"You're going to him off, Dinin."

After finally sending off the thunderous Drektar, Sal said with a headache.

The culprit looked unimpressed.

"I'm just here to give you a visual explanation of the difference between me and the shaman."

"......," Sal sighed, "it's intuitive enough. ”

"But Dinein, we don't revere elemental spirits just because they can harness them." The new shamanic apprentice said earnestly, "The elemental spirits teach our tribe how to live in harmony with nature and guide our future ......"

"Stop." Dinen stopped him from continuing, "Don't educate me ideologically, it's useless. ”

Sal thought about it for a moment, and said no more. Dinein's attitude towards elemental spirits was not even respectful, and it was obviously impossible to follow shamanic teachings.

"Don't worry about me, Sal. Learn the orthodox shamanic ways of Drektar. Your people will need your talents......" he paused, "not just frostwolves. ”

Sal vaguely understood something, but he thought about it but still didn't ask. Instead, he changed the subject: "But before that, I have to go hunting." I want to give the food back to the owner of this cave. ”

The land is harsh and barren, and survival has never been easy. By the time they had trekked through the snowy mountains, Thrall had already tasted hardship and hunger. He is reluctant to pass the pressures of life onto others.

"Go with your people. It's summer, and there will be no shortage of animals coming out to forage after the blizzard, and they will definitely organize a hunt. Seeing the hesitation on Thrall's face, Dineen instantly understood what he was worried about, "You can't always stay with us, Sal. ”

Albert, who had just walked in, also said, "Dinen is right, Sal. This will only make them think that you are closer to humanity and thus reject you. Think about why you're here? Now that you are a member of the clan, you can and should fit into them. Meet a few new friends and talk to them. Don't mention us, ask them more about their stories. As for this, you don't have to worry, I'll take care of him. ”

"Alright, don't nag like a forty-year-old woman." Dinen said impatiently, "Let him come by himself, there will be no problem." ”

Although Dinein's trust was a bit simple and crude, he was not wrong.

When Thrall tried to join the other orcs, his prepared mental preparation for rejection was useless, and with a little surprise, a little caution, and more enthusiasm and respect, the frostwolf orcs quickly accepted him. The young people often begin with that amazing challenge, admiring Sal's strength and skill, and agreeing to go back and fight again. The older ones preferred to mention Thrall's parents, who didn't know why Durotan and Draqa had gone to the country, but the heroism of the Frostwolf Chief was much more than that.

During the day, lively chats tend to turn into friendly contests, with Sal carefully restraining his competitive spirits and seeking friendship over victory. And when night goes down and huge bonfires burn, singing, dancing and feasting are more appropriate.

The Frostwolf Clan has always been restrained and restrained, but the wild homeland of the orcs still leaves a deep imprint on their culture. When Thrall sat by the fire, listening to a song that was not beautiful and delicate, even out of tune, he always felt a fierce emotion welling up in his heart. He imitated the dances of his people with good-natured laughter, and learned from them to tear open their throats and let out a hearty war cry. Soon, Thrall learns to greet with his fists, distinguish between genuine anger and pretended evil between friends, and is an integral part of orc life such as eating raw meat, handling prey, crafting weapons and traps, and even befriending a Frostwolf companion - only then does he understand the origin of the Frostwolf Clan's name.

Gradually, the human manners that had been learned by the ears and eyes blurred. Human education had accustomed Thrall to modesty and restraint, and the wildness of the orcs had weakened his endurance - but he didn't hate that. He laughed, sang, expressed his emotions bluntly and passionately, and threw himself into the life of the clan. During the day he travels with hunting parties, and at night he goes to Drektar to learn shamanic teachings. Many times, though reluctant to admit it, Thrall did temporarily forget about his human friends.

Fortunately, Dineen and Albert understand this and are even happy to see it. Their relief eased Thrall's guilt, but he did what he could to help them, even if it meant working harder himself.

***

As usual, after a catch, Thrall left his companions and headed out into the wilderness on his own for additional hunting. But today he had a bit of bad luck and walked for a long time without yielding anything.

As he struggled to climb another ridge, a wild goat was hovering below. Thrall immediately fell to the ground to avoid disturbing his prey, examining his target, thinking about ways not to miss.

Is it a bow and arrow, or a spear? Even though the goats hadn't spotted him yet, there wasn't much time left for Thrall. In the end, he decided to use a more advantageous spear, but just as he was about to stand up, a light suddenly flashed at the bottom.

The goat, who didn't have time to regret running away with a smoke, had already breathed as slowly as possible before he could react, instinctively minimizing his presence, and then cautiously looked in that direction.

He saw a human appear in the otherwise empty clearing, as if it had come out of thin air. He was facing Thrall, and the orcs could only see the black hair of the other. But Sal felt a strong sense of oppression. He warned himself never to be exposed.

Perhaps all souls heard his prayers, and the strange man didn't find Thrall hiding in the bushes above. He raised his hand, tracing strange trajectories in the air, words in his mouth. As he moves, flaming lines appear out of thin air, forming a complex pattern.

So, this is a mage?

Thrall's ancromancer was not unimpressed. He still has the scar on his leg from that time. This makes Thrall extremely wary of the caster. He cautiously observed the other party's behavior.

The mage looks like he's constructing a spell. But the moment he drew the last line, the whole figure shook, the surrounding air turbulent, and the lines formed by the mana were broken up. Dots of mana scattered into the air and then vanished.

The mage blurted out a curse, his voice far deeper than any human voice Thrall had ever heard, accompanied by a strange rumble in his chest that sounded more like the roar of some kind of beast than a word.

Then he made a second attempt, repeating the same steps. But this time it was even worse, the graphics exploded. Although the mana fluctuations were wiped out by the mage, such a result obviously made him irritable.

He started the third time in frustration, and then in the middle of the process, he shook his hand and blasted his work out. The mana blasted a gap in the cliff ahead, and the rocks slid down. But the noise didn't dampen his roar.

"Damn elemental imbalance!" He cursed with a hideous face, "I'm almost going to find it!" As a result, now he can only go around like a blind idiot! ”

Hearing the familiar words, Sal sensitively pricked up his ears. Thanks to Wan Ling, the lingua franca was his native language, and even with the strange rumble and the sound of intense air currents, he could barely make out what the other person was saying.

The unaware mage was still grumbling, his voice full of ferocity that made Thrall shudder: "It must have been the good deeds of those orcs!" How dare a tiny mortal touch the power of the elements! Damn it! That should have been my own authority! ”

"I've endured long enough! I'm going to eat all those greenskins! And the nosy blue dragons, they all deserve to die! I'm going to tear their wings apart and throw them all into the lava to burn them to death!" ””

With every word he spoke, his anger grew higher and higher, and his voice grew louder and louder. The last sentence had already made Sal's eardrums hurt, and his body had twisted strangely, as if something had swelled out from within, and in the blink of an eye, it became larger and larger, and finally froze on a massive shape.

Black scales, stout limbs, well-defined wings, a lizard-like tail, and long horns on the head...... Thrall had only seen these descriptions in books, but he immediately realized what it was.

The black dragon in its original form still roared, but this time Thrall couldn't understand a word. The black dragon shook its head left and right and slammed into the cliff, spewing out streams of flames to vent his anger. Thrall inadvertently met the huge golden pupils, and his hair stood on end. Fortunately, this was only a one-sided look, and the black dragon still didn't notice him. Sal clung to the ground, not daring to say a word.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that the black dragon gradually calmed down. By this time, the valley was in shambles, littered with rubble and charred fire marks. Seeing this, the black dragon sprayed its nose impatiently, spread its wings and flew off the ground. Thrall watched him leave, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he found that the other party had left in the opposite direction to the Frostwolf Clan's camp.

It wasn't until the black dragon disappeared into the sky that Thrall got up from the ground. By this time, he had completely put aside the idea of hunting, and ran towards the camp desperately.

***

"Drektar! Drektar! ”

Thrall blew into the camp like a gust of wind, passing the orcs who greeted him, heading straight for the shaman's cave.

"Calm down, lad!" His sharp-eyed teacher waved his staff from afar, "Is there a group of ogres chasing after you?" ”

"It's not food...... Ogre," Sal said breathlessly, "it's the Black Dragon!" ”

He described to Drektar in detail what he had seen and heard. The old shaman's face showed disbelief. He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"We've lived here for decades and we've never seen a dragon." Drektar mused, "It sounds like it's looking for something related to the elements, but I don't have a clue about it. ”

"Whatever it's looking for, it's already blamed on us." Thrall said eagerly, "Maybe the black dragon will come and attack us soon!" ”

"You're right. We have to be prepared for that. Drektar tapped his cane on the ground with a solemn expression, "It's a pity we don't know enough about this creature. ”

Sal also felt a little chill in his heart. Witnessing the black dragon's wrath, he knew what a terrifying existence it was. Massive size, sturdy scale armor, amazing brute strength, intelligent minds, and spell bonuses. This is nothing compared to the wild beasts that his people often hunt. No good hunter can handle such a creature.

"Wait—Dinein!" He blurted out, "He must know this!" ”

Hearing him mention the name, Drektar's face suddenly turned very bad. Sal knew at a glance that the teacher was still haunted. None of them seemed to be at peace with each other. But this is the norm when humans and orcs meet, and even both sides are already very restrained, otherwise they will fight at the first time. In contrast, Sal's state of peaceful coexistence is the outlier. But it is precisely because of this anomaly that this precarious peaceful environment can be constructed.

"Let me ask him first." Sal took the initiative to say. It was impossible to get Drektar to go with him, and such a suspicious gesture of asking for help could easily lead to a violent conflict. So he consciously shouldered the responsibility of transit.

Drektar was silent for a moment, then snorted heavily. He didn't say anything, but Sal, who knew him well enough, instantly understood. He stood up and said goodbye to the teacher.

"I'll be back later."