"May the spirits of our forefathers bless you, my child!" Skaha’s voice thundered as he acknowledged Adrian and darted towards Ahuli.
Adrian stood outside the cave, his body drenched in the Queen’s blood from head to toe. The tribe mbers stared at him, a mix of fear and awe evident in their eyes. But they were even more scared when Fenris approached him, licking his blood.
The Queen was a beast they used to fear, and it was said that the one who defeated her would gain unimaginable rewards. Many people tried, but none were successful, and soon Skaha began using the Queen to bait the heroes and then enslave them.
It wasn’t like those who tried were weak. They were by far stronger than Adrian. Unfortunately, none of them could make the connection between the pond and the Queen’s weakness.
Adrian realised the Queen’s weakness and used it to his advantage. But the tribe didn’t need to know about it.
’Though it was a pain to kill her,’ Adrian thought, staring at his newly regenerated arm. ’Severing my arm was a gamble. I’d be screwed if the troll blood didn’t work effectively.’
Severing the arm was indeed a bold and painful move. But it was the only way Adrian could have gotten rid of the poison before things worsened. Besides, he knew he could absorb so creature’s arm if it ca to that, so he wasn’t scared of losing it.
’I wasn’t scared... but I can’t say the sa for the tribe.’
He was right. So trembled at the sight of him, while others whispered in hushed tones, admiring him. As Adrian surveyed the crowd, he could sense the strange mix of emotions swirling among them. But amidst the fear and awe, a sense of respect was directed towards him.
"Tal’shira..." One of the tribe elders mumbled as he stepped forward, his voice trembling slightly as he addressed Adrian. "Tal’shira!"
The rest of the tribe soon followed, and the chants of Tal’shira reverberated all over the forest. Adrian had no idea what the word ant, but he knew what Shira ant, "defender" or "protector".
It took a while, but Adrian realised they were calling him the tribe’s protector. He felt the tribe was overreacting, but if it would bring him status, then who was he to complain? After all, he was after recognition in the first place.
’Fools... they don’t even know what kind of dungeon it was,’ Adrian smiled, thinking about his stuffed inventory. ’I’ll have to return later to take down the Queen again. Passing up on a recurring dungeon would be a mistake.’
He felt the urge to check his inventory, knowing the rewards were worth it, but he held back. He needed to clear the ss created by Vincent first and save Alia and Sophia, at least.
While Adrian wanted to save them all, he couldn’t be too greedy. He was the Tal’shira, but nobody liked a greedy protector, and the tribe was no exception.
"Ahuli... wake up my child!"
Adrian’s thoughts were interrupted by Skaha’s shriek. Adrian used [Analysis] on the broken vial. It didn’t take long for him to identify the substance within—it was Somnus Essence, a chemical invented to induce sleep.
In other words, it was a dicine used to cure insomnia with minimal side effects.
’Clara must have brought it thinking it’d be difficult to sleep in a foreign place. Funny how it saved her.’
He then turned to look at Ahuli. One drop of Somnus Essence could knock a person out for three hours. Ahuli took an entire vial, which ant Ahuli wouldn’t be waking up for at least a day and a half, no matter how resilient he was.
Suddenly, Skaha grabbed Ahuli’s spear and ran towards Clara. Adrian knew what was about to happen and stopped the forr Chieftain.
"Let go of this instant!" Skaha yelled. "I will kill her-"
"No, you won’t," Adrian said in his disguised voice. "Only Chieftain Ahuli has the right to dictate their punishnt."
Skaha stared at Adrian but relented, "Tie them up!"
Skaha left along with the healers to aid Ahuli. anwhile, Adrian looked at Vincent before shaking his head.
***
It took the tribe a whole day to get back to the settlent. The heroes woke up about three hours into the journey, but Ahuli didn’t wake up until they returned, and he was really mad.
But Skaha cald him down and told him everything that had conspired since. Ahuli’s cald down and called Adrian to thank him while instructing them to prepare for a celebration.
Since the heroes were now their slaves, there was no need to hide the other slaves from them any longer. Adrian was there to witness the look of horror and shock on Vincent’s and Clara’s faces when they saw them.
Adrian was amused, knowing what was happening inside the elf’s head. Vincent was royalty, but at the mont, he was rely loyally fucked.
Throughout his life, Vincent always saw won as objects to play with. But now, as he found himself treated the sa way, he couldn’t wrap his head around it.
"And then what?" A woman excitedly asked Adrian while caressing his legs. Yet another one was all over him, trying to feed him, but Adrian always rejected her.
Adrian sighed. He was seated on a throne usually reserved for Ahuli. But this night, he was the honoured one while Ahuli sat beside him, just as interested in won as Adrian was.
Ahuli then nodded to Adrian to continue. Even he was interested in the story of how he had killed the Queen. Not wanting them to know about the secret of the pond, Adrian made up a random story to feed them, and sohow, they bought it.
But Ahuli’s mood shifted the mont Adrian was done telling the story and got up from his seat, grabbing everyone’s attention.
"Tonight, we celebrate the new Tal’shira!" he proclaid, his arms outstretched towards Adrian, and the crowd went berserk. "For he has brought us victory and glory!"
Amidst the noise, Ahuli turned towards Adrian with a wise grin, "You have proven yourself to be a true champion, Tal’shira. You have earned the respect and admiration of our people."
Adrian smiled and nodded. He had never been able to react to praise, but he could fake it this ti because the audience was more hooked on partying than on him.
"You’ve earned yourself a reward, no... you’ve earned two rewards," Ahuli corrected himself. "One for defeating the Queen and one for rescuing . So, tell , what do you desire? Whatever it may be, I’ll make sure you receive it!"
Adrian smiled. He was waiting for this mont but knew asking for the reward might put him at risk, and it sure did as he lifted his fingers towards Alia and Sophia, who were bound in chains.
The crowd went silent as they realised what Adrian was demanding from Ahuli. The Chieftain had already claid Alia as his, and it made them wonder if soone would dare to want sothing Ahuli had already claid.
"Is that your final choice?" Ahuli asked, staring daggers at Adrian.
"I’m afraid so," Adrian confidently replied, getting up.
The tribe held their breath. Everything turned silent. No one knew what would happen next.
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