Vreek had walked away as I stood there for a moment stunned.

Replace the king? How the heck does that happen? Why would I replace someone I had yet to even meet?! None of this made sense at all.

I jogged and caught up with Vreek and grabbed him and spun him around.

“You cannot mean that! Why would I do that?” I shouted.

Vreek motioned to everyone who was looking at me and I tried to quiet down a little bit but I was upset and confused.

“Why would the champion have to replace the king?!” I demanded a little quieter.

Vreek took a deep breath and let it out.

“Now is not the time but you are smart. You should be able to figure out why. For now, focus on what is before you! You have to win today no matter what.”

I started to say something and Vreek shook his head no and turned around and walked off to join the crowd. I turned and faced Bula who was getting the crowd back into it. I felt most of their eyes on me at one point and was frustrated that everyone but me seemed to understand what my title meant.

“Are you ready for your first challenge, Champion Zolb?”

I was still off in my thoughts and realized that Bula had just yelled at me and everyone was waiting on me to reply after I heard Dirk cough a few times.

“I am ready,” I shouted back.

“Then approach!”

Bula beckoned me to join her in the open area of the training area. The onlookers had given her and me a good thirty feet or more space to stand alone in.

As I stood next to her I realized for a moment that she was smiling at me differently. Not like all the other times but as if she was expecting or hoping for something.

“Zolb. Do you want your first challenge to be numbers or size?”

Numbers or size? I figured it must be a fight against many or a fight against someone really big. I wanted to hurry things up and I knew what Vreek would say later but I went with my gut on this.

“Both.”

The smile on Bula’s face grew and she nodded.

She turned to face the crowd and raised her hands for them to quiet down.

“Zolb has chosen to do both numbers and size!” she shouted.

The floor erupted in cheers and shouting. Orcs and goblins all around me were yelling in excitement.

I had been keeping an eye on Vreek and noticed him nod his head when Bula had announced that. I guess my answer had indeed been very champion-like.

“Bring out the numbers and size!”

All the heads in the training area turned towards a section that led toward a wall.

A slow chant started building from those gathered.

“Uukog! Uukog! Uukog!”

Over and over they kept chanting this name and then I saw what I figured must be an ogre’s head appearing over the top of those blocking the entrance on that side. When he appeared those gathered cheered and roared in excitement.

I felt nervous knowing how big the ogres really were.

Walking slowly towards me was a massive beast of a creature. He was easily ten feet tall and reminded me of Andre the Giant from how he walked as he lumbered toward me. As the crowd split for him to come through, the tallest orc next to him could have put a goblin on his shoulders and still not been taller than he was.

Uukog had scars all over his arms and chest and while he had a protruding belly, I had no doubt he was stronger than anything I had faced yet. Part of me imagined I could feel the cavern floor trembling as he walked towards me.

As he came he smiled at me and those two bottom teeth stuck up towards his nose. I was impressed with the beard he had too. It was at least two feet long and braided together in the middle. If facial hair was a representation of strength then he obviously had a lot.

I realized that behind him were ten goblins following him. At first, I thought they were just cheering him on and like a cheer squad but from how they were coming towards me it hit me that they were actually the numbers part of this trial.

I wanted to smack myself in the head and remind myself to ignore my gut the next time it told me to do something like this.

I turned to Bula and got her attention.

“How bad do you want me to hurt them?”

Her eyes went wide and she started to laugh.

The crowd started to quiet down and listened to her as she howled over the noise. When she finally stopped she shook her head at me and turned to face the crowd.

“Zolb wanted me to tell him how bad he needs to hurt those he faces. What should I tell him?”

A small pause for a half second hung in the air. You could almost hear the intake of breath from all those around us as they prepared to shout at the same time.

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“DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!” they shouted over and over.

Bula turned back to me and motioned to the crowd.

“You better make sure they do not get back up because they will not stop until they are down completely or they have eaten your heart.”

“Dwarf Balls!” I exclaimed out loud and Bula just smiled and started walking towards the crowd.

Uukog stopped moving about twenty feet from me and the ten goblins lined up in front of him. Those who had been closer to us at first backed up to give as much room as possible. Everyone here but me seemed to know that it was not uncommon for spectators to occasionally get injured during one of these.

Backing up a little I glanced at Turk and Dirk who were both standing next to Vreek and seemed to be enjoying this. They still believed this was some game and that there would be no consequences.

Bula held up her hands and the shouting stopped again.

“To the death!” she shouted.

As I waited to see what the signal would be to go I noticed the goblins charging and then saw that Uukog had grabbed one of them by their back and was about to throw him at me.

Shifting my weight to the balls of my feet I waited for his throw and was surprised at how quickly he could chunk that goblin. I almost laughed as I wondered what kind of weapon an airborne goblin could be.

It felt like I was about to be attacked by a pack of second graders. None of the goblins were very large and none of them had any real hair on their head. I knew it meant they had no real strength but instead were to be a diversion to keep me in place if possible until Uukog got to me.

Time to test out one of the spells that Brar taught me. I skirted to the right as I watched the first volunteer of the goblin airborne division fly past me and into the wall of spectators behind me

I let the power I felt in me come forth like Brar had shown me and focused my gaze on those goblins charging at me. I was not sure if it would work like Brar had said it should since I had yet tried it on anyone. Again I realized I had missed opportunities to attempt this spell when we were headed north.

Du Ba Feruma Mah I whispered under my breath and visualized the goblins before me panicking at the realization I could kill them all without breaking a sweat. All this took less than a moment's thought and when I felt the power rush out from me, I saw their eyes go wide in fear.

“AHHH!!” they screamed and they trip and tumbled as they stopped charging me and changed directions. They started running back towards Uukog who was staring at them and me wondering what had happened.

I heard more screaming and shouting coming from behind me and on my sides. Glancing quickly I saw that multiple dozens of goblins and even two orcs were all backpedaling and running away from me.

Within moments a new bubble of empty space had materialized around me as low-rank goblins fled from my sight.

Uukog slowed down to almost a stop and looked at me with a weird look.

“Whut you do? Why dem run?”

Gazing at him with the scariest look I could imagine giving, I cackled and motioned to those still clambering over walls and other spectators to get away.

“I let them see what was coming. They saw their death when I cast one of my spells.”

Uukog was only about ten feet or so away now and I knew he could easily reach me in one or two steps but I saw the hesitation in his eyes. Had my spell impacted him as well? He had slowed down rather quickly. I saw him glancing around at Bula who was motioning for him to come at me.

“I will give you a choice Uukog. We can fight and I will do everything I can to not kill you but I cannot promise you that you won’t die or that I will leave all of your limbs attached. Just know if you do die I will eat your heart before everyone here as an honor to you.”

Uukog frowned and I could see he was getting angry. Obviously, that was not how to talk to an ogre.

“Bula sent you in first to test my power. If you die she is still safe. Do not make me kill you to prove I am strong.”

Uukog laughed and shook his head.

“What if I kill you?” he asked.

Ogres… I should know better than to try and debate with one. All the things I know from games and shows is that they respond to power and strength only. Time to get this party started I figured.

Two quick steps and I was underneath his belly. With my left fist, I grabbed his manhood that was covered by his nasty covering and jammed my hand up and into his crotch.

The squeal that he made almost hurt my ears from the volume and pitch that he reached. As his hands came down to his midsection I grabbed one wrist with my right hand and used the momentum of him rising onto his toes, along with the thrust of my hand and my hips. A simple downward pull on his arm created the momentum I needed. I found myself thankful for all those years I spent practicing judo in college.

This time I did feel the ground shake as his body flipped in the air and he landed on his back. That squeal of Uukog turned into a wheezing grunt as his back smacked into the ground. He was squirming on the floor and reaching for his groin with his free hand.

I let go of his arm and moved towards his head and grabbed a handful of his beard in both hands.

“Surrender or I will rip this from your face!”

As I started to pull and I could feel the hairs starting to come free from their roots he started to howl and cry.

“Me surrender! You win! You win! No pull my beard!”

I gave one final tug on the beard and let go. I reached down and wiped the hair that had come free in my hands on his shoulder and walked away. I would have sworn I heard Uukog crying a little but I knew I had to worry about him later. Being hard was not an easy thing.

I found Bula in the crowd and glared at her. The crowd was silent and the only noise was Uukog on the ground moaning and crying.

“Do you want to fight me and see if I am worthy of the title I claim or how many other members of your group must I hurt and humiliate?” I shouted at her. I turned my attention from her and started to address the others gathered around. I could feel the blood rising in my face and knew that the vein in my head was probably throbbing. “I have not come here to weaken the goblins and orcs by killing or maiming them but by helping us grow stronger! I sent back hundreds of hearts to Brar when I destroyed the town near his camp. I will do what I can to help you grow stronger but I do not want to waste my time with challenges that will only result in weakening you!”

I was pissed. Why did everything have to require so much killing and bloodshed? I wondered what part in all this the gods played and if they desired a world that was in constant conflict.

Movement caught my eye and I saw Bula walking towards me. I turned and faced her not knowing what she might say or do.

When she was a few feet away from me she nodded and dropped to one knee.

“I accept your claim to be our champion. My tribe is yours to command.”

Suddenly I heard noise all around the cavern and saw that every goblin and orc in the room had dropped to their knees as well. I finally found Vreek and saw that he too was kneeling. Only Turk and Dirk were standing.

“Uh.. rise?” I said with a slight stammer. My anger and frustration had melted away as I looked around the cavern.

Bula stood up and smiled at me.

“Let us go and celebrate for now.” She paused for a moment and leaned in even though no one could hear us. “You will still need to show me just how much you mean to help make us stronger.”

With that, she laughed and started walking back towards where her cave was.

I knew while I had stopped the fighting, I was not done proving myself to Bula yet.