My staff hits its mark, basically shattering the leg of the boar I had just hit. It wails out in pain as it tries to run away with only three useful legs. If it was just me the next strike would bash its head in, but I have to keep the thing alive for now.
"Kiaran! Now!"
"Shirley! Portal!"
Kiaran jumps from out of a tree he was hiding in and stabs the boar in the throat with a small dagger made of bone. It looks like this little training exercise had worked. That just meant he was able to order "Shirley" well enough so that she could make portals he could grab weapons out from, not that Kiaran would actually be able to kill an entire boar with that tiny little thing.
Kiaran's holding onto that boar for dear life as it writhes around on the ground. He keeps trying to dig the knife deeper into its throat with all his strength. Kiaran's actually a whole lot physically stronger than he looks so it's actually going quite well.
The very fact that he's able to treat a living animal this way also speaks to at least some sort of experience as a hunter. He's mentioned having to travel through the Ulfur forest once, although I don't know why or if he's done it multiple times. Even if his experience there pales in comparison to a native like me, it still definitely counts for something.
Not to mention being able to train a Gnostis Rana since it was a baby. Armies of these things are a huge threat. Even if their racial abilities are greatly diminished when they're by themselves, a beast tamer with an adult Gnostis Rana under their belt, who knows what they're doing is going to be one hell of a combatant.
I just have to get Kiaran a proper beast tamer's license. With my standing and my friends in Diana's cult it should be really easy as soon as we get back to Heafdes. I can't wait to see just what kind of warrior he winds up becoming in the future. First though…
"Kiaran! Use your connection with Diana to increase your strength! Stab its arteries! Hit it in the side of the neck!"
Without any sort of vocal confirmation from Kiaran, he suddenly gets far stronger and starts stabbing the hell out of its arteries. He's attacking all the right spots. He needs a bit more refinement, but he's sure to become a fine hunter in the future.
Eventually the boar finally dies and he's on his knees, drenched in blood. Looks like all his strength is spent after that spell I taught him. He needs to work on his stamina in that regard. His stamina normally is fine, but his stamina when he's using magic to enhance his body really needs to get better.
"Freware, I did it with Shirley's knife…" Kiaran says as he catches his breath.
"Yeah, good job. Can you call her back now?"
"Shirley!"
At his command, the Gnostis Rana comes hopping down from the trees and after a while hops onto Kiaran's shoulder. He starts petting it.
Man, it knows its name already. It's also already imprinted pretty well onto its master. I wonder if it's Kiaran's natural talent as a beast tamer or if it's Shirley's just learning really fast. It's probably both. I can't wait to see how both of their talents develop. Well, we should probably focus on some of the more important stuff first…
"Well now that that's done let's get this thing ready to eat and head off as soon as possible."
"Yeah, let's get Shirley's food ready first."
"Sure, that should be the easiest part."
For Shirley, we cut the legs off of the boar and pull all the muscles off of the bone. Kiaran cuts the meat into tiny pieces, and I crush it as much as possible. After that we pour it into a bowl of water and mix it until it's thick. For humans it's disgusting, but it should be good Gnostis Rana baby food.
Sure enough, Shirley drinks up the entire thing. After that, Kiaran has her suck up all the bones into her little pocket dimension. I'll have to find a way to get Kiaran a personal trainer to help him and Shirley craft those into genuine Gnostis Rana weapons. Since Shirley's a baby at this point, she doesn't know how to make any.
That knife Kiaran just used was just something that had been lying around in the pocket dimension for the army that got all killed off by that Storvitor Serpent. Shirley didn't actually make the thing, Kiaran just grabbed it when he could.
Whatever, I'll worry about it later. Now we have to make breakfast. I'd like to get on the road again as quickly as possible. Luckily, Kiaran is more than capable of helping me skin, gut, cut, and cook this boar. Even Aubrey looked like he was going to throw up during the entire process, which I always try to tease him for.
As for the dragon tamer, he doesn't mind hanging around us when we're preparing the meat, but he doesn't seem to know how any of the process works. He also doesn't seem to have any interest in learning either. Other than that, everyone else in our party is disgusted by the whole process other than Kiaran.
Kiaran's just about the only person I've met outside of the Ulfur forests or wasn't a member of Diana's cult who knew their way around preparing meat like this. Kiaran and I had just finished hanging the body up onto a tree branch when I sensed two people coming.
Turning around, I realized that Kiaran had noticed at about the same time that I did. The next thing that I noticed is that the two people that had approached us were Inell and… Azariah? What's Azariah doing here?
"Hey Freware! Kiaran! Are you done with breakfast yet?" Inell waves at the two of us. Probably putting up a nice front.
"No, we were just getting ready to skin the thing. It's still going to take a bit before we can even start cooking." I say.
"Oh, well that's good." Good? What is he talking about?
"Well you see, Azariah here had gotten curious about how you were preparing our food, so she came to watch."
"What? Why?" I ask. I'm legitimately confused.
"You should know it's useless to try and figure out what Azariah's thinking. I think it's something to do with wanting to know if she can handle watching it, but I'm not entirely sure, she hasn't told me. Just go ahead and pretend we're not here. We might not even be here for long, it depends on Azariah's reaction."
Alright, I think I kind of understand now. Why Azariah's doing this, I still have no idea. But hey, if she's willing to help out with cooking in the future, I'm not going to complain.
So Kiaran and I follow Inell's instructions and just pretend that the two of them aren't there. We begin to skin the boar. Whatever Azariah's reaction is, I'll worry about it as soon as we're done with this. With Kiaran here, the process goes really smoothly.
We have no clear use for the hide. I mean, we could sell it, but I don't want to carry it around for any longer than I need to. So the two of us just throw the boar hide off to the side to let it be reclaimed by nature later. Something in this forest is going to have some better use for this than we would, so we'll let whatever that creature or creatures may be find it later.
Anyway, I look over my shoulder to check how Azariah's handling the whole thing. She seems to be mildly uncomfortable, but it doesn't look like she's disgusted enough to leave just yet. Well, we'll see just how long she lasts when we gut the thing.
"Kiaran, you start. Can you do it with the knife Shirley gave you?"
"Oh, yeah. It should be enough to get the job done. It's so small though, I'm definitely going to get stuff all over my arms."
"Is that going to be a problem?"
"I mean, no, not really."
"Do it then."
Without responding Kiaran walks up to the boar and stabs Shirley's knife into the hole he chopped into its throat when he was trying to kill the thing. He grabs onto the boar as he tries to move his knife down to cut its belly open. I take a glance at Azariah, and she isn't showing any noticable signs of disgust just yet.
I begin to pry the hole Kiaran made open with my bare hands and start ripping its internal organs out. Kiaran helps me with this by chopping some of the more clingy parts out of their places.
Oh, I just heard someone throw up behind me. I'm also picking up the smell of vomit within this aroma of death. Huh, so that's the part that finally got Azariah then? I'm surprised she didn't just leave first. She doesn't strike me as the type to force themselves to sit through all of this. I guess my intuition of her character was a bit off, no big deal.
Eventually Kiaran and I finish gutting the boar and I look back to where Inell and Azariah were. Azariah's still standing there watching, although she looks sick as hell. Hm, I know she threw up, but she's still forcing herself to watch? She really didn't seem like the type to do something like that. Why is she even doing this in the first place? Eh, Inell told me it's useless to try and figure out what Azariah's thinking, and I'm inclined to agree with him.
"Alright, we just have to cut this thing up and start cooking, then it'll be ready to eat."
"Do I have to use Shirley's knife for that, too?"
"Yeah, no. It's far too small for that. We'll have to wait until she gets better at using her racial abilities and it can give you a bigger knife until we start doing that with them. We'll use normal equipment."
"Right."
Kiaran and I then cut the boar up into pieces as we should. After that's done, we leave all the pieces that we know we aren't going to eat where we left the boar for the creatures of the forest to eat. We headed back to camp with Inell and Azariah, the latter of which seemed really sick, although I know exactly why.
"Don't worry, Azariah, I also threw up the first time I saw Pitiful's men doing that! This is all a completely normal reaction!"
"I told you already… I'm fine…"
Kiaran kept trying to cheer her up on the way back, but I don't think it worked particularly well. Eventually Inell finally told Kiaran to leave Azariah alone, and that got him to shut up.
After a bit we all got back to the camp and cooked up all the boar meat. Surprisingly, Azariah was actually able to eat it without looking sick. I wonder if she'll be able to help with preparing the meat in the future? I'm always happy to have more hands around.
Breakfast eventually finished up and we were out on our way again. We wrapped up the meat we didn't eat for breakfast to eat for lunch. I wish I was able to use magic to keep meat fresh for long periods of time, like some people in Diana's cult, but I've never managed to get my head around it, even with incantations.
Wrapping it up like this should keep it fresh for about a day. In comparison, I've seen members of Diana's cult eat meat they had kept fresh with magic months after they've hunted it. Oh well, with this we should be able to keep it fresh up until lunch. It should save us a bit of time.
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The general opinions of the meat I had kept preserved weren't particularly positive. Hey, at least you aren't eating rotten meat! Or nothing at all! I've had to deal with both of those and trust me, this is way better.
Anyway, I take lunch as an opportunity to speak with Inell about Azariah's recent behavior. Him and Azariah usually eat together so I have to catch him right as we start eating. Azariah actually wound up eating with Cesre this time. Great, now I'll have to keep looking over my shoulder to make sure they don't blow anything up.
"So, Inell, I just wanted to talk to you real quick about why Azariah was so intent on watching Kiaran and I preparing this meat?"
"I wouldn't know, she didn't tell me. Like I said, it's kind of useless to try and figure out what Azariah's thinking unless she outright tells you."
"Even then though, you must have some theories or ideas, right?"
"Well, I mean I do. I think I have a pretty good grasp on Azariah's character, but that doesn't mean everything I say about her will be right. Why do you want to know why she wanted to see you prepare the meat anyway?"
"Oh, well you see, Kiaran's a natural beast tamer, and he's also quite strong. I've been wanting to get him into Diana's cult for a while now. It's just that when Azariah had started showing interest in our hunting I had thought that I could possibly introduce her to Diana's cult as well. She handled the process rather well for someone who's never seen it before."
"Huh, so that's what this is all about."
Inell looks up, like he's just gained a huge understanding of this situation.
"Well, let me tell you now, you should probably give up now. Azariah's already a member of Kari's cult, and she's a rather busy woman. She also doesn't take having to spend time away from her work or from her activities in Kari's cult very lightly. There's no real way for you to get her to join."
"Oh, I see…" Hm, even with her constant praying to Kari, I never really got that kind of vibe from her. She didn't seem like a workaholic at all. A devout follower too, it's a bit difficult to see Azariah in that light.
"She also isn't particularly compatible with Diana. If she did start heading to Diana's cult, it would just be to read books that Diana had written and she could only find them there. Azariah pursuing the wisdom of the Archon of Nature is definitely something she'll do at some point, but unless something drastic changes I just can't see her becoming a follower."
"But, do you think that her taking an interest in the preparation of meat could lead to her becoming a follower of Diana at some point?"
"Maybe, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Just know this, Freware. Even if she gets captivated by the wisdom of Diana, or the many faces of Proteus, or Florian's pure will, or Adad's power, or Beira's view of the cosmos, or Ceres' plentiful works and creations, the Archon that Azariah will serve first and foremost, will always be the Archon of Wind. That's just the kind of person Azariah is. Of that much, I'm absolutely certain."
"Huh, she really is a die hard follower of Kari's then, huh?"
"Oh, you have no idea." For the first time, I see Inell crack a genuine smile. It almost seems like he's kind of proud of Azariah?
"Well, not that that's entirely a good thing…" Inell's smile is still there but it seems kind of somber now. Like he's upset about something, but there's still enough good in it to keep smiling.
At this point I have no real idea about what kind of relationship these two have. They're both members of Kari's cult, so I'm assuming they've both spent at least a couple of nights together at some point. Eh, it's not like it's important to me anyway, so I just won't bother thinking about it.
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Dinner comes around rather quickly. For that we do have to hunt for something else. We caught a deer this time. Azariah wanted to watch us prepare the meat again, but Inell didn't come to watch with her this time. She didn't throw up this time, but she still had a pretty hard time watching.
I had Kiaran use Shirley's knife again, which had led to him getting covered in blood and guts again. Azariah actually made a comment about Kiaran really needing to take a bath. This surprised me because Azariah actually spoke, but I ultimately agreed with her.
I had said we should all probably bathe right about now, and that I knew of a nearby creek we could do it in after dinner. Once I had suggested it though, Azariah suddenly got really insistent on not doing it for some reason. I dropped it for a bit as we went to eat.
I brought it back up again to Aubrey, and he decided it would be a good idea. Azariah started to freak out, but she still never said anything. It didn't take us long to get to the creek I was talking about. At this point Azariah whispers something to Inell, and then the two of them go to talk to Aubrey.
Whatever they were talking about, I don't know, but after they were done Aubrey told the men and the women to bathe together. I have no idea why he did this, but it didn't appear to help Azariah at all, and Inell was staring at Aubrey like he was a complete idiot.
I had asked why we were doing it like this, and Aubrey had explained that Aubrey was uncomfortable being naked around other people, so we were going to have Azariah bathe around other women only. This didn't make the slightest bit of sense to me, and it didn't seem to alleviate any of Azariah's anxiety either. I think Inell also undestands just how stupid Aubrey's decision making is here too.
I don't feel like arguing right now, so I just leave to bathe with Cesre and Azariah. Before we went off though, Inell kept on telling Azariah that she was fine, and something about it being normal for a member of Kari's cult. I can't tell if that made Azariah feel any better but she eventually walked out with us.
Eventually I found a good spot, and I started to take my clothes off. Even when I took just my shirt off though, Azariah's face went completely red and she started appearing even more nervous than she just was.
I had asked her if she was OK, but she assured me that she was fine. By the time Cesre and I had gotten completely undressed, Azariah was a complete mess, and she hadn't even taken anything off.
"Azariah? Are you planning on taking a bath with your clothes on?" I ask.
"Oh- Oh- Yeah, I'm- I'm going to- going to get… get dressed- I mean undressed- yeah, right now, right now, I'll hurry- I'll hurry up…"
After whatever that response was, Azariah finally starts to undress. Aggravatingly slowly, but she starts to undress. By the time she's done, she's covering up her boobs and crotch and looking the other direction from Cesre and I.
"I'm- I'm- I'm ready…"
Cesre and I keep asking if she's actually OK, but she keeps telling us that she's completely fine even though she's literally shaking. We eventually drop it since Azariah's being so difficult and head into the creek to wash ourselves off.
Azariah never stops covering herself up. She also keeps passing glances and mine and Cesre's chests, as well as our crotches. After a while it kind of clicks at why Azariah's acting like this.
One of the things that Inell was telling her to calm her down was something being normal for a member of Kari's cult. If you remember that everything kind of just starts to make sense. Inell's little speech earlier about how Azariah will always be loyal to Kari before any other Archon is also making much more sense now.
Just how a devout follower of the Archon that had over a hundred wives and nearly a hundred husbands grew to hate their own base instinct that much is honestly beyond me. I don't particularly want to open up that can of worms either.
She keeps trying to look away but judging from the glances that she does make, I think she's much more interested in Cesre's body than mine. I'm honestly grateful for that, since I'm definitely not into women.
I wonder if Cesre would be interested in winding up with Azariah, actually? She does have a connection with Kari… No, I don't think she's actually a member of his cult, so I shouldn't be assuming that. They do seem to get along with each other well enough though…
I'll have to ask how Cesre would feel about that kind of thing later. I wonder if she's realized just what Azariah feels towards her body yet? Yeah, yeah, she definitely has. There's no way Azariah's hiding that lust from anybody. Actually, I really think that Aubrey doesn't quite know yet… yeah, that explains why Inell was looking at him like he was dumber than a bag of rocks.
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Eventually the bath ends and we all get dressed. I haven't asked Cesre what I wanted to ask her yet, I'll do that in the morning. After a while, it's time to head to sleep. Azariah and Inell shouldn't be too far behind us by now. Their sleep schedules have had a while to adjust to ours. That's good. They both should hopefully be fully rested by the time we actually have to start fighting for real.
Man, tomorrow's the last full day of traveling at our pace. After that, we'll pretty much be where we'll need to be, and the fight will begin. It's so close, I can't wait. Being able to feel the thrill of a real battle is almost here. I nearly got it with that Storvitor Serpent before Inell chopped its head off, and now I'm really itching for it.
Seeing Aubrey's amateur bladework in action, slowly but surely improving through experience as the battle progresses. Seeing Kiaran's and Shirley's newfound teamwork come into play. Watching Azariah fight with her magic after being taught Adad's spells by Cesre. Seeing Cesre use her magic to obliterate the enemy from afar. And of course, the sheer skill and talent of Inell the dragon tamer. I just can't wait to see it all!
Well, I shouldn't be thinking about this too hard. Whatever happens at this next battle, it will be extremely different from whatever I'm imagining. Years of experience have taught me that, but that only makes it all the more exciting!
Hey, Diana, lend us a bit of your power here in two days, alright? Show us luck in battle. I have many strong and great warriors here. Surely they're the ones who deserve to come out on top, right? There's so much more for you to see out of all of them, so don't let their lives be cut short, alright?
Not that I think that would happen or anything, but battle can go any which direction. If something unexpected were to happen, and one of them were to find themselves on death's door, give them a hand, that's all I ask. Like I said, you'll see great things from them all if you let them live.
Well, anyway, I think that's it for me tonight. I'm getting really tired so I should really head to bed right about now. As for Proteus… eh, I'll pray to you first thing in the morning, alright? Out of all the archons, you're the one most lenient with missing prayers like this, right?