Palaka

{Meer Calendar, 17 June, 1 Year Before the Demon War}

The east wind carried down chilly air from the Wolf Slopes mountain range. The trees swayed, and the wind's whistle played through the leaves. Tents oscillated, and the layers of leather emitted clapping sounds.

The orcs erupted in cheerful cheers, their voices escalating with every breath. They sang, beat their chests, and leaped around.

The orc horde appeared as though welcoming a hero on a mission to save their world.

In stark contrast to the lively reception, the five female humans bowed their heads. Their bodies trembled.

It wasn't the cold causing their shivers, as the orc horde shielded them from the chill wind. Rather, their fear manifested physically, their bodies reacting to the emotions flooding their minds. Their faces turned as pale as paper, and their eyes resembled those of a lifeless fish.

Moku was familiar with those eyes. He had seen them many times, gazing back at him whenever he faced himself in the mirror—eyes filled with anticipation and a yearning for death.

The last group of human women to fall into the orcs' clutches were the mothers who gave birth to Moku's generation.

During that period, the orcs managed to capture six human women, one more than they did today.

These women were then coerced into giving birth to orc babies. Throughout their captivity, each of them experienced two miscarriages, but they successfully brought six baby orcs into the world, including Moku.

Living akin to cattle, they were utilized solely for satisfying the orcs' lust. Their abode consisted of tents filled with leftover food, dried orc sperm, and their excrement. Chains bound their necks, arms, and legs, tethered to wooden posts.

Moku's mother and the other women perished six years ago. Their bodies and minds could no longer withstand the torment.

When that woman passed away, her eyes held no remorse, hatred, or fear—only a sense of relief. The memory of that incident haunted Moku, rendering him unable to sleep each time it crossed his mind.

In this world, strength equated to power, and Moku was well aware of that fact.

Humans who could control Mana showed no mercy to any orc they encountered. Consequently, it was only natural for orcs to retaliate against humans. Moku believed humans had no grounds to complain if they fell victim to orc violence. However, Moku found the orcs' treatment of female humans to be intolerable.

Genetic abnormalities ensured that every orc was born male, regardless of the creature they mated with. This compelled orcs to seek mates of a different kind.

Interracial unions presented numerous challenges. It wasn't merely a psychological issue between the two parties; differences in genital anatomy could also impact the process. It was akin to a horse attempting to mate with a mouse—an impossibility, as the horse would kill the mouse before fertilization could occur.

As a result, the range of species that orcs could successfully mate with was extremely limited. They had to find a living creature with genital organs suitable for accommodating an orc's +10-inch penis.

Fertilization with mammals would not work, as their eggs were too weak to accommodate orc sperm cells. Moku himself had already tried it with the deer he had caught. After further research, the deer ended up in its stomach.

In conclusion, the orcs prefer mana species to partner with. In addition to having body shapes that are not much different, they also have the right sexual organs.

Then the question arises as to whether a mana species that considers itself blessed with mana flow would want to have a partner with a monster they only consider a pest.

Moku doesn't understand what's on a woman's mind. It can even be said that men will not understand what is on a woman's mind. Even Sigmund Freud, a philosopher who studied the subconsciousness, died with the last words, "what do women want?".

The only super ability that Moku doesn't want to have is mind-reading powers.

He did not want it, and he was afraid of women's thoughts. He didn't want to dive into the bottomless abyss of the women's mind. But Moku knew that women would rather sleep with Johnny Deep than with big-tall creatures, with green skin, fierce faces, long lower fangs, and the smell of dried blood.

Even so, Moku didn't blame the orcs for forcing his lust on those women. They also wanted to survive, and reproduction is part of the characteristics of living beings.

What Moku is concerned about is the orcs' technique of intercourse. They only have one technique, which is to poke harder. This is a dumb technique that makes women not enjoy their sex sessions.

When having intercourse, women will secrete a fluid from the vaginal opening as a lubricating fluid. This is there to facilitate penetration. But the orc's poke harder technique would only cause them pain. Moku doesn't want to imagine how it feels when a +10-inch-long foreign object is forced into your body.

The second problem is the treatment of orcs after having sex with women.

After sex, a gentleman will stroke a woman's hair and hug her tightly until she falls asleep. But this is not the case with the orc's after-sex activity.

They would reattach the women's chains and leave them to sleep in tents with only earth as floors. With the temperature of the Bog Forest filled with cold mist at night, it was a miracle that women didn't die from hypothermia.

The third problem is the orc's treatment of pregnant women.

Three-to-seven days after intercourse, the woman will become pregnant. The orc's magical body not only had fast regeneration but also super powerful dick. Therefore, there were no cases of women failing to get pregnant after being fertilized.

However, the poor living conditions of pregnant women make the rate of miscarriage higher. With a 1:3 chance of miscarriage.

Orcs who don't understand pregnancy and the burden on mothers during pregnancy, only take precautions so that pregnant women don't run away. By chaining the pregnant woman's neck, legs, and hands to a wooden pole.

Bad treatment of pregnant women causes pregnant women to become depressed.

Depression makes the body's immunity decrease, and with poor living conditions, and their shackled bodies, the women age less every time they are pregnant. As a result, the women die young.

If these three problems were solved, it was highly likely that women could give birth to 10-15 orc babies in their lifetime. Therefore, Moku must do something so that this rare resource is not wasted and can be put to good use.

Orcs are communities with a system of government where the tribal chief acts as the judiciary, legislative, and executive simultaneously. This means that the tribal chief punishes, makes laws, and leads his tribe members.

If a tribe has a shaman then it is the shaman who has the right to make laws and punish. But the last Shaman of this tribe had died before Moku's generation was born.

That way, the power of the tribal chief is absolute within the tribe. The tribal chief has the right to regulate everything that is in the tribe, his power is only limited by some customary regulations that have existed since the first orc tribe was formed.

In most orc tribes, the right to have sex with women only belongs to the chief. In addition to keeping the orc descendants born from the strongest orcs, this is also for the sake of maintaining the internal security of the tribe.

Therefore, when a tribe succeeds in capturing a woman, the tribe will hold a traditional ceremony to determine a new tribal chief.

This traditional ceremony is called "Palaka." A traditional ceremony where members of the tribe are allowed to challenge other members of the tribe or the old chieftain to a one-on-one duel. The orc chieftain will receive the title 'Ku' which means the strongest orc in monster language.

However, this tribe will not perform the traditional ceremony. 

The current 'Ku' is an orc with a height of 2.3 meters and a body weight of 200-220 kg. His arm length is 1.5 meters and he has an attack range of up to 2 meters. His fists were as big as half an adult's head, and a single blow from this orc was capable of uprooting a tree with a diameter of 10 inches.

This orc was named Goku.

Goku was the prodigy of this tribe. He was bigger and stronger than the other adult orcs. Due to this, no one dared to challenge Goku because they were afraid that they would die in the Palaka.

Moku was just a young orc, although his body was getting bigger and stronger, he could only beat ordinary adult orcs, not Goku.

Currently, he is only 8 years old, he has a height of 185 cm and a body weight of 100 kg. Moku was much stronger than orcs his age, and with the fighting techniques he learned in his previous life, he was able to defeat three adult orcs at once.

But Moku doubted if his punches and kicks could hurt Goku. Goku's massive body muscles would probably be as hard as iron. Thus Moku would only hurt his hand when hitting Goku's body.

Because of this Moku had to give up his chance this time to change the orc's life. He had to give up the five human women to become Goku's sex partners.

Maybe Goku would be gentle and keep them alive. At least alive until he felt stronger than Goku.

He had to know his limits.

Moku bit his teeth, lowered his head, and closed his eyes, trying not to see the five human women being led into Goku's tent. His body seemed to shrink amidst the crowd of cheering orcs.

Even though he was able to close his eyes, he couldn't cover his ears.

His hands trembled, and his logic seemed to be fighting something. His body became a battlefield.

Who is the enemy of logic?

'Since when are you afraid to fight?' a faint sound was heard.

'Is this all the courage that you have? coward!' The voice grew louder.

That was his determination.

The determination pushed his body to keep training even though his muscles were torn and his bones were broken.

The determination that promised him foolish dreams of jumping higher than a flying bird, punching through mountains, and running as fast as sound. The determination that lay dormant along with his paralyzed body. The determination that was reborn came along with the hope that came with his new body.

It was his determination that kept his palms from covering his ears.

It was his determination that was at war with his logic.

'OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES, CLENCH YOUR FIST, AND FIGHT!' a roar that was so loud that it broke Moku's logic resounded in his mind.

Moku opened his eyes 'I AM THE GREATEST!!!!' and roared in his heart.

"Palakaaa!!"

There was a shout amidst the orcs' cheers.

"Palakaaa!"

It sounded again, this time all the orcs were stunned.

Goku's face darkened. Goku turned to his left and faced the second strongest orc, Boku. But Boku shook his head, indicating that he wasn't the one shouting.

All the orcs started to think about who would dare shout a duel challenge.

"PALAKAAA!"

This time it was clear where the shouts came from. It was coming from a young orc. The other orcs stared wide as if they couldn't believe it was Moku who proclaimed Palaka.

"Moku, who do you want to duel with? How about after the celebration? I'm busy with some guests right now. So I can't hold the Palaka ceremony" Goku smirked, pointing with his chin to his tent.

Goku assumed that Moku intended to challenge one of the adult orcs to a duel. Moku, known as a reckless orc, had a penchant for inflicting harm upon himself, often fainting from bizarre movements.

However, Goku never anticipated that Moku would be audacious enough to engage in a fight with him.

The other orcs burst into laughter. Like Goku, they shared the belief that this eccentric young orc sought to challenge one of the adults.

Perhaps Moku believed that by winning or showcasing his strength, Goku would be pleased and grant him an opportunity to experience the touch of a human female.

Palaka was a straightforward traditional ceremony, devoid of opening dances, speeches, or other inaugural events. To conduct Palaka, only two conditions needed to be fulfilled.

The first condition for Palaka was to designate the duel's target.

"Ku Goku, I invite you to a duel. Palaka!" Moku declared his chosen opponent.

The faces of all tribe members were drained of color.

Goku's mouth hung wide open.

Boku raised his eyebrows.

"The calf isn't afraid of the tiger," they whispered in their hearts multiple times.

None of them could fathom that Moku would emerge victorious. In fact, they believed Moku might be fortunate to survive the duel.

"Moku, you've gone crazy!" Swa shouted next to Moku, his face flushed.

"Ku, don't listen to this crazy orc; he's lost his mind," pleaded Laya, standing nearby.

Swa and Laya were Moku's best friends, born to the same mother—according to orc tradition, they were blood relatives.

Despite Moku's eccentric training routine pushing Swa and Laya away, they remained quite close. They often tried to bring Moku back to his senses, and Moku frequently shared excess game meat with them.

Moku smiled, thinking, 'I do have two brothers...' But his decision was irreversible; he wanted to confront an adversary beyond his capabilities. Moku's dream of becoming the strongest wouldn't be buried today.

The second condition for Palaka required stating the reason for the duel.

"Palaka! I want to duel with Ku Goku because I'm the strongest," Moku casually declared.

Both conditions for Palaka were fulfilled—the opponent (Ku Goku) and the reason (Moku believed he was the strongest).

'CRAZY KID!'

'CRAZY KID!'

The shocked orcs screamed in their hearts.

Swa and Laya's faces rapidly changed colors, cycling through white, red, blue, green, and back to white.

Observing their swift color changes, Moku burst into laughter. 'Are they the descendants of chameleons?' he mused.

"Are you serious, Moku?" Goku's face darkened; this young orc dared to challenge him to a duel.

"Palaka can't be rejected, Ku!" Moku retorted loudly.

Liberated from the suppressing feeling, Moku smiled cheerfully, reverting to his former self—a foolish human defying the sky, now a foolish orc aiming to punch through the sky.

Goku and Moku locked eyes, their gazes colliding like electricity.

The air around them grew tense.

Each orc held their breath.

"Okay, I accept your challenge. Prepare the arena for Palaka!" Goku nodded and gave the order, annoyance evident in his voice.