Waking Up

Solam had truly worn himself out this time. He'd fallen asleep as soon as he returned at noon and hadn't woken until noon the next day.

When Solam woke, he felt better than he ever had before. The aches and pains were gone, and his energy had fully returned. The only problem was that he was absolutely starving.

Solam was wondering whether he should get up and find something to eat when the tent flap lifted and Solari came in. She was delighted to see him awake. "Ram, you're up! How are you feeling?"

"I'm all better, Auntie." When Solam saw Solari enter, he quickly pulled the hide blanket up around himself. He was still naked.

Solari took one look at him and laughed, finding the boy adorable. "Oh, our Ram's getting shy! Is there anywhere on you I haven't seen? Why are you hiding from me?" Like any married woman, she loved teasing boys on the cusp of manhood. As she spoke, she made as if to pull the hide blanket off him. This sort of wicked fun, apparently, knew no bounds between worlds.

Though Solam was a twelve-year-old kid in this world, he was a transmigrator with a wealth of knowledge from another. He had no personal memories of transmigrating, but he was far from naive; he had a fully formed personality and set of values. He was, essentially, a mature person who lacked common sense. So he couldn't accept being like an ordinary twelve-year-old boy and exposing himself for everyone to see.

"Don't, Auntie!" Solam's face turned bright red as he clutched the hide blanket, refusing to let the shameless woman get her way. "Please, Auntie, it's still snowing outside. I'll be cold—" With no other way to stop her from feeling him up, he had to play the helpless victim.

Sure enough, when Solari heard that, she stopped teasing him and tucked the blanket around him instead. Then she pinched his cheek. "You kids really got yourselves into trouble this time. Your uncles were furious. Your big brother got a thorough thrashing from your eldest uncle yesterday, and he's still lying in the tent pretending to be dead."

"I'm not scared. With you and Auntie Zaira looking out for me, I'm not scared of them." Solari had pinched his cheek until his face was all squashed, so his voice sounded a little strange. But his ingratiating tone was unmistakable. No wonder Solam was so popular with the married women—he knew just how to flatter them.

"Looking out for you? You ungrateful little thing. You have no idea how worried we were. Your Auntie Zaira was so worried she even fainted. Your eldest uncle will have to teach you a good lesson this time." Solari released his cheek and pinched his nose, speaking through gritted teeth.

"What?" When Solam heard that Auntie Zaira had fainted, he sat up at once, no longer caring that he was exposed. "How is Auntie? Is the baby all right?"

"Now you're worried? Maybe you'll behave next time. They're both fine—your second aunt and your little brother." Solari laid Solam back down and tucked the blanket around him.

Once he heard Auntie Zaira was all right, Solam relaxed. Then he learned that she'd given birth to a boy, and he was happy for his second uncle and aunt. "Oh! Auntie had a boy? Second Uncle must be over the moon!"

"Your second uncle and aunt love children. Of course he's delighted." Solari was happy for her brother-in-law and his wife, too, but she didn't forget that she was supposed to be scolding the boy. "You know how worried the adults get, and you're usually so clever. Why were you so reckless? Don't you know how dangerous the forest is in winter?"

Solam looked dejected at Solari's question. "I'd thought it all through before we went. We weren't going deep into the forest, and if we ran into danger, we should've been able to get away. We were supposed to come right back. But who knew we'd run into Snow Tigers? And for some reason, they were determined to fight us. Just my luck." Every time Solam thought of those Snow Tigers, his frustration was plain to see.

"Enough. If you hadn't been lucky, you'd have been done for in the forest." Whether you were lucky or not depended entirely on who you asked.

"Auntie, I know I was wrong." The incident had taught Solam a serious lesson: he couldn't underestimate this world just because he had knowledge from his previous life. His own overconfidence had put him and Krum in danger. Still, when it came to getting beaten, better to avoid it if he could. Who wanted to make their own backside suffer? "I won't do it again. You won't just stand by and let them beat me, will you? I was just injured, too. Auntie, you have to save me!" To avoid a beating, Solam hurriedly hugged his aunt's arm and pleaded. He'd completely abandoned his dignity and reverted to his old self.

Seeing Solam act so sweet and cute, Solari's heart melted. Looking at her handsome nephew, she couldn't help thinking, Why was her own son so thickheaded? When his father wanted to beat him, he'd just lie down and take the whip without saying a word or offering a single soft plea. He'd taken a thorough beating. Solari actually enjoyed her nephew's pleading. Among the Avalon Orcs, acting cute was considered something only girls did. If her own son had tried it, she'd probably have slapped him across the face. But with a nephew prettier than a girl, it somehow suited him. (Only the Orcs thought Solam was handsome. Among humans, he was merely average, and for a Half-elf, he looked pretty ordinary too.)

"Hmph. Remember this lesson. Still, you probably won't have many chances to go hunting from now on."

"What? Is the old man going to ground me?" Solam asked, startled to hear he wouldn't be able to hunt anymore.

"Not exactly. Your grandfather will probably explain why in a bit, but all in all, it's a good thing."

Since it was good news, Solam wasn't too worried. Surely the old man wouldn't do anything to hurt him. It looked like he'd escaped a beating, at least.

"How's Krum?" Now that he was safe, Solam naturally wanted to ask about his companion, who'd been left behind.

"He's fine. He's tough as nails. A beating will teach him a lesson. He went out with you and didn't even know how to protect his little brother, so he deserved it." From an outsider's perspective, Solam seemed like the biological son and Krum like the one they'd picked up. But this was the normal way Avalon Orcs treated their children. Kids got up to mischief; what was so bad about giving them a beating? In their eyes, it was the way Solam was spoiled that was strange.

Before Solari could finish speaking, they heard a loud rumble from Solam's stomach. She laughed. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

"Mm." There was no reason to be embarrassed about that. "I haven't eaten since yesterday morning." "Then let's get you something to eat. Afterward, we'll go see your Auntie Zaira and your newborn little brother. Today we're eating the two Alpine Goats you hunted yesterday. Come on, get dressed." As she spoke, she tossed him a set of clean leather clothes.

"I feel like I could eat a whole goat," Solam muttered as he got dressed.

Burp~~~ Solam really did eat an entire goat, though it was the smaller one. Even so, he was stuffed. He'd never eaten so much in his life, but he'd truly been starving. He'd already eaten plenty and was still hungry; only after finishing the whole little goat did the hunger finally fade. The others were delighted to see him eat so much. A good appetite was a blessing.

"Burp~~~" Solam lay beside Zaira's bed, still so full that he had to lie down and let his food settle. He played with his newborn little brother, Iluter, too. The little one had just been born, and his skin was all wrinkled. His eyes hadn't even opened yet, but Solam thought he was rather cute.

"Here, little Ram." Zaira held out the bowl of goat's milk to Solam.

"Burp~~~ Ugh—" The smell of the goat's milk nearly made Solam throw up. It wasn't that he found it disgusting; he really couldn't eat another bite, and seeing food made him feel sick. "Auntie Zaira, I really can't eat any more. I'm full up to my throat. I'll throw up if I have any more. Give it to Iluter." Afraid Zaira wouldn't agree, he took the bowl from her hands.

"He's still too little for this. I just fed him."

As soon as Solam held the bowl to Iluter's lips, the little one began gulping it down. He seemed quite healthy.

"Look, Iluter's still hungry. He's drinking so eagerly!" Solam was delighted that his little brother was playing along.

Zaira gave Solam a reproachful swat. "He's only just been born. He doesn't know anything, so of course he'll drink whatever you give him. He'll definitely spit it up later. What a waste of perfectly good milk."

Solam had never heard of that before. So babies couldn't eat too much after all; even too much milk was hard to digest. "It's fine. We got two nanny goats this time, so we have plenty of milk. Even if some goes to waste, it's no big deal."

Zaira gave Solam another swat. "Good food shouldn't be wasted. If we can't finish it ourselves, we can give it to someone else."

He spent the afternoon chatting on and off with Auntie Zaira.

That evening, Solam was summoned to his grandfather's tent. The spacious tent held the old man, Granny Karom, both his uncles, and even Auntie Solari.

Honestly, Solam was startled as soon as he walked in. He thought they were going to put him on trial and then beat him senseless. He knew he deserved a beating, but who wanted to get one if he could avoid it? Why make his own backside suffer for no reason?

Solam quickly looked to Granny Karom for help. If his grandfather wanted to deal with him, Auntie Solari wouldn't be much use—his grandfather was the head of the family, after all. But Granny Karom was different. If there was anyone in the world who spoiled Solam the most, it was Granny Karom. She spoiled him so much that even Solam was a little surprised. Whenever Solam did something wrong, Granny Karom always blamed someone else; her Solam was the most obedient, best-behaved boy there was. If she weren't spoiling him, he'd have thought it was too much. More importantly, Granny Karom could keep his grandfather in check. Whenever his grandfather was about to lay into Solam, Granny Karom was the one to turn to.

Granny Karom saw Solam's pleading look and gave him a reassuring smile.

The old man ignored Solam's little gesture and went straight to the real reason for this "trial."

"What? You want me to become a Shaman?"