Chương 109: Chapter 114 The First Blessing Day

Karath climbed the stairs leading back toward the surface. Unlike when he descended, he now carried an enormous silver double-bladed axe.

"Grand Chief, you have returned!"

"Could that be...?"

"Oh!"

"The weapon of the Grand Chief!" The warriors greeting him stared with enormous eyes when they saw the axe in his hands.

"That is correct! This is the weapon left to his descendants by the former Grand Chief, Muhe Lionheart! It is the symbol of the Grand Chief!" Karath raised the massive axe, which was nearly as large as an adult human. The warriors erupted.

"The Grand Chief!"

"Oh!"

"Grand Chief!" Several orcs became so overwhelmed that they dropped to their knees and bowed.

"Krog." Karath waited for the warriors to calm before calling his most dependable adviser.

"Yes, Grand Chief."

"Lead the warriors and search the surrounding area. Look for places where white or grey stones similar to those used in these ruins gather naturally."

"Do you intend to restore the ruins with that stone?"

"That is one purpose. However, according to the ancestors' knowledge, this white stone possesses many other uses. We must secure it." The ancestral knowledge Karath referred to was actually knowledge from his former life. Krog would naturally assume he had learned it inside the underground chamber.

"One more thing. Do not allow anyone except Karath to enter the underground ruins."

"Is there some danger below, Grand Chief?"

"The deep resentment of the ancestors remains within that chamber. Anyone other than the Grand Shaman would be unable to endure it. Until Karath completes the purification, no one may approach."

"Understood, Grand Chief." Krog's eyes widened. He swallowed and stared uneasily toward the descending staircase. Naturally, Karath had invented the entire explanation. It was a way to prevent anyone in the alliance from seeing the murals. The time was not right. Karath would reveal them when the orcs were ready to accept the truth and when the descendants of those who had wronged them were prepared to offer sincere apologies. Stolen novel; please report.

Creating that future would become one of Karath's responsibilities. He silently addressed Muhe Lionheart and the other orc ancestors. Karath would create such a time. Until then, he hoped they would forgive this small lie. They had tolerated him invoking their names countless times and still granted him such extraordinary gifts today. Surely they would overlook this much. Once the road reached the ruins, Karath would need to remain here for some time. He revised his future plans.

Karath had not fully learned the legacy Muhe Lionheart left behind. He finished reading the testament but lacked time to study the mana techniques. Remaining underground any longer might have worried the warriors enough to make them enter. More importantly, no matter how talented Karath might be, he could not master the results of another Grand Chief's lifelong research within a few minutes. That was another reason he invented the purification ritual.

Under that excuse, he could repeatedly enter the underground chamber and gradually learn Muhe Lionheart's legacy. Karath continued considering his plans among the ruins.

"Grand Chief! We found it!" Krog approached with a bright smile.

"We discovered a place filled with stones similar to these pillars!"

"Lead the way!" Karath followed him, unable to suppress his smile. Then his eyes widened. A nearby cliff face consisted almost entirely of limestone. It was the sort of discovery that made a prospector want to shout that he had struck gold.

"Berners!"

"Yes, Grand Chief!"

"Contact Blacksmith Village and Root immediately! Tell them to prepare to clear a road from Blacksmith Village to these ruins!"

"Understood, Grand Chief!" There was no longer any need to hesitate. Muhe Lionheart had left him methods of manipulating mana and the legendary weapon of the Grand Chief. The ruins had also led him to a limestone deposit. Karath had invoked the ancestors so many times, yet the orc ancestors had proved remarkably generous. Their gifts did not end there.

"Warriors, collect the corpses of the cockatrices we hunted! We are returning to the Lionheart settlement!" They had even provided chicken. Or something close enough to it. Fried chicken had been one of the most beloved late-night foods in Karath's former world. They possessed neither oil for frying nor flour for batter, but that hardly mattered.

"Today is the blessed day upon which we reclaimed the ancestral ruins and recovered the legacy of our ancestors! From this year onward, the Greenskin Alliance will commemorate this day with an annual festival called Blessing Day! Berners, inform Root and Blacksmith Village!" If they could not fry the meat, they could boil it into a nourishing stew. The joke was imperfect, but only Karath understood the difference anyway.

The important thing was that this was a day blessed enough to deserve a festival, and they possessed an enormous bird to cook for it. When Karath returned to the Lionheart settlement carrying the cockatrice corpses and Muhe Lionheart's axe, hundreds of orcs began bowing before him. They were not warriors from his own alliance. They were the same Lionheart orcs who had stared at him indifferently the previous day. The corpses and legendary axe appeared to be all the proof they required.

"We apologise for failing to recognise the great Grand Chief. The Lionheart Tribe will follow you."

"Please save us and every other orc within this forest." More than two hundred orcs knelt and worshipped him. Perhaps this too was another gift from the ancestors.

"Rise! Today, the alliance will celebrate the recovery of the ancestral ruins! You are now members of the Greenskin Alliance, so join us and enjoy the feast!" The Lionheart settlement immediately began preparing for a festival. The centrepiece could only be cockatrice meat. Each creature stood nearly three and a half metres tall and possessed a body comparable to a minotaur. There were six corpses.

Even after feeding the Lionheart tribespeople and the Greenskin warriors, nearly three hundred people in total, a large amount of meat remained. Karath placed some of it within clay vessels, filled them with magically created water, and cooked them over magical flames. The result resembled boiled chicken stew. Using the combined knowledge of orcs who had survived within the forest and nomadic goblins, they added several edible herbs that served as primitive spices.

Unfortunately, they possessed no vessel large enough to boil an entire cockatrice at once, so Karath could only prepare a limited amount of the special dish. The lack of salt was also disappointing. They would find that eventually. They had already obtained iron and limestone. The morning after the festival, Karath placed Krog in command of thirty alliance warriors and sent them back to Blacksmith Village. They would gather the workers needed to clear a road from Blacksmith Village to the ruins.

Too many warriors had gathered at the Lionheart settlement, leaving too few available for construction. Karath led the remaining thirty warriors back toward the ruins. They needed to hunt enough prey to feed the Lionheart Tribe. More importantly, Karath intended to begin learning the mana techniques left behind by Muhe Lionheart.