I left two long furrows in the tundra behind me as we jogged back to our camp. I held the point of a tusk in each hand and dragged the heavy bastards all that way, the bloody and jagged joints where they had joined the mastodon's jaw bone skittered and skidded across the grasslands for miles. I also had the two bags full of more edible mammoth bits over my shoulders as well. The others had generously chosen to attach the thick rolls of hide to the tusks when they found I could keep up with them despite the weight of the damn things.

“Strongest man carries the greatest burden,” chuckled Jandak as he tied the bundles of fur halfway down the tusks. “You’ll be able to keep up?” he asked more seriously. I shrugged and nodded with a broad grin. The macho warrior culture of the tribe was infectious, it reminded me of my days in the army and I began to fall into old habits of camaraderie, my decades old social masking slipping ever further away.

“I’m sure I’ll manage,” I replied with a smile. Ten miles later I was regretting my flippant attitude but my pride stopped me from backing down and having them take back the hides. As we proceeded the ache in my shoulders and back built to the point it felt like a fire running up my spine.

After what felt like an eternity, but could only have been a few hours judging from the way the sun had moved across the sky, we finally saw the camp again. The palisade around it was now bristling with sharpened stakes and the fire inside could only be glimpsed through the shadows cast by the defences. I wasn’t entirely certain what we were prepared to defend against, I couldn’t think of any animal that would realistically try to challenge the forest of spikes.

When we arrived, the rest of them jogged along relatively happily, I collapsed to my knees and gasped for breath. The other hunters came over and one of them offered me a waterskin. I took a long drink without thinking and spluttered, spraying liquid across the ground. This was fermented milk, not the water I'd expected. They fell about laughing.

“Don’t waste it, Kendyn! That’s the good stuff!” chuckled Hermand.

“Assholes, why the fuck did you bring that shit out on the hunt?” I muttered but I stood and took a long drink from the skin anyway.

“This might be better for you?” offered Jandak as he passed me another skin. After I removed the stopper I carefully sniffed it to check before trying the contents and then I took a long drink of actual water to wash down the cloying warmth of the booze.

“Thanks,” I said. “I think I’m going to go to bed now.” I left the tusks where they lay and staggered into the camp proper. I made a beeline for my tent but Fayala caught my arm as I passed the fire. She didn’t say anything but she offered me a bowl of hot stew as her eyes met mine. I nodded in gratitude and slumped to the ground. As soon as the stew was done I gave back my bowl, muttered something vaguely polite and crawled into my tent.

Exhaustion overtook me and I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. My dreams were haunted by a giant bronze statue that smiled down at me then blurred into curved, almond shaped hazel eyes.

I awoke to the usual notifications from some successful traps. Another seventeen Souls in the bank gave me a faint sense of contentment that went some way to assuage the aches in my muscles. Kril was snoring and farting to one side of me as I quietly slipped out into the chilly predawn air. I exhaled a thick cloud before I took a deep breath and pulled my furs tighter around me.

“Here,” Hatrikilo said, offering me a steaming cup. The smell of ched filled my nostrils and I accepted gratefully. “What first, Kendyn?”

“Hah. Now you’re respectful? I guess I’m the novice here and will follow your orders, sir, but if I have a choice I want to harvest and reset my traps then go hunting another mastodon.”

“Mastodon?” he rolled the unfamiliar word around his mouth.

“The great-tusks. It’s what my system calls them. They’re similar to creatures that died out a long time ago on my- where I’m from.”

“I am no fool, Mond. We've covered this. I know what you are and while I don’t know where you’re from I know it isn’t this Urth.” I locked eyes with him and he looked away first. “I won’t pry. Perhaps someday you will choose to share more. Go, see to your traps. We could use some meat for breakfast.”

“We brought back half a great-tusk, yesterday,” I said in surprise.

“That will be smoked and the fat rendered for return to the tribe. We'll be living on other prey while we are here. If you're able to hunt two more as quickly as the first we can be on our way home before Hakubin moves to the winter pastures. That would be ideal in a way. We can settle our debts with him before the winter festivals.” I raised an eyebrow at him, fishing for more information about the political machinations in which I was clearly a central party but currently ignorant of the details. “Go on,” he waved again, refusing to elaborate further. If I wouldn’t open up to him about my past and my powers I supposed it was fair that he wouldn’t reciprocate.

I set out to harvest the rabbits and foxes that had fallen to my traps overnight and reset them for the coming twenty four hours. I moved a little deeper into the forest and set a few more than I had yesterday. With a little luck I could increase my Souls at a faster rate. Twenty Souls a day was one level, up to level twenty nine, or a couple more unlocks of tier one magic. The basic powers were weak but after seeing how much of a difference filling out the rudimentary heal spell had made I was convinced it would be a worthwhile investment in the long term.

The contents of the Shop had once again filled me with fury. A simple iron dagger would set me back over two hundred Souls. While it would be a modest step up over the bronze and stone available to the tribe it was too much to spend for what amounted to an incremental increase in the effectiveness of my equipment. Unjustifiable.

The weak healing potion at tier two had cost a hundred Souls for a one shot item. The tier three healing potion cost two hundred. I cursed the gods for teasing me with items I wanted but making them so expensive I couldn’t accept the price. This was why I’d invested into my healing magic rather than buying potions to heal the women. The resources I invested improving my magic was something that I would benefit from again and again rather than just a single time.

When I got back to the camp, the Kend was ready to set out. The other hunters had been rotated out, bar Jandak. Hatrikull, Hermune, Hermant and I set off with empty sacks as Jandak led the way. We moved swiftly, racing back along the twin trails I’d dragged through the grass and muck yesterday with the tusks.

I was carrying a pair of spears like the rest but I wasn't carrying any torches. I’d refused when offered as I didn’t see the point when I could conjure fire with a thought. Being comparatively unburdened I was pacing Jandak in the lead with very little effort.

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“How long can you keep up this pace?” he asked as we ran across the seemingly infinite grasslands.

“Longer than you, I reckon,” I grinned at him and matched his pace as he sped up. We were leaving the others behind slightly but we were both competitive and he continued to gradually increase the pace. Soon we could barely see our compatriots behind us but we didn’t stop until we reached the site of yesterday's kill.

We skidded to a stop and Jandak was gasping for breath whereas I was merely warmed up.

“I’m cheating, don’t feel bad.” I deadpanned.

“Fucking… Shikrakyn… bastard…” he gasped. A minute later he had recovered somewhat and was circling outwards to locate the tracks of the herd.

“They went northwest!” Jandak called when the rest caught up with us and fell to their knees, gulping down lungful's of air. “On your feet! Are you women? The herd can’t be far!”

We left the dead mastodon behind for the ever circling carrion birds and spread out into the hunting line we had used yesterday. Each man several metres from the next in a ragged formation as we rushed after our prey. My blood began to sing, adrenaline flowing through me at the thought of another fight against the giant animals.

When we sighted the herd we slowed and approached more cautiously. The animals were clearly somewhat intelligent. Rather than running as they had yesterday they formed a half circle, the calves in the centre and the largest of the adults facing us with their giant tusks.

“I have an idea. I might be able to make this easier with some magic,” I told the hunters.

“Kendyn for sure,” muttered Hatrikull.

“What’s your plan?” demanded Hermune.

“I can create a line of fire between them. It will only last a short time but it should allow me to separate a pair of them from the herd. You see the two on their left flank? If flames roared up between them and the rest the others would probably flee north east and we can complete Kril’s quest,” I said. Two large adults were warding the left flank of the herd but there was a gap between them and the rest.

“You can do this?” asked Harmant and I nodded in confirmation. “Killing a pair in one attack is not possible.” His voice was firm.

“Yesterday was an easy kill for me,” I countered. “The worst that can happen is one of them escapes and we try again tomorrow. Will you trust me brothers?” Jandak gave me a hard look but nodded and the rest repeated the gesture after a moment. If they would let me call them brother my future in the tribe was secure.

“Spread out. Jandak and Mune, go right. When the firewall goes up, move back left and help us with the targets.” They nodded at my instructions but Jandak didn’t look happy to be taking orders from a relatively unknown outsider like me. As long as they did as I said the results should justify my temporary usurpation of his authority over the others.

I examined the ground at the mastodon’s feet and plotted out the path of the fire wall. I could only summon a one metre cubed area but I knew instinctively I could manipulate the shape. So a ten centimetre wide fire wall could be extended much further than a metre. I waited as Jandak and Mune moved to the right, drawing the attention of that side of the herd while the rest of us moved to the left. Jandak and Mune began yelling and waving their spears but the nearby beasts merely turned to follow them with their heads.

I reached out and spent twenty mana to create a wall of fire splitting the herd apart. The flames roared up, six feet tall, and the herd fractured in shock. The targets surged forward as the orange glow and heat lit up their right hand sides, rushing towards us. The rest of the herd trumpeted in fear and bolted for the deeper tundra.

As the other hunters came together to my right I moved further left, hoping the beasts would risk the gap between us. They took the apparently safer option and charged forward, tusks swaying viciously and their trunks slamming from side to side. I leapt and rolled, creating some distance as they passed through where I had been standing a moment before.

I came to my feet and pivoted as my unnatural strength and reflexes showed their worth. The first spear flew out and struck the nearest mammoth in the neck. It tumbled to the ground and snarled the other beast up with its fall, making the bull stumble. The others threw their first spears, pin cushioning the mastodon I hadn’t wounded. I rushed around and plunged my remaining weapon through the still standing beast's ribs then leapt back, leaving the wood protruding from its side.

“Great Blue, Kendyn,” muttered Mune in shock. “Is there anything you can’t kill?”

“They’re not dead yet,” I muttered. I hadn’t had a notification so I sat down to let the tension of the brief fight pass. It hadn’t even been a fight. It had been an execution. I shouldn’t be this capable. My enemies would be at least as strong as me, unless I got very lucky. I really did need these savages at my back. A few minutes later I got the notification as the beasts stopped struggling feebly against their wounds.

Normalis Mastodon slain X2.

Forty Souls gathered.

One hundred and eighty souls in the bank, plus whatever my traps would provide tonight. I was well on my way to gaining back what I spent to save the women and began contemplating my next spending spree.

“I’m not carrying all four tusks back. You lazy bastards need to carry some of the weight,” I joked and the others grumbled but began setting about stripping the bodies of useful materials.

An hour later we were on our way back to the camp. I was dragging two tusks behind me, with a bundled up skin tied to each of them. Each of the others was either dragging a tusk or had a large package of mammoth skin balanced on their shoulders. Due to the extra weight we took our return more slowly than yesterday when the warriors had clearly been hazing me.

“You can do that firewall whenever you like?” asked Mune as we dragged our tusks behind the others.

“No. It costs me but I can conjure ten of them if I’m fully rested.”

“That’s… insane.” he grunted as he heaved the tusk into a slightly different hold to ease the strain on his right hand. “How could anyone stand against you?” I didn’t like the fervour I could hear in his tone.

“Take my head and I’ll be as dead as anyone else. They’re tricks. Powerful maybe but I’m still just a man.”

“You need us then?” he asked softly, glancing across. I stared straight ahead as the realisation he was right fully settled into my bones. I did need them, or at least I needed loyal supporters, if I was to stand a chance of surviving in this world.

I was forced to consider the implications as the hours dragged by. I would need a support network. Back on Earth I had been able to slip in and out of the vast and impersonal social structures that made life possible there. Does every office worker know the names of the cleaning staff? I didn’t need to get close to or actually trust anyone. I could anonymously hire a specialist if I needed one or disappear into the masses at need. That wouldn’t be possible here, or if it was it seemed an inefficient way to approach the problem. Inefficient was synonymous with unprofessional in my mind and I shifted my thoughts to truly accept that I would need to integrate with these savages and use them to my own ends. As long as it aligned with my code. I wouldn’t sacrifice them for no reason, at least.

We finally reached our little camp and proudly displayed our prizes.

“Bloody hell boy. This should have taken days if not weeks!” Kril muttered as he examined the tusks, equal to the pair I dragged back yesterday. “Decent size, older adults. How many of the herd was left?” he asked, glancing upwards.

“Half a dozen adults and the young,” Jandak replied happily as he accepted a skin from Haylin . He winked at her then took a long drink.

“Not enough.” rumbled a booming voice. It was deeper than any human I’d ever spoken to and I spun to look behind me. My head craned backwards as I scanned up the body of the massive man. How had this giant snuck up behind us and gone unnoticed? He was five metres tall and covered in thick furs.

In one hand he carried a long staff I was convinced was simply a stripped down tree trunk. “You have stolen from my herds, little ones. Killed my pets! Such a travesty, the injustice sits heavy on my heart. I will let you live only if you make suitable reparations. While I would prefer to simply eat you all I will be content as long as half of you will become my slaves. This is just, and you may have a short time to choose among yourselves who will join me,” boomed the first Ur-Vile I had the misfortune to meet.