Nafız, landing a solid smack on Alis's butt after catching her by the ear resembling cotton candy, hadn't taken her questioning looks off the power animal.
"I was joking, okay? Don't hit me in public!"
The tiny white rabbit's backpedaling had been very rapid; while opening her slightly teary, bead-like eyes wide, words had come out of her tiny mouth as if begging.
"Okay, go on, eat your meal!"
When the female orc pointed to the corpses gathered by the two druids, the power animal didn't wait even for a moment; sounds of bones started reaching ears as she entered under the small mound formed at lightning speed.
"Sir, these are legendary spirit animals; how did you manage to revive one of the lost teachings of the Druids?"
Number One, having finished his job with the dead bodies of the soldiers, had thrown himself in front of Nafız in astonishment as if his eyes would pop out of their sockets; rumors he only heard in stories and didn't give much credit to were being confirmed before his eyes.
"Shut your mouth and take your place; wait for that duel to finish first!"
Alyon and Pehlivan were in a fierce battle; this struggle where weapons were not used was happening more in the form of fist-fighting and wrestling.
The style most used by the duo, experiencing the pain felt by the opponent in their own bodies with every punch thrown, was wrestling; one side was relentlessly pressing until the other surrendered.
"I give up!"
Although it didn't last as short as when they started this training method, not much time passed before the hulking orc's voice rang in the empty square; Alyon, unable to defeat his own power animal, had shouted in anger.
"Wow! This time the fight lasted about a hundred breaths; if you go at this speed, you can finish the struggle in a draw in three or five years."
While the power animal getting up from over him beat his chest with pride, its owner's state was pathetic; a part belonging to him constantly defeating him reduced his morale to zero, and encountering the same result every time made him the subject of his friend's mockery.
"I feel it soon, very soon I will smash that big head of yours to the ground!"
While the gray-haired orc was slowly straightening up, he scolded Pehlivan, who was making displays of joy; this action would only make him more annoyed because the spirit animal he was defeated by just moments ago was beckoning him with its hand.
"Hey friend, why do you refrain from using all your power?"
The speaker was Nafız; while walking toward her friend with the two druids tagging along, she called out to Alyon in a scolding tone.
"Easy for you to say; when Alis eats corpses, she both gets stronger herself and collects blood essence for you, no conflict of interest of course."
"Is mine like that? If I get punched, it hurts; if I punch, it hurts!"
Alyon wasn't considered wrong on this matter; while a relationship based on mutual gain continued between Nafız and her power animal, his situation was the exact opposite.
"Brother, my heart is pure; if I wanted, I would absorb those blood essences with my bracers too, but the intention is for hearts to be one!"
The hulking orc hadn't bought his friend's fake humility, but he had no words to say either; perhaps partly because he couldn't imagine ever getting along well with Pehlivan, he was a bit jealous of them.
"Look what I'll say; since I am here anyway, use your lineage power in your next duel, let's see what happens?"
When Alyon, who fought only with his wrist strength, heard this suggestion, he remained motionless for a while by taking his head between his two hands; although no one knew, he was lamenting to himself why he hadn't been able to think of this before.
"No need to wait; I want to try immediately!"
Alyon was on fire in these moments; while the defeat he experienced still preserved its freshness, the fire of revenge had ensured the blood flowing in his veins accelerated.
"Okay, will we wait for your wrestling all day? While we have a continent that needs to be conquered ahead of us, a druid warrior, and two unskilled people in our hands, we don't have the luxury of wasting time!"
These were the facts; although they dominated the bases and military situation of the Mercenaries in the invaded lands thanks to the information they obtained at the outpost, knowing and realizing were two completely different events.
"My mind wasn't set on that job anyway, Nafız; let's say we organized a raid on their bases and destroyed them, these men will build new ones!"
"If we turn the job to brute force when we have no chance of surprise attack, this time manpower will be needed; since we can't bring an army over the Orc Steppes, how will this work!"
While the gray-haired orc was speaking, Nafız's eyes had fallen on the sharp-looking druid gripping his iron stick tightly; when Alyon noticed this toward the end of his words, he wouldn't delay in getting the message.
"So it will be like this; then let me carry out the job of dealing with this kid more seriously!"
The killing of the ten soldiers following them was a test known only by Nafız and Alyon; among the three druids, only Conlaoch had managed to pass this.
"Come on, let's go to a place where we can find soldiers for our new army without wasting time!"
After speaking cheerfully, Nafız would turn her back rapidly; when she met the gazes of the two druids waiting for her here, she remembered that she had completely forgotten them.
"What do you want?"
These types had fallen into such an insignificant situation that the female orc hadn't even kept in mind what they asked a moment ago.
"Sir, you possess spirit animals, which are a legend among our community; how did you achieve this despite not being a druid?"
The coming question would surprise the short-haired orc; she hadn't thought that the exact same ability she gained due to the reward dungeon would be a technique belonging to the druids.
"Tell me first what this spirit animal is!"
The frail-voiced druid would jump right in as if waiting for someone to ask him these.
"The spirit animal is the greatest fighting ability of us druids; a guardian we acquire as a result of becoming one with nature takes our place to face our enemies!"
This was what the druids heard from their ancestors because a person with the capacity to awaken a spirit animal hadn't emerged in their communities for a very long time.
"Is that so!"
This would be the first remark of Nafız, who thought for a while after putting her hand on her chin; after handling the event thoroughly, she wanted to make an explanation, albeit short.
"Do you think the ability to be compatible with nature belongs only to your race? In the place where we were born, our greatest enemy was environmental conditions; we have man-eating rivers, lakes where one side melts your skin while the other freezes your bones in the Orc Steppes!"
"Do you think the whole world consists of green trees, flying birds, and sweet sunlight warming one's inside, you little ignoramuses?"
"We orcs understood the unfavorable conditions, fought with them, and made them the way we wanted; here, the two spirit animals you see are gifts we forcibly took from nature!"
When Nafız completed her words, the three druids were looking around almost like newborn babies; what they heard presented a perspective completely different from what was taught to them.
Of course, the female orc wouldn't tell them the truth; she wasn't in a position to say no to a motivation adorned with small lies.
"I am very hungry; give me some food from that stash of yours, Nafız!"
Of the two orcs who hadn't eaten anything since leaving their motherland, the gray-haired one could speak with difficulty while swallowing back the water in his mouth; thinking about the meats in his friend's inter-spatial ring, he had practically turned into Pavlov's Dog.
"Go hunt, you glutton; even a mountain wouldn't last against ready meals?"
Alyon would bend his neck; rather than hunting in a geography he didn't know, he was after devouring the food waiting ready.
"No, really I won't buy it; two tribes get full with one meal of yours. Once you open that mouth, you don't know when to stop!"
Actually, Nafız had spoken remembering the old days of her friend; if she saw the way Alyon ate during the two years they didn't see each other, she wouldn't speak like this at all.