Chapter 55: Koguk Bloodfang

"My name is Koguk Bloodfang, a warrior of the Bloodfang Tribe. My former homeland was called the Great Bone Plains, inhabited by countless tribes like Bloodfang.

The Great Bone Plains were never peaceful, and tribes moved with the grazing herds, where battles were a norm. Before the war, I thought my fate would mirror past warriors, dying heroically in tribal skirmishes or against wild beasts. Then my soul would return to the Ancestral Plains, joining the great warriors of history, feasting and reveling in endless joy.

Until that war, led by the largest tribe of the Great Bone Plains, involving all smaller tribes—a dreadful war.

The tribe leading the war was called Bloodaxe, one of the few tribes on the plains that didn't need to migrate.

Its warriors, like me, were as numerous as cattle, and even totem warriors like the chief were countless. Legend says the Bloodaxe chief could even rival the Ancestors.

This war, led by them, should have been a battle of glory.

Until those terrifying creatures, who called themselves wizards, descended.

These self-proclaimed wizards emerged from a tribe forged of steel, each looking bizarre. They lacked beautiful manes, bright tusks, and even had only two arms.

Beyond these differences, these wizards transformed during battle, some becoming beings of fire, others turning into beasts.

They wielded fire and lightning more skillfully than our shamans. In war, our shamans were no match for them.

And so the rout began.

The nature spirits summoned by wizards shattered the warriors' courage. No warrior wished to die in such a dishonorable war.

I fled from the battlefield, hiding in a pit like a coward, praying not to be discovered by the wizards.

But the wizards' hounds eventually found me.

Wizards had no need for warriors, so I was collared and thrown into a dark mine, laboring endlessly. Alongside me were former warriors of the Bloodaxe tribe.

These wizards didn't care about our identities. They came to the Great Bone Plains for one purpose—enslavement.

Captured warriors were collared; powerful totem warriors were taken away, while ordinary warriors like me were left to toil in the mines.

The mines were dreadful, and warriors died one by one, until I was the only healthy slave left.

I believed I was under the Ancestors' protection; they hadn't abandoned me for my cowardice.

I still had a chance to return to the Ancestral Plains.

The wizards found me peculiar, so they moved me from the mines to a cell.

They told me I was to fight, and if I survived, I would gain freedom.

I knew this was a lie; these wizards would never release me.

Yet I longed for this battle.

In the past, I fled the battlefield like a coward. Now, I would return.

I would reclaim my honor.

My soul would finally return to the Ancestral Plains!"

...

"0521, prepare for battle."

The wizard's cold voice roused Koguk from his slumber. It was his fifteenth day in this world.

The natural forces in the wizards' world were alarmingly low, unsettling him and filling him with fear—what had these terrifying creatures done to their own world?

The wizard removed the collar from his neck and handed him a large machete.

The machete, made of metal and engraved with runes, was superior to any weapon the Bloodfang Tribe had.

"The rules have been told to you; your freedom depends on your ability."

The wizard sneered, waving a staff to teleport him into the exam grounds.

Simultaneously, nine other beings from different worlds were sent into the exam grounds, each told that the last survivor would win freedom.

Upon arrival, Koguk crouched, scooping up a handful of earth, inhaling deeply.

The mine's air was foul, and while the cell's air was better, it still stank. This fresh, earthy air made him feel at home.

"Freedom! Honor!"

Koguk roared skyward, then charged towards an unremarkable hill.

Boom!

His blade flashed, carving a deep trench into the hill, splitting an unsuspecting wizard apprentice in two before they could react.

A blood mist enveloped Koguk, his body swelling as if inflated. He picked up the corpse:

"Is this a wizard monster's youngling?"

Staring at the apprentice's body, Koguk found it hard to associate them with the wizards who slaughtered his kin.

"They must be a criminal," Koguk surmised from tribal experience.

In the Bloodfang Tribe, most civilians lacked the talent to become warriors. These people's combat abilities were weak, akin to this wizard youngling. Since he was allowed to kill these younglings, it meant the wizards didn't value them.

The answer was clear: these were grave sinners, their lives worthless.

Koguk couldn't fathom that the Wizards' Academy trained wizards using such brutal methods.

Even the most savage tribes on the Great Bone Plains wouldn't do this.

But Koguk quickly dismissed these thoughts.

These wizard younglings were his enemies and sacrifices.

He was here to reclaim his honor.

Koguk sniffed the air, detecting subtle scents imperceptible to unmodified wizard apprentices.

"Someone's over there."

Pointing, Koguk sprinted towards the scent.

Soon, another apprentice was slain, Koguk punching a bloody hole through them.

Before dying, the apprentice released a fireball. The elemental explosion singed Koguk's mane and burned patches of skin.

But Koguk didn't care. He sat, feeling the air's natural forces.

Absorbing strands of magic, his injuries healed at a visible pace.

"Too little."

Rising, Koguk lamented the meager natural forces, lower than any place on the Great Bone Plains, even the foulest swamps.

Koguk approached the slain apprentice, tearing off their clothes to reveal the pale body.

"Weak, but the meat looks decent."

Judging the corpse, Koguk began devouring it.

Without enough ma

gic, he would make up for it with flesh.

As Koguk feasted, a black death crow circled overhead.

"I've found the monster, Ellie."

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