The Titan continent. An unnad forest.
Twilight shadows, starlight, towering ancient trees, and a dappled canopy—this was the forest through Godfrey's eyes. Out here, the wilderness at night was simply another word for danger.
"Commander, the Horde hauled off that mind-warping Demon Pillar. The mid-sized Ogre tribe that lived here moved on with it." Brundar, the giant and Deputy Commander of the Blood and Fire rcenary Corps, paused. "With this quest done, do we finally have enough Glory Points to claim a rcenary territory?"
Brundar reached over the campfire, pulled off so roasted at and flatbread, and handed a portion to Godfrey. "It's a delicate ti, and the wilds aren't safe. Shouldn't we head back to Rosethorn to rest?"
"You're right, it isn't safe," Godfrey said. "If the Prince hadn't passed through and lent a hand, we wouldn't have cleared this so fast. But the imdiate area is secure. Pushing through the night is riskier than making camp. The n need to heal; everyone's tapped out."
He took the food and devoured it. He was starving. They had spent over three grueling months in the wilderness, grinding to complete the quest and earn a formalized territory recognized by the Horde. Now, it was finally ti to head ho.
"Commander, you've got the Lord's Stone now. We'll have our own land soon. The Blood and Fire rcenary Corps is moving up in the world, eh?" Brundar asked, making no effort to hide his absolute certainty.
The ntion of a territory drew the attention of Stoutgut the dwarf and his drinking buddy, the gnoll Bloodear.
"A territory?"
"Commander, didn't you say we were spending the Glory Points on a dragon egg first?"
"Don't you want to be a dragon knight anymore?" Stoutgut smacked his lips, wiping the ale from his beard with a stubby hand as he stared at Godfrey with confused little eyes.
"I have Cinder. A dragon egg can wait."
Behind Godfrey, a one-eyed tiger head peeked out. It was a Fla-Tiger gifted by the Stoneheart Horde. Now at the peak of the Lord tier, the beast was the only reason the Blood and Fire rcenary Corps had survived so many of their contracts. Cinder had massively boosted their combat power, allowing them to rack up their Glory Points. The tiger had perford exceptionally well lately.
Growl. Cinder leaned into Godfrey's hand for a mont before turning back to lick its wounds. It had taken a beating completing the last objective.
"The Lord's Stone and the territory are a package deal. They synergize," Godfrey explained. "Once the corps has a fief, I can quickly advance to the Lord tier."
It was the truth. They had worked themselves to the bone specifically for this. The 'rcenary territory' was effectively a fiefdom—a reward the Stoneheart Horde offered to top-contributing corps. It wasn't just an empty plot of land to build a guildhall; it was a self-sustaining domain packed with unmined resources and materials.
When the Horde announced this policy, every rcenary corps on the continent went rabid. The system rewarded rit, ignoring birthright. With a fief, Godfrey could rapidly push toward the Legendary level.
Brundar, Stoutgut, Bloodear, and the rest would reap the benefits. With enough talent, they could eventually reach the Legendary level too. Once Godfrey hit that tier, he could accept high-tier Horde quests restricted to Legendary powerhouses, granting the corps access to Legendary-grade cultivation resources.
It was a snowball effect. That was why the entire corps was unified in pushing Godfrey to the top.
However, Godfrey was keeping one detail to himself. As a Knight class, advancing to the Lord tier required a trip back to Stoneheart City. He needed to track down the eldest princess, Ava, and request the complete set of knight tokens from her. Only then could he actually break through to the Legendary level.
"Commander, we've got a situation!" a sentry shouted from the dark periter.
Without a second thought, Godfrey and the others grabbed their weapons and sprinted toward the voice. Monts later, Godfrey returned, holding a two-headed baby.
"Commander, is that an abandoned Ogre?"
"Its eyes are open. It has to be at least three months old."
"Three months old and still the size of an infant? For the Ogre race, who do nothing but eat from the mont they drop, this kid is a freak. A runt."
"He must have been dumped."
The gnoll, Bloodear, trotted over to Godfrey and poked at the infant's crotch. "Well, look at that. He's got a pair. It's a little guy!"
An abandoned baby? That was rare for Godfrey, and practically unheard of within the Stoneheart Horde. The Horde aggressively incentivized childbirth. Godfrey hadn't seen a discarded infant since he enlisted.
"Aside from that Lord, every Ogre has a screw loose." Brundar tapped his temple. The giant knew them well. During his military service, he had ford a strike team with a squad of Ogres to hunt Blood Elves. Ever since, he knew that with the exception of Ogre Lords, the entire race was brain-dead. You couldn't reason with them.
"Back then, the Horde spent a fortune building them a city," Brundar continued. "But because the mortar was mixed with sticky rice, the idiots almost ate the damn walls. If the Horde wasn't propping it up, the only city symbolizing the Ogre race would have collapsed years ago. When that Lord gets back from his expedition in the Abyss, he's going to lose his mind."
Brundar tossed so dry kindling into the fire. ntioning the Abyss sparked a glint of longing in his eyes. According to Horde insiders, they held several territories down in the Abyss, conquered personally by their King.
"Why are we talking about this? What the Ogre race does is none of our business," Stoutgut grumbled, waddling to Godfrey's other side. He pointed at the infant, locking eyes with its four blinking pupils. He found it amusing. "The real question is, what do we do with him?"
"I want to adopt him."
Silence.
"I'm unmarried. No kids. I genuinely want to adopt him." Ignoring the slack jaws of his crew, Godfrey reached out and tickled the infant's two round heads.
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