Akeno

Shamar was looking for an apprentice? Why hadn’t she mentioned anything when Akeno had helped her with the tanning earlier? Even when Akeno asked her if she hunted everything herself, the head hunter hadn’t said anything about needing more help. Maybe she was waiting for Akeno to broach the subject first, or maybe she just wasn’t looking to take on a runt barely finished with their first hunt as her apprentice.

Still, that was an option. She could keep going to the hunter and tanner for work and if she could prove that she could keep up and do a good job then maybe that could lead to something more permanent. Something secure. It would mean hunting most likely, which meant more fighting and more danger, but it would also mean she was closer to a roof over her head and presumably a consistent source of food. It would also mean tying herself down to the tribe though, for the time being anyway, and Akeno hadn’t decided if that was something she wanted to do.

Running off into the woods was still kind of appealing, or would be if she wasn’t sure to lead to certain death at the moment.

Her other options were the shaman herself, surprisingly, and some Orc called Bowbh. Akeno didn’t know who that was, but following the shaman’s line of sight made it pretty obvious who she meant. Gaining an apprenticeship with the tribe’s blacksmith had a lot of the same advantages and disadvantages as going with Shamar, as far as she could see, minus the advantage that she had already done work for the head hunter. It would potentially mean access to metal-worked tools and weapons, maybe even armour if Orcs made such a thing, but Akeno didn’t know the first thing about working a forge or an anvil or anything else. Plus there was that other thing Yamabagorn said, which was definitely ominous. “The blacksmith? What do you mean he hasn’t been right? Where did he return from?”

Training with the brutes and warriors was her last option, both in terms of when it was offered and how seriously Akeno was taking the suggestion. Her ability to fight was the one thing Akeno was fairly confident in, at least compared to her complete lack of skills in every other relevant area, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t stand to learn more; you could always learn better ways to defend yourself, could always improve on your skills or seek out new ones. Even though she had gotten her black belt not too long ago, Akeno had no intention of stopping or settling for just that; she could keep learning karate, progress to the next level of her black belt or, more likely, try out a different martial art instead. She’d dabbled a little bit with boxing, by virtue of having a friend who was into it, and had looked into jiu jitsu dojos a couple times before she died.

There was no way to follow through on that now and there was probably nothing as formalised as that in the tribe, but she could still learn something from the warriors here. How to properly swing a club if nothing else. But like Yamabagorn said, it wouldn’t be an apprenticeship and she could train on the side while pursuing a job with someone else.

“If I became your apprentice, what sort of things would you teach me?”

@Zeroth

Agar

//heading home >> Racing the setting sun //

The run in with the wolf made him think a bit more of the similarities between this world and his past one. All the while traversing through the forest and into another clearing, he didn’t like being exposed like this, but he did have a clear view of things around him. He was sure he could find his way back from this view, but the worrying part was how close the sun was coming to setting.

Agar took a moment to go over what he had seen and done so far, from dispatching those creatures to his last run in. This world so far has several similarities to his old one. Being different or special wasn’t something he wanted to reveal until he knew he could protect himself. Being different here and back home meant being treated differently or outright attacked. Survival of the fittest.

Still, maybe he wasn’t alone with just that other runt he ran off with earlier in the day. He wasn’t sure where that one was but maybe there were more like them here, more reincarnated. Agar only let the thoughts linger for a few more moments before really taking in what was immediately around him and found several mushrooms and some bones that looked like they belonged to the harpy.

Knowing there wasn’t much time left Agar quickly moved to pluck the mushrooms then over to the skeleton, he was looking for any talons or intact bones he might be able to use later. Unfortunately, it looked like either way he would be cutting it close to getting back to camp before dark. He might not make it at all if he used muffle I the entire way but just like home the most dangerous predators came alive during the night.

Agar made his decision, quickly applying another coating of mud. He would have to continue to use muffle till he was out of the thick forest, carefully make his way at a better pace from there back to camp, drop off the turtle shell mushrooms, then find a spot by a fire somewhere and eat the rest of the harpy meat before sleeping under the stars by the fire. It wasn’t much but at least it was a plan, he thought to himself as he began his trek back to camp.

---

@Zeroth

---

@ERode, 2nd Day

---

When Esfir arrived at the Training Circle, she would see many more Runts---some of whom had been released from the pits on the same day as she, and others who had apparently been at this kind of thing for a while---lined up shoulder to shoulder. The circle was exactly that; marked by a crude rope and covered with what seemed to be fresh buckets of loose, sandy topsoil, it appeared very similar to something like a sumo wrestling ring. At its center stood Auguz the Head Warrior, arms crossed and looking as mean as always.

A few adult orcs, as well as some grunts, had gathered to watch what was probably going to be quite the spectacle. Some of the other runts cowered as jeers and taunts were thrown their way by bullies in the same vein as Builge---though, for some reason, that particular headache wasn't around. In any case, the only other thing of note around the Training Circle were two wooden racks further behind Auguz.

They held weapons, or at least, imitations of them. Made from wood and bits of leather wrapping, there were practice versions of many different combat tools available. Shortswords, clubs, axes, and javelins were present along with two types of round shield, one large and one small; then there were quarter staves, spears or glaives with little pads on their ends, sticks with bits of lumber criss-crossed over their tips to serve as halberds, warhammers, and other polearms, battle axes, greatswords, and greatclubs; there were even, it seemed, a few pairs of wooden knuckle dusters or some thick leather strips for wrapping one's hands.

Quest Complete!
LEVEL UP! Level 3 > 4!
Choose ONE:

• Increase HP
• Increase SP
• Gain New Empty Skill Slot
• Gain Skill: Dusk Vision

"ALL RIGHT, YA SCRAWNY, BEDWETTIN', MAGGOT-EATIN' MUKHS!" boomed the Head Warrior, immediately putting a stop to any conversations. "FOR DA ONES DA JUST FINISHED YER HUNTS, DIS IS WHERE I'M GONNA BREAK YA IN HALF, AND DEN BREAK YA IN QUARTERS, AND DEN BREAK YA IN DOUBLE-HALVES! AND WHEN I PUTS YA BACK TOGEDDA, YA GONNA BE REAL ORCS! STRONG ORCS! SO YOUSE LISTEN TO ME--OR I'LL BREAK YA IN TRIPLE HALVES, YA GOT IT?!" When the other runts were forced to nod their assent, he snorted and stepped out of the training ring, moving to the end of the line of runts and directing them to follow him in single file.

"Good, now listen up!"

What followed was a caveman's version of bootcamp. They were made to run---or sprint, rather, because they had to keep up with Auguz, while a few pairs of orc warriors assisting him used wooden switches to flog any orcling that fell too far behind. The entire group made three laps around the whole camp, before Auguz led them back to the training circle and forced them to do squats, then to press the heaviest rocks they could pick up above their heads. Each exercise was done until all of the runts had reached failure--and those who failed first were berated until they caught back up to the others.

Jumping jacks followed this, then swinging large tree branches from side to side as hard as they could---it was at this stage that several runts were knocked unconscious by their fellows who didn't observe the proper amount of space in their formation. That caused a lot of screaming and beatings from Auguz, which ended by making them all bear crawl in one tumbling mass around the training circle, like fire ants caught in a death spiral.

Then they were all put into pairs and made to wrestle until someone emerged victorious by pinning or submitting the other for a count of three---no tap-outs were allowed, or at least no one paid them any attention, and the adults were slow counters. More than one runt was choked to unconsciousness. Losers were forced to wrestle each other again, and those who lost more than three times total were punished with more squats.

And finally, after all this, they were allowed to choose their practice weapons. Then, with Auguz acting as referee, they were once again put into pairs and made to face one another. At least this time, only one pair had to use the circle at a time, allowing those who weren't yet up to fight to get some much needed rest...

Esfir would find herself facing a runt who had chosen a plain one handed club and shield...

"Haha! You a gul orc!" crowed the youngster, who couldn't have been much older than she. He had nothing to his name save his loincloth and his mottled, grass-colored skin. "I gonna win dis easy! C'mere!"

---

@King Cosmos

---

"Bowbh was captured by humans, once. In battle under old chief before Agronak. Was gone a few years." Yambagorn answered, scratching an idle itch somewhere indecent. "Den, one day, not long after we sets up camp here, he just comes wanderin' back. Nevah said much bout it, though." The old orc woman shrugged. "Near as anyone can tell, dey kept him a slave in a forge---is why he such good crafter, now, not like udda Brutes." She opened her toothless mouth as if she was going to say more...and then seemed to think better of it.

When Akeno asked what she would learn if she became the shaman's apprentice, Yambagorn smiled and chuckled with her wheezy voice again.

"Well, da first ting I teaches all my guls o' course---how t' keep a handsy mukh from tryin' to get in ya tent all da time!" She winked. "But youse a li'l young for dat yet. Hmm..." The ochre-toned orc rubbed her wrinkled chin, then pointed up at the sky. "Ah. Yambagorn can teach Akeno how to tell time by da sun and stars, and how to find ya way if ya lost in da woods or on da waters." Then she pointed to her table with its various bowls of mushrooms, powders, and herbs. "And how to make da gud medicines for ya wounds...or da gud poisons, if'n ya wantin' to kill summat." With her gnarled hands on her knees, she looked at Akeno appraisingly.

"O' course, da harder stuff comes after all dat. Yambagorn can't be teachin' ya all da tricks in da first week, after all!" The crone grinned again.

However, there seemed to be an unspoken weight in the air. Shamar hadn't said anything about an apprenticeship, but she had taught Akeno about tanning leather and given her a task to complete. Auguz, the Head Warrior, had also forced them to complete their first hunts before letting them return to the camp. And upon said return, Akeno's System had informed her about optional objectives and other such things.

No doubt, if Akeno wanted to become the shaman's apprentice, there would likely be some kind of Quest involved to prove herself...

"Tell Yambagorn, Akeno---what is ya lookin' for? A job in da tribe, to make yaself stronger and respecc-able?" The elder tilted her head. "Skeelz to keep ya alive? Or...is dere sumthin' else ya want to know?"

---

---

---

@Kazemitsu

---

"True enough I guess, plus we have proof that we found out what happened to the other three." answered the dark haired runt. "So if ya get half credit for both quests, surely that's enough, huh?" As Grunthor touched the torch to the webbing, flames began to slowly lick their way up the silken mass like a collection of candle wicks...and soon, the webbing began to tremble and blacken.

"I nearly bashed this knife apart to get that one chunk; we'll need stronger tools to get more of it." added his companion, who seemed more than eager to leave. Once the other orc was at the entrance of the cave, however, he suddenly paused. When Grunthor approached, he would probably figure out what had happened, because the same thing happened to him.

"Oh thank the Mazoku, we got outta sensory range of that big bastard!" sighed his orange eyed co-conspirator. "Ding, baby! Now lessee what I got..."

New Items Crafted! [+]
New Materials Discovered! [+]
New Locations Explored! [+]
New Creatures Encountered! [+]
Quest: Three Lost Orcs Complete (Unreported)! [+]
Survived Dangerous Encounter! [+]
LEVEL UP! Level 2 > 3 > 4!
Choose TWO:

• Increase MP
• Increase SP
• Gain 1 Skill Rank Point
• Gain Empty Skill Slot
• Gain Skill: Dusk Vision

Assuming the two runts had no inclination to do anything else but get back to the camp, their journey would take between forty-five minutes to an hour. Now that they had found the southern caves once, they were more certain of their way back, but of course they had their "loot" in tow as well. The sun was further in the west as they approached the camp once more, somewhere between half-past-two and three o'clock in the afternoon. There were many signs of other Runts running around as well. By this point many prey-level monsters had probably wizened up and decided to give the camp's surroundings a wide berth. But upon reaching the camp's entrance, they were once again stopped by the broad palms of the two guards.

"Back again, huh? You finally got somethin'?" said one of them, while the second peered at the fresh spider legs the two were carrying. "Bout damn time! And you, didn't ya say somethin' 'bout lookin' for dem udda three? Ya come back awful quick---did ya get scared and soil yerself, runt?!"

"Oi! These is like, Giant Ven Spider legs, or Anthogs, or summat!" The second guard's brow furrowed as he growled at the two runts. "Where'd ya get dese?"

"In the south cave, where those three missing orcs died!" piped up the dark orcling. "They made camp inside it, but got jumped by an anthog or something! It wounded the Giant Ven Spider too, but we killed it before we got the hell outta there!"

"Ain't no way the two o' yas killed an anthog!" The first guard grabbed one of the legs from Grunthor's shoulder and turned it side to side. As he shook it, a little drop of still fresh bug juice splattered on the rocks at his feet.

"Yeah, quitcher lyin'!" added the second, as he grabbed the dark runt's hair and shook him.

"Agh, you big mother---We're NOT lying!" Grunthor's companion's voice had seemed to deepen for a moment, before he decided it was probably better not to speak too rudely to his "elders." "The anthog wounded the Ven Spider. WE killed the spider, while the anthog grabbed one of the bodies! And while it was eating we ran for it!" He threw the bone-handled knife down at the two guard's feet. "There's your proof, idi---I mean, good sirs!"

The guard dropped the unnamed orc child and bent to examine the knife. It was clearly not something the runts could've made, and if they'd stolen it they hadn't taken it from any orcs inside the camp since they'd left. The first guard rubbed his chin, before sighing as if he'd been denied an opportunity to beat someone and threw the spider leg back onto Grunthor's pile.

"...Fine den, we'll let Auguz handle it! If'n HE finds out yer full o' grukh, you'll wish we'd kept you out! Go on, get outta our faces!"

"Gee, thanks, fellas." The evil-eyed runt picked up the knife as he and Grunthor were finally allowed through. He muttered darkly as he turned its white handle between his fingers. "_{Better not piss alone tonight, either one of 'em...}"

When Grunthor and his partner re-entered the camp proper, it wasn't hard to find the Head Warrior. He stood on a small platform right in the middle of the thoroughfare, made from a couple of barrels that propped up a few planks of wood. The hastily put together dais seemed to be solely for the purpose of making him stand out, as none of the other orcs seemed to be paying him much mind and he wasn't waving his arms or shouting or anything.

"Another---Wait, you've been here already!" said the Head Warrior as he hopped down. He glared at the dark haired runt, but then saw Grunthor. "Ah, you! Good, then---if there's any other Runts left out there, they better hope they survive the night on their own!" He took Grunthor's spoils without asking or even making any gesture for them to be handed over. Then he lifted them close to his face and examined them with a long, drawn out hum. Much like the guards, he glared with a half-formed snarl at the two runts.

"These is Ven Spider legs---Giant ones, no less! How'd a couple o' runts get hold of these?" The muscular orc loomed menacingly, but this time the darker haired one stood back.

"Your turn to roll for Diplomacy, pal!" he whispered to Grunthor while subtly pushing the other runt forward for inspection.

---

---

---

@ReusableSword

---

Despite how it slowed him down, with an extra coating of mud Agar's Muffle skill kept him from encountering any more enemies as he moved out of the Deep Forest. Once he had come to less dangerous territory, however, he ceased using his stealth skill and made a quicker pace for the camp. The sounds and sights of the forest were all around him as he moved, the rustle of the breeze mingling with that of the branches and brush he passed by...Every so often, a twig broke under his step, but he didn't slow as he might have back under that dark, old growth canopy.

For a while, his luck held out...but then, another monster came across his path--!

But it was just a slime. The blue creature looked surprised when the orcling came across it suddenly, and let out a wailing blurble as it bounced towards the nearest bush! If Agar pursued it, he could probably catch it with a short chase---and, considering his better weapons and his experiences since the first time he'd encountered such a creature, it would likely make easy pickings...

Whether or not Agar chose to pursue the Slime, it seemed he would eventually make his way back to the Orc Camp without running into the more terrifying nocturnal hunters that no doubt prowled around. Somewhere between four-thirty and five o'clock, he made his way past the guards once more and into the unorganized maze of tents and cookfires. Upon dropping off the Turtleshell Mushrooms with Shamar, the Head Hunter seemed pleased and disappeared into her yurt for a moment before returning with what looked like a pair of buckskin pants, cut somewhat short at the hem so that to a runt, they'd be full ankle length.

"Ya done good, and ya didn't die out dere!" said the hunter as she crossed her arms with a nod. "Wif runts like dis lot, maybe dere's hope for dis tribe yet!" Then she gathered up several hides---Agar might notice it looked like she had done quite a lot of work for a single orc with her tanning process, unless maybe someone had helped her---and headed back into her tent. "If you and dat udda gul, whateva her name is, wanna do summat else useful after Auguz gets done kickin' ya around tomorrer, den come see me!"

Sleeping by the fire kept the cold of night from chilling Agar's bones, but he would find that resting without a proper shelter wasn't quite so restful at all. The stony ground was hard, and the orcs that were on night duty to guard the camp and perform other tasks didn't seem to care how much noise they made. Some of them were also clumsy enough---or maybe just mean enough---to step on a sleeping runt without so much as a glance, much less an apology. However, since all Agar really had on his person was the spear he clutched in his hands and the assortment of materials, no other tools or other special valuables, it seemed no orc felt the need to try stealing from him on his "first" night in this world...

Quest Complete!
New Creatures Encountered! [+]
New Skills Learned! [+]
New Items Crafted! [+]
New Area Explored! [+]
New Materials Discovered! [+]
LEVEL UP! Level 3 > 4!
Choose ONE:

• Increase HP
• Increase MP
• Gain 1 Skill Rank Point
• Gain Skill: Dusk Vision

Skill Progression:
Muffle RANK UP I > II!
At Rank II, one can stifle the sounds of their interactions with the environment as well---a sudden fall or a snapped twig will be suppressed, though they may still produce sounds beyond a certain level.

Consumed: Seared Harpy Meat
Activate [Ingestion: Harpy] (>Y/N)? Approximate Ingestion: 70%
Ingestible Skills [Harpy]:

• Dash
• Sonar Sense
• Field Scan (Apply towards Rank Up?)
• Slash
• ??? - Further Progress Required

---

Agar, the Next Morning

---

Agar would awaken to a sight not entirely unlike what he'd fallen asleep to; the adult orcs were still gathering around cookfires, though many of them had smoldered out overnight and were now being sparked back to life. Other tasks, such as sharpening spears, patrolling the camp's borders, and forcibly conscripting the Grunts into hunting parties also occupied the snaggle toothed brutes all over the primitive settlement.

Agar would be able to see other Runts---perhaps including some of the ones like him---all heading in the same general direction, sometimes followed by jeers and laughter from their elders and betters. If the foggy memories before his release from the Brood Pit were any indication, Head Warrior Auguz's Training Circle was somewhere near the center of the camp. The light was still twilight blue, but not for long--and he'd been told to be there before sunrise...

If he skidaddled to get over there, he'd soon see the exact same scene playing out for Esfir...

When the time came to choose a practice weapon, his opponent picked two shortswords, and twirled them both around in a wild figure-eight pattern.

"You scared!?" taunted the opponent. "I's gonna chop you all ups---" Just then, his momentum got away from him and one of his spinning swords clocked him in the back of his head. "Yeouch!" He snarled as if it were Agar's fault, before charging across the sand.

"Credit is credit, they asked for as intact as possible but we aren't big enough to take the whole spider." He stated as the webbing rapidly caught fire like dried tinder. He nodded when the other Runt mentioned the ore, proper tools always made a job easier. Then the good message of leveling up came, and he apparently accomplished enough to level up twice! "What level did you get to?" He questioned, curious on their Runtish progression rate.

'Hm...Dusk Vision would be excellent. It's probably not perfect night vision but it'll make any nightly hunting better. That Empty Skill Slot would also be useful to get more skills. I might be able to make my Ranks go up just with use...' He thought before he began to move again towards the Orc Village. He had no desires to even attempt another fight for the time being.

They were stopped by the guards, who talked a lot and even assaulted the unnamed runt while accusing the pair of lying and not accomplishing their feats. But the knife made them reconsider before sending them to Auguz. He shifted his payload a bit and nodded to the other Runt before they went to where Auguz was on his little podium. The big orc addressed the pair, glaring at the dark magic user momentarily before turning his attention to Grunthor.

He didn't fight Auguz taking the legs, he knew he wouldn't be keeping them. That was the point of sending the younglings out, to get food for the village and prove their worth. The weak died, the strong contributed. "We got them from the cave down South where three orcs went missing. I asked for help from him to hunt because of a wompus cat I saw in the area." He stated before continuing on. "So he asked for my help with the three missing. We went to the cave, they made camp inside, they got ambushed by the spider but they wounded it. I focused on its legs when he drove it from the ceiling and I kept its webbing from being useful." It was already quite the story, and Grunthor normally didn't talk much.

"We would have brought everything back but there was a...Ankheg? A giant ant thing with sickle front legs. It took one of the orc bodies off deeper into the cave. So I hacked off the legs and we carried them back here with whatever little spoils I already had before." He finished while holding up the makeshift slime sack that held fire hardened chicken scales, feathers, and the ore from the cave. He had no plans to hide anything from the older orc.

In a word, it was brutal.

Esfir had faced exhaustion before, but it had been far too many years since she had experienced the exhaustion of constant, high-pace physical activity. She had selected Dusk Vision, expecting it to be useful when she went spelunking later on in the day, but once Auguz’s bootcamp truly went under way, the runt decided that she was naïve.

She should have saved some food for breakfast. She should have taken the SP Up bonus.

Then it turned out that the jumping jacks weren’t even the end of it, and Esfir decided that it was a good thing she hadn’t eaten after all. A branch clipped her skull, leaving a bruise and a bleeding wound, and in the haze of pain, she swung back, cracking her own branch over the temple of the offending idiot and knocking them out cold. Unfortunately, that just meant more beatings and screaming, the sort that almost reminded her of her own youth, of the abuse endured in order to be ready to join the frontlines. More than a dozen bruises and welts decorated her body by the end, and she felt every one of them when the wrestling began, as a more creative (or perhaps cruel) runt sought to force compliance via pain. They pressed their knuckles or their toes or their knees into her bruises, and she responded by chomping down on their shoulder, then using her feet to kick away her opponent’s other legs as she wrapped her arms around their neck and squeezed hard.

Was she pissed?

Yes, she was.

She was hungry and she was thirsty and she was wasting far too much energy, when she had so much more to do this day, and these brats thought it right to mouth off still, like this training was going to accomplish anything except make obedient, vicious brutes out of the runts.

The break, at least, allowed Esfir’s blood to cool. Some of her bruises were worse than the others, but she could still push herself. She wanted to push herself, to wrap all this up quick and get out of this stinking, festering pit and return to the forest and the mountains. Find herself a stream with clear water to drink and wash in. Find herself another one of those scaled chickens to make a good meal out of. Her appetite ate at her, and when it was finally her turn, she picked up a two-handed spear from the rack, fixing Auguz with a hard stare before she faced her opponent.

One breath. Two breaths. Three.

“Ok.”

She was going to kill him.

Esfir sprinted forwards, a burst of Murderous Intent emanating from her gaze as she fixed the point of the wooden spear upon the shield-bearer. Even as terror replaced bravado though, he didn’t lose his wits entirely. He had a shield, and what was a shield good for, if not for being raised up to block the thrust?

So that was what he did, of course, and that was what she expected as well when she leapt up, coiled her legs, and drop-kicked the shield with all her might, intending on sending her opponent flat on his back and stunned. The impact of the fall bloomed right over her tender side, but she had braced for it, and scrambled back up to her feet.

If all went to plan, she would be up while he still struggled to, and in that moment of vulnerability, the range of her spear would allow her to skewer his stomach before he could come up swinging with his club.



@Zeroth

Akeno

Akeno turned her head to look across the camp, over to where the blacksmith’s forge sat. So he’d been captured and used as a slave by the human, or so people assumed; that explained his absence from the tribe, why he stood out as different from the rest and mostly explained his crafting abilities. She got the impression it wasn’t the full story though, since Akeno didn’t think it was usual to teach a slave all of the knowledge needed for a skilled trade like blacksmithing. Teach them well enough that they could build and run a forge by themselves afterwards. Or maybe it was and whoever captured Bowbh just gave him a lot of leeway when it came to his work. The details didn’t really matter to her.

She did wonder though if that meant the blacksmith knew more about the nearby human settlements than the other Orcs in the tribe; he’d probably travelled farther from the camp than anyone and seen more of the world as a result, albeit against his will. What kind of people they were, how they lived and their culture and so on. It would probably be crass to ask a former prisoner and slave about that kind of thing though, so better not ask unless it was for something important and not just to satisfy her curiousity.

Well, back to the matter at hand. If Akeno wanted to become the shaman’s apprentice then Yambagorn would teach her how to tell the time and navigate by the stars and the sun, how to mix medicines and poisons, which was more or less what she had been expecting. Being able to make medicine and deal with wounds would be an incredibly useful skill to have, as would be able to find her way if she got lost at any point; she wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else if she ever got injured on a hunt or in a fight, which was practically an inevitability, and would be able to find her way through the woods by herself. That was all definitely more useful than being able to tan a hide or work a forge, in her mind.

Useful for what though? Yambagorn raised a good question, what did Akeno want? The elderly Orc kept flipping between gross mannerism and bawdy jokes one second and weirdly wise and insightful comments the next; it was nothing ground shaking, but the shaman kept reminding her that Akeno shouldn’t take this woman’s intelligence lightly. Well, it wasn’t like Akeno had any reason to try and play word games anyway; she wasn’t trying to match wits with anyone here, just get information, so if she spoke too plainly and let something slip so be it. “Skills that would let me survive; that’s the main thing. Strength too, since the wildlife here seems pretty dangerous.” Akeno had died young once already, in a place and time that wasn’t even supposed to be that deadly comparatively. It was not an experience she wanted to repeat again, so any steps she could take to improve her chances she would take.

Beyond that? Akeno recalled vague memories of a divine being, an explanation of how she came to be here and a vague purpose being given. She wanted to know why; why do this, why her, why anyone? Was there a way back home? Would she be herself again if she went home, or would she be forced into a third chance at life? If she was stuck here, what was she supposed to do? Akeno had never been one to think of her life as having some greater purpose, but when a literal god… thing spoke to you it tended to make you reconsider if maybe it did. She didn’t want to think that they were just being watched to see if they did anything interesting.

“I guess I have some bigger questions too, but those can come later.”

@Zeroth

Agar

// Racing the setting sun >> A new day //

Sleeping wasn’t that bad, he slept worse in the military but this body was soft. At the very least he did level up last night and learned about someone else helping out the huntress. A new hunting partner perhaps? He would have to figure that out after morning training. One that he knew he had to hurry to if he didn’t want to get punished for it. Then he would have to figure out his food situation and finding a better spot to sleep sometime tonight.

Remembering his options from the system he pondered what he could do while he did some simple morning stretches. Agar mulled over the options he was given, he only had one skill slot open and wanted to pick from the Harpy skills, dusk vison sounded important. It didn’t sound like dark vision but maybe I was the start of it? It would be nice but wouldn’t help him right away. He didn’t really know what MP was but he might need that too if he wants to be a well-rounded fighter. It wasn’t an option for no reason.

Ultimately, he decided on Increasing his MP with his level up and filling the empty skill slot with Slash I. He felt that an offensive attack was something he would need and maybe this was the red attack he saw the harpy make the other day. He also improved his muffle skill further informing himself that skills did level up with use and practice. After he made his decisions he scurried off with his things towards the training area.

Oh boy did he get flashbacks, this training was a less organized but somehow more brutal form of boot camp then what he went through. The yelling, hitting, strenuous exercises sure did bring him back to those old memories from another life. Even with his stamina boost he was definitely feeling the exhaustion at the end of the encounter. He was sure glad he picked that boost, still this was an opportunity to show just how out of shape he was in this new body.

When the time came for wrestling he didn’t want to show off, he knew the moves but his body didn’t. even with him purposefully losing twice in a row he wasn’t too sure that he was losing on purpose. He still came back and won out the match though. This ended up giving him a break to drink some water and take some time to breath.

The next step had them picking out mock weapons and facing off against different opponents. He took the time to watch a few other fights and found himself laughing along with some of the others when a good hit or quick defeat was struck. Somehow, he found it funny making him think of another fantasy orc race that found death hilarious but he couldn’t remember where he heard that.

Then it was his turn to face off with his opponent. One that chose two swords. Agar had chosen a small round shield and an axe. These weapons were crude and although they probably could kill after a few solid hits they were not sharp. His opponent opted to poke fun at him and charge after embarrassing himself. Agar decided to do the loudest thing he has done so far and scream at the runt in whatever measure he could at an attempt of a war cry. Then he charged too his shield held in front of him with the axe coming in to a low swing at the runts side and used his new skill Slash I.

---

@Zeroth

---

@ERode

---

Gain Skill: Dusk Vision - Rank I - Orc Inheritance. One's eyes need less light to see by, allowing them to see normally in dim light conditions and half as well in darkness so long as it is not completely black. Color perception is half as accurate in dim light, and in darkness the perception of color is lost. This Skill does not apply to other vision-related Skills.

All Skill Slots have been filled.

Esfir's Murderous Intent caused the runt she was facing to stop cold in his tracks--if the skill worked better on weaker opponents, then it seemed evident that the "normal" Orc Runts probably had not gotten as many levels or skills as Esfir and the others like her. After she drop kicked him, he lost his grip on the heavy shield while trying to get up.

If not for the leather pouch on the end of her wooden spear, even without a sharp point she might've actually gutted him.

Her vicious thrust with the practice weapon sank right into the other orcling's solar plexus, producing a spray of spittle as her opponent was driven back. Gasping for air, nonetheless the miserable cretin managed to bat her weapon away. With a clear killing intent of his own he charged straight at Esfir, whirling his wooden mace--just a shaft with a larger chunk of a log screwed onto its end, a bit like a stick grenade--in wild figure eights.

He didn't have the breath left in him to keep it up for long, but if Esfir wasn't careful one of those wild swings had more than enough power to hurt...

---

@King Cosmos
Day 1 > Day 2

---

"Survival? Strength?" Yambagorn chuckled as she considered Akeno's answers. "To an Orc, da two be da same." The shaman grunted as she shifted her weight, rising with all the non-agility of an old crone before she shuffled over to her little table. She turned a few things over and slid bowls and tools around, before finding whatever it was she'd been looking for. Then she turned and held it out to Akeno.

"Dis be a Red Cream mushroom. When ya cut da head, de ooze inside keeps wounds from gettin' infected and makes swellin' go down. Ya can eat it, too--very filling!" The white stalked, bulbous red mushroom had little green, almost gel like pustules on top of it. "But, when ya mix it wif otha tings, it makes good medicine. If ya want to be me apprentice, find de otha ingredient to make Healing Salve, and bring it back to me!" The Shaman waved her off, and turned back to go into her cave. "Or keep it and just eat it, Yambagorn dun care! Best not go back out tonight, though, will soon be dark and de dangerous critters be out!"

With a ding sound Akeno could only hear in her head, another Optional Quest appeared in the System just like it had with Shamar. But, it seemed her conversation with the Shaman was over--unless she intended to talk with other Orcs in the camp, or was determined enough to try going back out into the wilderness as evening fast approached, it might be time to focus on finding her shelter to spend the night...

Assuming she would at least not get herself killed during the night, the next morning would see her at the Training Circle with the others going through the same grueling, cruel exercises.

Quest Complete!
LEVEL UP! Level 3 > 4!
Choose ONE:

• Increase MP
• Gain 1 Skill Rank Point
• Gain 1 Empty Skill Slot
• Gain Skill: Dusk Vision

Eventually she would be given a choice of practice weapon, and be paired up with a runt who looked pretty big for his age. He actually had hair too, or at least enough of it to be pulled up into a topknot on his otherwise bald and stone-blue head. He'd chosen a longsword, and wielded it with two hands as he waited, silent and stoic, for her to make the first move...

---

@Kazemitsu
Day 1 > Day 2

---

You have chosen [Dusk Vision] and [Empty Skill Slot].
Your Skill Slots are currently full. Placing Dusk Vision into Empty Skill Slot.
All Skill Slots are filled.

"An anthog? And the otha three was already dead?" Auguz looked the two Runts over again as he considered Grunthor's story. Finally, he grumbled something to himself and nodded. "Fine, then. What's yer name, Runt--?" He started to hold Grunthor's arm up and announce his acceptance into the tribe as he had all the other successful runts up to this point, but then the Runt produced his slime bag full of his other kills' remains. Auguz blinked for a moment, and then his face cycled between confusion, surprise, and annoyance. He genuinely seemed at a loss for what to do--and settled on the most orcish reaction.

"Ya wasn't s'posed to be out dere eatin' like a little pig!" He slapped Grunthor over the head with one meaty palm. "You woulda been back a long time afore Wompus Cats start prowlin', if you'd done like ya was told!" Then he backhanded him. "And ya don't get no Skills if ya eat every freakin' aminal at once! Ya gotta focus on one ting at da time!" Finally, he grabbed Grunthor by the forehead, palming his whole cranium like a basketball, and glared into the runt's eyes. "In da future, ya better listen to what I fuggin' tells ya, Runt!" Then he pushed him along, and tossed back the spider leg trophy. "Now, by sunrise tomorrer yer to be at the Training Circle! I dun give a damn what ya do til then--just don't be a lazy grukh!"

"Phew." said the greasy, still unnamed runt as the Head Warrior stormed off. "Well, better you than me, huh champ? If it makes ya feel any better, I think he was actually impressed by your spoils--these dunderheads just don't know how to handle the unexpected, and he didn't want you to get the idea you could question his authority." Then he chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Then again, I ain't no shrink. What're ya gonna do now?"

Now that Grunthor had received the next Quest--which mentioned that he already had 3/3 meals for the day, and only needed to find shelter for the night before reporting to the training circle--he could also choose to visit other Orcs around the Camp in search of Optional Quests. If he explored or asked around a little bit, he'd likely be able to make contact with Shamar the Head Hunter, Bowbh the Head Crafter, Yambagorn the Shaman, or maybe someone else if he looked especially hard. But given how exhausted he'd already become and how late in the day it was, whatever other tasks he acquired would need to wait until the next day.

Finding shelter would make passing the night easier, but at the very least it seemed he would be lucky enough to survive to the next morning regardless...And then, upon going to the training circle, he'd be subjected to the same vicious beatings and mockeries as all the other runts. When finally given a choice of practice weapon and another opponent, he would find himself facing a fat, ochre-bodied, but short runt with a squashed face and buck teeth. This runt had picked a wooden polearm, a little longer than some of the other spears--perhaps meant to emulate a halberd or pike.

As soon as the start signal was given, the tubby orcling released a gibberish warcry before swinging in a wide circle, his whole body spinning towards Grunthor...

---

@ReusableSword

---

Quest Complete!
MP Increased! Mental Points are expended when you manipulate and release Mana, when the ratio of cognitive load to stress hormone production rises above the basal rate, or when emotional and/or sensory information input surpasses processing ability. When Mental Points are spent, you will suffer from the Mental Breakdown condition.

Gain Skill: Slash - Rank I - Powerful bladed attack to enhance weapons, claws, etc. Uses SP.

All Skill Slots are filled.

New Equipment: Buckskin Pants - Armor/Clothing - Pants, complete with small pockets, made from tanned and scraped hides. Offers some small measure of defense and cover against the elements. Not a complete set.

Agar's opponent hadn't expected him to advance, probably because the orc's idea of using a "defensive weapon" like a shield was to cower down behind it. As a result, both charges met head on as Agar's round shield smashed into the other runt's chest and clacked against his chin. As he stumbled back, Agar's wooden axe began to crackle with red energy--the activation of Slash felt like his heartbeat had somehow run down his arm into the weapon as he swung.

Desperately, the other orc managed to get both of his swords in front of him. There was a loud CRACK as the wooden weapons collided, and Agar's opponent was thrown backwards. One of his weapons had broken, and he'd lost his grip on the other one. He landed hard on his back on the ground, and groaned as he tried to roll over to get up...

"What're ya waitin' for? Finish it!" Auguz shouted from the edge of the ring, looking at Agar with an expectant eye...

Auguz wasn’t stopping this.

That didn’t make sense. What the hell was that orc thinking? If they were using real weapons, which this whole training session was supposed to simulate, a thrust like that would have killed her opponent. Even if it didn’t kill her opponent, it would have destroyed their ability to breathe, and they’d have spent their time wheezing and bleeding until she finished them off a few moments later.

But instead?

The little shit was clutching his chest with one hand and half-charging, half-stumbling towards her with what remained of his strength, swinging wildly. Momentum built up by the third, and soon, the hefty ‘imbalance’ of the wooden mace worked in the weapon’s favor, building up greater and greater speed. With such a difference in mass, there was basically no hope that a direct thrust with her ‘spear’ wouldn’t be swatted away again. Clearly though, if her ‘spear’ wasn’t a spear, she didn’t have any need to treat it as one either.

And between two sticks, the longer one was always better.

Esfir continued to retreat, sliding her hands to the very base of the spear’s shaft. She watched the patterns of the runt’s swings, got the measure of it, and then, in a position more like a baseball player than anything else, retaliated with a swing of her own. The wind whistled as the spear swung diagonally, grazing the dirt as she aimed for her opponent’s shins.



@Zeroth

Akeno

Sleeping on solid rock with nothing but the vest on her back to protect her from the elements was not a pleasant experience, especially not when her muscles were burning with the after-effects of as much exercise as Akeno could force out of this pint-sized body. Even so, when morning came around she didn’t feel nearly as sore or as tired as she thought she would.

Orc’s were hardy things from the feel of it. They’d have to be to be able to survive the way they did.

Following the directions of the head warrior, Akeno made her way to the training circle and lined up with the rest. She recognised a few of the faces from the day before, including a handful that she knew to be like her, but there were just as many that she didn’t recognise. The head warrior’s bellowing brought to mind the kind of stereotypical drill sergeants she’d seen in movies and the threats of nonsensical violence would have fit in any one of them; as would the intensive, even excessive amount of physical exercise that followed.

Akeno was starting to regret the sit-ups and push-ups she’d forced herself to do before falling asleep last night. Even if she wasn’t feeling as sore as she’d expected, that didn’t mean her muscles weren’t complaining by the end of the squats, then screaming in protest by the time they were done with the rocks, then outright calling for mercy by the time the branches came out.

When they got to the wrestling it was actually something of a relief to Akeno. Grappling on the ground was not something she had any real experience with but the same could also be said of pretty much everyone else present here as well; even as she watched some of the other matches take place, all it really amounted to was a bunch of Orcs trying to trip each other up and push each other over, then overpower them or use their weight to pin them do. There were no arm bars, no triangle holds, no escape attempts that weren’t just trying to brute force throw their opponent away.

A few strangulation attempts though. She was pretty sure at least one Orc was foaming at the mouth by the end of things.

Grappling experience or not, Akeno definitely had an advantage when it came to takedowns, and when it came time for her own fight it was a fairly simple matter to duck under the other Orc’s grasping arms, wrap her right arm around the back of one knee and the other arm around their waist, lift one leg off the ground and spin them around so that they lost balance and fell to the ground. Akeno fell on top of them before they could get their bearings or try to get back up, but past this point she had no idea how to pin them down or keep them from bucking her off; somehow though, in the process of pinning them down her elbow found itself connecting with the side of their jaw and left them dazed enough to make pinning them easier.

Totally by accident.

The guy counting didn’t seem to care anyway.

After that they were led back to the weapon racks and she was told to pick a weapon to use. At first her eyes were drawn to the knuckle dusters and then to the leather wraps when she wasn’t sure if the former would disqualify her from her skills bonuses. Looking at her options though, she eventually decided on a small shield and a one-handed club. She could already fight unarmed so this was a chance to learn something new and even though she had no idea how to swing a sword properly, a club should be fairly simple to figure out. And she could just drop it if it didn’t work out.

She stepped into the circle against her opponent and when it was clear that he wouldn’t make the first move, began to walk forward with her shield raised and angled towards them until she was in range of their sword.

@Zeroth

Grunthor went with the first blow, taking some of its oomph out. He didn't have to be his old self to read what Auguz was going to do, he telegraphed horrendously. Same with the back hand, he turned with it to lessen the damage while also activating Tough. He still got hurt, he was a child getting smacked by an adult, but he didn't need to be battered and heavily bloodied for Auguz to get his message across. Don't do what you aren't told to do. Which a lot of people would probably abuse the hell out of.

His forehead was palmed and he was given his orders. Do whatever for the rest of the day, but be at the training area in the morning. "Little better than cavemen honestly, but it's to be expected. As for what to do, dunno really. I should probably meet all of the...I don't know what to call them. The leaders of the various sects I guess? I should probably see Bowbh first...since I'm naked and all." He mused before looking at the Unnamed Runt.

"Should probably know each others names, hey you is probably said a lot in this place. I'm Grunthor." He stated, it would most likely not be the last time they met and assisted each other in this camp. Because the player is a lazy ass he meets with Bowbh, revealing the goethite ore and gets the Mining Quest along with a Loaned Pick. He also traded the eight Giant Ven Spider Legs for a Well-Made Stone Knife. Tools weren't a bad thing to have, especially ones that could be used as weapons.

The player is still a lazy ass and Grunthor meets Shamar and takes on the task to catch fish. He had seen how fishing is done but it wasn't something he had done before. Worst comes to worst, he'll figure out another way of getting fish so he can get some clothes without having to steal them from a fellow runt. Cuz aside from his Leather Gloves, he's helicoptering all over the place. With his Side-Quests in place he found a corner near the huts, kept his stash of stuff in his lap, and fell asleep. He was a guy, even as a kid he slept in odd places at times.

He awoke with the dawn and went to the Training Area like he had been instructed the previous day. Familiar faces, non-familiar faces, either way they were all forced to exercise like the most basic bitch caveman boot-camp imaginable. He made sure to pace himself, no point destroying himself in the morning to be useless for the rest of the day. After exercises it was sparring with the various weapons made of wood to apparently cause as little damage as possible but still teach through pain to not be a fuck up.

Since there wasn't anything really useful for him beyond leather strips to act as some sort of binding cestus, he picked up two shields. Oversized highly defensive knuckle-dusters! He waited for the signal while eying his portly opponent who blitzed in as soon as the signal was given. A full body wide swing, as telegraphed as a haymaker. He brought both shields up on that side so the blow scraped up along the slope. He stepped in when the weapon lifted away from the slabs of wood and held onto the grip tight before punching the other Runt in the chest with the edge of the shield with a good bit of force.

Agar

// A new day >> Are you not entertained? //

The hit his opponent took was solid and felt strange. This wasn’t like field scan or any other kind of sensation he had felt before. It was to the point, where he made a mistake he was glad was in a mock fighting arena. He paused. Attention fixed on his arm to his weapon then to his opponent and his broken weapon. The other runt was still reeling from the hit. Neither of them expected the skill he used to bring such power to bear.

"What're ya waitin' for? Finish it!" Auguz shouted

Subduing the feeling of power, he got from the interaction, Agar looked to his opponent on the ground. The words from the leader ringed in his head. A swift reminder to get his head in the game and finish the fight. One more swift strike should be enough. Killing his opponent wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he still had to put him out.

Dropping his axe, the runt quickly stepped hard on his opponents back to force him to the ground. Holding the edges of the rough shield in his hands, he raised it up and struck the edge of it against the side of the runts head. It shouldn’t be hard enough to kill but it was definitely going to leave a mark. An act he would continue to do unless the adults stopped him or the runt below him stopped moving. A smile growing on his lips.

---

@Zeroth

---

@ERode

---

Once, a near miss. Twice, a sidestep. Thrice, clearing distance. Esfir timed her opponent's attacks once she'd gotten used to his rhythm. Her longer weapon made a wide arc as her opponent drew back another heavy blow. CRACK! She heard the wood split as her polearm landed across both of the other runt's shins. The orcling let out a high pitched squeal and pitched forward.

Unable to catch himself, he hit the ground face-first. Moaning and making little pathetic sobs, the creature curled in on himself to nurse his stinging legs--Esfir's strike had left a painful looking welt across both of them. Combined with how hard he'd hit his head, it was unsurprising that the runt didn't want to get back up. Auguz approached the whimpering child and rolled him over with a half hearted kick.

"You lose! Now go fight someone else til ya win!" He picked the runt up by one leg, eliciting a shriek, and tossed him back out into the crowd of onlookers. To Esfir, he turned and dug something out of his pocket. He gave her a half smirk as he handed her a small object--a rat's skull, picked clean and bleached white.

"Good job, Runt! Take dat to da guards outside da Warchief's place, and ya gets ya reward! From here ons, you's a propah Orc--get big and strong, for da tribe!"

Congratulations! You have fulfilled all requirements of the Agronak Warband.
As a Runt, you have no assigned jobs. Seek out other Tribe members for trades and companions. Survive until reaching your next Stage.

NEW QUESTS HAVE APPEARED:
Quest Giver: ???

• Discover an Area you have not explored yet.
  You have explored: Orc Camp, Nearby Forest, North Caves (Entrance).
• Slay a Creature with the "Boss" Tag.
  Your current Level is 4. Until this Quest is completed, the "Boss" tag will apply to the current level scale. Defeating a scaled Boss at higher levels will decrease EXP gain.

Will you Accept a Quest? Y/N

---

@King Cosmos

---

Skill Progression:
Martial Arts (Goju-ryu) - Rank I > Rank II! At Rank II, "small" boost to defensive blocks and offensive counters is increased to "medium" boost!

As Akeno approached, her opponent watched her with wary eyes. His lip curled as a low growl rumbled from his throat. He tensed as she stepped into his range...and then, as she took another step, he lunged!

It was a straight forward strike, one she was prepared to block with her shield--yet nothing happened.

A sharp impact rapped her shin, sending unpleasant tingles up and down her leg! This runt seemed a little smarter than average--he had figured out that she would defend, so that first strike had been a feint! Now that he had scored a distracting blow, he quickly circled around towards Akeno's injured side and lunged again!

This one came down at her head for real, but from an angle her shield didn't cover. Her opponent seemed to be hoping that the stinging strike to her leg would slow her down too much to turn in time...

---

@Kazemitsu

---

"Wow, we only spent a life and death struggle together and NOW you wanna know my name?" The other Runt chuckled. "But okay, sure. I'm Vark, short for Varkgorim, which is a name I'm gonna change at some point when I come up with something cooler." He struck a sudden pose with his fist extended that seemed intentionally goofy. "And I'm gonna be King of the Demons!"

Taking his own spider legs and other bits he'd gathered from their quest, the greasy-haired orcling headed off to do his own thing. The last Grunthor heard of him was his creepy cackling as he rubbed his hands together like a kid planning a prank...

Grunthor's lackluster efforts didn't seem to make much of an impression on the older Orcs he approached. Bowbh, at least, was more eager to speak to him after being shown the ore, but Shamar seemed almost disgusted with him for some reason and had practically thrown a roll of fishing line and a small hook at him to get him to go away. But, in the end, all he really wanted was the quests anyway.

QUESTS ADDED!
Quest: Get Ore for Bowbh
Quest Giver: Bowbh the Blacksmith
Quest Details: Bowbh needs more ore to make various things for the tribe. If you bring him at least 5 Ore Pieces, he will forge you one item of your choice (so long as the needed materials are available). No time limit.
Other Options:

• Bring an Ore of High Quality
• Bring more than 5 Ore Pieces
• Bring a Rare Ore

Acquired Loaned Antler Pickaxe
Lost 8 Giant Ven Spider Legs
Acquired Well Made Stone Knife

Quest: Get Fish for Shamar
Quest Giver: Shamar the Head Hunter
Quest Details: Shamar wants fish if you want to trade for clothing. If you bring her at least 3 Fish from the Southeast Lake, she will give you one item of your choice (so long as the needed materials are available). No time limit.
Other Options:

• Bring at least 1 Fish of High Quality
• Bring more than 3 Fish
• Bring a Rare Fish

Shamar has given you 1 Long Braided Fishing Line and 1 Bone Hook.

The next morning, he got to do things he was good at, but somehow didn't even manage to get excited about that either. After unga-bunga'ing his way through the training with the rest of the runts--several of whom he would notice were his own pit-mates from the day before--he was given a choice of weapons.

Many of the other runts laughed uproariously when he picked two shields, and Auguz gave him a look that said 'really, dumbass?'

His tubby opponent charged, swinging his polearm in a big circle. Grunthor blocked it with only one shield, and only one arm on said shield, while carrying the weight of another shield. The impact was heavy and loud, and numbed his arm from the elbow down.

Nonetheless, his shield-bash knocked the other runt back a step. The fatter orcling sputtered in outrage, then managed to get his polearm to swing back around. It came up and over this time, coming down hard at Grunthor's head over the height of the shields...

---

@ReusableSword

---

As Agar gave into his primal instincts, bashing another orc child over the head with a big chunk of wood over and over, Auguz smiled and nodded. Soon the other runt was unconscious, droplets of blood seeping from his severely bruised cranium. Auguz shoved Agar off of the opponent, then shook the downed runt til they woke up crying.

"Shaddap, loser! Get back in line for yer next one!" said the Head Warrior, before booting the sobbing wretch back into the crowd. He then turned to Agar and held out a small object in his hand--a rat's skull, picked clean and bleached white.

"Good job, Runt! Take dat to da guards outside da Warchief's place, and ya gets ya reward! From here ons, you's a propah Orc--get big and strong, for da tribe!"

"Oh, but one more ting!" Auguz seemed to think of something, catching Agar by the shoulder before the Runt left. "I see ya got yaself a strong skill! Good! But be careful what ya eat--you Runts ain't got room for lots of Skills! It's betta to find strong Monsters, or ones that got better Skills for Orcs--things we can use with our weapons, or makes us stronger! If you just scarfs everything ya see like a dumb mukh, who knows what ya gonna get!"

Congratulations! You have fulfilled all requirements of the Agronak Warband.
As a Runt, you have no assigned jobs. Seek out other Tribe members for trades and companions. Survive until reaching your next Stage.

NEW QUESTS HAVE APPEARED:
Quest Giver: ???

• Discover an Area you have not explored yet.
  You have explored: Orc Camp, Nearby Forest, Deep Forest (Quarter).
• Slay a Creature with the "Boss" Tag.
  Your current Level is 4. Until this Quest is completed, the "Boss" tag will apply to the current level scale. Defeating a scaled Boss at higher levels will decrease EXP gain.

Will you Accept a Quest? Y/N

Grunthor's arm flexed from the numbness, this body wasn't used to hard impacts even with the shield. He ignored the other orc's laughing and jeering. He essentially had two big knuckle dusters with the best defense capabilities. If he actually went with something like this, add metal to the edge that could be sharpened and you had a really short highly defensive axe. Still the runt he struck stepped back, clearly outraged that he had been hit. Or that he failed to do any meaningful damage.

Now came a highly telegraphed overhead swing. The arm that was numbed up was up, the shield slanting so the blow would scrape off instead of taking the full impact. Given the orc anatomy, which was human except tougher, coarser hair, and stronger, he could technically pick the other orc apart. Stepping in after the pole-arm was deflected, and using Rapid Strikes, he struck at the orc runts solar plexus with his right like a hard jab with the shield, then the orcs face, and a third strike to the solar plexus.

The shields made his blows a bit slower but the added weight would be more damaging if they hit, nevermind the narrowed edge of the shield versus his fists. Although next time he would probably pick the wraps.

It was tempting the spit at the idiot creature as her blood continued to rush through her brain, but Esfir held back the baser desires within her, managing to only tersely nod towards Auguz. She inspected the rat’s skull briefly.

“Same session tomorrow?”

Whatever the warchief’s answer, the ‘propah Orc’ would leave soon after, casting only a brief glance towards Akeno’s fight before striding towards the wooden house nestled in the crook of the mountain’s base. Xolkug was there alongside another, ostensibly guarding the rewards from any sticky-fingered runts, and she cast a nod towards him. As far as she was aware, Esfir had been one of the first arrivals, and thus had the pick of the litter. It didn’t take too much effort to decide either way. Considering that there was more mountaineering to be done on the day, the coiled length of rope was the appropriate choice, no matter how much have a fur pouch called towards her. As for clothing itself?

That wolf-fur cloak could serve as wonderful bedding. Wonderful as actual clothing too. Much better than the ‘cheap’ pelts she currently had wrapped around her chest and her groin. Bugs had gotten to her flesh, as did errant twigs when she was bushwhacking yesterday. While the cloak would bring up a different set of issues for marching through the forest, the comfort it brought presently…

Right, there was a Hunter or something in the Camp, wasn’t there?

Esfir would have to make a point of visiting them in the future. For now, however?

She turned her gaze up towards the peak of the mountain that oversaw the camp. Something higher up in the mountain. Either the underground was blocked, or something was plugged at the mouth. The Orc Runt let out a breath.

Water. Before all else, that would be what she wanted to solve today.

With that, she tightened the bracers around her arm, adjusted the cloak over her shoulders, held her spear as a hiking staff, and began to navigate up the mountainside, following the flow of water as best she could.



@Zeroth

Agar

// Are you not entertained? >> Heading up //

Agar looked up and listened to the big orc talk about his reward. Eyes gleaming with curiosity at the talk of skills as well. Already figuring out as much, he still wanted to look the part of the Orc runt without a clue. Giving the older orc several enthusiastic nods of acknowledgement. Staring at the rat skull for a moment longer, he then gathered his things and headed to the war chief’s hut. Stopping for a moment for a quick couple gulps of water.

Arriving at the hut, Agar noticed a couple older orcs unloading gear into a few piles with only a couple other runts already looking through the gear. The gear itself wasn’t horrible but was better than what he currently wore and probably better than what he could make on his own. He began to look through the gear after handing off the rat skull.

He took a little bit of time, even after deciding what he wanted just by looking. Taking a moment to try and commit to memory the way the other tools, weapons, and clothes were made so that he may be able to replicate something similar in the future. As for what he chose to keep? good boots should help him explore more rocky and unstable terrain, while the water skin was an easy choice for him the hard part was the weapon. Already acquiring a fire hardened spear, he was looking more at the ranged weapons. Ultimately, Agar decided his ranged weapon off the possible availability to find or craft more ammunition the easiest. So, he decided on the sling.

He also found a buckskin shirt to match his pants, some cloth wrappings he was able to wrap around his hands and down his arms, a light square piece of a dull brown and grey fabric that was frayed on the edges, and another longer piece of rough scratchy fabric that had the same colorations. The runt secured the larger rough fabric around his shoulders for a cloak and wrapped the smaller square piece of fabric around his neck and head, a practice he picked up in Afghanistan. The Shemagh was very good at keeping one cool and protecting yourself from the heat of the day and high winds. If any of the other orcs asked him why or how he tied the cloth around his head like he did, he would happily tell them.

All and all the look seemed to bring him a little more comfort and made him feel a little less exposed. After he filled out his water skin Agar decided to accept the quest he was given earlier. The next thing to figure out was where he wanted to explore, he could find a shelter location for himself later. He spotted movement up the hill and saw a lone figure making its way up the mountain following the stream. That wouldn’t be that bad of a place to explore, it would also give him more information for the map in his head of the surrounding area.

So, Agar began to follow the path the other Orc runt was going. Getting closer he could make out that they wore a wolf pelt cloak and had a similar style spear to his. When he was close enough, he made his presence known with a simple question, “Can Agar join?” He asked, keeping his distance but still close enough to chat, walk, and climb behind them.

---

@Zeroth
@ERode

Akeno

“Tsk.”

It seemed this opponent was a little smarter than the others Akeno had seen fight, taking advantage of the blind spot her shield created to feint an attack at her middle and then rapping her shin with the wooden sword instead. He then circled towards the side he had hit, the side that was now hurting, and lunged while her sword was out of position.

As strategies went it was decent, but if this Orc expected Akeno to shy away from his attack or hesitate just because of a little pain then he was going to be sorely disappointed. She ignored the shooting pains down her leg to twist around even as he started circling and met her opponents lunge with one of her own. Lifting her shield up, Akeno didn’t use it to block but instead jammed the wooden edge of it into the underside of his arms to stop him from bringing his sword down in the first place. At the same time she swung her club in a low arc towards her opponent’s own legs.

@Zeroth

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@ERode@ReusableSword

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"Don't ask me!" Auguz growled as Esfir departed. "Whenever I gets ready to train youse bunch again, ya'll will know!" Upon picking her rewards from the chest at the Warchief's Dwelling, she would finally have some proper gear with which to begin the next part of her journey.

Your Wolffur Cloak, Leather Shoes, and Antler Bracers all grant a Light Defense Boost. Your total Defense Boost is Medium!

Gained Weapon!
Bolas - Equip, 1H Weapon, Thrown - At close range these rocks tied with strong cord can be used as a flail. When thrown with a proper arc and spin, they can inflict the Bind status on an enemy!

The mountains around the camp served as a natural barrier against the outside world, but they weren't impossible to climb. In some places the rock walls were sheer, of course, but in others Esfir would be able to find handholds and footholds. Near the nearly-dry spring, running water over the years had sent cracks and fractures webbing through several large stones in the rocky face. She would be able to pick and pull her way up onto a ledge, probably one too narrow for an adult orc to have used, and from this edge she would be able to take a winding, switchback path to an upper outcrop overlooking the rest of the camp. From there, it would be a matter of finding new handholds, creeping along goat trails, looking for big rocks that could serve as platforms to jump across...

But, then, she heard Agar's voice calling out to her.

Agar, for his part, accepted Auguz's words eagerly before gathering his new supplies. His clothing choices didn't look especially odd to the other orcs, so no one questioned him on the modifications he made to the pieces of roughspun fabric or fur. His Sling came with a small pouch of ammunition--12 rocks worn smooth, either because they were picked from a river, or because they'd been rubbed together, who could say. However, their points had been ground down until they were almost sharp. These weren't just pebbles, but proper sling bullets meant to pierce a target. Such a weapon had slain Goliath according to the histories of his old world, even again bronze and scale armor. As far as primitive weapons went, it would be pretty devastating--if he became skilled enough with it to land a shot.

In addition, the System informed him that his Buckskin pants he'd received from Shamar, the Buckskin Shirt he chose from the pile, and the Leather Boots all offered a Light Defense Boost--bringing his Total Defense Boost up to Medium level.

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@King Cosmos

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Akeno's wooden sword cracked against her opponent's knee as she intercepted his blow with her shield. Her defending arm rattled even with only half the force of that longer sword, as even without leverage the greater weight and strength of her opponent came to bear. Still, her opponent cried out and went down to a kneeling position--but, as he let go of his sword, his eyes blazed as he shot forward! Under her upraised shield arm, he dove into her guard and wrapped both arms around her waist!

Their feet scrabbled at the earth. The male orc was trying to either pick her up and slam her down, or "run" her into the ground like a greco-roman grappler. Whichever way Akeno's balance gave way first, if she couldn't figure something out, would determine how the tall male's body moved.

It would be the wrestling matches all over again, it seemed, but would she continue to fight with the weapons in her hand, or abandon them to fight with her fists as her opponent had? If she didn't do something quickly, the other orcling's greater size and strength would be a hard advantage to overcome...

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@Kazemitsu

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The runt's makeshift wooden polearm caught, as an axe or halberd was meant, on the edge of Grunthor's upraised shield. Thought once again he didn't take the brunt of the impact, his opponent was able to jerk down on the already numb arm, prying the shield away! With half his defenses gone, Grunthor still stepped forward under the haft and used his Rapid Strikes skill--this was what made the difference.

The Rapid Strikes was notably not as "rapid" with the large shield as it would've been with his bare arm or a lighter weapon. However, it was still much faster than the other runt expected the big wooden disc to be. The strike to the orcling's chest knocked them back a step. They had to pull their polearm back even further to prepare another strike--Grunthor hit them in the face this time. There was a crunch before their nose spilled blood like a faucet. The runt screamed in fury and agony, stumbling away as they blinked through teary eyes. Grunthor's next punch caught them on the ribs as they tried to get away, and knocked the runt to the ground.

"Finish 'em!" Auguz called, as the rest of the tribe hooped and hollered. Grunthor's opponent blubbered on the ground, having dropped his weapon, and was struggling to blow the blood out of his nose and breathe through his mouth at the same time...

If Grunthor had ever played DnD as a human, this was his "how do you want to do this" moment. Just about any blow would be enough to either knock the other runt out, or reduce them to a sobbing wreck in the fetal position. Both outcomes would see Auguz haul them away by the scruff of the neck, berating them for losing before throwing them back into the crowd--however, what Grunthor chose to do would likely color the perception the other Runts in the tribe had of him, as they leaned forward to watch with baited breath.

Upon being given his rat skull for passing the first day of training, Grunthor too would have the same pick of the "loot" that Esfir and Agar had been offered.

Grunthor relaxed a little mentally upon hearing the impacts hitting the other orc runt, feeling the blows connect and vibrating through his arm. Familiarity to a degree. His combo put the tubby orc down in a wash of blood, a busted nose, and damaged body. Auguz told him to finish 'em. But the Runts were watching with baited breath. He didn't have to go savage mode on the downed runt. Dropping the shield he drew his arm back and smashed his fist into the runts temple for a clean K.O. Minus beating the fuck out of him in the skirmish.

Auguz gave him a Rat Skull, clearly a trade item for prizes, before tossing the downed runt away to get back in line for another bout. He went in the direction the other orcling winners had gone. So they got to choose some gear because they weren't completely worthless? Good, cuz he needed something to cover up his junk. He approached when the guards weren't occupied and gave the Rat Skull to Xolkug who allowed him to approach the goodies all splayed out.

He perused the items available. Bracers? He had gloves, they could wait. Helmet? No, he just had to avoid getting hit there unlike he had earlier. Shield wasn't his style he just wanted to experiment in the sparring earlier. Maybe at another date. A skirt? Why a skirt? The orcs weren't Scottish! He got boots for his bare feet, hardy leather boots but not of the same quality as Earths. None of the weapons really appealed to him so he settled on the Hardwood Flint Spear. If the fragile flint broke, well he now had a hardwood staff now didn't he? His last item was the Fur Pouch. Having actual carrying capacity was incredibly useful and his "slime pouch" wouldn't last forever.

Lastly were outfits, huzzah clothing! No longer would he flap in the breeze and be fully exposed to the elements! There was nothing in particular that stood out to him, just some Generic Clothes put together. Nothing fancy really, he never was one for fashion. All dressed and equipped he nodded respectfully to the two guards before leaving the area to briefly go look for Vark.

It was a good thing she was small and light. Mountain-climbing wasn’t a hobby that Esfir had participated in back during her old life, and the shoes she wore, while protective enough, were also clunky when it came to slipping into cracks and fractures. Good thing she had buried the ores back in her shelter at camp; the weight would have made it extra miserable, especially when water was scarce and there was no prey in sight. Perhaps she could score another Harpy, or a proper, feathered bird with her bolas? Her thoughts wandered as she continued the drudgery of the hike, occasionally dwelling upon a landmark she spied in the distance or the goat trails that were devoid of goats.

But then, another runt called out to her, and Esfir stopped.

Spear and sling, with an outfit that almost completely covered their body from head to toe. They choose boots the same she did; a practical sort, considering how many runts were still running around without shoes. Ajar wasn’t a name she recognized, but she was never the worldly sort. And anyways, when it came down to it…

“I’m Esfir. The others say something’s blocking the river up in the mountain.” She gestured towards the pathetic trickle of water that she had been tracking thus far. “I’m going up to fix that. If you want to join, then do so.”

She continued to walk onwards, her brow creasing. Water from a mountain had to come from snowmelt, but that wasn’t something that could be blocked, could it? Yet she couldn’t see any snow either, so where did the water originate from to begin with?

“Let me know if you see food. May be a long day.”



@Zeroth@ReusableSword