“Wojo? (Prey)”, asks my hungry companion as she looks at the terrified Sewan. Yeah, Sewan. That’s what I decided to call her and her race. Hmm? What does it mean? Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything and I just came up with it. If I had to name her race according to my language, they would be called Zuhl lan kel Tagan, or in English “people of the long ears.”, but I can’t just call every race I see Tagan. Well, I can, but it would be hard to remember all the names, and honestly, where’s the fun in that?
“Joja wojo. (Not prey)”, I tell her as I look at the terrified Sewan, who’s crouching on the ground and shaking from fear.
“Ojawa. (Up)”, I say gently while motioning for her to stand up, and she doesn’t respond, unless you call someone staring at you with wide eyes a response. “Ojawa. (Up)”, I try again, and get no result whatsoever, so I got closer to her and grabbed her arm, which made her struggle and shout. She tried to shake me off, kick me, punch me, she even tried to bite me. In the end, I managed to make her stand, getting a few bites and scratches in the process, much to the amusement of the girl who’s smiling behind me.
“Wojo? (Prey)”, she asks again, but this time she’s grabbing a hand axe.
“Jojaaaaaaa!!!”, I screamed as I fell on the ground... She… She kicked me in the balls! The furry bitch kicked me right on the family jewels before making a run for it!
“Hahahahaha!”, Yeah, laugh at me, why don’t you?
You know what? New race or not, screw this. “Wojo. (Prey)”, I say after taking a breath and managing to stand up. Which got me a smile from her, before she nodded and started the chase.
After recovering properly, I also start chasing the girl, only to find my oh so eager friend running away from a mob of brown long eared furries with sharp pointy sticks… shit…
I quickly make a U turn and we start running away with stones and spears flying our way, that is until we got ambushed from the front and we were forced to run to the right, only to find out that it’s a dead end in the form of cliff with a long way down to certain death… fuck me…
“Seka!”, says one of the largest males of the group, with the ungrateful little bitch next to him with a smile on her face. This is why you should never do good things for other people, unless they prove they’re worth it. Ok, I know our intentions weren’t wholesome, and the now scared girl next to me, didn’t hide the fact that she wanted her for dinner, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I was a bit forceful, sure, but I was helping her stand. Well, I should’ve expected this response considering the time period, and the fact that we’re from different races.
Anyways, time to make them piss their pants. “Ja. (hey)”, I say to the large lug, which got his attention.
“Sake?”, He says with an intimidating tone, which causes everyone to stop. Considering his reaction, it seems they had confrontations with other sapient races, and from the fact that they’re this intelligent, they and maybe also their competition had a head start. I’d say they’re older than us by about 300,000 years or so, since they have a language and some of them are carrying Mode 2 stone tools. Which is good for me, since that means they know about duels and mock battles. I know they have no reason to accept a challenge from a supposed prey, but here’s hoping that they’re the stupid, cocky type. I put on a provocative grin and wave for him to come.
After that display, everyone is looking at him, wanting to know how he’ll respond. And unlike what I expected, he didn’t come by himself, like the prideful leader that he should be, instead he ordered one of his henchmen that was in the back, and oh boy, if the leader was considered large, this guy is a giant. The leader then made everyone back off, so that there’ll be enough space for us to fight, and so I approached him. And as I approached, the leader spoke to him in their language, and from what I can get from his gestures, and how he’s pointing at the giant’s head, he’s either telling him to avoid hits to the head, or that ungrateful bitch told him how I blew up the spider-man’s head just by touching it and he’s telling him not to let me get close to his head at all costs, and my gut lean’s on the latter.
After we got into position, we grabbed our weapons, he chose a large branch shaved from its twigs, a crude club, while I, to his and everyone’s surprise, chose nothing. Despite his confusion he didn’t falter, and we waited for the signal to start. “Sakaaaaa!”, yelled one of their group and the battle started.
He roared and charged straight at me, and as he approached, he swung his club from above using all his might, only for me to dodge to the side and grab his shoulder, and so, the battle was over the moment it started, as his arm swelled, then exploded. What? You didn’t think I’d prepare my magic beforehand?
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”, he screamed in pain as blood flowed from his open wound. Everyone except me and the girl is shocked at the sight. The match just started, only for it to end in such a bloody way in the first move.
After such a display, every one of them is looking at me in fear, but seeing how they still held their ground with their weapons in their hands, it wasn’t enough to break their will. In order to make sure that they won’t attack me and the girl, or even think of harming a single Tagan from our group, I have to paint the image of a devil in their hearts. I really don’t want to do this…
I start approaching the bleeding warrior and as he saw me coming his way, he tried to run away, only for me to kick him to the ground, still, he tried to crawl away. “Sweke! Sweke!”, shit man, as if I don’t feel bad enough for doing this, you try to scream for help? I gather the last of my energy, yeah, LAST. How many casts did you think I could manage with only 3 years of training? Just 6 casts for regular bursts of energy and 3 or less times for stronger ones. And 3 of them were used while training, with an additional one spent to kill the spider, leaving me with 2 casts. Anyways, as I was saying, I gather the last of my energy in my foot before stomping on his head, causing it to swell, then explode to a thousand pieces, splashing everything with blood, bone fragments, grey matter and brain chunks.
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…
Silence filled the air, and as I looked up, I saw their terrified faces. Even their leader was shaking like a leaf. So I just dusted my hands and opened my arms as if I want a hug with the creepiest smile on my face, “Owa Joh… (Come here)”.
They ran away. Everyone with no exception, ran screaming in pure terror, as if they’ve just witnessed death reincarnate walking the earth devouring the souls of whatever crosses his path.
Anyways, I look back at my companion to see what kind of expression she’s making, only to see her looking with total awe as if I did a great miracle like reviving the dead, making food out of thin air, or splitting either the ocean or the moon. Looks like blood and gore doesn’t bother her as much as it should for a normal sane person, and this time it’s not a matter of being primitive, as those guys ran away like babies, which rests my case, she’s not normal.
Anyways, before we leave, I try to see if they left any tools behind, since it is important to know how advanced their technique is. They’ve already displayed equivalent levels of intelligence to the Tagan, so it’s imperative to check who advanced farther in the tech race. Though I judged their tools as mode 2, that by itself isn’t enough to estimate how advanced they are, since just dividing technologies by their designated categories isn’t good enough. For example, some groups of Tagan, rare as they may be, despite all my efforts chose mode 1 tools over mode 2, yet it would be foolish to call them failures, since the reason that they did so, was because the area that they chose to dwell in lacks good stones with most being too brittle to handle too much knapping, but at the same time, the area is abundant in thin flexible trees that are not only strong, but can be easily processed even when using mode 1 tools. So why would they use a newer industry that needs resources that are hard to come by, if the old one is not only easier to produce and even easier to get, but also is enough to serve their needs? Hmm? What does that example have to do with my earlier statement? Take a guess. Since they abandoned the Acheulean industry, what did they focus on instead? Considering they decided to stay in the area, they chose to adapt by improving upon both the Oldowan technique by refining the single edged side using what they learned from the Acheulean industry, and their woodworking to make the best they can out of the trees. So instead of just underestimating or overestimating a race due to the type of tools they use, it’s better to check in detail how their tools differ from ours.
“Waga jajo? (What do)”, asks my weird companion as she sees me crouching on the ground.
“Awo ga.(Get axe)”, I say as I point at a hand axe on the ground, and I must say, their technique isn’t so bad. The axe is thin considering the type of stone used, but not to the degree where it’s considered brittle, its edge is sharp, and is that a grip? There’re a few man made curves on its core that makes gripping it easier. I’m no expert on archeology, but I believe these guys are on the verge of entering the middle Paleolithic period, that is if they haven’t already entered it. Though the Tagan aren’t far behind in terms of development, thanks to my efforts.
After inspecting all the tools that they left behind, I found out that only this axe has any form of grip, all the others are regular hand axes without any form of customization or improvement. I bet that this was just a prototype that hasn’t caught on yet, but who knows what will happen in the future. I bet that in the next 20 years, this technique will at least be known to 10 other groups.
After inspecting more than 5 axes and crouching down to see if there could be another one that fell in the nearby vicinity, the girl taps me on the shoulder, “Jawa. (Late)”, she says and as I look at the sky and it’s already dusk. So I grab the axes and stand, and so we start walking back to our camp.
---
“Wago Jawa? (Why Late)”, asks my mother as I arrived in the middle of the night.
“Wogo ga. (make axe)”. I lie why showing her the Sewan’s prototype hand axe. What? Don’t judge me. What do you expect me to say, “Hey mom, I was just out having fun adventuring with that girl again, and we not only fought a spider-man thing, we also met a new race that wanted to kill us! Isn’t that fun?”? I know, I know, lying to your parents is bad and all, but this isn’t something I can just tell her. Literally though, due to the fact that we’re still developing the language, I lack the words to even describe most of the things I saw on this little bizarre adventure.
“Jeje. (Good)”, says my mother after seeing the axe, she then grabs my hand and brings me near the campfire, “Jeejoo ga. (Eating time)”, says my mother as she hands me a stick with some Rosuk meat skewered on it. A Rosuk is a large herbivorous creature with four hooved feet, thin brown fur, yellow eyes with oval horizontal pupils and a single slightly curved horn on its snout. It’s a cowardly creature native to this continent that lives in large herds that keep migrating from one water source to another every couple of weeks. Other than being a good source of meat, its horn is a pretty good crafting material.
I chewed on the hard roasted meat contemplating, whether the next thing I should teach them should be bloodletting, since the meat is too gamey for my taste. Who am I kidding? just saying it’s gamey is an understatement. There’s a difference between eating meat having a ‘wild’ taste like venison, and meat that’s soaked in blood, has a rubber-like texture, and may have bits of fur on it. I mean sure, in places lacking in vegetation, drinking the blood of animals would provide the necessary nutrients, but it’ll also infect the drinker with any diseases that travel via the blood stream. So bloodletting is on the top of my bucket list.
After the meal, I prepared myself to sleep, we all huddled around the fire to keep warm and slept, waiting for tomorrow.
---
5 days have passed.
During these 5 days, we kept the same routine. In the morning I’d be taught by my brother, in the afternoon, we’d eat, then I’d go with the girl to secretly train in magic, while everyone else is doing their respective job. Every day was the same boring cycle, and I thought that it was never going to end, that is until today.
As I finish my training for today, I see my brother running towards me, “Owa joh! (Come here)”, says my brother excitedly as he grabs my hand and drags me to the nearby river. There I see a gathering from the members of our group looking at the river, where a wooden raft flowing on the surface of the water, while a few vines tied to a tree is all that prevents it from being swept away.
Huh… They finally did it… They built a working raft…
“Oooaaaahhhhh!”, screams the members who were working on the raft in triumph. Why wouldn’t they? They’re the pioneers that managed to overcome one of the greatest obstacles for the Tagan, which is water. Sure, it’s on a river, not an ocean, but I’m sure it’s enough for us to cross to the nearby continent. Well, it should be, as long as no storms, typhoons or freaky sea beasts come by and say hello.
At night, everyone was gathered and the group celebrated in their annoying primitive way. At first, I couldn’t sleep due to the clapping, stomping, and the terrible, oh so terrible, tone-deaf singing, but as midnight approached, the party started to die down, at least it died down enough for me to finally get some shut eye.
And so, now that we have a way to cross the great blue barrier known as the sea. Tomorrow we’ll grab our tools, leave our camp, and continue on our journey east where new lands await us.
And as I sleep, I utter a prayer for the future… Please freaky sea calamities, don’t come and say hello…