mijobooks Chapter 19 Wild Boar Man
Chapter 19 Wild Boar Man
Thor sat perched on a branch of an elm tree, his long tail tightly wrapped around the trunk, his pale golden eyes gazing down at the gentle slope below.
A half-sun hangs in the distant sky, like an orange-red fried egg, dyeing the surrounding clouds brilliantly.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, a dozen or so creatures resembling wild boars were happily rolling around in the mud at the edge of the swamp.
They are boar-men, creatures that stand 5 to 6 feet tall and weigh 200 to 350 pounds. Their obese bodies walk upright like humans, but they have a boar's head with protruding tusks on their necks.
The boar-man's body is covered with a thick layer of dark brown skin, covered with dense bristles, and beneath the skin is a thick layer of fat.
As a branch of orcs, these creatures are not very intelligent and are almost incapable of performing any magic-based classes. However, their innate strength, combined with the excellent resistance to blows brought by their thick skin and fat, still makes them half a challenge level.
With proper training, and by donning full armor and equipping them with weapons, they can become qualified heavy warriors, raising their challenge level to around 2 to 3.
After observing for a while, Thor glanced at his information below the giant wheel in his mind—the part showing his age had changed from "Hatchling" to "Strong Hatchling," and his challenge level had increased from 4 to 4+.
Ordinary boar-men were obviously not worth his attention; what he was really noticing were a few exceptionally tall creatures in this small group.
Those guys had much coarser and stiffer bristles than ordinary boarmen, with clearly defined muscle lines on their limbs, and their skin was a reddish tinge against their brownish-black skin.
They are boar-man berserkers.
Some orcs are born with berserk genes in their bloodline, and can enter a berserk state without any training.
When they go berserk, their strength, speed, and stamina are significantly increased, and they are impervious to pain and tireless. This state will continue until the end of the battle or until their bodies completely collapse.
If these berserkers were armed with the right heavy weapons, they could indeed pose a threat to me.
Whether the small group of wild boar people living in the wilderness recognizes metal is a question.
Thor felt this might be an opportunity. As mentioned before, his way of obtaining spiritual essence was by relying on the strong emotions that other intelligent beings generated towards him.
If we can subdue these boar-men, we will have a greater source of spiritual essence.
After all, although their intelligence is not high, only 7 points, far below the average of 10 points for normal humans, how should I put it... perhaps... they should be considered an intelligent species?
Having made up his mind, Thor immediately decided to follow his tradition as a dragon and take these boar-men as his servants.
If you can't subdue them, then annihilate them all—after all, how can you allow others to sleep soundly beside your bed?
Using the last rays of the setting sun, he spread his wide wings and glided back to the cave he had dug on the mountaintop.
At this moment, Sistana and Calp had just woken up, their eyes half-closed and their mouths uttering indistinct mumbles.
Almost all dragons spend a lot of time sleeping during their hatchling stage. This not only accelerates physical development but also reduces energy consumption and the number of hunts, thus avoiding unnecessary dangers.
Thor had no patience to wait for the two baby dragons to wake up naturally, so he swung his claws and slammed them hard on the heads.
The intense pain caused Sistana and Calp to open their eyes wide instantly, springing up from the ground like springs and glaring angrily at Thor.
"You two stupid and lazy fools! I, as your older brother, am awake, and you dare to still be sleeping!"
A small group of wild boar-men lives at the foot of the mountain. Let's go conquer them together!
Upon hearing this, Sistana and Kalp immediately forgot their anger at being beaten.
The instincts surging in their blood make them enthusiastic about all acts of conquest.
"Roar! The boar-man tribe? They will become the first retinue of the Flame Queen!"
"Will there be treasure? I must be the one to choose first!"
Thor, as always, looked at his two foolish younger siblings with disdain. His much larger frame cast a large shadow as he stared into their eyes and said:
"Whether it's family or treasure, it's all mine! Mine! Understand?"
"You two weak idiots, I could crush you with one paw. You don't deserve these things at all!"
Sistana and Calp naturally disagreed, but when Thor's iron fist came crashing down, they realized they had no right to refute it.
…………
After giving his unruly younger siblings a brief scolding, just in case, Thor focused his attention back on the giant spinning wheel in his mind, lightly tapping the small square representing burning coal.
A bit of spiritual essence was consumed, and ripples like water appeared in the air. A piece of pitch-black coal reappeared out of thin air.
Just like when he dealt with the centaurs, he grabbed some burning coals from the ground and started gnawing on them.
The fine coal dust fell into his stomach and was digested by his stomach, which was like a high-temperature furnace. Soon, Thor felt as if he had drunk a lot of strong liquor and began to feel hot all over.
He tossed the remaining half to Sistana and Kalp, and without being told, the two young dragons began to eat it on their own.
Once their bodies were fully charged, the three fledgling dragons flapped their wings and took to the air, like a small patch of orange-red sunset clouds, flying towards the gentle slope where the boar-man was located.
…………
Dusk is the most pleasant time of day for the wild boar people.
They will gather the plant fruits and tubers they collect in the wild during the day, the crustaceans and worms they dig up from the riverbank mudflats, and the prey they capture, and make it into their only meal of the day.
Following the law of the jungle, the tallest and strongest male boar-man in the tribe has priority in eating.
Next came the young females, the immature cubs, and finally the elderly boar-men.
Grok the Fangs huddled in a corner, silently watching his tribesmen eat heartily, hoping only to leave himself some scraps.
It is over forty years old this year, which is quite old for a boarman.
The harsh environment of the wilderness, coupled with the hidden injuries left from battles in its youth, made it look much older than its actual age.
The once needle-like mane has turned gray, the tough skin has lost its elasticity, and the fat has gradually disappeared, leaving it loosely wrapped around the body like a tattered leather bag.
It felt it was unlikely to survive the winter.
Its declining physical condition has made it unable to find enough food when it goes out recently, so much so that the way its fellow animals look at it has changed from initial disdain to disgust.
In the wilderness, every resource is precious, and no one would waste resources on a useless person who cannot contribute to the tribe. When necessary, waste will even be "recycled and reused".
When the snow falls and food becomes even scarcer, I might die. Maybe I won't even live to see that day.
In Grok's memory, it was the longest-lived boar-man.
But it still didn't want to die, not at all. As long as there was a sliver of hope to live, it would never give up.
However, the cruel reality, the harsh environment, and the indifferent companions left it with no hope of survival, and it could only pray in its heart:
"Great Father of Fangs and Mother of Ironfur! I beg you to show mercy and allow me to continue living!"
As if it had heard its devout call, three orange-red fiery clouds appeared in the darkening sky and were rushing towards this direction.