Having received a warning, Ed was no longer sure if he should proceed with the experimentation process.
'I guess I'll settle the matter with the settlement first then' Shel and the others were probably getting anxious by the lack of news. It would likely take Ed a good half a day to get there and impart some news but it would still get there before the settlement falls into panic.
Ed thus walked out of the prison. He left the body outside the cell though since it didn't really matter. The dungeon would probably reclaim it soon now that it was dead.
'I wonder if some of the other captives were already reclaimed' Upon realizing this it certainly made sense that he only found one corpse.
Once out, Ed went in the same direction as Sharog and the others. He wanted to find out what they were up to as well as tell her he would be going on ahead of her.
As he neared the cathedral, he started to hear a loud commotion making him speed up his pace.
What he saw was a large group of orc women. Some had large bellies likely pregnant women and others had young children. The most important matter however was how they looked angry and were facing his own Sanctuary orcs with such hostile expressions.
The most curious thing however was that there stood a young orc next to Sharog holding the hand of an orc girl.
[Gurln (Sacred Tribe Orc)]
A spirited and curious young orc.
[Lash (Sacred Tribe Orc)]
A naive young orc. Feels a sense of duty.
Ed performed two quick scans and found their allegiance or at least their origin was from the sacred tribe. It made him curious as to what might have happened.
"Gurln! You won't get away with this!" One of the orc women up front said with anger. She seemed to be pregnant and at the same time surrounded by a couple of children. Ed could easily infer she was a mother who was expecting another child.
'This place seems messed up' Most of the orc woman were either pregnant or had a child with them. Those that weren't pregnant more likely than not recently had a child.
Ed could think of a couple of reasons for this. The main culprit was without a doubt the sacrifices. Killing one orc might provide for one day so what about the next? To ensure a week's worth of food they definitely needed to kill more than one orc. That meant that the tribe could easily be eradicated if they didn't keep reproducing.
'Hm, I wonder why it's different from fighting others though' If it wasn't much different than the orcs would have been heading down the road to extinction without his intervention.
"I- I'm taking my sister out of here!" Gurl declared in return.
"No one is going anywhere" Ed said finally making his presence known. The orc women instantly turned their heads only to see a strong and tall orc with an imposing image.
"Wha- Who are you?!" Gurln turned to Ed and asked with anger. Clearly, he didn't like Ed's words.
""""Ed!""" The orcs who were next to Sharog said Ed's name with a hint of reverence and pride. Ed only threw them a glance before focusing on Gurl and his sister again.
"We are all moving here. Well, if you insist on leaving I won't stop you though" What Ed was implying was that Gurln could stay safe under him since they would be occupying the settlement. If he were to choose to leave though he also wouldn't stop him.
"You heathens are not welcome here!" One of the women in the crowd yelled after hearing that Ed planned on moving there.
"You don't have a choice" Ed spotted and glared at the woman as he declared so.
"Gasp!" Some of the women were taken aback by the harsh and confident words of Ed.
"I would rather die than live with you!" One of the pregnant women screamed and charged forward. Ed didn't spare her a glance and simply rooted her in place by controlling the earth.
"We can explore that option in the future" Ed was still lacking subjects. If he couldn't undo the brainwashing on these women he was better off waiting for them to give birth before freeing them.
The Sanctuary orcs hearing this exchange held obvious sneers mixed with pride of forming part of Ed's side. They felt he was everything an orc leader should be. Powerful, strong, willful, mighty, powerful again as it was a very important requisite.
The women all felt more infuriated as if they would charge forward at that very moment but… they couldn't actually move from their spot. Some were still holding the hands of their children and weren't willing to die pointlessly.
'There just might be hope' But Ed didn't put too much emphasis on it.
"Sharog, I will be heading to the settlement first to put things in other" Ed quickly shifted gears. The small charade would soon be over.
"What about here?" Sharog said obviously asking how they should handle the women.
"Just throw them in jail cells for now" It was the only way to ensure they wouldn't do anything unnecessary. Sharog then turned to look at the kids accompanying indirectly asking if they too should be incarcerated too.
"Just keep them in a single building and have someone watch over them" The orc children all seemed to be extremely young, like toddlers. If the boys were strong enough they would have likely been sent to battle but they weren't. They were still with their mothers.
'I do think I saw a couple of younger orcs' The one that broke down to cry was on the younger side along with some others that surrendered. It spoke volumes of long term indoctrination and what it could do to intelligent creatures. The younger ones were only redeemable since they spent less time following the traditions set by Sarfu.
"Ok then" Sharog no longer asked questions and simply nodded. The orc women who heard this entire exchange only held tightly onto their children. They looked like tigers protecting their cubs.
Ed fixed this problem by swiftly shifting the earth. One by one the orc ladies sunk into the ground leaving only their upper bodies exposed. For the pregnant ones, Ed simply made the earth swallow their legs all the way to their thighs. He didn't want to accidentally kill the babies.
Sharog then instructed the orcs behind her to take the children. The orc woman all yelled madly. Some of the pregnant ones seemed to almost be possessed. Perhaps the excess hormones had made them quick to ire.
Gurln had all along only watched somewhat dazed. He found it a little unbelievable that the matter had been so quickly resolved. It was worth noting that he had been dealing with that issue for many hours now.
He initially planned to head into battle but by the time he left the prison, the battle was already over. He, therefore, decided to take his sister by himself. The orc women let him in with ease but as soon as he showed intentions of taking Lash outside they became an impenetrable wall that blocked the entrance.
When he eventually snuck past them with his unwilling sister the matter ultimately devolved into an argument and when the Sanctuary orcs came it almost devolved into a fight.
"Amazing…" Gurln was honestly a little jealous. If he was strong as Ed then he wouldn't have had to mull over whether or not to escape with his sister for so long. Heck, chances were the tribe would be under his control. That realization sobered him up leaving a little bitter.
"Are you going to leave?" Sharog had expected the boy to die. He did not. She wasn't interested in why but she was interested in helping him. She did still owe him a favor seeing that he retrieved his sister on his own.
"I-..." Gurln wasn't sure anymore. Why was it that he wanted to escape so desperately? Was it not to save his sister?
At that moment, he felt his sister attempting to release her hand from his own with an indignant gaze. Having spent so much time with all of those mothers, she was very angry.
"I think I should stay…" His sister hated him right now. Gurln wasn't sure what to make of it. Orcs weren't known for their familial piety, Gurln was an outlier. They both grew up without an actual mother, she hadn't been chosen as a sacrifice but... she couldn't take it anymore.
Nonetheless, Lash was too young to understand any of this. Since then, a sense of duty had been instilled into her and Gurln knew he couldn't break through that brainwashing easily.
Most of all… he was a little curious. He wanted to know why Ed was so strong and what it was he worked for. Ed's solemn expression and harsh way to lead others suggested he had no time for horseplay.
What made him even more curious was that Ed always seemed to be thinking. That's right thinking! Until recently, Gurln had assumed that thinkers were a rarity. He felt somewhat ostracized in his own tribe. That was why it took so long for him to finally express his dissatisfaction with the tribe.
"That's a good idea." Sharog said before gazing at the other working orcs she was just about ready to leave.
"Wait! C- Can you do me a favor?" Gurln said while his sister struggled to release herself.
Sharog who had planned on repaying the favor earlier anyway was intrigued by a new request.
"What is it?" She therefore asked.
"How… how can I be as strong as him?" Gurln said watching as Ed finished overseeing the orc's works and darted off.
"That's hard to say…" If Sharog knew she would be at that same level, right? But she still took the question seriously. She was also curious as to what made Ed such a powerhouse.. She had never even seen him train.