It has been two days since the festival. Full of feasting and violence, it was all good fun. I was the star of the show after all, since my commonly stoic father was drunk, he boasted about me in front of the crowd in the camp fire.

Loud praises were raised in my name and I was given the awe of the boys and girls at my camp. A flirtatious look from many other girls caught my eye and the silver tongue of boys trying to get me to recruit them into my boyhood war squad. Regardless, after two days, I had let my father decide and find people for me.

And now, it was time. As I stood in front of the training area outside the village, the 4 other boys who would be under my command had been selected by my father. I looked towards them, all of them were older than me.

I was aged 4 while the rest of them were aged 6. 6 was the allotted year for a boy to join a boyhood war squad. 9 was the age when they would be able to join the adult squads and 12 would be considered adulthood. Orcs aged faster than humans after all.

The main difference was this, boyhood war squads were not given the right nor authority to challenge the other races that inhabited this continent. They were also not allowed to venture out for more than a week's travel time. They were also only allowed to engage goblins when it came to living combatants.

Each and everyone of them was taller than me, varying in height and size. I was the smallest, youngest and lightest of them all. However, none of them seemed to want to challenge me for my position as squad captain. At least, that seemed that way.

My father looked down towards me, giving me a pat on the shoulder. I could feel the weight of his hand as it rested on the bronze straps of my chestplate.

“Now! Pay respects to your new captain and announce your names!”

All of them, as if in unison, knelt down on their knees and bowed their heads. Each of them, starting from the left, sounded off with their names.

“Aged 6, As’kal, SIR!”

“Aged 6, Mal’ish, SIR!”

“Aged 6, Ok’Rik, SIR!”

“Aged 6, Chaganath, SIR!”

The last one caught my attention, it appeared that the son of the late Chaganath had come to join me. I glanced up at my father giving him a questioning look. All he did was shrug in my direction and wave his hands.

“Wait, that’s it? What the fuck?”

“They’re all yours now son. Go raid, kill, hunt. So long as you follow the laws of this land, it is acceptable.”

As my father waved his hand and left, I was left standing there, staring at my fellow brothers in arms, who were now under my command. I blinked for a few seconds, trying to gather my thoughts before one of them interrupted me

“Lord, may we stand now?”

I glanced down at the person who spoke, it was Chaganath, son of Chaganath. A prodigy in his own right, or so I’m told. Standing a full foot taller than me, having his fathers bronze skin. He is more than capable of killing goblins on his own. Already, scars marked his body from his hunting trips and other fights with the boys. He is the only boy in this squad that can match me in terms of skill, or so I’m led to believe.

“Yes.” I say quickly, “Rise.”

They all do so, standing up around me. Since Chaganath is the wealthiest and of the highest status, he is equipped with boiled leather armour. A full set of it for that matter, chest plate, greaves, legging, pants and all. It was functionally a gambeson, but there were gaps in the armour such as near the arms. Considering that it gets quite hot during the dat.

“Lord? What’s the plan for today?”

I glance over, looking to see who asked me the question, Ok’Rik, a low born. Low borns could serve in the same squads as middle borns and high borns. But, since he was the poorest. He had no armour and only stone weaponry.

“For now? I wish to see your capabilities when it comes to training. I wish to see what your capable of, your physical condition. Your abilities in combat. Now, who wishes to fight me in hand to hand combat!”

_____

Chaganath’s perspective

I stare at the shorter opponent, looking down at him as I step forward. I was confused, why was he only asking us to fight him in hand to hand combat. I was annoyed, was this the great fighter that my godfather had promised would lead me?

“Lord, are you a coward?”

He raised a brow, looking at me. It was obvious my comment dug under his skin and a scowl appeared on his face as the brow dropped.

“What are you implying?”

“I am implying that you are too afraid to face me with a weapon, you are not the leader I had hoped you to be.”

He barks a laugh, irritating me as the other 3 remain silent. I grip my spear and heft it towards him and he immediately stops laughing.

“Fight me with weapons, I challenge you for the position of captain of this war squad. If you defeat me, I will relinquish. If I win, I will take your position. Sound fair to me?”

To my surprise, he came back with a wide grin and said, “Sure, feel free to use your weapons, I’ll be unarmoured and without weaponry, try and beat me then. Coward.”

He started to strip down, removing all articles of weaponry and clothing from his person. He only had his boots and pants. He raised his fists in an odd stance that I did not recognize, but it seemed like he was attempting to wrestle me, as he was leaning forward with his palms held forward.

His legs were bent and his center of gravity was forward. I could tell what he was doing, he was going to try and grapple me to the ground and then defeat me. I shrugged, not wanting to give up my free advantage.

I adjusted my boiled leather armour. I made sure my bronze weaponry was on me before I had the duel start. A sword at my side, a spear and a round shield. Perfect, I was ready to do battle. As I began to circle him, I waited with bated breath for his guard to drop even if it was a split second.

I looked him in the eyes, staring him down for a good couple of seconds. Until his eye sight suddenly shifted towards my collar bone. That was all I needed. With a ferocious lunge, I pounced forward, sending my spear forward to stab through his stomach. If I killed him in this duel, not even the chieftain could find fault with me. I had 3 witnesses to back me up.

All of them stared at the fight with awe and fear, wondering who was the stronger fighter. The son of the chieftain, or the son of the chieftains' second in command.

In a flash, he suddenly swerved around me and slapped me square on the back of my head. It was as if he was toying with me. I grumbled in fury, rushing forward to jam to spear into his throat this time. Again, he gripped the head of the spear, sidestepped to my right and dragged the spear out of the way. Instead, he slapped me across the face as I was dragged with my spear.

I had had enough, I would not suffer this humiliation and mockery. Especially not in front of my would be subjects. With a sudden cry of fury, I threw my spear towards him. Not caring to see if it landed, I whipped out my sword and rushed toward him. Letting out a ferocious prayer towards Pandar as he was preoccupied with the spear.

“PANDAR, LET MY SWORD HIT TRUE!”

______

Takeshi/Simba’s perspective

HA! The fact that he had thrown the spear to distract me was a good idea. But my reflexes had been trained, with my human knowledge, goblin training and orc body, I avoided the spear strike with ease.

As the blade came down swooping towards me, I parried it aside, using my forearm on the wrist of my opponent to bring it down to the side. Now, it was time for me to fight seriously. I shifted myself to the left once more, side stepping, again.

I swung my right knee upward, smashing it into the base of Chaganath’s nose. In an instant, it was broken, blood poured from the broken nose as he staggered forward. But of course, unlike a human, this would not incapacitate him. Orcs, from what I have noticed, probably had higher amounts of testosterone and adrenaline, rendering them able to tank more powerful blows.

As he reeled back from the blow, I swung an elbow across the base of his chin. The blow barely touched the chin, but had just enough force to have the brain slam into the back of his skull. Once more, overloading the system with pain.

I quickly made my way forward, placing a leg behind him as he staggered backward. As he tripped over my leg and fell to the ground, I karate chopped his throat, knocking the wind out of him and closing up the windpipe.

As he hit the ground with a loud thump, I slammed the heel of my foot into the base of his solar plexus, causing him to lose even more of the remaining oxygen in his body. As I grinded the base of the foot into his diaphragm, making it harder and harder for him to breathe. I looked over at the other 3 of my retinue who stared at me with awe.

“Well then! Does anybody want to go next?”

A quick shake of the heads from the three quickly answered my question. As I stared down at Chaganath, who was still struggling to breath and was gasping for breath attempt to say something. I roll my eyes, sighing loudly as I put my pressure on the diaphragm, practically putting my entire weight onto it.

A strangled gasp came from his mouth as he attempted to mouth and say the words properly, but no sound came from his throat as I continued to lean over onto his diaphragm. I rolled my eyes once more, casually scratching my skin as I looked at him struggle and writhe on the ground as my foot was firmly placed on his diaphragm.

After about another 30 seconds of struggling I decided to give him the option to surrender.

“Nod your head if you yield.”

Chaganath immediately did so, being essentially suffocated for a solid 45 seconds would do that to a person. Since he complied, I released my foot from his diaphragm, allowing him to roll onto his side and gasp for breath.

I looked over at the other three and grinned widely, “Well then! Hurry up and fight amongst each other!”

I then promptly sat down onto the ground and watched as my fearful subjects complied immediately. I had solidified my position of leadership. All was going well. A wide grin was stretched across my face as I patted Chaganath on the ribs, earning me a hacking cough in response.

“Fuck with me again and I’ll kill you, okay? You can rest for five minutes, but before then, you’re going back in.”

I didn’t bother to ask for a response, he already knew what would happen if he tried to betray me or challenge me again. I held each and everyone of my men's lives in my hands. It is always better to be feared than loved after all.

I lean back, using Chaganath as a sort of pillow, watching as my subjects begin duking it out in earnest. I yawned loudly, crossing my arms as I began my analysis.

_____

It has been a solid hour. Everyone was exhausted from training. By now, I had already figured out who and what each and everyone's strength was. When it came to swords, Chaganath was the best of them. His skill was the best I’d seen so far, he truly was his fathers son.

For the axe? Ok’Rik was the strongest, his deft control and understanding of the weapon granted him the best axe fighter out of our small squad. For the spear? As’Kal, his speed and agility could not be underestimated when it came to how he moved in and out with the shaft of the weapon.

Of course, for the dagger and unarmed combat, I was the best of them. My skill could not be denied, however. When it came to pitched combat, I would have to improve my technique. I had fought with baseball bats and pipes in the past, but I was not foolhardy enough to believe that those crude pieces of wood and metal would translate over into bladed combat.

Thankfully, my steel short sword by my side could theoretically function similar to a dagger. It was around 30 inches or so in length, with a blade length of 26 inches. It did not look greenskin in design and looked oddly similar to a gladius. Odd, I wonder how a goblin managed to get their hands on steel in the first place, let alone the knowledge to forge a gladius.

However, this raised another question. If human weapons could exist in this world, does that mean humans exist? If so, why was I not reincarnated into a new human body? Why was I chosen to be an Orc? And that raised the third question, was I the only human reborn into this world? What about others before me, could other humans have reincarnated into this world as well?

But regardless, one question at a time. There are still other issues I need to sort out. The most pressing ones are the goblins and their steel. I recall which direction they went, which was west. They had gone west, which I assume is near their camp. Hopefully they’ll be looking for revenge and will be heading east to find us. So, time is of the essence.

I gather my thoughts, suddenly looking up to find the 4 of my fellow squad members staring at me.

“What?”

“Lord, what are we to do now?” As’Kal spoke up, standing at 4’6, he was a generic orc. Nothing special about him or unique, other than the fact that he had somewhat of a baby face. For an orc that is.

I sigh, standing up and gesturing for them to do the same.

“I’ve got our first big raid planned for us. We’ll be heading west, to track down and find the goblins who killed our former second in command Chaganath. We’ll loot the fuckers and kill every last one of them.”

A rousing cheer came from all 4 of the squad members. I glanced down at Chaganath, a look of desire and rage had come over him. Good, it will be useful to bring him onto my side and have him take my place as second in command.

“But FIRST!” I shout loudly over the cheering and celebrating of the boys, “FIRST! We rest. Meet here tomorrow at first light, and we shall head out to make our fortune!”

Another cry of cheering and jubilation, but more subdued than the last. They quickly heeded my orders and dispersed, all except for the young Chaganath who stood up, looking down at me.

“What is it?”

“Lord, I am sorry for doubting you. I...I apologize for my insult.”

Just as he was about to kneel on the ground, I waved my hand to stop him. “Stop. There is no need. The only apology I require is that you serve me faithfully. Serve me faithfully and you shall rise with me. Now, go rest.”

He nods quickly, departing me to leave me alone with my thoughts. I yawn loudly, heading my way back to my home. I was hungry and I needed a damn drink.

_____

P’avev’s perspective

I languished in my hut, bored out of my mind. When is my father going to return? I wished to return to raiding on the villages of those weird creatures that came from large boats onto the shores of this continent. What were they called? Ah yes, humans.

We had acquired a large number of steel from one of their villages settled near the mouth of the Arslan river. Their guards were weak and their numbers were little. But on further scouting, further west, were their main settlements and large villages. The villages were so large that they numbered in the hundreds.

They most likely came off from a far away land on these boats and settled on the continent looking for something. Maybe wealth, food, land to hunt, or all of the above. The humans, as they were called, are weak. Most of their people are not warriors or fighters, seeming to be some kind of herder. Except instead of herding animals, they somehow grew plantlife out of the earth itself.

Do they not eat meat? What a bunch of lily livered cowards they are. By Pandar, we have been given a great gift to hunt these weak folk. Sooner or later they will regret landing on this glorious land of blood and slaughter.

I am disturbed from my thoughts when a stumbling goblin, ragged and worn from battle collapsed onto his knees in my hut. A crowd had already gathered as he staggered towards me.

“What! What is it!”

“My lord, your father and his elite retinue have been killed by a trio of Orcs! Only I managed to survive the trek back through the tall grass!’

“WHAT!? HOW!? WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS!”

“My lord, one of the orcs, a mere child, appears to wield the power of lightning!”

“What? How is this possible? Children cannot wield magic!”

“I do not know Lord! I fled before he could have us-”

That goblin messenger had made a fatal mistake. He said that he ran away from battle? In a fury, I pulled out my steel short sword, ramming through his stomach. All that came out of his mouth was a strangled gurgle as he collapsed onto my blade. I ripped the blade from his stomach, marching out of the hut onto a crowd of onlookers.

“My father is dead. I, son of Mish’Nik am now Chieftan of this Tribe! We’ve got no time to waste, my elite guard, with me! We head east, to track down the men who killed my father.”

In an instant, before anyone really had a chance to comprehend what exactly happened. My elite guard appeared out of the woodwork, almost if they were invisible. Dressed in cloaks and leather armour, unlike my father. I did not care for fancy metal or dazzling display, stealth and assasination is how battles are won.

“Come!” I say, marching out. I always wore my leather armour and cloak, who knows who might try and kill me or challenge me to a duel. Goblins are like that after all, devious little creatures. I pause for a half second as I hear the groaning of the goblin messenger on the floor of my hut.

“Someone clean that shit up!”I make my way quickly towards my pet hyena, mounting it and gripping onto its reins. A quick whip of the reins and I was off. My elite guard soon followed after me. Whoever killed my father, was going to pay.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feedback/comments are appreciated as always. If you enjoy, please upvote the post, thanks! Oh also, any speculation about the future of the story? Feel free to leave that in the comments too, I fucking love that shit.