Two Month

My first meeting with Baruba took the whole afternoon. Although I slept two times, it wasn't relaxing at all. The first time was because of the mask, and the second time was because of a punch.

I returned exhausted to egghead. I fell directly on the bed, ignoring the strange gazes that Vorl, Uzu, and Burny were giving me. I'm sure the others would have done the same if they were present in the hut.

On my hard bed, I comfortably slept.

...

'Mhmm, why do I feel heavy? Let me sleep!'

'Ouch' This time, I clearly felt something heavy falling on me, and it woke me up, someone had jumped on my belly !

I opened my eyes and...

"Aaaah ! What are you doing, Uzu" Uzu's face was two centimeters above mine. She was sitting on me, but she wasn't the only one. Noa was just behind her. He must have been the one I felt earlier.

"I'm observing the things on your head. It's beautiful !"

That makes me realize I don't even know what it looks like.

"It's a mask."

"Where did you get it ? And can I have one too ? "

"Me too ?" asked Noa as well.

"Maybe when you'll get older."

"But that's not fair. I want to be a wolf too."

I moved them and stood up.

"Life is unfair."

I was irritated from being suddenly awakened.

"hey, Yal, why do you have a mask ?" asked Zala. All the orphans had returned while I was taking my little nap and had the same question in their minds.

So I told them what happened in the afternoon. They all pitied me. Apart from Trosh, who was feeling inspired, he found a new way to improve his jokes to another level. When they heard that Baruba was willing to teach us, they were overjoyed and grateful to me, especially Ushha.

"But with all this, I don't even know what it looks like."

"Well, it's kinda cool," said Rorm

"Definitively," confirmed the others.

"Well, I'll go to the lake to see it."

And so I did.

I looked at my reflection in the lake. The mask was primarily black with a smooth texture. Its design wasn't complex. The fur was originally sculpted on the sides. Golden motifs represented the fur inside the ear and on the sides of the mask. It covered my upper face whit its nose stopping just above my mouth. Big red lines were drawn just under the eyes, one from its nose to the forehead, where it finished in a circle. All in all, the mask looked really great. I was starting to like it.

While we were at it, why not try its abilities and also make it retract to its other form? I first closed my eyes and focused only on my earring. I felt my skin in contact with the mask. I then felt a new sensation as if two new ears covered the old one. It became far easier to distinguish the sound. I could even hear some people talking in the village, which was a kilometer away.

I then tried to smell like a wolf. Orcs already had a great sense of smell far better than humans.'But this is insane.' hundreds of different scents assaulted my nose. I could mainly smell the different orcs who came to the lake today. I recognize Zala, Yurim, Vorl, Rorm, and Burlingsmile smells. They must have come to wash their clothes or bath. I could also smell the fruits ready to be picked in the forest. It was incredible. Unfortunately, I couldn't test the sight as it wasn't dark enough to try it.

With the tests on the power of the mask finished. I sat in a meditating position and tried to feel the mask and get it to retract, but even after half an hour, I didn't feel anything. So I decided to come back and share what I discovered with the others.

They quickly became jealous and said they would ask for one when they'll meet with Baruba.

It wouldn't take long for them to meet Baruba as he came for his first lesson two days later.

...

When the day came, we all gathered behind egghead, where we usually trained. I was afraid he would incarnate his character and act mysteriously again.

And he did. He came with a kind of African wooden mask, a colorful one, blue in the middle, red lips, black cheek, and yellow on the top. It was oval and covered the whole face and even went a bit higher than the top of the head. His aura was imposing, as if we were facing a great sage full of wisdom.

"Hello, young orcs. I came to face you today after your friends begged me to teach you and help you to prepare for the incoming sacred ceremony. As you can see, I gift him a mask for the courage he showed by coming to my house. You can also get one if you pass your ceremony."

'So that's why he accepted my offer so easily. He wanted more guinea pigs!'

Some of the young orcs looked at me accusingly, believing I lied. What I absolutely didn't want to happen happened. They believed his bullshit. Fortunately, not everyone was as gullible. But they were still all impressed by him.

" I will teach you in the following years the mystic arts of wilderness survival and how to fight a beast, but first, let me ask you a question. Do you want to pass the ceremony and honor Nayum ?"

"yes," we all said.

" I didn't hear anything. What did you say."

"YEAH, WE WILL PASS IT" we all yelled.

"Good !" and the hellish training started.

What was undeniable was that he was competent. He gave tasks adapted to everyone and aimed to push us beyond our limits. He taught us a lot about the plants and animals in the mountains, how to craft our own tools, and many useful things.

I think he really likes teaching us. He was training his acting skills at the same time. In the two months, he didn't miss a class. I think he has taken quite a liking to our little group.

At the beginning of the second month, two brothers joined egghead the eldest, Neeg, who was twelve, and the second one, Kruhd, who was eleven. The both of them were pretty distant, but it's comprehensible after they lost their parents. But even after two weeks, they still acted a bit apart from us and were only listening to Ushha.

They also were quite hostile to me. Maybe it was because of the mask. They didn't get the chance to see my handsome face.

In the end, I just let them alone and let them do whatever they wanted.

During those two months, I didn't stop trying to retract my mask in its tattoo form. Having to wear this mask all day long on my face was starting to get annoying. Thus every day, I would meditate and try to feel anything from it. I asked for some advice from Baruba, but he told me I was in the right direction, so I persisted.