The hut they gave him to live in was small. That wasn't a problem for Caio, used as he was to living in a cramped apartment.
He had a low hammock, a reed mat, a coil of rope, a dark, wooden gourd with some intricate patterns painted on its exterior, and a pair of new clothes. It was a start. The humble beginnings of his new life.
And there weren't any spears, either. No guards, nobody watching him. The doorframe didn't have an actual door, but a simple curtain made out of woven leaves and vines. Not much for privacy, but still, it was his space.
He sat in the hammock, swaying gently, and opened the System UI.
[SEEDBEARER STATUS: ONLINE]
[PERSONAL LEDGER: AVAILABLE]
[CIVILIZATION LEDGER: CONDITIONALLY AVAILABLE]
What does it mean, conditionally available? Well, let's begin with the Personal Ledger.
[PERSONAL LEDGER — SUBJECT: CAIO ESTEVES]
Body: HUMAN (OPTIMIZED)
Strength: Above Baseline Endurance: Above Baseline Reflex: Above Baseline Fertility: ANOMALOUS / EXTREME
Mental:
Pattern Recognition: High Strategic Planning: High Emotional Restraint: Volatile
VE (Vital Energy): 23 → trickling upward.
Axis Alignment (EARLY):
Order / Freedom: Balanced (slight tilt to Freedom) Lust / Love: Unset (no bindings registered) Faith / Logic: Logic-biased
Bonded Partners:
None
[NOTE: Axis values will solidify through repeated choices and bindings.]
You didn't need to rub it in my face, Overseer. I know very well that my emotional restraint isn't very good. Vai tomar no…
He cursed in Portuguese, but his eyes scanned the stats several times. The body stats were higher than he ever expected to one day be, but he wondered what exactly 'above baseline' meant in numbers. Yet, he knew that with his old body he wouldn't have survived the monster's attack.
His eyes were drawn to the Fertility stat. He remembered Dr. Rafaela telling him he was 'aggressively fertile,' and the System confirmed it. He couldn't help but snicker at the thought of being a bull selected for reproduction.
The last section was the one that intrigued him the most. There were three axis where his alignment could go to one side or the other.
It's like those D&D alignments… order and law, good and evil. Just… different. A bit more tailored to this world… what was the name again? Khalymera?
He remembered a name that had been dropped when he was sent to this world. Then he closed the Personal Ledger, as it didn't seem to have anything else for now, and opened the Civilization Ledger.
[CIVILIZATION LEDGER — LOCAL NEXUS: "YARIKARI TRIBE"]
Population: 187
Working Age Population: 161
Children: 26
Pregnant women: 1
Domains:
RIVER — Native, Strong
HEARTH — Dormant
SEED — CRITICAL DEFICIT
Resources:
VE: 12
COG: 12
LAB: 64
FTH: 19
HRM: 83
Status:
Ecological Stability (Local): Precarious External Threats: Mana-corrupted fauna (Minor / Recurring) Internal Stress: Rising (Cause: Omen dispute; Foreign Male Anomaly)
[RECOMMENDATION: Observe existing flows before imposing structure.]
'Foreign male anomaly…'
He chuckled at the mention. But he knew that it was a precise description. And he also knew about the omen dispute. It had to do with how to interpret his arrival.
Yeah, it seems that I'll have a lot of work. The ecological stability is precarious, and cognition is very low. At least we have some Labor to work with.
His own unintended pun made him chuckle again. Then, he tried to see the information about strategic resources, but that screen had only one line.
[NEEDS BOOKKEEPING TECHNOLOGY]
Oh… Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem that the tribe has a writing system. I'll ask around tomorrow and then do a complete census of our resources.
Well… That's it. Not just 'hot river women,' though they're all hot. It's an actual village. A small one, poor. It was one bad decision away from dying. Seeing the numbers puts weight into reality. Measurements have a way of making things more concrete.
He scrolled, fidgeting with the several screens and options. There were breakdowns per House, notes about Stillwater pockets being almost lethal, and notes about risks of corrupted mana exposure.
He closed all screens, but the numbers stayed in his head. Population: 187. Children: 26. Pregnant women: 1 - it was Maivira, obviously.
26 children… The Stream-Flower should be constantly pregnant to keep up with the death rate. I guess the numbers make sense if multiple twins are a constant thing.
He opened the Civ ledger again and checked that screen.
[PREGNANT WOMEN]
Maivira - gestation period: 2/7 - foetus: 3 • Total children birthed: 11 • Surviving children: 7
I shouldn't be reading her pregnancy like it's a stat block, but I need to. Because it gives me some info I really need. She's with triplets right now, and the gestation time seems low, only seven months. But the survival rate is appalling. I should do something to decrease child mortality.
The metrics of the core resources, like HRM, were still too vague for him to grasp. But these were concrete demographics. He loved actionable numbers.
What does HRM 83 even mean? We're definitely not exactly harmonious. It isn't a riot yet, but there's internal tension.
While he was pondering all that, drowsiness took hold, and soon he was in a deep sleep.
***
He woke up with the sounds of the tribe beginning their workday. Sun hadn't risen in the sky yet, and the cool air of the 'before sunrise' mist was deliciously comfortable, especially when compared with the heat of the day.
It's definitely better to wake up to this than to the car horns and driver curses from São Paulo…
Right. This was not any Earth metropolis. This was the Braidwhispers village, in the Yarikari territory. This was the world of Khalymera.
Someone cleared her throat at the doorway.
It was Suma, carrying a bundle in her arms.
"You sleep heavy. Up. Reed-Queen wants you not dead. That means you must eat. Work later."
He got up from his hammock. His new body had better reflexes and balance than the old one, so he was already getting the hang of steadying himself on those bobbing platforms.
Outside, the village was already in motion. Kana waved from a small boat, paddle in one hand.
"He stands! Jara, look. Spirit-child walks on water and does not fall!"
He waved back, but his eyes were already cataloguing how many canoes there were, which houses were higher up the current, and which ones sat lower or closer to the edge. His mind was already working like a strategy gamer.
When he arrived at the communal area, Aruá was already there, smiling at him. Her hair was braided beautifully, and she sprang up to hug him.
"Good morning, Aruá."
"Good morning, Kai-o! Come eat! Sit here."
She took his hand and made him sit at her side, then handed him grilled fish and cassava flour, and also a pink fruit that looked like the jambo fruits he used to eat during his trip to the Amazon.
Heh, it's exactly like the riverside native people of the Amazon basin. Food is fish and cassava flour, plus the occasional fruit.
The fruit was sweet and tasty. But he really missed seasoning in the food. And proper meat, as a Brazilian who was true to his roots.
"Do you always eat fish? No hunting for meat?"
"Sometimes we eat meat. But it's rare. Fish easier, not try to kill you. Most of the time."
He was still grappling with the local language, so sometimes the phrases sounded more choppy, sometimes more fluid. But the overall choppiness was really receding.
"I see. Yeah, fishing is easier. But it ties you to the river and limits population. But rivers are good avenues for exploration and trade."
Aruá looked at him with curious eyes, then put her hand on his thigh with a familiar, carefree gesture.
"We are tied to the river because we are river-born. It's our fate and our salvation, as when the tribe was on the verge of death, during the apocalypse, it was the river who gave us food and shelter. Outside river, death and poison."
Caio shuddered at her touch and her casual closeness. He knew that it was the way Yarikari women behaved, but he was beginning to feel something warming inside his chest.
"Death and poison outside the river? Like pollution? We can't explore farther from it?"
The girl smiled, seeing that his body was having a reaction from her touches.
"Yes. Mana pollution. Rain kills you, food kills you, monsters kills you. Even water kills you. That's why only farwalkers dare to traverse the wilds. Farwalkers are strong women who bring trade and news from other tribes."
He sensed someone glaring daggers at him and moved his head discreetly. As he expected, it was Maivira who was staring from a distance.
Aruá also noticed her, so she leaned back, taking her hand off him. She knew better than to provoke the Stream-Flower.
"Kai-o. I was seeing you earlier. You watch everything. Houses, boats, ropes. I can see your eyes counting everything. Why?"