=== early summer (~6month later)

 

The seasons had changed. It was now a year since I came into this world. At first, this life began idyllically, until the first attack by wolves... Then a period of suffering began, and our lives were always in danger. The icing on the cake was our imprisonment, which lasted for several months and took a lot from me...

Death became my everyday life. Injuries marked those weeks, and Grandma even gave a leg for it.

The day I was separated from Grandma and Si, my life would change. In the middle of the forest, I met a child named Viczien, as I found out later. I saved his life and brought him home with me, back to where I was born.

But even if I found my way back, would my life continue to change. I was supposed to be given a name for what I achieved, but... I was different. The Hesperides Aigle and Crete, as well as the Dryad Myrani, tried everything to seal the monster that lives in me. The name of the beast was Apate. She was a Daimon, representing the deception.

Crete told me stories from bygone days... From the days of origin...

Apate was a child of the night and the darkness. She manipulated her enemies. She didn't listen to anyone and always required a favor for her help. She overthrew kings and empires in the blink of an eye. She was the queen of doom, a goddess of deception.

In ancient times, her body was destroyed, and her soul was torn to shreds by one of the other innumerable gods. Only part of her soul is in my body, and so the Hesperides had determined to do everything possible to prevent Apate from regaining strength. The Hesperides' first plan to crack down on Apate was to train me. Not only physically, but above all mentally.

Crete's first approach was to understand core eater better.

 

=== Last spring

 

"Eris, please come to me."

Crete appeared between the tall grass and poured a mountain of monster cores in front of her.

"What is it all about?"

I turned my head and looked at her questioningly.

“These are different cores. It was important to me to defeat creatures to see if you had to defeat the creature yourself or if the core would be enough."

"Then... what should I do with the cores?"

Crete looked thoughtful.

“Try to eat them? Or try to absorb the magic."

She sat down on the grass.

“We also need to find out what changes are happening to you through the cores.

We know of only a few, but not all. The first was from the orc, the language. The flaming lizard intensified your flames, and they became so-called devourer flames. The Icer, this ice snake, gave you cold resistance. The Tammen's Core made your fur fluffier.

Of which we have nothing of the skills that you received from the ash wolf, the skullrabbit, or an undead and the flaming pony."

"Can't it be that I didn't get anything?"

“Unlikely, because the gifts don't work that way. You can't stop your special skills from working. Certain creatures with the poison aura can't stop their gifts as well, what let them live in isolation."

She fell on her back and stared at the sky.

“I have to admit that these abilities can be both good and bad. I mean... look at your flames... they absorb other flames and get stronger themselves. But the more cores you absorb, the further away you are from being a Horned Rabbit."

Huh!?

Her words weighed heavily because it was true.

I turned my gaze and looked at the places on my back where the wings were growing out.

If I had antlers, I would be a Wolpertinger¹Wolpertinger is often associated with the jackalope, but they are quite different.... Yet another fantasy creature that exists in this world.

I picked one of the cores and bit on it.

Ouch!

It was rock hard, and nothing happened. Crete observed the situation from lying down.

"Try to use your magic. The cores are like precious stones, hard and unyielding."

I did as she described, but it made no difference. It was not in my power to absorb the magic from the cores.

 

=== Past late spring

 

"Your opponent today will be a simple pack of wolves."

Crete pointed to a cave 100m in front of us. We had hiked for several hours so that Crete could test whether something could be tampered with on Core Eater.

"And what makes a wolf special?"

“Their communication. After defeating one of the wolves, try to remember that you want to understand them. From what you said, you didn't understand the orc language until you defeated one. Just after defeating a spore wolf, you could understand trees."

"Fine, I'll try."

Crete waved her arms to signal that I should approach the wolves pack hideout.

I approached the cave. From a distance, I could see one of the wolves standing guard.

I hid out of view and waited for the right moment. The wolf turned away from me, and I jumped up. The crystal wings grew out of their usual places, and I attacked the wolf with swift wings.

He noticed that I was approaching, but he couldn't react in time.

I hit his side with all my might and threw him through the air. My intention was to get him away from the cave, and I reached it. I didn't want to give him an opportunity to call for help, so I fired a salve of fireballs at the wolf.

He was still disoriented, so the fireball caught him off guard.

I summoned a black disc with Darkness and threw it on the wolf's head. The disk circled in itself, and at a steep angle, it separated the wolf's head from its body.

The still-standing body was still on fire. The blood only oozed out of the throat and stained the fur of the head blood red. Immediately a small gray orb appeared. It floated up to me.

What was it? I should remember that I want to understand the language of wolves. I want to understand the language of the wolves... the language of the wolves...

I tried not to think of anything else when the orb reached my body. It lit up and connected to me.

Let's see…

I listened in the cave, but nothing was heard.

"Stay back!"

Crete had leaned against the cave entrance and was also listening into the cave.

I heard something move. The steps grew louder and louder until they were almost at the entrance of the cave. But shortly before the exit, the steps slowed down before they became significantly faster.

Something was running towards us. Did it notice us?

"Where's that idiot!?"

I could hear a deep and scratchy man's voice. It was right around the corner where I was hiding. The source was less than 5m away from me.

I do it!?

I signaled to Crete that I wanted to attack, and she just nodded.

I jumped out from behind the stone and conjured a spear. With an aimed hit, the spear pierced the chest and probably the heart of the wolf.

"And? Could you understand him? "

Crete spoke the question she was waiting so eagerly for an answer.

"I could."

"YES!"

She positively cheered when I gave her the desired answer.

 

=== presence

 

"You know I'm not the fastest anymore, but you can come and see me at any time."

Grandma said goodbye to us. Grandma moved in with Dad’s sister at the other end of the meadow.

We have been living for over a year, and each of us should make a home of our own. To Si’s and my surprise, Ef and Fe were the first. Both had found someone in our absence. Fi and Se followed shortly afterward, leaving only our parents and the two of us behind.

Viczien was excluded from the beginning, but I couldn't leave him out either. He had already published his first “Da” in spring. Crete and Myrani, who took turns taking care of him, gave him language lessons with sentences like, "Say, Crete" or "Say, mom." But no matter what they tried, he never spoke what they wanted him to say. What he, in turn, did was call me "Ma."

"Mother, take care of yourself."

Dad said goodbye to Grandma. Mom followed, and so did we at last. We watched Grandma disappear into the tall grass.

Dad then turned to us.

"I don't want to sound like I want to kick you out, but ..."

Mom nudged him.

"But we won't have free space when they come."

I wanted to give myself a facepalm for this sentence if I only had hands.

"Dad, just because Mom is pregnant again doesn't mean we want to be a burden on you."

Without shame, I answered Dad’s statement and demonstratively turned away from him. I wanted to symbolically show him the cold shoulder.

“Vi ert bur wasbunnta Lemb!?”

A loud voice came from the meadow's center. I couldn't understand what the voice was saying, but the voice felt familiar.

I looked at the others. Viczien was currently sleeping in the lower layer of the burrow. He was now too big to be carried by me, and he fit only into the den if he would move into it himself.

"I take a look."

I moved towards the tree. Already behind the tall grass, I could see what was going on. Three elves stood by Myrani's tree, each of them equipped with armor and weapons.

“Ecg vaerr wim laeman Lemb!”

Myrani replied frantically, but it didn't seem like they were listening to her. To my surprise, I knew the elf in the middle of these three. It was the elf who attacked me shortly after I rescued Viczien.

"Koaha!"

The elf gesticulated wildly, and after Myrani could react, the elf drew her bow and shot an arrow at a nearby rabbit. I thought that was it for the rabbit, but a silhouette appeared in front of the rabbit.

I blinked once before I could realize it was Crete. She had caught the arrow with one hand and then split it in two.

“Wasperrt aocg, ibas egs vasbat bam Tib boscg naema Gumb fembam!”

Crete literally hissed at the elves, and I could only guess what she was saying to them. The elf and her two companions were visibly angry, but they withdrew anyway.

That won't end well...