Chapter 8
The interrupting party began to crawl on his stomach. He was conscious but unaware that his side had lost. As the poor Orc got closer, Isha heard a high-pitched squeal and gurgle as the Orc attempted to get their attention.
Zog looked over from his work and stood up, "Chief, we must decide on how to deal with Trokk." Trokk understood the hostile words of his Cohort Leader and began to shake in the sand.
Isha did want to test out his whip, there'd be no harm in whipping a man about to di-'Wait, what the hell am I thinking?'
Isha's blood ran cold as he scared himself for a moment. Was he really about to torture a being to death for the fun of it? Then he remembered his trait and began to sweat in the hot sun.
The Humans dying didn't even matter much to him...
'Maybe this will be useful?'
Ideas ran through his head-those stories, movies, and tales from old about people doing terrible things to survive. There'd have to be a limit.
As the Orc gurgled and groveled before Isha's sandals, he spoke, "Zog, warn me if I am about to be dishonorable."
Zog Blacktooth stood firm with his crossbow and nodded slightly, taking in the command and committing it to memory.
"Now. What do we do with Trokk?"
Zog spoke up, "We could 'recruit' him. He was a fine soldier and would fight honorably for our cause."
Isha blinked in confusion as he asked, "And just what IS our cause?"
"We need to get shelter, water, food, and cover our tracks. Then, we need to survive the Wilderness until we can find a town that accepts Clanless Orcs. From there, we can stage a recovery effort for your mother, which the System said would be a significant boon to us."
Zog smiled, letting his small tusks poke up from his bottom lip.
Isha nodded in agreement, but he was also wondering just how much the System told him.
"Obviously, there is an Oath system in place, but how much did it tell you?"
Zog looked down at Isha's feet, "It told me enough to know what you said was true."
A shiver ran down Isha's spine, as his 'companion' also had a significant amount of extra-dimensional knowledge...but it should be fine because the System itself granted it...right?
Isha shrugged, "Shall I?"
Zog nodded and then felt Isha's pull on the System as he checked his Master's resources.
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[<Slave Driver> Orion Goldgleam (Level - 28)]
Race: High Gnome
Primary Class: Slave Driver [Rare] (Level - 25) {Tier Up Available! + Level Up Available!}
Secondary Class: Trader [Uncommon] (Level - 3) {Tier Up Locked.}
Tertiary Class: Locked
Health - 520/520 (100%)
Stamina - 1000/1000 (100%)
Command - 620/1190 (52%)
[Traits and Skills are locked to Subordinates.]
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'These Stats are trash, how...oh...Biology.' Zog thought about his knowledge of Isha's actual past and began to realize that the System had already incorporated a Path of Advancement for him. Or, maybe it had always had this Path, but nobody ever discovered it...
It had happened in the past. Entire branches of Magic had existed BEFORE their practitioners had discovered them.
Just as Zog thought about what direction Isha should go, they returned.
Trokk screamed out in pain as Isha spoke, "Stem Cell Proliferation, Re-Epithelialization, Granulation, and Angiogenesis of the throat!"
The rather generic healing force of the body worked in tandem with the natural vitality of the Orcs.
Isha dropped to the sand and felt empty as Trokk stood up and felt his neck's red and newly whole flesh.
[WARNING: Your Command has reached 20%]
[WARNING: Your Command has reached 10%]
[WARNING: Your Command has reached 0%]
His consciousness began to waiver as Zog nudged him, "Chief, you cannot use your Ability like that. It is not meant for healing...but it seems the System has granted you some leeway."
Isha's vision was darkening around the edges and the last thing he felt was Zog lifting him off the ground.
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Zog and Trokk began to look around at any supplies they could grab from the battle. Orion-Isha was tied to Zog's back, pressing tightly against his tanned skin as he spoke, "Trokk, you must understand something."
The Orc in question stopped what he was doing and turned to his leader, "The boy does not enslave us lightly. He is...unique. All you need to know is that I hold him in higher regard than my Father."
Zog began collecting scraps of cloth from the bodies and stuffing the bunches into his Chief's magical pouch, but Trokk was stunned at his declaration.
Trokk felt the Bond between him and the 'Chief.'
There wasn't much there, just a powerful tether, which gained its strength from going both ways. With the tether being doubly thick it allowed the wielder to gain more powerful slaves, a rare class, for sure.
Trokk knew Zog was smart. He always led his cohorts to victory, even against superior numbers. Many in his class thought it was strange that the Orc was never selected for Magical Studies.
The Orc began moving, heading to the cache where they had left their supplies before the battle.
Zog quickly caught up after picking the bodies clean of 'clean' cloth, as blood was dangerous to keep near in the Forest.
Zog and Trokk thought they'd grab their supplies before leaving, pretending to have simply died. But that'd be uncovered as soon as a high-level scout was sent to investigate the death of a Clan Leader's Heir.
What should they do?
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Isha began to stir and panicked. He could feel his feet dangle as he was carried off by a great beast- "Good, you are awake."
His head was pounding, and the embarrassment wasn't helping matters.
"Where did you take me? And what is he doing?" Isha asked, noticing Trokk look out into the forest from above them.
Zog huffed in anger, "Have you not looked at our Classes?"
Isha paled as he answered, "I haven't done much besides look at my own and check out my whip..."
Zog let out a simple sigh.