It was true. The punch had barely made him flinch.
He didn't have the presence of mind to act like the hit had hurt much, either.
The hit had, however, helped in clearing his thoughts more than shaking his head countless times had.
Groan-
He simply took hold of the rope and carried the cage on his back again, ready to start walking.
"There's no way that Hideous went easy on you, is there?"
'Hideous?' The Orc thought, raising an eyebrow while staring ahead. 'Did she give us names?'
"At least it didn't come from Piggy." The Elf sighed.
The Orc immediately understood who Piggy was supposed to be.
He wasn't officially the group's leader, but he was the strongest one, which meant that he called the shots.
Piggy was also the horniest of the bunch, and the one to have approached the Elf most, hence the name.
Perhaps it was because the difference in strength was the largest, but Piggy was also the one with the least Affection for him.
'Wonder if I have a name…' He thought as he walked.
They advanced through the dark forest for another thirty minutes before stopping.
A couple of hours remained before dawn.
The torches were blown on, and the flames died.
"I still wonder how Orcs got their hands on such Items…" The Elf whispered from her cage.
A moment later, the cage was lowered to the ground.
She was seated on her knees inside that cage with her lips pressed together.
Sure, she was having the worst time of her life.
However, the reactions of the Orc carrying her had changed. It wasn't much, but it did seem like a ray of light in the darkness. Like a glimmer of hope.
Held captive by Orcs much stronger than her, even a glimmer meant a lot.
'He did punch Hideous earlier. Maybe there's a chance that he will…'
The glimmer of hope was both a blessing and a curse. It had pulled her from absolute despair. However, if that hope were to fade and die, then she wouldn't be left with anything.
The Elf blinked repeatedly as he took a seat with his back against the tree closest to her.
'We'll arrive at the village in about a week.' The Orc thought. 'I need to find a way before then.' He frowned slightly at the thought. 'A way to do… What?'
[Sub-Quest 2: Kill your Party's current Leader.]
His gaze slowly moved away from the System message and towards the cage.
'I think I want to…' The Elf was seated with her back to him. 'I want to help her.'
Groans echoed as the other Orcs lay on the ground. Only a couple of hours remained before dawn, and they would start moving at dawn.
The Orc Chief will surely be pleased by their offering. He might even… Let them partake after he was done.
The Orcs were fairly optimistic about the idea. Which is why they sometimes lose themselves in the idea, get ahead of themselves, and start heading towards the offering.
Thankfully, the village's weakling had the job of guarding her.
They all knew that the weakling didn't have the balls to actually try to take her for himself. Even trying to do so would mean death for him, when it only meant a punch for the others.
Thump-
"Would you look at that?" The Elf whispered. "Dummy threw you the bones again."
'Nothing I can do about that.' The Orc thought with a sigh.
Dummy was in charge of carrying the large pouch in which food was kept.
As was and had always been the case, the other Orcs kept the real food, and he only got scraps and bones.
'I'm the weakest one, so food is lost on me.' He shrugged, staring at the damp bone dirtied by earth. 'The stronger ones need food to get stronger.'
The Elf slowly turned towards him once Dummy wasn't looking in their direction anymore.
"It's no wonder your muscles aren't as developed as theirs." She whispered. "How can you build muscle when you're constantly starving? You need meat! Meat!"
The Orc's eyebrow twitched.
It had always been this way. As the weakest, he didn't get much to eat.
However, for the first time, he came to question that.
'I don't get to eat because I'm the weakest…' The Orc stared at that bone. 'When did that start? When did I become the weakest? When did the village stop allowing me to feed properly?' He could not remember. 'Could it be that for one reason or other, I wasn't fed properly when I was younger, was seen as the weakest at the time because I was starving, and was punished for that? Could it be that I'm only weak because I have been starving all this time?'
While the line of thought wasn't complex, to an Orc who had just gained the ability to think and reason, arriving at this possible conclusion was mindblowing.
'Could it be that…' The Orc's gaze moved towards his wrists, forearms, and arm muscles. 'There's nothing wrong with me?'