Chapter 173: The Eastern Training Camp
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: The Eastern Training Camp
Thinking back on it, the guy's remarks were utterly absurd. If he had challenged me simply to test his own strength, I might have nodded and ended it at a reasonable level. I would have just chalked it up to the hot-bloodedness of a young man who couldn't control his own vigor. The problem was what he said after that.
The way he lightly dismissed Gark and Hark, telling anyone who wasn't a chieftain to step aside, was truly baffling. My executives—and Gark and Hark in particular—are incredibly strong warriors who know honor. It wasn't because they couldn't form their own factions that they served under me.
It's the same for the Troll shaman under Black Spear or the Twin-Headed Ogre under Goff. If they were to leave the settlement right now, they could easily build their own forces given enough time. In fact, Gark and Hark could probably wipe out that guy's entire tribe.
For a guy like this, a beating was the only answer. I could see his dazed face as he stared at the dagger in his hand with a look of disbelief.
“Th-This! What is this!”
It seemed he didn't even know about Unique Abilities. He was stuttering in his confusion, but of course, I had no intention of stopping. I threw his glaive to the ground and immediately drew the spear from my back. Naturally, I wasn't going to attack him with the spearhead. The part I'd be using today was the shaft. Just as a mad dog needs a beating, I was going to give him a proper punishment.
Green Skins are generally desensitized to pain, as combat is a part of their daily lives. The tough ones are so used to the pain of being hit or cut that they don't even scream.
But not everyone keeps their mouth shut. What I wanted to hear was his loud scream. Using the spear shaft like a whip to inflict direct pain on his skin wasn't a difficult task at my level. Besides, it was also quite humiliating.
Smack!
When I swung the spear shaft at the arm of the guy charging recklessly with his dagger, a satisfyingly sharp sound rang out. Being a tough one, he didn't scream. Instead, he let out a war cry and rushed toward me, but there was no way I was going to take a hit from someone charging so foolishly.
Thwack!
Smack!
“That tickles! Blood Dagger! I don’t know what trick you used, but this dagger is more than enough!”
The guy shouted gallantly, raising the cheap dagger. But I was certain that triumphant voice would soon turn into a scream of agony.
SMACK!
“Kuh.”
A scream must have escaped him unconsciously. It couldn't be helped if it was painful. He charged at me wildly, but I barely moved. I evaded all his attacks by simply turning my body or taking a few steps. I imagined this must be how the Green Goblin felt when he used to be my sparring partner.
The swings of the spear shaft grew fiercer. The others, who were just staring blankly at this so-called fight, probably couldn't even see it.
“Keoheok!”
“Kuhk!”
“Heup!”
As time passed, his screams grew louder. I didn't discriminate, hitting fleshy parts like his arms, buttocks, and legs. The soft flesh of his inner thighs and arms was a must. Same for his thick, protruding belly. His face needed a good thrashing too.
His attacks became incredibly timid. Like a Green Skin who knows honor, he wanted to charge, but he couldn't. His body remembered the pain, preventing him from stepping forward recklessly.
“Keoheok!”
“Ugh-argh!”
The second stage of pain is hitting the bone. The effect was quite tremendous when I started focusing on the spaces between his knuckles and the sides of his legs. The act of swinging the spear became mechanical, repetitive. As his face contorted in pain, a cruel smile spread across mine.
Eventually, he tried to create distance by taking a step back, but I just shifted my body slightly and thrashed his entire body with all my strength.
Getting bored of just swinging, I started whipping the spear shaft to a frantic rhythm, and a series of sharp smacks struck my ears.
“GUAAAAAAAAARGH!”
“UWOOOOOOOOARGH!”
“AAAAAAAAARGH!”
I swung just hard enough not to break his bones. I didn't even need to infuse my mana. He was using his mana to protect his entire body with all his might, but I had no intention of hitting his vitals in the first place.
Smack!
SMACK!
“GUAAAAAAAAARGH!”
“UWAH-UWOOOOARGH!”
I had hoped he wasn't all talk, but it seemed that was exactly what he was. Still, I had no intention of stopping the beating out of pity. He had grit, at least, and hadn't said he'd lost, but his legs were already trembling.
“UWOOOOOOOOARGH!”
The newcomers were watching Apachi with pale, terrified faces. One Orc, who looked particularly smart, was pressing a hand to his forehead as he watched the atrocity. It got to the point where I could swing the spear shaft without even looking at Apachi anymore. For some reason, the other chieftains looked refreshed. It seemed they hadn't said anything, but they'd all disliked the guy. I had been worried I was being too harsh, but that worry vanished. I put a little more force into it, continuing my assault on his buttocks, and he finally squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth.
“You have to give me back my weapon! Uwoooargh! You coward!”
Fucking nonsense.
From his perspective, he was shouting about how unfair it was, but it was a truly stupid thing to say. Since it was his wish, I felt I should grant it. I once again swapped the positions of the dagger in his hand and the large glaive I had thrown away.
He looked at the glaive in his hand with relief and smiled viciously, but I spun my spear once and, with the spearhead, instantly sliced his glaive in two.
“Wreek!”
His bizarre scream was almost enough to make me laugh. He was now holding a glaive shorter than a dagger, staring at me with a look of utter devastation.
“Are you done talking?”
“Th-That…”
No more words were needed. The spectacular thrashing resumed. For someone who couldn't get his head straight, a beating was the only cure, so I put the spear shaft to work again. He tried to protect himself with his arms, but as the pain in them continued to build, he must have decided to block with his back. He diligently took the blows with his back, and when the pain there became too much, he started twisting his whole body to somehow endure my attacks.
He had tried to dodge at first, but having finally realized it was impossible, he was now twisting his body like some animal that doesn't exist in this world, trying to distribute the pain. The Orc whose confidence had pierced the heavens was gone.
“UWOOOOOOOOARGH!”
“P-Please! GUAAAAAAAAARGH!”
“I!! UWOOOOOOOOARGH!”
Laughter kept escaping me. The only sounds in the quiet arena were the thwacks of pain being injected into his resilient flesh and the thunderous screams coming from his mouth.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”
By this point, even the guy managing the Great Tribe Leader's flag looked conflicted, wondering if he should stop the duel. But he wasn't yet in a state where he couldn't fight. And there was no way he would die from being hit like this. He completely turned his back to me and curled into a ball, and I began to thrash his body in earnest, like a 64-bit drumroll.
“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
His voice, at least, was thunderous. It was then that a voice shouted from one side.
“It’s… It’s Giant Scream!”
It was the moment a nickname was born for a guy who didn't have one yet. That’s how loud his screams were.
“What a thunderous scream! It’s Giant Scream!”
“That’s the loudest scream I’ve ever heard! It’s the cry of a giant! He truly is Giant Scream!”
“It’s even louder than an Ogre’s voice!”
Giant Scream Apachi. It was so absurd I almost laughed out loud. A nickname was supposed to be a new name that symbolized you, like Black Spear or Storm Shadow. It was like your signature in this society.
For his new name to be ‘Giant Scream’… a ticklish laugh escaped from deep within me.
“Pfft.”
I had to cover my mouth, but of course, I didn't stop the beating.
“UWOOOOARGH! I… I lost! I ad… admit defeat! UWAAAAARGH!”
“Giant Scream has let out a mighty roar!”
“Giant Scream! Don’t give up!”
His new name was now, without a doubt, Giant Scream. I focused my attacks on his face to prevent him from admitting defeat, and after beating him for about another hour, his eyes finally started to well up with tears.
“Uwoooargh! I lost. Sob… sniff… B-Blood Dagger.”
I wasn't quite satisfied yet, but seeing his tattered state, I felt a little better. Hearing him admit defeat, the guy managing the Great Tribe Leader's flag began to announce my victory to the other Green Skins.
“Ahem… ahem… The duel between Blood Dagger and Giant Scream… is B-Blood Dagger’s victory!”
This was probably the most absurd fight the guy had ever witnessed.
“Wooooooooooah!”
“Blood Dagger is victorious! For Blood Dagger!”
Gark and Hark also had expressions of immense satisfaction. I could feel the looks of respect they were sending me for having subjugated a warrior. After the long-lasting cheers died down and Apachi had pulled himself together, he spoke to me.
“Y-You are… sob… a s-strong warrior. It… It was an h-honorable… Green Skin versus Green Skin match.”
Contrary to his thoughts, there was no honor anywhere in this. From his perspective, it was a fight filled with nothing but dishonor. Seeing him tremble as he looked at me, it was clear he had learned his lesson. But seeing the look of injustice in his eyes, I opened my mouth to speak to him.
“Good. You are a Green Skin full of vigor. I’ll be in your care for the next three years, Giant Scream. I will personally face you like this every day so you can become stronger. I’ll even set up a training schedule for you. I will raise you and all your clan members into strong warriors.”
“Th-There’s no need for that, Blood Dagger. For… for me to join you… y-your vessel is…”
“There’s no need to refuse.”
I smiled viciously and patted his shoulder. His already pale face seemed to turn a shade paler. This was a kind of warning. Since he had already spoken, I was sure he would choose our clan.
For some reason, I felt a great weight lift from my chest, as if a huge worry had disappeared. I didn't have to hope for a good guy to show up. I could just pick a guy like this and spend three years re-educating him to my liking. Seeing him look at me with a bit of fear, I could tell there was plenty of room for rehabilitation. When I subtly gripped the spear shaft again, his body flinched. He was clearly terrified.
A warrior who won't cause trouble or worry is one you can make yourself. I looked at him and nodded in satisfaction. He must have been quite well-liked, because even after such a heartbreaking display, his tribe members didn't leave him. But when I shot them a single cold glare, they all began to discreetly avoid my eyes.
I also knew ways to inflict quite a bit of meaningless pain on the body. It would be quite a sight to see them trained with Gark and Hark as their instructors. A slow smile spread across my face.
“Incredible, Blood Dagger.”
While the newcomers looked at me with fear, the chieftains were looking at me with considerable admiration. Since they had to manage their Green Skins like babies for the next three years, they were flocking to me to learn my secret method for so brilliantly correcting his mental state.
“We have a chieftain in our settlement with a ridiculously arrogant attitude who’s a real headache.”
“It’s the same for my tribe, Blood Dagger. What method would you recommend?”
Questions like that flew at me. Though it wasn't my intention, the era of true education had officially begun.