Elania froze in place as the Darkwalker pounced on the Mushroom Man. A rapid flurry of 'Glaa!' erupted as he was thrown to the floor, while the Darkwalker slashed and tore at his back. 

Without weighing her options and acting on a sudden impulse, Elania decided to help the Mushroohum. Having discarded the idea of throwing something, she sprinted forward. The two combatants were struggling and rolling, and she didn't want to hit the one she was trying to help. 

By the time she had arrived, the struggle had decidedly become less one-sided. The Mushroohum wasn't weak by any means and had managed to roll onto his back and place the shaft of his wooden spear in the Darkwalker's mouth. Unfortunately, that left the beast's claws free to rake and tear at the Mushroom Man's skin. Elania had just enough time to consider it strange that there was a distinct lack of blood from the wounds. 

The Darkwalker was so preoccupied with its prey that it didn't notice her. She didn't let out a cry or warning yell, either. Instead, she tightly gripped the spear and held it in front of her as she charged. The spearhead slammed into the beast’s side, right behind its front leg. Elania felt the sharp point sinking deep into the flesh before the shaft began to bend and flex.

 

[You have gained a level in Weapon Mastery!]

 

The force was enough to throw the Darkwalker off the Mushroohum, who immediately gave up his spear and scrambled back to his belongings. Elania didn’t fault him for that retreat, she was pretty sure the Darkwalker had mauled him pretty savagely.

Elania let go of the spear as the Darkwalker lurched away. 'That should kill it.'

Unfortunately, her assumption wasn’t exactly correct. Despite the spear being lodged deep in its side, it didn’t collapse. Instead it turned, dislodging the spear and counter attacking. She yelped, doing her best to dodge the lunge and swing with her shorter javelin. 

She managed to rake the sharp tip of the javelin across the Darkwalker's face, eliciting another hiss and growl. The spear wound had registered on the beast, and it was losing steam, moving slower. 

Outnumbered and wounded, the black-furred predator turned to flee. Elania chased after it, but halted in surprise when a javelin arced through the air and impaled the Darkwalker in the neck.

'The Mushroohum! I completely forgot about him!' 

Spinning around, she saw that the Mushroohum had rearmed himself with a spear, looking directly at her.

Right, she had helped him on impulse, but that didn't mean she'd accomplished her goal of communicating or claiming her kill.

"Glua-Glaaaa!"

"Uhh, yeah, those claw marks look like they hurt, but at least you don't actually bleed."

The Mushroohum tilted his head as she spoke. Maybe he could understand her after all?

"Glua-Glaa!"

Maybe not.

Gestures and hand-miming?

Elania pointed to herself and spoke slowly. "Elania."

Then she pointed to the Ralfot corpse. "Mine."

"Glaa?"

Elania held back an exasperated sigh. This wasn't working well, but thankfully, he hadn't stabbed her in the back when she wasn’t looking. In reality, he didn't seem eager to fight either. He was just staying vigilant.

Elania looked back at the Darkwalker corpse. 'Well, if he is claiming the Ralfot, I should get the Darkwalker.'

She kept an eye on the Mushroohum while backing up to the corpse, then placing a hand on its flank. 

 

[Do you wish to absorb the Darkwalker's Essence? Y/N]

 

[You have absorbed 4 Power!]

[You have gained a level in Stealth!]

[You have gained Darkwalker Affinity!]

[Consume more Darkwalker Essence to enable Darkwalker Transformation!]

Like before, the corpse wisped away into nothingness, and she received the same messages from the system. 

"Glaa!"

Elania stared back at the Mushroohum, focusing on the sound he made. Was that surprise she heard?

Elania still hadn't found any meaning in the seemingly two-word dialect of the Mushroom People's language, but she thought she noticed a slight change in tone. Slightly. Maybe she was going crazy and there wasn’t any connection at all.

The Mushroom Man seemed to tense up when Elania picked up her spear, although she wasn't sure why that should make a difference. She already had her javelin in hand. 

"Hey. Uhh. I'm friendly and don't want to fight."

Elania looked at the Ralfot carcass again, trying to judge if it was worth claiming it. Despite her initial anger, getting the Darkwalker somehow seemed fair to her.

She used her javelin to gesture to the carcass. "I was hunting that one. Me. Javelin. Ralfot."

She did her best to mime her meaning. 

"Glaa." 

The same sound, this time, a slightly lower pitch came from him. She was losing hope that they'd be able to communicate when the Mushroohum moved to pick up one of the scattered items around his makeshift work area. Then he held up one of her javelins.

'Oh.'

Right, the Ralfot had one of her javelins in it. That proved her story. Not that she was sure how much it understood from what she had said. Perhaps he could tell that she had made both of them. The lengths of wood did look alike.

He held the javelin out to her horizontal, and it seemed like a perfectly understandable gesture. Elania cautiously closed the distance to accept her weapon back.

"Glaa."

"Yes."

"Glaa."

"Yes."

That went back and forth for a bit with no real meaning that Elania could discern. Eventually, he knelt and picked up the squares of rawhide he had produced.

 

[High-Quality Ralfot Skin]

 

Elania eyed the stack warily. While the idea of having some leather or cloth to work with appealed to her, she didn't have the skills. Raw hides and skins did not equal leather. They’d have to be preserved and tanned first and She hadn't the faintest clue of how to go about that. She dimly recalled it needing some kind of tree-bark… or animal brains? That thought was disgusting.

Grudgingly she accepted it, though, and that had the Mushroohum turn his attention to the carcass again, hopefully having decided that a peace accord was somehow reached. 

Elania settled in a crouch nearby as she watched him work. The knife work was swift and efficient, although she couldn't judge the skill displayed. The system, however, thought highly of it.

 

[High-Quality Ralfot Steak]

[High-Quality Ralfot Skin]

[High-Quality Ralfot Steak]

 

Elania wasn't squeamish, but the work wasn't exactly clean. The thought that some of her girlfriends back home would have run screaming made her feel a bit accomplished. It was hard to imagine that this would upset her more than... well, everything that had happened since she arrived in Eladu.

"I can't just call you Mushroom Man. You need a name. How about Skinner? I think that works."

Skinner looked up at her when she talked, but didn't respond or show any understanding and was quickly back to cutting out what she assumed were the valuable bits of meat. It wasn't long before he was done.

"Glua-glaa."

The statement was followed by Skinner sliding a pile of raw meat on a square of skin toward her. Elania frowned; she had acquired animal skins and some meat, but what was she going to do with it? She could always cook the meat... if she could start a fire. Even thinking of trying to start a fire had her remember the horrible wildfire in the lower caves and set alarm bells going off in her head.

She didn't have the skills or knowledge to use these things. Then she noticed Skinner cleaning his knife and sliding it into a sheathe on his leather belt. That gave her an idea.

"Hey, what about a trade?" 

The words didn't draw any attention, but she tried again more forcefully to claim Skinner's attention.

Gesturing to the skin and meat she had sitting in front of her, she then pointed to Skinner's belt and backpack. "Trade." She tried her best to mime the action of exchanging items and then waited.

At first, there wasn't a response, then what she thought might have been a surprise "Glaa?" erupted.

"Yes. Trade."

She pushed the skins and meat forward to him halfway, then stopped. There was a long pause as if considering her proposal, and then magic happened. Skinner took off his belt, removing the knife and copying her gesture of placing it halfway between them. She had hoped for the backpack too, but... 

The scraps weren't worth much to her, and having a belt would be more useful. 

Carefully, she took the belt and slid the scraps over to Skinner. "They're all yours now, Skinner."

"Glaa."

Elania sighed. For a moment, she wished they could speak, but eventually, she gave up. "Glaa, yeah."

Skinner's large eyes widened even more. "Glaa! Glaa?"

"No, I don't understand the Glaa."

---