Chapter 1717: The Expected Resistance - Frosttusk

[Thank you for...sharing all this,] Nepherage told me after I had more or less spilled my guts. [I can sense that it was rather painful for you to do so.]

[Yes...it was...]

As a kaijin, the concept of privacy mostly died with my revival.

I could feel I was connected spiritually to not just the jarl, but to every single kaijin he had created before and after my own inception.

And through this bond, I could feel... everything.

Every memory.

Every sensation.

Every stray thought.

However, I soon learned to maintain some level of privacy...to an extent.

I could keep myself from sharing certain things through the bond but couldn’t stop others from prying into my business. Thankfully, nobody, not even the jarl, opted to invade my private thoughts and feelings.

Until now.

Until I decided to share with Nepherage.

We both remained silent after my revelation, neither of us wanting to break the silence at any level.

But alas, the world had a habit of moving forward regardless of intent or feeling.

[Attention, Yin Yang Duo,] Hurricroak suddenly said in both of our heads. [Hakon’s daddy and the elders have collectively agreed that Hakon is to head to the trial grounds at first light tomorrow. We might not need to sleep, but we should at least be somewhat presentable tomorrow.]

[Understood,] Nepherage answered for the both of us.

[Oh, I should also mention that the Abyssal Land duo and the Zhen Clan will be joining us as well,] Hurricroak added. [None of the domestic warriors wanted to tag along.]

[That...seems weird...] Nepherage noted. [Did they really refuse?]

[I mean...they said something along the lines of wanting to stay behind to protect the tribe, but really, it would probably be safer for them to just tag along with us,] Hurricroak suggested.

[I...doubt...that,] I said in response. [That traitor... probably...dropped a dime... on us.]

We knew we were heading for a trap tomorrow.

From the moment we revealed Mathera to be a spy, I knew that meant whatever plans or path the Storm Singers had come up with while she was still a member was more or less pointless due to exposure.

Worse than pointless, they were dangerous.

If that information ended up in the hands of enemy tribes, then it was very easy for them to set up ambushes in familiar territory.

Then again, perhaps that was the point of this expedition.

Maybe Hakon was supposed to learn that a leader can’t have everything go their way, that compromises and sacrifices had to be made.

But he was travelling with us now, and that lesson was probably going to get supplanted by an entirely different one.

Namely, that with enough power, or the right power in general, even the impossible becomes possible.

[Where is...the...site...anyways?] I asked my fellow kaijin. My own memories of that time were beyond fuzzy.

[It’s been...a...long...time...since...then...]

[Well, that’s a good news bad news situation,] Hurricroak said. [The good news is that we’re actually fairly close to the site where your past self had his last stand. We’re calling it the Burial Ground of the Mammoth. Name’s pending, by the way.]

[Fair enough.] Nepherage nodded. [And the bad news?]

[The bad news is that we’re expecting a whole lot of resistance, due to...obvious reasons.]

[Of...course...]

The discussion from there could best be summed up with the statement that all of us who were to accompany Hakon were going to be in for a fight.

Which was something I was honestly looking forward to doing.

In my time, many of these enemy tribes were actually once our allies in brotherhood. But alas, ambition, pride, and perhaps coercion have made them all enemies.

Perhaps retrieving the axe and returning the Storm Singers to their place as the local hegemon might restore this balance.

After a few more moments outside, both Nepherage and I returned back to the camp in preparations for tomorrow’s journey.

As a kaijin, I didn’t need to sleep. However, for reasons not even the curators were sure about, I felt unusually tired.

No, not tired.

[Weary... I feel...weary...] I said to myself in realization.

This was one of those thoughts that I kept private from the others...for obvious reasons.

...Time Skip...

In the morning, nobody came to see Hakon and us off.

But that was on purpose.

Hakon had woken up before everyone else in the tribe had, and had rallied us, the Zhen Clan warriors, and the duo from the Abyssal Lands.

He wanted us to be out of the area as soon as possible and to be at the Burial Ground just as fast. The sooner we were there, the sooner we could deal with any opposition and readjust plans accordingly.

At least, in theory.

Either way, with a group as large as we were, we opted to walk as opposed to fly.

Nobody thinks twice of a large group of beasts walking on the ground regardless of size; everybody looks up when they see a large group of birds flying overhead, regardless of size.

Either way, it took us time to get to the burial site, and it gave us time to talk and take in the sights.

For the others, it was a novel experience.

[Hey, is that a...hairy rhino?] Hurricroak asked the other kaijin.

[I believe they’re called wooly rhinos,] Nepherage answered.

[Huh...never see any of those back at Stone Claw. All we see are just...regular giant rhinos. Wait, do these guys also have an affinity for earth aether?]

[Nah, the ones around here are actually keyed towards thunder and ice,] Slug-at-Arms answered. [Vicious motherfuckers, the Zhen Clan warriors could only use poison to deal any sort of damage to them.]

[Neat.]

As for me, it was...oddly melancholic.

The others weren’t aware, but this particular path was actually the same one I took all those centuries ago. The same one I treaded to my unforeseen demise.

There was less snow this time around, and no howling winds, but...it still felt so familiar to me.

Evidently, this feeling must’ve affected my gait enough for Hakon to notice and attempt to talk to me.

Are you alright? •Yes, I am fine. •Hmmm. •

Hakon stared at me for a noticeable amount of time, his eyes vaguely reminding me of a pair that used to greet me every morning.

Eventually, he opened his mouth and asked a question that I was expecting and yet dreaded all the same.

Master Frosttusk...were you a member of my tribe? In a past life? •

I was silent for a moment before deciding to deflect with a question of my own. Although, I knew it wasn’t going to do anything to dissuade him from continuing.

You know from your time in the Library that we kaijin are—•Yes, you’re beings born from [Desire], but that’s only applicable to most of you. •Hakon interrupted. • I took the time to actually read up on the kaijin and the nature of their existences to know that some of you are actually a bit more than monsters with artificial souls. Some of you are made from the remnants of a departed soul. At least, your [Cores] are. •And what prompted you to look into such things? • I asked, knowing the answer deep inside myself.When the Gallop Brothers appeared. •Ah.•

The Gallop Brothers were...an unusual bunch of kaijin, even by our standards.

Unlike Hurricroak and myself, they could fully remember everything about their lives from when they were human.

Whether that was due to the jarl being stronger when he created them, or because their deaths were recent, or because the materials used to make them were incredibly personal was...unknown to the rest of us, even to the jarl.

The curators assured us that there were records of this happening in the past, but none of us had the time to look into them.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say, we felt that it was a Pandora’s box that we didn’t want to open quite yet.

The records mentioned something about how when a kaijin is made with materials that were rich in [Meaning] but lacking in [Value], they end up remembering the memories that gave the materials [Meaning] in the first place,• Hakon explained to me.

•But that’s only the case if the person who gave the item [meaning] is still alive. In the cases where the person who gave the item [Meaning] is dead, the resulting kaijin is a...little different. •

I was silent as I waited for Hakon to reveal to me their conclusion.

•Taking all of that into consideration, the fact that you can speak my native tongue, the way you carried yourself when we were amongst my kin, and the traditional ways that are only taught by word of mouth... I can conclude one thing: you were once a member of the tribe, a long time ago. •

•...•

•So my question is...who were you?•

•That...is something you should never have to learn...just know, I am your kin. That is all.•

I was bold and reckless last time...this time, I shall be a careful coward.