Episode 21
What’s the biggest difference between humans and other animals?
Using tools? Nah, some primates and otters cracking shellfish with rocks can do that, so let’s skip it.
Intelligence? Many animals could give humans a run for their money in that department. Dolphins and crows are pretty smart, and dogs and horses have intelligence akin to that of young kids.
But in my opinion, the biggest difference is that humans can use fire.
Fire—hot and bright—was probably a game-changer for primitive humans, offering countless benefits.
It provided warmth in cold environments and light to keep wild animals at bay, thus marking a valuable step forward for human civilization.
Sure, there are rare cases like fire bears that are curious about fire instead of being scared of it, but those are exceptions to the rule.
Plus, discovering how to cook food with fire made inedible food edible and allowed for parasite-free long-term food storage—pretty neat, right?
There’s probably nothing as crucial as fire for humanity’s early development.
Fire has been deified too, with the goddess of the hearth as the household deity, or people creating religions around fire itself. It’s become a part of human identity.
Anyway, as I held the tool that could create flames, I glanced over at the largest group of humans in this world.
A rich environment. A fertile land brimming with huntable animals and trees loaded with edible fruits.
Thanks to such an environment, hundreds of primitive folks were living together in a primitive village.
That place should have enough resources to spread fire.
Of course, I planned to share fire with a couple of other spots too, like with the lizardmen.
Can’t just play favorites with one crowd of humans. Got to keep things equal.
Well, whether they can learn the fire-starting skills depends on their abilities. I can easily ignite flames with magic, but…
I’ve got a few methods in mind: rubbing a thin stick against a groove in wood, making a primitive bow with grass to get the fire going, or just grinding a stick back and forth on a groove in wood…
I wonder how many of these methods they’ll be able to follow? No idea.
Or should I just inject some spirit power into a small flint to make it easier to light? Though that would definitely create a gap between those with flint and those without.
Well, let’s just teach them first. Yeah.
It’ll work somehow… I hope.
Even if I don’t teach them, they’ll eventually figure out some way to make fire. I’m just helping shorten the process.
I clutched the bundles of firewood I planned to gift and started walking towards the group of primitives.
—
“Kiik! Kkiik!”
These primitive folks, still without language, started making strange threatening sounds as they surrounded me.
Well, I guess I look pretty different from them. No fur, different facial features, and my hair is silver.
And, of course, I’ve got horns on my head.
Primitive people holding branches like weapons, looking all tense. After a quick scan around, I subtly unleashed my magical power to take over the space around me.
They had no idea what was going on since they still didn’t know about magic.
I loosely clenched my fist and lowered it, pressing down on the shoulders of those surrounding me.
“Kiak!!”
They suddenly dropped to their knees, screaming under the pressure. They’re clueless about what’s happening right now.
Well, it’s easier this way. I have no plans to explain anything.
“You’re all way too haughty.”
“Teeek… Kkiik!”
“When will you learn language? Took the lizardmen hundreds of years after their first birth to learn it, you know.”
I wonder, could it take them more than hundreds of years?
Also, getting humans scattered all over to learn the same language… that’s pretty much impossible, right?
No, wait. What if I empowered someone who’s learning language to conquer the world? That person could spread the language worldwide!
It sounds a bit far-fetched, but hey, if it works, it could be fun!
“Kiik…”
“Oh, sorry! Got lost in thought there.”
I let go of the pressure on the primitive folks, and they slowly began to raise their heads as if relieved.
Then my gaze met the one at the front of the group.
A primitive guy bigger than the rest, awkwardly wrapped in some animal skin around his waist.
When I was observing from afar, I figured he was the leader of the crew.
The moment the pressure released, he fell to the ground and bowed to me.
Then, everyone else around him simultaneously bowed too.
Did I scare them? Maybe just a little. But they needed to be intimidated to listen.
After all, these humans currently are like primitive creatures, very close to being just animals.
I stacked some firewood I brought, gathering magical power to create flames.
“Gyaaaak!!! Kyaaaak!!”
The humans jumped back, terrified of the flames I had just lit. Have they never seen fire before?!
Well, I guess unless they happen to wander near an Ifrit, they’ve had no chance to see it.
I transferred the flames to the firewood and gave a light flick of my hands—nice, looks like it caught well.
The firewood was blazing hot, and the humans appeared hesitant to get close.
I casually gestured to the apparent leader.
“Kkiik…?”
The leader, not understanding what I meant, just turned his head back and forth looking confused.
Hmm. Yeah, language is definitely necessary here.
I used magic to pull the leader towards the burning firewood.
“Kiik!! Gyaaaak!!”
The leader jumped back, looking terrified as if I were gonna roast him alive. How is he the leader if he’s this scared?
Can’t be helped. Sometimes you need to use both the carrot and the stick.
I picked up a stone from nearby, slightly bigger than my palm.
And I used magic on this stone! The magic that turns stones into meat, and voila! The hard stone morphed into delicious, juicy meat with just the right amount of fat.
The first time I used it, it ended up as dry fillets, but after countless tweaks, I now produce meat that would rival any regular kind!
Anyway, I roasted the magically created meat over the fire, flipping it around until it was perfectly done, then took it out when it smelled divine.
Hmm. Looks and smells delicious! Better cut it into bite-sized pieces.
“Kiik? Sniff sniff…”
Drawn in by the delicious scent, the leader started drooling, sniffing the aroma of the meat.
I offered a piece of the cooled meat to the leader, who pondered for a while before surrendering to his instincts and shoving it into his mouth.
Bingo! Got him!
“!?!?!!”
The leader struggled to make sense of his own sounds. When you put perfectly cooked meat into a mouth used to raw meat and fruits, it’s definitely a shock.
The expression on his face was priceless. I can’t let him hog all that deliciousness to himself.
Using magic, I cut the meat into small pieces and started handing them out to the humans around us.
At first, they were wary, but once they caught wind of the mouthwatering smell of freshly roasted meat, they couldn’t help but succumb to their appetite.
“Kiik…?”
“Gyak!!!”
Seriously, you guys need to learn some language! I can’t understand a thing!
Anyway, they should have realized by now how useful fire is… Wait a sec! Why are you suddenly trying to stick your hand into the flames?!
I halted the leader’s movements and shook my head to signal that it wasn’t allowed, but he was too confused to get it.
Sigh… It’s so inconvenient without language.
I quickly doused the firewood and handed a few fire-making tools to the leader.
He examined what I gave him before tossing it away again like it was nothing. This beast-like guy is really something…
I suppressed the irritation bubbling up and demonstrated how to use each tool to start a fire.
I tried rubbing a wooden stick on a notched piece of wood, making a bow out of grass to ignite it, and finally rubbed a stick back and forth on a notched wooden board.
“Ukkiik!! Kkiik!!”
I think the leader finally understood he could use these tools to make fire.
Ugh… Can I guide these beast-like primitives in the right direction?
My worries are stacking up like a mountain…
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