Chương 18: The Capital

The capital was a spectacle. Being from a jungle world with no real buildings or infrastructure, Blick was in awe of what this city meant. In the last day of travel he had seen small homes with fields of the same plants in straight rows. Having surely annoyed his friend with "what is that" a thousand different times, he had started understanding that this civilization grew without the major threats to life that his had. Seeing the capital set that idea into stone.

The realization came with a sort of pity for his family back in home hole. They would never know this could exist. And on the opposite of that, he realized these people would not understand the threats that held his people back. Over the final month of travel he began to understand words in a broader sense than just names for things. Concepts were more difficult. Cooking was something you did to food, but a cook was the person who cooked… those are simple terms with straight forward meanings.

There are broader words like society, culture, "eco no mee… eco nome"…. It's a hard word to say… money stuff. Even money was a new idea for him. These people had so much for him to learn and he was going to learn it all. Terran had found more time to teach him as Blick had gotten proficient at cooking the 4-6 ingredients available in the cook tent. Helping prepare and deliver meals had garnered him a bit of friendly banter with the soldiers.

At least the ones who didn't personally know the sergeant who Blick had killed on reflex. That was also a revelation Blick was beginning to uncover. Some of these people would get upset if he harmed their friends. And when he thought about it, he would have been angry if anyone had harmed Nasha or Nel, and now Terran too. He was beginning to understand what effect killing a person had on those around him.

He would still defend himself and his friends just the same, but he would have a better idea of what that could lead to in future conversations. As he was aware, the leaders of the camp would inform the leaders of this city of the situation. He was told he would be sent to a place they can continue teaching him anything he wanted to learn. Terran would be assigned to help him find his way around and keep out of trouble, which both appreciated.

And Blick would need to assist them in finding that tree he fell through so long ago. Not a bad situation overall. The first day was a mass of confusion, the buildings looked the same in every direction and unlike the forest, Blick could not figure out which direction he came from when he turned a corner. If it weren't for Terran walking everywhere with him he would have been lost a hundred times. Some of the buildings were massive.

He had a difficult time understanding how many people were walking around INSIDE them. They had basements in some buildings Terran had explained when he asked about home hole. Nobody here had to live underground so they built up. A wild idea to stack huts on top of huts to fit more people inside. Blick had always slept in a borrow of some sort and usually a very temporary one. A hard form shelter made for multiple families above ground was insane and kind of beautiful.

Terran showed him a balcony, a very difficult word to say, and he stayed there for nearly an hour just looking out. Taller than any tree he had ever climbed, with an open view of nearly the whole city, this site made him happy beyond reason. Realistically Terran found it entertaining until it was boring watching the furry man just stare open mouthed for what felt like ever. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

By the third day in the city the two had been escorted to their semi permanent residence and shown the way to Blicks personal tutor Adrian. Adrian was the most respected teacher in the kingdom and it showed in how he presented himself.

"You will be here for your instruction no later than 2 bells after breakfast. You will refer to me as instructor Adrian. You will clean up before arriving, as I will not teach someone in rags. Cannot believe they waste my talents on some beast from the jungle. Do not be late and do not interrupt once we begin the lesson." Turning to face Terran, the stuck up teacher grimaced again before adding.

"If you much join him in this room then I suggest you use the time to better yourself as well and take notes. As I understand he cannot read or wright I expect you to do it for him and you two can consult afterwards on filling in his gaps in understanding. Am I understood?" With a squint he looked between both of them. Terran replied with a solid "Yes sir." While Blick just looked between the two men and shrugged.

That was when the instructor tossed a scroll into the air and started ranting about how he now had to babysit someone who doesn't even understand basic language, and how he was supposed to be respected. Blick just found the rant funny and did his really gruff grunt chuckle. That didn't help as the man just got more red and louder. Terran elbowed him with a "stop that" look.

"How long do you need to teach the creature?"

"Lord Hesties, I do believe it will take some time maybe months before he is at the level of most of our first year students at the academy. If it's just enough to get his guidance on a location for this mission you mentioned then maybe just a few weeks. What should I focus on exactly?" The lord of crater kingdom mentally reviewed the goals he had in mind. They needed a location yes, but also an idea of what to expect.

Was there a method of transportation used, was there danger in the transportation, how many could they send, how advanced was its home civilization, would they need to prepare for conquest or explore? There are so many questions to answer when building the mission and assigning the appropriate personnel. Relaying that complicated list to the instructor was tedious as he didn't have the mindset of a leader.

Together they decided to spend a month on teaching the basics of this society and then moving to more complex issues like mission planning and threat assessments. With a bow the instructor left the lord alone to find and gather resources to create his lesson plan. Hesties was a mixture of excitement and dread. On one hand he had the key to potentially unlimited new resources, but on the other hand he could be holding the key to a lengthy war of conquest.

All the while he is diverting resources to this mission the hostilities across the river in the neighboring kingdom had been steadily increasing over the last few years. With so much space between the two countries there was almost no direct conflict. It was the exploration teams that often ran into one another and fought. That meant the next force was sent with more soldiers than explorers.

And In the most recent missions they had only sent military personnel as to not risk the few knowledgeable geologists they had who could determine a potential areas value. Blick was more valuable than anyone realized and the lord was determined to spend every resource bringing the creature up to a helpful standard. But he was also aware and even worried about conflict with multiple fronts. Spread too thin his soldiers wouldn't be effective.

With a potentially dangerous society somewhere near the Zipan river he had a lot of pieces to move, deployments to arrange, and generals to explain this all to.