LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 12: 12. Tribe Grows
Jion is sitting with his eyes closed on his bed, wrapped in beast fur. The owl on his lap, sleeping, is also wrapped in beast fur.
He communicates with the owl and teaches her to understand the language spoken by the tribe members. So, even if he is not present, the owl can understand what the tribe members are telling him.
He also asks the owl when it will awaken his innate spell, but it always answers the same that she is feeling that in no moment it will awaken.
But, never gave him the accurate time.
Join suddenly felt a message enter his sea of consciousness and he probed the message with his spirit.
He did not feel any danger of the message directly entering his sea of consciousness because only the totem can do this.
The message read- Get House, Food, and other supplies for 27 people. The Wolf is bringing them in a couple of hours.
Join eyes open wide when he read the message. The message only mentions the Wolf is bringing 27 people to their tribe and they have to prepare house, food, and other supplies.
There is no mention of who they are or why. But he has to follow the command from the totem.
He is already around 70 years old and their tribe has believed in the totem for at least 300 years but received no replies or acknowledgment till the totem started communicating with him a week ago.
That means 99 % of his life, he did not know if the totem considered themselves as his or her tribe.
So, as he learned from the previous elder, he used the totem to maintain the unity of the tribe.
Every hardship they experience is the test set by the Totem. When they pass each hardship, they will awarded by the totem.
He does not if other tribe members will receive a reward from the totem.
He, Via, and the future shamans of the tribe had received the reward, for maintaining the tribe's belief in the totem.
The reward was- a way to advance to the Great Shaman realm.
He put the owl on the bed beside him and covered the owl with a beast fur from his body. He wears clothes appropriate for the winter season while thinking about how can he receive the practice method to the Bronze Shaman Realm.
What have to he do for the totem to reward him, his thought is broken by the call of the owl.
From the familiar bond, he told the owl to get some sleep. He quickly opens the door and closes the door after he steps out of his home.
Outside, he first gazes at the sky, discovering the snow has stopped falling and the sun's light is peaking from behind the clouds filled with snow.
He then bows to the statue, which is their totem. He walks left passed two houses and looks at the peculiar house.
This house of 10m*8m*10m dimension looks like made from a piece of wood. This house belongs to Via, who with her power up on wood, manipulated it to look like this.
Every winter season, the door and windows of the house also disappear leaving small holes that cannot be observed by their eyes for the wind required for breathing to enter the house.
The house looks peculiar but he has entered the house during winter, and it is truly warm, The beast fur also needed to cover themselves during winter inside this house.
So, if he can manipulate wood like Via then he will also transform his home like her.
With no doors to knock, Jion slaps on the wooden wall of the house. And around five seconds later, when he slapped, the wood receded to form a small hole showing Via's face.
Seeing him, a curious look falls on Via's face," Elder, why are you out in this cold weather in your old age?"
Before he can reply, She continues, " Massive injustice will happen, if you die after receiving the method to advance to the Great Shaman Realm."
Which made Jion shake his head, Via completely changed every winter season becoming sarcastic and a homebody.
She changes every season like a tree but changes massively in the winter season.
Jion with an amused expression, " Come out, meet me in the eating room." with that, he walks away and has to inform Al next.
He hears her shout behind him, asking," Why outside? You can tell what you want to say here."
Jion without turning back replies," Wait for me in the eating room, I am going to call Al." he stops replying to her shout and goes to call Al.
After together with Al, he enters the eating room, finding Via sitting with a cup with steam coming out in front of her on the table.
He and Al sits facing her on the table, seeing Via taking a sip from her cup.
Al asks," What are you drinking?"
Via replies," Bone soup with some herb. Pree said it is one of the items for the lunch."
Jion remembers he has to tell Pree to prepare food for 27 people more, so he calls out," Pree, can you come here."
Pree walks out of the kitchen, " Elder do you need anything?"
Jion turning to face her says," I am sorry, but you have to prepare food for 27 people more."
Pree is confused, and Via and Al are confused.
Via asks, "Are people coming to our tribe."
Jion replies," Yes, Totem told me, the wolf is leading 27 people to our tribe." From their face, he knows what question they are going to ask.
So, he continues," I do not who they are, and why they are coming to our tribe. And, the totem only orders me to prepare food, house, and supplies for them."
Via hears the house and understands why the elder calls her," You call me to prepare houses for them. Then, what I am doing here? I should go do my work."
Jion seeing her stands up and speaks," Do not build multiple houses for them, build one large house with two or three rooms."
Al speaks out," Three rooms will be ok, and call Vak and other hunters to help. Build the house toward the west end of the tribe. There is a small pond there, they can use the pond."
Jion nods and watches Via walk out, he speaks," Let's go we will wait at the entrance of the valley."
Gavin with his spirit field, hears their conversation and connects with the clone finding the clone is carrying all the small children on its back.
He thinks, according to the clone's speed in half an hour they will reach the entrance of the valley.
He watches waiting for the clone to arrive and learns from them how their tribe is destroyed and what outsiders Seamus mentioned. Is the Silver Sword clan helping the snake tribe destroy the Spring Fairy tribe?
Because he knows only the Silver Sword people are outsiders to this region with only a year to create the town.
He watches in astonishment, as the hunters cut down trees required to build a house and Via only puts her hand on a broken tree and the tree turns into different tree slabs.
In five minutes, the base of the house is complete, and as the people from the Spring Fairy tribe reach the entrance of the valley after 20 minutes, a large house stands at the place.
Gavin hears the Elder and Al greeting Seamus. They are surprised to see Seamus and are horrified to learn the Spring Rain tribe is destroyed.
They curse in colorful language when they hear the Snake Tribe destroyed the Spring Rain tribe with the help outsiders.
Hearing the description of the outsiders and their weapons, and turns for Gavin to be surprised.
He feels familiar, the outsider is similar looking to them but with no third eyes on their forehead.
And they have a long stick that can shoot small metal arrows.
Gavin guesses from the description the outsider may be human but their magic stick can only be a gun.
Which made him think deeply About, whether he will connect with the Human as he was Human in his previous life.
That thought did not remain for more than one second in his mind that he remembered Human behavior.
He was a Human in previous fought for more than three-quarters of his life but they did not have any qualms about killing him, because of jealousy.
And he did not even see them, they may be similar looking to the Human race, he has to check them and also figure out their strength for future confrontation.
In front of a large house, Seamus stood, engaged in a conversation with the chief and elder of the hidden tribe.
He recounted the tragic events of the attack on his tribe, which occurred at the first light of dawn.
"As we rested in our homes, we heard a loud thunderclap," he began, "but when I looked up at the sky, I saw snow-laden clouds, and no storm in sight. Confused, I thought it was just my imagination. But then, the terrified screams of my tribe members—still asleep in their homes along the wall—broke the silence. We were under attack."
Seamus's voice faltered for a moment, but he continued. "We quickly armed ourselves and rushed out, led by our totem. But the Snake Tribe had planned an ambush. They were hiding behind the walls of our settlement. The attackers weren't just them—they had allied with outsiders wielding strange magical sticks that emitted deadly power. As we fought back, we were assaulted from all sides: the Snake Tribe at our rear and the outsiders ahead. Their totem even confronted ours in fierce combat."
He clenched his fists. "Our totem fought valiantly. It gained sudden strength, overwhelming the Snake Tribe's totem, beating it down so it couldn't rise. It blessed us, increasing our power, and for a brief moment, it felt like we might triumph. But then..."
Seamus took a deep breath. "One of the outsiders, with power equal to the Snake Tribe's totem, joined the battle and struck our totem. The tide turned again. Within minutes, our totem's voice echoed in my mind, urging me to gather the tribe's women and children and escape. The elder of our tribe also received the same message. He convinced me to flee with them while he and others stayed behind to hold off the attackers, sacrificing themselves for our escape."
Seamus's gaze dropped as he recalled the chaos. "I managed to gather only half of the women and children before the Snake Tribe broke into the settlement. There was no time. We escaped through the hidden route, but they sent Bale and two of his men after us. We ran to the Great Lake. That's when Bale caught up with us. I thought it was the end—"
His expression shifted. "But then, your totem's follower, Lord Wolf, appeared and saved us."
The elder and the chief exchanged a look. Jion, the chief, clarified, "The wolf is not our totem. It is a follower of our totem."
Seamus's eyes widened in shock. A magical beast of the wolf's strength was merely a follower? That meant the hidden tribe's totem was incredibly powerful—perhaps only a step away from advancing to the Bronze Realm.
Realizing the magnitude of their generosity, Seamus reached into a satchel given to him by his tribe's elder before their escape. Bowing deeply, he offered it to the elder and the chief. "Please accept this offering of fairy tears as a token of gratitude for Lord Wolf and your totem's intervention. Without them, we wouldn't have survived."
The elder accepted the satchel solemnly, acknowledging its importance.
When Seamus raised his head, Al, the chief, asked, "Seamus, what do you and the remaining members of your tribe plan to do now?"
Seamus hesitated but then said, "I will travel to the Dark Panther Tribe and inform them of the Snake Tribe's treachery—how they colluded with outsiders to destroy our tribe."
He added, "According to the Eye Council, tribes may attack one another, but only if they're of similar strength. The Council strictly forbids collusion with outsiders, and such betrayal is considered an unforgivable crime."
Both the elder and Al nodded, their expressions grim. The Dark Panther Tribe, being a medium-strength tribe, would likely act against the Snake Tribe. If they did, the hidden tribe could rest easier.
Seamus continued, "Until then, I humbly ask if the women and children who escaped with me can find refuge here, within your tribe."
The elder and Al both nodded in agreement, their decision swift.
Before leaving, the elder said, "Seamus, if you wish, you can accompany us as we inform the neighboring tribes of the Snake Tribe's crimes. Your presence will lend credibility to our claim."
Seamus nodded as the elder and chief departed, leaving him to rest. Entering the large house behind them, Seamus marveled at its construction. The hidden tribe had built this spacious home, with three large rooms, in such a short time.
"The hidden tribe," he thought to himself, "must have known we were coming even before we arrived. but how?"
While thinking of this he enters the house. The hidden tribe is mysterious as always and he did not mention their totem told us to escape to the direction of the hidden tribe otherwise he would have taken his fellow tribe members to the Silver Sword Town.
The decision of their totem is proven right and thinking of their totem his expression turns sad and then changes to calm. He vows that before he dies, he will destroy the Snake Tribe and he steps forward to console the children.