I was heading back to civilization. Time to try and level Status Manipulation as I might need it. I enabled the skill and tried to set it to completely hide my Spy class. I am going to ask Erik to try and penetrate it as he is the most likely person with the skills in this group.

On the trail we kept to a routine. There were twenty laden mules. Normally each dwarf would be responsible for two or three mules each. With Tabitha and myself it was two mules each and the dwarves would walk beside their charges so they were spread out along the line in case of incidents. Each person was also responsible for loading and unloading them and their care. Snøfrid had her own dedicated mule which nobody else touched. Koza and Velikan were scouting and hunting and scaring off anything looking for a mule dinner.

We stopped for the night in the late afternoon and cared for the mules and Rocky. Tabitha went to help Ashby with the dinner. It was getting dark when Koza appeared.

“Spear to low,” He rumbled. “Bring and we hunt.”

I grabbed my spear and reached for my bow and he stopped me.

“Not that type of hunt. Bring two spears.” He said.

They had obviously found signs of a particular type of animal. I followed with my senses on full alert. Visual tracking was doing no good in the dark so I was relying on Pip and my Bond Senses and Hearing Aid. It was Pip that picked up the bear scent. Then we scented Velikan. We found the cave the bear was in and Koza stopped me.

“Velikan will bring it out,” he said.

I saw the shadow that was Velikan enter the cave and then the growling and roaring began. Soon Velikan came bounding out of the cave chased by the bear. Koza waved me into the frey.

I had two spears, but I wasn't going to risk throwing one with Velikan in there so I put one against a tree and just charged to get a strike to cripple a back leg. I was partially successful and I got the bear's attention. It turned around to take a swipe at me and I ducked looking to thrust into the heart and finish it. I missed and the spear point broke on a rib. The bear was still coming so I had to get out of the way and couldn’t concentrate to make another point. I backed up. Velikan was nowhere to be seen so I guess this was my fight. The bear was still coming so I was ducking and weaving and slicing with the still sharp edge of the spear. I was manoeuvring to where I had left the other spear. When I had it, I switched and got a thrust into the neck and then it was waiting while it bled out, but I did finish with a trust to the heart when it got slow. That wasn’t a very successful showing in my view. I found the weakness of stone spear heads and my ability in the heat of battle.

Koza and Velikan came out as I was starting to skin it. I think he had seen that I learnt my lessons, or he figured that if I hadn't it was my death. All he said was, “Next time I want to see you move like the practice drills.”

I had forgotten the practice moves. I needed to drill much harder. I nodded and got to my work. When I got the skin off one side Koza chopped a leg off and tossed it to Velikan who sat down for a snack. We left Velikan with the rest of the carcass and headed back to camp. Spear didn’t even level.

The next day was a repeat, and then Koza came and got me again but this time it was a big old boar. I took the skin from that too because it was a tough old hide and was good for armoured sections. We left the tough old meat, even Velikan wasn’t that interested. I rigged up a way to carry the spears on my back so I could take all three all the time.

The next night it was a herd of goats. I killed two, one with a thrown spear and the other with a single thrust. Spear finally went to the Apprentice Level. The next day Thyrrni asked Tabitha to look after my mules and she took me off for half a day to look at rock formations. That is a statement I never thought I would make. Mineral Lore went up and Granite Sense was creeping toward Journeyman Level. I got a few more gems as well. I took care of Tabitha’s mules that night while she took Dusk for a run.

Koza came that night and said I would go with him the next day and to bring my bow and spears. We would be on foot. I talked Ulfhildr into managing my mules and Tabitha would look after Rocky.

Koza must have decided I was worth teaching, because that day he taught me. No, he TAUGHT me. It was full on, this tree, that snake, that moss, that spider and it was in Common and in Orcish and I was expected to learn it once and then apply it and repeat it whenever he asked. In Common or Orcish. The only time it stopped was at lunch and we sat down and he taught me about the Orcish language.

The Orcish Language is a tonal language so the tone the word is said in changes the meaning. That is why it is important to get those low tones sorted. Their language structure is different. Common language is ordered Subject, verb, object. ‘I joined the clan’ is it in common. In Orcish it is Object, Subject verb, for example Chōōd Eh Oōleh would literally be ‘Clan I joined’ And words have areas of meaning. Oōleh means joined and became family. If they were talking about joining a temporary hunting group they would use a different word. This was opening up the Orcish language in a whole new way.

Then we were off again. Look for that plant and the healing mushroom will be nearby as they need the same soils and light. Those birds are particular to the berries in that tree which is a good tree for arrows. Those tracks indicate a mountain cat hunting ground etc, etc.

I looked at my status and was amazed. Animal Lore was now Apprentice and I had Plant Lore 1 and I had Orcish 1. I didn’t even know there were skills for languages. I asked Thyrrni about it.

“Absolutely there are,'' she said. “My native tongue is Dwarvish and I have a language skill for Common which is in the mid Journeyman levels. The Novice levels are just that, basic structure and learning words and sentences. Apprentice levels you will carry out simple conversations. Journeyman level are fluent in everyday speech and master is mastering technical language or academic language. For Orcish you will also improve in hearing and making the low tones that are so important. For the Elves it is the high tones.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked

“With my mapping skills I get around taking different contracts, so I picked up a Diplomat Class that helps me learn languages and smooth the way.”

“How many do you know?” I asked.

“I am Journeyman level in Common and Barbarian, and Apprentice in Elvish and Gnomology, and Novice in Southern Imperial.”

“Wow.”

When I Identified Orcish 1 I got a strong link between it and the Spy class, as if the Spy class was helping me learn languages which did make sense just like Thyrrni’s Diplomat Class. I would ask the Dwarves to teach me dwarvish but my mind will explode, so one language at a time.

The next day I stayed with the mules and reviewed everything I could. I used Far Sight on the landscape and used that to trigger my memory. This day on day off pattern kept up for the next week and on the fourth day with him I was explaining everything and he was correcting. My Skills had jumped. Animal Lore at 7. Plant Lore at 4. And Orcish at 4. I really was getting the hang of those deep sounds in Orcish. Tracking had gone up to 9 and that was partly Koza explaining things and partly the increase in Animal Lore. My bond with Pip had also gone up.

I was starting to feel like I knew what I was doing as a Hunter. Now I just needed my class to level. The following day I finally caught up with Tabitha. I thought she would be going stir crazy, but she was fine. She was learning Dwarvish and was already mid Apprentice level. She had asked the Dwarves to only speak dwarvish to her in preparation for Jern. Her language was helped along by her Merchant Class. I am feeling like the dumb Rock Brain again. I asked her about it and apparently Dwarves don’t worry about small things like the order of the words. They add prefixes and suffixes to the words to indicate if it is the subject or object of the sentences so word order doesn’t matter. Then there are other ways they change the word to give meaning for example for present, past or future tenses. Nope. I will be the Rock Brain and stick to one thing for now.

Koza came to me that evening and said a mountain cat is stalking the mules. If i can hunt it tonight, or tomorrow at the latest we would be free to hunt something bigger. He said that with a grin. I figured this was a test or something.

I grabbed my spears and knives. I left my bow as I figured at night I wouldn’t get much opportunity with a bow. I still had the throwing darts I hadn’t used for a while, but kept practising with. The first thing was to scout and then to think like a hunter. If your prey has a place you know they will be, it is pretty obvious to trap that area. I didn’t have many traps, but I took them with me.

Scouting was done by Pip and my Bond Senses. I had Hearing Aid on but I didn’t think a big cat would make much noise until it pounced. We didn’t want it to get that far. I did a circuit and picked up the scent. It was intermittent and it then clicked it was using the trees. I went and trapped the most likely places near the mules, baited with raw meat. I didn’t think that would work, but it might, and it was easy. I made sure I had a spear in hand and did another circuit, this time hoping to follow the trail.

There was some scent that was a few hours old and I tried to work out which trees it might have used. I probably looked funny going around sniffing trees. I tracked it through several trees and then the wind shifted and there was a strong scent. I threw myself sideways in a roll and the cat missed me by a whisker, almost literally. I came up facing it with a spear ready and threw a dart with my off hand which pierced it’s shoulder. That just made it mad. It came at me fast dodging my spear at the last minute and claws raked my hide shirt. Yes, my new hide shirt. The cat wasn’t the only one that was mad. I threw another dart and this one pierced its hind quarters causing a slight limp. I didn’t wait for it to charge again but I went after it this time. I had learned from Koza. My Spear pierced deep, but I missed the heart. The thing with the spear head Koza showed me was it had a guard at the base of the head before it met the shaft. This meant the animal could be kept at a distance, or in this case, pinned to the ground. I pulled a serrated stone knife from my belt and sliced its throat.

I checked the area making sure there weren't more dangers before I started skinning. I was going to need a new shirt. Bond Senses finally went to Apprentice level and I noticed quite a difference in the level of information Pip was sending. I got a point in Spiritual Perception for that. Most importantly I finally got a level in the Hunter Class. I now had five free attribute points. Tracking also went into the Journeyman levels, but not giving me any bonuses. Nothing for Spear, Small Blades or Throwing Weapons, but I was rapt with Hunter. It had been a long time since it had levelled.