章節 11: Getting Some Pets
Throughout these years, I have roamed the Earth, testing my newfound strength. Just as I thought at the beginning, nothing could come close to harming me.
On one hand, it was good, but on the other hand, it made my strength stagnant. I had reached the pinnacle of this world, and I wouldn't grow much more for a long time.
That's when I decided to develop a new hobby. During this time, I came across a group of nomads who seemed to be Homo heidelbergensis. They weren't as evolved as Homo sapiens, but they were on the right path.
I decided to observe what they were doing for a few days. With my supernatural vision and senses, along with my physical prowess, it was easy not to be detected by them. It was truly interesting to see these beings trying to survive in this hostile climate. They had a rudimentary mastery of fire and hunting.
They were wielding primitive spears, and it seemed like a semblance of society was forming, although they were not many (27 in total). They were already united, communicating through gestures and short utterances of no more than two or three syllables.
I even witnessed them burying a body that was killed during the hunt. I couldn't figure out if it held any meaning for them or if it was merely an emulation.
As the days went by, I started to think that I could interact with these beings and conduct a social experiment. During my observations, I realized that I had been spotted by their ancestors on several occasions during my strength tests. That's when I made up my mind.
On a sunny day, I appeared before them, and they quickly approached me, pointing their spears at me. Then their leader appeared, and that's when I grabbed a rock bigger than their heads and crushed it right in front of them.
Most of them became frightened, torn between fighting and fleeing. However, their leader showed a look of realization and made some gestures and sounds, urging the others to drop their weapons. Soon, the others, including their leader, showed expressions of realization as well.
They dropped their weapons and assumed a pose of respect and submission.
As my powers evolved, surpassing both my body and mind, it took only a few days to understand their gestures and language, thus unraveling their modes of communication. It took a few more minutes to explain to the tribe's leader that I wanted to stay with them for some time.
[Leader's point of view]
Today was just another normal day, and everything was going well. We were about to go hunting, and I was making the final preparations when one of my children came running, urgently calling me.
They said a strange creature had appeared in the camp. I quickly ran to the spot, and when I arrived, I saw a being that resembled us but was also very different. I tried to search my mind if I had encountered such an entity before, and memories of ancient stories told by my parents and their parents came to mind.
These stories described a mystical figure that roamed the world, unstoppable and relentless, leaving only traces of its existence in the form of corpses of the terrible beasts that were killed by it.
I was still uncertain when that creature picked up a large rock with one hand and crushed it to powder. That's when I confirmed my suspicions, looking at my friends and family who were about to attack. I told them to drop their weapons and explained who this creature was. They quickly realized that we probably wouldn't stand a chance.
Like me, they prostrated themselves before that creature, hoping to live another day.
At that moment, the creature spoke for the first time, and it seemed like one of us in the way it communicated. It said that it didn't want to harm us, only that it wanted to spend some time in our tribe. I had mixed emotions.
On one hand, I was afraid, but on the other hand, I realized it was a gift for our tribe. With a being like that around, we could be much safer. With no other choice, I welcomed the creature to stay in our place.
As the days went by, I realized that the creature didn't harm anyone. It simply wandered everywhere, seemingly interested in everything we were doing. Over time, it started to communicate more and more with the tribe members.
It even taught us its name, "Inmo." We had never heard such a name before, but over time, it taught us many things. It helped us gain better control of fire, make improved weapons, and build shelters. It always tried to give names to things, but it was challenging to understand. Many moons passed, and our tribe grew larger.
Many people left us in these years that have passed. Even I grew old, but something never changed—Inmo remained the same since the day we found him. We had gotten used to him. Although the elders never quite understood him, our children and their children communicated better with him.
[Immortal's point of view]
During these years I spent with this tribe, I became attached to them, much like pets. At first, I only wanted to observe their daily lives more closely. But as I shared ideas and interacted with them, I realized that they preserved what humanity had lost over time, such as empathy for others and a love for knowledge, not as a means to gain power, but out of pure curiosity.
They were easy to read, always expressing their feelings. They were like adorable pets. As time passed, when some of them died, I realized that I genuinely missed their company.
As time went on, the weather became increasingly worse. This tribe wouldn't survive for much longer. They were running out of food. It took me a while to realize this because I hadn't needed to eat for centuries. It was on a snowy day, when the world was covered in snow, that the new leader of the tribe came to me, seeking help.
"Inmo, do you have any way to get food? The tribe won't be able to survive like this for much longer," said the leader of the tribe, who knelt before me. I remembered when he was just a child, and now he was a man responsible for the lives of an entire tribe.
Although at first, I was treated as a divine being, as time went on, the people began to see me as one of them. They knew I was stronger, but they never knew the full extent of my strength. This was the last hope of a dying man who had nothing more to lose.
It took me some time to think about my answer. I stood up and turned my back to him, looking at a world map I had drawn on the skin of a large animal I had killed long ago. We were in Europe now, and everywhere was a frozen land.
I would have to take them away from here to thrive. That's when I made my decision. I would do it. I would protect this part of humanity and create my own society, where the only rotten part would be me. Having made my decision, I turned to the tribe's leader, who was still on his knees, and reached for a knife at my waist.
I told him, "I hear your prayers, and I will lead you to a new land full of the greenness of life. We will depart in a few days." As I said this, I pointed at the map and threw my knife, which embedded itself in a specific spot, the Amazon rainforest.
"We will cross the ocean and ride giant waves, facing never-before-seen monsters. It will be a long journey, but when we reach our destination, we will build something that is uniquely ours, something that will never fall, not even against the passage of time.
A home for the children of your children's children. A place I can always return to, no matter how much time passes." After hearing these words spoken by Inmo, the leader left to make the preparations for this long journey.
Inmo was alone again, looking at the falling snow, contemplating the decision he had just made. Even though his body had adapted to the cold many years ago, it still felt like the first time he had felt warmth in centuries.
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