"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Vorgarag slammed his fists against the table and yelled in an angry voice, it was the only thing that could be heard inside of the secluded cottage.
He was looking at a small array written on the table. It was his life's work and that made it all the more frustrating, as it had amounted to nothing thus far. He couldn't get it to work no matter what.
'I am missing that damn wind element!' His studies on arrays had not progressed very far so he could only rely on himself to manipulate the elements in the surroundings. If only he could learn from the array left behind by his ancestor.
Vorgarag angrily stood up, the stool he sat on almost fell to the floor due to his hurried motion. He grabbed a piece of jerky and angrily ate.
'The food supply is lowering' He grumbled internally. At this rate, they would have to arrange another battle and he would not have time to study. And who knew if he would die then too? He didn't want to be just like his teacher who left him before he had a chance to finish his teachings. He needed to make real progress on his array if he wanted to completely avoid that possibility.
Vorgarag thought back to the cave found deep in the woods that his ancestor talked about and considered that maybe he should pay it a visit.
'Teacher did say that the first ancestor also kept some records there...' And it wasn't only the records of his tribe either. It was the records of all of the other tribes and their ancestors as well. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to go.
Vorgarag's expression that was calming down then showed intense hatred once again after he realized it was impossible for him to go there.
"I need to lead the orcs in this settlement..." He said through gritted teeth. His position as the tribe's chief was not something he asked for, he was chosen and not given another choice.
There was nobody as smart as him in his generation making him the only candidate for the next Shaman. While he wasn't averse to learning magic, it was, unfortunately, a bundle package that included the settlement.
'What can I do...' Maybe the stress was getting to him, or maybe it was the lack of sleep. Regardless, Vorgorag decided to stop and think about his options
He then heard a knock on the door just as he was about to sit down and continue his research. He went over and opened the door revealing a strong orc who he delegated some of the tasks to.
"What is it?" Vorgarag held himself back and reeled in his anger as he sent the orc a questioning gaze. The burly orc didn't take notice of if anything was amiss and proceeded to speak.
"Murbol, the new chieftess of the skull tribe issued a challenge." The orc was lost on what to and decided to consult Vorgarag. In the first place, his main job was simply to delegate messages to Vorgarag.
Vorgarag let out a sigh and spoke, "Lead me to them"
***
Ed finished with his axe training at the usual time and was prepared to head over to Vorgarag's cottage but was stopped by Shel.
"You can't go over today, Vorgarag is talking with another tribe" Said Shel who was holding his shoulder.
"Another tribe?" Ed didn't think that Vorgarag would be talking to another tribe of all things. It hadn't even been a week since they last fought a battle so why was he talking to another tribe already? Are the orcs always in battle?
"I don't know much since the chief is the one that takes care of things like that." Shel shrugged casually.
"Can't I go anyway? Where is he?" Ed needed to wait for the dungeon to mind its own business before assimilating the books so he may as well keep himself busy.
"Well... I guess it should be alright." Shel then gave Ed the directions to a cottage located near the settlement's gates. Ed didn't wait around, he thanked Shel and went on his way.
The location of the cottage was not particularly hidden but most of the buildings in the settlement looked alike leaving Ed stumped on where to find Vorgarag. He scratched his head as he looked around for the umpteenth time, that was until he heard Vorgarag's alarmed shout.
"Are you crazy?!? We can't afford to do something like that!" His voice carried a deep sense of agitation. Whatever he had heard from the other tribe must have been quite shocking.
Ed wasn't sure if he should enter after hearing that, wouldn't his entry make things weird? So he decided to sit near the cottage. The poorly built houses were obviously not soundproof so seating nearby should suffice.
He then heard the voice of a female orc, "This is why your tribe's numbers have dwindled, you are spineless! Where is your pride as an orc!" She bellowed full of contempt.
"Pride!?! PRIDE!?! Why does that even matter! If I allow my pride to prevent myself from rejecting your challenge then I would be no different from an idiot like you!" Vorgarag clearly didn't think highly of whoever it was he was talking to.
"How else can we stop the food shortage! The god must have grown tired of spineless fools like you and cut back on the food supply! We must show our god a good battle!" The woman proceeded to sell her point while insulting Vorgarag.
"This is why my teacher always stressed the importance of a disciple, lest the tribe end up under the leadership of someone like you." Although he was forced into his position he was still not willing to abandon his people, he spoke sincerely and with a normal tone of voice. That however only made it all the more insulting towards the person he was talking to.
"Vorgarag! If you don't accept the challenge you can't blame me for charging over!" The woman angrily stood up and pushed open the cottage door. It was done with so much force that the door broke free of its hinges and fell to the ground.
"There is no way I can risk the lives of 100 of my tribesmen! That would be no different from crippling ourselves!" Their tribe only had as little as 200 people, how could they possibly accept such a condition! Vorgarag's final yell served as a final rebuttal and a warning.
Ed simply watched as the muscular orc woman made her way out of the settlement with her entourage. After confirming her departure and seeing that Vorgarag had no intention of leaving he made his way inside. He awkwardly looked back at the broken door and then at Vorgarag.
"Why are you here?" Vorgarag asked Ed who he wasn't expecting to see.
"Well... I wanted to learn some more spells but I heard you were busy so I came to check it out." Ed uncomfortably replied.
"Well if you heard any of that you can probably tell I can't help you with that right now." Vorgarag let out a sigh. His worries and stress were only increasing with the passage of time.
"I did hear some of that... The problem is the food then, right?" The topic was fairly awkward for Ed as he had listened in on it rather than formed a part of it.
"Yeah, do you have a solution or something?" Vorgarag seemed slightly annoyed by Ed's question.
"Ummm... yeah. Why can't you just breed the boars" Ed said while scratching his head. He asked that question as he was unaware of how the dungeon's boars worked.
Just as Vorgarag stood up was about to lash out on Ed, he froze and properly processed what he had just heard.
"B-Bre-Breed, the boars? Like... mate them..." Vorgarag asked in disbelief. It couldn't be that the problem that plagued his generation could be solved so easily right?
"Yeah..." The awkward atmosphere had still not lessened as Ed meekly replied.
"...Thank you." Vorgarag thanked Ed. He had realized that in the end, he was still a fool.
He hated his position as the only Shaman and chief of the village yet he was thinking about following the traditions of his teachers and his ancestors. Not once did he consider any solutions outside of them.
He had thought of ways to improve the tribe's strength and his own in order to reduce their losses and win more battles, it was in line with the orcs way of thinking but... didn't he just call out Murbol for her stupidity and poor way of thinking? Although he didn't explicitly state it, didn't he regard her as some sort of battle maniac?
"I feel very stupid right now..." He shook his head and formed a wry smile. If things aren't working out, he just needs to take a step back and look at the problem from different angles. Maybe he could make some progress on the array now.
"Ed, your new suggestion might not be well received by most, I will be very busy. I can try teaching you some spells tomorrow. I need to start this project, check if we still have enough boars alive and in captivity." Vorgarag then patted Ed on the back and left the cottage. his words were very disappointing for Ed but he also understood the importance of Vorgarag's duty.
'Maybe he could persuade the other tribes as well.' If breeding the boars is possible they might be able to avoid conflict.
The few words he had heard from Vorgarag made him understand the tribal battles better. This would be a big assumption but it was probably some sort of team deathmatch, just like the one in games. They needed to reach a certain score or in this case deaths on either side and the battle would then be stopped.
'100 deaths... They probably wouldn't recover from something like that' Although orcs did have incredible breeding capabilities, it wasn't like they appeared out of thin air.
'Well if you disregard the dungeon that it is...' The dungeon was ultimately the one at fault. It could theoretically feed all of the orcs under it without issues as it could create a monster at will. As long as the monster wasn't too strong it would spawn quickly.
'But I can't blame it either' He wasn't sympathizing with it, but the dungeon probably has its own agenda or a reason for living. You can't fault an animal for killing for example as it is in their nature. So if it is in the dungeon's nature to protect itself or if it gets stronger through the orcs' battle then there isn't much he can say about it.
'But even if an animal killed a person due to instincts it doesn't mean that it can be spared' Just like an animal would kill to survive, others would defend themselves to survive or even take the initiative to eliminate the threat.
Ed got his mental monologue out of the way and shifted his focus back to getting stronger.
'I should look for something to assimilate' He left the cottage and looked around but it was pointless. There was only some grass here and there, maybe some rocks but knowing that he had better things made him hesitant.
'Let's check my status'
[Name: Edw#&!]
Type: Orc
Health: 800/800
Vitality: 4
Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Constitution: 2
Dexterity: 1
Mana: 125
~Skills~
[Transmission lvl. 2 (-2)] -Show info-
[Mental Fortitude lvl. 3] -Show info-
[Deduction lvl. 8] -Show info-
[Assimilation lvl. 3] -Show info-
[Thought Manifestation lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Language lvl. 1] -Show info-
[???] -Show info-
[Instinct lvl. 2] -Show info-
[Adept Throwing lvl. 0] -Show info-
[Mana Manipulation lvl. 1] -Show info-
[Axemanship lvl. 1] -Show info-
It looked like Ed needed to wait quite a bit longer.
'My transmission skill is still in the same state...' Maybe the consciousness needed more than time to recover. Or if it was time that it needed, it needed a lot more than a typical flesh wound.
Ed sighed and took a real look around the settlement for the first time. The orcs were loud and simple but they also had a life. Some would train, some would play, some would eat, and some would argue. It painted the lively picture of a small community.
Not a lot of them had designated jobs and most were simply chosen as warriors so there wasn't much else to see. There certainly weren't any attractions. All of their lives were open for the rest to see. And truth be told, they didn't seem to see anything wrong with the way they lived. They were all fairly happy. At least apart from Vorgarag who at times seemed annoyed or exhausted.
'I should work harder' With that thought in mind Ed went back to his cottage to train his mana manipulation.