Tarhas let Shadik rest for few minutes. Then sign him to come near him. "Good job kid now got rest, tomorrow you will select three hunter teams of four and you guys will be responsible for a zone's safety.

Tello and Kalra were home, Tello now wearing some green robe. Only armed with a sickle. They talked about what they did for hours, of course, Shad hide most of what he did even from his family. His dad told them 6 months from now they are going to get their arm rings from mother dryad, which every forest orc was carrying.

Tello talked about mother dryad like she was some sort of divine creature. Shad decided there is something creepy between forest orcs and the mother. But he decided this would be a problem best left for later.

The next morning Tarhas had all twelve orc younglings who successfully completed their survival mission in his headquarters. This building was only two-story high and had a rather spartan furnishing even for orcs.

They all stand in line in front of the old but rather strong looking orc chef. Tarhas looked at them one by one in the eye. All of the naked and unarmed orc younglings had been provided new weapons and clothes by their fathers. Tarhas started to speak. "Kids, do you know how we become the forest orcs. How forest orcs come to be?"

All kids shake their heads. Tarhas continued "We are not an old species. Only 300 years ago we had started. Back in the day, all human kingdoms united under a cunning woman called empress Selena, she was an honorless creature even for low standards of humans.

She killed her husband and abacinate her own son so she can be the sole ruler. She fucked and bribed all the big nobles and generals so she can have power.

Back then orcs have seen as persons, not monsters. And we had peace with humans back then, an unheard-of 100 years of peace. Humans saw us as savages, but not monsters. But when she gained her power she declared us orcs, monsters. Impure ones, but the human god of justice and truth Altus and his clergy would not stand for it. So she made the goddess of light and purity Eva the chef good of humanity and persecuted the Altus worshipers.

But Selena needed enemies for her corrupt rule to continue and Eva was more than willing to support her every deed as long as she gets to be the chief god and gain more worshipers.

Elves choose to work with humans under pressure, but dwarves refused to give in to the pressure.

Humans attacked every race previously count as savage but still people. They thought chains were enough for beastfolk and lizardkin. But they knew orcs would never bow down to them. They attacked and they killed every single man, woman, and child, even babies. They declared us nothing but bigger goblins.

Firsts forest orcs were just a bunch of plain orcs, who got to war and when returned their homes and towns destroyed they find nothing but dead. Their mothers, fathers, wives, and children were all killed.

They had only had 30 male warriors left. They decided to die as proud orc warriors. Die fighting.

But the mother dryad needed protection against human expansion."

At that moment a green-tinted woman appeared. She was beautiful but in a regal way. She was a small lady in 1.50 high had a soft face, she reminded Shad his first-grade teacher which was a caring middle-aged lady one of the few decent human beings Shad had met in his previous life.

She said "My sons, back in the day druids of Gaia from every race protected the eternal forest. I and my sisters lived peacefully. But that whore of an empress wanted to loot everything eternal forest has to offer.

Her army butchered my sons and daughters who tried to protect me. But druids were no fighters, they were healers, alchemists, gardeners.

But when my time of need I heard cries of those orcs. Back then I didn't like orcs you are an angry and aggressive species. Among my druids only a few were orcs.

Not only that you guys are more disrespectful to nature than humans, only dwarfs can surpass you guys at disrespect for and destruction of nature. But back then I had two options I was either going to get an agreement with the orcs or I was going to join my sisters in their death. Yes my sons I had sisters, I wasn't the only mother dryad back in the day.

That damnd Selena killed them so she could get better-enchanted weapons for her army. My peaceful sisters bodys was used for weapon making.

The leader of those first forest orcs and I reached an agreement. The orcs were going to protect and feed me and I was going to provide them with sons. And give them artificial companions to make them stronger, motivate them and take away their needs for real female companions."

Shad said inside "So that is the arm rings with the gems for."

Mother dryad continued "Until the damn empress died I was happy what I had done. But after she died humans become fractured again. But I had promised the help forest orcs to kill humans until the last human had been killed or you to decide you don't want to do that anymore. I made my oath in the name of Gaia herself. So I can't go back on that.

I watched time and time again my sons, my leaf and sap go out there and burn human towns, slaughtering without discrimination, without pity every single human being.

I swear on Gaia I love every single one-off you but your insistence on killing and murdering hurts me. You don't even take pity on babies."

Tarhas said "What should we do mother? Should we leave a crying infant to die from thirst in her dead mother's bosom? Only humans can be that cruel."

Shad started laughing other orc younglings laughed too.

Mother dryad looked disappointed. "We can end this war, humans are not an evil empire anymore, my kids not even one of you agree with me?" Shad shook his head and his troop does the same.

Tarhas said, "Mother, eventually we will exterminate humans, and when that day comes we will have our peace. All nations will be vassals of the noble orcs. And humans, humans will not exist."

Mother dryad turned to her sons "After the collapse of the empire I tried this 200 times. Not even one of you wanted to end this bloodshed. My sons, how can my sons, my leaf, and my sap can be this cruel?"

She sigh. "Okay, at least you guys use your cruelty in the right way. These swamper creatures, you must have seen them. They constantly grow swamps, which causes many flies which causes sickness, and unnecessary deaths of all forest creatures.

They destroy forest balance so go ahead and exterminate them all."

Tarhas said, "We will do our best mother."

Mother dryad disappeared like that.

Tarhas turned to the troop "

"Kids, you now know why we are fighting and what is our goal is. Our primary goal is to keep the forest safe. For this, we must make here a hostile place for adventurers and a safe place for goblins. We only go out of the forest and attack humans once a decade. In an open field, the lower tier soldiers of humans with their numeric advantage have superiority to us, because you need to fight many low tier warriors at the same time while archers firing arrows at you. But in the forest we are superior. Because humans can only fight a pice meal at a time in the forest.

But our ancestors find a trick. Letting goblins gather numbers. When they gather numbers they attack human villages and burn them. When that happens humans force to attack them with their armies in forests.

That way we can fight humans under favorable conditions.

We have a layered defensive system. You guys are part of the first layer. You will be given a piece of land to protect 5 km in-depth, 60 km in width. You will be organized into 3 teams. Shadik the assassin here will be your sergeant. He will be responsible for all the land and all three teams.

The Gorg the shaman will be a corporal of one of the teams under Shad and Zona the Archer will be the other corporal. Shad will decide which team going to get which member."

Tarhas turned to Shad "Don't be greedy, make sure every team is balanced."

He continued "You can hunt forest creatures for stat points but never overdo it, mother hates when we hurt the balance and never burn the forest. Of course, unless a human army were inside it. Mother will be furious but our main goal is to hurt humans as much as possible.

About swampers, target them when they are easy targets. When you kill them never left any survivors. They are not attacking us directly, because they don't know we are the ones targeting them, I think they assume human adventurers killing them. We want them to continue that way.

We have a contribution system. For the mother to born new orcs, she needs food. Food from higher tier creatures is more efficient but lower-tier creatures are not useless either. Creatures like bunnies and deer which below tier zero are useless, boars, wolves, dead bodies of goblins, and other tier-zero monsters worth one contribution point. Before you ask no, you must not kill goblins unless they attack you first.

But that doesn't mean you have to leave the body of goblins killed by adventurers to wild animals.

Swampers worth double, do to mother's wishes. But tierless monster worth one, tier-one monster worth 5, and tier 2 monster with 25. For humans and swampers that is double.

You can use your contribution points on trade and buying new items and weapons in the village. The points you earn as a team you share equally. "

Gorg asked, "How we are going to carry the bodies?" Tarhas said "You won't going to carry them. As long as you are in the forest you have a direct mental connection to the mother. Whenever you have the body's or a higher tier adventurer team going inner layers for loot you mentally connect to the mother and say to her. For bodies, our servant brothers will come and bring those to the mother. For higher tier, adventurers will be dealt with by our higher tier teams in inner layers.

Your test is ower so never took unnecessary risks. Just concentrate on growing on strength. You are our weakest team at the moment. So just relax, if you guys can get tier one level by the arm ring ceremony in six months is enough for us.