Leverage Your Strength

 All you could smell was blood.
 All you could feel was pain.

 Pushed himself to his feet so you -
 - you did no such thing.
 legs wouldn't move.
 Too much pain.

 But your arms were still strong.
 Pulled your away from under your brother.
 Kuzma was a much better spearsman than you.
 Was.
 Now Kuzma was dead.

 Crawled, and kept crawling.
 There was Klym. There was no better scout.
 Was.
&nbs

 Through the Pass

 "Finally. How long do we have before the miasma comes back?"

 Major Toricht was in a bad mood, and that meant all his men were scrambling to keep out of his way. In this case the unlucky soldier with the readings tried to move at doublespeed, which resulted in him making an error, which forced him to slow down - all while the major was glaring at him with increasing fury.

 "Th - three hours, sir!"

 "Christ, this area is a problem. Okay then, gi

 Impromptu Vacation

 "Uh, Smedt?"

 This was always the kind of sequence that Smedt was worried about. Edward was a fantastic human - was okay with orcs wanting to fight and needing to fuck, and didn't snap at most mistakes. Honestly, Edward was his friend, and he appreciated that.

 But it was always absolutely terrifying for a grunt to get an order from the human host at a time when they absolutely can not fulfill it. This was one of those situations.

 The door w

 Reward

 "Well well, Zwil. What have we here?"

 The wolf's eyes shot open at that statement.
 To find himself in a... closet, or something? A very, very small room.
 Seated on a bench.
 With two massive orcs next to him.
 Both orcs nearly naked. In jockstraps. Jockstraps that hid nearly nothing. Both complete with bulges. He could see one of their cocks.
 Pinning him in place.

 "Looks like a wolf who needs to get off, Mel. Look at how hard

 Mental Devour

 "Hm. So you're my partner?"

 The ratman curled his tail a bit, crossing his arms instead of responding to the orc, who gave a smirk as he continued, "Well, first things first. I won't kill you. Got rules, y'know?"

 "...huh. I did not expect /that/." The rat uncrossed his arms. "Okay. Thank you."

 "Name's Toz. I'm an orc, and I've got some /needs/." The orc readjusted his boxers, licking his tusks. "And now I've got you to help solve this.

 Internet Troll

 "Ha! What kind of a n00b are you, loser?"

 The response back was confused more than anything else. "I am not new to the game at all, I have been playing the game for almost a year now, and the game has not been out very much longer than that."

 "Well, you play like my grandmother!"

 More confusion. "Your grandmother plays Call of Evil 3? I wish any of my brothers played. Are you saying she plays well or poorly?"

 Oh.
 This was an orc

 Slave Fight

 He rarely came here.
 Since there wasn't much point. You didn't come to this part of the station unless you were a beastman looking for sex, and wanted to buy whatever the military'd captured lately.

 Mano had seen enough sexy elven babes to last him a lifetime, back when he was in said military.
 The other guys had loved him, since he wasn't interested and thus never took his turn or his quantity. Meant they got more.
 Heh.
 Good times, thou

 Rivals

 Slammed into the dirt.
 And a foot stomped on his chest, keeping him there.
 
 Really, at this point he was sunk. He knew it, his attacker knew it, and grrr did it piss him off. Next his attacker would go down and cement the pin, and they both knew it.

 He raised one arm, entirely to show that he could still in fact do that.
 But didn't resist. Just accepted that he was about to be pinned, which he was. Grabbed and held do the ground.

 Thi

 Purposed Kidnapping

 Slowly, Sam's eyes opened.
 Wha?

 His head throbbed a little, but he also legitimately didn't remember how he'd ended up here. Or where 'here' was - a relatively small room. Massive bed. Single window, with metal bars over it - also apparently it was night. He was in his underwear.
 ...well no, he was in someone else's underwear, as these were briefs and he never wore briefs.

 Notably, there was no door to the room. And honestly, very

 The Lost Bicycle

 "Please - please! Excuse me, sir?"

 But the child was ignored, plowed past at best. His arms shook a bit as he turned to the next police officer. "Ex - excuse me, ma'am?"

 "I'm busy, kid." The officer shoved past him a little more forcefully. "Go to the front desk."

 "But I did and nobody - " The kid started, before trailing off as he was clearly being ignored. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to put on a brave face. "Um, s - sir?

 Fur standing on edge.
 It always did, when there was this much magic around - and this valley was just nutty with it. Yes, he had some 'magic' of his own - but he knew better than to directly try to contest this much going on at once.

 Took a moment to take a scent.
 No bears.
 At least, not /right here/.
 He sighed. Right, his pack was pretty much doomed. One chance, and it was a long shot.
 He hurried forward.

 Hm.
 That was a lot - a lot - o

 Learning the System

 The halfling reared back for a punch.

 King braced himself - he knew that basically every other orc who had been here had lost. In fact, if he went down there were... two other orcs from his tribe, and both of them were runts. Tusks.

 He took a scent - no magic. The halfling was pretty far away from him. So this wasn't a spell, and presumably the halfling was just focusing himself so that -

 Punched in the gut.
 Into an uppercut tha

 Trying out Protector

 "Hm?"

~~~

 Jabari tripped over the curb, failed miserably to catch himself, and landed pretty firmly on his face.

 It was tempting to lie there. His everything hurt - he really wasn't built to run. He wasn't built to do much of anything really, out of shape was too much of an understatement. Not really fat, but definitely nowhere near muscle.

 Not the type of guy who should be spending a Thursday morning running.
 But adrenaline was a

 Dukaan's Store

 Holy bajeezus that was an orc.
 
 "Hi! Name's Dukaan. Welcome to my store!" The orc cheerfully stated. He was blindfolded, and seated cross legged in the middle of the circular store, back to a tree which made him very slightly off centre.

 And wearing a dress shirt, and tie, which was possibly even more strange than if he wasn't wearing a shirt. Some sort of long pants?

 "If you need help finding something, don't hesitate to ask! Or you

 With a Sailor

 Aaaaaand Lachlan was walking funny.
 
 None of the other sailors were even remotely surprised. Ernest was the first to roll his eyes, "What the hells did you think would happen, Lachlan? The Captain would tell you you were naughty?"

 Chuckling, as Lachlan turned bright red, which was really obvious on a walrus. "Hey - I'll remember that next time your ass is on the fire."

 "Or if Lachlan's ass is on the lion cock."

 It was impossible to

 Kidnapped Via Raid

 "Orcs! They're attacking!"

 That caused tremendous panic. People were calling out - the guard knew they were tremendously outmatched and stood absolutely no chance here.

 As did Grigory.
 And he knew it.
 It was either going to have been orcs or demons. Apparently orcs.

 The rhino also knew that, unlike most of the guard, he didn't have a family. Thus after sending off all the non combatants, he volunteered to be one of the guards

 Orc Medic

 So this is war.

 Honestly, what hurt the most was the apathy. Not that he could really blame his squad - since now, they were under fire.

 Travis had to wonder, was it all as exciting and glorious as they had been promised? Were people heroically gunning down the enemies of humanity, a shining beacon for those who come after to follow?

 Since for him, it felt a lot more like, well.
 Like he'd been shot moments after getting out of the transpor

 Forgotten Merge

 "Holy crap, you are on fire today, Gemelo."

 The orc gave a laugh. "How about best five out of, uh. Out of whatever makes five win?"

 "Seriously? You can't count to five!"

 "Hey - me can count to five! Just not whatever makes that win. Heey, start new match, gonna pound you so hard in game that your boxers'll rip."

 "Pfft, while picking random? You're good, Gemelo, but not good with everybody! Ha - see? Someone I know you can't play a

 The Thorn and the Tiger

 "Yeah - I'm aware of the danger, but I'm very tired of not having food. I'll be careful - but that means I need to watch sensors and not be talking. Sorry."

 The mouse shut off that device.
 Since he needed to be very heavily focused on weight. After all, basically everything here would eat a mouse. Illegally, mind you, but it's not like the police would care.
 Slunk to the shadows.
 Waited for the massive weight to pass. Ha, his n

 Interrupting the Clans

 "Is everything in place?"

 The resultant grin was enormous, which was itself plenty of explanation. "We've got a lock on their precious bridge that they always control, but they don't know we have that. And we can counter their psionic weapons. So that means it's up to us to beat up those fat feasts, haha."

 "Idili clan will be hit pretty hard by this one. Nicely done, Kundu - we'll march tomorrow morning. I'll let the other guys know when Nj

 Roomates

 "Walter? Is that you? Hello!"

 The human paused.
 Turned to look at his gator roommate.
 Sighed.
 And walked on over. "Were you expecting company today, Rain?"

 The alligator shook his head. "No, not really. Just a quiet day, doing homework."

 "Mm hmm. They who else would it be?"
 
 "Hey, maybe you were having friends over again. Like that tasty one with the PS5. Are you inviting him over again?"

 "Rain, they wouldn'

 Notho Forest

 "Frakes - Behind you!"
 Which was barely enough of a warning for the koala to spin, catching the encoming vine between his paws. And holding, but only barely - as he was slid backwards by the force of the attack - it was clearly due to his psionics that Frakes was able to remain upright at all.

 "Erebus we - "
 Toney bit his lip - Erebus was occupied with keeping the pollen at bay. Were the pollen to touch any of them, they'd have to go through anot

 Learning a new skill

 The world was still spinning.
 Slowly, the orc's eyes opened.
 So much blur. He couldn't hear straight, he couldn't smell straight.
 Wha?

 "Take your time."

 Oh.
 Oh right. He was furious.
 He'd forgotten.

 Slowly, he staggered to his feet - too early. Couldn't keep himself from staggering around a little. Tusks, his head hurt bad.
 But there was his target.
 The little monster.
 Just staring at him

 Astral Vehicle Lab

 "So. Let me make sure I understand the situation."

 The elf couldn't help but notice that the soldiers weren't particularly concerned. Mildly so, yes, but not very seriously upset with the lecture they knew was coming - which meant there was no actual purpose to giving it. So, he changed tact.

 "I do not actually have guards? Okay. That means I should place a request for guards. Shall I get on that?"

 That at least got him a reaction. "Lo

 Statue for the Squad

 "Your garden is magnificent!"

 The ratman walked up, oversized tail shifting behind him as he did so. "I'm glad you think so! What parts of it do you like?"

 The bat gestured with one wing. "I'd say 'all of it', but then I'd lose my opportunity to goosh. Those plants I've never seen before - they seem like umbrella plants, but their 'leaves' are thin and look silky? I can still tell though - they are clearly extremely particular about water, bu

 Of Orcs and Rhino

 Slammed through a wall.
 And the subsequent wall.
 And out of the building.

 Only then did the Rhino stop - and his halting his momentum launched the orc a chunk further forward, into a tree.
 With a yowl of pain.

 "Was that fast enough for you, orc?"

 "Ha!" The orc slowly staggered to his feet. "That hurt like hells. You're good, Rhino - not a lot of things can hit me that hard. Rexob Tacha."

 "Hrm. Bakary. You're not

 Underwear in the Park

 Strange.
 But this was also the third time on this one walk, so this time Kakau stopped to investigate since, well.
 'A random pile of clothes' stood out, in this random park.
 Maybe it wouldn't have if they'd been dirty, or old or something. Or, as Kakau got closer, if they were much much smaller - these were clearly orc sized.

 Kakau looked around - nobody immediately visible. Honestly, orcs didn't care much about clothing - Olelo had

 Trainer of the Pack

 "Hey there, buddy. You lost?"

 Was that him Vegas ran full tilt, nearly tripping over a discarded shoe on the trail in his haste. "Artoo? Artoo - Artoo I'm right here - please sir I'm sorry that - "

 The breathless human froze.
 Since that was an orc. A mountain of green muscle, kneeling by Vegas' lost dog.
 Who was bounding around cheerfully, enjoying being pet.
 Vegas just stared.

 "Ah, is this little guy yours?"

 "

 The Hidden Rat

 Sabz had to pause for a moment, since that didn't make sense.
 Noranji's scent trail clearly led /right here/, and then vanished.

 If Noranji had been brutally killed right here, there would be a ton of blood. If he'd been kidnapped, there would be a ton of other scents. If he'd flown upwards, then -
 - actually that could be it. Did people leave scent trails in the sky?
 Dangit. Now he'd have to find another warshaper, but that was the o

Bets

"Are you kidding me? With an ass like that?"

Everyone there laughed - a good mood. Part of that was alcohol - alcohol helped. Meant everyone was having a great evening no matter what else had been happening, which was especially important when everyone there just struggled through midterms. And the first midterm after those changes to the local college system that made everything that much more hell.

It also helped that there were a bunch of pool challenges, and Komo had lost all of

    

Seasoned Hearts



    

Hm.


    

Dip kept his arms crossed.

Thinking.



    

    

Combination -

The

Initial Meeting



    

which was when the door - door to his

room

- was slammed open.


    

    

Restoring the Temple



    

Mmmm.


    

Lunch was in here.


    

Smelled like a squirrelman.

    

Manticore Meals



    

"Well.

I'm impressed, orc."



    

The manticore had his forelimbs crossed. His scorpion-like tail swayed behind him - in what would norm

    

Ancient Strength



    

Strength.


    


    

It took an absurd amount of strength to regain your solidarity. The ritual to become a spirit was intended

    

Pinned Down



    

The worst part was that Captain Arash knew that they weren't going to run out of ammo.



    

"Is the hill clear?!" He shouted, since he had to shout in order to be heard, sinc

    

Orc Viewer



    

"Hey - this a bad time, Klok?"



    

The orc looked up at the air, chuckling. "Might be a boring time. We're doing a ritual and it will take awhile."

    

Four Orc Ambush



    

"Tusks

gorrammit

nine hells!"



    

There were five orcs in the clearing. One of them leaned in, close.

    

“Spirit” In the Armour



    

"Whoa.

/You/ got one down?"



    

Even an orc would get a little sheepish at it being phrased like that. "Aw, c'

    

Aiding

Pack Green





    

He loved this.


    

He loved this so much.



    

    

Learning the Half-Orc



    

"Who did you send to the wall, sir?"



    

The nobleman was obviously a bit miffed at being spoken to so directly. "As I said, /Captain/, I sent your monster an

    

Topiary

Trap



    

Slowly, Pol's eyes opened.


    

In which he jumped up.



    

    

The Chosen Two




    

"One squirrel.



One human.

Perfect."



    

There

    

War Buddies




    

"Those - why did - gaaaaah I KNEW we shouldn't've trusted those STUPID greenskins!"



    

That wasn't a good sign.

    

Boosting Morale


    


    

"Luis, have you - Luis!

North wall!"



    

To his credit, the man got a move on

    

Deciphering the Stone



    

"I will never understand their choice of language. We know that at this time they had access to much more robust

choices than

this. Why stick to something archaic?"

The Bear and the Pool



    

Was that a sound?


    


    

...or well, one beyond the usual.

This wasn't Aadan's first time in the woods by his house, after all. It had always

Warrior to Warrior



    

Most of the men in the camp ‘city’ by the battlefront heard the panicked sound of footsteps hitting dirt. Any of the men who got close could smell and see the blood - and the look of desperation on the soldier's face.


    

    


    

A Well Phrased Proposition



    

"Hey, goblin!"


    


    

Called