Chapter 270: Orc Tribes

Somewhere in the chaotic plains, the biggest orc horde kept on gathering new members over the past few weeks bolstering their numbers.

Before, there were merely a dozen tribes' worth of orcs gathering because of the barbarian attacks three months ago. Since then their numbers have been increasing, especially in the last few days.

Fragments of more destroyed tribes eventually converged there, and before any of them realized it, there were now more than 7,000 orcs gathered in one place. It was the biggest gathering they have ever had.

The green-skinned creatures all gathered in a settlement near an abandoned mine. It had simple wooden walls with two huge entrances on each side.  Within the place, there were simple buildings made of wood, their crude craftsmanship indicating that they were made by the hands of Gretchin. 

At first, they were all able to live there, but now thanks to the fast population growth, most have to camp outside the settlement.

In the middle of the settlement, there was an open clearing. A few dozen important-looking orcs had gathered, while others stood around them to watch.

"Guk Thar! Dra Zur!"

"The barbarians' recent invasion has killed many of us! Now, the blood warrior tribe is coming to claim our land, what say you!" One of the orcs slammed the stone table in anger.

"Chiwikkkk Lor Tak!"

The Orc who was speaking was called Guldan. He is a high orc and a Warchief from the Yellow Hand tribe.

He was part of the orc chiefs who were pushing for the goal to unite the tribes. However, each orc tribe carried its own foolish pride and its own ideals. Hence, uniting them under one banner had been proven all but impossible. Until today, that is.

"Ruth! Ak Tor!"

"If this continues, there will be no orc left alive!" Another orc roared, trying to attract the attention of their colleagues.

Right as the orc screamed, another chief stepped forward. Compared to the high orc, he was much bigger, with his skin a darker green than the rest and sporting a long facial hair that dragged on the stone floor. In contrast, not a single strand of hair could be seen on his head, which gave him the name LongBeard.

"Guldan! You high orcs worry too much! We live and die as real orcs, and we will always welcome death in a glorious battle!"

The high orc could only shake his head upon seeing the behavior of the other orcs. Every time this point was brought up, the orcs were always like this, and it never failed to irritate him every time.

"Listen to me, all of you!" The high orc screamed, his voice echoing in the tunnels and making all present turn to look towards him. "They have 3,000 grey ones on their side! If we don't try to unite under one banner now, they will slaughter us all!"

Another war chief stood up, his eyes gleaming with no small amount of glee.

"Then, this is a good day to die!" While raising his arm towards the crowd he shouted "What say you?!!"

The gathered orc warchiefs, the champions, and the hundred grunts all cheered in excitement, some even raised their rusted metal weapons at the prospect of another battle.

While they were still drowning in euphoria, another orc warchief stood and made his move. His voice was calm, but it commanded respect, and all orcs suddenly paid attention to him.

Though his physique looked average compared to the other orcs, numerous greyed scars litter his body from his face to his exposed feet. Thanks to that, he was known as Scar.

"Listen!! Guldan is wise! If we are going to die, we shall die on the battlefield with honor! Under one banner we must! Let us struggle in the most glorious battle!"

The scars littering his body were not for show, as he was known as the strongest war chief of them all. As the orcs cheered his decision, he continued.

"For that, we shall choose a leader between us!"

"Chiwwwikkkk! Chiiwwwiiikkk!"

Thanks to the mention of a new leader, the situation turned even more rowdy. The sounds of banged rocks and thumping feet echo deep and shook the tunnels they were inside slightly.

It was common knowledge that the orcs' culture revolved around strength and a glorious death, but such a culture was enforced by the battle instinct they acquired when they were young. Each orc would think of themselves as the best warrior by default even if reality said otherwise. Thanks to this, they would not accept another's strength unless they were beaten or they knew someone stronger than them was beaten.

Currently, the settlement held more than 50 tribes' worth of orcs, but only 11 of them were tribes led by Warchief, while the rest were merely small tribes led by champions.

As much as the orcs wished to prove their mettle in the leader selection, a battle of a grand scale is marching closer to them. Luckily, they knew better than to follow their instincts now, and would only consider a warchief to lead them through this massive war.

From the 11 war chiefs gathered there, three stood out as the best among the rest.

Guldan was known as the wisest orc, an advantage he obtained thanks to his heritage as a high orc. Under his tribe, he had 500 warriors, and it was said that he could employ trickery under certain situations, something orcs usually would loath to even try.

LongBeard had the most warriors, almost 1,000 of them, thanks to his charisma and his willingness to indulge his subjects, a feature that made him well-loved among the orcs.

Meanwhile, Scar was known as the strongest warchief, with the discipline to match. Most who would join Scar's tribe do so with the understanding that they would be subjected to training that is no different from torture.

The combination of the 11 war chief tribes carried a total of almost 5,000 orcs, while the others were mostly smaller tribes, each with less than 100 warriors in their ranks.

At this tense moment, surprisingly there was another orc warchief who stood up to express his desire for the position. Everyone turned around to look, but when they saw who it was, they were disappointed.

The scary-looking orc was actually known for his powers, but thanks to an incident, he lost his leadership position in disgrace and now he was currently the sole member of his tribe.

The name of this orc was Ghral.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,