Today, my schedule was the same as usual. Today, our training needs to be cut short as I need to visit a heritage room. So I informed my uncle, and he said to do some light exercise and call it a day. Twins were the happiest ones. They got a day off doing nothing.
I forcefully took Darg with me to heritage. It would be too boring to stroll around there alone. I saw a shaman there already. It looked like the father had already told him to expect me. He was doing something. I guess he is probably counting and shining to mana stones.
'Elder, we will enter the heritage today.' I bowed to the elder and said. I don't know about other orc tribes, but it's a basic etiquette in our tribe.
'Yes, I heard from the chieftain. Don't make it too long. Come out before everyone gathers for the meeting.' the shaman said in not such a pleasing tone. I simply nodded, as I didn't want to make conversation with shamans for long. He was still saying something as I entered the meeting room, heading towards heritage. As I was moving towards the inner rooms, I could hear him complaining about my attitude. But I don't give an ass. I don't want to listen to the blabbering of a creepy bald guy. Some cushions and bolsters were already placed there for the meeting, and the room was lit with a lantern. I skipped past the mana store room as I entered the bookstore.
As l looked through all the books, I found some interesting techniques: scorching mountain slash and astral steps. The first one just sits perfectly with our nature and the second suits our training. The description of astral steps says you need a highly agile body and fast footsteps to master it. The difficulty is written extremely difficult on both, but in the end, I preferred astral steps, as I remember it was one of the elementary techniques with which Aaron defeated the patriarch of one of the great orc families.
I glanced through the book as I wanted to know what the book encompassed. It began with two-step to all the nine steps. Astral steps make after images of yours while fighting, which gives you greater chances of landing your blow and simultaneously avoiding it. I suggested other books to Darg, but he simply refused, as he understood nothing in them. Happy with my finding, I got out of the book room and started waiting for the meeting to begin.
Shortly, everyone started coming to the meeting room. Soon, all the cushions were full. So I understood that Darg and I would have to remain standing in the meeting. Finally, my father, alongside my uncle, entered the room. Everyone stood in their places to greet the chief.
The Meeting started after greeting the chief and elders. We took our position. We can see that everyone is sitting according to the hierarchy. Shamans are to the father's left, and warriors are to the right. Uncle Uuk leads the warrior's group, and the older orc shaman leads the shamans' group. Darg and I were standing on the right, just between father and uncle.
'My chief, food has become an important issue. Which needs to be worked out as soon as possible. There is not enough hunting happening to sustain such a big tribe. We butchered and fed the carcasses from the storage room to the clan this morning. So now only one food storage room remains, which is filled up..' the older shaman sitting adjacent to my father said with a worried look. Our food storage is maintained at freezing temperature by shamans. Preserving our food with mana stone in storage is their use.
'We don't have enough warriors to send hunting and patrolling simultaneously. Also, finding a beast of the perfect size is very difficult. Sometimes it's too big, and sometimes it's too small.' This time an orc elder warrior in the far right opened his mouth. Clearly, he was justifying the lack of hunting in the tribe.
'There are many younglings in orcs and goblins. We need to make sure they have sufficient food. We cannot let anything hinder their growth, resulting in less food for adults. And..' he continued.
'And what?' Father looked at him and spoke up.
'Around 50-60 young orcs are growing up, but the goblin population is exploding. There are about 600 goblins for around 200 orcs right now.' Shaman said with a worried look.
'Goblins breed fast, that is giving us extra mouth to feed. And there are feral orcs who live in a group of 5-15 orcs. They are excessively hunting in our territory, scaring our game away.' Said one orc.
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'Chief, I have a suggestion for this problem. May I speak?' Darg said. It surprised uncle Uuk and me as he is usually quiet and tries to avoid attention.
'Hmm, go ahead.' Father responded
'We should kill off extra goblins. We certainly don't need 600 hands. So there shouldn't be 600 mouths to feed. This will reduce pressure on our hunting party. Even 600 goblins wouldn't count anything in actual battle.' Darg said. It astonished my uncle and me. His nonchalant look and way of speaking surprised everyone.
'Yes, for the greater good of the tribe and for us to thrive, we must do it. Goblins reproduce fast. It won't be a problem for them to reach the numbers when we have a few more orcs.' This time, an elderly hobgoblin warrior spoke up.
Now, all the people were nodding in agreement. It's astonishing to see these hobgoblins and shamans complying with the slaughter of their own kin. They clearly understand they need orcs to thrive. They subconsciously agree with their servant role in the orc tribe.
'Enough, we can not simply kill excessive goblins for no reason. If we keep killing goblins for no reason, they will get stressed out, and it will be harder for them in the future to become hobgoblins. Hobgoblins are important for hunting, patrolling, and keeping goblins in check.' This time, my father spoke up with anger.
'As expected of our chief, you think far beyond any of us.' The Goblin shaman spoke up this time. Clearly, he is sucking up to the chief.
'Chief, may I say something?' I spoke up.
'Do you have anything to add?' Father spoke up, looking at me.
' We should allot 4-5 goblins to every orc and arm them with light weapons.' I said. The orc shaman considered my suggestion, while few of them doubted me. However, they clearly didn't understand what I wanted to say.
'We will use them as fodder. Goblins will stick with their designated orc and help them in their hunting. But, of course, some of them will die, and maybe some will evolve into hobgoblins.' I could see brightening up faces upon hearing this.
'How can you say they won't impede their hunting and get orcs killed?' Darg said instantly, killing off bright faces.
'There is no guarantee, but we can set up an assessing system. If orcs are unsatisfied with goblins, they can tell a higher authority. We will have punishment for goblins if their orc master dies while hunting. Any goblin without an orc master in our tribe will not have meat to eat and will be given leftovers. Also, they won't be allowed to mate. And he will be at the bottom of the hierarchy in the tribe. He will be killed if he does any of this without the orc master.' I explained how to control these critters. Goblins are extremely greedy creatures. They like to do nothing, and if they get free meat to eat, that will be the best day of their life.
'Young chief is wise and ruthless. You will surely lead our tribe to greatness.' One of the orc commanders said with a radiant face, and the other nodded in agreement. But, on the other hand, I saw Darg had a blank face. Though I don't want to believe there's a hint of invidiousness in his eyes. Looks like I'll have to talk things out with him.
'Yes, we can use goblins as a meat shield while fighting. That will cause fewer orc casualties in fight or hunting. Also, that will keep the goblin population in control and help their evolution into hobgoblins. Right now, we also need a few hobgoblins.' Elderly hobgoblin shaman said.
'Okay, we will do as Darg has suggested. If we encounter any problems while there, they will be solved at that time.' Father intercepted the conversation and declared his decision. He clearly doesn't want any more discussion on this now. Everyone understood his mood and complied.
'Also, I'll be dispatching hunting squads to hunt the giant beast. Winter is almost here. We are not that far from dragon glade; winter will be freezing. We need to accumulate enough food before that.' He continued.
'Elder shaman, how many days' worth of food stock is there?' Father inquired.
'Little over fifteen days, my chief.' the elder shaman replied.
'Okay, we will move out in a week. So make your preparation according to it.'
'Also, you'll be rounding up nearby feral orcs and bringing them here. Make sure to hunt according to it. If you can't hunt enough, then there is no need to bring new orcs.' Father ruled out his order.
'Chief, we also want to join the hunting squad this time.' As the meeting was getting over, Darg intercepted. I knew he's been acting weird, but this getting aggravating.
'Hmm, I told you yesterday to ask me anything, so I'm not gonna deny it. I'll send Uuk with you guys, so that should be safe.' He said in a very relaxed manner.
'Uuk, you have a week, so prepare them.' Father said and got up. It showed that the meeting was over. Soon he left, and everybody followed him.
'Darg, are you okay? I see you are behaving differently. Tell me if something is there in your mind.' I pulled over Darg and asked him sincerely.
'It's nothing, brother. It has become a little boring with our monotonous lifestyle. That's why I was not happy for a few days and asked uncle to let us out.' He laughed and said blithely. When I see it, he is not entirely wrong. I'm still not 100% convinced, but the main thing is that he has said what was on his mind. I would have been more worried f he had told me everything was okay.
'That's good. Let's prepare for our hunt.' I reciprocated in with the same warmth and patted his shoulder. After that, we will probably have some combat practice and sparring. Above that, was more excited to try astral steps. Indeed, things are spicing up.