Chapter 91: Goblin Shaman (Part 2)
Akanis wore an expressionless face; what expression could he have? He could only sigh internally about how small Jima’s heart was, even though his chest was clearly not small.
Akanis stared into a shadow in the tent, thinking that if he jumped into the shadow, he could slip away invisibly—those brainless greenskin orcs wouldn’t catch him.
The silly orc boy called out, “Columbus? Columbus? The Grand Shaman is still waiting for you. He said if you don’t want to come, we’ll just tie you up and carry you there.”
Run away? What a rare opportunity; how could he run? Just think about it—a whole bunch of greenskins supporting him as a shaman would be so impressive.
Akanis jumped up, swinging his spider bone staff to slap the orc boy in the face:
“Am I afraid? I just want to know how to squash that so-called Grand Shaman. I’m the chosen one of the Great Mao Er Ge, highly favored by them.”
The silly orc boy looked confused. “Did you not say before that you were a little brother of Great Mao Er Ge?”
Akanis realized he had used the wrong term. In greenskin culture, the term “chosen one” was too serious.
“The senior little brother is called the chosen one!” Akanis shouted. “Hurry, take me there.”
The silly orc boy glanced at the wooden basin behind Akanis, filled with mushrooms, thinking about how usually the shaman Columbus carried a bunch of colorful mushrooms but was not doing so today.
“What are you standing there for?”
“Okay, I’ll take you there.” The silly orc boy bent down, leading Akanis out of the tent.
Outside the tent, there stood a neatly lined row of black orcs. They wore uniform heavy iron armor and carried the same type of two-handed axes. Even their tusks were uniformly missing, making them look like clones of the same black orc at first glance.
These black orcs stood out from the chaotic camp, perhaps they were the only orderly sight in this noisy camp. Unlike the inherently chaotic orcs, these modified black orcs naturally obeyed discipline and followed orders.
As soon as Akanis stepped out of the tent, the black orcs moved in unison, surrounding Akanis to prevent the short goblin from escaping. These strong black orcs, towering nearly two meters high, even kept their legs together, eliminating any possibility for him to slip away.
It looked like that Grand Shaman wouldn’t hold back today.
Akanis thought this but raised his chin. The unique eagle-hooked nose of a goblin pointed ahead at the backside of a wild orc, and he strode forward.
Under the “guard” of a pair of black orcs, the group of greenskins moved through the chaotic greenskin camp at a steady but slow pace.
For the first time, Akanis walked through such a massive greenskin camp and discovered many new and interesting things.
Rows of various twisted war chariots were set up throughout the camp. The materials for the chariots appeared to be all sorts—there were toilet lids, door panels, and even cupboard doors. Akanis even saw a sign that read “Pigs and Whistles,” likely from a tavern.
Two chariots were chasing each other, their front wheels filled with rusty iron nails, causing chaos wherever they went. Poor goblins who got in their way tumbled and rolled.
Akanis watched with great interest, feeling that the greenskins were really vibrant, unlike the armies under the Empire’s emperor, where order, order, and more order ruled, to the point of being dull.
At least in the imperial camp, one couldn’t drive a cart recklessly, knocking over a row of neatly lined tents… just thinking about it exhilarated him.
After passing through the noisy war chariot area, Akanis saw even more fun things.
A large group of orc boys was hammering various scraps of metal into rough iron armor to wear. Some breastplates forged from human swords and knives were distinguishable by the number of blades counted on them.
The craftsmanship was poor, resembling the work of beginner blacksmiths; the only advantage was that they were thick and heavy.
Akanis secretly admired the greenskins’ hands-on ability.
At this moment, a commotion erupted from nearby. A large group of goblins and greenskins fled in a panic, trampling several tents as a thunderous sound of footsteps rang out behind them.
Looking over, he was surprised to see an enormous spider, towering more than three stories high, covered in a thick, yellow chitinous shell. It was carrying a rough wooden building on its back, with several goblins excitedly calling out from atop it.
The giant spider chased the greenskins, smashing watchtowers and flattening tents.
The black orcs remained strangely calm, neither running around in panic like their kin nor showing enthusiasm like Akanis, who was intrigued.
As the fleeing greenskin crowd passed by the black orc guard, they all dropped their axes simultaneously, picking up the fleeing goblins like small chicks and taking a few steps forward to throw them towards the massive spider before continuing on their way.
Though Akanis wasn’t afraid, the black orcs said, “Don’t be afraid, little snot-nosed. The big spider is just hungry.”
No sooner had the words left their mouths than the giant spider spun its webs, ensnaring the goblins tossed to it, eating one after another with a crunch.
It could do that too…
“Awesome!” Akanis couldn’t help but clap his hands in delight. “This is so fun.”
The leading black orc coldly stated, “Little snot-nosed, if you can’t raise Great Mao’s statue, you’ll have to feed the spider.”
Akanis wasn’t listening at all; in fact, after witnessing this series of “vibrant” phenomena in the greenskin camp, he was more excited than ever and yearned to become a goblin shaman.
Damn it, why didn’t he reincarnate as a happy greenskin?
Following the black orcs’ steps, they walked for about thirty minutes before the group of greenskins finally left the noisy camp.
Outside the camp, the greenskins had piled together red bricks and marble columns taken from human buildings, stacking them high. On top sat a large, menacing mask, bigger than a cart, resembling the angry face of an orc—this was the shrine of Great Mao Er Ge.
Surrounding the shrine was a large group of greenskin orcs, all jostling for position, with the bigger greenskins at the front and goblins at the back, unable to find a place.
“Stand aside! Shaman Columbus is coming,” shouted the black orc, kicking aside a goblin blocking the way.
Immediately, the noisy greenskins turned their heads. The black orcs strategically stepped aside, exposing Akanis to the crowd of greenskins.
Rows of tusked orc boys stared wide-eyed at the diminutive Akanis. The goblins whispered among themselves, their red eyes fixed on Akanis, while a few clever goblins quietly slipped away the weapons and tusk currency from the orc boy.
“Why is he so short? I thought the bigger you are, the stronger you are. He’s even weaker than a shrimp.”
“Great Mao Er Ge doesn’t think highly of this snot-nosed; only tall and strong greenskin, who can dance, can be favored by Great Mao Er Ge.”
One particularly clever goblin started a betting game. He drew a line on the ground and shouted:
“The betting is open! The betting is open! Hey, boys! Bet whether Columbus will go feed the big spider! One tusk to start! Bet on the left for Columbus, on the right for him feeding the spider. The odds are 1:50… No one betting on Columbus? Then the odds are 1:100… Now it’s 1:150!”
Few were willing to bet on Akanis winning. The greenskins used tusks as currency, with only a few yellowed and chipped tusks on the left, while a pile of new and old tusks was on the right. The new tusks still had blood on the tips.
No one believed in the short goblin shaman at all.
In the eyes of the greenskins, bigger meant stronger. The bigger the knife, the more powerful it was; the bigger the orc, the stronger it was.
Seeing that almost no one was betting on him, Akanis was so enraged that his hair stood on end. He waved his spider bone staff and, taking advantage of an orc’s inattention, jumped up and struck him in the mouth with the staff. A bloody tusk flew out, and before it could land in the greedy goblin’s hands, Akanis leaped and caught it, placing the bloody tusk on the left.
Under the gaze of the greenskins, Akanis straightened up, bouncing and dancing as he shouted:
“Today! I just want to prove one thing: I! Akanis… Columbus! Am the true little brother of Great Mao Er Ge! By the mercy of Great Mao Er Ge, I can raise the statue of Great Mao!”
The orcs had little reaction to this, but the goblins grew excited, ready to scream and applaud, only to suddenly stop, looking fearfully at what was behind Akanis.
A gust of wind rushed at Akanis from behind, moving at high speed, and he immediately rolled to the side.
A massive wolf-tooth club struck the ground with a thud, leaving a pit. A huge, strong hand gripped the club tightly, with arms thicker than Akanis’s waist. The owner of the hand was a tall orc wearing a wooden mask.
He was even taller than the black orcs, his strong body partly exposed, muscles clearly defined, covered in white battle markings.
His eyes, peeking from behind the mask, squinted with interest as he stared at Akanis and said, “Very good, very good; quick reflexes! Let’s see you evade under the big spider’s mouth a bit more.”
He must be the so-called Grand Shaman.
Akanis picked up the fallen skull of the spider bone staff and mimicked his expression, squinting back at him, saying, “Very good, very good, plenty of meat; the big spider will be well-fed now.”
“Hahaha!” The Grand Shaman lifted the wolf-tooth club and turned to leave.
Beside the shrine, a group of rugged, nearly naked barbarian orcs, their bodies covered in more battle markings than clothing, were stacking large stones together to form a small hill.
The Grand Shaman jumped and danced strangely, hopping left and right, shouting, “Great Mao is brutally cunning; Mao is crafty and vicious!”
Inspired by him, the orcs shouted back, “Great Mao is brutally cunning; Mao is crafty and vicious!”
The greenskins were infected too, dancing and beating on hide drums, creating primitive and rough rhythms.
Shouting and shouting, the Grand Shaman’s eyes behind the mask glowed green as he glared at the shrine of Great Mao Er Ge, shouting, “Great Mao gazes!”
A pair of green lights shot from his eye sockets, blasting down the large mask on the shrine, which fell onto a pile of rocky debris. The mask emitted light, and the debris surprisingly began to move, gradually forming the shape of an orc. Just as it was about to rise, the Grand Shaman stopped dancing, and the debris split apart and fell to the ground.
“Now it’s your turn!” the Grand Shaman shouted. “If you can’t do it, you’ll have to feed the spider!”
Who knows how to make a pile of stones move by itself!
Though he thought this, Akanis held his head high, grasped his bone staff, and walked up, shouting, “Get out of the way! Let me come!”
