Three months have passed since Khan and the other orcs were captured. Khan has been working in the fields, farming potatoes. The other orcs around him are robotic-like, having almost the identical synched movements. Goblins were also working the fields, pulling up weeds and planting potatoes. The female orc that was with Khan in the cage is now working alongside him, her babe nowhere to be found.
"Let's wrap it up!" An orc yelled from atop his guard-post. All of the orcs started to head back to their long shabby hut. Khan cuddled up with the others, eating a small potato before falling asleep. The moon sails across the sky, and at midnight, a new day begins.
"Calm down young one. Shushhh. You will alert the guards." Said the middle aged goblin, Khan could now see his long salt and pepper beard and frail frame. "Calm down. I'll explain everything in a second but I need you to calm down." He said grabbing Khan by the shoulders.
Khan slowly let go of his head and looked at the goblin, asking, "Wha-what's going on?"
"It's just your system integrating, it must have partially broken you out of that infernal magic brand." The goblin said, releasing Khan.
"It's my birthday? but that's not for another 3 months." Khan said, clutching his head again.
"I'm afraid that you've been here for 3 months already, my boy. It's that brand that Shaman put on you. It takes away your thought if you don't have enough Intelligence and willpower. I guess when you came of age, your status updated, freeing your thoughts. You should check your status and see what's changed."
"Thank you, uhh"
"Gomrick." The goblin said, holding out his hand.
"Khan." He replied, shaking Gomrick's hand.
"Status!" Khan said releasing his hand.
Name: Khan
Class: Warrior
Titles: Genius (Intelligence increases by 1 every level, Strength increases by 1 every level, You learn everything twice as fast as the normal person and make insights in skills much easier.) Slave (Your location is always know to your master, your Intelligence is halved and you easily accept orders, you only gain half experience points.)
Level 20/?? (Previous cap 20) XP: 0/1423 (100x1.15^19)
HP: 50
MP: 250
Str: 25 (Base 6)
Dex: 3
Int: 25 (Base 6)
Con: 5
AP: 200
Unlocked: Special stats
Perseverance: 2
Luck: 1
Skills: Sword Mastery: Beginner: Rank 9, Leadership: Beginner: Rank 2, Boasting: Beginner: Rank 7, Farming: Beginner: Rank 5
Talents: High Orc Skin (Your skin is as tough as leather armor), High Orc Strength (You can bring out more of your Strength), High Orc Blood (Other orcs are more inclined to follow you), High Orc Leader (You can lead orcs and other races to a higher degree)
'So I guess when I became of age the restrictions on my status lifted and automatically put 19 points into Intelligence, breaking me from my daze.' Khan thought to himself while staring at the blue words, glowing before him.
"Are you done Khan?" Asked Gomrick.
"Yes," replied Khan, blinking twice to evaporate the text..
"Ok, I'll give my explanation of what's been going on while you were under that trance. The Shaman of the clan specializes in alchemy, especially blood magic. He turned the old recipe for tracking slaves and turned it into something much worse. My best guess is he mixed High Orc blood with his own, turning us into some kind of blood slaves. Since you're a High Orc, it must not have been as effective on you once your Intelligence came in. Since the blood brand halves your Intelligence, it's going to take at least level 80 to fully overcome this enchantment. I'm a Shaman myself, so my Intelligence is already well over 80. So, luckily I'm able to think freely, but most orcs and goblins will never have that much Intelligence."
"So what do we do? How can we escape from here?" Khan asked.
"We don't, we survive and get stronger till eventually the Fire Bird Clan's Shaman and Chieftain get killed by people just like them. Live by the sword, die by it. We can escape during the chaos and leave this wretched place. But until then, we farm." Gobrick said, holding up one of his potatoes.
'Great, more potatoes and work. I've fallen so low. I guess I'll distribute my AP now. I'm definitely going to increase my Intelligence, and my Dexterity and Constitution are low.' After thinking it over, Khan distributed his points. He raised his Strength to 75, his Intelligence to 75, his Constitution to 75, and his Dexterity to 33, reducing his AP to 0.
Meanwhile in the Chieftains' home, Flamock sits on his throne with Fullan by his side, contemplating his next move. He has captured Spotted Wolf and has fully integrated everything from their clan into his. He has established himself in the Northern plains, where few clans have. With winter just around the corner, the Southern tribes will soon become ravenous beasts, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Sighing, he decided to double the perimeter patrol groups and increase their youth training. He began confiding in Fullan, "Fullan I fear the worst. There was much less food grown this year, and the nearby clans might start hunting in our direction. I need you to go South and buy new weapons from the humans. Use our spoils from the Spotted Wolf raid."
"Yes Chieftain." Fullan replied, bowing quickly before leaving.
Elsewhere, in a village on the Northern plains called Owl's Burrow, another Chieftain is listening to his yearly harvest reports. "Well this will be an interesting winter. I can already smell the blood I'll use to paint the plains. This winter will be a winter of war KULKKULKKULK!!!" The same thing was being said all over the Northern plains, as many Chieftains started to hear about the year's meek harvest. It would seem, Winter Is Coming.