TJ couldn’t say for sure what it was that had changed in him to loosen up so much with the two teenagers, but he didn’t mind the change in himself. He felt more like TJ and less like the carrier of the Bloodline of Kukulkan. In 100 days, he’d have to fight against the other people with the Bloodline of Kukulkan and see what the whole competition thing was about, but for now, he could just be a somewhat crotchety old man mentor to these two kids. Watching as they both hesitated to skin crocodiles and Devotees, TJ couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t going to eat anything from the Devotees, but everything else was valuable, and he wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers.
“This was… a Neophyte, like you.” Mimi complained in the same vein for the fourth time since TJ had assigned the two to work on preparing the crocodilian skins for armor.
“Not really.” TJ grunted as his blade cut easily through yet another crocodile’s belly. He hadn’t really expected the crocodiles’ bodies to remain after being killed, given that the Acolyte had summoned them. There hadn’t been any sign of them dissipating or anything, though, and when he’d asked the System if they were real creatures, its response had been definitive, once he’d finally gotten it:
Sobek’s Servants are real creatures and those present in the Integrated world are drawn from the vestiges and memories of His Divine Realm.
“So these weren’t representations of Sobek’s Servants and were real crocodiles?”
Correction: the Dirt (0) tier monsters you have slain here are representations of Sobek’s Servants. Those Servants that existed during the life of the Iridium (VIII) tiered Divinity Sobek were Ruthenium (VII) tiered existences themselves, as they were representations of Sobek’s most devoted followers that achieved Divinity by merit of following their Deity. However, the bodies of the Sobek’s Servants that you slew will remain until they are otherwise affected by decay, consumption, or other forms of destruction.
TJ sighed. He supposed that was only right, considering he’d asked a question whose answer wasn’t exactly clear. Then, with a shrug, he focused on continuing to process the hides. There was plenty to do, and he focused on doing it. After all, if nothing else, these hides would serve as experience for the two teens who were still a little grumpy with him.
As he finished with the fourth crocodile corpse, TJ looked at the two Crafters still struggling with their first corpses. There were plenty of frankly terrible cuts that sliced through the hide and would ruin whatever leather resulted from their work, but it was necessary, and TJ didn’t consider any of the materials before them as particularly valuable. So, they’d be sacrificed to teach two kids to work with leather.
Frankly, looking at how abysmal their work was, TJ hesitated to give either of them any access to the Copper Elite hide drying in the house. Then, he turned his focus inward and reaffirmed that he would continue to teach the kids.
Right as he finished working the last of the last crocodile’s hide free from its body, Sam settled back with a groan. He’d been carving the skin from the tails of the crocodilian but still humanish Zealots, Acolyte, and Disciple. His work was only marginally better than his sister’s, but considering TJ had cut his teeth on mere coyotes, not supernatural reptiles, he cut Sam some slack. TJ looked down at the stack of meat piled on his diminutive front porch and sighed. A couple people were coming out of nearby houses and looking at him hungrily, so he grabbed two mostly intact bodies and tossed them forward until they were well away from his front door. Then, as he held a third one, he settled it on top of the others and shouted to anyone listening,
“These three are up for grabs! I’ll ask that you share them with people around you, but I’m not from the police and I’m not in charge. First come, first served. If you try to break into my house to steal more, you’ll have to deal with me, so don’t. If you're starving or whatever, you can knock and we can have a conversation.”
Then, without another word, TJ hauled the other two corpses over his shoulder and carried them around the house to the backyard, where he took the time necessary to jerry-rig a stand of some sort that’d let him bleed the food. He looked around, wondering where would be best to dispose of the filth, but he quickly realized that the drain in the gutter out front would probably be ideal, at least for now. With a sigh, TJ set another one of his 5 gallon buckets under the dripping Servant corpse.
Only then did he meet Sam’s gaze, and the surly teenager didn’t look angry, just confused and maybe a little hurt.
“You can talk to me.” TJ offered. “I don’t bite. Not as a human, at least.”
Sam still just kept looking at TJ, seeming unsure of how to speak. TJ let him and Mimi stand in silence as he futzed with the stand.
“If you wanna walk with me, I need to go get those skins I removed.” TJ offered as he walked through the back door. He’d wanted to keep the worst of the filth out of the house, but he was quickly realizing that it wasn’t going to be possible for too long without dedicating a lot of time to cleaning. Would that be worth it? TJ grumbled as he collected the skins and carried them behind the house. As he walked into view, he saw three people already working to drag away two of the crocodile bodies left behind. They dropped the creature to the ground as soon as he appeared, but since he didn’t react at all, they resumed pulling the food as soon as he wasn’t looking directly at him. Sam and Mimi hadn’t followed him, but once he was back on the porch again, they both approached him.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Mimi asked, a quiver in her voice. “I… I thought I could trust you.”
TJ had been ready to be cantankerous, or grumpy, or something else, but he wasn’t expecting that feeling of true betrayal from Mimi. He’d been prepared to deal with snark and anger, not this. His facade he’d prepared cracked and he met her eyes.
“You felt like I betrayed you?” He asked, his voice soft.
Tears glimmering in her eyes, she nodded.
“Shit.” He mumbled to himself. Then, he met her eyes. “I can explain more, but know that I never planned on letting either of you be seriously injured. Can you believe me when I say that?”
Mimi shrugged, but Sam nodded behind her. “You said you’d make sure they couldn’t kill me, and that’s what you did. I think you were an asshole about it, but I think you meant what you said.”
“Fair.” TJ said. “I thought it was a teaching moment. Situations like that… they’ll probably be common in the world now. I wanted to see how you’d act. I’d have explained it to you, but there wasn’t time. Maybe I’m just… more callous than I was before all this. No, there’s no maybe about it. I definitely am. You both deserve an apology. I’m sorry. You thought I’d hung you out to dry and was going to watch you die. That was wrong, and I’m sorry. I promise that for as long as we’re together, I’ll make sure you’re safe to the best of my ability. When you need help, I’ll be there, and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll still make you work hard, because I can’t think of any other options that would help you to survive in the Integrated world, but I’m going to help you as much as I can. Is that fair?”
Sam grunted “Yeah,” while Mimi just nodded once and walked inside. Though he thought for a second about calling her back, he realized that would be a bad choice. Instead, he turned to Sam and asked, “Is there something I should do to help rebuild trust with you two? Or just give you space?”
Sam didn’t react for a time, so TJ just set about preparing the skins. The constant rain wasnice, and TJ had some ideas of different ways to prepare the skins to make into leather. His Skill and Occupation were working together to provide different, more advanced methods of preparation, and TJ figured he could experiment. After all, he didn’t think that a crocodile had a brain big enough to prepare the brain slurry for their skin.
“I think she’ll come around.” Sam interrupted TJ from his thinking. As he turned to look at the young Zealot, TJ listened without asking any clarifying questions. After waiting for another ten seconds or so, Sam continued, “She’s always wanted someone to tutor her. A couple of her teachers kinda filled that role, but once she moved out of the class, they moved on too. Here, though, we don’t have a school year, so we should be fine.”
His face twisted in a faint grin, and TJ decided not to question it.
“Sounds good. I want to see what you guys do with your hides, so take your time.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Those are yours, you and Mimi’s.” TJ repeated. “I want to see how you two are able to process them, and what you’re going to make with them. If you need advice, I can provide it, but I want basically all the ideas on how to do it to come from you. Trust in your Skills and Occupation and see what comes out of it, ok?”
Sam’s mouth hung open as he realized just what TJ was saying. TJ nodded as he let Sam slowly realize he needed to come up with all the ideas, then, Sam smiled broadly.
“I have a couple ideas. If my stuff isn’t enough, is it ok if I ask you for some?”
“I’d say so, but I bet you’ll have plenty more to work with before long.” TJ shook his head. “I can feel more movement that’s entering the domain of the Storm, and I know most of it isn’t human. But we’ll be fine, so long as we—”
Screams from the other side of the wall shook TJ from his hopeful monologuing. He didn’t hesitate to leap over the wall and into Roger and Susan’s backyard. A pack of very large, if still mundane wolves were leaping through the windows. A quick Appraisal let him know that none were over level 20, but each bore the moniker of Fenrir-blessed. Inside, the sound of shattering glass and title echoed while wolves howled in pain, but TJ could hear the sounds of pain getting louder.
“Sam, get Mimi over here immediately!” TJ shouted over the wall as he leapt into the house. He didn’t listen for Sam’s response, but he heard the teen burst into motion on the other side of the wall. As TJ stormed through the house, he quickly saw Roger and Susan in the kitchen fighting for their lives. Roger held a kitchen knife in each hand and wore a full set of chain mail. Susan had evidently begun to use her Divine Transformation, her hair trailing nearly to the floor and gravel orbiting her body. The stones flew away from her and pelted the wolves in the snout and eyes, driving them back. The remains of three fully crushed bodies were partially buried in stone and tile, and TJ could see that Susan’s MP was running low.
TJ wordlessly commanded the wind to push the beasts back from the older couple, which gave him the angle to see the deep wound in Roger’s thigh. The Zealot stood as tall as he could manage while keeping the weight off his right leg.
“Sam! We need Mimi here now!” TJ commanded, hoping they would get there fast enough that he wouldn’t need to quickly prepare and channel Ritualistic Transfer. Fortunately, Mimi and Sam both burst through the door at that moment and took in the scene. That was, unfortunately, also the moment the Copper tiered monster decided to make its appearance.
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