The audience, now quieted down, hadn’t recovered from the shock it had received a while back. And the results of the match baffled it even more.
“This… My guy won? I don’t believe this. Did I win my fucking bet with such odds?
Hahahahahahahaha!
Oh! Aaaaaah!
I’m a rich orc now.
Hahahaha! Where are the bitches and the booze? I’m throwing a party at my place. Only hot orcina are invited. Come one, come all! Hahahaha!”
The silence observed by everyone was suddenly broken by a random orc who looked like he was about to break into a tribal dance. He was the same guy who had placed his bets in favour of Borul on a whim before the start of the match. Since the guy’s chances of winning the match were extremely low, he was bound to receive serious returns on the amount he had invested in.
‘Bitches and booze? Hot orcinas? Um… Alephee… are you sure that the betting guy said all the things?’
Eren asked Alephee with doubtful expressions as she translated the betting guy’s speech for him. He soon received a response from her.
‘Well… I may have twisted some words to fit the context you understand.’
Eren had a blank look on his face as he asked Alephee a question that he didn’t need an answer for.
‘Um… What kind of image do you have of me and my contexts anyway?’
The butcher sighed and dropped the subject quickly as he noticed the changes in his surroundings.
That cry of happiness and excitement was enough of a spark for the spectators to start getting crazy once again. Now everybody chanted Borul’s name while ignoring Nurbag. Most of them had conveniently forgotten the fact they had thrashed him not too long ago.
But Borul wasn’t paying attention to any of the compliments and invitations from the Orcinas. He walked with his leisured stride and stood in front of Sharog who was standing on the other side of the safety membrane.
“What can I do for you, Lady Sharog?”
Borul asked and looked behind Sharog to see the two orcs that had accompanied her. He narrowed his eyes on Eren for a moment before looking at Sharog with his signature subtle smile. Subtle for an orc at least.
“Didn’t you say you don’t have enough people for the trial? Want to test this guy?”
Sharog pointed behind her back with her right thumb while looking at Borul. The latter looked like some understanding had dawned on him before responding.
“We indeed lack able hands. But that doesn’t mean we can take up anybody. We are limited by numbers in the trial after all.”
Sharon nodded before proceeding further.
“That’s why I brought him here. Test his battle strength. If he performs well, I’ll assign him a hunting task based on his performance. We’ll see how he completes the task. If he can perform well in the hunt, you can consider taking him in the team for the trial. How does that sound?’
Borul pondered for a bit then looked at Eren. He then snapped his fingers as if giving a sign to somebody and the mana membrane covering the battle ring disappeared. Then he scanned the stranger orc with his mana sense before responding.
“Difficult to tell about this guy. Where did you get him? Exiled from other tribes?”
Borul looked at Sharog and Ulga before dismissing his question.
“Never mind. New guy. What’s your name?”
Eren maintained a stoic face at the guy’s question before looking at Ulag. The latter understood his intentions and came forward to speak.
“Um… Borul… the thing is… the guy’s tongue had been cut out so he can’t speak. But he confirms that he comes from a different tribe. I guess they stripped him of his name as well.”
Borul didn’t like to listen to sob stories. So he just nodded before scratching his head and responding in the same laid-back manner he had addressed his opponent just now.
“Um… welcome to our tribe. It is better if you are assigned a name. So I’ll do the honours. Hm… how about Varhan?”
Borul received a nod from Eren to let him know that he was okay with the name. Neither the one who was named nor the one who named cared about it. So the matter was settled quickly.
“Okay. That settles it then. You will be known as Varhan in the tribe. Now get in. Let’s see how much of a hunter you are.”
***********************
Just when the people had decided to leave their spots and go about doing their duties, they saw two participants entering the field again. Nurbag was also taken away by two orcs. Immediately, the mana barrier was raised over the battle ring, indicating that a fight was about to happen.
The guy who had just won a fortune through the bet was tempted to gamble it again. Double or nothing– that was his way of life. This time he focused his eyes on a newbie orc who now seemed less impressive in front of Borul because of the latter’s recent performance.
‘I know the trend now. The less impressive the guy is, the more chances he has to secure a win.
I’ll invest my newfound wealth in this newbie. Let’s gamble one more time. Hehehehe!’
The betting guy thought of a master plan and immediately acted on it. Then he watched and waited for the battle to start.
*******************
“I’ll tell you the rules of the duel in case you aren’t aware. Only blunt weapons are allowed. Hand combat is preferred. You can use any spells and target any spot of your opponent’s body. The winner will be decided if either of us forfeits or gets incapacitated.
Should we start?”
Borul received another nod from Eren as a way to show his affirmation. The latter nodded as well before opening his arms wide.
“You can attack me all you want.”
Borul proclaimed only to learn that Varhan had disappeared. He appeared right in front of the defensive specialist and threw a punch at him.
But before the punch could be thrown, Borul felt that something was behind his back targeting him. Thus, he decided to bolster his back this time with a defensive spell while concentrating on his front. He wanted to block Varhan’s punches just the way he had done for Nurbag.
Too bad, Varhan had taken the advice Borul had given to Nurbag seriously. He had opened multiple fronts at the same time and was attacking the defence-specialist orc with it.
The hatchlings of the flame had made their appearance in the arena.
