In the primeval jungle, seven or eight people dressed in coarse linen mixed with unidentified animal hides held homemade weapons and cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
"Brother, we're already deep in the forest. If we keep going, we might run into a magical beast."
A young boy carrying a homemade spear spoke gravely to the heroic-looking man beside him.
The man's name was Shate, and he was the leader of this group.
How could he not know that venturing deeper might bring them face-to-face with magical beasts?
But winter was almost upon them.
They had to stockpile enough food before winter arrived to keep the people of their tribe from starving to death.
Yet they had already gathered everything edible nearby, and the tribe's food stores were nowhere near enough to get them safely through the winter.
So they had to venture deeper into the forest, even if all they could bring back was some edible fruit.
At that thought, Shate tightened his grip on his bow and said in a low voice:
"Aji, you know the state our tribe is in. We have no other choice!"
"Besides, we have Little Blue with us. He'll protect us."
As he spoke, Shate glanced at the blue magical beast by his feet, whose head was covered in a shell.
Shate had happened to rescue this magical beast while out last month. Ever since, he had stayed by Shate's side, refusing to leave even when Shate tried to chase him away.
Later, the tribe's elders had told Shate that people in the larger tribes had a special way of commanding magical beasts.
With magical beasts helping them, people in the larger tribes rarely worried about food. Everyone could eat their fill.
And so Shate had kept this blue magical beast by his side and