Leaving

" So you're leaving, uh !"

" I am." Said Baruba with a determined face.

"I only regret not being able to see those before leaving."

Sigh

" I'm happy you came to my house this time. I'm grateful to have met you all. You know I lost so many people that I'm afraid to meet others and lose them."

I could see he was bearing great pain, so I remained silent. It was rare for Baruba to share his true feelings.

" You need to be careful. Although I don't believe our tribe is weaker than the bear tribe, their chief is quite the shemer. It's quite rare for an orc. They can be very dangerous. And if you get the opportunity to leave the tribe, jump on it, go with the orphans. The world is large and extraordinary. But be sure also to become powerful enough to protect them because it's a dangerous journey."

" That's the plan ! You didn't need to remind me."

"Ahaha, you are a smart kid !"

Baruba suddenly closed the distance between us and gave me a manly hug.

" Become powerful !" he said.

" And become famous," I replied.

We let go of each other.

" Alright, go back with the other so I can finish."

I rolled my eyes and said :

" Make it quick then."

Baruba laughed.

I returned to the other side and waited for Baruba to come on the stage. We didn't have to wait for long as we saw him jumping on the rock.

" Now that everything has been said, it's time for me to leave !"

Suddenly a considerable wolf appeared on its side. I don't know if it teleported or was too quick for my eyes to see him move.

" Oh ! I forgot to present you, Dahlia! This proud wolf is my partner. She is as quick as the wind and loves to be praised !"

Dahlia didn't stop wagging her tail once she appeared on the scene. Baruba jumped on her and looked at us.

" I wish you good luck, young ones."

" See ya !"

And before we could even say a word, they vanished.

We looked at each other, a bit surprised.

' Well, he has been quick.'

" We should go back now."

...

[Third POV]

Not far from where Yalak and the others were. Several dozens of young orcs were fighting for their life. Two of these orcs were currently hiding in a cave.

" Phew, that was close ! "Said the first one.

" It nearly got us !" They were both panting heavily.

" I wasn't expecting it to be this strong. Without Baruba's knowledge, we would have been dead !" said the second.

" We were lucky enough to stumble on each other a day after the start of the trial, so I knew our luck would run out eventually."

As you might have guessed, the young orcs are Rorm and Wolfteeth. After meeting early, the both of them tried to reunite with Yurim. Unfortunately, it's not Yurim they found. It was a huge man-eating flower. They took some time to recognize it and knew they were in deep shit once they did. The only reason the flower had yet to attack was that it was lazy and already digesting prey. It wanted them to get closer.

Wolfteeth and Rorm slowly retreated. The plant attacked as soon as it understood they were trying to flee. Fortunately, the plant was moving slower than them. After running away for a good twenty minutes, they escaped it.

They stumbled upon this cave a while later and decided to rest in it.

"Before Yal, I feared the trial, but now I enjoy it so much." Said Wolfteeth.

" True, it's exciting. I can't wait to fight one of this bear tribe bastard."

These two wanted to hunt some enemy orcs and gain some points to get a reward from the chief.

" But first, we need to find Yurim."

" Are we far from the meeting point ?"

Before the ceremony, they define a strategy to meet more easily.

They chose a meeting point on each surrounding mountain where the trial usually occurs. And fortunately, this trial was on the nearest mountain to the tribe but also one of the most dangerous. They have to make a lot of turns to avoid the territories of powerful beasts.

The meeting point they had chosen for this place was Orc Fang, a rock that looked like... Well, everything is already said in the name.

" No, I think we should be there by tomorrow."

" I hope we don't miss each other."

They agreed beforehand that if they reached the meeting point, they would wait a maximum of two days before leaving. They couldn't stay in one place too long as it could become dangerous. They didn't know each other conditions, so they could end up waiting for days without knowing if the other were still alive. Once they reached the place, they would carve an egg with the first letter in their name to let the others know they had come and left.

Sometime later, they resumed their travel to the Orc Fang.

Not far from them, five kilometers at most, an orc was swiftly jumping from tree to tree. If one were to observe her, one would think she had been doing this her whole life. They were no hesitation in her gaze. She knew where to go.

On the way to Orc Fang, there was a cliff with many rocks around. The place would be ideal for preparing for an ambush. That was what were doing four stocky young orcs. They were separated into two groups of two, hiding behind two big rocks and waiting for someone to enter their trap.

They had already killed one in the last few hours but knew more would come. And they weren't wrong as they saw two orcs carefully progressing through the valley.

They patiently waited for the two young orcs to arrive between the cliff and the rocks where they were hidden. They wanted to prevent them from fleeing.

Once the timing was right, they all jumped off their hideout.

Wolfteeth and Rorm were surprised by the sudden appearance of the enemy. But were quick enough to get out of their dazed state and counter the first attack. When they saw they were outnumbered, they knew they were in deep sh*t. They looked for an escape route but quickly found they were none. The only way out was to kill their enemies.

They gritted their teeth and tried two defend themselves. They were facing two opponents each. At first, they were equally matched. Rorm and Woflteeth's skills were superior to their opponent, so they succeeded in making a wound or two. The problem was their stamina. There were tiring at a faster rate. Soon, after fighting for twelve minutes. They started to get some minor wounds, but as time passed, they stoked up and became more critical. They knew their time was counted but had no idea how to get out of this situation.

Suddenly Wolfteeth noticed a shadow standing on a rock. He seemed to recognize the weapon for a second, but he wasn't sure if its holder was really who he thought it was.

They were in a dire situation, and if nothing changed, it would be their death. So he decided to make a bet. He wanted to create an opportunity for the other to kill one of the orcs. So instead of dodging an attack, he grabbed the spear of one and struck with his spear to his opponent's chest. Both orcs were momentarily stunned by the sudden suicidal attack. To them, it looked like Wolfteeth wanted to bring one of them with him in death's embrace. The other took the opportunity to strike him, but a sudden pain deviated the spear, piercing Wolfteeth's shoulder. The spear holder couldn't understand what happened. He slowly looked at his chest only to see a hole in it before closing its eyes, dying.

The second orc felt something was wrong as he saw the spear was still moving toward him and pierced his heart. He fell and died, but not before seeing another orc standing over the dead body of his comrade.

The three other orcs became alerted by the sound of the falling bodies. The face of the two enemy orcs metamorphosed. They quickly understood that the situation was reversed. However, while they were distracted, Rorme took the opportunity to wound one.

Yurim, who had just assassinated one orc, swiftly went to Rorm's aid. With both of them, they easily overwhelmed and killed them.

Once all the enemies were killed, Rorm and Wolfteeth lay down to rest while looking at Yurim, who was grinning.

"Hehe, You guys owe me one ! What would have happened if I wasn't here to save your asses ?"