For three more mornings, Luka made me change my form. He demanded I speed up the process. In the end, the transformation became almost instantaneous. But Luka wasn't satisfied, forcing me to do it again and again — sitting, standing, walking, running.
"The speed of your shift can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. You must be able to do it in any state and position — that is your strength. The bear is merely a tool, like a knife or a sword. It all depends on how you use it, and you obviously need to know how. Well then, I think that's enough for today. Tomorrow, you and I will go for a walk."
"Far?"
"Not exactly far, but we'll have to do some walking. We're going through the bog."
"And what did we lose there?"
"Well, I, for one, lost nothing. But you, my boy, are in for your baptism by fire, so to speak — if we find anything, that is."
"Like what, for example?"
"Bogs are home to all sorts of Unliving. But there's definitely something in one particular spot — the little birds sang me a tune," he said, smiling at my bewilderment. "What exactly, unfortunately, the birds didn't say. But don't you worry, I'll be nearby if anything happens."
Luka, though he played the part of a simple, backwoods man, actually had quite modern hiking gear. And in general, he was quite comfortable using various amenities of civilization — he even had a generator in one of the sheds, though he used it rarely, preferring to do everything during daylight. And he had enough gear to share with me.
So, wearing comfortable waterproof boots and membrane jackets, equipped with anatomical backpacks, we set off in the morning along a barely visible path. We walked all day through a genuine bog, but Luka led us along a specific path that wound its way from one dry spot to another, across inconspicuous little islands. Not once all day did we get our feet wet.
In the evening, we reached a small hill rising above the bog.
"Well, we'll camp here. The wind up top will keep the mosquitoes away."
Small details suggested this spot was used, if not often, then regularly. Probably by Luka himself. Sending me off to gather firewood, he deftly set up the tent, clearly knowing the layout here. I brought back wood, and Luka immediately built a fire, hung a pot over it, and tossed in all the necessary ingredients. Then he sat down by the fire with me.
"Well then, the porridge will be ready soon. And I'll tell you what to expect in the meantime." He peeked into the pot, stirred it with a spoon, and sat back down. "We'll reach the spot tomorrow evening. Most likely, a Navka lives there — not the most dangerous creature, but still, you shouldn't let your guard down. Basically, all these beings, though they have different appearances and abilities, are essentially the same. They're like vessels of energy. Your task is to break through their defense and disrupt the integrity of that vessel. Once the integrity is lost, energy starts flowing out of their form. And if there's no one nearby to collect it, over time it can gather itself into another body — not necessarily the previous one, usually something even worse. They gain experience too, you see. So you need to be nearby and gather all that energy with your own energy body."
"Energy body?"
"That's right. Essentially, your combat form *is* a pure energy body. You don't actually think you become a real bear, do you? Yes, you look like a bear, you leave the same tracks, but you're not a real bear — you're its semblance, albeit with all the physical attributes. I don't know if you'll understand, but I'll try to explain. After all, you weigh, say, ninety kilograms, while the bear weighs three hundred. If the bear walks on the ground, you see the track left by its three hundred kilograms. But here you are, weighing ninety kilos but in the form of a bear, leaving the same track. Figuratively speaking, the space around you perceives your bear form, and in this example, the ground responds with the track of a three-hundred-kilo bear, not what you actually weigh. That's the tricky part."
He stood up again, took the pot off the fire, and hung a kettle in its place. He set the pot near the fire and covered it with a lid.
"Let it settle," he said, sitting back down. "So, the Navka, you see, is something like an elemental from Nav, hence the name Navka."
"Nav?"
"Yes. Yav, Nav, Prav — that's how this world is seen through the prism of paganism, so to speak. It's easier to understand from that angle. Yes, so, the manifested world is Yav, you see. And the unmanifested world is Nav. And then there's Prav — the world of the bright gods and law, sort of like the heavens or paradise. The unmanifested, Nav, has many other terms — the other side, the otherworld, the spirit world. It's precisely the place shamans go to communicate with their spirits. It's like a reflection of this world, Yav, but it's clearly larger, probably infinite. But I'm no expert here." He fell silent for a couple of seconds and continued: "So, the Navka. Folklore has given this creature many names — Mavka, Nyavka, the Tickle-Monster, Mayka, Neyka, the Fox-Mermaid. I, for convenience, just call such spirits Navka. They say such a creature is born from young children who died without baptism or were smothered by their own mothers. But of course, that's nonsense. The bit about children is probably because they are usually small, about half the size of a person. They live in bogs or nearby, in swampy, shadowy places, waiting for someone. They can wait a long time, for years even. And when a Navka finally catches someone, meaning if someone enters its range, it starts... um, how to put it... Well, you've heard — the bog Kikimoras cackle, tickle, and drag you to the bottom. So they make a sound like laughter, but it's not a simple sound, it has a vibration of a certain frequency, such that a person instantly loses their bearings, starts laughing too, their whole body itches, scratches, twitches involuntarily. That's the general idea. In principle, it's enough to kick the Navka to make it stop, but a person under its laughter can't think straight at all. So it drives them insane with its cackling, and then consumes their energy."
"Consumes how?"
"The usual way — simply devours it. But the goal here is precisely the human's energy. And in general, all such creatures, contrary to rumor, affect humans in this very explainable way, not with some kind of magic. Mostly through sound. But there are also optical illusions, poisonous smells or gases, and all sorts of things. They prefer to do it from a distance, which is why the ignorant think it's witchcraft. Here's a funny thing: according to idle tales, mermaids and those, what are they called, sirens, are supposed to be beauties, just with fish tails. Well, no. They are just as hideous as... well, you'll see when you meet the Navka. But they emit a sound that affects... how to say it... seductive sounds, basically. And whoever follows it thinks they are headed for heavenly bliss, and in the carnal sense," he laughed. "That's how it is. By the way, take note — once you settle in your new place, be sure to brush up on your general school knowledge, like physics, chemistry, biology — it will help a lot with many questions. And listen less to all sorts of tall tales and esoteric nonsense — it won't do you any good, especially in a critical moment. Yes, you occasionally find truly valuable knowledge in that esoterica, but it's just crumbs. Mostly it's drivel and perverted fantasy. By the time you figure it out... So it's better not to bother. Material science is quite suitable. After all, this world is material, so studying won't hurt. Well, I think the porridge is ready — time for us to eat."
After dinner, Luka spent a long time explaining how to identify a Navka's hiding spot, what to do in various situations. The explanations took another couple of hours, after which we crawled into our sleeping bags. The mosquitoes really didn't bother us at all, even though we were practically in the middle of the bog.
In the morning, while having breakfast, Luka went over everything he'd talked about yesterday again, asking me how much I remembered.
"Well, good then," he finally calmed down. "The reason I'm saying all this now is that by evening there might not be time. So you figure things out yourself. If you have any questions — ask now."
"To be honest, I still don't fully understand everything. I don't even know what to ask."
"You're right about that — the questions will come later. Well then, let's go."
And we set off again along the barely visible path further into the bog. Towards evening on the second day of our hike, we found ourselves on a rise again. Only this time, beyond the hill, a forest with boggy clearings loomed like a black wall.
"Well, here we are, you see," said Luka, dropping his backpack. "We won't light a fire, we'll just rest here. And you, you see, will go. You'll go alone. And watch carefully — it should be sitting further along the path, about a kilometer ahead. You'll be there before dark. A kilometer is approximate. It can move around, but not very far."
Luka fell silent. We sat and looked at the forest. It seemed the forest was looking back at us, studying us. I understood this was just an apparition caused by nerves before the impending fight, but I couldn't shake it. What Luka was thinking, looking at the forest, he didn't elaborate on. After about ten minutes, nodding to some thought of his own, he said:
"Well, we've rested, you see. Leave everything unnecessary behind — and forward, you see."
His increased use of "you see" made it clear he was a bit nervous himself. I found that amusing. But I didn't feel like laughing, because it was terrifying: one thing to listen to Luka talk about these creatures sitting in his hut, and quite another to consciously walk towards one of those frights.
"Now, now, don't chicken out! You know what to do. As they say — I came, I saw, I conquered!" He gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
I sighed and went.
I walked, focusing all my attention on possible signs of the Navka's ambush. Gradually, I got into the zone, and the nervousness receded into the background. I covered the entire stretch of path like that. But no matter how much Luka had taught me or how attentive I was, I missed the Navka's ambush.
The moment I stepped onto a small, shadowy clearing, an unimaginable sound — something between laughter and wailing — pierced my brain and entire body, instantly disorienting me. Through the agonizing itch of almost my whole body, I performed the transformation. The stiffness fell away, and I powered towards a small dark spot just off the path, reasonably assuming it was the Navka. And with all that power, I slammed into a low but firmly embedded boulder. From the impact, I thought even the ground vibrated.
At this, the Navka, apparently stunned by what was happening, fell silent for a couple of moments, but then started cackling with even greater force. So much so that even the bear's vision swam, and I turned around and beat a shameful retreat. Still in that form, I ran back to the hill and only then transformed back. Everything itched terribly, and my head ached — after all, I'd slammed it into the boulder.
"Well, you see, the battlefield remains with the Navka," said Luka, chuckling. "Well, the first pancake is always lumpy. That impact of yours was so strong, we felt it over here. What happened?"
I told him. Luka laughed so hard I thought he'd have a stroke.
"In principle, you did everything right," he said, having laughed his fill. "If you hadn't mistaken the target, it would have ended as it should."
"But what about this itching from the laughter? Can it be reduced somehow?"
"Of course. Just don't listen."
"What do you mean?"
"I told you, you're not a real bear — you imagine yourself as a bear. So just imagine that you can't hear. Here, drink this infusion — it'll bring you around."
He gave me his flask. After a sip, I felt significantly better. Returning the flask, I concentrated on what kind of bear I wanted to be. I not only made him deaf but completely sealed his ear canals with bone tissue and further reinforced his skull. I shifted — the sounds disappeared, but my vision and smell seemed to sharpen. Luka just snorted at my manipulations. I returned to my own form, stood up, and walked down the hill again.
"Where are you going? It will be on its guard now."
"Good," I said without stopping.
I reached the familiar spot already in darkness, having shifted into the bear beforehand. I started approaching the area, sniffing. The shadowy clearing was completely drowned in darkness. I stood and sniffed. On the other side of the path, a bit further from where the boulder was embedded, the smell was the most putrid. Without any attempt at stealth, I walked straight towards that spot. This time I was right — it was the Navka.
It cackled, but I only felt a slight vibration. Quickly closing the distance, I broke its spine with one swipe of my bear paw. The Navka still tried to crawl away. I pinned it with my paw. Energy began to flow from the broken body into the bear's form. I felt nauseous — it seemed like the entire stench of the bog was flowing into my body, but I endured, not lifting my paw. As the energy flowed out, the Navka's ugly body melted away. The bear could see perfectly well in the forest gloom. When the Navka had completely dissolved, I shuffled back. I thought maybe it would stink less in my human form. But as soon as I shifted, I vomited, and it became too dark for a human to see. I shifted back and trudged heavily towards the hill.
Luka had already lit a fire and was cooking something. I shifted, and the nausea hit me again.
"Well, yes, it's not easy getting used to it. But still, congratulations on your first victory — though it's your second if you count the basilisk. But that was an accident, and this was a full-fledged hunt." He rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid. "Here, you see, celebrate. Should make you feel better. Drink as much as you can."
I took a gulp — it was vodka. The unpleasant vodka taste seemed to wash away the rotten smell. I took several large gulps. "Go on, drink more. This isn't for getting drunk, it's the surest remedy for thinning out the energy from these creatures." He also unwrapped a bundle he'd taken from his backpack. It was a large piece of meat, roasted whole. "And have some meat with it. That helps too, you see. Don't worry — you won't be able to overeat or get drunk right now. All this just speeds up the assimilation of the Navka's energy. Without it, it takes longer and is more unpleasant. But first, wash up in that stream over there and change your clothes."
I didn't argue. The clothes I'd been wearing all this time were in a sorry state. As much as possible, I washed up in the stream and changed into the spare clothes Luka had thoughtfully told me to bring. He explained to me that during a normal transformation, nothing happens to clothing, but during a fight, clothing, like the animal's hide itself, can sometimes suffer significantly. The hide returns to normal with the next transformation, but that trick doesn't work with clothing. So you should either carry a change with you or simply undress before shifting form. But that isn't always possible, for instance, during a surprise attack.
After washing and changing, I felt more tolerable. And after applying myself to the bottle and doing justice to the meat, I felt even better. The more I ate and drank, the less I felt the internal stench of decay. When I finished the meat and drained the bottle, Luka nodded towards the sleeping bag.
"Rest. That's the best thing you can do right now."
I crawled into the sleeping bag without another word. I fell asleep quickly, but my dreams brought no relief — I was wracked by unfamiliar, incomprehensible emotions all night. Only towards morning did I fall into a merciful oblivion, from which Luka ruthlessly shook me awake.
"Enough lazing about! It's daytime — time to head back to the homestead."
He was already drinking tea himself and offered me some, but I refused — I didn't feel like eating at all. So he rummaged in his backpack and again gave me the small flask he'd given me before. I took a swig from it — just like last time, it immediately invigorated me. Luka had finished his tea by then. After that, we broke camp and started back.
