Chapter 55: Another
Mitch walked out of the hut with a powerful stride.
’Considering they turned around and carried me back here, I doubt they don’t care about my health. The least I can do is show that I’ve gotten better.’
As expected, whenever someone saw him strolling around, any sign of anxiety vanished from their faces.
That held true even for those who were not part of the hunt a few days back, which confused Mitch.
For all intents and purposes, these villagers should be livid about him suddenly arriving and taking command.
But when he saw Madeline, he quickly realized why they cared so much.
Around her was a huge crowd of young legios, all of them fighting to be at the front to hear what Madeline had to say better.
She was so immersed in her speech that she didn’t even notice Mitch sneak up behind her.
Standing there for a while and listening, Mitch found that she was teaching the kids his language.
Deciding to let her continue without any distractions, Mitch kept on searching around for the chief.
As he was looking, Mitch got more and more surprised.
’Are those barrels?’
Of course, they lacked any way to dig and process metal, so these barrels lacked nails.
What they seemed to have done instead was line a deep wood basin with hide, like sophisticated and sizable waterskins.
Previously, they had been using small buckets and regular waterskins to transport drinkable water from a nearby river. But they seemed to have invented these barrels in the three days Mitch was asleep.
While he was observing the new invention, the chief walked up to Mitch and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Michael... Awake... Food," he stuttered while waving his hand, telling him to follow.
Mitch raised his eyebrow in surprise. He wasn’t sure if Madeline had focused on teaching him these specific words or not, but being able to say even that much was an achievement.
They walked to the edge of the village, where another hut had been built, this one bigger than the normal villagers’ tents.
Pushing the hide flap aside, the chief presented the material inside to Mitch.
The chief was really intent on giving Mitch continuous surprises today, as the building was filled to the brim with the corpses of the lions Mitch had killed.
Other than his body, the hunters had gone out of their way to also carry the lions with them.
’I should reward them in some way. They deserve it after putting all that effort in.’
"What about naming him? He’s a pretty important person in the village, so him getting a name might incentivize others to put more effort in," Katherine recommended.
Mitch agreed and started brainstorming.
The chief just stood in the doorway, wondering if there was something wrong that caused Mitch to not reach.
After an uncomfortable amount of time, Mitch placed his hand on the chief’s shoulder and told him, "Komutan. Name, Komutan."
The chief, Komutan, was initially confused about what Mitch meant but soon remembered what he had done to Isaac.
He fell to his knees and put his hands together before shouting into the sky, tears starting to form in his eyes.
"... You just gave him a name. Why is he so happy?"
’Maybe because he thinks of it as a sign that I have accepted him as one of my own?’
Unfortunately, the thoughts of Komutan would remain a mystery for now.
Instead of trying to understand them, Mitch walked into the storage room and searched for the alpha lion.
He found it separated from the rest of the corpses, which upon closer inspection were lionesses.
Walking up to the lion, he crouched down and opened its mouth. His mind kept scaring him with visions of the lion coming back to life and chomping down on him.
’Have I become traumatized from almost dying to the lion?’ He didn’t feel any of the dread commonly associated with trauma. The opposite, in fact; he was unbelievably calm.
Clenching his hands around the lion’s canines, he ripped them out.
They were about ten centimeters each, which by themselves would be worthless.
Mitch turned around and went back to the chief. He put two of the teeth in Komutan’s hand and told him to give them to Isaac.
He hoped that Isaac would understand and turn them into either spears or daggers.
There was a reason Mitch only gave Isaac and Komutan gifts.
The other legios were too weak.
He had noticed it when they were hunting. Isaac was stronger than any of the legios with cosmetic mutations.
In fact, he was stronger than Komutan too. But Komutan’s claws, no matter how weak, would still make him pull ahead if they ever were to fight.
"So this is what genetic integrity means?" Mitch asked out loud after chasing the chief away.
"Looks to be. Will the weakening work synergistically with more mutations? There was a warning about taking mutations from the same species."
Conducting experiments would be difficult, as only Infused beings could go through two mutations. And so far, any creature that strong has either been an enemy or Mitch’s direct subordinate. Experimenting on either would be difficult.
"That can wait. Let’s acquire my second mutation first and think about what to do later."
Having lived with the villagers for even just one day, Mitch had become spoiled. Just imagining eating the lions raw made him almost gag.
Luckily, the villagers were generous enough to include something reminiscent of a fireplace.
He had observed the villagers light a fire once or twice, and they had even provided a bow drill next to the fireplace.
Twisting the tendon—which was used to bind both ends of the bow together—around another stick, Mitch twirled it on another piece of plank by moving like he was sawing.
A fire started a few minutes later, and Mitch grilled the chunks of lion meat he had ripped off the bones.
The meat came out very tough with a very gamey taste, but he was in no position to complain. At least it didn’t taste of blood.
"... I wish I could eat too," Mitch heard her whisper in his head
He then realized that Katherine had never had the joy of tasting food and immediately felt bad for her.
’You poor thing. Don’t worry, I will find some way for you to taste the wonders this world has to offer.’
He really didn’t want another glutton joining his group, but it might turn out to be impossible.
