The cold night air began to be disturbed as the wind started to blow new snow everywhere. Akira tightened his sword belt to make sure his coat was firmly wrapped around him to help keep the wind at bay.
While their small group walked back to the camp Akira used the time to add the bonus points to his stats and check his skills.
-
Skills:
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 6| 3%)
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 53%)
Shield Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 11%)
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 4 | 9%)
Sword Slash: (Beginner Lv: 4 | 63%)
Blacksmithing: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0.5%)
Exotic Cooking: (Beginner Lv: 5 | 34%)
Mining: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 25%)
-
Level up!
Equipment:
Reforged sword(Common):Durability: 18/18 | Damage: 13-16
Gambeson and Hauberk(Common):
Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 27
Useful Aorium shield (common):
Durability: 40/40 | Defense: 25 (+10 strength)
Leather pants(common):
Durability: 20/20 | Defense 5
Hard Oreium helmet (common):
Durability: 25/25 | Defense: 6
Oreium greaves (common):
Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 10
Hooded Cloak of Secrecy (Rare)
As they got closer to the camp the sound of laughter and shouts of joy could be heard coming from the orc camp to signal the orcs had already started to celebrate the end of the short war.
Obviously, someone had returned before them and informed them of the successful negotiations.
Akira followed Tornok and Varbu as they entered the camp and started to walk towards the center of the camp where a where most of the loud noise was coming from.
The orcs stood around a large fire set in front of the command tent, drinking, and eating. When they saw Tornok and the other officers following him they opened a path to let them through the crowded area.
The crowded are quickly quieted down when they noticed Tornok had returned along with Varbu and Akira.
Tornok walked forward into the light of the burning fire and waited for the last few noisy Orcs to become quiet.
“We have done it again! We have beaten the goblins into the ground! This should make them think again before trying to start another war anytime soon. With the help of Akira the werewolf ambassador we were able to bring a peaceful end to the war,” said Tornok pausing for the noisy Orcs cheering to quiet down.
“Akira come forward,” ordered Tornok beckoning him with his hand.
Akira took a few steps forward and stood next to Tornok. Every pair of eyes focused on him. For some of the younger Orcs, this was their first time seeing a werewolf.
“Not only was he of great help during the negotiations of peace, he also helped stop the small force of goblins from attacking Orcrock, defended the Gnakad pass, and helped warn the outer villages where they fought and defeated a small group of goblin raiders,” Tornok paused to let the warriors cheer once more.
“I the Warrior chief of Orcrock have talked with both the elders and the generals. They both agreed that he is not just a great warrior but a great warrior with Honor! The elders have agreed to something that has never happened before. Akira you are now recognized as an honorary Orcrock clansman.”
Ding!
-
New stat received!
Honor:Honor measures how loyal and trustworthy you are.
The higher the number the better your relations with law-abiding people will become.
If your honor stat is too low Nobles will not speak to you or when they do it will not be polite.
Criminals will not want to talk to you if your honor stat is high.
The surrounding orcs crowded around were silent after hearing those word. The silence only lasted for a few breaths but it felt like hours to Akira.
The Orcs began to stomp their feet in unison and banged the butt of their spears, or pikes on the ground while others hit their shield with their swords and great axes. It started slowly but picked up speed. The sound from it was awe-inspiring and sent shivers down Akira’s back. It lasted for over a minute and ended with the warriors giving a loud shout.
“I’ll take that as everyone here agrees with our decision. That is all I have to say so let’s all have fun and celebrate the end of the war!”
Loud cheers rose up from the orc warriors as they began to continue what they had been doing before Tornok arrived.
Akira was surrounded by multiple orc warriors all wanting to share a drink of friendship with such an odd fellow. It was so they could brag to others that they had shared drinks with the first non-Orc to join an Orc clan.
Akira looked over to Varbu pleading for help but only received a smile from Varbu before he left to talk with Tornok a short distance away.
Akira continued to drink the strong alcohol with the Orcs and soon got extremely drunk and was about to pass out after drinking over a hundred of the small cups.
Seeing this Varbu walked forward and shouted over the loud noise of orcs partying.
“Alright, that’s enough tonight I’ll be taking him to his tent you can find him tomorrow if you want.”
Varbu helped the unsteady Akira walk to a tent near his and let him flop onto a cot that had been set up earlier.
“See ya tomorrow morning,” said Varbu with a laugh before leaving the tent.
Akira only let out a few mumbled words along with a groan.
***
Akira woke to a pounding headache. Looking around he found a small water jug on a box next to his cot. He grabbed the jug and drank the water straight out of the jug.
His head started to throb in pain even more as the water started to seep into his dehydrated body. When his headache had calmed down he stood up and walked out of his tent. The bright light of the late morning stabbed into his eyes causing him great pain. The fresh snow made everything look even brighter.
Squinting, he looked around the camp to see it was an utter mess. Orcs were sleeping everywhere on the ground. A few were up and cooking breakfast while only a handful of sober guards were still at the edge of the camp watching the Goblins in case of a surprise attack.
Akira walked over to one of the Orc army cooks who was stirring the morning’s warm stew mystery number 3. He pulled out his bowl and was rewarded with a thick stew with white sauce, large chunks of vegetables, and unknown bits of meat. The scalding steam continuously rose up from the bowl.
Grabbing a piece of cold hard bread Akira walked over to a log next to a large fire and sat down before starting to eat, soaking the bread in the almost boiling stew.
When he was nearly finished eating Varbu showed up and sat down next to him with his own bowl of stew and a piece of the hard bread.
“I talked to father last night. I decided that I want to Travel the world and I was hoping to join you in your search for your clan. My father only agreed after I suggested that I could be the Orc ambassador to the werewolf clans. That is if you will accept me traveling with you,” said Varbu speaking Quickly as if to get it all out before Akira could object.
“You want to travel with me? I really have no clue where I am going I’m just traveling from one place to another,” said Akira.
“That’s no problem this way I can see many places while we travel.”
“Well I have nothing against you coming two people is better than one. It would probably be for the best that we team up since you never know what might happen in the future. It’s only going to be you and no one else right?”
“Yeah only me. Due to the war, I’m sure that the news has gone out and there might be some other clans that may want to try and take advantage of the aftermath. So everyone still has to be on alert and protect our land and all the people that live here.”
“What? There are other Orc cities?” asked Akira.
“You didn’t think that Orcrock was the only major city, did you? The Ugahbugah mountains are huge so of courses, there are many large cities and each has a large clan that rules over them.”
“Huh,” said Akira thinking about what he had just learned.
“Anyways after I finish eating we should go inform Father. We can leave whenever he gives the OK,” said Varbu slurping the cooling stew.
***
In a dark room at some unknown location sat six dark robed figures around a large obsidian table. The only thing on the table was a carving of 7 triangles one in front of each numbered seat. The light in the room was only bright enough to see the outlines of the black-robed figures and nothing else.
“Number Three, it has been long over a month since you sent the headhunters to capture the target. What do you have to report?” asked a calm husky male voice.
“Number one I told you already when they contact me with information I will immediately let you know,” said number three slightly irritated.
“What are they doing taking so long? Are they playing around?” a female voice shouted from the right of number three.
“Number 6 you are new here but you should know that headhunters are picked for their combat power and also based on their personal traits. No headhunter would mess around when given a mission,” said a playful voice that sounded like a child’s. It was hard to tell if it was male or female.
“Number 2 is correct if they are taking such a long time to complete the mission then the target might be extremely hard to catch or something might have happened to them,” came the quiet and emotionless voice from number 5’s seat.
“Let us not get sidetracked,” said number 1 interrupting the conversation, “With the recent death of the previous number 6 we now have an opening for number 7.”
“Tch. Number six you sure are lucky you got to move up a rank so easily. Do you know how long it took me to move up the ranks?” asked number 2 interrupting number 1.
Number one ignored Number 2’s outburst and continued to calmly talk as if he had happened, “Do any of you have a suggestion? The suggestions should be limited to any of the current officers.”
Number four raised his hand and then wrote a name with a special pen on a piece of paper. Number Four was a mute due to a run-in he had with a noble where he had his tongue cut out many years ago. So he was unable to talk and was forced to write his words he wanted to say.
The name on the piece of paper glowed in the dark. It was a name they all knew, a rising star among the young recruits that had joined a few years ago.
“Tibia? Isn’t it too early to give her the position of the seventh head?” asked number three.
“She is indeed a resourceful person. I believe with a little more training she could get the spot, but not yet. Although she has surpassed her teacher she is still lacking in many areas,” said number 5 quietly.
“What if I take her under my wing and teache her how to get things done. This way she can ditch Ol’ Bonestringer who is weighing her down and I fill in the cracks,” shouted number 6 energetically.
Everyone was silent as number one was carefully thinking it over.
“It’s fine with me as long as everyone is okay with not filling in the spot right now and waiting until she is ready,” said number one.
Everyone agreed to the proposal easily enough.
“Poor Bonestringer has been waiting for over 10 years for a spot to open and when it does his student takes it,” laughed number 2 as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
“Hehehe, Now I get a cute underling to play with,” number 6 also laughed crudely while talking.
“This is no time for laughing and playing around. We expect you to do the job correctly and make sure she can join us as soon as possible,” said number 3 harshly.
“Geez, what stick do you have up your but today? You’re always so strict and such a neat freak. Lighten up,” said number 2.
“Enough! The meeting is over everyone go back to your territory. Number 6 I expect you to take this task seriously. We can not afford to be down one person in case the time comes when we need our full strength,” said Number one.
“I got it, I got it. I won’t mess around,” said number 6 in a loud voice.
With that, the 6 figures left the table and each exited the room through one of 7 doors a few steps behind their chairs.
***
Akira and Varbu were both respectfully kneeling on the cold canvas floor of Tornok’s large tent.
A female Orc shaman had been chanting for over three minutes with her hand placed over Varbu’s forehead.
After she finished the chant without warning she grabbed Varbu and pulled him into a big hug.
“Mom not in front of other people,” complained Varbu embarrassed at her hug.
“Ah! Are you to great of a warrior that you can’t receive a hug from your mother? Don’t forget who you’re talking to,” said his mother while smiling. She pulled him into an even tighter hug.
Akira thought it was quite funny since Varbu was at least two feet taller than her due to being a blood orc.
“You are to help protect Akira while on his travels. The elders have given you the task of helping him convey our wishes for an alliance with the werewolf’s, do you understand?” asked Tornok.
“I understand father,” said Varbu.
“I expect you to become a great warrior. When you have reached a deal you are to return to Orcrock and report to me and the elders of your journey. Then we can think about giving you your own path of life tattoo.”
Varbu’s eyes shone brightly at the mention of the tattoo. It had great meaning in the clan. He wished very much to receive it since it showed he had an understanding of the world and would be fit enough to take over the job his father currently held if and when he decided to retire. When a chief retired the candidates that had received the tattoo would fight for the spot through various tasks set by the elders.
“Don’t worry Father I will not fail,” said Varbu standing up.
“Then go my son and fulfill the task that has been set for you. Do not dishonor your ancestors with failure,” said Varbu’s mother.
With that Akira and Varbu grabbed their bags that had supplies for a long trip and walked out of the tent to begin their journey.
