[EoR] Chapter 85

There was no tearful reunion between siblings or anything like that. My childhood memories were crystal clear, but Nadi had grown up normally, with a normal child’s undeveloped Brain. Most of the development of who she had become would have taken place over the years after we were separated, with her childhood memories taking a backseat to the life she lived since. As was the case for all the females who were separated from their birth families, she was among her new family now, that of her fellow mates and their children.

I definitely wanted to have a one-on-one conversation with her at some point, but singling her out immediately wouldn’t be in her best interest, so I turned my attention back to the group as a whole. In the time that I was among the grandmothers, the creches would have received food from the Bloodied boys, so they had likely already heard the news about the change in leadership.

Not to mention, the former Roba’s name was displayed quite clearly on my body, leaving little to the imagination.

The change in leadership wasn’t even that shocking news, probably. This was an Uli tribe, and challenges weren’t uncommon. Many of the older females among these mothers were likely once Ardu-un Iqul Roba’s mates, and some of the others could have come from the tribesmen the last Roba challenges and killed in the years since. Only some of the mothers were like Nadi, who had been claimed from the start by the Uli, and his alone.

Likewise, not all of these children would be the last Roba’s. Some of the oldest could be Ardu’s, from before the transition in leadership, and the Roba was responsible for orphaned children on top of his own. In fact, some of the oldest might even be my siblings, orphaned when Daru was killed.

No doubt many of these children were sired by the last Roba, but it wasn’t like they would have been close. Their Uli father wouldn’t have even learned any of their names until they were ready for their First Blood or ready to be claimed.

I decided to address them first. “Hi, kids,” I said, crouching down and smiling to minimize how threatening I looked. I could remember the intimidating presence of my own father when he visited our creche, even though Daru had actually been a pretty kind and calm guy. “I’m the new Roba, and I’ll be taking care of you from now on.”

The whole reason I was there and had become the Roba was to make changes to how the Uli lived and gained strength, and the best place to start that was with the kids. I needed them to come to trust me, enough that I could lead them through education, rather than by example. I couldn’t erase the names carved into my skin, after all. These kids would be the first Uli who could grow up and grow strong without ever being Bloodied, but only if I was able to succeed in my task here.

At the same time, I didn’t think I could just end the generational practices of the Uli in one fell swoop. I had to be realistic. There were going to be Uli who demanded their sons become Bloodied, and who would either challenge me or split off if I refused. Killing or exiling them all wasn’t a solution, because it would weaken the tribe. I needed their strength until we had enough Bonded to fend off enemy tribes and deal with the wildlife.

What I could do was provide options. I could establish alternatives, like becoming Bonded, and focusing on fishing instead of hunting while training their Blood through progressive overload. Making the First Blood ritual optional would be the first step towards ending the practice entirely, hopefully without causing violent revolt from the Uli who simply couldn’t live any other way.

The numbers were in my favor, though. Eventually, the Bonded males would outnumber the Bloodied males, and so the children of those capable of Bonding would outnumber the children of those who demanded ritualized killings. Eventually, I would end the practice entirely, but by then we would be able to survive without it.

“There’s going to be some changes in our tribe now that I’m Roba,” I told the kids. “I’m going to need your help with that.”

Most of them were too young to get it, so I didn’t bother explaining too much. I talked a bit about my journey and how there were other ways out there to get strong, without killing, and other ways to get food, without hunting. If that was what they wanted to do, they could, and I would help them out.

Next, I turned back to the mothers. My mates, now, technically, if I claimed them.

After many sessions with Yishola, and especially once Ibriya and Shappi had Mowala, I decided that I wouldn’t have children of my own in this life. I didn’t think my genes would contribute to the Sheowon, and I couldn’t imagine bringing a child into the world among the Uli.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I didn’t become the chief because I wanted power, or to sire countless children,” I began. “I am here because of a promise I made to the All-Bonded.”

I let my blessing translate the goddess’s name from Sheowon to Uli, rather than making it up myself.

“The All-Bonded?” one of the females repeated.

“She is… like a Roba, except even greater in power, of the people I have returned from. She taught them how to perform the Blood Bond, which I have learned and brought back to teach our people.”

“A female Roba?” another asked.

“The people I have been living with these past years were very different from us,” I explained. “They do not challenge each other, but work together, growing in strength from the Bond. The males do not claim the females; they are equals, gaining power together, and mutually choosing their partners.”

The females murmured to each other at my statement.

Knowing more about the world and the various ways people used Blood, I knew the females could be Bloodied and gain power in the Uli way. I could only assume they didn’t because the males wanted to keep control over them for breeding purposes. Perhaps the Uli who did allow females to be Bloodied lost too many breeders and the population declined and died out. Bonding didn’t remove any breeders from the population, thought he power dynamic would shift.

“None of you chose me, so I don’t plan on breeding you when the season comes. If there’s a tribesmen out there you do chose, somehow, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. I don’t want to stop you from having children, if that is your wish. Otherwise, when these children are grown, you can join the grandmothers.” I glanced back at the children. “When these kids are grown, I hope our tribe is able to give them all the freedom of choice. I hope they’ll choose to Bond with each other and take control of their lives.

“I don’t think any of the current tribesmen would be open to Bonding with their mates, and I wouldn’t allow it if so. They have too much Blood, which makes it too dangerous. But if there are any among you who are interested in Bonding with each other, I’m willing to teach you, too. There are things you need to know about how it works and what it means to be Bonded, but it is open to you. The All-Bonded’s word is for all.”

Teaching the Uli religion was going to be tough, especially for the more individualistic males. I planned to start the worship small, in the creches, among the mothers. Giving them power which they never had before would make it easier for them to open their hearts and minds to the idea of the goddess, and they would pass that on to their children. In time, when these children grew, the worship could become more public and mainstream.

Religion wasn’t strictly speaking necessary, in my opinion. I believed people could be upstanding and follow ethical rules without divine enforcement. In this case, though, prayer to the All-Bonded allowed the admin to provide guidance and tweak development of the Uli long after I was gone, so long as I could make it stick. So I would proselytize, as my blessing demanded. I would get my hands on some ivory to carve idols, and encourage prayer and worship in private wherever possible.

The admin wasn’t exactly a good person, nor did she necessarily have the Uli’s best interests in mind, but she did want to end the self-destruction of the Uli. No matter my feelings about religion as a whole, the Uli were better off with it than risk extinction without.

“There’s no rush,” I said. “Take your time to think about things. I have a lot to do still, but I’ll be back, and we can talk more then.”

*

Back in my own tent, I heaved a sigh and lay down to unwind. It had been a stressful day.

After telling my “mates” about the Bond, I left them to discuss it. Nadi had been whispering excitedly with one of the other females who I didn’t know the name of, so I hadn’t pulled her aside to catch up. I didn’t want to create friction between the females when I was trying to establish Blood Bonding, so I didn’t want to overly favor her. There would be plenty of time to catch up yet.

I still needed to talk to the younger Bloodied boys, the ones who hadn’t fully committed to the Uli lifestyle of Blood challenges. There was a chance I could help some of them course correct and get them interested in Bonding and fishing. I needed to arrange the fishing boats and sort out who would be responsible for that. The tribe would need to hunt a mirulu again soon, and I needed to be prepared to lead the tribesmen in that, and also ensure my back was covered in case of any treachery; I had Duno and Orma for that, as well as Aqir and Ubo, who I should talk to again about Bonding now that it was shown to work. But, right now, I needed some time to myself.

Despite already being largely restored from my battle, I drew upon the vast amount of Blood at my disposal and briefly pushed it into [Blood Restoration]. I felt some fatigue drain, then stopped, unwilling to waste too much. I needed to eat and rest more to allow my Blood to recover back to full, so I should limit my use of it in the meantime.

I pulled up my System to take another look at what had changed since my fight with the Roba.

I had gained a level to [Blood Augmentation] from going all-in on defense in the battle, and naturally I had farmed some Blood from the retaliation upon my victory, but something else had happened which I hadn’t expected.

My Will, or my true Blood stat—the hidden and qualitative number, not just quantitative Blood farmed from retaliation—had grown from 72 to 73.

At first, I couldn’t figure it out, but then I considered my blessing. [Missionary of the All-Bonded] was still raising my stats, and I estimated it at about a 50% boost. It pushed my Brawn and Brain to over 100, which had been a big part of my victory.

The blessing also increased my Blood. Given that it was a blessing of this world, it seemed to increase the stat from 54 to around 81, not 72 to over 100 like my other stats. However, 81 was still greater than 72.

Using all my blessing-boosted Blood on my defense had pushed my stat harder than I ever had this entire life, harder than I could even push my magic as Tovar. That was how I survived Roba’s attack, even though he had a ridiculous amount of Blood for an Uli. Apparently, this was enough for me to truly grow the stat for the first time since I woke up in this world as Mali.

I wasn’t entirely sure how this worked. I suspected it would be really, really hard to push my Brawn or Brain stat up while the blessing was active, since I would need to push myself to an even higher level to challenge myself now, but it seemed the unique relationship I had with my Blood and Will worked slightly differently.

My blessing was still active. I had no idea how long I would be considered on a “mission” for the “goddess” though; maybe it would be the whole time I was among the Uli, or maybe only until I was able to get my first Uli to connect to the admin through prayer. For now, at least, I had a unique opportunity to grow my Blood stat without killing or Bonding.

There were still dangers all around me. I needed to hold onto my Blood in case of emergencies, especially in case of challenges from the powerful Uli that remained in the tribe. It would be a while before I was comfortable enough to really train that stat, but when the time came, I would make the most of it.