Author Notes:
Yahallo~! This OBOM chapter come full on with foreshadowing about the interesting stuff to come! Again, I have no idea how OBOM, which should have been mecha and naval galore, suddenly started out as an exploration type of fic???
Gotta say, I really was inspired and RNGesus was one heck of a deciding factor, huh.
Anyway, this will only make OBOM more and more colorful, that's for sure. And if you're my Patrons, then those of you who got your cameos, well, you will just have to see it for yourselves, heh.
Moving on, congrats on Sergeant, now Captain, Garrett Knee for your promotion! Enjoy the new chapter, and don't forget to give it a heart!
As for all other fine readers and apprecinados out there, don't hesitate to check out the Monthly Recruitment Drive on my Patreon, where there's a 25% discount on all tiers for newcomers! Each tiers will bring you a host of Early Access chapters for all three of my stories! Go and grab your discount now before it end on the 22nd of May!
Thank you, and peace out!
https://www.patreon.com/Heartbreak117
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Pssst
The suppressed report of the Q Fix could easily have been ignored by me had the winds picked up just a tad more. Far ahead, some 150 meters upwind, a common mountain goat has most of its head blown apart by the sheer force behind the 8.6 SCHP Blackout. The goat, with a load off its head, has the rest of its body collapse into a puddle, formed by the intermittent rain these past few months. The commotion caused by that startles the other goats into scurrying away from their death compatriot, who now rest permanently in murky water.
"There we go. That should be a sizeable meal." I say, even though I have already gathered enough fresh meat in my recent hunt.
That goat I just shot isn't meant for me.
I work the smooth bolt action of the Fix, thus chambering a new round in the gun. I then fold the integrated bipod before standing up from my crouching position behind a rock. Viewed from afar, it will be hard to sus me out thanks to the Multi-spectral Adaptive Camouflage Trench Coat the Beginner's Gift Package gave me. Even to this day, I have no idea how this device is powered, despite my technical knowledge. Although Aurea suspects a possibility, she can't quite confirm it without cutting it up first. Needless to say, it's a course of action we both agree not to follow through on anytime soon.
Anyway, after I make myself known, I move my gaze from the downed goat to where I know a pack of apex predators is prowling. I come to rest my eyes on fluffy fur on four legs with horns on their heads. Horned Wolves is the name Aurea gave me when we first saw the pack around a month and a half earlier. For the most part, they're no different than the wolves that I know of, despite the pointy bits on their heads. They're also generally bigger and smarter than normal wolves, according to my observation. Able to understand that I am not to be messed with and that I mean them no harm when we first learn of one another's existence.
Even with guns, I don't want to mess with a pack of super-sized wolves. Those wolves are also smart and sensitive enough to know that I am deadly to their pack if provoked. After days of surviving on this island, the System has given me a lot of small, but meaningful increases in stats and bonuses, enough for me to cripple the entire wolf pack before going down myself. And wolves here seem to value their bonds too much to risk everything for a small sack of meat, which is me. So, both sides, at first, maintain a respectful distance upon the hills and jungles in which we live. But then Aurea and I come to see the wolf pups...
Things change when the Alpha Horned Wolf meets my gaze with the pack's puppies in between us. One of the reasons why I say that these Horned Wolves are smart is that I can read a sense of exasperation from the Alpha's gaze when the pups keep trying to climb its back. Certified puppy behavior, but an utter bother for the Alpha, which is busy with keeping its pack functional and fed. As for why I know this, you can attribute it to one of the System's Login Rewards, which gives me a Druid-like affinity with Mother Nature.
Anyway, because I can, and Aurea feels bad when she learns that wolf pups may not all make it to adulthood in the wild, I start aiming for surplus when I go out to hunt mountain goats and assorted herbivores. At the start, I have to bundle the excess before dragging them to where I know the Horned Wolves will roam and leave them there under the Alpha's watchful gaze. But after a couple of weeks, the Alpha or its subordinates will stalk me whenever I go out to hunt. Once I am done getting the excess kills, I just need to wave at the wolves and point at the fresh games, and that's about it for my part. The wolves will howl for the rest of the pack to come before dining or dragging the food back to their den under the Alpha's supervision. Gradually, the Horned Wolves and I form a partnership of sorts. The ease in which I achieve that can only be attributed to the System's Reward: Affinity with Mother Nature.
Idle thoughts aside, I perform that familiar wave at the wolves that have hunted their own kills from that herd of scattered mountain goats. Isolated common goats can never hope to survive the ambush the wolves laid in preparation for my startling the herd. Given that I have already hunted a few goats for them before this one, I reckon these wolves and their pups will have a full belly tonight.
And this can be a mirage due to the distance, but I think the Alpha gives me a nod before barking commands to its pack. In a paradoxically orderly chaos, the Horned Wolves work to secure the kills with their mouths before working together to drag the corpses carefully back home, being mindful not to lose out on any chunk of meat.
"Is it me, or are these wolves way, way too smart, Aurea?" I have a feeling that I have been asking this question for an ungodly amount of time.
"I-I guess...?" Once again, Aurea is unsure what to make of the Horned Wolves' intelligence.
While Horned Wolves are apparently a common sight anywhere else, somehow, the record of their level of intellect is muddled at best. So, Aurea, with minimal field experience but a masterful theoretical student, is unable to provide me with a concrete answer. What we do know is that we really, really shouldn't make an enemy of our wolves that actually know how to knock on a door when they need to show you something. I highly doubt the wooden wall and door I erected recently will be able to stop a pack of angry, big fluffballs.
Just as I am about to step away with my rifle held loosely in a defensive posture, a Horned Wolf from the pack breaks formation and strides toward me. Upon stopping cautiously a few wolf steps away from me, it lowers its head and drops something it has been holding in its mouth. It's a mechanical construct, a part really, that broke out of something.
I give the helpful Horned Wolf a nod and a thumbs up before it looks at me with a tilt of its head, then dashes away with the pack. The Alpha, with most of its pack gone, howls in my direction before disappearing beyond the slope of a hill. We'll be seeing each other again in a few days, and I can't help but chuckle wryly at the thought of an easy coexistence with the wolves of this island.
But then again, it makes life much easier, even though I have to burn more ammo to garner the goodwill of these four-legged neighbors. Fortunately, some of the Daily Login Rewards include ammo resupplies; the Fix would have run dry.
I hum, before crouching down and inspecting the mechanical object. I pull out a towel, a miscellaneous reward from the System, to wipe away the wolf saliva on the artificial construct before carefully picking it up.
"So, instead of meat or alloy platings, they give us an actual part now? Unless the Horned Wolves somehow mastered metalworking and machining with their fluffy paws, I don't think they could craft what is clearly a mechanical servo. Do you know what this means, Aurea?" I ask, with a small, if expectant smile.
"T-That there's civilization...?" Aurea gulps, feeling nervous in my stead. Although my companionship with her has alleviated a part of her pain, healing everything is still a bit of a stretch.
"Or a ruin of one. You can see how weathered this part is, much like the armor plates the wolves gave us before. They all must have been exposed to the environment for some time." I slowly say to her as I inspect the object by turning it around with my hand.
"Don't worry, let me handle everything if we somehow come across a sapient lifeform." I console Aurea, soothing her nervousness before adding. "Now, the question is, where did the wolves find these things? We have explored the area around the shelter, even climbed on that tall mountain for a good view to make a map. None of the place we explored have any trace of these parts. Which means..."
I look in the direction where the pack disappeared. "The Horned Wolves either found these metal parts around their den, or the places beyond it; areas where we haven't explored, really. I was mindful of the wolves' territories, so I haven't trekked north ever since we identified their den. But these may change things..."
I turn inward, facing Aurea.
"So, we have a bit of a dilemma, Aurea. Whether we should satisfy our burning curiosity or not?" I put it that way because I can feel that shimmering thirst for knowledge, not just from me but from Aurea as well.
After all, at the core, we're one and the same. And if I know myself well, then...
"A-A look should be fine... I think? T-The wolves won't mind, right? They already visited our home a few times... We should be ok if we do the same to them...?" Aurea gulps.
If anything, Aurea seems to possess more drive than I do in this situation. After all, if there's any machine out there in this world that runs on parts like the one in my hand, then it must be a Knight. Pretty sure there ain't no tank or jets around, at least not yet, according to Aurea.
"Heh," I giggle, giving her head a mental pat. "My thoughts, exactly. Anyway, it will be something that needs careful planning. The wolves may be friendly acquaintances to us, but there is no telling there ain't a bigger predator around. You and I both know how much of a shock that was coming across the pack that day. We were nearly caught unprepared, too focused on building up our home."
I take a breath before standing and tossing the damaged part into the Inventory. "Safest bet, we somehow how work out an actual alliance with the Horned Wolves, or at least negotiate a safe passage for a Northern expedition. Even with our Affinity with Mother Nature, I don't know how we will go around doing that, though."
"Ehm... It's not like it's an immediate necessity, Umbra... We can take it slow. Maybe we can even wait till the White Pearl is ready?" Aurea suggests softly.
"Right, the North may need a boat to cross rivers and lakes and whatnot. If the trip goes long, we will need a place to crash for the night as well." I ponder seriously. "You know, maybe we don't need to do much, other than getting the wolves to be used to our presence around their den, for now. Take it slow and steady, as you said, may be the winning trick, Aurea. Thanks for pitching in~!"
"U-Un! I'm happy to help!" Aurea nods repeatedly before meekly requesting. "E-Ehm... Umbra? Tonight, can you tell me more stories from your world? Your world is so expansive and so vast that I... I-I want to learn more from what you tell, not just what I know from your memories."
"Your wish is my command, dear Other Me~! For that, let's head home now and make these meats ready for a barbecue then. Ain't no better way to tell stories over a campfire and a hot meal. It's fortunate that one of the rewards includes a bottle of quality Gordon Ramsay's BBQ sauce. Watch and see me do my brand of kitchen magic, Aurea. I don't have a knack for wielding the supernatural force yet, but something more mundane is what I am best at."
"Yes! I look forward to that, Umbra!" Comes Aurea's excited response.
Ever since she learned of Captain Jack Sparrow, Aurea has been a constant audience of my retelling of not just fictional but historical stories of my home universe. To me, this nightly activity of ours is more than just getting myself closer to Aurea. It's also my way of teaching Aurea how to live on, even with all the traumas, that there are more things out there waiting to be discovered. Heh, perhaps this is the true reason why her curiosity burns brighter than mine, earlier, which is a good thing. A young girl like Aurea needs to have a healthy dose of curiosity. As for me...
I think I am two lifetimes too old for braving all the unknown out there. I should take Aurea's advice seriously and move at a measured pace to keep both of us alive.