The host licked the corner of his mouth,
as if still savoring the taste,
then suddenly bolted into the nearby undergrowth.

Soris instinctively assumed he was going to find the others,
until the field of view suddenly dipped—

Several stones were deftly pushed aside,
and a hand reached into the loose soil.

The next moment,
a plump worm was pulled out from the gap.

…Thinking of trying a different ingredient?

He murmured softly,
a faint smile surfacing in his eyes.

Such a glutton.

Without lingering,
the host ran back to the previous fire site with the worm in hand,
picked up the wooden stick and stone once more,
and struck again, the rhythm quicker and the force heavier than before.

Soris carefully maintained the strength of the guidance.
This time, nearly every movement aligned with the conception.

Sparks flashed.
Smoke curled.

Unlike before, there was no retreat this time;
he continued striking instead.

Well done.

At last, a cluster of flame burst into view.
Without hesitation, he threw the fat worm into the red glow,
then jerked backward several paces.

The flames licked the worm’s skin,
and a scorched odor rose with them.

Only when the wood shavings no longer glimmered
did a slow approach begin,
a hand reaching into the embers
to pick up the worm, now nearly burned black.

After a few glances,
it was stuffed into the mouth without hesitation.

“Uuuh—”

That cry was even more exaggerated than before, when meat had been eaten.

The next instant, he sprang to his feet and bolted off in one direction.

Watching the rushing field of view, Soris’ lips slowly curved upward.

So this is life itself…

Too clever.

Not long after leaving the thicket, the host returned with several companions.

The ape-men formed a circle, each pinching a plump worm still writhing in hand.

“Uu—uu!”

One of them looked toward the host and vocalized; the others quickly echoed in response.

Then all of them withdrew to the original clearing,
while he crouched down and repeated the earlier actions.

Stone and wood collided once more, the sound low and rapid.

As smoke appeared again, the others cried out in alarm—
some stepping back half a pace, others watching with guarded eyes.

Lowering his voice, he muttered something,
the movements of his hands growing heavier with each moment.

The commotion gradually subsided.

While maintaining the suggestion, Soris watched the worms in the ape-men’s hands and understood the intent.

Is this about to conduct an experiment?

This time, he deliberately let the pile of wood shavings build thicker before guiding the final strike toward the rock.

Crack—

A small flame leapt up, larger than before, flickering with a red glow like a breathing pulse.

The host let out a short, abrupt utterance and stepped back,
at the same time lifting his chin to glance at the others.

Sizzle—

Five or six worms were tossed into the fire almost simultaneously.

As the firelight gradually faded, he stepped forward first,
pulled the worms out from the ashes, and handed them out to the others.

Several large hands reached out at once;
as soon as they were taken, they were stuffed into mouths without hesitation.

“Uuuh—uuh—uuh—!”

Some chewed while pounding their chests,
others, faces full of astonishment, turned the worm husks over and over in their hands.

They exchanged rapidly, pointing toward the fire pit,
gesturing with the tools in their hands, as if confirming certain steps.

Thus, the imitation carried out in turns began.

The first ape-man followed the example and began striking.

After more than a dozen strikes with no result, he let out an impatient low growl and struck the stone against the ground.

The second stepped in next, striking with effort, but met the same failure.

Soris watched quietly, quickly concluding:
there was too little fuel, no tinder.

Sure enough, the others turned their gaze back to the host again.

With a low growl, he picked up the tools again and began striking the wooden stick heavily.

This time, Soris deliberately guided him to increase the force,
sending more wood shavings flying and letting them pile up more clearly.

The ape-men sat in a circle, expressions unusually focused.

Once again, a tongue of flame was lit, points of light reflecting in every pair of eyes,
low murmurs beginning to spread—
some crouched down to imitate,
others reaching eagerly for the stone and the wooden stick.

The next ape-man struck more skillfully than the previous ones.

After dozens of strikes, thin smoke slowly rose from the shavings in the pile,
and he raised both hands and jumped in place a few times.

Laughter and cries intertwined, bursting out amid the raw, primal scent.

Another ape-man eagerly snatched away the tools,
quickly repeating the entire sequence and succeeding once more.

As the sun sank lower, the horizon was stained a deep orange-red.

The small group took turns attempting to make fire.
Nearly everyone had grasped the technique,
each holding a roasted worm in hand.

Firelight and dusk burned together deep within the pupils,
satisfaction and lightness written into the rhythm of the return steps.

In the days that followed, the ape-men’s diet came to include far more cooked food,
insects in particular.

Yet no larger fire ever appeared,
nor was fire ever brought into the nest.

It seemed that fear of fire was still deeply rooted in instinct.

This greatly reduced how fire was actually used,
leaving it scarcely able to extend into other areas of daily life.

—Fear is not so easily overcome.

Soris recorded this in mind,
quietly calculating the plan for the next stage.

Before the plan could unfold,
the unexpected arrived first.

That day, the hunt set out as usual;
on the way back, a prey was carried, its body permeated with the smell of blood.

The sun was scorching,
the air thick with an indescribable sense of oppression.

No one noticed anything amiss.
Only while passing through the low brush did a faint sound come from afar.

He lagged slightly behind the group,
bending down to pick up a fallen stone.

At that very moment—

a sand-yellow, mottled shape burst forth like an arrow.

Soris caught only its outline:

a body pressed low to the ground, powerful forelimbs,
fur mottled with dusty gray and dark patches,
and a pair of drooping, saw-toothed canines glinting with lethal cold.

In an instant, the view was filled with brown beast-fur,
every strand of fiber starkly visible.

Cries of alarm erupted on all sides, and the world lurched in a sudden spin.

The view shook fiercely, the edges gradually blurring,
like a black curtain being slowly drawn shut.

The heartbeat in the ears, which should have surged in fear,
instead slowed, one beat at a time. …

No way…

Is this… already death?

Trying to grasp onto some thread,
yet even the act of thinking began to slow.

In the end, sound sank away as well.

Nothing remained but endless darkness.

Like falling into an abyss.