Can a person be both an invincible warrior and protect themselves against intrigues with their sharp intelligence? Although a number of people, fewer than the fingers on one hand, have achieved this seemingly impossible feat in history, Alyon and his father Cesuryürek were not among them.
"Nafız, I want to deal with the female one; can you keep an eye on the other one?"
Even though Alyon agreed with his friend's words, he couldn't allow the son of such a scrawny orc to wander around him. As an orc chief, taking care of his fighter child, even if she was female, seemed more acceptable to him.
Nafız turned towards the scrawny orc, whom she expected to look crestfallen and sad at his father's words, and contrary to her expectation, she saw a person listening to what was being said with calm demeanor as if nothing had happened.
"Hey skinny, come here. From now on, you will train under my command."
When the orc, who slowly straightened up and started walking with his book, came to her side, Nafız grabbed him by the arm and took him out of the tent.
Attracting the attention of the orcs in the tribe by letting out a high-pitched scream, Nafız started speaking loudly.
"This boy's name is Kitapkurdu. Along with Sangre, he is one of my students. From this day on, the orders he gives you will be considered as coming from my mouth."
Without giving the crowd looking towards the chief's tent time to shake off their astonishment, Nafız and her student went inside.
"The meeting is over. Domuzkuyruk, accompany Miloş to the healers' tent. My daughter, I interrupted your training; it seems appropriate for you to work with me for a while as compensation."
With Alyon's words, after the people who had to get to their duties left the tent, Nafız was left alone with the scrawny orc. Looking the orc up and down, she said, "How much longer do you intend to hold onto that book you finished?"
When Nafız realized that the orc, who had a bookmark in his book when they first met, was carrying the book only as a prop the second time, she had baited the hook. While Kitapkurdu's face looking at her confirmed that he took the bait, Nafız continued smiling.
"What happened, are you surprised? If you can accomplish the tasks I give you, you will encounter many more surprises."
Caught off guard, the scrawny orc, a bit angry and a bit scornful, said, "I am very curious how those like you, whose only knowledge is killing their opponents, will surprise me."
Kitapkurdu, who seemed confident while finishing his words, would be in amazement the next moment. As piles of books appearing from nothingness covered the floor, the scrawny orc couldn't believe his eyes.
"If you've finished the coloring books your father gave you, it means it's time to read useful things."
Watching the orc buried in the pile of books on the floor, Nafız saw that Kitapkurdu, whom she expected to lift his head, was lost in himself, and continued her speech as she walked out of the tent.
"Considering that you have no enthusiasm for fighting, if you work hard, maybe I can teach you other arts in the future."
Just as Nafız completed her sentence and was about to leave through the door, she was startled by the voice coming from behind her.
"Master, wait a bit! I want to tell you a secret."
The sudden change in Kitapkurdu, who spoke with arrogance just a moment ago, attracted Nafız's attention. She stopped her steps and said, "Speak!"
"It's not that I don't want to fight, actually. I suppress my desire, which I hide like a burning ember inside me, deep down so as not to shame my lineage with my inadequate physical condition."
Kitapkurdu became aware of his abnormality when he reached maturity. On top of this, when he was told that he was the son of the orc chief, instead of shaming his family, he instinctively played the role of preferring a different path.
When Nafız understood the situation, she didn't know whether to be angry at the ignorance of the orc trembling with ambition in front of her or to appreciate his nobility.
"You ignorant boy! Do you think grabbing a huge axe and attacking each other screaming and shouting is the only fighting style?"
Although the scrawny orc was surprised by what he heard, he couldn't step out of the frames surrounding him since birth.
"The whole tribe fights relying on physical strength; how can I be strong under these conditions?"
Nafız came to the training ground with her new student, who had a perspective as narrow as a frog living at the bottom of a well, to give him his first lesson. Meanwhile, a crowded group of orcs was watching the father and daughter struggling inside the fighting circle with eyes full of admiration. During the battle, axes clashed, fists collided, and the resulting sounds caused the orcs to cheer tremendously.
"Two pigs locking horns, and you call this a fight while watching, huh!"
At the point where the struggle had heated up thoroughly, all the excitement of the environment dispersed with a high-pitched voice. While Nafız walked towards the middle of the square with cool steps, the parties of the fight also separated from each other.
"Nafız, what are you doing here? Don't you see we are in the middle of training?"
Alyon was angry that his enjoyment of the fight was spoiled on one hand, and wondered why Nafız was here on the other.
"Does the mighty orc chief call grappling with Yarmagül here training? I never knew you liked entertaining kids this much."
When Nafız completed her words, which she started by looking at Alyon, by turning to the female orc, a harsh answer awaited her.
"You can't call me whatever name you want, you scrawny creature!"
"Wow! What a booming voice! Do you think you'll scare me by yelling your ass off like that, Yarmagül!"
Although Alyon didn't understand Nafız's intention, he wanted to intervene before things got more out of control, but his daughter's words would dash his hopes.
"I've heard your stories; I bet they are nothing more than the exaggerations of cowards."
Seeing that her opponent was ripe for the taking, Nafız picked up a hand-sized piece broken off from a shield and held it up in the air.
"You heard it too; she openly challenged me! If I use a weapon to defeat such a brat, I would tarnish my name. This broken shield piece is enough to put Yarmagül in her place."
The chief's daughter, humiliated by being called a nickname three times, couldn't control her anger and charged at Nafız like lightning. Contrary to her opponent who attacked like a god of death with an axe in her hand and massive muscles swollen from anger, the scrawny female orc with red tips in her hair waited calmly where she stood.
Dodging the axe coming at her with an agile movement, Nafız scratched her opponent's calf. With the impact of the blow, the metal piece in her hand flew off and returned to where it came from. The chief's daughter, exposed to an insignificant scratch as a result of the first collision, was laughing with pleasure as her enemy was left unarmed.
The hulking orc, making attack after attack on her unarmed opponent with her axe, was fuming because of Nafız dodging all of her blows just when she said "got her" every time. Meanwhile, the blood flowing from the small cut on her leg had reached her ankle, and the resulting wound had become hindering to her movements.
"Nafız, that's enough!"
Seeing that his daughter's reputation and life were starting to be endangered, Chief Alyon shouted harshly to end the events. Since Nafız's attention was diverted as she turned towards the direction the voice came from, the chief's daughter thought she caught the opportunity she was looking for and went on the attack to make a final move.
Since victory meant triumph and defeat meant death during war, any kind of trick to be done on this path could be seen as permissible. The chief's daughter, attacking her distracted opponent, suddenly collapsed on her knees realizing that there were strange changes in her body she had never felt before.
While the orc, losing complete control of her body, slumped to the ground, she followed the steps of her opponent walking towards her bedside with her eyes.
"Generally, warriors focus on protecting their heads and the upper region of their bodies. Fools! One of the largest arteries passes through a person's calf. Did you notice how long it took for the effect of a poison entering the system from here to show itself?"
Lying motionless on the ground, the chief's daughter writhed in pain when the reckless blow she took at the beginning of the battle came to her mind. Thanks to what she could learn throughout her short life, it was impossible for her to guess that such a wound would put her in this situation.
"Nafız! Give the antidote to my daughter quickly; you're starting to ruin the fun of the joke."
Alyon's fatherly heart was trying to take control of the event when he realized he couldn't stand the pitiful situation his daughter had fallen into any longer. While pouring the potion into the mouth of the female orc lying on the ground, Nafız whispered, "I will address you like this, Yarmagül. If you get stronger and can defeat me, you can change this."
Leaving the side of the girl lying on the ground in tears, Nafız passed by her student with calm steps; Kitapkurdu was running after her excitedly.
"Master, wait for me, master! Can I fight like this too?"
When her student caught up with her, Nafız answered from a high register.
"As I told you before, if you do the jobs I give you properly, anything is possible?"
Kitapkurdu, to whom the world belonged with the answer he received, clung to his master's trouser leg.
"Master, no need to wait long, give me my first task immediately. You can be sure that I won't disappoint you?"
While her student's passionate state began to attract Nafız's interest, saying it's time for him to pass a trial, she told him his first task.