We had done it! Before me were the defeated orcs at the ground, with my minions and henchman standing triumph above! Even if they were battered and bruised, no one has suffered any lasting damage!

  What was even more impressive was that they managed to defeat their enemies without killing them. Sure, they’re missing some limbs, but they were already in the middle of regrowing them. Upon closer inspection I could see that they were stitching up like threads, bit by bit. At the very least I won’t have to worry about them being handicapped. They will prove far more useful with all their limbs. The hard part will be convincing them to follow me.

  I was ready to inspect the situation more but unfortunately, I found myself unable to move. It figures, I had pushed past my limits at that fight, and I would be more surprised if I could move. It looks like I wasn’t the only one, everyone else looked exhausted. Some of the wolves had laid down to rest and all the kobolds were trying to catch their breaths, their bodies still shaking from the experience. Even Mordred wasn’t looking very energetic.

  I doubt I’m going to be able get their help, hopefully they can recover fast enough before the orcs do. In the meantime, I figure I should try to check on my attributes and see if I had any improvements.

  That was amazing, I had managed to finally rank up my [Health] for the first time! Thinking back, it must have been because I managed to survive that last attack. Hopefully this means I’ll be able to endure attacks a bit more, I DEFINITELY need that. As for my abilities and skills, they’re small but steady progress. I looked over my storage for an inventory check and it seems I used up all my wolf materials, probably from outfitting everyone. I doubt I’ll be restocking on them soon considering my wolf minions, so I’ll have to find something else to replace them later.

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  And just as I was finishing checking my status, I started to hear the orcs stirring from their unconscious state. Damn it, I wanted to restrain them before they began waking up! Luckily, it seems they haven’t fully recovered yet. Their limbs haven’t fully regenerated, but they still could pose a threat. None of us were in good condition to fight but even still Mordred forced himself up, ready to defend us, …. well mainly me, probably. He was still battered and bruised and couldn’t even hold his weapon so resorted to using his fists showing obvious signs he wouldn’t be able to last long.

  The orcs pull themselves up the best they can, raising their arms or stumps for arms they let out a booming screech, loud enough to hurt our eardrums! But as their screams continued, I noticed it was strangely not one of hostility but of praise? …. They were cheering.

  “That was amazing I’ve never had a fight like that my entire life!!” one of the orcs yelled. It had a look of pure delight, a stark contrast to its menacing glare before.

  Another one responded to it “I know right?! Especially this guy here, he managed to hold his own against three of us for so long!” it preceded to wrap what’s left of its arm around Mordred, who looked rather confused over the development at first. Though he was quick to return the favor and joined arms with him, smiling from the compliment.

  This was definitely an …. interesting development, I was getting the sense these orcs have the same type of mindset as Mordred, considering how well they were already getting along. They were gladly chatting it up about the bloodshed they had participated in. It was… a bit weird seeing them treating that fight like a casual event and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one. The wolves were on the defensive but couldn’t hide their confused expression meanwhile my fellow kobolds were cowering behind the wolves.

  The conversation then started to go to an interesting turn, “So for you to be this strong then you must be the leader of this group, right?” one orc asked Mordred expectedly. The rest joined in as well, giving him an unusually beaming expression. I could barely keep myself from chuckling over the sight before me. It was like seeing a bunch of kids fawning over a superhero. ~

  Mordred looked rather offended from that question, like he couldn’t even fathom the idea of anyone else besides me being in charge. He was quick to deny them and pointed at my direction “No way! I’m just a henchman, the boss over there is the one in charge!!”

  When the orcs saw who the minotaur was pointing at, they had a look of bewilderment. It was to be expected, the idea of a large powerful monster like the Minotaur serving under a weak looking tiny kobold was just too unbelievable! One of them even started to nervously laugh.

  “Eh eh eh you’re joking right? There’s no way you’d take orders from a little weakling like this right?”

  Mordred was quick to defend his point “I’m serious, the boss was actually the first one to defeat me on combat, and all by himself as well!”

  The orcs were rather surprised to hear his explanation and quickly looked at me, with a new look of amazement but a little linger of doubt. Though one started to gasp in surprise.

  “Wait I remember you; I faced you one on one! Damn you were a scrappy little fella! I coulda sworn I pummeled you after one hit, ha was I proven wrong! You’re a lot tougher than you look!”

  The orc that I had faced before had a look of acknowledgement, seemingly satisfied from the fight, with a hint of caution towards me. The others couldn’t believe it, to have such a weak-looking creature be that strong is unheard of to them. Though they couldn’t deny that they both were telling the truth. At the next moment a notification appeared in front of me as I was hoping.

  And with that my goal was achieved! As of this moment the caverns were completely mine!!

  “Veehahahahaha!!!”

  My joyful laughter was heard throughout my minions and henchman. I’m sure the others were also excited about this development.

  Though in truth they were all looking at me with annoyance, awkwardness, or confusion. The orcs, being my newest minions, had to be caught up over my ‘unique’ behavior. Though they were rather quick to accept this and in fact were joining with Mordred over being in awe over it.

  “Oh, great what we need…”

  “Like having one crazy fanatic wasn’t enough….”

  “We’re never going to have a peaceful day, are we? ...”

  The three stooges could only give a sigh of acceptance over their predicament. At the very least with everyone’s injuries, they’ll need to take time to recover. Unfortunately for them I had something else in mind.

  “Alright everyone after we rest for today and can move again, we’ll be returning back to base. Now that we got new minions, we got a lot of work to do!”

  All the kobolds groaned in exhaustion but didn’t dare voice their complaint, though I offer to let them ride on the wolves or orcs’ back which they were more than happy to agree to.

  After a day or rest we returned back to base, I made sure for us to take our time as I didn’t want to push them too hard, less their efficiency would drop. Once we returned the rest of the kobolds that had stayed behind were a little surprised to see the orcs following along, though the ones who followed us quickly informed them what happened as well as my skill in battle.

  The orcs themselves were quick to get comfy with the group, though they seemed to prefer to hang with Mordred. So, I decided to let my minotaur henchman take charge of them and they all seemed happy with that decision.

  After that we took the time to quickly grow and expand my territory. With my new orcs joining, our hunting capabilities increased, providing us enough food to feed us though I couldn’t find any useful materials from them.

  Things were proving to be quite stable now, and soon it would be time for the next phase of my conquest! Once we have everything settled with the caverns, my next goal will be to venture outside the caves and expand my influence further!!

  I can’t wait for the day Veehahahahaha!!