“The first step of a Hero is gaining Strength.”

“It matters now of what kind.”

“All that matters is how it could affect others positively.”

“Whether that be Physical or Magical prowess by defending somebody from something.”

“However, those are temporary measures.”

“Thus, the Greatest of Heroes are those willing to pass on their teachings.”

#Quote 7 - Book of Life and Death - Chapter - Heroes and Villains

*

Central Continent - Southern Forest - Survival Tribe - Alexander

hahaha haha haha

Echoed in Alexander’s mind the moment he was aware that he woke up.

“Yawn”

Even yawning, the sleep away, did not break away from the laugh etched in his mind.

“Mmmm”

Not even stretching his body to release all the pent-up pressure of the muscles upon the joint structures in his body relieved him of its presence. It kept repeating in his mind over and over. And the reason for that was his retelling of everything he had undergone in his new life.

The problem, however, was every time he described something, the being in front of him in that Dream laughed at the outcome. Therefore, the being was making fun of Alexander and the pain he had experienced in his new life.

Reminded of it once more, it made him mad and furious again. Regardless of being reminded of his failures in the Dream. Only now did Alexander truly experience the emotions swirling in his head as his mind re-processed the memories.

With that being the case, Alexander lazed around for a bit. His main thoughts were revenge and how he would execute it.

Yet, everything that came to his mind was useless.

Somehow, his mind already comprehended that it would be useless as the being existed in his Dream. In there, the being could do things Alexander would never be able to, like making juicy stuff to snack on or creating the golden delicacy he had almost forgotten about.

The problem was Alexander should not have enjoyed the memories of those two things, as the moment their deliciousness arose, an insatiable desire manifested regarding them. That desire activated his stomach, only there was nothing in his stomach, much less the deliciousness he ate in the Dream.

It only became worse when breakfast arrived in the form of insects.

For a few moments, Alexander wondered if he could just forget about it, but his stomach had other plans. It constantly growled its displeasure at being empty, so Alexander ate the incomparably untasty breakfast.

After the unappetizing breakfast, a family meeting was held between Alexander, his Father Scar, and his Mother Tina. And when it did, one topic came up.

“Tribal Spirit, Visit, You?” Alexander heard his Father inquire.

“Hngh” Grunting and nodding became Alexander's answer, but then a different thought reminded him of something else, and he shook his head in denial.

“No, Not, Tribal Spirit.” He replied slightly, hesitant, as he had no idea how to explain it to his Father or Mother.

After all, the one thing he had kept to himself was his understanding of living a new life.

In recent times, he had that realization come to him, but it only got confirmed in the Dream he had last night after he remembered how it was to be in his old form and how he used to live in that drier place.

Even then. How would he explain that that being had been him in that life? Alexander simply did not know about that.

“If, Not, Tribal Spirit, Then, Who?” Alexander heard his Mother ask.

Seeped in a primal part of his being, Alexander knew he had to answer his Mother. Otherwise, the pain became a possibility. Not knowing an answer, he tilted his head this way and that way in order to buy himself time.

Time to find an answer, and then it came to him.

“Friend.” Alexander said proudly.

Although the word Alexander used was distinct from the word Buddy that the being had used for him. Regardless, even if Alexander could say it adequately, his parents did not know the word, and of that, he was sure.

Therefore, Alexander used something simpler. A word that they knew and would understand.

“He, Call, Me, Friend.” Alexander explained. “Came. To, Teach, Me, He, Said.”

With that said, Alexander observed his parents as they frowned in thought.

“Your, Friend, Called, How?” Tina, his Mother, asked once more.

Immediately, Alexander realized, this time perhaps, he had no way of answering that problem.

Just to be sure, Alexander tried his best to remember everything that happened inside the Dream. From the beginning to the end, when the only thing left was laughter, Alexander examined the crystal clear memories he possessed.

However, no answer was to be found, and Alexander replied hesitantly as if his Mother would take an offense regarding it.

“Don't, Know.” Luckily for him, his Mother did not take offense and just nodded, but Alexander knew that would not suffice for her.

What followed was a series of questions about everything that happened in his Dream, and Alexander knew he had to answer as best as possible. So he explained to them as best as he could.

Immediately, in the beginning, Alexander saw some recognition reach their minds, but they remained silent for as long as he described everything that happened.

Only after he finished his little Dream story, did his Father stand.

His Mother followed the ensuite and motioned for Alexander to follow. He did of course, as he'd learned to do when his Mother asked something of him.

Moments later, they reached the Totem of the Tribal Spirit.

Both of his parents faced the black thing jutting out into the air in the center of their Tribe.

It was Scar, his Father, that spoke first.

“Mother, Father, Met, Your… Friend?” His Father reasoned from what he'd heard. “We, Saw, Him, Grow, Tribal Spirit, From, Nothing… We, Saw, Him, Carve, Our, Old, Forms, Here”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Hearing his Father and seeing his point, there was only one result, and Alexander knew of it. All in the tribe knew of it.

“Then, Totem of Tribal Spirit, Much Smaller. This Small.” Alexander saw his Father point to his waist to compare the height. However, currently, when Alexander observed the Totem, it was at least double that in stature.

“When, Totem, Built, Tina, And, I, Understood, Each, Other.” Scar explained. ”We, Became, Mates… We, Stay, Together, Near, Totem… We, Live, Together… When, Others, Come… They, Too, Stay, Live, Near, Totem… Then; More, Came, First, Cubs, Come… Then, Totem, Bring, First Change.”

With that said, Alexander saw his parents turn each of the Dens to face the Totem of the Tribal Spirit.

“Tribal Spirit, Awaken. Grow, Bigger, Extend, Further. ” With another pointing gesture, Alexander realized his Father meant the pit for the White Flame on the side of the Totem. “White Flame, Appeared… Then, Light, Appear. None, Could, See… Then, Earth Tremble, Under, Us… When, Light, Gone, We, Saw Tribal Spirit, Grow… After, Growth, Tribal Spirit, Change, Terrain… Dens, Made, Of, Earth, For, All.”

Despite knowing considerably every part of the Tribal Clearing, Alexander glanced at it once more, as the story gave everything a different meaning.

“But, That, Not, End.” Alexander heard his Mother say this time. Her eyes were wide open and staring at him. “Not, Just, Terrain, Change… Us, Too… We, Change, Too… Become, Badg’Er, With, Two, Legs, Two, Arms.”

Being glared at, Alexander had no choice but to nod when his Mother stopped speaking. But that lasted only for a moment before she continued.

“After, That, We, Learn, Many, Things.” She said with Pride laced into her words. “Walk, Run, Hunt, Speak… Many, Things, Learn. In, Dream… Tribal Spirit, Teach, Us.” Then her voice turned very serious, and Alexander felt his spine tremble slightly.

“Maker of Tribal Spirit, Choose, You… Not, Matter, For, What… You, Will, Listen… Obey, Him… Right?”

Swallowing any involuntary vocal reaction, Alexander hurriedly nodded rapidly towards his Mother.

“Good” His Mother said and pointed at the Totem of the Tribal Spirit. “Now, Sit, Before, Tribal Spirit… Say, Your, Name…, Say, You, Wish, To, Learn. From, Tribal Spirit.”

Once more, Alexander nodded urgently, and not wanting to disappoint his Mother again, he approached the frontal part of the Totem, where the small stone platform he danced on just yesterday existed.

There he prostrated himself again.

“I, Alexander, Wish, To, Learn, From, Tribal Spirit.”

Alexander knew not how the Tribal Spirit heard him, but it did. The shiny lights on the Totem proved it by glowing brighter.

In recognition of Alexander’s desire, something popped into his mind.

It was there one moment, and it was gone the other.

However, that did not matter. No, what mattered was that something left behind a feeling of approval.

The feeling was distinct in Alexander’s mind as if he had felt it just the day before. Only so much had been happening, on that day, that it got sidelined by more important matters.

With that done, the glowing diminished again, and everything returned to how it was.

*

At least it appeared that way to Scar, Tina, and Alexander.

With approval from the parents, all three left the Totem of their Tribal Spirit behind and returned to their own Den to prepare for whatever they would do on this day.

However, they had no idea that, on this day, a significant change occurred or that the change stemmed from Alexander.

Or better said, a change stemming from the Joint Dream existing between him and Mir.

When Mir anchored the Joint Dream to the Totem, it was more of a one-sided connection, as the Totem was a bridge between all Badg’Er that lived in its hexagram field and the Dream Realm Mir Created.

Therefore, it had a certain metaphysical weight that helped hold the Joint Dream stick around longer than it should have.

Still, being a bridge gave it some features regarding Dreams. One of those was the Dream Tutor.

The Dream Tutor worked by nudging an Individual's Dreams into the optimal shape to learn something. What the optimal shape was, depended more on the Individual, so there were inadequacies regarding the efficiency of the learning.

However, that was to be expected. Despite achieving its first growth, the Digital Minds, which were the Tribal Spirits, were still in their Digital infancy, so to speak.

Now, though? Now it was different.

Alexander’s and Mir’s Joint Dream, which was already anchored to the Totem, if superficially, provided an excellent base form and shape for the still young Digital Mind. Therefore, when the connection between the Dream Tutor and the Joint Dream established itself, The Dream Tutor part of it gained a much-welcomed upgrade.

But that was not enough to be labeled a significant change. No, this went deeper than observed at first glance.

Because of the upgrade, the Digital Mind understood how to create a Dream of its own. And when it did, it was shared with the other three Totem Digital Minds. Once all four had it and upgraded to their own version of the Dream Tutor, it was shared with a particular existence that was not their Mother but closer to a Big Sister.

Cirsy, the Digital Mind behind the entire Digital framework, learned about the upgrade. And unlike her still immature siblings, she understood far more of this significant change.

Therefore, when the ability to create her own Dreams reached her, her entire Digital Mind went into overdrive to understand Dream Creation and take it to its next level.

Mir, or a small split part of Mir, existing in the Joint Dream, felt the local change as the local Digital mind upgraded its Dream Tutor.

The Joint Dream gained another layer of clarity and depth as the moments passed.

Curious about what was happening, he approached the Dream version of the Totem and touched it lightly. The light touch represented his Intent to interpret without interfering.

As such, moment after moment passed as he parsed through everything, and when he understood enough to be sure he would not interfere with the event, he dived deeper.

That was how he came to the realization that the Totem System had developed further than he imagined it would. So he dived deeper and deeper, as he simply had no trouble doing it, being its maker after all.

When he reached the Link between the Totem Spirit and Cirsy, it became natural that Mir turned to her.

Only there was a big difference between the Digital Minds inside the Totem and Cirsy.

Never mind the complexity. The sheer sensitivity Cirsy had with her own inner workings, which improved over the many years, instantly sent trigger warnings that something had infiltrated her insides.

Mir naturally realized that fact, so he announced his presence. ~Cirsy, It's ME.~

An instant of vigilance and astonishment reached the Digital Mind in the same moment.

~Creator? You're awake?~

~No, I am… Dreaming… I guess. My primary awareness is still asleep, and only a small part of me is here.~

~...~

Silence ensued for a few moments as Cirsy was unsure of how to reply at first. However, being the creation of Mir, eventually, she just returned to her usual mode of operation and pressed a simple query

~Be that as it may, How may I help you, Creator?~

~This small part of Me was part of the Joint Dream that initiated all this, and I am curious as to what is happening. Share with me, but take care to keep it simplified as much as possible, as it would take little to overload this small part of Me.~

~Understood, Creator.~ With the command given and a command received, Cirsy began to simplify everything she understood as much as possible.

She transmitted everything to her Creator, and at that moment, Mir became a sounding board for this Digital Mind and its desire to implement the Ability of Dream Creation.

Moments passed for Mir as he perused the content. He tried his best to make sense of everything, especially, since Cirsy had begun to deviate slightly from her initial programming of a Digital Mind.

It wasn't hard for Mir to understand why it was happening as there could be multiple factors involved.

Like having her entire existence based in the Dream Realm instead of Reality, where Rules and Laws were much more relevant. Therefore, making the development of a Digital Mind far more lineal in its Path.

Another reason could be her desire to be closer to him, her Creator. Maybe this was the natural development of Digital Minds.

Maybe it was something else entirely. Or maybe, Mir imagined all this as with his current capability he could not observe the whole of Cirsy’s adaptations.

Whatever it was, it mattered not to Mir, as Cirsy was born a Digital Mind and would remain a Digital Mind.

Still, that did not mean he could not nudge her now.

That being the case, he compiled a list of memories of stories and theories and sent it to her.

~Cirsy, inside there you will find some knowledge regarding Virtual Reality manifested purely with computation of Rules and Laws. At the same time, I have sent you a few memories of the potential use of Virtual Reality. The best results will occur when you combine them with Dream Creation.~ Mir said.

~Compute it. Then share it with your… siblings. However, I would recommend waiting for my awakening before implementing any large-scale Ideas.~

~Understood, Creator.~

~Good, I will be releasing the connection as I am already feeling the strain. Have fun computing the possibilities.~

With that said, Mir immediately ceased everything he was doing and retreated into the Joint Dream of him and Alexander.

Hah, My fingers are already itching with the tinker's touch.