Semilia launched three arrows before she jumped towards him. What came down onto the spot Semilia was wasn't a club, but a large yet crude axe whose head was made out of stone. A She-Ogre. Perhaps the mate of the other one, stood before them as it carried three sheep over its shoulder. Semilia spat on the ground while he gagged at the stench of the female Ogre. The monster growled, its thick limbs flexed and bulged with fat and muscle as it bent to put down the sheep. Both monsters did not move from where they stood. Neither did they. The other four ran to the safety of the house while they all stared at one another. Then, the male Ogre let out a roar as it lifted its club. It pointed it at them, at him, and it gurgled and growled and spoke in Ogsh. He could make out some of the words, but he did not speak the tongue of the Ogres. But then the She-Ogre roared out and silenced the male before it turned to him.

"Ik kar Gobalan? Ik kr at muacko?"

It was broken Goblin, but he understood what she said to him. He shook his head and drew his sword.

"Nakat ti itir kuom gar Goabul, ik ka'arn anto maszh'udun!"

The She-Ogre narrowed its eyes at him as he stood defiant. A growl made his body tremble and shake as the Ogre's shoulders tensed.

For something that stood at least 12 feet high, it moved fast. He barely had time to dodge the massive axe the whirled through the air towards him. It crashed beside him in an explosion of dirt. An explosion whose force was strong enough to knock him to the ground. The ground still shook as he lifted himself up, and he looked up and saw why it was still shaking. A brief yelp left his mouth as Semilia dragged him by the collar of his shirt and ran towards Stefan. Behind them, the female Ogre charged at them while it bellowed out a terrifying cry. Semilia cussed as the two of them ran and she stuck a handful of arrows onto the ground as they did. Meanwhile, it wasn't the male Ogre that charged Stefan but the opposite and he had driven it back a few feet backwards with a flurry of blows. He danced on top of the hill, yet the Ogre matched him blow for blow with his massive club.

"I'll buy you time, Sirius! Kill that fuckin' thing! [Firetipped Bolts]!"

The arrows the Low-Elf stuck to the ground exploded, covering the Ogre with dirt and obscuring its vision."

"[Flame Pillar]!"

A distant voice rang across the hill as Sirius' form melted into Semilia's shadow.

Fire flashed all around them as a giant pillar of flame shot up from under the Ogre. The Ogre let out a screech as it hurled itself away from the Mage's Spell. Hairs all over its body were singed but the Spell simply burnt off most of its loincloth and heated up the Ogre's body. Still, the Ogre was mad. Furious even. It picked up the axe it had thrown at him and roared. Its thick fingers suddenly curled into a fist as it swung its body back, its arm tracing an arch through the air and towards him. He leapt up, but the punch still hit him on the side of his leg and sent him sprawling on the ground. Yet he was still able to flung himself out of the way three times. One for each downward stroke of the ace. Bam. Bam. The weapon went and left deep cuts onto the earth and with each miss, the Ogre grew more furious. Finally, the Ogre tried to grab him. He smiled and pointed at the center of her forehead.

"[Ice Spike]!"

A solid chunk of ice flew out from his hand, exploding as it crashed against the thick skull of the Ogre.

"Gobalan!"

The Ogre roared as it crashed onto the ground with its hands clutching the bleeding spot on its forehead.

He was about to dash away when its hand blurred. Crack. He roared out in pain as thick fingers three times the size of his wrapped around his left leg and squeezed. Miu slithered out of his boot and wrapped herself around the Ogre's hand, but it continued to squeeze tighter and tighter. He cast [Fireball] and [Ice Spike] at her while arrows stuck themselves into her back, yet both barely did anything as the Ogre pulled him closer. She was bleeding on the spot where he struck her with an [Ice Spike] but it was clear that it barely fazed her. The Ogre opened its jaws, letting lose the odors of rot from its reeking mouth. He could hear Semilia scream in the distance while magic gathered near the house as Riel channeled a powerful Spell.

"I know you. From north. Son of great forest Chief."

The Ogre spoke in clear Goblin as she slowly stood up.

"Oeka. Ku ik Oekan. You travel south with adventurers when your people go north?"

"North? Why would Chieftain bring Oeka north?"

An arrow struck the shoulder of the Ogre as she lifted him by the leg. She grunted and narrowed her eyes at him as they continued to speak in Goblinspeak.

"Not Chief, Chief-son. Lord. He is Lord now. Lord of many people, Goblin and not Goblin. We go to meet Lord of Oeka."

The Ogre growled as another arrow bounced off her thick skin.

"Tell them to stop and I let you go."

"... Like that? No tricks?"

"Are we Trolls?"

He stared at the Ogre for a moment.

"S-Stop! Semilia! Stop arrows! Please stop!"

Another arrow flew, but it simply shattered against the Ogre's thick skin. Likewise, the Ogre let out a roar that made the two figures on the hill pause in their battle.

"Sirius! A-Are you alright?"

"L-Leg broke- Grack!"

He landed on his back with a thud after the Ogre let him go. Miu still clung to her hand, lapping up the blood on her it.

"We talk. Tell them that."

He lay on his back, his leg braced with stiff wood and tied together with cloth. Semilia and Stefan stood beside him, their weapons still trained on the two Ogres that sat in front of them. The male Ogre's hand was bloody and had one digit missing from four. There was also a gash that ran from his thigh down to the top of the knee. Still, he remained calm and seated while the female Ogre watched the Mage in the distance with a [Fireball] Spell ready to blast the two of them. She let out a stinking sigh as she leaned on the pile of sheep bodies at her side. Semilia swatted his hand away when he tried to scratch an itch from beneath the splint. The Ogre saw this and snortled. He growled at the monster, at the fact that it would take some immense force just to break an Ogre's bones. Sure, Goblins are smarter compared to Ogre's, but what can smarts do when a Great Bear tries to wrestle with you?

"Tell them we killed these sheep to make offering to the Lord of the Oeka tribe."

"... They take sheep as food for journey."

The Ogre smiled and nodded at his words.

"Why does Oeka travel north? What is there in north? And tribute? Not a Goblin thing to do."

The Ogress laughed, a cause for alarm to the two adventurers by his side.

"How then would Iekar "Bloodclaw" Oeka, Goblin Lord of the East and Chieftain of Many, feed a hundred thousand mouths? Ogres, Trolls, Goblins, and even Orc warbands travel under his banner, and more flock to him with each passing day. Even those from the coast hear of his deeds, and they venture to him to answer his call. And with the war of these Humans raging across the land, we travel swift and safe."

He said nothing as the Ogress sat before him.

"How about you, firstborn of the great Chief of the forest? Why do you travel south with adventurers? Were you enslaved by them?"

"East. We are heading east and I am not their slave. I am their friend."

At that moment, the Ogress let out a laugh as she slammed down her fist onto the ground repeatedly.

"Kr ik-nat ikl bruka'an!"

Those words made him pull his dagger out from its sheath and point it at the Ogress. At this slight, the Ogress' smile vanished and she glared at the Goblin and the two adventurers who aimed their weapons for their throats.

"You can never be friends with adventurers, Son of Okar the Wise. They shall betray you when the time comes. They are kin killers, hunters of monsters, the bane of us."

"Yet they are my friends."

"... And so you say."

He left it at that and turned towards his companions.

"What did she say?"

"... They go north. To large tribe. They catch the sheep to offer tribute to mighty Chieftain. Monsters gathering and migrating to great tribe."

"That's all?"

He paused for a moment and mulled over Stefan's question. His furrowed brows eased and air escaped his lips.

"More monsters will come. Very dangerous."

He turned back to the Ogres and sneered at them.

"What else will you do? What will you do when we let you go?"

"We? We will rest in the mountain, of course. Then, we shall raid more villages and more farms and steal more cattle and sheep. Perhaps, take Manflesh to the tribes as a gift."

The Ogress smiled and the Ogre beside her laughed at what she just said. She glanced at the two beside him and licked her lips.

"Have you tasted Manflesh before? The She-Elf beside you would probably taste delicious."

"I... I do not eat people."

"Really? If you want, we can help you. Tell the adventurers to let us go, and you can help us surprise them. We will give you the Magic user on that hill and the Halfling if you help us."

The Ogress smiled at him while he just blankly stared at them. After a moment of thought, he nodded.

The smiles on the monsters' faces were visible and Semilia and Stefan shifted their stares towards the two Ogres. Stefan's finger twitched as he hovered over the sword's handle and Semilia did not even try to hide her intent. But before the two of them could move, Sirius' fingers flicked upwards as his screech pierced their ears. Flames shot out from his palm and blinded the Ogress while ice shot forward in a violent arc straight towards the Ogress' head. The Ogress didn't even have time to react to his sudden attack. Crack. The sound of bones shattered by the [Ice Spike] echoed out as the Ogress brains splattered on the ground and painted the grass red. A wheeze left the Ogress' mouth as her eyes bulged out of the deep sockets of her skull.

A silver blur moved beside him. Stefan's hand was already outstretched and the tip of his sword plunged deep into the throat of the Ogre. A flick of his hand and the Ogre's head rolled on the ground while its body slumped forward, blood dripping from its neck. The Ogress' hand twitched and Semilia pinned it to the ground with an arrow. A finger twitched again and Semilia dragged him away from the two corpses. Blood pooled beneath the Ogress and something poked out of the hole in the middle of her forehead. Yet her eyes remained wide open. She stared. She stared not at the skies, but at him. Stared at him with brown eyes filled with shock and betrayal, yet no life burned behind that gaze of hers.

"Ogres. I do not like them."

He said with a burning anger in his voice.

"W-What did she say?"

"... Rude things. Cursed me and said bad things about my tribe."

He said to Semilia as he tried to move his broken leg.

"Don't try to move that. It might get worse."

Stefan said as he bent down and took a look at his leg.

"Semilia, this looks bad. I'll go get Riel and the horses and say thanks to the family and the Merchant. Tighten up the splint and shave off some of the wood."

Said Stefan before he walked away with a grim look on his face.

"A-Are you sure you do not wish to take my cart? I can help—"

"No, that won't be necessary. Please, tell the Mayor that there's currently a monster migration from the south to the north."

Stefan said with a smile on his face.

"We can offer no payment for the lost sheep. Apologies."

Riel said with an apologetic tone.

They left only instructions to warn the neighboring villages of increased attacks and nothing else. Out of the three horses Draukr gave them, they took two and left one with the Merchant to help him warn the villages faster. Stefan grunted. The horse neighed as Stefan finished tying up the small cart behind the horse with Riel and him inside of it. Semilia held the reins of her horse tight while Stefan mounted the horse that will drag the cart. They were about to leave when the man, a plain-looking man dressed in simple clothes, stepped forward and handed Stefan a small block of their homemade cheese. The man coughed to clear his throat and spoke to him with a slight tremble but clear and deep voice.

"Sir, I think it is better if you warn the Guilds yourself."

"Why?"

The man sighed and shook his head.

"The war is devastating these parts, sir. Adventurers rarely come to the aid of villages like ours and I doubt they'd still come with the war raging all around."

Said the Farmer as he stepped back from the cart.

Stefan said nothing else as he looked forward and whipped his steed forward while the man, his wife, and his child just stared. Semilia rode beside the cart while Stefan simply followed a path that the Merchant said would lead them to the main roads. As they rode away from the house, he stared out of the cart and towards the north. His frown turned into a scowl and his blank face contorted into a pained and angry expression. Inconceivable. Utterly inconceivable. If what those Ogres said was real, even just a fraction of it, it would mean that his brother had become a powerful Chieftain. No, not Chieftain. Goblin Lord. That would mean that he had become a Chieftain of many tribes. And Orc Warbands?! Their tribe made war on them just a few years before he was born! And that thought made his hand clench and made him grit his teeth at the image of Goblins and Orcs and Ogres and Trolls and other monsters waging war on... on...

He glanced at Riel, who read her Spellbook in silence across from him with a serious expression. She was from this part of the world. East of the Arendine and further south from where he came from but east nonetheless. What would happen then if his brother, along with all those who followed him, marched south to wage war on the kingdoms that lay here? What would happen if he reached them? Would he be able to stop him from slaughtering the people around him? Those he called friends? Or would they ignore him and snatch them away from him while he lay there powerless and unable to raise even a finger to help them. Those troublesome thoughts ran through his head while he simply watched the horizon for anything or anyone. Perhaps he should pay a visit back home someday. See how different his brother had become and what had time done to him. He wondered if he had become a Hobgoblin by now. He laughed at the thought.

"Ka... Ik kli ikn'nhar um-kirl'ha makr. Ahrin mu-ihkr..."

"Sirius? Did you say something?"

Riel looked up from her reading while he simply shook his head from side to side.

"My brother is better brother. Leads people well. Perhaps he has become strong warrior who makes things fear him. I would like to see him someday."

Sirius said with a slight smile as he laid his head down to rest on the cart.

"M-Maybe we can-"

"No. I will come to him alone when time comes."

He snapped, just as he closed his eyes to sleep.

"He doesn't like adventurers."