"Pffftttt, You what!?!" Siar who was sipping some tea brewed by the fruits of Balin's magic suddenly exclaimed spitting it all over his small table.
"I'm very sorry Sir!" The magician archer said holding back the urge to shift the blame to his other buddy. He had to follow the military code of conduct when confronting superiors after all so he couldn't just start rambling and shifting the blame.
Siar sighed before grabbing a nearby cloth to wipe the small table.
"Hmmm… Move up the walls and scout the inside" Siar told him after some simple consideration. Balin was the commander but the squad leaders could also make decisions as long as it wasn't going directly against Balin's orders.
"But-" This arguably was, however. It was a fine line. He doing it discretely was different from all of the scouts in this squad doing the same. Each squad had at least one scout so it wasn't like they wouldn't be noticed and potentially reported.
"Just do it…" Siar said almost mumbling while thinking back to Fox's carefree attitude. He had taken his mantle during this brief period of time but he was already feeling quite stressed. Siar was starting to admire Fox's ability to remain positive and outgoing.
"Understood!" The archer magician replied respectfully before heading out of the tent.
"Pst, did you rat on me…?" A barely audible voice said from outside the tent. Siar decided not to mind it, however. He now needed to pass the information he acquired and his decision over to Balin.
***
Back in Sanctuary, Sharog followed by Bulwud were heading towards the settlement center.
"Did you get them to spread the word?" Sharog asked Shel who was returning to her with hurried steps not wearing her heavy armor.
"They are gathering by the square" Shel nodded and responded. The ice arrows that had pierced her had melted and the wounds on her body were left open to bleed out some more. Fortunately, Shel took a potion shortly after departing, and the injuries were now only visually aggrieving.
"Good. Now, quickly try and catch up to Dakgu!" Sharog commanded to which Shel nodded and ran off.
Sharog then started making her way towards the smithy and the small ground stage made by Ed once by shifting the earth upwards.
All of the present orcs were curious about the purpose of the meeting while some others were awaiting some good news. Who would they conquer next! Would they get an even cooler settlement?! Was that even possible!?! They were getting excited at the mere thought!!!
"Everyone! There is an emergency, please all follow me to the barracks" Sharog's plan was still to hide. Vorgarag was a single entity, there was nothing he could do to stop her and the others from entering the hidden cavern try as his might it was only a matter of time and effort.
"What?! Why!?!" A burly male orc holding a pickaxe shouted feeling irritated. He was a miner on his break who liked to show off his status by caring around a pick. Needless to say, if they all went into the barracks he would have to put away the pick and end his very humble bragging! That could not be allowed!
Unaware of the logical leaps in the orc's mind, Sharog expecting this reaction still wore an apologetic smile.
"It's something we can't attack, a natural disaster, please follow me to take shelter" Sharog explained not willing to use the word humans. She was certain that many of the orcs present would want to fight when provided the opportunity
"A nat- what the hell is that!?!" Another exclaimed not convinced. The regular orcs had no concept of natural disasters since the weather there was always sunny and clear. They had only seen earthquakes as the closest thing to one.
Sharog grunted inwardly noticing her screw up and decided to change her words.
"Ed is out dealing with it! In order to help him, we need to head to the barracks!" She declared causing the orcs to become agape. What were they waiting for? To the barracks!
***
Dakgu's figure streaked through the settlement and quickly managed to enter the barracks. There he caught sight of Vorgarag's fleeting figure and his entry into the unique lab area with its burly metal door.
"Vorgarag! Where are you!?!" Dakgu yelled as he entered not letting his guard down. This was only to keep up appearances as in reality Dakgu's heart was beating quickly and anxiously.
This would be his first opportunity to test his fighting prowess since the incident of the sacred tribe raid. He had grown a lot but compared to before the opportunities for him to show this growth had dwindled.
"Guh-!" Dakgu who had slowed down ever since entering the room suddenly found himself slipping. Although he had grown in power he had not grown experience-wise.
The water which had made him slipped then converged onto his figure as if to suffocate him. No, it was doing just that. Dakgu started to trash about splashing water everywhere.
"Mmfffh-!" His muffled screams were like music to Vorgarag's ears who grinned maniacally. Perhaps it was the mental state of Herewaruk's body when he died but Vorgarag was twisted, just as twisted as Herewaruk had been in his final moments.
A skewer of ice then propelled itself towards the center where Dakgu had been trashing. Dakgu saw this intermittently between his trashing and reacted to the best of his capabilities.
A strong discharge of electricity came out of his young body. The hair on his body turned spikey and his eyes frenzied as he struggled to not electrocute himself.
Anyone capable of handling mana would usually reinforce themselves against their own spells but that sometimes resulted in a tug of war between power and safety. Dakgu's sudden discharge meant that power tugged fiercely and safety had to try and reciprocate or fall into the mud pit.
"AwAAwHRHH!!!" Dakgu's protagonist-like display was in the end not futile. The ice skewer was like a needle to a water balloon. The random discharge also aided in the sphere to crumble and for the skewer to narrowly miss him entirely.
Yet, that didn't mean the spear had done no harm. His electric mana was not easy to gather, he felt weak currents course through his body, he was almost on empty.
Nevertheless, even after nearly dying at the mere start of the exchanged Dakgu still maintained a defiant expression. He transformed this will into power and even after both nearly suffocating and electrocuting himself, he did not slip on the wet ground.
"Brat, say your goodbyes!" Vorgarag said before forming an ice spear and stepping forward to launch his spear at the motionless Dakgu.
Dakgu's sharp eyes which seemed to be able to kill Vorgarag on their own then took charge and caused his body to act accordingly. Dakgu poured his remaining electricity into the wet ground and…!
"Argh!" Vorgarag who was holding the ice spear froze in place temporarily. His knees buckled after the short burst of electricity as his brain was thrown into disarray. His heart also beat abnormally and his mana ran wild.
Both lightning and fire were destructive in nature but a distinct difference was the type of destruction they permitted. Strong surges of electricity could easily mess up a carnal body.
"Br- Brat…" Vorgarag muttered softly as he began to collapse. Dakgu flashed a triumphant smile. He did it! He beat Vorgarag!
The start was a bit rocky but he really... did- di- did it...?
"I, I can't move. Ho- How?" Dakgu said dumbfounded. He then noticed the conceited and self-assured smile that Vorgarag flashed from the cold wet floor.
"Hehehe…" He chuckled slightly before propping himself up off the floor with ease.
"The temperature... has gotten quite chilly, right?" Vorgarag said looking at Dakgu's body which was freezing over slowly. This was because the enclosed space made it easy for Vorgarag to change the room temperature.
Water was everywhere just like air. To be more precise water was IN the air in small quantities. Plus, all of the water used in the fight increased the humidity, and to increase the humidity was to further increase the water in the air.
Then again, that alone wouldn't suffice. For water to turn to vapor it needed to be heated, and it just so happened Dakgu had been doing just this.
"Really, how foolish" Herewaruk's years of experience were not for show. Even if he never learned of these terminologies he knew basically the omnipresence of water and the ways to take advantage of it. This meant it was also vaguely passed onto Vorgarag.
"I think you don't have any tricks now, any last words?" Vorgarag's hand was frozen over forming a sharp pointed edge. Dakgu's freezing body could not resist without mana and thus had no option other than to resign himself to fate.
"You tarnish your name…" Dakgu said weakly. Those were his last words. His body froze over entirely and Vorgarag never even got the chance to stab him being left shocked by the words of the young orc.
"Tarnish my name?" He asked himself in disbelief. How could he tarnish his own name, he was him! He was the only him!
"Tsk, I'm wasting time" Vorgarag no longer cared about the young orc or his mumbled words, he only cared about the cavern that waited for him underneath.. Vorgarag strode forward confidently, confident that he was living up to his name, and most importantly to his position.