed few blows. I took it by the horn and pulled several dozen meters to the dugout. Thor was in dugout. I cut bison stomach, throw out some guts and pushed Thor inside bison’s body. Bison woke up due to pain, but I made him unconscious fast. It would die in no time.

It meant, that I had at least four days till Thor would absorb over three hundred kilograms of flesh and blood. I masked dugout and buried bison with layer of soil. I knew that foxes and other predators could come to meat, but Thor should be able to take care of himself. Even kill some unlucky animals.

I was proud of myself. I had inhuman strength. I was something more. I wanted to be even more than that. Thor was my slave, that would provide me with more strength. I liked him a little, but that changed nothing. I was his master. Without me he would be stone on river bed.

I thought about his proposal to hunt humans. I didn’t kill human being earlier. I wouldn’t be able to be hunter with license otherwise. If I would kill human, I would risk much more than only license. So why couldn’t I stop turning back to this topic?

I spited on the ground. I should forget about Thor and our matters for following few days. I was mightiest bull in the village and should dazzle others with my might. Women should faint seeing me and men should admire me. That was aim of my life.