The rest of the week, Dhruvah instructed Thaddeus on how to track various prey, season fruit bushes, hunt downwind, ice fish, collect honey, and use moss on trees to identify his location.
To graduate, Dhruvah forced Thaddeus to find his way back to the cabin. It took Thaddeus a week to return. By the time he returned, he was a competent hunter, tracker, and herbalist. He also managed to level up his Tracker, Herbalist, Bash, Cleave, and Fast Slash skills.
The chill of the morning air was biting. The winter blizzard had arrived. His townsfolk barricade themselves inside. The blizzard was blinding, Thaddeus had to squint his eyes to see. Furthermore, the visibility was so bad he could barely see in front of him. The strong blizzard winds forced his body side to side and backward. Yet he marched on in knee-deep snow to his grove.
When he arrived, he noticed the grove was filled with all types of small animals cuddling each other for warmth. Thaddeus was happy to see his grove was being used as a refuge from the catastrophic blizzard outside. Looking around, he saw Dhruvah was awake lying outside his cabin waiting on him.
“I admire your perseverance, cub. The weather is odd this season, the winter is the coldest since I can remember. Today, we’ll start your lesson inside the grove. Thanks to your grove, you can practice tracking in spring and winter. Let’s get started, go ahead and polymorph.”
Thaddeus stripped down naked first, not wanting to ruin his clothes. Yesterday, he got lucky and found a spare set of clothes in the cabin before leaving. He couldn’t imagine if he had to walk home naked with nothing but a coat.
After his clothes were off, Thaddeus activated the skill and slowly transitioned into a bear. Thankfully, Dhruvah was right. It hurt considerably less to shapeshift the second time.
“Good now listen, today your job is to track rabbits. They are deceived and have agility. You’ll need to identify each rabbit’s tracks to identify their location. I spread a few rabbits throughout your grove. Find their trails and follow them back to the specific rabbit. Try not to mix up trails. Remember to use your senses, hear every rustle, smell the scant, and taste it if need be. Look at the trail, and analyze the gait and pace of footprints,” Dhruvah instructed.
Within minutes, Thaddeus found what he was looking for—footprints. The soft, shallow imprints in the earth were fresh, and the evenly spaced pattern suggested the rabbit was walking, not running.
His eyes followed the trail, stopping at a patch where the earth was turned up. His Herbalist skill chimed in; the patch contained remnants of dandelion and clover leaves. "Feeding signs," he whispered to himself. Yesterday, besides teaching him herbalism, Dhruvah taught him which animals ate similar shrubs. So, he knew rabbits like dandelion and clover leaves.
He sniffed the air subtly; the faint smell of fresh droppings indicated the rabbit wasn’t far. He activated his skill Analyze to follow the tracks more briskly, mindful of the direction the footprints were pointing.
As he moved silently through the underbrush, his Tracker skill highlighted a break in the natural pattern ahead—a rabbit trail. The path was well-trodden, lined with occasional droppings, confirming he was on the right track.
His ears caught a faint rustling sound—another clue. It was a soft, repetitive noise, too rhythmic for the wind but perfect for a rabbit nibbling on leaves. Thaddeus slowed down his pace, relying on his senses to find the first rabbit was near a bush, blissfully unaware, nibbling on some berries.
“Excellent, young cub. Now you need to find the other two. To make it more difficult, I’ll ask them to hop and hide their tracks,” he said proudly.
Hours later, Thaddeus finally finished and picked up a new skill:
System Message:
New Active Skill: Track. At higher levels can identify hidden items.
Stat Increase: +1 to INT, +100 EXP
Level 1: Novice Level 1
Effect: Knowledge of how to find the unseen.
Cost: 10 INT/second
The rest of the day was spent on increasing his Herbalism skills. He had to track and identify shrubs, herbs, nuts, berries, and roots. After eating meat, Thaddeus was unsatisfied with eating nuts, fruit, and roots.
“Cub, I can see you’re not happy eating nuts, roots, and berries. But as bears, we eat what Mother Earth provides. I’ve met spoiled bears who are picky eaters, and they never live long. We live in a world where might is right and the weak exist to serve the strong. What matters most to a bear is longevity, strength, and constitution to ensure your survival at the top of the food chain,” he chastised Thaddeus.
“Yes, elder”
“Good. Now, I want to eat meat too,” the old bear chuckled.
Dhruvah led Thaddeus to the frozen river. But Thaddeus noticed only the top of the river was frozen. Just below the service, he could see trout swimming. Once again, his mouth started to salivate on its own.
“Watch carefully, cub,” said Dhruvah said standing on his hind legs.
Coming down with the weight of his entire body, he slammed his paws onto the frozen river, creating a small circular crater in the ice.
“Now, comes the skill,” he said using his paw to flip fish from the river onto the ice.
After catching 10 fish, he gave Thaddeus three and hoarded the rest for himself. Thaddeus wanted to complain but thought better of it.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“Oh, not happy with the number of fish? You can always try your hand at fishing, or fight me for pile?” Dhruvah said sarcastically.
Thaddeus knew he was trying to rile him up. He wanted to deny Dhruvah the pleasure of watching him struggle to fish. But he was hungry and had no choice.
Walking to where the ice looked thin, Thaddeus mimicked Dhruvah. He stood up tall on his hind legs and slammed down on the ice with his front paws. But, instead of the ice creaking, his paws slipped, and his body crashed down hard on breaking ice, tumbling him into the icy river.
As he paddled in the icy river, he saw Dhruvah rolling over in amusement. The elder was on his back, crying tears of laughter at his misfortune.
Thankfully, his bear skin and fur kept him comfortable in the icy waters. Thaddeus tried to get his paw up on the ice, to pull himself out, but he kept slipping, and not gaining leverage. Finally, on this 15th try, he was able to pull himself from the frozen river.
Disregarding Dhruvah, he used the large, body-sized hole to fish. However, fishing required great agility and dexterity. He had great difficulty just touching the fish, let alone flipping them out of the water. Minutes later, after his fifth fish, he gave up.
“With adversity comes triumph, you did a good job cub. Fishing in winter takes great practice. In the spring, all you must do is sit in the river and the fish will leap into your mouth. And in summer and winter, you’ll gain proficiency in catching fish. Of all the Bearkin I’ve seen, you’re the first to catch fish on their first try. Well done, cub!” Dhruvah complimented.
After receiving the compliment, Thaddeus let go of his embarrassment. And finished eating his trout with pride.
“Let’s return to the cabin, I have a surprise for you,” Dhruvah said with great satisfaction.
When they returned to the cabin, Dhruvah left and quickly brought out a beehive. Thaddeus stared at the beehive nervously. Wondering if it belonged to the town’s apiary.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t from your town,” Dhruvah said hurt by Thaddeus' nervous look. “I found it in the forest last night after you left. Come have a taste,” he encouraged.
Thaddeus knew the taste of honey, he often had it for breakfast. When the taste of the honey touched his taste buds, it felt like he was tasting honey for the first time. The rich floral and creamy fruity taste paired with the divine nutty aroma sent his senses into overdrive. He finally understood bears would try to get honey at all costs. If not for Dhruvah pushing him away, he could’ve easily eaten every honeycomb.
“You earned this. Nice job today,” Dhruvah praised. “You’ve learned the basics; I have nothing left to teach you. All you need to do now is to keep practicing. Also, I heard from my friend. He’ll be here at the end of the month, to train you in the ways of the Bearkin Warriors. That gives us three weeks to ingrain what you learned. The last week will be your final exam. If you pass, you’ll be prepared for warrior survival training,” Dhruvah advised.
“Thank you, elder,” Thaddues said bowing his head.
“You’re a good cub. I’m glad I was able to meet.”
The next three weeks went by in a flash
Thaddeus used the time to meticulously hone his newly acquired skills. Day after day, he practiced tracking, and identifying herbs and even improved his fishing techniques. His skills' proficiency levels steadily climbed, and he felt more confident in his capabilities. Dhruvah, seeing the cub’s fast development, introduced him to more advanced tracking techniques and even some basics of Bearkin combat.
By the time the fourth week rolled around, Thaddeus felt a surge of confidence but also a twinge of nervous anticipation. The final exam was a two-day survival test where he would be left alone in a remote part of the forest. He was to sustain himself with what he could find, employing all the skills Dhruvah had taught him. If he returned unscathed and well-fed, he would pass.
The morning of the final exam, Dhruvah led him to the edge of an unfamiliar, dense forest.
“Remember, cub, the forest is both your ally and your adversary. Listen to its whispers, understand its signs, and respect its might,” the elder Bearkin advised.
Before Thaddeus could respond, he felt ‘Wack’ on his head, and fell unconscious.
Walking up, Thaddeus felt dizzy and incoherent, “Alfred, where am I?”
“You are 20 miles from the cabin, sir. Dhruvah knocked you out and dropped you off in this territory,” Alfred explained.
“Alfred, which way is home?” Thaddeus asked slowly recovering from his concussion.
“Eastward,” the A.I. helper responded.
In the biting cold of the tundra, Thaddeus felt the icy wind slice through his fur as he stepped out of the protective grove. Dhruvah had given him his final challenge: to survive a week alone in the frozen prairie, making use of all the skills he had acquired. It was like the kind of challenge that Bear Grylls would revel in, but for Thaddeus, it was a trial of his very spirit—a gauge of whether he was worthy of learning more about Bearkin.
The first thing Thaddeus knew he needed was shelter. Even as a bear, the wind was too harsh, the cold too biting. He roamed for miles, finally spotting a crevice in a cluster of icy boulders. Using his Bash skill, he broke away shards of ice and rock to widen the space. After a few hours, he had a shelter that shielded him from the relentless wind.
He then went on a foraging run, his Tracker skill guiding him to herbs and bushes resilient enough to grow in this harsh environment. He found thorny plants with hardy berries and roots buried under the snow. As he dug them up, he felt a sense of accomplishment; his Herbalist skill was identifying these as decent nutritional sources.
On the second day, Thaddeus knew he had to find meat. He smelled it before he saw it—an elk, alone, nibbling at some lichen on a rocky outcrop. He crouched low, using his Cleave skill to maneuver silently through the snow. But the elk was alert; it looked up and bolted. Thaddeus gave chase, his Fast Slash skill allowing him to make rapid leaps through the snowdrifts.
Finally, his chance came. The elk misstepped, faltering on an icy patch. Thaddeus lunged, his front paws armed with lethal claws connecting with the elk. The animal fell, and Thaddeus felt the primal satisfaction of a hunter's success. He used his claws and teeth to expertly field-dress the carcass. Taking what he could carry, he headed back to his shelter, where he stored the meat in a snow pit to keep it fresh.
That night, he feasted. For two days, he lived off the elk meat, rationing carefully. It wasn't just sustenance—it was a victory, a validation of his skills and his right to exist in this unforgiving world.
On the fourth day, Thaddeus recalled Dhruvah's ice fishing technique. He found a frozen lake and, like Dhruvah, he stood on his hind legs and smashed down onto the ice. This time, there was no comedic fall into the icy water below—only the satisfying crack of ice giving way.
Thaddeus peered into the frigid water, his eyes locking onto the fish. With a swipe of his claw, he fished out a trout, then another, and another. He ate his fill, basking in the afterglow of another triumph. His new Active Skill, Track, seemed to shimmer in his mind, awaiting the moment it could be fully utilized.
Over the next few days, Thaddeus continued to hone his foraging skills. He could now identify and find shrubs, herbs, and berries with a practiced eye. He even used his Track skill to find a hidden stash of nuts, stored by some forgetful rodent. The skill informed him that at higher levels, he could even identify hidden traps or treasures. But for now, finding a stash of food in this barren land felt like discovering a hidden chest of gold.
Finally, the week was up. Thaddeus returned to the grove, weary but victorious. Dhruvah greeted him, a knowing smile on his face.
"You’ve learned well, young cub. I see the makings of a great Bearkin Warrior in you."
Thaddeus bowed his head, grateful and proud. During his examination, his Herbalism and Tracker states greatly improved.
"Thank you, elder," he said, his eyes bright with anticipation for the challenges ahead, fully aware that he was a step closer to learning about Bearkin culture.
For now, though, he was content to feast on the stash of honey Dhruvah had saved for him—each bite a sweet testament to his survival and triumph in the wilds of frozen tundra.