It seems that there had been a mistake on my part and I had double posted chapter 19 as chapter 20.
Oops
Sorry about that. I removed it, and updated this new one as soon as I could. Peace.
Day 115:
I slowly sat up from my bed in my personal room.
It had been a week since my adventure deep into bullywug territory. It had been ... close for my own life a few times, but I supposed that it was well worth it for what happened afterward.
My "action" deep in their territory had spooked them, and they had called back their bullywugs trying to dig deep into our territory. For me, though, I only cared about the fact that they were no longer bothering me by building their goddamn fort.
Since then, a dozen or so individuals had come to join our clan, and I let them in after I made some rules clear.
Like listen to me and Shirou above all else. You can leave whenever you want. No harming, stealing or insulting others without just cause.
Stuff like that.
I stretched my arms before heading out to eat. I opened the door of my personal quarter into the fort's yard and to my surprise, I found most of the clans there in a loose circle with three in the center.
"Well then, what's this about?"
Everyone's head and eyes turned to me. Some in anticipation, some in fear, and others in curiosity.
The entire clan was at the center of the fort, which I had expanded a bit to make it an L-shape. So they were all gathered at the old bonfire pit, which was now on the other side of the fort.
It was Shirou who spoke up.
"There was a dispute between our two clan members here that became serious," he said and gestured to the two trolls. "Rather than letting the anger stew, I decided to let the two fight it out to settle their disput."
"What were they fighting about?"
"About who's stronger."
I gave Shirou a deadpan stare after a moment. "Really? That's the only issue?"
"Yup. Also, I need you to referee this. I need to get the medicine and food ready before the next four fights are over."
I blinked rapidly. "Four?"
"Apparently, a lot of the trolls and oni's liked the idea of battling it out to show their power," Shirou commented offhandedly before heading over to the kitchens. "Oh, and I need a large piece of flat, sturdy wood for butcher table! Get me one before today's done and I'll be sure to make all of us a feast."
I nodded at the second request without much thought. There was no need to think about it.
On the other hand, I was now saddled with the job of overseeing sparring matches between my clansmen and women.
I hoped that there wasn't going to be anything too serious breaking out.
I walked over to the area where the two trolls were waiting.
To my surprise, it was Yan.
"This is a surprise," I spoke as I entered the edge of the ring and stepped in just a tad further. "I didn't expect you to be here, Yan."
Yan scowled. "Nothing I can't handle, sir. The newbie here thinks he can order me around because of his size."
I turned to the other troll. He was one of the trolls who had joined us half a week ago along with four other trolls and two imps. Unlike our clansmen and women, these trolls were of different color shades. The troll here, whose name was Arlas, was a [Grassland Troll] that had a blackish green compared to the forest green of the trolls that evolved with the clan.
He was also big. Bigger than Yan by a head and almost as big as Iskan.
"Aye, isn't that how it goes? The strong command the weak in exchange for protection?" Arlas questioned me.
I scowled. Something about him ticked me off. Was it how he questioned me or something else?
... Probably something else. Something that has to do with his station here.
"No, we work together to survive out here," I replied with an iron tone. "Make no mistake, none of us here commands another unless it's me or Shirou."
Arlas looked surprised. "You mean the red oni? That puny thing?"
"You'll be plenty surprised, Arlas, about Shirou. But I suggest you to not piss him off," I warned him.
He raised his hands up in a gesture of backing off. "I'm only here to show this punk here who's the stronger troll," he replied.
I looked around the circle. "Alright then," I muttered to myself before speaking out loud. "This is a dispute between Yan and Arlas over who is the stronger troll. The outcome of this sparring match does not mean in any shape or form that the loser is under the command of the winner. Only I decide such things!" I turned to both Arlas and Yan. "This is a non-fatal sparring match. Do you two know what that means?"
They both nodded. "No permanent harm."
I nodded back before stepping back. "Then you may begin."
Arlas and Yan circled each other as the clan around them cheered for whoever they liked better.
It seemed like neither were going to move first.
Then in an instant, Arlas was throwing a haymaker at Yan's head, only for the smaller troll to duck and low spin kick the Arlas' reaching leg. Arlas quickly retreated before the kick could connect and he looked surprised. "It is not the way of the Zandali to use the legs," he said.
"But it is the fighting style of this clan," I replied. "There were no restrictions on how you could fight. Get on it."
Arlas grunted, grumbling about favortism.
I brushed the comment off.
Yan was keeping to the low ground and used his speed to his advantage. He was lightning fast with his kicks. He struck out for Arlas' head but mid-kick, he changed the direction of his kick to land a low kick on Arlas' shin when Arlas pulled his head back. Arlas grunted in pain before he rushed his head forward and caught Yan by surprise with a headbutt.
Yan stumbled backward and Arlas didn't stop his assault from there. He punched Yan again and again, and the smaller troll took the blows as he was taught to; to move along with the blow to lessen the damage.
Arlas made another strike, this time at Yan's face, but he overreached and missed.
Yan growled. He jumped and struck Arlas' chin with his knee. The bigger troll's head snapped backward and this time, it was he stumbled backward.
The cheers of the clan were reaching the peak. They knew that the next hit would take out one of them.
To everyone's surprise, but not mine, Yan opened his hand and struck Arlas in the chest with his palm. The big troll bounced backward without resistance and fell on the ground.
I walked over to Arlas's unmoving body and checked his pulse.
Still alive and strong.
I stood up and nodded to Yan before turning to the clan as whole.
"This battle goes to Yan! Arlas must wait a month before he can challenge Yan again. Someone take him to the infirmary."
Infirmary was also a building that was added at Shirou's behest. I never needed such infrastructure, but when Shirou pointed out that everyone else, including himself, needed it, I agreed. It took me half a day to set up the walls and the roof and another half a day to complete in the furnishing inside. It was right next to the residence hall and the food storage.
An oni and a troll helped Arlas onto their shoulders before they helped him away.
Yan looked extremely happy.
I scoffed. "You're going to the infirmary too, pal," I told him quickly. "You have a broken arm."
Yan looked surprise. "I do not. See-!" he said as he held his hands up, only for his left arm to dangle.
"No, I don't see."
Senna and Shirou were next to Yan in an instant, and they healed his broken arm with little healing arts they knew. Senna used [Song of Regeneration]. It was a beautiful song that she sang and I watched in fascination as the arm slowly mended itself.
This was the first time I saw the power of the fairies, but it was still something to be awed at every time I saw it.
Then Shirou bound the arm in a makeshift cast (just a flat piece of wood as long as Yan's forearm and a roll of bandage) with a strict warning to Yan to not take off the bandage or the piece of wood until Shirou or I deemed it to be healed. He looked very downtrodden.
"So who's up next?" I asked the clan.
To my surprise, it was Candy and Iskan.
"And your dispute?"
"I get to take her as my mate if I win," Iskan said with a grunt.
I raised an eyebrow. I turned to Candy. "And you agreed to this?"
Candy nodded. "Because if I win, I get to order him around for the rest of his life. Barring your own orders, of course."
I scowled, but if that's what they decided to do, I wasn't going to stop them.
"Alright then. To your positions."
So the results from the fight was as the following:
Yan vs. Arlas in non-fatal combat - Yan's Victory. Strength dispute.
Candy vs. Iskan in non-fatal combat- Double knockout. Dispute settled.
Dresa vs. Yomarr(troll) in non-fatal, friendly sparring - Dresa's Victory.
Senna vs. Reio(fairy) in non-fatal, friendly plant growing - Senna's Victory.
The last one had been ... weird, so to say. The fairies apparently always had a competition of who can grow plants faster and anything else along the lines of plants. It was interesting to see, especially when Senna just grew a tomato from its seed to a full plant in 5 minutes.
Day 116:
To the clan's surprise, there had apparently been another small tribe of monsters less than a mountain's distance from our own fort.
Unfortunately, they were nowhere near strong as we were nor as numbered.
They came to me asking for help, and they had something to offer in exchange.
I led the chief into my personal quarters and sat down on my bed, offering him the only chair inside the room. The chief of the Nomore Tribe, which was made up of kobolds, came and bowed to me. "Please help us."
I blinked. "Please sit, Chief of Nomore," I said, trying to put up a formal tone to my never-trained voice (unless it was to shout). "Why do you need our help?"
The kobold chief quickly stood up, sat, and wrung his hands. He was taller than Dresa, who was about 1.4 meters tall. While shorter than most trolls, he had some bulky muscles underneath those scales. My quick use of [Observe] told me what I already knew; the kobold chief here had a STR of 240. It may be only half of what I had, but chief's STR stat was definitely higher than anyone else in my clan outside of Iskan.
"The bullywugs... they raided our village. They took seven of our people!" he said.
"Do you know where the kidnappers were heading?" I asked.
"Towards one of their cities. A-Ancroca, if I know the name right."
Ping!
[Area Discovered!]
Suddenly, a map of the region around us came into life. It was in a moldy, yellow-brown color. It marked the mountains around us and the valley. It showed the bullywug city that I had failed to infiltrate (or besiege). Everything else was covered in a gray, cloud-like stuff.
Then two small portions of the map opened up east of the valley.
The first of these areas was situated about a kilometer away from our own fort. [Tribe of Nomore]
The second of these areas was situated further 3 kilometers away. [Ancroca]
"When did this happen?"
"Less than half a day ago," he grovelled. "Our tribe suspect that it'll be less than two days before o-our people will be either eaten or sold to slavery. Probably to the orcs."
My focus sharpened at the mention of orcs.
I hated them, now that I thought about it. What I heard from Andrews Maulta, the elf Alchemist, didn't help me much either, not when they were raiding and looting everyone around them.
My former colony had been looted as well.
"Two days?"
He nodded quickly. "We'll give you anything you wish," he added quickly as he fumbled inside the bag he had brought. "I brought a sample of what we can provide."
He held out a small, dark stone. It had a shade of purple to it. I held it and used [Observe].
[Item: Void Stone
Description:
A rare material that was forged in the heart of a Devouring Star.
Quality:
A-
Market Price: (Available due to Negotiation + past trades)
17,000 G]
My eyes popped out. This was a fantastic good that I was holding! And they were willing to give this to me in exchange for rescueing their people?
Then a thought hit me.
"Why not ask the humans or elves? They would be willing to spare a small army for this."
Kobold Chief grunted. "An army to take our village instead of rescueing our people. No 'civilized' race helps a kobold honestly."
I nodded. "I will help you as time is of the essence."
Ping!
New Quest!
[Nomore Tribe request Rescue!
Requirement:
*Bring back as many of Nomore tribesmen and women back to Kobold Chief of Nomore.
Failure:
*All hostages are dead.
Reward:
*Void Stone (+Negotiation)]
(Chapter End)
(Omake and extra information beneath Char Info and Factions)
(Answers to reviews will be in the bottom as well at the wayyy bottom)
Character Status by the end of Day 115:
Naruto [Imp Ruto] [Troll Ruto]
LvL 59
The Gamer
Race: Mountain Troll
HP: 168.5(+145) (+1.5 HP per hour regen)
Mana: 710 (+5.9 per minute regen)
STR: 458
DEX: 100
AGI: 130
END: 152
INT: 115
WIS: 115
CHA: 71
Unused Points: 36
Spirit: 36
Magic: 25
Power: 32
Traits Taken + Earned:
Ambitious, Quick, Genius, Cynical, Stressed, Content, Teacher[Neutral] (Unavailable), Power Overwhelming, Strength is Key, Wroth
Focus:
Growing
Racial Traits:
Beast Slaying (max)
Troll Blood (max)
Troll's Unarmed Mastery (max)
Skills:
Archery (LvL 13)
Ambush (LvL 11)
Baiting (LvL 28)
Berserker (LvL 1)
Blade Mastery (LvL 18)
Charging (LvL 14)
Clairvoyance (LvL 2)
Crafting (LvL 8) - Construction (Subskill)(LvL 2)
Fishing (LvL 9)
Intimidation (LvL 10)
Leadership (LvL 10)
Listening (LvL 16)
Mapping (LvL 4)
Negotiation (LvL 5)
Observe (LvL 45) + Structural Analysis
Physical Durability (LvL 13)
Projection (LvL 26)
Reinforcement (LvL 2)
Running (LvL 34)
Sonar (LvL 19)
Teaching (LvL 4)
Throwing (LvL 20)
Trapping (LvL 26)
Unarmed Mastery (LvL 7)
Carpathi Ironwood Clan:
# (reference) (important figures)
18 Trolls (WoW) (Ruto, Yan, Iskan)
7 Onis (Shirou)
1 Faze (Candy)
8 Vashta Nerada
1 Greater Fairy (Senna)
3 Kobold (D&D) (Dresa)
16 imps (WoW + D&D)
19 fairies
Faction Standings:
? Orcs -100
Carpathi Ironwood Clan +1000
Carpathi Swamp Valley Bullywug Petty Kingdom -1000
Retvoa Trade Company +53
Personal Standings:
Andrews Maulta +65
Sholva z'Retvoa +70
Review Replies + Author's Notes: