Back at the Angakok tribes settlement, Vorgarag just entered his workshop anxiously He was starting to get worried. All this while he had yet to hear any news of Ed.
This worry was obviously not for Ed. He was worried that he just took some things and left. Sure he said he trusted him but…It wasn't that simple.
Would you trust an undying man to watch your back? Probably not. Sure he might save you once but maybe that was just the whim of an immortal. Realistically the way he saw things Ed was his own entity. He wasn't an orc.
Sure he looked like one but that was it. He didn't act like one, he didn't think like one. His origins weren't as an orc either, what was he?
He had a good grasp of his own residents but not of Ed, he was a variable. Unpredictable.
Vorgarag then let out a tired sigh. Maybe putting all of those arrays had tired him out. Why was he worrying about such nonsense? He thought to himself while rubbing his tired eyes.
Having done the best he could, Vorgarag finally got some time for himself. This free time allowed him to be alone with his thoughts and anxiety bringing some of his worries to light.
He pulled over his good old stool and sat to ponder on the changes he had done to the settlement.
The settlement was decadent and its walls were weak. Even the average orc could probably break through them with some effort. If Ed's stories were true, which he was inclined to believe they were, then they wouldn't stand any chances against humans.
So he decided to bolster the settlement's defenses. he ordered all abled bodies to help chop down trees to add to their defense and even designated some patrols.
This alone wasn't enough so while they did that Vorgarag made sure to further his studies on arrays to try and create his first magic device.
Certain spells, especially offensive ones, required a medium to facilitate their usage or even at times be fired at all.
The reason why the space barrier array was successfully cast last time was for two main reasons. One, Vorgarag himself was in the center acting as a medium. As the medium and the mana source, he was in charge of conducting the array.
And two, although the calculations required for the space barrier spell were complicated, the concept behind it was actually fairly simple. All Vorgarag had to do was create instructions to move the space elements together to create a barrier.
Such a simple concept was rarely seen in offensive spells, they were practically more complex than that and although it was possible to cast them without a device they would have limited utility.
After all, what was easier, to aim a device and have it shoot towards a moving target or to accurately pinpoint coordinates and hope your target stands still? You could try to anticipate the coordinates towards which they would be moving towards but again, a magic device could simplify the process.
The main purpose of these devices was to have them be handled by regular orcs, not magicians. That was another reason to create a device rather than an array.
Through lots of trial and error, Vorgarag managed to succeed in his attempt to create a magic weapon. The final result was a primitive cannon powered by mana crystals that the assigned orcs could aim and fire from atop the settlement's walls with relative ease.
This was already pretty great and Vorgarag was satisfied by the result. Unfortunately, this satisfaction came from his limited abilities.
The cannons had large shortcomings such as the large delay required to fire the device consecutively. This came about due to the orcs' limited craftsmanship as well as the cheap materials used to create them resulting in the cannons breaking if fired back to back. The maintenance of these things was therefore basically non-existent, they would probably only live past one battle.
Vorgarag simply rested his head on the table after thinking back and just as he was about to wallow in his anxiety and fall asleep, he heard a knock on his door.
Letting out a dissatisfied groan, Vorgarag pushed himself off the table he was laying his head on and made his way towards the door. Not surprisingly, the person that came was none other than Nag.
He wore the unusual and awkward expression he always wore whenever he brought a troublesome matter to Vorgarag. Although it also had a hint of unease...
'I guess I don't need to rest' Thought Vorgarag to himself sarcastically as he awaited for Nag to tell him what's up.
"Duma, one of the tribe leaders in charge of the previous attack and another came here claiming to have formed an alliance with us through the orc named Ed. They brought some other orc warriors with them though!" Nag said alarmed. He was quite puzzled as to how this came about and naturally so was Vorgarag.
"Take me to them" Said Vorgarag without a trace of his previous lackadaisical attitude.
Nag naturally complied and took Vorgarag to the cottage where he had talked to Murbol before. There he saw the well-built ax-wielding orc Duma and a slim orc beauty that stood next to him.
Vorgarag saw that they were both currently standing inside of the room and motioned for them to sit down so they could talk comfortably.
"So, what was that about an alliance through Ed?" If Vorgarag remembered correctly Ed never told him about such a plan, this was a complete surprise.
Duma was going to respond but it was instead Sharog who first replied.
"I am Sharog, chieftess of the bloodshed tribe. On the condition that my tribe could be fed, I decided to join you in your fight." Sharog introduced herself while at the same time addressing Vorgarag's question. She was obviously in a hurry to find sustenance for her tribe although she didn't show it.
"Ahem, I came here to help you fight" Said Duma after her. He didn't put out any conditions since he was actually being blackmailed.
Vorgarag was puzzled but chose not to pry too much since they came under Ed's instructions. While he still didn't trust them based on this fact alone, he found more hands to be helpful.
"About the food, thanks to our previous glorious victory we have plenty" Said Vorgarag towards Sharog while looking at Duma.
He wanted to see how he would react but was surprised when it garnered no reaction from the seemingly prideful Duma. Did he really not care or did Ed do something to him? Regardless of the reason, it took a strong will to not even twitch when faced with provocation, the help was welcome.
"That's great. I hope you don't mind but I brought some warriors with me in advance to bring it back to my camp" She said these words in a friendly manner but they gave away her desperation nonetheless.
"Alright, I'll have Nag get that sorted for you." Vorgarag said casually while tapping on the table.
The room was then encased by silence following the end of their conversation. Didn't it all just happen too smoothly? The short period of silence was then broken by a knock on the door which Vorgarag promptly stood up to get but...
The door opened on its own and Ed's solemn face could be seen entering the room.
What was supposed to be the return of the prodigal son instead felt extremely tense. Ed simply seemed too serious as he entered the room, there was no trace of his usual casual and eccentric attitude.
"The humans are coming" Like a prophet warning others of incoming peril his words instilled a sense of urgency on Vorgarag.
The other two however only looked at one another hoping that the other would have an answer.
Could humans be the unknown and powerful enemies?
***
Samuel was breathing roughly, he glanced around the battlefield strewn about with the blood of his comrades.
Thanks to Clarys the blood was mainly from injuries but there were definitely some casualties. Even as the three of them worked together to hold down Augustus they were slowly losing the upper hand.
As the battle progressed Augustus seemed to be getting stronger and they weaker as they spent more of their mana and stamina.
Only Eon knew why this might be happening but he was currently barely holding himself up with his staff. If he used the black hole spell too many times he just might shorten his already dwindling life.
He thought he would be able to easily finish the battle after casting it but rather than deploy it tactically and offensively as he originally intended to he was forced to use it to defend himself and the others against Augustus' insanely strong attacks.
Luckily with the help of Clarys' very effective life-based attacks, the undead Augustus was not given another chance to perform such a daring move. Samuel and Drake were thus forced to work extra hard to protect her alongside the other adventurers but in the process, some of the B-class adventurers were injured or killed.
"My mana is depleting" mumbled Augustus to himself after backing off from the offensive.
He then glanced at the heavy breaths of the adventurers and his non-existent worries were easily eased. There was surely not a way he could lose this battle, right?