Tattoos

Present

[Yalak POV]

Since it has been a week, I had to see Baruba and show my results. I was a bit anxious about the clothes.

Zala has been acting a bit strange in the last few days. I hope she is not blaming herself too much. ' I should tell her again I'm not angry at her.'

I arrived at Baruba's house and knocked.

Surprisingly he answered.

" Hi, Yalak. Did you sleep well ?" he said with a mischievous smile.

' This bastard knows no bounds. He knows I had to work my ass to get his task done, and yet he dares to ask this question.' I was a bit irritated.

" Don't make this face. It's just a simple joke. What a mood killer."

I rolled my eyes.

"I finished what you asked me to do."

"Good, show me. If I don't find the result satisfying enough, I may not teach you. "

"Here is the draw and the copy I made."

Baruba scrutinized my work and didn't even once have a change of expression.

I was confident in the draw, but the more time passed without him saying anything, the less confident I became. 'What will be his reaction when he'll see the clothes ?'

After fifteen minutes, he looked at me. For a second, I believed his eyes were gleaming.

"Not bad, average at best."

'Average my ass, none of the other orcs could have done better.'

" Well, the clothes now."

I will not lie. I'm sweating.

"Uhm, yes, here they are."

Baruba raised an eyebrow. He took the clothes and inspected them. A frown made its way onto his face.

' I don't feel it,'

He put his hand on his face and smiled crazily.

" Those are worst than sh*t. I'm sorry to tell you that you have no talent in making clothes. Did you enjoy making them ?"

" No, not really" his smile stretches even wider.

"Perfect ! Now show me how you manifest your mask."

'That's it ? I feel like something is going on in his head, and it's not good for me.'

A bit uneasy, I sat down and started to meditate. It was much easier. I took five minutes to gather all the energy necessary and put it into the tattoo on my face.

The mask swiftly appeared.

"Took you long enough."

" Praising people won't kill you, you know ?" I subconsciously blurted out.

' Did I speak aloud ? shi*t !'

he raised his eyebrow and said :

" Cyfrin expect the best of his student and don't give commend easily."

" Oh! Not again. Does he want to use us to raise his fame? If we become the best of the best and claim he is our teacher, it would surely raise his standing. I don't mind having hard training to become the very best tough."

" You don't have to act like this with me, you know ?"

" I do as I want" he turns his head

' What ! Are you sulking now ? Are you a child ?'

" Really"

" Alright, I admit defeat and stop acting all mysterious when it's the both of us. But it will rarely be the case now."

" What do you mean ?"

He just kept smiling at me.

" You can't hold yourself, can you ?" I said to myself

"She will be soon here."

"She ? Who ?"

We could then hear someone at the entrance.

" Teacher Baruba !"

"Speaking of the devil."

He went to receive the newcomer. When he came back, I was very surprised to see Zala standing by his side.

" Zala ! What are you doing here ?"

" And you, what are you doing here" she replied

" Didn't I tell you I became Baruba's student ?" Then it clicked in my mind, "Oh! So you also..."

"Exactly, I became Baruba's student," she said boastingly.

I looked at Baruba in search of answers.

"Indeed, I took her in. She came during the week, so I gave her the same task as you but slightly easier since she didn't have as much time."

"So Zala, can you show me your work ?"

She got a paper out. Like me, Baruba carefully inspected it.

" Not bad"

Curious, I tried to get a glimpse of it. And when I saw it, I couldn't help but scoff.

' She got a not bad with this !', Her draw wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect easier I could see some mistakes here and there. It wasn't against Zala. I was just angry at Baruba's comment.

He looked at me with a devil's smile, his fang larger than ever.

" What is it, Yalak ? Are you sick ? Do you need to take some rest while talking with Zala ?"

' This shameless bastard...'

" Are you alright, Yal ?" Ask worryingly, Zala.

" Zala, don't fall for his trick !"

"No, don't worry, I'm fine."

"Is that so ?"

"Anyway, can you now show me the clothes ?"

" Yes !"

She then takes out a coat from her bag. When I saw it, I was left stunned. The coat was beautiful. It was simple, with several buttons to close it. Completely orange, it could fit a two-meter orc.

'How was that violent girl able to produce that ?'

" A great piece of work !" Praised Baruba.

'What ! I believed you rarely gave any praise, you hypocrite !' I thought angrily.

" It's far superior to what Yal has produced"

" yeah, I know."

Zala was standing proudly from all the compliments. I couldn't help but ask :

"How did you make it ?"

" Yurim and Ushha taught me."

" Alright, now that everything is done, do you want to know more about tattoos"

"YES," we both exclaim.

'At last, I can finally discover their secret !'

" Ok, you can both sit down because what I will reveal to you today can be a bit shocking. And there is one thing important you shall not repeat to anyone and keep it between ourselves, alright ?"

"Yes !"

" First tattoos have existed in our culture since the very start of our species. You see, many races have access to mana. And mana is the source of magic. However, we, Orcs, are part of the species who can't use it."

'What? I can't use magic ! Nooooooo !'

"So we had to use another kind of energy to rival them : ovzgûn. It means internal energy. Others call it Aura, and others life energy. But to us orcs, it's ovzgûn. However, using ovzgûn without any intermediary is difficult and limited. A long time ago, an unknown and powerful shaman came up with an idea. They knew ovzgûn could temporarily be infused in objects or in someone. With the right intent, it could produce incredible effects. They also observed that through those intents, the ovzgûn flowed in some kind of pattern. That illustrious shaman studied those patterns and made the first tattoo. The tattoo was simple, it allowed someone to become slightly stronger, but it was a big step for us, Orcs. As the tattoo was quite limited, they resumed their research till they succeeded in creating the first Tribal tattoo. Soon everyone learned how to make tattoos and develop their own tattoos, and form their own tribe. The tribal tattoo is the very foundation of any tribe, its identity. Any tribe without a tribal tattoo is fated to be absorbed by others. In a tribe, every member should have at least the tribal tattoo of the tribe."

" Excuse me, teacher Baruba, but why the children and some women of our tribe don't have a tribal tattoo?" interrupted Zala.

" It's because it's a stupid tradition of recluse tribes. They wait for the blessing ceremony to give it to you. As I said earlier, there is something special about tribal tattoos. First of all, they can gather and store ovzgûn, then it can evolve. Tribal tattoos are made from powerful intent, concept, and belief. It can be developed on its own as you gather more ovzgûn. How far you can go depends on you and the complexity of the intent behind the tattoo. The more complex, the more potential it has."

Zala and I were drinking its every word.

" But that's not all. I said each tribal tattoo could gather ovzgûn but can evolve and has a different intent. A tribal tattoo is a treasure because it holds abilities. At first, everyone gets more or less the same abilities, but as it advances, we can get more unique and powerful skills linked with the intent behind it. I'll give you our tribe's example. You see, when you first get your fiery wolf tattoo, it would look like Vala's tattoo, and you'll get an ability related to a wolf's senses. But as you progress and live your own experience, it will reflect on your tattoo."

Baruba turned himself to show us the scar wolf tattoo on his back.

"You see this scar ? It appeared the same day I got mine. And it gave me the ability to be calmer and more calculative in fights."

He turns back to look at us.

"There is another point on tattoos that I forgot to tell you. If you use a tattoo, it will reinforce the part of the body where it's placed. And a tribal tattoo is not only used nearly at all times, but its strengthening effect is also stronger, so be careful where you place it. That's pretty much all for now. You'll learn the rest at the ceremony."

What I just learned was mindblowing. Tattoos are so great. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't tell us everything. 'One step at a time, I guess.'

Suddenly, I got an idea and became excited by it.

"Can I create my own tribal tattoo ?" I asked

" Creating a tribal tattoo is no easy task. You need talents, resources, a great understanding of concepts you want to infuse it with, and a bit of luck to succeed. It would be best if you become a master in tattoo making. Besides, powerful tribes improved their through thousands of years and also created multiple variants. I think you can do it with a lot of work, it will also give you a great deal of experience, and as a teacher, I would be proud of you. But be careful not to let your research submerge you and make you forget the outside world.

And let me warn you about something. One can only hold a limited amount of tattoos. Two is easy and was made possible by shamans for different reasons. But any more could break the balance between them and kill you. Understood ?"

"Yes !"

"Alright, now let's move on to your case" his face became grave as he gazed intensely at us.