“What happened, handsome? You look very upset.”
After looking at Dilber out of the corner of her eye, Nafız called out to Alyon, who was sitting down in the middle of the square.
“Nafız, don’t start; I have no mood.”
Seeing that Alyon was upset, Nafız took his arm and pulled him into a corner. Meanwhile, the second and third Orcs were delighted by showing each other the awards they had received from the dungeon.
The third orc, who showed his friend the shield larger than himself, relieved a lion’s head on the front and controlled the second leather armor with his hand. While Dilber’s attention shifted to the items these two brought with them, Alyon spoke with a troubled tone.
“Damn, I had to come back empty-handed because my master got the reward for this dungeon. The rule that only one gift can be received from the reward dungeon applies even to heirs.”
Learning about Alyon’s situation, Nafız started to speak to console his friend.
“I know that the Warhammer you have now is insufficient to reflect its strength, but be patient until you get the orc steppes in our hands. I’m sure your weapon is waiting for you at our next destination, big boy!”
Nafız, who wanted to satisfy the joy of Alyon, whom she had smacked on the head twice, turned her eyes to Dilber and called out after she looked around as if she was looking for something.
“Where is the orc that entered the tunnel alone?”
“It has been seventy days since you entered the tunnels, and the first group to come out was the hero Chief Alyon’s group.”
While Dilber continued to speak by pulling her eyes from Alyon, whom she was looking at with love, when she turned to Nafız, her face fell.
“Second, you and the orc with you came. There is no word yet from the person who entered the tunnel alone.”
Nafız stood for a while, walking to the entrance of the tunnel where Sangre had entered. She knew that the warrior she had created by the baptism of blood had to pass this test alone, but she could not get rid of boredom by sitting inside like a rock.
“Waiting for Sangre to come back, find yourself something to do.”
Calling the second and third orcs, Nafız sat cross-legged where she was. Sensing that Dilber was about to react to this female orc invading her cave, Alyon immediately started compliments and prevented the tension from worsening.
Forty days had passed since they had emerged from the dungeon, but Sangre still had not returned from the tunnel he had entered. Although this situation caused everyone who witnessed it to despair, they continued to wait without making a sound.
Day by day, the murderous intent Nafız spread around was getting darker, and it was getting harder for the people inside the cave to speak.
After one hundred and eighty solstices had passed since the first time they entered the cave, Alyon decided that they had to leave. When he came to Nafız, risking the events that would happen, he found her talking about a word.
“He’s coming!”
Alyon put his hand on Nafız’s shoulder and spoke in a harsh voice as if to wake his friend from this helpless situation.
“Nafız, it’s been a long time; you have to accept the truth too.”
Nafız shouted, looking at Alyon with her bloodshot eyes.
“Can’t you hear the footsteps? Coming back!”
When Alyon looked into the tunnel, he heard someone walking, albeit at a languid pace. Half a day later, when Sangre appeared at the mouth of the tunnel, covered with cuts and wounds, Nafız got up from his seat and walked over to him.
“Master, I have completed my mission. I have obtained the grace of my ancestors.”
When Sangre, which resembled a walking corpse, opened his eyes to speak, the conqueror of the dungeon vomited a handful of blood due to the emanating aura.
“Now it’s time to rest, blood warrior Sangre. Close your eyes and sleep.”
Sangre lost consciousness and fell into her arms as Nafız covered her disciple’s eyes with her hands. Nafız, who poured the potion out of her ring into the unconscious Sangre’s mouth, shouted fiercely.
“Quickly bring me water; you will clean your friend’s wounds.”
The two orcs, discolored by the blow they had just received, paused as a voice-directed their way towards the exit of the cave in panic.
“Stop! You don’t need to go out.”
Nafız shouted in anger as the Orcs stopped running at Dilber’s words.
“Do you know the consequences of speaking on my orders?”
Dilber called out to the orc chief, ignoring Nafız, who was scolding her.
“Alyon honey, I ordered my children to bring water from the secret spring. I want to show the help needed for the wounded warrior of the tribe.”
While walking towards Dilber Alyon, who spoke coquettishly with one eyebrow raised, four turtles came with a light blue water-filled shell on their backs.
“You can use it as much as you want; my children will bring you a few more shells of water. My advice would be to submerge the injured orc completely.”
After Dilber’s solemn speech, Nafız ordered two orcs to lay Sangre in the shell.
The color of the water in the shell changed to red as Sangre sank into the clear blue water. While the pained expression on the blood warrior’s face slowly dissipated for a while, she said that the Nafız disciple should be taken into the newly arrived shell.
Nafız’s eyes widened at what she saw as Sangre, lying with his clothes taken off, was taken into his new shell. Even though she poured the Blood Healing Elixir, one of the most effective medicines of the Holy Blood Sect, into her disciple’s mouth, the wounds couldn’t begin to heal so quickly.
When she turned her gaze to Dilber without the expression of astonishment appearing on her face faded, she saw that the female turtle was also looking at her. She couldn’t ignore the kindness that the creature they had been in tension with since they met.
“Dilber, I will never forget the help you have given to my student’s recovery.”
While Nafız was going to walk away after bowing her head to the gigantic female turtle, Dilber started to speak.
“I did this help not for you, but for the good-hearted orc warrior who saved my life years ago.”
When Nafız turned her back with a smile, she muttered, “Worlds change, but women never.”
Two days after Sangre’s return with serious injuries, the group was ready for their return journey. Sangre had recovered and was standing beside his master, wearing his new clothes.
“Sangre, the gifts from the two fellow warriors are here. We’d love to see the item you won, too.”
Alyon was curious about Sangre’s equipment as he gestured to the items the second and third orc had won. Six throwing knives would start dancing around the blood warrior after Nafız closed her eyes and nodded to her student, who was looking at her.
These blades, with red shadows on black, were circling Sangre without any contact. When the knives, which had been figuring the earth for a while, suddenly entered Sangre’s bosom, everyone in the room was staring at him as if fascinated.
“In which stage did you lose your goblin warriors, Sangre?”
When Nafız saw the gift given by the dungeon, she asked her student the question that was on her mind.
“Master, after the fifth stage, I was left alone.”
Those who heard could not believe it as Sangre answered the master’s question. The other orcs, who had quickly completed the dungeon they had entered with two mighty warriors, could not hide their amazement.
“I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for this bow you gave. I am ready to give my life whenever you want.”
Nafız was in a blissful mood as she grabbed her student, who was kneeling in front of her, by the arm.
“Idiot boy, I need you to live, not die! Don’t you dare; die in front of me.”
While the team was traveling to their vehicles to return to the tribe, they exited the cave accompanied by Dilber. When they reached the entrance, looking at Alyon Dilber, he said, “I assume you haven’t forgotten your promise to my master, ma’am.”
“When your master took me to this cave, he entered through the tunnels like you. When he came out after about thirty solstices, I wanted to give him the shell that I had suddenly grown and had to throw off my back.”
Dilber continued to speak with tears sitting in her eyes.
“I still hear what he said to me; will you gift me one of these again next time I come?”
While the giant tortoise was telling the story, Nafız realized what was going on. While Sangre was lying in the healing water, she examined the turtle shell and saw that she could only scratch them with the weapon she obtained from the dungeon.
When she finished her words, Dilber told her children to bring the relic, and while she couldn’t help but cry, a giant empty shell started to come out of the cave.
This empty shell, which was slightly smaller than the shell on Dilber, formed deep cracks in the ground when it was dropped on the floor with thousands of smaller covers inside.
“Here’s my hero’s relic, but it looks like you won’t get it all with this little vehicle.”
Dilber, whose crying was over, looked at the mechanical vehicle that the group had and called to Nafız. Seeing that the female turtle was still dealing with herself, Nafız said that she had a ring and put her hand on the surface of the large shell.
“Don’t worry about it, little girl! As you cry, your detention bags come out; I think you should deal with them.”
Pulling the giant shell into the space inside her ring, Nafız burst out laughing. Alyon and the other three orcs bowed respectfully and said goodbye to Dilber, unlike Nafız, who laughed and got into the vehicle that would carry them on the way back.
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You call civilization, I call dishonesty, trying to get along with the person you hate. That’s why we can’t get along.
Charles Bukowski
