Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

Birds flew over the frozen tundra and observed from above the plains which spread out the camp of one of the tribes living in those lands. It was in the middle of the day and the people in the camp were very busy. Except for one.

"Ugh..." there was heard a sound of groaning from one of the tents in that big encampment. It was the biggest tent there with all kinds of decorations. It was made from several furs of rare animals and was filled with the smell of herbs.

Inside it in the simple bed made of several furs piled on themselves laid a boy namely Stone who seemed to have the best sleep in his life. But now there was this uncomfortable feeling he felt in his sleep. Something was missing.

It was something that hunted him for the last years without respite.

It was the pain.

Yes, he was so used to the pain that when he was finally free from it he felt it was unnatural. He was rolling all over the bed sweating as he groaned until he didn't wake up.

When he finally opened his eyes and saw the 'roof' above his head and felt the bed under him he thought for a moment he was in his cottage where he, his brothers, and parents lived. Unfortunately, it was just an illusion.

When he turned around he realized it wasn't any cottage made from wood but a tent made of furs.

There was all kind of occultist things around with herbs hung from above being dried. Bones of all kinds were scattered on small wooden tables and colorful feathers of birds were decorating everything inside.

Suddenly he heard footsteps from the outside of the tent. Then the fur got uncovered and the daylight shined on the interior of the tent. It was immediately blocked by the outline of the man who just got in.

"Oh? Are you finally awake? You slept over 9 days already." the voice of a very old man with a distinct accent was heard. As Stone looked at him he saw the man holding a wooden bowl. He was really tall and stood straight despite his age. His body is covered by all kinds of war paintings and his hair is covered by feathers. His face was wrinkled but the eyes shined brightly as they watched the boy who tried to sit from his lying position.

"Where am I? Who are you, what am I doing here, and what happened ?" Stone who was confused suddenly asked several questions consecutively at the old man.

"Easy, little buddy. Your body is still weak. Just lie down and let me explain. Hehe." said Kaoran, the shaman of the Bakur tribe who had taken care of the boy since the day they ambushed the Hearas clan.

"Here let me feed you. This is the medicine soup I made. I was feeding you with it the entire time. You can't eat normal food yet as you are too malnourished and would just barf it out." said Kaoran as he sat beside Stone and used the wooden spoon to scoop the soup. Then he directed it to the boy's mouth.

Stone looked at him hesitantly. He didn't know if to trust this guy. But it is true that he didn't have good food for years. He starved. Only firm willpower made him not pounce at the bowl right now. Moreover, even if the food was poisoned he would probably survive, right?

As he convinced himself that everything was fine he opened his mouth and let the spoon inside his mouth.

"Good boy. I know what you are probably thinking and you don't need to fear since I don't wish you harm. My name is Kaoran and I am a shaman of the Bakur tribe and you are in its camp in my tent right now. We don't stay in the same place for too long as we are nomads and travel a lot. Right now though we are at the southern part of the Frozen Valus Tundra right at the border of it and the Wintercast Forest." said the old man as he patiently fed the boy.

Stone who listened wore a confused expression as he never heard about those places. Kaoran who saw this smiled and explained.

I knew you wouldn't know. The wind says you are not local so I tried the luck with Vanaras language. And I was right." Kaoran showed his toothy grin despite some of them missing. " This isn't Vanaras kingdom but the far North that they call Frost Barbarian Plains. I don't know how did you get here but it must have been a long path, hehe...

Shock. That was what Stone felt as he opened his mouth wide. He didn't know what was happening all this time but how the heck did he get so far from his home?

Well if it can be called a home... As Stone started to be gloomy from the thought, the old man asked a question while he gave him another spoonful of soup.

"Boy, what is your name ?"

" I... You can call me a Stone. That is what they called back then.." said Stone grimly.

The old man pondered for a moment. "Stone? That isn't really a name, right? I guess it is a nickname targeting your endurance, right haha? Well... You didn't get the name or something? From what I know there are some poor regions where children don't get the names until certain ages because of the children's mortality or because of local superstitions. Is that it? Well, that is actually a good omen here in these lands. The names are potent and just getting any name is stupid and dangerous. Or at least that is what is believed here. In our tribe, you need some merit here to get yourself a potent name. The merit that comes with time. Most people here either use their childhood nicknames like you, their warrior nicknames they claim during fights, or names similar to their True names. Usually with its syllables in different order since the name can be used for curses. I am the latter even though I actually don't care that much, heh."

"The names... Are potent? And now that I think about it what do you mean by winds whispering that I am not local ?" It would be an understatement to say Stone was just a little confused. His head was full of all kinds of theories and ideas as he looked intently at Kaoran who laid the empty bowl on the table next to them.

"Oh well... I have a gift. A gift to hear the voices of the wind. It is no different from the gift you were born with.

Just a different ability. That is all." smiled little the old man.

When Stone heard that the man knew about his condition he grew wary as he crawled a little back while eying Kaoran with suspicion and a little distrust.

"Don't worry. I don't judge or want to harm you or use you. Our tribe is not so foolish as those demented Haeras clansmen. Your gift is rare. But without your strong mind, you wouldn't have survived by now probably. You were born as a natural warrior and maybe even something more noble. Our tribe would be only happy to develop your potential to its limit but does not need to exploit it. We are natural warriors as well and each man of ours can match three men of the Valaras kingdom!" said the old man with a hint of pride in his voice.

When Stone heard this he visibly calmed down. Now that he finished the food, Kaoran stood up and took back the bowl from the table. As he slowly went towards the fur opening he said a few things.

"Since you were unconscious nine days we stayed here for longer than expected but now we will need to leave. It is quite lucky for you to wake up now. There will be a snowstorm soon at this place and we need to move the sooner the better. I know you just woke up and are still disoriented and weakened but you need to choose if you will come with us or go your path. Going with us would be for the best for you as this place is really dangerous. Be it animals, weather, or even people. There is death at every corner. Even with your gift, it would be hard to live here without any survival skills. It would be a live of misery with your gift otherwise. On the other hand, going with us means you will be able to recover, get food and rest. But... We are the tribe of warriors. We live with weapons in our hands, we fight, we hunt and we die with weapons in our hands. Were you going with us means you start to live like us once you fully recover. Repay what you have with blood on your hands and train until you become a true warrior. That's the way of the Bakurs"

After all of this was said, Kaoran who spoke so passionately seemed to be younger by a few decades. When he finished he sighed and said the last thing.

"We will set off by noon. You have a few hours to think about it so don't choose recklessly. I will visit you again by then." then Kaoran left the tent.

Stone who heard all of this just dumbly looked at the place where Kaoran left from. It took him several minutes to collect himself and start to think about his future.

"My future.." sighed Stone as he thought about his wretched life. He lost everything. Everyone. He doesn't have a place to return to and doesn't have any goals in his life. He just... exists. Nothing else. But if there is something that binds him to this world it would be...

'Those bastards..' thought the scowling Stone as he bit his finger unconsciously. He thought about all those Hearas aborigines who almost burned him alive. He didn't do anything to them yet they hurt him. He wanted them to pay. Of course, his hatred towards them still pales in comparison with the wretched being that attacked his village but unfortunately, it should be already dead.

'Wait a minute.' Suddenly Stone realized something. 'I don't remember any other corpses of those monsters when those guys killed it. Does that mean that other monsters are still alive ?' thought Stone. Even though that one was dead there were still many more. For example, those that killed Granny Meddie...

Unfortunately, when he thought about those monsters he felt weak and shaking, his stomach churned as he felt the instinctive fear. It was the first time he really thought about that incident in depth and it felt horrible. He thought he would want to kill them and to take revenge just like on those aborigines but... He just felt small and weak. He feared those monsters. The incident had a severe adverse effect on him.

'But... I don't want to be so weak. So much that everyone could harm me.' When Stone about it that way while he still didn't have any life goal he did have something for now. Goal. A goal was to get stronger... Even without thinking about those monsters and aborigines if he wanted to live a worthwhile life ever again he needed power. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to live like a normal person ever again. Not when he knows the cruelty of this world.

He won't think about revenge or something like that. He isn't prepared for that. Physically or mentally. So for now it is the future he will look at. He won't look behind as the pain and fear will pull him down into hell once again and will look only forward until he is fully prepared to face it.

Stone clenched his fists, resolve visible in his eyes. Now that he had a goal albeit one that is too abstract he can at least choose from the two choices Kaoran gave him. He slowly tried to get up. His body was weakened despite being healthy thanks to his gift so it was strenuous. There wasn't anything to steady himself with as beside him was only a low table so he needed to get up himself. Now, that he wasn't filled with adrenalin just like when he tried to escape those aborigines, it was much harder. After all, he didn't stand properly for three years. Thankfully he still used his legs for other purposes inside but some muscles still got weakened and he wasn't used to using them.

When he finally stood straight his legs wobbled a little but he stood firm. His muscles were still miniscule but the nine days when he slept allowed him to recover at least a little so he could at least walk albeit unsteadily. The finger that bled already healed and he was now ready to go outside. He didn't want to wait for Kaoran as he didn't want to rest.

Stone strode step by step in a very slow fashion as he got before the furs. Then he uncovered them and came out into the daylight.