Uncle Fred washed the leather saddle off the thunder rhinoceros and told me where to focus my scrubbing, then staggered off humming an unknown tune from his homeland, telling me before he left that if there was any guinea pig gravy left, to save some for him. The leather boots on the grass brought up the moist, fertile black soil, and the fragrant scraps of young grass blew far away with the unique fragrance of the wind.
Each thunder rhino is assigned three men, a handler and two deputies. Fred is the second-in-command on the rhino that carries Kru, Kurtz and me, and is responsible for keeping a lookout and watering the rhino. He also cleans the leather saddle covers and so on. The other deputy is responsible for feeding the thunder rhinos. The handler is only responsible for driving the rhinoceros during the journey and keeping an eye on the health of the rhinoceros. Uncle Fred was very enthusiastic and during the time I was lying on the Thunder Rhino's spine unable to move, he was always there to help old Kulu fetch me water and sometimes sneak me a not so big piece of beef jerky. He always kept an upbeat mood, but had a bad habit of drinking, and since the merchant caravan had a troupe of dancers, Fred was always going over to the magic wagon for a little fun. Kurtz told me secretly, "Fred probably won't have a copper left in this run. Any coin he has will be stuffed into that little dancer's puffy tits. Why do you always have to work for him?"
I was standing in the shallow water with my bare spine, wearing only a wide pair of leather trousers, a small brown-haired brush in my hand, my head buried in the hard work of brushing my stained leather saddle cover, and before I could say anything, old Kulu, sitting on the grass on the shore of the lake, suddenly said to us both with a grin, "What is the specialty of the Pai Highlands?"
"A band of grey dwarf bandits!" Kurtz's answer made old Kulu cough repeatedly and give Kurtz a hard knock on the head with that rotten wooden staff, rather like he hated his guts.
"Is it herbs, Sensei?" I guessed.
"It's one of a kind, but there aren't any high-ranking herbs on the Pai plateau, just some lower-ranking ones like silverleaf herb, thornwort and devil's royal flower. These herbs can be found anywhere on the continent and are not uncommon. The real speciality that we have on the Pai Plateau is the magic antelope. The plateau climate here is most suitable for the magic antelope, the fertile land grows the magic antelope's favourite pasture grass, deer moss, and the warm, cool plateau climate makes the summer months short, and there are no packs of hyenas here." Old Kulu scattered his gaze across the distant savannah, his eyes leaking a strong sense of fondness.
"O magic antelope!" Kurtz and I opened our mouths wide, our caravan was stationed on the western side of the lake and across the lake we could see herds of magic antelope drinking on the eastern side of the lake, not afraid of people at all. "What are these antelopes going to do, be made into leather coats and boots? Or will they be dried and sold as meat?"
"Many wizards use them to make primary magic scrolls, and skilled inscribers use them to make primary inscriptions. Every year, over 800,000 skins are shipped from the plateau to all parts of the continent, bringing great wealth to the entire Pai Plateau."
The yellowish paper scroll was glowing with magic, and I could even feel the rich fire element on the scroll. I could feel the magical elements clinging to the thin parchment, following some kind of rules and flowing slowly, except that the engraved spell was not perfect and there was a trace of fire element dissipating.
"This is a magic scroll?" I asked, my eyes widening in amazement at the scroll of paper. There really was magic in this wonderful world eh, I remembered asking Kurtz the other day if there were dragons on this continent and Kurtz answered me seriously that there were and that to become a Beastman the title of Brave would require the title of Dragon Slayer before that.
"Oh, they say that wizards are rich. Having said that, as long as a junior magician who is able to awaken the magic pool, making magic scrolls is a must and the most convenient means of making money. This primary magic scroll contained three fireballs, which were not very powerful though. But travellers to the north carry some with them, and it's a good thing. No one wants to travel in the cold of winter and be blown into an ice sculpture overnight by a snowstorm. Ha ha!"
Old Kru joked for once in a rare while, the joke having a bit of a chill to it. Kurtz looked out over the distant grass, his eyes searching for guinea pigs and clearly a little distracted. I, however, was intrigued; magic was an unknown and new and mysterious presence for me. The thought that Harry Potter could even fly through the sky on a broomstick was cool just to think about. I suddenly understood what old Kulu meant and immediately said, "Do you mean the large amount of magic antelope skins that will be made into magic scrolls? This is a unique treasure on the Pai plateau? Then would too many people hunt the magic antelope and it would make them extinct?"
I thought again of the animals that had been hunted in large numbers and rendered endangered in that world before, and voiced my fears. Old Kulu paused for a long time, listening to my words and thinking before looking up and saying, "These antelopes have few natural enemies on the Pai plateau, they are naturally athletic and they can run twice as fast as wild horses. Even the swift grassland lions don't like to hunt them, and they are very good breeders, producing cubs three times every two years. There are so many of them that even with all this hunting, the population of magic antelope continues to grow and they compete with us orcs for pasture. We need large areas of pasture to graze our cattle, so the majority of the orc tribes welcome foreign adventuring groups to enter the Pai Plateau to hunt the antelope. The paper used for the primary magical scrolls, magical parchment, accounts for nearly a third of the paper used, and there is also a large amount of luminous paper made from leaf order grasses from the Forest of Eternal Night and primary magical paper made from a type of reed that grows in the Great Desert Swamp, making the profit from magical parchment very thin. "
Old Kuru changed the subject and went on to tell me, "But to accompany a caravan, it's a different story. A caravan has great transport capacity and can even acquire some leather directly. That's why we have two adventuring groups following us. That guy Fred is a little less skilled at hunting, but he is very good at making leather. Giga, I asked you to help him paint leather saddle covers because I also wanted you to be able to learn leather making from this guy, but unfortunately Kuz has no patience."
Seeing the doting look in old Kulu's eyes when he looked at Kuz, I suddenly understood a little why old Kulu had done so much to save me and let me grow up with Kuz, probably because there was a lot we could do to complement each other, Kuz hated learning and even hated it a little, he preferred the bone hunting knife. As if he could read my mind, old Kulu said to me indifferently, "You are the most extraordinary human child I have ever met, very intelligent, with great magical talent, a natural affinity for the element of fire, having awakened to the true name of your bloodline talent without going through a magical awakening ceremony, your life is destined to be extraordinary. But these are not the main reasons why I picked you, I value your heart more."
"You can see my heart?" I was a little confused, but I knew old Kuru would tell me next.
"Yes, because I am a beast shaman, and my full name is Kuru . Shaman . Blessing of the Wind . Earthwalker . Soulwalker ... Nimander."
The old orc's name was so damn long that it had shaman in it, and he was actually the most mysterious and rare spiritual leader shaman of one of the orc tribes. I glanced at the old kuru in shock and nearly threw the leather saddle holster in my hand into the lake, I had learnt a lot about this world over the days, be it human or orc dwarf elf demon strongman, all would have long full names as the name would contain the true name of their awakened bloodline, strongmen in the orc tribe had many titles, Ogre war demon . Tyrant. Overlord. But the shaman is the most mysterious of all, holding a legacy of soul power from the ancient ancestors of the Orcs. This was more like the archbishop of the human race, the druid who could communicate with the world tree in the elven world, a powerful man of supreme status and great power.
I was a little bewildered, looking at this powerful orc who claimed to have hidden his identity, but I could not feel the slightest bit of power in him, nor did I think that an old orc like him could be a great shaman witch doctor who reigned supreme. I thought maybe it was a dream of old Kulu's youth, the old man always liked to brag about his adventures, and I thought old Kulu was an orc witch doctor when he was young. But now that old Kulu said he was a shaman, I saw no reason not to believe it again. So I asked, "You are a shaman?"
"Yes, your heart is pure. I could feel it the moment you opened your eyes and looked at me, there is no discrimination between races in your heart, you do not see the orcs or dwarves around you in a different light, perhaps only a human child like you born in the Northlands, you may become the best friend of Kuz in this life. And all I need to do now is to teach you and Kurtz what I have learned in my life. Kurtz prefers to fight and hunt, but that is only the instinct of every orc child, and perhaps he will become a Guardian of the Earth or a Hunter of the Beast King. Rather we call them totemic powers, and I look forward to seeing what you grow up to be." As Old Crew said these words, his voice could reach my ears quite clearly, but I found that the others around me seemed to feel nothing at all, as if there was no Old Crew sitting on the grass talking to me, it was his usual little trick, the magic known as 'mind murmuring', which I thought was magic, Old Crew kept emphasising that it was the power of the Soulwalker. The merchant's deputies at the lake, who were responsible for brushing the saddles of the thunder rhinos, were still laughing and joking as they brushed the leather saddle covers, as if they had no regard for old Kulu, and someone asked me with a good-natured giggle, "Hey, little Giga, can't you brush anymore, do you need help? Seeing you talking to yourself alone, aren't you a bit tired?
I smiled and declined with thanks.
"Child, you are very magically gifted, and there are not many children with magical talent on this continent, even in the human kingdoms. In a large city of several million people there are perhaps less than a thousand who are able to awaken and practise magic. This includes even some families and royal families with strong bloodlines. If you can become a magician someday, then you can see that what you learn now will be a great treasure."
I got a little dizzy listening and thought to myself, "What on earth is this old orcish cleric trying to say."
"Many wizards care more about herbology and potions, which have probably become regular courses in human black magic academies, and I've been to some of them and seen the human world elaborate more fully on the value and usefulness of herbs. But very few wizards take Leatherworking as well, and I once tried to look up "The Relationship Between Animal Skin Textures and Magical Formations" at the most comprehensive collection of books at the famous Schloss Ivory Tower School of Magic, but unfortunately couldn't find it. Skinmaking is ..."
Old Kulu said a lot of things, but only the words "You have a talent for magic, my son" rang in my ears, oh my! Maybe one day I can become a mystic wizard? That's a pretty cool thing to say! Just think of me with a crystal wand in my hand, flashing into a crowd of monsters and shouting, "Break! Break! Break! And a ring of ice would freeze all the monsters around me into a cinder. It was more promising than shredding potatoes and carving turnip flowers in a big hotel.
I decided to do what old Kru said and learn leatherworking from Fred first. After scrubbing the saddle covers, I gave my coat a thorough scrubbing inside and out and hung it on the twine holding the stakes outside the tent. It was warm and moisture-proof. Then I took out the packets of spices I had worked so hard to collect and laid them out on the tent to dry, like peppers, dried chillies, star anise and cumin.
While I was busy organising the tent for the night, preparing the cooking utensils and spices for the guinea pigs Kurtz would be hunting, and starting to light the dried cow dung to make a soup for the caravan's patients, old Kulu and Steward Leipas stood on the earthen slope, sitting on a piece of limestone that had been weathered and broken into pieces, talking about me.
"I'm afraid the Imperial Human Apothecaries could never have imagined that these lowly herbs could make food so much more delicious. Sometimes I must acknowledge the creativity of you humans."
"Oh, old chap, this boy is growing on me too. Hard work, humility, honesty, bravery, all these good virtues in a mere seven year old, I do wonder just what ancient family can teach these to a child before they are five years old and burn them into their hearts as if they were born with them." Steward Leipas narrowed his hawk-like eyes and twirled his dark, thin beard gently with one hand.
"Leroy, do you think he could have come from a family that has inherited the gift of fire magic? What could have happened to make them give up such a bloodline awakener? Did the people you sent back find any trace of this?" Old Kuru took a deep breath.
"That's hard, old boy. You know that area is the Burning Forest, east of which is the territory of King Stan, west of which is the Dead Desert, and north of which is the Savage Glacial Tundra, and there is no territory within three thousand miles that belongs to a human lord. There are no clues as to his origins."
"But I think he'll need a formal education at a magic academy in the future, a good wizard's solid knowledge of the basics of magic will take him far. You are a shaman, after all, and although the magical elements have many similarities, they are the magic of the beasts and they are more suited to orcs. Giga must go to school at a human magic academy." Leipas hand was rubbing the smooth bronze hilt of the sword, the fine fine fish scale lines wrapped around the entire Roman sword, it was clear that this was an exquisite weapon that only a great Dwarven smith could make.
"I don't know of any magical academy on the continent that would take in a wanderer without any status, or shall I write a letter of recommendation to my old friend? I may not get much chance to wander all over the world with you again this time back in the tribe, I must raise some orc children while I can still move, knowing that it is too hard to find a few with magical talent from the orc children."
"Don't bother, I'll arrange this ... I'll take him to a suitable city, once he has a proper job and has lived there for 3 years, he will be given city resident status and will be allowed to attend the magic awakening ceremony organised by the city's primary magic school." The frown on old Kourou's face seemed to stretch a little as Butler Leipas said this.
"That would be good."