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-Day before Ascella arrived.
3rd POV*
Atlas was walking at the familiar land, something he used to live before he was saved by Ascella. It was the land of Western Wastes, the cursed land which brings chaos to anyone who dares to live in there. Atlas was navigating the dangerous land without getting lost or being caught by something. His goal is to reach the camp of the Grako tribe, the first tribe that he decided to usurp. He has been walking for a few hours already but no change can be seen on his expression. Orcs are already used to the crazy atmosphere in this land so having a reaction is much more weirder. Atlas finally saw something that made him relax, it was a place where many houses made of mud can be seen. And also tens of thousands of orcs waiting while raising their weapons at him.
Upon seeing that only one orc has appeared the Grako tribe visible relaxed. "Whats this, an orc from Atlas tribe? Or more like isn't this Atlas?" One of them commented which gained the attention of others. One representative of the Grako tribe appeared as he sneered at the figure of Atlas. "Heh, are you here to surrender your tribe to us? That's even better! We will now have bait and workers for us to get food!" The Elder of Grako tribe said while licking his mouth. "Bring Grako here" Atlas merely said that pissing the whole tribe off. "Ha? Are you a fool? Why do you think we will let you off when you have presented yourself infront of us? Just taking your head we will be able to conquer your tribe" The Elder said narrowing his eyes at Atlas who didn't respond.
He merely closed his eyes before something emerged from his body. It was a pressure, terrifying pressure that threatens to blow their whole body if they tried resisting it. Everyone from the Grako tribe widened their eyes as their body started shaking in fear. 'Atlas.. he's gotten stronger?!' the Elder thought as sweat started to form on his forehead. This case is getting messy, they really need to call their leader unless they wanted to be annihilated here. "Don't make me repeat myself... Bring your leader here" Atlas said menacingly chilling everyone who looked on his eyes. "Y-You bastar—" the one who shouted that couldn't even finish it as his whole body exploded into bits from the pressure. Atlas gritted his teeth showing how pissed he is right now, the elder hurriedly ran to the dwelling on their leader, he is the only one who can solve this problem.
"Grako! Atlas is here! He wanted to see you!" The elder reported hastily as he is afraid that everyone will die there before they could even return. "Hm? Atlas? Did he bring his troops?" Grako asked calmly looking at his subordinate. "N-No.. he came here himself. B-But he is stronger now Grako! You must come before he will annihilate all of our tribesmen there!" The elder said in panic. Grako thought about this situation before standing up and running towards the place. There he saw a scene which made his blood boil, everyone of his troops are on their knees, panting and clearly exhausted. They were on their verge of losing consciouness. "Atlas! What are you doing here?!" Grako asked enraged. "Oh you have come. Leaving all formalities aside, Grako.. I am here to challenge you for your position as the head of this tribe. Refuse it and all of their heads will blow, just like this one" Atlas stomped on one of the orc's head shattering it.
Grako became even more enraged seeing Atlas's action. "I accept your challenge! Face me like a man and leave my people alone!" Grako shouted at Atlas who merely smirked. "That's what I wanted to hear! Get out here you fools!" Atlas gestured the orcs as he suppressed the pressure he was giving. Both of them stared each other while the other orcs formed a circle surrounding them. "The only one rule in our holy fight is to not play dirty! We are warriors not fools! Anyone from the two of you who will breach that will be deemed as the loser!" One Elder from Grako tribe became the mediator for the fight. Grako and Atlas nodded their heads at the words, they all knew that rule and would never destroy it, a duel is sacred within orcs race, even more so when two Tribe Heada are the one fighting.
"I will give you a warning Grako.. I have gotten stronger. We were once equal in the past but I already surpassed my past self, expect some hard blows from me" Atlas gave him a warning that Grako merely shrugged. His mind was pretty clouded by the anger he felt, the only thing that was running through his mind is how to kill Atlas as cruel as possible. The thought of losing never once entered his mind, because just like Atlas, he was also training for a long time. "Then Atlas tribe Head, if you lose this fight your tribe will be merged with the Grako tribe, do you consent to that?" The elder asked. "I concur to that statement" Atlas accepted it without hesitation. "Grako tribe Head, if you lose this battle your tribe will be under the Atlas tribe. Do you accept that?" He asked the same thing to Grako who nodded his head.
"Then the fight shall now start!" The elder dropped his hand before moving away from the circle. The circle was 15 meters big, that is already too small for the orcs but this was the tradition, they were also already used to this small space. Anyone who will step out of the circle will lose. Grako didn't waste any time as he charged towards Atlas who just raised his club. "Atlas.. I also trained for a long time you know?" Grako raised his own club before dropping it towards Atlas with considerable strength. Atlas dodged the attack making the earth below them crack. Atlas looked at the crack as he nodded his head, he commend his strength. Atlas raised his feet before plunging it at Grako's gut pushing the orc for many meters. Grako stared at his stomach in disbelief, that attack was too fast that he didn't even see it.
Grako refused to believe that Atlas has more strength than him so he charged again, throwing a barrage of attacks towards Atlas. Atlas dodged all of them with minimal movements, still maintaining his calm expression. All of Grako's attacks were too slow for him, his senses were heightened by the upgrade he gain so he could play with Grako until he would be exhausted and he wouldn't even gain a sweat with it. "Atlas!!" Grako shouted as he hit the floor again disturbing the balance of Atlas who raised an eyebrow. Grako swung his club again without wasting the small moment of unbalance from Atlas. The club collided with Atlas's body as shockwave appeared destroying everything beyond it. The dust shrouded everyone's view as they looked at the circle in expectations..
That expectation was broken when they saw Atlas standing without any visible damage except for the rip on his clothes which is not even worth mentioning. "I mentioned it right? I have gotten stronger" Atlas said smiling cruelly as he let go of his club and grabbed Grako's hands. Slowly he ripped it out from his shoulder making everyone shiver from the sound of his flesh stretching and snapping. "AHHHHHHH!!!!" Grako screamed in pain making everyone flinch. After ripping out one hand, Atlas didn't stop and grabbed his left leg, and just like the hand, he slowly ripped it out from his body. "S-Stop!! I surrender! GAAAAHHH!!" Grako tried saying it but his voice was covered by the tears and sweats that was falling from his body. Atlas picked up his club and pointed it at the place that any man would fear the most.
Atlas dropped his club at the place as the weight of it smashed Grako's balls into smitheerins. The other mans from Grako's tribe looked away from the scene as Grako's scream covered the whole place. It was even commendable that he could stay conscious with this amount of pain. "Hear me out people of Grako tribe, you will now be under my rule and anyone who will oppose me will reach the same conclusion as this man. Know that my lord won't tolerate any rebels in his numbers so keep your attitude in check" Atlas proclaimed that before grabbing Grako's head and separating it from his body using only his hand. "Understand?" Atlas asked with his eyes shining menacingly. ""U-U-Understood!"" Everyone shouted at the same time.
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"So that is all that I have to report my lord" Atlas finished his report to Ascella who looked intrigued. "So thats how you handled them. Quite rough I guess but it can't be helped this is within your nature after all" Ascella said shaking his head. "I apologize if it is not suited to your taste my lord" Atlas apologized immediately. "No, no, its fine. Its not a problem at all." Ascella just shrugged it off. "Still, to think that everything could be just solved with killing the Head of a tribe.. won't this become more easier? In that case, Atlas capture the next one within a week. Let the woman in your tribe handle the newcomers" Ascella gave his order which Atlas accepted without complain. "Oh by the way, what was their reaction when they were informed that they will live here?" Ascella asked.
"They were of course overjoyed my lord. Paradise is probably everything that every orc wanted. They swore to place their life in serving you my lord. Also I decided to divide the orcs in different categories, I placed some on the construction, weaving, and paper making" Atlas added the last one. Ascella taught them paper making since it could become a great business if it blooms. "That's good. But I think I need to show myself to them and atleast show them a piece of me to further cement that loyalty, we don't need traitors after all" Ascella said smiling. He took a food that was served to him by a beautiful orc lady, the feast has already been started with Tania and the others sleeping because of how drunk they are. "Gather everyone here Atlas, I atleast need to give a speech towards the newcomers" Ascella said.
Atlas left Ascella's side to order his men while Ascella just savored the food they offered to him. "Oh, Lina Luna, come eat. You should indulge yourself in this kind of thing. Its your first time having a feast outside from your forest right?" Ascella gestured the two who are standing still at his side. They didn't drink anything as they placed guarding Ascella as a higher priority. "We are fine master, we can survive without eating for few days, one night is not a problem for us" Luna immediately refused making the excited Lina downearted. "Hahaha, no need to be stiff. We are not in a formal meeting, this is just a casual feast and this feast was made for you in the first place. No need to hold back" As soon as Ascella said that Lina sighed in relief as she grabbed some food pissing Luna off.
"I apologize for my sister's rudeness master. I'll make sure to discipline her later" Luna said bowing her head. "Ehh, you are too stiff sis. Just like master said, we should not hold back!" Lina said enthusiastically. "No, we should stay at master's side all of the tim— mhhmm?!" She couldn't finish her words as a piece of meat was pushed on her mouth. "Hihi, take that. Its an order, just be your usual self for the night" Ascella said waving his hand at her. "If you say so.. Lina! Stop hogging it all to yourself and give me some!" Luna shouted at Lina who just showed her tongue at Luna. "Y-You..! Come back here!" Luna chased Lina around making the orcs laugh in amusement.
"Everyone is here mylord" Atlas's figure reappeared along with the marching of many orcs. Ascella smiled as he stood up along with his cup of beer. "This will be the start of my journey as a leader I need to atleast give a inspirational speech at them. Even though it is not my strong one, I need to show some effort somehow" Ascella said convincing himself. The hundred thousand of orcs are currently in this place waiting for the words of their new leader, this event will become a mark of their presence to the world.
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