How could he, Kurak son of Granit, the heir to the mighty tribe of Olk’khar, sink this low?

A few hours ago, he could have been killed by that Skelton mage, if not for the human.

Honestly, when Kurak thought of the human, he felt greatly relieved and thankful; he practically saved Kurak’s life on multiple occasions due to his quick thinking and innovations, which is why he still chose to stick with him despite him being almost crippled.

Though that would change soon, he has personally experienced the miraculous effects of the slime before, being able to close wounds and regrow flesh at a ridiculous speed.

It was a wonder why the filthy undead would gather under Duke Lateron’s castle to invent such technologies.

He theorized that the undead were incapable of healing magic, so they had to invent some way to heal their damaged subjects.

He also theorized or better said, he was damn confident he knew the exact location he was currently in because of the map he saw underneath, or more importantly, how the entire lab was constructed inside an underground tunnel system.

One he was very familiar with. One he had copies of in his hut.

To be more exact, it was the same tunnel network his kind dug during the war against the tyranny of the king 60 years ago in the siege of Duke Lateron’s fort, the one this lab was probably under.

Of course, he told none of this to the human.

To Kurak, the only people he could trust were his kind, none of the other races, especially not the humans.

The countless atrocities they committed against his people, taking their original fertile land and forcing them to move to the mountains in a backwater kingdom such as Tierra.

Thinking about the origins of the orcs, Kurak knew that if it were not for Gaia, the goddess that defended them when they were at their lowest, their kind would have long either become slaves to the humans or eliminated by them.

For that, Kurak was forever grateful for Gaia and practiced the wisdom she gave to his people fanaticly.

Out of the 33 commandments the goddess gave to his people, Kurak thought the first was the most important for his kind, Commandment 1:

Never act in violence to repay vengeance; become stronger and continue the cycle of life instead.

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It was such a simple sentence, yet this sentence alone made his kind prosper, becoming and forming the largest tribe of his kind, Olk’khar, in this world. Becoming so integral in the military and politics in the kingdom of Terria, the recent King married an orc to show his respect for his people.

And also probably to get our support for his kingship, tsk, crafty humans.

However, Kurak did not mind, for the official religion of the kingdom was the Goddess of Gaia, and so logically, all the people of the kingdom were one big family under her divinity, the mother of this world.

Still, trusting humans was another matter altogether!

After placing the last trap and making sure they were all covered and concealed, Kurak carefully stepped back into the room. Finding the human asleep on the floor with a big slime squirming on his back made him sigh deeply.

He knew the slime functioned by absorbing natural mana from the air to slowly strengthen itself.

This slime was the greatest survival tool the human found. Unfortunately, his companion only found it later in their journey; otherwise, they could have saved some of his fellow orcs…to which Kurak could only sigh in regret, praying they are in peace within Gaia´s embrace.

He sat down next to the sleeping human and watched the corridor. He had nailed two burning torches on the corridor walls, so nothing could sneak on them.

As he continued to think of his tribe, Kurak felt anxious. He feared not for the main tribe since they were located in the mountains, a very defendable region; rather, he feared for the young orcs in service in the military of the kingdom.

It was not that the orcs were weak; far from it.

His worry came from his inability to activate the single driving factor that makes a melee warrior: inner force.

If he could have activated his inner force, he would have carved his way outside of this lab in less than an hour!

Those giant spiders and earthworms below? Hah! He would have painted the floor with their insect blood!

Unfortunately, for some reason, he could not.

Without him being able to channel his inner force out of his mana core to form auras, boost his physicality, and improve his senses, he was no more than a somewhat stronger human, which is not an achievement to be proud of.

This is what worried him; what if the effects of this suppression affected not only him but also those on the surface? He knew it was rationally unlikely; after all, other than a diety, few could achieve such a ridiculous effect.

But as the future leader of his tribe, the first lesson he learned was to always consider the worst-case scenario.

Rationality was nice and all, but the world was never logical, not even one bit. The chances that the goddess Gaia was going to save the orcs were 0% back then, yet she did it anyway!

He gave a silent prayer to the goddess.

For now, he had to survive!

Thinking of his core, he tried yet again to pull mana out of his mana core, closing his eyes and focusing on his abdomen area to discover a blue-like burning star with mana floating in a black void, with 4 rings around it having multiple symbols and glyphs.

He then called upon his core once again for the service of his ambitions!

And the core stayed silent.

…Smiling bitterly, Kurak gave up trying.

He honestly felt exhausted; he wished he could return to how it was when he was a young child: ignorant and happy.

Unlike now, having to deal with otherworldly monsters, undead, the worry for his people, his weakness, and having to scheme against the human next to him...

The last one was the most annoying since he had to pretend he was some dumb orc brute like he was unable to speak perfect Tetrian!

Kurak sighed and continued gazing at the silent dancing flames alongside the rocky corridor´s terrain, wondering if he would survive the coming difficulties.