Wuk stood in front of a certain cage with a unreadable expression.

It was a cage holding two individuals in captivity. They were the two orcs who refused to cooperate with the plan.

Orcs were similar to trolls. They were physically strong and had a variety of skin coloration suited for forested environments like trolls.

These two particular orcs were both gray forest orcs. Their skin resembles stones in light and blending well in shade.

Yet, the differences between the two were distinct. For example, orcs had snouts and tusks similar to warthogs. Although they lacked the quick regeneration properties that trolls had, orcs did have shorter and more stable builds than trolls.

In the right circumstances, an orc can knock over a taller troll and trample them to death.

“Why do you remain here,” the troll spoke slowly as he opened the cage and entered.

One of the orcs stood up.

“We don’t work with humans,” answered the orc.

The orc standing in front of the troll was dwarfed by a significant height difference. The troll scrunched his face, obviously displeased with this answer from the defiant orc.

“Not even for freedom? Do you wish to battle to die a humiliating death by humans? Are you not aware of the situation,” the troll questioned the orc in a rough tone.

The orc took the words of the troll calmly–no, the orc simply didn’t care what the troll had to say.

Right now, only the troll has to listen.

The speaking orc looked back to his companion.

“Humans… are the reason why my brother now has no tongue. He can now no longer properly eat, taste, or even speak,” the orc articulated dully like speaking about what he had for dinner last night.

The troll decided to remain silent for the time being. He now knew that the orcs weren’t listening to him at all.

Upon hearing the words of the orc, he looked a little more closely at the other orc. He could see that there were cuts on its lips and dried bloodstains around its mouth, yet the orc’s eyes could not be seen as the orc was covering them with their hands.

“My brother is sick. Brother, let him see. Let him take a look at what those humans have done to you,” the orc addressed his brother.

“Gruah…”

Responding with a weak groan, the orc revealed what was hidden beneath their own hand.

Wuk was immediately repulsed.

White pus, black spots, and bulging faded gray infected eyes. The orc’s face was infested with disfigurement and disease.

‘This orc is done for.’

That was the only thought that Wuk had towards this orc.

“Do you see? If you do, leave now. I cannot contain my hatred towards humans. Yet I am powerless, so powerless in the face of those humans. Hahaha…”

The orc spoke in a crazed tone, before letting out a short spine-chilling laughter. A laughter that contained a fraction of the madness he built up.

Wuk was a seasoned warrior. He had hunted many beasts and monsters. However, even he felt a danger that couldn’t be underestimated. The danger of those who have nothing left to lose.

“We are weak. We can’t do anything. That is why as a last act of defiance… me and my brother all plan to die. Be glad, troll, that we will not stop your plans with those… humans,” the mad orc shook at the mention of humans before approaching his brother.

The orc hugged his brother in a tight embrace.

“Grugh…”

“Brother. It is alright. You had to do it. To inherit father’s will, you needed to conduct the funeral beast feast. Although the lack of preparations made you sick, I will make sure you are not alone,” the orc comforted his dying kin.

‘It's best… not to provoke them further.’

Wuk knew a madman would not help them even if they tried. Even his fists will not be able to resolve this issue. As a hunter, he knew when to cut losses and judge whether he should continue or retreat.

The troll retreated away from the cage and left. This memory will be left within his mind for the rest of his existence.

The image of a mad orc hugging a living orc corpse.

===

Zenak hugged his older brother, Knas.

Orcs are a race who take part in a culture very different from what most would consider as “civilized.”

They do not shy away from eating raw corpses, their bodies strong enough to resist most complications associated with the act, such as disease.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Yet, orcs can still be afflicted with plagues, parasites, and a plethora of other ailments.

Most of these issues arise from a single source.

Orcs eating the corpse of another orc.

This event is not uncommon. Orcs will eat the dead corpse of the brethren as a common funeral practice inherent in their culture.

It is called the “Funeral Beast Feast.”

Orcs believe that eating someone whom they care for will allow the deceased to live on inside of the living. They also believe that the strength and will of the deceased will be passed on to the living through the act.

Despite what some may believe, orcs aren’t fools. They wouldn’t have survived in the Vanishing Forest if they weren’t capable of competing against formidable races like trolls.

They knew that disease and illness would be made and spread if they conducted their funeral practices carelessly.

At least for orcs in the Vanishing Forest, they would clean the corpse of the fallen with reverence, before laying the body down to shout praise for the deceased in order to rouse the will and power of the dead individual.

This process is known as “Luring,” which is overseen by a Shaman; the equivalent of a human priest presiding over a burial.

After Luring, the remains are cremated in a furnace and family members take turns swallowing the ashes. Close friends of the deceased orc will also take part in the act called “Passing.”

Passing is when the living orcs inherit the will and strength of the deceased.

“Don’t worry, brother. I will take you and father into me as well.”

After the troll left, Zenak and Knas were left alone.

No, only Zenak was left.

Knas, who was barely holding on, had finally given in to death's embrace just now.

“Brother… I wish a Shaman was here.”

Kwargh…!

Pop…

Shlup…

Only the sinister sounds of consuming followed.

===

After gathering everyone up, Vow saw the troll return alone. She nodded at the troll and gestured for him to stand next to her with Chuka.

She hadn’t placed much hope on the troll in the first place.

Those orcs… something about them left her feeling uneasy when she was with Chuka as he explained their ideas to them.

“That troll… can you ask him what happened?”

Chuka nodded and communicated with the troll in Vinish. Afterwards, the old goblin took an odd and wary look at a certain cage before relaying what he heard.

“Those orcs refuse to join and are actually a liability. However, the orcs have already expressed their intentions to not get in our way,” spoken matter-of-factly by the old goblin.

“I see,” she replied unsurprised.

She looked at all the slaves. She saw the humans and goblins, who all had varied expressions on their dirt-covered faces.

Most held worried expressions, while some adopted wary looks at her, Chuka, the troll, and even among themselves.

As for how the troll was doing…

Due to being unfamiliar and being of a different species, Vow wasn’t able to get a good grasp on their thoughts or emotions. However, she supposed that they were ready to act based on their creased and tense looking facial expression.

Inwardly, she couldn’t help sighing.

She had come a long way and was accomplishing something bigger than she initially expected.

‘Yet, I have to be cautious.’

She gestured to the old goblin. Seeing her signal, the old goblin started addressing everyone. She had already communicated her desire to have him in charge leading everyone.

“Everyone, I am sure you are all aware of the plan right now. Judging by you being here, I should be safe to assume that all of you don’t wish to become a battle slave, right?”

Most slaves stayed silent with a few nodding. Right now, not many are speaking against Chuka due to the troll standing beside him.

“Then you all should know the only option we have right now is to fight, or rather, resist. We need to take hostages to threaten the city in order to leave,” uninterrupted Chuka spoke a few more words.

There was a slight stir among the slaves. One of the frail old men asked, “Aren’t there monsters outside the city? Besides, will the city really just let us go?”

The question was followed by a wave of even more questions, dissatisfaction, and doubt from other slaves, making it hard to even coherently hear and understand their words.

“Why should we listen to you?”

“Wah Ake Tou Wrink Chwo Werk?”

“How about I just escape on my own? What do you think you can do to me?”

Seemingly emboldened, the old man continued shooting out questions like water flowing out of a fountain.

SMASH…!

Everyone was silenced when the troll hit the dirt ground with his fist, leaving an imprint on the earth.

Even if the troll was weakened from starvation, a troll was still a troll. If the troll wanted, it could kill everyone here.

‘Sometimes, it was easier to get people to listen with a show of power.’

“Thank you,” the old goblin thanked the troll before addressing the slave crowd again.

“Right now, you have no choice. Either follow us, or be taken down here. Simply put, you have no choice,” the old goblin used intimidation to apply psychological pressure for obedience.

The faces of the slaves paled and they decidedly followed along for their own sakes, temporarily uniting as one.

Vow sighed in relief secretly, it would have been troublesome if there were particularly defiant individuals among the other slaves. If they decided to go off on their own, her own escape would be jeopardized or become much riskier.

With this, the rest was relatively simple.

She had Chuka help instruct everyone to arm themselves with the equipment and weapons stored as merchandise for the upcoming auction.

Everyone began to look around for items suitable for themselves.

They were all relatively high-end monster leather armor with a single set of heavy plate armor. Additionally, there were mostly simple weapons such as swords, spears, axes, daggers, bows, and the like.

All these items all shared a trait of being practical, durable, and simple enough to use. There was also enough to arm everyone here.

Originally, she thought that there would not have been enough weapons for everyone. It was because she had overestimated the number of slaves before gathering everyone.

Initially, there were around a hundred slaves, though a lot more had died than she thought. She supposed it was likely the Smiling Caravan trying to transition to other lucrative industries besides slave trade.

Anyway, it was both good and bad that there were fewer slaves. It meant that there would be less internal disputes, but their overall strength would be lacking.

‘These items are helpful in increasing their combat capability, but…’

Vow couldn’t help remembering about certain objects that held special properties.

She heard of these in legends, rumors, and stories; such as tales of a nearly indestructible armor that was capable of repairing itself after being fed certain materials.

The items here cannot compare to such unfathomable things.

Yet it was to be expected, the Smiling Caravan was not at a level where they could deal in such lucrative and sought-after items that are often mentioned in legends.

‘No, this is good enough.’

She observed as everyone went to pick out their equipment.

The old man that had tried to incite everyone to go their own path wanted to take the only set of plate armor. Though he struggled to even lift the armor’s helmet off its stand.

The scene caused her to squint her eyes slightly.

Old people should be wise and experienced, yet she wasn’t sure about how wise this particular individual was.

The plate armor was indeed the most protective piece of equipment here, but it was just as heavy as it was protective. Not only was it heavy, it stuck out like a sore thumb in a crowd.

When she was gathering equipment for herself, she purposely chose generic, flexible, and light leather armor. This way, she wouldn’t be hindered as much while trying to escape the city.

‘This man…’

Although she was just making assumptions, this world was not a kind place towards the elderly. Most will die before growing old, with few exceptions.

There were two methods someone can utilize to make it to old age off the top of her mind.

First, one is powerful enough to secure a safe retirement even in old age. Power which could include individual strength or possessed wealth.

Second…

Is to be willing to do anything to survive.

Someone like herself. Or rather, someone she aims to be.

Thunk…!

Crack…

Clatter. Clatter.

“Ahhhh! My fucking foot,” the old man exclaimed in agony as he dropped the heavy helmet onto his foot causing a chilling crack to come from his bones. It was likely one of the old man’s fragile bones had fractured.

He instantly became the center of attention of everyone who was busy picking equipment or arming themselves.

Vow looked away as the old man’s groans of pain spread in the area.

‘Perhaps, I’m overthinking it…’

Sometimes, her imagination often gets the better of her.

Perhaps, the old man was just lucky. The world was unreasonable like that.

As the old man is struggling to move the helmet off his foot, the troll approaches.

He bent down and picked the helmet off the ground with relative ease, before giving a strange look to the old man.

The troll thought for a moment before deciding to say the only Common words it knew.

“Fuck. Off.”

The old man hesitantly backs off reluctantly as stared at the plate armor. The troll showed off his large canines before the old man finally ran away to get something else.

The troll then began trying to equip the helmet. He struggled at first, but managed to squeeze it on.

The armor was intended for humans, though the troll was likely going to forcibly equip it as a tight fit.

After seeing that spectacle, Vow began observing other slaves.

She was mostly enjoying the show since she had already been equipped with the items she needed. After tossing away the brick, she chose to take on actual weapons.

She took two different weapons, a spear and a dagger.

A spear was a practical and simple to use medium-ranged weapon. The spear would allow her to stay a safe distance away from enemies.

As for where she got the spear, she took it off the last mercenary she killed.

As for the dagger, she also stole it off of another mercenary she killed previously.

The dagger will serve as a good close range weapon to protect herself if she is ever approached too closely by an enemy while using her spear.

It was a good combination for someone who was just at best a beginner in combat.

As for the knife she originally used…

She generously offered it to some other slave that was too weak to hold a sword. It was a shame that all the daggers were taken by the others.

‘In any case, whatever happens in the future, the person who takes that knife will have no one but themselves to blame.’

Now she only had one other worry besides escaping.

When will she get an oppurtunity to wash herself?