I became a legion lich

94 A new beginning

Trevor found him, his body fully recovered after drinking potions of healing and mana regeneration. They stared at each other for a while, tension building between all who watched. The size difference between them made the elves fearful, but their next actions were totally anticlimactic.

“Grork/Trevor!” They screamed at the same time, before hugging each other and slapping on each other’s backs. The force of the slaps continued to increase, until they were so strong that the wind pressure of each blow lifted the sand off the ground.

“Stop, stop, stop! I surrender, my old carcass is no longer the same as before.” Trevor yelled as he pushed Grork away, lightly rubbing the place where he hit.

“Haha, don’t use age as an excuse. I was always stronger, even when you were still active on the front lines.” Grork spoke in elven as he flashed a wild smile that all the dumbfounded elves had mistaken for aggression, but it was as friendly as an orc’s facial muscles would allow.

“There’s not much I can do, is there? Against a warrior race like the orcs, there’s very little an elf like me can do to physically fight.” Trevor clicked his tongue in mock indignation, but his face quickly broke into a sincere smile. “It’s good to see you buddy.”

“Yeah, good to see you.”

“Have the two idiots finished greeting each other? People are waiting for an explanation.” Trevor’s wife interrupted the two, sighing in exasperation.

“Malena!” Grork finally noticed her and hugged her tightly. He was about to give her a friendly pat on the back, a common orc greeting, but she kicked him in the balls with perfect timing, using the moment he lifted her into the air to maximize the damage.

“Geh!” Grork released her and dropped to his knees on the floor. making strange sounds while holding the crown jewels. He glared evilly at Malena, but the latter ignored him and turned to the elves watching their interaction intently.

.....

“This idiot is called Grork Gor, and he is the leader of Clan Gor. We will be joining your clan from today. I know many of you may have a lot of questions, but I hope you understand that this is necessary for our survival. We are no longer in the safety of the sea of trees, we are now in wild lands, the deserts of the south.”

The elves around them exclaimed in fear. The sea of trees covered the entire East, but the entire south was covered by deserts and savannas, known to humans as demihuman territory, but the elves knew better. No race dared to claim the deserts, for none of them had the power to do so.

The demihuman races were the only intelligent tribes that inhabited this place, but much of the territory was wild lands dominated by monsters. Most of the monsters in the tree sea were eradicated and the few that remained were used for training by the elves.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you and teach you how to survive in the desert. It was the deal I made with Trevor and an orc always honors his promises.” Grork recovered quickly and spoke confidently, striking a bodybuilder’s pose and proudly displaying his biceps, as if to prove he had the strength to protect them.

Orcs were simple creatures who valued strength above anything else, so their muscles were their greatest pride and how they measured the beauty of their partners. Unfortunately for him, elves had slender, thin bodies, so the poses he was striking made him look stupid and unreliable.

“Don’t worry. He may look stupid and have a face only a mother could love, but believe me when I say there is no one more reliable than him to guide us through the wilderness.” Trevor spoke as he nudged Grork in the side with his elbow to stop it.

There was still some suspicion in the elves’ eyes, but there wasn’t much they could do. Trevor was about to say that they should prepare to travel to meet the rest of Clan Gor, when Grork stepped forward, his playful, relaxed air nowhere to be seen.

“We will protect you, but that doesn’t mean you can just sit on your thumbs while you enjoy our hard work. We will welcome you as part of our clan, but in our clan those who don’t work don’t eat. Everyone must contribute something, or will be expelled and will have to survive on their own in the desert.” Grork spoke seriously, making most elves think they ran from one tyrant only to find another.

“What he meant is that everyone will have work when they arrive in the clan. Orcs are excellent fighters, but with the rare exception when one of them is born with a body of mana, they are incapable of using magic, even with the use of magic. wands. They cannot create enchanted items, forcing them to loot or trade with other clans to obtain enchanted items which are most often not appropriate for orcs to use.

Also, even though my friend here is kind of stupid, he’s still one of the smartest among the orcs. Jobs that require subtlety rather than brute force are nightmares for orcs, to the point where they’d rather fight hordes of monsters empty-handed than do desk work.” Trevor spoke up.

Grork nodded heavily, despite the fact that he was being called stupid right to his face. Orcs hated to use their heads, except to strike their enemies, so knowing just how to speak and basic math was more than enough for them. Orcs like Grork who learned a second language were considered a genius who was only born every 100 years.

“The desert has a great concentration of world energy and is rich in magical resources, but food is scarce and the land is unsuitable for agriculture, so the main way to obtain food is from hunting. We will provide our technology and elven engineering, while they will supply us with the manpower. Does everyone understand?” Trevor asked, but people were too confused by the big change in their lives and decided to just wait and see.

“Fine, let’s go.” Grork yelled aloud, mounting his crystal rhino again and urging people to follow him.

*******

Life with Clan Gor wasn’t as bad as the high elves initially hoped. They mostly lived in tents made from monster skins or makeshift huts, which was a sharp drop in quality compared to the tall trees, but it couldn’t be avoided.

Like most species, the Gor clan was nomadic and constantly changing, fleeing elemental storms and waves of raging monsters, something that would be considered a catastrophe in human countries, was a common occurrence.

They bred Desert Wildebeest, one of the few herbivorous monster species that existed in the desert. They were treated as much for food as they were for carrying heavy materials, but their numbers were insufficient to feed the entire clan, particularly with the addition of the high elves.

The orcs were incredibly friendly and warmly welcomed the elves. For an orc, his clan was his family and all members were brothers and the patriarch’s decisions were absolute. The moment Grork gave the go-ahead to the elves, they became family.

The high elves found it strange how friendly the races they considered barbaric and violent were, but soon the strangeness faded and most of them reassessed what they had always taken for granted.

The high elves actively contributed in various fields such as runesmith, alchemy and magic; making the orcs sigh in admiration more than once and making life much easier for the entire clan. Using the desert’s abundant magical resources, the high elves created countless enchanted weapons for orcs.

The orcs initially found weapons made of wood strange, but when it was proved that the weapons were as hard as those made of metal, if not better, they gladly accepted them. Potions allowed them to create poisons and alchemical items that made hunting easier, as well as potions with various effects to improve orcs.

Healing magic allowed the orcs to stop relying on their body’s natural healing, greatly increasing their survival rate while water magic allowed them to get water without relying on oases. High elves who lacked the ability to use mana were given administrative jobs as accountants and scribes, prompting orcs who previously held this role to shed tears of gratitude.

As for the Elven family, Selena woke up a few hours after they were reunited with the orcs and panicked while looking for her son, until Trevor appeared with the baby and calmed her down.

It took some time for Trevor and Malena to convince Selena that they had managed to escape Kastil, but she was forced to believe it when her feet touched the soft desert sand, something that would be impossible to see in the sea of trees, when she saw the partying orcs, a barbaric race that Kastil forbade the sea of trees, and when she closed her eyes and didn’t feel Kastil’s sickly gaze watching her.

When Selena finally realized that she was no longer trapped in the yggdrasil sprout, it was as if all the emotions she had kept to herself flowed like a burst dam and she began to cry compulsively, but it was from joy. Her parents hugged her as they shed tears of compassion, at the same time they begged for forgiveness for taking so long to find her.

It was the moment when Selena felt she was finally free.

*******