POV - TAD

Whoa. That had been some super heavy going. But we had got there in the end. All the kits’ free points were distributed. All their hidden Stats were unlocked. Well, at least all the ones I currently knew about. And I needed to spend some serious time exploring my own hidden Stats. For I knew, beyond all reasonable doubt, that they were surely there. It was yet another item to be added to the ever growing queue of things to do.

The kits had real presence now. And really I should not be calling them kits anymore. They were more fully grown than all the other Ottos I had seen excepting the [Matriarch]. And they were significantly younger than every other one as well. By a minimum of thirty to fifty seasons as far as I could understand.

And unlocking the hidden Stats had made a real difference. Charisma had clicked in very easily. And now the kiddos had a real glow on. Their coats gleamed. Their eyes arresting, with long thick lashes. Their ruffs luxurious. And their stripes were well defined, absolutely beautiful and highly effective in breaking up their form. They had ideal urban and aquatic camouflage. And if they stayed still they almost merged with the environment. If they get a Skill relating to this later on they would be absolutely overpowered as ambush hunters.

We had next tackled Intelligence. I figured if they understood more then unlocking the concepts for the other Stats, especially Honour, would be so much easier. This was a bit of a [Stat Check Fail]. Intelligence was hard to unlock. I swapped over to concentrate on Imagination. That worked better. Perhaps that was more a reflection on me. Memory was also reasonably easy after that as the Ottos had very much an oral tradition, stretching back thousands upon thousands of years. We then were able to unlock INT. And that was another game changer. For it completed the triad of Mind Stats. And they could nominate one of their Mind Stats and double it.

I voted Imagination. Both of the kiddos wanted to pump up INT. I was not going to force their paw but I explained that as the keystone Mind Stat, they would get better returns in bumping up their central Stat. They both looked at me in a somewhat quizzical way. Oh. Their central Stat wasn’t IMA. That made some sense, especially seeing their Body keystone Stat was AGI not STA. But it wasn’t Intelligence either. It was Memory. Well my argument stood. Central for the win. Both pumped up MEM. I thought about getting them to diverge just so we could see but neither wanted to potentially weaken themselves by concentrating on a more peripheral Stat so MEM it was for both of them.

With INT and IMA now boosted, unlocking HON was almost a non-event. They completed this and seemed to grasp the whole concept so much more readily than I had. That was somewhat humbling. They were full of praise for their [Mentor]. They boosted CHA as this, rather than SPI, was the central Stat. I wished I could see their Character Sheets. If I hadn't explained my reasoning and just insisted that they apply the bonus to the same Stats that I had... I cringed, that would have been a poor outcome.

~Auntie very good [Teacher].~

~Auntie most wise.~

I got to practice my modesty. Shucks guys. I was quite embarrassed really. I could feel their genuine admiration. It was a significant game changer to communication, being able to read or taste the emotional back story. They were surprised by my embarrassment. Praise was due. Praise had been earnt. Praise was not embarrassing. It was valid and necessary and valued.

Suddenly I felt I was the kid and they were the adults.

~Little Auntie still just Level 1.~

~We, [Wise Ottos], can show Little Auntie.~

~Yes, clever we praise us.~

I could feel their grins. Their genuine admiration and affection. I was their [Auntie]. They were my [Kiddos]. They couldn’t wait to show their [Mam] just how much they had grown.

I couldn’t either. I was really proud of them.

The kits were super hungry. All this Stat growing was high energy stuff. They returned to cooking up the rest of the Clam steaks. Well, they had not lasted nearly as long as I had expected. I spent some time [Advanced Meditating] [Basic Cultivating] and [Delving] my own build. There were things I needed to do.

We all felt a gaze. The Matriarch had returned. In force. It was the complete [Romp]. Including all the males and babies. Ho. This was big. This was going to be the make or break. We watched as the square filled up.

I waved.

~Hi.~

Um. I should have prepared for this. And I knew that my uncertainty was flavouring my communication. Bother. I needed some time to compose myself.

I drew myself up. Dozer and Scrabble flanked me. Resplendent and powerful.

My confidence returned. I cleared my throat.

Dozer turned and looked at me. Stopping me.

~Patience Auntie.~We will greet.~

Scrabble paced forward.

~Announce you we will.~

~Honoured [Matriarch].~Fearsome Warriors.~Handsome Males.~Treasured offsprings.~ Family all.~Greet you we do.~Family us.~

Ahhh. This had a cadence. A timbre steeped in history. A traditional welcome. And the [Respect] and [Welcome] that inbued the welcome was unmistakable. This was quite different to her greeting of the [Hunting Party]. That had been much more confrontational. This was epic and inspiring. I felt my heart slow as my fight or flight instincts settled. This was a formal meeting of the [Clans]. They were treating with us. As equals even. A Clan of three and a Clan of… I tried to surreptitiously count up the visiting Ottos.

There must have been thousands. This did not jibe with my expectations. This was just one [Clan]? And this was Ssrah’s old [Clan]? How…

I noticed that apart from the Matriarch none were as high a Level as Dozer and Scrabble. Hmmm. Maybe a core of 300 or so Level 5 [Warriors]. And then the bulk of the adults were Level 3. Huh, that meant the males maxed out at Level 3.

My musings were brought to an end.

Dozer had joined her sister.

~Family us.~Sisters we.~Auntie Mighty.~Sovereign She.~

Hmmm. We would need to have words later on about certain things.

The [Matriarch] advanced along with two of her Level 5 [Warriors].

Her gaze was assessing. It lingered for an inordinate amount of time on Scrabble and Dozer. She had remarked the difference in them since the last encounter. It was impressive. While they were not larger than the [Matriarch] they were now exceedingly close in size and they both outshone her. Their presence cast her in the shade. I hoped that this would not cause a problem. The Matriarch turned to look at me at last. Bother. She had no doubt picked up on my jumbled musings.

She, rather than either of her subordinates, stepped forward.

~Respect and honour due.~Recognise you we do.~

I felt both Dozer and Scrabble’s muted surprise. This must be a departure from the normal interclan greetings. But there was no shade of any shade being thrown. The greeting was genuine.

I couldn’t help but respond.

~Admiration.~Surprize.~Wonder.~Relief.~

Darnit. I was giving away way more than I had planned. Well, not that I had planned anything really. This was off the cuff so to speak. All five Ottos looked at my sleeves. Oh. Oopsie.

I reverted to words rather than trying to emote my way through. I really needed to decide on whether to slot that Skill.

“We thank you for coming to treat with Us.” Huh? I was speaking in the plural. That was weird, I was thinking in the singular. Was this an effect of our Sovereign [Title]? We didn’t know if we liked this. We was me not we or us. Arrghh. Now it was messing with our thoughts as well. We shook our head. We would have to deal with this later. Now was not the time.

“We have dire news.” Oh. We did, did we? This must be extremely confusing to the Ottos, for they could taste both our surprise and also our certainty. Our [Intuition] was speaking, bypassing our brain. We sighed. One less filter. Not that our brain actually did too good a job of filtering most times anyway.

“Yet forty days and Otto Sapiens / WaterProwlers shall be ~Isekai’d~ overthrown.”

Oh. Well that was pretty bald.

And nothing at all like what I had even remotely planned to say.

Dozer and Scrabble turned to look at me.

I shrugged, opening my eyes wide.

"Um..."

I wasn't like I had withheld info from them. I didn't even know how I knew this.

But I did.

And it was true.

We were on the clock.

They all looked at their feet. Paws.

~Clock?~

CeCe Tait

Diving was faster than sliding. Who knew? Well Mercy did now. It had meant that they went through the [Portal] simultaneously. It had also completely disconcerted Sledgrick, poor boy. He should have been having fun, zooming down a slide on his back. Of course he was born in the System so he didn’t know about Adventure Parks and giant slides, luging and tobogganing and hydrosliding. Mercy made a mental note to herself. There were massive opportunities there.

Or perhaps he just was embarrassed that his boss beat him. Maybe he was one of those men who couldn’t bear being beaten by a woman. If that was the case he was in for a very rough ride. In fact if you were measuring the finish line as the [Portal] then technically Sledgrick won, as his feet went through first. But if it was fully passing through the [Portal] then Mercy won for she was much shorter. And if it was the subsequent landing then clearly, and of this there could be no doubt, then very clearly Mercy had won. She had the upper hand. She was in full control. Graceful even. Sledgrick, well, he was more her [Sled] and she steered his feet as they luged down the side of a hill of trash. Of course, she could see where they were going as she hauled back on his left knee and angling them to the right. His view was somewhat constrained.

Oh, dear. That was a bigger obstacle. Mercy prepared to abandon her [Sled]. He hit it with an almighty bang and was sent catapulting tens of metres into the air. Mercy had ejected in time and gracefully landed with a small flurry of Essence. [Sled]ge tumbled significantly less gracefully until he came to a complete stop, spreadeagled and spent. Mercy grinned. That was fantastic fun. If a bit short. It would be great to go again. Maybe even a bit higher up. Yes, a mile high would have been better.

As she looked around she took note of the free [Essence]. This was amazing. She flexed her [Soul]. The [Tourist Visa] was invalid here. The welcome notification had made that clear. And there were massive opportunities here too. Wow. Why had it not occurred to her sooner? The subtle warding on the [Portal] had been exceedingly effective. To enter was despair, dissolution and death. Hmmm, and not necessarily in that order either. No matter, she was here now. And it was glorious.

The constraints the System had imposed on her Stats dropped away. Her Body, Mind and Soul all expanded out into themselves. Ahhh. That was liberating. It was exhilarating. It was addictive. She was thrilled.

No wonder Tad had done so well here. She frowned. It would have felt quite different at Level 1 though. Tad had done well indeed even to stay alive.

She turned to Sledgrick. He was curled up and shivering. Huh? Hunching in on himself. That was somewhat strange. Surely he had more stamina than that. They had not even gotten started. And a hunching [Henchman], while hulking was hardly helpful. Whew, the density and intensity of the free Essence was giving her a high, without even trying to cycle it into her Core. This place would do wonders for her cultivation.

But that could come later.

First let’s track down Tad in this benighted wasteland. She gave herself a shake.

“Sledge sweetie, let’s head down this way.” He blushed again. What was going on in the poor boy’s head? He was indeed a most peculiar Hencher.

“Chop chop. Enough dilly dallying already.” Mercy set off with a confident stride. “While we walk we will invest some time in improving your Soul Stats. What do you know about your Soul Sledgrick? Your Honour and your Spirit and your Charisma?”

“Which of those shall we explore first Sledge?”

“Sledgrick?”

He hadn’t started moving. He was fussing over himself. Quite discombobulated in fact. He was concerned about a little grime? That was inexplicable.

Oh. Whoops.

“Ah. Okay. Let’s take a moment and compose ourselves.” Mercy had forgotten he was just a boy.

Silly creatures. All hormones and urges and impulses.

Sometimes she didn’t understand them at all. She was never…

She paused, remembering her abrupt and implusive departure.

Never mind.

“Well, let’s discuss your Spirit first shall we?”

”Specifically, let's talk about your perceptiveness and how important it is and how we might improve it somewhat.”

Yes, even she could use a refresher now and then.

Especially now though.

She chuckled. Well more of a giggle really. Poor Sledgrick.

But still he had it coming.

And she would ride him hard.

He would learn. Or he would learn. There was no other option.