"Chieftain," a 7-foot-tall slender man with a blood-stained fur hide wrapped around his waist and nothing else, stood at attention in front of the 8th chieftain of the savage human Tribes and bowed.
The Tribes had risen abruptly over the past few decades, becoming one of the most powerful forces in all of Yi Mountain. Their lands spanned several hundred kilometers, and their men were fearsome.
A prime example was this man, Duan, standing here.
He was a butcher's son who had known nothing about battle. But after a few close encounters with death and being recruited into the kingdom's forces, he truly became what he had always been…
A butcher.
Not just any butcher, though—a bloodthirsty one.
"I want the head of a lizard. Go to the Yolan Village in Sector 4 and bring me the head of the village chief," the man atop the stone throne said, waving his hand angrily.
Humanity was not to be bullied by lizardmen; they were the undisputed lords of Yi Mountain. If the lizardmen wanted a taste of their strength, he would give it to them.
At least, that was how it seemed on the surface. In truth, the humans didn't want a war right now—they were already embroiled in too many conflicts. But he couldn't let this pass without punishment, so instead of sending the Tribes official troops, he would send his personal student and a few others to deal with this situation.
"Yes, Chieftain," the 7-foot-tall Duan and a young man with silver hair turned around and exited the hall.
A mission had been placed on their shoulders; what remained now was to complete it. There was nothing complicated about it.
...
"Ah, interesting…" Inside Malvorrak's cave, Cious read through a book of instructions with interest in his eyes.
*Control Beast Manual.*
This book was what he had obtained from Qarc after days of unending punishment. It was a beast tamer manual that came with the whip he had taken earlier.
Apparently, in this world, there was a profession called Beast Tamer, whose job was to break wild beasts, making them docile and easy to control. This aligned with the principles of his Primal Edict skill.
The ability to break, manipulate, and bend wills. But, of course, Cious's innate skill was much deeper than that; his was one that, in its most powerful form, could break even gods.
"Pretty cool…" Cious flicked the whip forward, accidentally hitting Malvorrak on the back.
But Malvorrak didn't seem bothered. He watched what was unfolding below with laser focus.
"The quota for fish from the river is 20 per day! What will happen if you scare them all into a separate stream? Do you want us to starve?" An older goblin female screamed angrily, pointing her finger in the face of a lizardman female.
"You're lying through your teeth! The quota is 50, but you goblins keep taking more than you need, just to starve us!" the lizardman female retorted, clearly annoyed by the goblins' greed.
Their encampment was much larger than the goblins', yet the goblins were adamant about hoarding resources without remorse.
They were straight-up trying to starve them to death.
"We're trying to starve you? We welcomed you with open arms, gave you a portion of our food, and here you are, accusing us of trying to starve you? You're hypocrites!" the older goblin lady sneered bitterly.
Goblins were allowed in Yolan Village, but aside from that, they didn't have many rights there, especially with the locals. They were seen as wild beasts and chased off whenever they neared property.
This alone was enough to make anyone with two brain cells think of the residents of Yolan Village as bad people. Yet, goblins were simple-minded for the most part. But they also understood when they were being mistreated.
Most forgot the treatment they'd faced, but not all of them. Some had grown to truly dislike the residents of Yolan Village.
"You dare!" The lizardman female boiled with anger. This lowly goblin dared call her a hypocrite? Such gall!
...
"What do you want to do about it, big guy?" Cious asked from atop the mountain, a frown on his face.
Though the goblins were his people, he didn't see the wisdom in intervening in such a morally ambiguous situation.
"They're hungry," Malvorrak spoke three words, then turned and walked back into the cave. Using his razor-sharp teeth, he tore into the carcass of a beast he had caught just a few hours ago.
Then he walked up to the edge of the cave and—
—*Whoom! Boom!*
From the cave on the mountainside, the carcass flew out and landed on the ground below, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Hm?" The goblin and lizardman turned toward the fallen carcass, then looked up to the cave where Malvorrak stood.
Most resource-related problems could be resolved by either adding more resources or establishing a good distribution system. Lacking the time or energy to create a distribution system, he simply added more food.
This was not a permanent arrangement, after all.
But had the beast Malvorrak just rationalized such thoughts? What was this? They didn't understand.
But they couldn't help but be grateful; this beast would be enough to feed them for two days. It was a gift from heaven.