The chieftain finished marking his face with black streaks gathered under his eyes, making his deep stare that much more piercing. Crow’s feet clung to the sides of his eyes, showing that his ferocity as a fighter was tempered by years of age, for no goblin, not even a champion, survived long unless they had some wisdom to their ways.

Thragg observed with respect, knowing that one of the reasons the Frostfish tribe was able to survive so long and so well was because they, despite the foolish champion that Thragg had killed, were overall united under Drogan’s keen and wise rule.

Drogan was known for making peace with humans when he had to, and that had allowed his tribe of goblins to escape targeting from Adventurers for the many years of his rule. When he first came into power and approached a human village, wishing to hash out terms of co-existence with their elder, he had at first been reviled by many, ridiculed as weak by tribes including the Frostskulls.

But over the years, Drogan’s way of rule had shown its merits. The Frostfish tribe flourished, allowed to inhabit lake Aska’s rich bounty, and because they could get armaments, items, and food from human villages, they prospered where tribes like the Frostskulls struggled under harsher winters, strong storms, and the onslaught of Adventuring retribution whenever they tried to sack a village.

“I am ready. My apologies for the wait, Frostskull warrior,” said Drogan. His way of speaking was dignified and complex, far more capable of speech than the other goblins.

.

“There is no ‘Frostskull’ anymore,” said Thragg. “It is only the banner that I introduced myself under to make us familiar to your tribe. A Sovnar has arisen to unify us, and I carry out only his will. Soon, the names of our tribes will not matter.”

“A Sovnar?” said Drogan. “Hah! I would never have believed you were your forms not so different, exuding with power. Even you, challenger, possess blessings from so many different monster bloodlines, as if Gob himself had blessed your blood.”

“You know of the title of Sovnar? Of Gob, our old god?” said Thragg.

“Of course. I learned as much of our history as I could from our elder,” said Drogan.

“The elder that one of your champions killed,” commented Thragg.

“For that sin, he was beaten to near death and sent to exile for twenty days alone,” said Thragg. “He managed to survive, and though I have taken much favor with him, he still was a champion necessary for my tribe’s safety.

I respected the elder, I truly did, for I was his pupil, but he would have wanted this tribe to prosper.”

“So that is why your words are so varied. You have taken the time to study the language of Gob,” said Thragg. He noted several bone necklaces and bracelets on Drogan as well. “And you know how to Bone Bind.”

“All that I could learn from the elder, I did,” said Drogan simply.

“You care for your tribe, it is evident, and you are wise enough to see beyond yourself and to a greater purpose: that of your tribe’s well-being. You were willing to discard old notions of pride to make peace with humans and adopt new ways.” Thragg raised an inviting hand towards Drogan. “Why not join me without the need for this old, bloody ritual?”

“What kind of chieftain would I be were I not to fight for the right of my tribe?” said Drogan. He raised his shield and sword in resolute determination. “This, I must do.”

“I understand,” said Thragg. He clenched his fists and lightly emanated his magical energy, a golden aura beginning to form around him.

“I, Drogan, chieftain of the Frostfish tribe, now grant you, great challenger, right to face me,” said Drogan as he surged his own aura, one colored blue in the form of the Unity affinity.

Thragg began a slow charge forwards, intentionally limiting his strength to grant the chieftain a bit of a fighting show before taking him down.

Drogan wreathed his sword in blue mana, swirls of energy encasing it in a sheathe, and then slashed forwards, sending out a slicing arc projectile.

Thragg held out a hand and easily blocked the arc of solidified mana, causing it to shatter against his durable hand.

Drogan took that moment to use bone binding. Several bones, fangs and tusks, around his necklace glew bright before shattering into dust that seeped into his body. His musculature became more pronounced and defined and his aura surged, signaling a boost in strength.

Bone bindings of Frostboars and Frostbears for a strength and durability boost, it seemed.

With this, Drogan sent out another ranged slash to cover for a charge he made.

Thragg swatted away this slash, sending it into the waters below where it cleaved out a deep incision into the rocky base of the pond. He watched as Drogan came forward with his shield held out, wrapped in blue energy.

“Hah!” Drogan bashed his shield against Thragg with all his might, explosively releasing the energy imbued in the shield in the form of a projected shockwave.

Thragg skidded back a few meters from the blow, but he was utterly unharmed.

“So this is the might of the Sovnar’s blessing,” said Drogan with a defeated chuckle, but he did not lower his shield and sword. “It is a wondrous event that I may test my might against that of the Old Age.”

Drogan put his shield up, generating a mana barrier in front of him, and behind it, he thrust out his sword again and again, shooting out piercing bolts of mana at rapidfire speed.

Thragg used his four arms to individually deflect and knock away all of the dozens of bolts with complete ease before he rushed forwards, disappearing from Drogan’s vision.

“Wha-,” began Drogan as Thragg’s fist suddenly crashed into his shield with tremendous impact the likes of which he had never faced before.

==

Drogan skidded across the water, hurtling back and moving out of the boundaries of the pond and slamming into a tree. The tree trunk snapped from the impact, and Drogan slumped down and became still, the breath completely knocked out of him.

Drogan’s greatest accomplishment was slaying a former four-star adventurer who had turned bandit, growing mad and savaging human villages. He in turn had come to lake Aska, slaughtering many of the tribesmen, and that was when Drogan approached the villages the adventurer had attacked and proposed a hunt.

The Frostfish tribe would help the villages and their ragtag group of fishermen and foragers turned makeshift fighter to help them hunt the ex-adventurer and his group of bandits.

When they raided the bandit’s base, the clash ended with Drogan facing off against the adventurer in single combat.

The adventurer had fallen behind on his training over years of being a bandit, that was to be certain, but it was still a hard-fought battle and a victory that no goblin in the past one hundred years could have ever hoped to match.

Drogan still bore scars across his chest and legs from the adventurer’s tricky twin daggers which had come close several times to slitting his throat. It was only because Drogan was an impressive defensive fighter naturally countering the adventurer’s combat method that Drogan had managed to win.

But this goblin was far stronger than the adventurer. The two were not even comparable.

Drogan coughed weakly, trying to steady his breathing to regulate the flow of his mana.

The broken tree behind Drogan creaked, and its upper half started to fall towards Drogan’s head. He looked up and weakly began to raise his shield, but he was too weak. The challenger’s single punch had shattered through his mana barrier, broken many of the bones supporting his shield arm.

Drogan raised his sword and tried to infuse mana into it to form a barrier, but too late.

==

Thragg grabbed the falling tree, holding it up with one arm with as much ease as if it was a mere feather. He looked down at the chieftain’s surprised face, at his half-raised sword arm, and extended an arm to him.

“This battle is over. I understand that a proper duel, especially one that leads to rule over the tribe, is one that ends with death,” said Thragg. “But there is no need for that. Those are the old ways, and the Sovnar promises ones new.

And think of this, Drogan, your tribe still needs you. You are the one that has brought prosperity to them. They believe in you and value you.

Submit to the Sovnar’s rule, and you may continue to lead this tribe for the Sovnar.”

“Heh,” coughed out Drogan as he grabbed Thragg’s hand. Thragg helped him up. “I suppose you are right. I was the first to break from older ways, and here I am stuck in them, willing to throw my life away for an old dueling rule. It is good that you have knocked some sense into this old head of mine.”