As much as Div and En wanted to know what an artigoat was, the language barrier was too much for Belilamos’ explanation to get through. All they could glean was that it was some kind of beast the barbarian wanted to hunt.
While En still had reservations about following a barbarian, Div was starting to like the man. He was making a conscious effort to speak with them, and his giant bow was very cool. He was looking forward to seeing it in action.
Belilamos followed the tracks left behind by the artigoat. It wound through the dense vegetation of the Wildlands, sometimes leaving a mark on the bark of some trees. For most of the track, Div and En couldn’t see anything. Whatever Belilamos was relying on to determine the direction the animal was in, it went completely over their head.
Apparently, the hunter was using a skill. It wasn’t surprising considering it seemed to be his job. Still, that meant Div and En had no choice but to trust him.
Something En was not comfortable with.
(I don’t know Div. What if it's a trap?)
[Trap Detection isn’t saying anything, don’t worry.]
(You were so wary of the guardians but you are ready to trust him. A barbarian, of all things?)
[I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You were able to give the guardians a chance. Belilamos has been nothing but kind to us, you should be able to give him the benefit of the doubt.]
As the Diven’s two minds argued, Belilamos waved his hand in front of their eyes. With a smile, he put a finger on his lips, signaling for Diven to be quiet. Then, he pointed in the distance.
Div and En turned their head to look. It was hard to make out, but through layers and layers of branches and leaves, far in the distance, a beast was gorging itself on chestnuts. The first thing that caught their attention was that the beast was eating the chestnut whole, spikes included. Then, its bizarre features became clear. It looked like a goat, but instead of the typical fur one would expect on this type of beast, its skin was covered in layers of leaves that looked strangely similar to an artichoke.
Div and En turned their heads back toward Belilamos, puzzled by what they were seeing.
“Artigoat,” Belilamos whispered.
The hunter took off his bow from his back, picked an arrow from his quiver, and armed the massive weapon. He was aiming for the artigoat. Seconds later, he let go of his bow’s string and the arrow lodged itself into the beast’s neck.
It fell to the ground.
[Impressive shot.]
En didn’t comment.
[Come on En! We could barely see the goat from here, to land an arrow so precisely is impressive.]
(It is.)
Belilamos, with Diven in tow, walked toward his prey. It took them a few minutes to reach it. Not only was it far from their shooting position, but the path was tangled with broken branches and brambles.
Belilamos made it look easy as he navigated the difficult terrain, but he had to wait for Div and En.
Still, he didn’t complain as the boy struggled through.
(We should be careful not to destroy it with rot.)
[You’re right.]
With En’s warning, Div focused a large part of his attention on restraining the rot-attuned mana in their bloodline. The job was messy without a rot magic skill, but with all the practice he had in the rift, he managed to make it happen after some trial and error.
When he finally succeeded, he noticed Belilamos was looking at him.
“Yes?” Diven asked.
Belilamos shook his head and waved his hand as if to say Diven didn’t have to worry about it. He crouched down next to his kill and, in front of two shocked minds, tore off two leaves from the artigoat.
He handed one to Diven and started munching on the tip of the other.
Div and En observed the piece of artigoat in their hand. It looked exactly like an artichoke leaf, except it was the size of their head and, where the artichoke flesh would have been, a bleeding piece of meat was present.
On the artigoat’s body, beneath the removed leaves was another leafy layer.
(This is weird.)
[We don’t even like artichokes.]
(It’s fun to eat, maybe the goat version tastes better.)
With Belilamos urging them to try, Div and En brought the meaty side of the leaf to their mouth. They bit down on it. It was tender, with a soft taste reminiscent of all the nuts the beast must have eaten recently.
“Good,” Belilamos said. “Evolved meat. Strong bones.”Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
[So this is Evolved Rank meat. No wonder it's so tender.]
(If we can eat some more, it is bound to be good for us. I’m not sure if eating it raw is a good idea though.)
[There goes my En, always full of good ideas.]
(Very funny. But that means Belilamos just one-shotted an Evolved Rank beast. We need to be careful around him.)
[Or not. You just said it, he one-shotted an Evolved Rank beast, if he wants to attack us, there’s nothing we can do.]
(As much as I want to agree with you, we’ve seen how effective Blighted Passage is when running away. That said, we should be ready to select Facet of the Runner if we notice any danger.)
“Thank you,” Diven said. “Do you eat artigoat often?”
“No, artigoat is rare. But Diven eats well. Good. Kids must eat,” Belilamos said. “Now I carry back to village.”
Right — Div and En had almost forgotten, but Belilamos had promised to take them to his village. They had been distracted by the hunt, but now that the prospect of seeing more people was placed in front of them, a tinge of anxiety reached them.
What if they found out about their bloodlines? About their skills?
(It’s possible barbarians don’t have the means to read our status.)
[Don’t be ridiculous. Bird could see it, the elders could, the ability is common enough that someone in Belilamos’ village is bound to notice.]
(But then what do we do?)
[We’ll see when we get there. Worst-case scenario, they kick us out. It’s fine.]
(We don’t know that, they could kill us. It’s barbarians we’re talking about.)
But a part of them wanted to reach the village. They wanted to see people. They had been alone for too long. Together, they agreed it was a risk worth taking. Based on Belilamos' behavior, it was very unlikely for things to turn violent.
Belilamos hauled the corpse of the artigoat on his shoulders. The beast was about as big as the already large man. With the extra burden, the hunter looked even more immense.
He gestured for Diven to follow him as he turned his heels, presumably toward his village.
As they walked, Belilamos became a lot more talkative. They weren't after prey anymore, so they didn’t have to be discreet.
“Diven, you know Lienien? How did learn?”
“I had book, but I lost it in rift.”
“Rift?” Belilamos asked, brows furrowing. “Why child like you in rift? Dangerous.”
“I know,” Diven said. “But it was accident. Did you see big deer?”
“Big deer? Ah! Do you mean Elenvind? Yes, this summer it passed through here.”
“Elenvind? Anyway, after its passage, I was attacked. Swarmlings. I run but I fall in river. There was rift in water. I enter unwillingly.”
Their Linien speaking was still choppy, but they felt they could communicate.
“And you live?!” Belilamos exclaimed. “Very lucky. We don’t let children enter rifts here. Evolved Rank is the minimum before taking risks like that.”
“In Kheiron, same. Just me, unlucky.”
With the hunter leading the way, it didn’t take long for them to reach the village. At first, when Belilamos pointed out that they had arrived, Div and En couldn’t notice the village walls even though they were right in front of them.
Then the barbarian explained that the village was surrounded by a wall of living trees, groomed by druids. With this in mind, Div and En quickly noticed how the trees were completely blocking the way forward.
(Incredible. The level of control required to create such a plant is hard to imagine.)
En instantly understood the wall of trees was in fact a single living organism. A single tree, growing through several trunks so close to one another they formed an impenetrable wall. If one didn’t know it was a wall, they would just think it was natural vegetation and ignore it.
“It must be great at keeping monsters out,” Diven said.
“It is,” Belilamos agreed. Then, the local moved closer to the wall and placed a hand on it. “Brigaseta, it is I, Belilamos. I brought a stray kid with me.”
The wall of trees parted, leaving an opening just wide enough for them to pass through. On the other side, Div and En looked around.
The village was peaceful, with a few people going about their tasks. Some noticed them and their gaze lingered on Diven for a moment before Belilamos shooed them away.
Good thing it was raining. Most of the inhabitants must be inside their homes. Div and En didn’t want to attract more attention than necessary.
The interior of the walls was filled with thatched roof houses, and cultivated fields. In the center, a single massive tree reached toward the sky.
“Welcome to Camboaci,” Belilamos said. “I hope you like it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Diven said.
While it was nowhere near the grandeur of Kheiron and its acropolis, the small village was charming and more elaborate than what Div and En had expected.
It was clean, and the houses, cobblestone paths, and other amenities were well maintained.
“We need to see Brigaseta,” Belilamos said. “She is village elder druid. Our Leader.”
(I don’t like where this is going.)
[Don’t jump to conclusions. I don’t think Belilamos has done anything to earn your suspicion.]
(You weren’t so kind with the guardians.)
[Maybe because they were openly trying to steal our skills.]
(Fine, that’s fair. But, you have to admit seeing their chief is not good news.)
[Yes, I’d rather not. With how sturdy the wall of trees is, she’s probably Ascended Rank.]
(It would make sense for the leader to be Ascended Rank, even if it’s just a village.)
“Don’t be anxious,” Belilamos said. “Brigaseta is kind. She needs to see newcomers to village. For safety. Unless you want to hurt Camboaci, you’ll be fine.”
This was enough to lift some of the weight off their shoulders. If the village elder met every foreigner who came to Camboaci, it was only natural they had to meet her too.
Belilamos led Div and En through the village, towards the elder’s house. There wasn’t a public building where these kinds of meetings were held. Or if there was, Diven wasn’t important enough to warrant using it.
“Later, I will introduce you to my family,” Belilamos said. “I have son. Small son.”
Then he added something Div and En didn’t understand as he raised four fingers.
His son must be four years old. Unless he had four sons. Lienien was hard.
“What about you?” Belilamos asked, then laughed as he corrected himself. “No child! But siblings?”
“No, I don’t have siblings. I had friends, but…”
“I see, you can new friends here. Don’t worry.”
Div and En were not sure. Making friends was not easy, and it would be even harder once the villagers knew about his rot attunement. And that was without mentioning that Diven didn’t exist anymore. With Div and En sharing a body, could they truly connect with anyone else?
It was something to worry about later, as Belilamos stopped before a cottage near the central tree and knocked on the door.
“Brigaseta. I brought the boy to see you.”