12 Really Smart!

As I wake up the bear's face is right next to me. I can see his expressive and huge eyes, also his huge mouth. I can also feel and smell the breath. Damn! What's with him in the morning?! Has he been looking at me like that all night long?!

"Morning teacher!"

He cheerfully greets me, apparently oblivious to my slight discomfort. There is such a thing as personal boundaries, I'll have to teach him that. But seriously what got him so excited?

"I finally figured it out! You know how you asked me if they had ears? At first, I was really confused because I always make sure to remove any sound with a barrier. I kept thinking and thinking and couldn't understand.

I was thinking aloud and trying to figure it out. So much that I somehow choked for a second with my own saliva. For a split second, I stopped ruminating. That's when I finally understood!"

Is it bad that I have no idea what he is talking about? Should I just admit that I have no clue and that he should ask someone else?

Probably lets…

"For an instant the cavern became silent. What you were referring to wasn't to the sound itself, but the absence of sound! Am I right teacher?!"

He is looking at me full of expectation and looking slightly nervous. Is this thing an Ursa or a Care-Be*r? I don't feel like bursting his bubble. To be honest, his thought process is weird, but he might be onto something.

[Exactly, you did well.]

"HAHAHAHA I knew it! This means that instead of creating a sound-insulating ward I need to create something that will fake some noise. It needs to remain constant so no one can detect the lack of noise. Right now, they can guess I am hiding in whatever area is the most silent!"

He seems really proud. This is some next-level idea right there. I'm just wondering, does this guy even have any predators? Otherwise, all of this is pointless.

Then again, it's his life. As long as I don't get implicated in any sort of trouble, he can have fun all he wants. Now he is mumbling about what kind of background noise he should use for this new spell of his.

At first talking about what kind of sound would be the less conspicuous, then he seems to realize that any he uses could end up revealing his position if people notice the pattern.

So, he expects people to actually listen to the rhythm of stuff like insect noise and figure out that it's a recording from that…. I'm not sure whether that much preparation is worth it.

The more I spend time with this bear the more I realize the expression there is a fine line between genius and madness to be true.

"What would you do teacher? How should I go about making the sounds realistic?"

And he sends a question my way again. Let me see. Does he need to emulate a realistic sound?

[How about making it so your spell reproduces the previous day's noise and applies it then. Of course, you would need a way to filter out any kind of easily noticeable sound. If some kind of monster roars it needs to be removed somehow. You can then make a sound database using such a method and rotate it depending on the days randomly. But truly I …"]

"This is amazing, teacher! I'm not sure how to do all that yet, but I'll figure it out! Thank you! As expected of teacher!"

He has stars in his eyes. His imagination running full throttle as usual. I say as usual, but I've only known him for a day. He starts mumbling to himself again until ….

*Thud-Thud-------Thud! *

What is that? It doesn't sound natural. Some kind of banging sound up there? What is happening? Are we in danger?

My companion comes to a halt. He listens for a while, then he heads toward the entrance. I can hear it opening, the sound of something making its way in then it gets closed again.

As I'm wondering what is happening, I can see some bright blue eyes emerge. The pupil enlarged from surprise. There stands a huge white tiger staring at me. Until….

"Old Bear there is an intruder in your cave!!! Quick run!!!!"

He turns around and bolts toward the exit only to collide with the bear and fall on the ground. What is up with all the animals here? Seriously?!

"Quick move! We need to run! Whatever it is it somehow made its way inside without us knowing! We are about to get roasted and eaten! I hear that's what happens to juicy-looking guys like us! Some evil people want to chase us to cook us and devour us! RUNNNNN!!!"

I stand corrected. The bear is quite normal compared to …. whatever this is.

"Stop! He's a friend! Just relax! Deep breath!"

It takes a while and a lot of convincing for the newcomer to finally calm down. Still, that doesn't stop him from glancing at me warily over and over again. I can also see that it positioned its body closer to the exit.

I'm starting to wonder if there is something in the air here that makes the animals behave so weirdly.

I can finally observe him more carefully. A huge white tiger, black stripes, sky blue eyes, long whiskers.

Hanging from his neck I can see many necklaces. Most seem tribal looking. Let's just say the aesthetics don't seem to be the priority here.

Fangs and claws that are scary looking like the bear. Yet for some reason upon seeing me, he instantly tried to run away.

This I don't understand. After all, I am way smaller than he is. There is no reason whatsoever I can think of. None at all! He still looks extremely warry.

"Who is this?"

The bear waves his paws proudly.

[He is my teacher! I found him when he climbed down Yggdrasil and landed right where I was hiding!]

The tiger looks stunned. I can see him thinking. His expression starts from confusion to disbelief and finally ends up as sheer terror. He throws himself on the ground prostrating himself.

"This young tiger saw Mount Tai and failed to recognize it! Please forgive this inexperienced tiger wise one!"

How the hell did this happen?

Also …what the hell is he thinking?!

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