(2 months later)

Kiru and the rest of the party stalked carefully across the savanna grassland. The afternoon sun beat down hard, but they still managed to keep their breathing in check. They were downwind of their intended prey, an antelope that had strayed away from the migrating herd in favor of getting exclusive rights to a thick patch of grass to munch on. That decision would be its last mistake.

The cultivators continued to stalk, getting closer to the unsuspecting creature. Zhaden was excelling. The drakonid was already adept in stealth, so he took point. Kiru was doing alright. Brunhilda was…well, she had room for improvement.

The paladin, in her heavy armor, took a clunky step forward and snapped a twig underfoot.The antelope popped its head up, its eyes bulged and quickly scanning its surroundings. The party all crouched, but the creature’s animal instincts appeared to not trust what it heard. It quickly turned in the opposite direction of the cultivators and bolted. Both Brunhilda and Kiru were too far away, but Zhaden was not. The gold drakonid jumped forward out of the grass and flung three daggers. Two hit their mark, striking the cervid in the chest and shoulder. They bit into the flesh and drew blood, but the creature’s hide was too thick. Neither was a killing blow.

The rogue was about to take off after the creature when it took a sharp turn by a large tree. As it went under its shadow, Mutt descended down, ambushing the beast from the treetop. The blind orc’s large maw bit into the antelope’s neck. His large fangs crunched down on its vertebrae in its neck and lacerated its jugular vein. The antelope squealed at the sudden attack. It was knocked off its feet and began scrambling to get back up despite the orc still biting down on it.

Mutt growled and violently jerked his head to the side. He broke the antelope’s neck disconnecting its vertebrae and killing it on the spot with an audible snap. Kiru and the rest of Pandemonium grimace at the noise as they jogged up to the orc as he spat out the antelope and wiped the blood from his mouth.

“Damn, Mutt! That’s some jaw strength you got there!” Kiru exclaimed.

Despite being blind, the orc and beast cultivator’s other senses were far more advanced and have easily compensated for that disability. Mutt licked the blood off his hand then smiled as he looked over to his allies, “Haha, yeah Boss! I don’t know which sacred beast cores I ingested back at the Academy, but one of them was clearly a strong biter.” The orc’s carefree attitude comely out clearly in his tone. That attitude also caused him to address almost everyone by a nickname, opting to go with that route instead of remembering their names. To Kiru’s joy, Mutt had remembered his name instead of calling him “Sword Guy” like he had when they first met. The psion also noticed that Mutt extended that same courtesy tothose important to him, but old habits die hard. Though Mutt did remember Kiru’s name, he often called him “Boss” over the psion’s actual name. The only person Mutt consistently called by their name was Brunhilda.

“You three did good today. You almost actually caught one of these things without even using some fancy technique. Well.. besides you having to move, Boss.” Mutt added. Kiru gave the orc a slight nod in understanding what he meant. It was becauseKiru had to use his Telekinesis technique to help him move. “You remembered to be downwind and targeted an isolated prey.” He raised a finger, “But your stealth still needs improving, particularly you Brunhilda. You sounded like a warthog digging through a dead log looking for bugs.”

The purple-haired dwarf paladin blushed at the criticism, “How am I supposed to stealthy, eh? I’m wearing plate, for crying out loud!” She replied indignantly.

The orc chuckled good-naturedly, unperturbed, “Nah, I can’t buy that excuse, Brunhilda. Even the mightiest of beasts such as the dire sabre leopards have to rely on stealth out here in Imakandi,” he gestured to expansive plains with sparse trees around them.

Kiru’s mission to recover his father’s lost items, reclaim his throne, and prevent another global war in doing so had been going well so far. He’d acquired the first item, an orb of psyslime that can morph and change shape to his will hidden in the Kingdom of Blades. Kiru had also managed to gain a small party of trustworthy allies. Still, it hadn’t been without its hiccups. Their former academy headmaster wound up being some sort of monstrous abomination with multiple heads, and he tried to kill them. Plus, van Blaine, the man responsible for killing Kiru’s father had taken a personal interest in Kiru. The young psion truly hoped that the winged man would assume he’d died, but he wasn’t betting on it. As such, the party had avoided any major trails as they’d traversed through Imakandi, homeland of the orcs.

Their current plan was to keep a low profile, get to the orc’s capital, and use Mutt’s family connections to help them locate the precise location of Kiru’s father’s second artifact. It hadn’t been hard to avoid any civilized areas so far. Imakandi was massive, by far the biggest region in The Great Alliance. Mutt had explained that the northern territory of his nation, the territory they were in, was the biggest of all the territories. It was also ruled by the Thrar’fang Tribe, a savage clan that was currently at peace with the ruling M’Baku clan, but were very territorial about trespassers. They decided that blazing a new trail south would be the safest, and even though it had been two months, they were close to crossing into safer ground.

They quickly dissected the dead antelope, wanting to get all they could before predators could become interested. After months of training, Mutt had helped the others become much more efficient in the gory tasks of butchering. They removed an impressive amount of meat of the creature and storing them in their storage device such as Kiur’s enchanted ring before heading out. The special storage items fortunately had a preservative property to them which preventing any sort of decay as well as eliminating the weight of the items, a win-win by all accounts.

The members of Pandemonium continued their trek for another couple hours, led by Mutt to keep them clear of danger with his bestial senses, before they made camp for the night. They found a small cluster of tall trees, an island itself in the grassland. They were also near a fast-flowing river about a hundred feet down the muddy cliff face below. They started cooking the meat, and the party took some time to relax.

Kiru took in a deep breath of the fresh air. There was a subtle breeze that blew across the savanna, making the long, brown grass shift like waves of water. Despite being out in such a wild place, free from towering structures and artificial light for two months, Kiru’s breath was still taken away when helooked up in awe at the innumerable stars in the sky. Growing up in his small mining town, he never had such view. Even the Royal Academy with all its grandiose stone architecture didn’t have such clarity of the sky above.

About a month into their journey, the party had noticed the sky gained a subtle purple tint to it whether it be day or night. When they questioned Mutt about it, the blind orc just shrugged. He was unsure as to why that was the case. Everything else appeared normal within the orcs’ homeland so far when it came to environment and the behavior of creatures, so they continued on as normal.

“Master, can I come out now? I’m bored.”

Feeling safe to do so, Kiru complied with his familiar’s request. With a flex of his will, Kiru summoned his familiar, William, from his core. A red ball of energy formed out in front of Kiru’s head and transformed into a little ugly imp. Kiru had grown accustomed to the hideous-looking demon, but his appearance could still be unsettling. The most distinct factor on the small, wingless, demon was his skull, or lack thereof. Instead of a horned head, William was missing his skull from the middle of the forehead up, exposing his brain for all to see.

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“Hahaha! Hello, fools!” He declared to the others as he landed on the ground. “Little shite,” Brunhilda grunted.

“Palabitch,” the imp responded in kind, trading insults as a form of greeting. The demon and paladin still butted heads, but they had a truce between them for the moment.

Zhaden just gave a subtle nod to the little overconfident demon.

“Oh, hello little dude,” Mutt replied with a grin.

William turned to face Kiru, “Master, it’s been two months! When are we gonna get back to civilization? I’m tired of us not fighting anybody! All we do is walk, avoid animals, and occasionally attack some scared little creature that doesn’t even want to fight back,” the bloodthirsty little imp pouted.

“Don’t worry little guy. If all goes well, we should be in my clan’s territory by tomorrow,” Mutt said “Though, I don’t know if we’ll be fighting anyone there. Well.. maybe my sister,” he chuckled. “She’s always so serious. We used to fight all the time! She’s real tough!”

“Yes!” William cheered then turned to face Kiru. “Master, that sounds like a worthy opponent. When we get to Mutt’s territory, we should fight his sister immediately. Defeating someone who was an opponent to the orc is a worthy foe we must conquer!” He grinned as he squeezed a fist in excited anticipation.

Kiru’s heart raced in alarm. That was the exact definition of what he did not want to do. “What? No, William. She’s his sister. We want her to be an ally, not an enemy,” the psion said.

“Yes. Once you defeat her, she will be your ally by being your servant. Then, this land will be yours.”

Kiru rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You want to defeat my sister? Good luck.” Mutt said through a mouthful of cooked antelope meat. “Besides, that’s not how rulership is obtained in Imakandi.”

Wiliam put his hands on his hips and looked back at the orc. “Oh, then how does one rule here?”

“I’m also interested in this,” Zhaden added. His harsh voice always sounding like a hiss. “You are part of the noble family here, are you not?”

Kiru was wondering about how the orc nation was governed too. Based off how Brunhilda was focusing intently on the conversation, he could tellshe was interested in this as well. Mutt hadn’t disclosed too much about his family or the politics of his homeland. From what the psion did know, he was somewhat of an outcast, sent off the Royal Cultivator Academy in the Kingdom of Blades in order to become stronger and better serve his family. Despite that, Mutt didn’t really seem to care that much from what Kiru had seen, only ever being serious when fighting, hunting, or protecting his friends.

The blind orc let out a loud belch then gave an uncharacteristic sigh before wiping the grease off his mouth. “I’ll be honest guys, I don’t like talking much about my heritage, just sticking to the basics. You know what I mean? Seeing as how we’re not too far from my clan’s territory, I guess it’s time you learn about my family and people,” he said with more seriousness than he’d ever exhibited before. “As I’ve told you before, I am part of the M’Baku Clan who has ruled Imakandi since its founding after Ragnarok. There are ten main clans that live in Imakandi. Honestly, I don’t remember them all, but I know of mine, the Thrar’Fang, the Tau, and the Jabari. Those are the big ones,” he said, counting off his fingers. “Oh,.. and there’s an ogre tribe, but they’ve isolated themselves to the wastelands for some reason. I don’t know.”

Mutt seemed to realize he was rambling, because he focused back on the topic at hand. “Anyway, instead of inheriting rulership without question, after the head chief of our country passes, the shamans arrange a set of trials. Whoever wishes to rule has to qualify to compete in those trials, and then they have to both survive and succeed.”

“So.. will ye undergo the trial then when yer father passes?” Brunhilda asked.

Mutt gave a wry grin and pointed at himself, “Who, me? Nah, I’m not interested. All I want to do is enjoy the thrill of greater and greater hunts. Oh, and to help out the Boss of course! I owe him.”

The others just stared at him in stunned silence. Mutt had the opportunity to become the future ruler of not only his clan but an entire nation, and he…just didn’t care. It seemed rather lazy or even just selfish depending on how you looked at it. Perhaps, he was just magnanimous and selfless to claim power?

“Um, I’m confused. Isn’t it your responsibility to care for your people? Isn’t that what your father would want?” Kiru asked.

The orc gave a sarcastic smirk and shook his head. “Truth be told, I don’t give a damn what my father thinks. All he wanted was a “worthy heir,” and when I born blind, he wanted nothing to do with me. I was still part of the royal family, but barely treated as such. My mother died when I was young, and it was only by the graces of my sister, that I wasn’t cast aside. Even most of the citizens shunned me, avoiding me like some sort of plague rat.”

“I’m so sorry, Mutt. I..I didn’t know things were so bad with your family.” Brunhilda said.

“Pfft, family drama, right?” Mutt’s casual attitude was back in full swing. “Well, anyway, though things aren’t good with dad, Myev’s always had my back. She was the one who taught me how to cultivate, fight, and hunt. Without her, I’d probably be as scared as a newborn puppy. Myev can kick my butt in a fight, but because of her training, I’m the best hunter in all of Imakandi. Even the shamans were forced to acknowledge how good I was and gave me my first technique.”

His nails on his right hand grew out to sharp points, “Fenrir’s Claws.” He retracted his claws and continued. “Anyway, when my dad realized that I actually had some potential, he stopped training Myev to focus on me. Let’s just say, it didn’t take. As I told you before, I love to hunt, so I’d bail and sneak out of the palace one night and travel the country looking for bigger and better game. The nice part about being blind, you can sneak out in the middle of the night, and the darkness doesn’t affect you.” Mutt gave a boyish grin.

“So, when my father had enough of my ‘hunting trips’ and wanted me to “actually make something of myself,” he sent me off to the Academy. You know the rest.”

The others just sat there in stunned silence.

“May I inquire as to how are you able to keep so calm? I’m also a pariah of my people due to the type of manna I use, and admittedly, it’s been difficult not to harbor a grudge against some of my kin for their treatment,” Zhaden said.

Mutt’s toothy grin grew wide, “Sure, stabby. My sister taught me that I can’t control others, only myself. I can’t rely on others to make me happy, that’s only up to me. So, I focused not on them and their petty biases, but on what I enjoy.” He took a big bite out of his charred antelope leg, “And that is Hunting and Fighting. Pretty soon, I got so good that even if they didn’t like me, they had to respect me. Haha!” He bellowed before taking another bite out of the meat.

“Ye said the priesthood taught you a technique. Do ye follow a certain deity?” The paladin asked, a tone of excitement in her voice.

“Oh! Nah. Many of we orcs from Imakandi follow the tenents of the Beast Pantheon, though each tribe favors a particular beast. The tenents include living free and…Huh, I can’t remember the rest,” he trailed off.

“The Beast Pantheon?” Kiru asked. He hadn’t focused much about religion even when he was at the Royal Academy. So, he thought it wise to get some more info on who this nation worshipped.

“It be a group of sacred beasts who’ve accumulated enough mana and power to ascend to godhood.” The dwarf answered. Kiru knew that being a paladin religion was a topic that she was the foremost authority about in the party. She continued, “Before Ragnarök, there were two main factions of gods, the Aesir and the Vanir. Afterward, the surviving remnants merged to make a new faction, the Vasir. The magic during that apocalyptic event had empowered many sacred beasts too, ascending them to godhood as well. They comprise the Beast Pantheon. Unlike the two previous factions, the Vasir and the Beast Pantheon are allies.”

Both Zhaden and Kiru turned to Mutt to confirm this. The orc just shrugged. It looked like that was news to him too, which wasn’t shocking given his poor detail to attention. William had grown bored with the conversation and began chasing small rodents around for food.

Before anyone else could question him, Mutt yawned as the last of the pink in the sky from the sun faded, the color seeming more vivid due to the barrier’s affect. “Welp, time for some sleep. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow with crossing over into M’Baku territory. I’ll take the last watch.” He said, then quickly climbed up the large nearby try with the speed and grace of a jungle cat. Looked like he didn’t want to talk anymore…

Zhaden took the first shift. Brunhilda would take the second, and Kiru would go after that before Mutt would finally take over. It was when Kiru when to go relieve the paladin of her watch that things took a turn.