Chapter 3 - Sisters (2/2)

'Come, my little ones; this is your big brother. Remember to follow what he tells you and not to fight. Boy come, these are your two little sisters. Come closer, don't be afraid.'

The child fearfully stretched his hand toward those two little beasts. The little spider, in turn, reached out one of its legs while the little snake stuck its tongue out. These came into contact with the child's hand creating a slight tickling sensation.

'Well, now that they too are finally with us, I would say that the time has come to give you your names. I thought about it a lot in these years, and finally, I decided.' The big spider happily said as she pointed to the little spider first. 'You will be called Xing, as you are luminous as a star,' then turning to the little snake, 'instead you will be called Ye, as the enchanting as the night that supports the stars.' Finally turning his gaze to the little boy to whom, until now she hadn't given a name, she said. 'And you little one, you will be called Hei, like the darkness. Your task will be to protect your little sisters as the darkness does with the night and the stars. Did you understand?'

Hei, who had finally received his name, nodded happily and asked curiously. 'Mother, and you? Don't you have a name?'

His mother was surprised by this question and thought back to an old episode of many years ago when she was still a low-level spirit beast who had to be careful even to step out of her lair.

'You saved my life. I owe you. I see you have no name, what do you say if I give you one? Since you are like a kind of treasure found by chance, I will call you Bao Bei. Abbreviated, Little Bei.'

Bao Bei, this was the name that had been given to her a long time ago. Recalling this memory, the spider smiled at Hei and answered. 'My name is Bao Bei, but you can continue to call me mother like you always did.'

Hearing this, Hei nodded with his head as he smiled and then flung himself out to play happily with his two little sisters.

Although they were just born, they were still spirit beasts. So they had no problem moving immediately after birth and understanding what they were told. However, they soon got tired and, together with Hei, went to sleep under the watchful and happy gaze of their mother.

*

A month had passed since the birth of Xing and Ye; by now, they had become strong enough not to tire immediately after starting to play. They had also grown a few inches, becoming the size of a palm.

While Hei, Xing, and Ye were having breakfast with insects and apples, Bao Bei turned to them with a serious look as if she had something important to say.

'Listen to me, my little ones. By now, you have grown enough, and the time has come for you to start your training. You have to learn to be more autonomous and learn to hunt to eat. Therefore, from now on, you will have to commit yourself to hunt the prey that I will request from you. Do you understand?' Bao Bei asked with a serious expression as she shifted her eight eyes to her children.

Hunting, a fundamental activity for carnivorous spirit beasts. Although it was an innate instinct within them, it was still true that hunting without a guide, especially in the non-adult phase, involved enormous danger. That is why mothers had to teach their children how to hunt, although this principle wasn't applied to every species.

Bao Bei wanted all three of her children to learn the art of hunting as soon as possible. After all, in a dangerous world like this, you couldn't know when your end would come, so she wanted to be sure they were independent if something happened to her.

Hei, together with his two sisters, raised their astonished eyes at those words. Usually, it was their mother who was responsible for getting food, and by now, they were used to it. So, they found themselves confused as they suddenly had to deal with hunting.

'Hunting? Mother will not bring us more food?' (Hei)

'No, I don't want mother to leave us.' (Xing)

'Mother, do you want to leave us?' (Ye)

Bao Bei, amazed by their words and understanding their misunderstanding, hastened to respond. 'No, what are you thinking, you fools. I don't want to leave you, but you have to learn to hunt, okay? Would you do it for your mother?'

The three of them nodded happily and were no longer worried about being abandoned. Bao Bei refrained from revealing to them the reason why they had to become more autonomous, not wanting to sadden them or worry them.

When they finished eating, they all came out of the huge spiderweb to start their first hunting lessons.

'Remember, you must always be vigilant at all times. No matter how weak a creature may seem, you must always act prudently and assess the situation well. If you decide to attack, then you must do so to end their life immediately. Playing with the prey is something I don't accept, alright?' Bao Bei said, staring severely at Hei, Xing, and Ye.

Hei immediately signaled that he had understood, followed by his two sisters. Seeing that they understood, Bao Bei went on to explain.

'Another rule is to show respect for what you kill and eat. All creatures have their role, and killing one of them means getting your hands dirty with their blood. For this, you have to kill only if necessary and never for fun. And when you kill, you don't have to waste anything on your prey. To survive, you have ended their life, and the only way to honor them is by making full use of their bodies.'

Having finished saying this, Bao Bei proceeded to illustrate the various hunting tactics, such as the use of vegetation to hide and ambush, preparing traps, and multiple ways of attack to kill the prey.

Xing and Ye at first struggled a bit as it was the first time they used their skills voluntarily. But in the end, they were spirit beasts, and something inside them told them how to move and what to do precisely. So, it didn't take them long to digest all these new concepts. However, this didn't mean that they had learned how to hunt since they hadn't yet practiced with a real moving target.

Hei, on the other hand, being human, found it more challenging to learn, since he had no unique ability such as throwing webs or injecting poison. Furthermore, Bao Bei was a spider, not a human. She had a profound knowledge in the techniques used by spiders and snakes, but it was difficult to convert these into something that could be used by a human.

'Mother, I can't do it. I'm not as Xing and Ye who can use poison and have powerful fangs, and I can't even get the webs out. Why am I the only different one?'

Being born in an environment devoid of people, the very concept of being human was unknown to Hei. Furthermore, Bao Bei had never told Hei anything that could be traced back to the human world. A part of her was afraid to tell him the truth about his origins, fearing that the diversity of species would end up causing her to lose her son.

Seeing his sad face, Bao Bei immediately hastened to console him as she ordered Xing and Ye to continue their training. 'Hei, listen. You don't have to be sad. Does it matter if you are different, aren't Xing and Ye the same? There is nothing wrong with being different, and regardless of what you are, I love you anyway. Okay?'

Hei heard his mother's sweet words and stopped crying even though he had still visibly red eyes from crying. 'But I also want to hunt with Xing and Ye and with mom too. Why can't I do it?'

'Don't give up. You'll see that you'll make it. You worry so much that you are different, but if you want, you can also have sharp fangs and inject venom, you know? For example, just let your nails grow by giving them a pointed shape to have claws, while if you bite hard enough, your teeth can become a weapon. For the poison and the spiderweb, there is a way to make you generate them, but for you, it is still too early.

However, you have an advantage that neither your sisters nor I have. You have these hands here, and with these, you can use particular objects called weapons. With these weapons, you can hunt without having to wait for you to grow bigger, and I will teach you how to do it.'

Hei hearing these things, especially that he would be able to do in the future the things his mother and his sisters did felt flare up with excitement as he said excited and full of desire to start immediately.

'Alright, mother, then I'll wait when I'm older. Meanwhile, I will learn how to use these weapons. But what exactly are these things called weapons?'

'Good boy, this is the spirit. As for weapons, there are various types of weapons, and each has its characteristics. Although I'm not a great expert, I have a basic understanding of how to use them. What I want to teach you is the spear.' Bao Bei announced.

Weapons, or the death tools used by humans and demons. Although she hated such instruments that had killed countless spirit beasts, she couldn't bear to see her son's future blocked by her whim. So she decided to put her feelings aside for Hei's sake.