Mythran's Master Of All

Ren woke up a short while later. He was facing up, had a piece of cloth tied around his face, and his chest was tied to the tree again. Owwww. That really hurt. Ren thought and rubbed his head. It didn't hurt now, much to his relief. How long have I been out, Teepo?

“Hm? I don't know.” Teepo said.

Ren looked around but didn't see his friend. Teepo? Where are you?

“I'm right here, Ren.” Teepo said.

Ren looked down at the ring and remembered that if he lost consciousness, Teepo's astral form would disappear.

“Summon Teepo!” Ren said and tapped the ring.

Teepo's astral form appeared in front of Ren and climbed onto his chest. Ren reached out and stroked his carapace.

“Sorry about that. I don't know what happened.”

“It's okay. It's not like you did it on purpose, unlike what a now deceased uncle used to do to me.” Teepo said and then chittered in laughter. “I'm so glad he's dead!”

Ren smiled. At the time, he'd felt sorry for the beetle he'd stepped on by accident, but once he'd found Teepo and heard his sad tale about his father's murder and his uncle's revenge, Ren's regret had diminished to the point that he didn't feel sorry at all.

Ren untied himself from the tree and stood up. He didn't feel woozy or anything and walked over to the edge of the platform. Ren looked over the side and saw Aimus collecting pelts from the giant rats. There was a large pile of pelts stacked next to the tree. Aimus must have been skinning them for a while to have that many already. Ren climbed down the ladder and walked over to where Aimus now stood.

“So... how are you feeling?” Aimus said.

“I'm okay. I just had a bad reaction to the smell.” Ren said.

“I figured. After you... ah... emptied your stomach... and passed out, I put you back beside the tree and covered your nose.”

“Thanks, Aimus.”

Aimus shrugged and picked up another rat. It was going to take a long time to skin them all.

“If you have a spare skinning knife, I can help.” Ren said.

Aimus reached behind his back and pulled out another knife. Ren took it and examined it.