Chapter 155: Fight Rules

Two days later, Ka’z finally descended from the secret chamber to inspect the progress of the settlement for himself. His body had recovered considerably from the five days of cultivation, although the breakthrough into the Silver Core Realm had left him with a strange awareness of his own body that he was still learning to control.

As he stepped out from the cave entrance, he immediately noticed how different the clearing looked compared to the last time he had seen it. What had once been a dense section of forest was now an enormous open field, with the felled trees neatly arranged in several piles and the ground cleared of roots, bushes and other obstacles.

The sheer amount of land they had managed to prepare surprised even him. There was enough space for more than a hundred homes, several larger structures, farms, livestock pens and plenty of room between them for the settlement to expand naturally as the population increased.

Ka’z slowly walked around the perimeter, inspecting the terrain and imagining where everything would eventually stand. The village was still nothing more than an enormous clearing, but in his mind he could already see the beginnings of the settlement he had envisioned.

He eventually made his way toward the center of the planned settlement, where the most impressive piece of infrastructure had already been completed.

A large stone lined well had been dug deep into the earth, its walls reinforced carefully to prevent the surrounding soil from collapsing into it or contaminating the water below. A sturdy wooden frame stood over the opening with a pulley system attached, allowing even the smaller kobolds to lower and raise buckets without exhausting themselves.

What pleased Ka’z even more was what surrounded it. Several moderately deep channels had been carved into the earth around the well and directed outward in different directions, forming the foundation of the village’s water distribution system.

Some led toward the areas designated for future homes, while others extended toward the planned farmland. The channels were still rough, but the artisans had clearly designed them with future expansion in mind, leaving enough space for additional channels to be connected later.

Ka’z stopped in front of the well and looked around with genuine satisfaction. This was exactly what he had wanted. They would no longer have to depend entirely on the stream outside their settlement, and once the farms were established, the underground water could be distributed throughout the village and toward the fields.

The stream would remain useful for irrigation and livestock, but even if an enemy ever managed to cut them off from it, Vaal’kor would still possess a reliable source of water beneath their own land.

Ka’z clapped his hands together with a broad smile. "This is really good."

His gaze then shifted toward the Ashmork artisans standing nearby. They looked exhausted. Their clothes were stained with dirt, their hands were covered in scratches and their faces carried the fatigue of people who had spent the past few days working almost without rest.

Yet they were still surrounded by Bigi and Bruk, both carrying iron maces and keeping a close eye on them. The artisans had clearly been treated as prisoners, but they had also been forced to work alongside the kobolds from morning until night.

Ka’z’s smile faded slightly.

He turned toward a nearby kobold. "Get these men something to eat and drink. They have done really wonderful work."

Buzz!

The kobold froze.

Several others nearby exchanged uncomfortable looks, and even the one Ka’z had directly addressed seemed hesitant to obey. Their hesitation was understandable. These were the same goblins whose clan had attacked their home, and killed their people. Asking them to feed the very goblins they regarded as enemies was still difficult for many of them to accept.

Before Ka’z could say anything else...

Bang!

The kobold suddenly dropped to the ground, clutching the back of his head with a pained expression. He turned around and found Tu’ka standing behind him, his expression cold and his purple eyes carrying an unmistakable threat.

"Will you do as he said, or must I beat you into submission?" Tu’ka sneered.

"Erm... I’ll go... I’ll go!" the kobold squealed before scrambling to his feet and running away.

Tu’ka immediately pointed toward another kobold. "Join him and make sure these goblins get fed properly, or you will be the one starving tonight!"

Buzz!

The second kobold’s face immediately paled with fear. He hurried after the first while the remaining workers suddenly became extremely focused on their tasks. Nobody dared look Tu’ka directly in the eyes.

Ka’z stared at the scene in silence.

Despite being considerably stronger than Tu’ka, Ka’z had noticed something interesting since returning to the colony. Tu’ka was far colder toward everyone outside his small circle than Ka’z had ever been.

He could be friendly with Ka’z, Kora and a handful of people he trusted, but toward everyone else he maintained a distant and intimidating demeanor. For some reason, the colony seemed to fear Tu’ka far more than they feared Ka’z himself.

"If you have enough energy to hate those who have taught you how to build, then focus that energy on completing the walls, you fucking morons," Tu’ka scolded harshly. "If these goblins die from starvation and overwork, who will help build the rest of the village? You empty heads?"

The kobolds immediately lowered their heads and returned to work.

Ka’z stared at Tu’ka, unsure whether he should laugh or cry. He had expected resistance from the kobolds, but he had never expected Tu’ka to be the one openly defending the Ashmork artisans.

What made it even stranger was the fact that Tu’ka had never exactly treated the goblins kindly. His concern was clearly practical rather than sentimental. He simply understood that wasting skilled workers because of hatred would be stupid.

Kora apparently decided that Tu’ka had said enough. She rushed over and covered his mouth with her palm before shaking her head repeatedly, pleading with him to stop. Tu’ka’s eyes shifted toward her, and after a moment he reluctantly fell silent.

Even the goblin artisans looked stunned.

Their faces were filled with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. The strange black scaled kobold who had barely spoken to them since their capture was now threatening their own people for refusing to feed them.

Ka’z was still trying to decide what to make of the entire situation when Ru’k and Kurg emerged from farther down the clearing.

"Alright, let’s not go around beating up anyone," Ru’k said with an amused expression. "Violence is not the answer."

Kurg nodded beside him. "Especially when we’re trying to build a peaceful village."

Tu’ka glanced at them without saying anything.

Ka’z rolled his eyes before shifting his attention toward the goblins. "I apologize for not coming sooner. I had an emergency that left me..."

He glanced over his shoulder at Za’r, who immediately looked away with a suspiciously innocent expression.

Ka’z cleared his throat before finishing, "Incapacitated."

Za’r’s ears turned red and Ru’k’s eyebrows rose, but he wisely decided not to ask.

The leader of the goblin artisans stepped forward. He was a relatively young goblin of about ten years, noticeably younger than most of the others, but he had been the only one confident enough to speak directly to Ka’z during their journey south. Because of that, the others had gradually elected him as their spokesperson. His name was Tor.

"We have been treated fairly well, considering it is we slaves now," Tor said with a bitter smile.

Ka’z stared at him for several seconds. He wasn’t sure what to say.

He had never intended to bring the artisans back simply to kill them. Their knowledge was far too valuable, especially with the Red Scripture in his possession. Once the village was completed, Ka’z had no intention of sending them away either.

If they were released immediately, there was a possibility that they could find the remaining members of Ashmork and help them rebuild. Yet at the same time, his conscience refused to accept the idea of executing people who had spent the helped him build the foundation of his future kingdom.

The situation was complicated further by the kobolds. Declaring the goblins free and equal citizens immediately would almost certainly cause resentment throughout the colony. These were people whose clan had murdered their relatives. Asking them to suddenly accept those same goblins as equals would be too much.

Ka’z finally looked back at Tor. "Don’t worry. While I’m here, you won’t be mistreated. Just focus on your work."

Tor nodded obediently. "Yes."

Ka’z turned away from him and noticed Tu’ka, Kurg, Za’r and Kora talking a short distance away. He approached them and looked toward the wooden framework of the wall that had begun taking shape around the clearing.

"What about the walls?" he asked.

"Our people spent the last two days learning from your slaves," Ru’k answered honestly. "We only just started building them."

Ka’z slowly nodded with an appreciative expression. He had expected the work to take longer, but Ru’k’s ability to organize everyone had clearly made a difference. The young kobold had a natural talent for managing people, even if his methods were sometimes questionable.

Ka’z’s gaze shifted toward Tu’ka. His lips parted, but the words never came.

Tu’ka immediately noticed. "Is there a problem?"

"I was thinking of giving you a completely different task unrelated to the building project," Ka’z admitted. "But that would just spread us thin. Right now, every worker here needs the protection only you can provide. I’ll shelve the plan of strengthening our military until we’re done here."

The idea of strengthening the military immediately drew genuine surprise from Tu’ka, Kurg and Ru’k. They had assumed the village construction would be their only major concern for the moment, so hearing Ka’z was already considering military organization showed them how far ahead he was thinking.

Still, they quickly understood his reasoning. They needed as many hands as possible.

Every available kobold needed to contribute to the construction, while the strongest among them needed to protect the workers in case something went wrong. The surrounding forest was dangerous, and they couldn’t afford to lose builders to magical beasts or hostile races while their defenses were still incomplete.

"Since we have so much free time now and you seem decently rested, what about that fight?" Kurg suddenly asked.

Za’r’s expression immediately soured.

"Shouldn’t we leave it until later?"

Ka’z shook his head, surprising everyone, including Za’r.

He understood why she was worried, but this was actually the best time to fight Kurg. His battle instincts were still fresh from Ashmork, and his body had only recently reached the Silver Core Realm. If they waited a month, Ka’z would be far more accustomed to peaceful village life and might lose some of the sharpness he had developed through constant combat.

"I accept your challenge," Ka’z said, "but since we’re going to fight, we need to lay down rules to make the fight fair."

Kurg nodded without hesitation. "No magic weapons, no runes and no Words of Power. Such a fight should be fair and square."

Ka’z nodded without difficulty. It wasn’t as though he could use his old magic weapons anymore. With his Orthodox magic gone, most of the tools he had relied upon during previous battles were effectively useless to him anyway.

"Then I demand one fresh source of blood," Ka’z said as he folded his arms across his chest. "Since I only have Blood Magic as my default magic affinity, that will only make things fair."

Kurg considered it for barely a second.

"Deal!"

The two nodded at one another before turning toward their friends.

"Anything else?" they asked almost simultaneously.

Ru’k, Tu’ka, Za’r and Kora all jerked backward. None of them had expected to become involved in this so quickly.

Before anyone could answer, an amused voice came from behind them.

"You forgot to add a judge. If you are going to fight, it’s only right to have we old men act as the referees."

Everyone turned toward the voice. Only Ka’z didn’t look surprised at all.

Beside Tong’a stood O’nil, who was already grinning from ear to ear. "Hohoho... Our colony... No, our village’s youngest Silver Core masters are about to duel it out for supremacy. My heart might just give out from the excitement."

Ka’z’s eyes narrowed.

For the briefest moment, the image of Elder Varg gripping his chest during their final clash at Ashmork flashed through his mind. The memory appeared so vividly that Ka’z felt a slight discomfort in his chest, but he quickly pushed it away and kept his expression neutral.

Lan’ka suddenly stepped forward with a laugh. "Not just referees. We need a large audience. Everyone has been busy building the village. This should be a good relaxing opportunity for everyone. I’m sure they’ll even seem much more motivated after they see how strong their new leaders are."

He started walking away confidently, apparently already imagining the spectacle. After several seconds, however, he realized nobody was following him.

Lan’ka stopped and looked back.

Tong’a and O’nil were standing together, completely absorbed in their own conversation.

"If Ka’z wins, I get one jar from your wine rations tonight," Tong’a said.

O’nil immediately laughed. "Hahahahaha! Ka’z may be the child of prophecy, but Kurg was personally trained by Kong’gong, and Ka’z only has one element now. I’ll bet two jars!"

Pa!

Za’r and Kora simultaneously facepalmed.

These were supposed to be the elders who would prevent the two young warriors from taking the fight too far.

Instead, they were already betting wine on the outcome.

Ru’k burst into laughter, followed by Tu’ka and Kurg. Even Ka’z couldn’t help smiling at the ridiculousness of the situation. The laughter spread across the clearing, temporarily washing away the tension that had surrounded the construction work.