Good Instincts 1.8 - ING. VERSIÓN

Viggo took the skins of the deer he hunted and turned them into two sets of almost equal clothes. As a beginner he got several things wrong, such as the amplitude of the crotch and the amount of space he had to leave in the neck for his head to enter. However, Mrs. Faye, Kratos' wife, helped him fix the mistakes. Now Viggo was dressed like Atreus and Faye, with an armless jacket, trousers, and boots. As it was difficult to give a firm and structured shape to the cane of the boots, Viggo used string made from venison gut and tied it around his shins.

Inside Kratos' house was a sinkhole where they had built a campfire while keeping a distance of 1 meter from the beds. This served them to cook and temper the hut at night.

Faye and Atreus were sitting on their beds, while Viggo was standing on the other side of the campfire, finishing putting on his new animal skin jacket. Once he passed his head, pull from the bottom and place it around his body, he looked at Faye and Atreus and asked them -How do I look?-

-Well, just like me- Atreus said with a tender smile.

Faye next to Atreus, stroked his head in a tender gesture. Then she looked at Viggo and said - I think you look good, young Viggo-

-Thank you aunt-

-Auntie?- asked Faye, surprised.

-Yeah, it's a way of saying. Sounds better than saying "ma'am"-

-I understand-

-Boy!- shouted Kratos from outside the hut -hurry up-

Viggo turned in the direction of the door and shouted -Yes, I'm coming! - Then he looked back at Faye and Atreus and said -I'm sorry, but I have to go-

-No problem, just be careful on the mountain- Faye said.

-Can you bring me one of those antlers? - asked Atreus, placing his hands on his head and stretching out his fingers as if they were the antlers of a deer.

-Sure- replied Viggo with a big smile -if I have a deer, I'll bring you one-

-Thank you-

Viggo smiled, turned around and walked to the exit door feeling that this hut was too dark for his own good. Only light entered from the top of the campfire, where the roof could be raised to let the smoke out. Viggo came out of the hut and found his master standing in the middle of a snowfield. It had been two days since they went hunting and the day before it snowed so intensely, that Viggo had a morning exercise to remove forty centimeters of snow with a shovel. That took away all the cold he had gained last night. He may sleep indoors, but the shed only had walls on two sides of its four sides.

-Come on- Kratos said, turning around and looking at him with those stern eyes. As always, he carried his axe attached to the ring on the back of his shoulder pad. He also wore the bow hanging from the same shoulder and a quiver hanging from a leather rope that crossed his chest. For some reason, he also wore a large roll of skins fastened from a large rope tied to each end.

Viggo nodded to the command, walked to the shed and looked for his quiver, bow and sword. Once he found them, he carried his sword in his left hand, crossed the rope of the quiver to his chest, and hung the bow from his right shoulder. Then he returned with Kratos and advanced north, down the mountain towards a series of gorges.

Once they descended into the depths of the gorges, they advanced along a series of narrow roads where only dirt, rock and fog could be seen. Kratos led the way silently, while Viggo followed him and looked at the large axe hanging from the shoulder pad ring.

-Can you make ice with that axe?- asked Viggo as he moved forward.

-Yes- Kratos replied.

-Where are we going?-

-On the other side of the mountain, where there are some villages. I will change these skins for some foods-

-Why should I go?-

-So that you understand how this place works and where you live-

-¿Mmm?-

After that brief exchange, they walked for an hour and came to a dark cave. The place was only cold and dark, but lacked any kind of plant or animal. However, once they passed through the cave they came to a kind of hidden village in a small valley. They had to go down a ten-meter-long staircase until they reached the height of the ground. Then Viggo could see a series of huts made of wood and others made of tent shape, lined with animal skins.

The people who were close to the staircase were astonished to see Viggo, but when they saw the bald giant next to him, they relaxed. For the most part, they dressed just like Viggo, Faye or Atreus, with clothes made of animal skins.

-Do not disturb anyone and do not touch anything. Just look at what I do and how I do it- Kratos said in a low tone.

However, to Viggo's surprise, many people viewed their bald master with a lot of respect rather than fear. Viggo was amazed as many old women approached with baskets of food and offered it to her willingly. This generated an unknown in Viggo, What was his teacher good that people revered him?

On the other hand, Kratos saw the old women giving him food and other things, but he always refused. He advanced with his sights set on the largest hut in the village, at the end of a road lined with humble wooden huts. He moved forward steadily as a group of twenty people looked at him with a certain divine fervor. It was as if a god had come down to delight them with his presence.

Once Kratos arrived at the hut, an old woman of short stature opened the wooden door and raised her aged gaze. She smiled showing a denture with few teeth and bowed her head as if it were a small bow. Then she walked back to the hut, swinging his long cinderella hair and leaving the door open. Kratos advanced behind her and Viggo followed. Entered the house was tempered. In the center of the house there was a sinkhole where there was a campfire just like in Kratos' house.

The old lady walked to the campfire, skirted it and sat in the background, on an animal skin. Kratos advanced as Viggo looked around. Like Kratos' house, everything seemed too dark. Only daylight entered by trapdoor in the roof that was also occupied to ventilate the smoke generated by the campfire.

A woman with long dark hair came out of the middle of the dark hut. She walked forward with his head down and stretched a deer skin on the ground, on the opposite side of the old lady. Then she walked just like she came and got lost in one of the dark walls. A door closed, but because it was so dark, Viggo couldn't see where he was.

Kratos advanced to the skin and sat cross-legged. Viggo had to stand by his side, as his master occupied almost all the deer skin with his enormous size.

-Good morning, good god- said the old lady in a respectful tone of voice.

-Good morning, old lady- Kratos said in his hoarse, loud voice -my wife received your message-

-As always, thank you very much for coming to our aid-

-Get to the point, I don't have much time-

The old lady took a deep breath and nodded – one of our young men climbed the troll mountain further south and stole one of his deer. It seems that the troll noticed the loss and now he is wandering near the village. According to our warriors, it is a day's journey away on foot-

-I understand- said Kratos -I will leave these skins here and exchange them for the usual fee. I don't want extras or surprises, you know what my wife is like-

The old lady made a soft smile and said - thank you very much as always -

-Mm- Kratos said in a kind of growl. He stood up and turned around, waved his hand to Viggo and walked ahead. Viggo followed and was shocked by the brief exchange. It seems that as always, his master was a man of few words. Viggo denied and remembered all the advice he has given to him. Kratos was a talkative man, but only when he warranted it.

Kratos and Viggo came out of the hut and walked around being looked at by a larger number of people. However, except for the old women at first, none else approached Kratos. It seems that age gave you a special status in this place. Kratos took Viggo out of the small village that only had 12 huts and continued south, until he reached an accessible hillside and began to climb.

Once Viggo reached the top of the hillside, he understood that the village was in the deepest part of a gorge, covered by a thin layer of fog. It was about thirty meters of fall.

-What do we do now?- asked Viggo.

-Hunt, boy- Kratos said -your job is to track a monster ten meters high, with footprints that exceed two meters long and one meter wide. Once you find the footprints, you will take me to him and I will take over. You will just look and nothing else. If you can't find the monster, you'll run out of dinner for a month-

-Aaaah?! - scream Viggo, full of disbelief. And like rarely, Kratos smiled at the look of the silly face he put on. Then his face became as sullen as ever and he advanced in a southerly direction, moving away from the gorges and heading to a mountain different from the one he lived.

-Are you serious?- asked Viggo as he followed him.

-I'm always serious- Kratos replied in a hoarse voice.

-Yes, I know that, but, I have hardly any experience. A week without dinner would be fine, but a month isn't too much?

-Then strive, boy-

Viggo let out a sigh and looked at his master's axe hanging from his back –if I do it right let me use your axe, I will lend you my sword-

Kratos stopped and responded by looking forward – no – then kept moving forward.

-Come on, don't be stingy, it's just a glance. I want to see what its capable of. I already told you, I will lend you my sword-

-Never-

-You are so selfish, why can't you be nicer?-

Kratos let out a sigh and ignored Viggo all the way. Half a day later, they stopped when they reached a pass between the mountains. The place was watered by a slope that was nourished by the thaws and went down from the southern mountain to the pass. On the other hand, the place was cold, with many trees attached to each side of the mountains and an open field next to the river. About five hundred meters above the current, they could see a large bear slapping the water and pulling fish.

Kratos stopped about thirty meters from the river and sat on a rock. He stares at Viggo and wait for him to approach. Once he was three meters away, he said -boy, look for firewood -

-Is it okay for us to stay so close?- asked Viggo, without looking away from the bear.

-It has food- Kratos replied, while he was hanging his bow from his right shoulder and resting it on the same rock he was sitting on -it doesn't attack us, it's not worth the risk-

-Sure?-

-Sure, now go get firewood-

Viggo walk to the edge of the mountain where they came and look among the trees for some dry branches. However, all he could find was wet firewood. No way! he thought in his mind. Viggo take a pile of branches and take them to their master. Then he sorts out the branches and spent a couple of minutes trying to light it. Once he lit the wood, he let out an intense smoke. Viggo coughed as if he was getting intoxicated, but Kratos was totally indifferent.

After the smoke will pass, Kratos got off the rock, looked for a stone with a sharp edge, and once he found it, he squatted down. Viggo understood that it was time to share information, so he walked over and squatted down.

Kratos drew two rag doll on the wet earth, the first larger than the second —these are us— he said and drew a rag doll five times larger than the larger rag doll of the first two —and this is our prey, Do you remember the creature that kills the first time we meet?-

-Yes, master- replied Viggo.

-This one is similar- Kratos continued -he has horns on the sides of his head, he thinks like a human and the most problematic thing is that he can occupy magic. Not to mention the monstrous strength that gives it its large size-

-Magic?- asked Viggo.

-It is a runic magic anchored to its totem (a chiseled stone of rectangular shape). If we can break the totem it will lose its power. However, this is harder said than done. It will be a good study for you-

-Do you really not want me to help you? It seems somewhat problematic-

-You would just be a hinob. You're not prepared for that kind of challenge-

Viggo grimaced with resignation and nodded.