Things in the camp ran smoothly for the next few days. I ordered my men to eat plenty and for the wounded to go to sleep early because while there was plenty of food and as temperatures dropped no one was cold, I knew it was a matter of time until they got tired of sharing their tents or having to eat on the floor.

Training became our number one priority, above clearing the trees around us. As the days went by other hobgoblins reached our camp, having seen the smoke of the fire we made at the tower and then following the trail the group I sent to collect the meat left behind. Hearing that becomes an extra reason for me to be worried, if they saw the smoke, what else could have?

Now there are forty-five men at camp, I immediately made them join the exercises and spoke one on one with them and the hobgoblins that had joined us before. The majority were hunters and guards that either fled when Fogosh or the orcish army attacked their homes or saw the aftermath after they returned. But there were also fishermen, blacksmiths, ship makers, and farmers.

Turns out that hobgoblins of the valley are good at making ships and using them because the large river that goes through the valley is their source of food and commerce to other hobgoblins either living in small communities or as wandering nomads that travel the great plains. But I also saw that problems were beginning to brew.

The huani and hobgoblins got into more and more arguments, the much greater numbers of the formers in the camp making them bolder and more entitled. I had to do something about it before groups were made, and plots began to take place.

They were men that had lost their homes, families, and honor. Many saw me with disdain or distrust, but there were a few exceptions; The hobgoblins that originally joined my side with Jorr, there were difficulties of course, but after the prison break they never again saw me with skepticism or anger. I thought that healing their wounds and offering a new place to begin anew would be enough to earn their respect, but now I know that what these hardened men need is a show of force.

"Jorr"

"Boss" Jorr turns to see me, it's early in the morning, and his warriors are preparing for another day of training "What is it?"

"Today no one trains, I want everyone to eat right now and tell them to gather at the center of the camp in front of my tent. Bring all the shields in camp" I give my orders and after he nods, I walk away.

He does as told and all the men in camp are made to eat, then they crowd in front of the camp. I take out my furry boots and feel the cold dirt on my toes. Taking a deep breath I look at my hands, wrapped tightly with rags. I take a deep breath and step out of the tent. Immediately feeling the cold assault my exposed skin, wearing only the leather pants, the men all look at me with curiosity. Jorr smiles, he knows what I mean to do just by looking at the wrappings on my hands.

"Make a circle, today I will fight you one-on-one"

Everyone looks at me surprised, but quickly they do as told, making the circle large enough to fit a dozen men. I step inside and survey the expression of my men; Some look serious, others excited, but most seem to be enjoying the idea of a fight, whispering and speaking with each other. Some are already throwing away their leather armor, armless tunics, and whatever trinket they possess, eager to take part in this event.

"Well, step forth already," I say once I have waited long enough, and several of them try to step forward, I raise my hand to stop them and point at one at random.

The one I chose smiles, spits to his side and hands his shield to someone nearby. Hobgoblins are well-built, neither muscular nor skinny.

He raises his arms and I do the same, I have no doubt I could defeat him in combat, but this will be the first time I engage in a bare-fisted fight. I need to be cautious.

With a cocky smile, the hobgoblin rushes to me and the fight begins. My men cheer and shout as he swings time and time again. He is slow, but by the size of his arms a single hit would be painful, however, my size and speed are far too superior for him to come even close.

His confidence leaves after a full minute of desperately trying to hit me, his smile vanishes and he frowns, bearing his teeth in anger as he screams, adding leg swipes and kicks to his moves, but I'm still too fast. I decide that I've had enough evasion and when he throws another punch I duck and jump forward, hitting him directly in the stomach.

The power was enough to physically make him stumble backward, and fall to his knees. A good punch, after all, I'm both fast and strong, but with my thinner frame and smaller body, I may be able to deliver powerful hits, but I doubt I can take many.

My opponent breathes in and stands up, the men cheering all around us. But now some are mocking him, and he doesn't like this. He runs to me, his swings slightly faster but much less coordinated, I can easily dodge every single one of them until I see another opening and decide to take a bigger risk.

I lunge forward, one hit on the rib; he swings at me and I dodge to the side, I kick his leg and he falls to one knee, my fist connects with his jaw, and his head jerks to the side violently as he falls on the dirt. My men are silent for a moment, so I look at them and challenge them to step forward as I walk to one side of the circle.

They explode with cheers.

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Time passes and one by one they step forward, I dodge and move faster than they can react to. The first few fall like cut trees after a well-placed punch, but after the fifth, the next ones have learned and keep their defense on their faces, as well as try to dodge when I swing at them, having proved I'm much stronger than what I look.

A couple of huani join in as well, their larger, more nimble bodies prove to be much more of a challenge, but while I take longer than against the hobgoblins, I defeat them as well.

Soon I'm sweating and burning despite the cold breeze. My breathing is sharp, and quick, once the number twelve steps forward I know I'm slower, the swings connecting with me as I'm forced to raise my arms and defend myself. Luckily, my tiredness emboldens my new opponent and he makes a mistake, I swing and slam his face with my left fist.

But while he falls to the ground, he quickly stands up again, visibly shaken, but conscious. Even my hits are already lacking. I glance at my men and see they have noticed it too, their gazes now almost predatory, like a pack of dogs that have stumbled on a wounded lamb away from the safety of the farm.

The hobgoblin goes on the offensive, he swings and I barely doge half, the others make contact and I'm feeling them, each hit burning stronger than my tired muscles. Left swing is dodged; he tries again with the right and I have to rise my arm to stop it, then I realize my mistake; he kicks me directly on the chest, sending me flying against the raised shield of my men as they cheer and shove me back into the fight.

I can't breathe. I see him running toward me and I dodge again, but the second swing hits me in the face. I fall to the ground, I need to breathe.

He grabs me by the legs and swings me like a toy onto the shields, my back slams hard against the wooden surface and I fall to the ground as the noise around me dims, and the sting of the salty sweat entering my bleeding lip joins the pain everywhere else. The men cheer again and my opponent flexes his arms.

But I thank him for this, the hit lets me breathe again and my senses return to normal as he prepares to kick me. I dodge his kick as his leg raises, aiming at the closest weakest spot in my sight. His balls.

He screams in pain after I have hit him square on his jewels, he leans forward in pain and I put all my strength behind my next punch as I hit him on the chin, his entire body jerking backward suddenly as he falls back. Lying on the ground silently as everyone cheers and slams their shields on the ground.

They haven't even finished dragging the unconscious hobgoblin off the circle when another one already enters, I may have bitten more than I can chew. But I'm not backing away this easily. He cracks his knuckles, his smile showing off the pointy canines, I crack my neck and spit the blood in my mouth, raising my fist to match his.

"I want to fight!" Nojus shouts, everyone pushed aside as he shoves his way into the circle, his dark brown mane tied in a ponytail "Chief is tired, a coward if you fight" He speaks, this time in orcish as he points at the hobgoblin.

"No! If you want to fight, then bring it on wet dog!" The hobgoblin replies, slamming his fists on his chest once as everyone cheers.

"You've done enough, Boss" Jorr whispers in my ear as he pulls me back, away from the circle "Rest for a bit" He flashes a quick smile and pats my back.

As I walk away from the circle, hobgoblins cheer and pat my back as well, briefly before turning their attention to the fight. I return to my tent and sit on the stool, looking at my bow exactly where I left it. Jorr walked with me inside, even helping me sit, now that I was out of the circle the adrenaline dissipated and I could feel just how tired I was. I must have been fighting for more than an hour.

"Let me get you some water"

Jorr leaves and I'm left alone, catching my breath as everything hurts more and more, the cold getting to my body now that I wasn't moving. The noise of cheering and shouting was loud, but a little muffled by the tent. Soon the entrance opens, but it isn't Jorr.

"Here," Lina says walking inside, a jug full of water in hand. The fighting must be good out there. I stand up from the stool and grab the jug.

First I throw the water on me, it may be cold but I'm dirty, sweaty and bloody. Besides, it does the trick to wake me up. I drink what's left, only then noticing Lina is still here, her eyes on me.

"Are you really, a goblin?" She finally asks, looking up and down, as if something was wrong with me "You defeat my kin and fight a dozen men. You are intelligent, as smart as Andrei...you don't seem like a goblin at all. In the forests of my people, there were goblins, but they never killed any of us, they only stole at night"

"Oops," Jorr says, in his hands a waterskin, he flashes me a smile and closes the entrance of the tent.

"Are you, then?" Lina asks again after a few seconds of silence.

"Come," I say as I walk out of the tent, and she follows.

I see the fight continues, thanks to my size it's hard to see inside the circle but from what I can hear, he is having a good time. I then see him hold the hobgoblin in his hands, above his head as if it weighted nothing and he throws it over the heads of everyone else, the poor bastard hitting the ground hard as the cheering and laughing grows.

They are laughing, cursing, shouting, and standing near each other, smiling. Just as Makur did, whenever he fought with his men, and right then and there I thank him, for without these memories of him, I would have been lost.

"Stop!" I shout, and the cheering and laughter die out, everyone turns to see me. I see many smiling faces, and bruised ones too, but this wasn't only to help everyone get along better, I'm killing two birds with one stone "Lina will fight too"

The huani frown and the hobgoblins laugh, the latter eager to see some more entertainment for the most part.

"What?" Lina says, taking a step back.

"What I said" I reply, glancing at her over my shoulder.

"Why? I have never fought with my fists, I won't win"

"You will win" I turn around, I will bring out the stool because honestly, I'm too exhausted to stand up for much longer " because if you lose, the next one to fight is Andrei"

Her expression changes, she breathes hard and her fists clench, her slit pupils following me as I walk inside my tent, but she does head to the circle. I grab my stool, one of the few in camp and I drag it outside, the men making a spot in the circle for me to sit. Lina is furious, but still, I notice her uneasy posture, and eyes looking all around her as the men laugh and chuckle.

"Well, who's the lucky guy?" Jorr asks standing next to me.

"You," I say glancing at him, his smile vanishing.

He has seen me fight plenty of times, and there is a lot that you can learn by simply observing...one of the things I learned from Fogosh. He grunts, but steps into the circle. I don't expect her to win, but her desperation will make her last much longer than anyone else, and if I'm lucky, she may push Jorr to fight seriously, and I will get an insight into what are his strengths and weaknesses.

The men have grown quiet, the hobgoblins seem excited, most huani are unsure, and Lina raises her fist, copying what she has seen. Jorr scoffs and simply stands straight.

The sun is dimmed by the dark clouds in the sky, and a distant thunder can be heard.

"Fight" I speak, the men cheer and the fight begins.