The wind hitting his face had the effect of a slap, and lightning flashed in his mind in an instant. How could his mother want to leave while he was in this condition?
She was the one who, when the white rabbit he adopted years ago got sick, waited by its side with him until morning. How could someone who couldn't bear her child losing sleep turn her back on him while he stood on the verge of death?
"You are not my family!"
When the words left his mouth, time slowed down, and the images before his eyes shattered like broken glass. Nafız, realizing that he truly wouldn't be able to reunite with his family, had brought the knot in his heart to light. He was inwardly sad that he couldn't be together in death; perhaps he couldn't even admit this truth to himself.
Until today, he had always looked at the tragic event within the framework of his own thoughts and feelings. If asked to his mother who loved him so much, would she have taken Nafız with her knowing they would have an accident?
His excuse to escape experiencing his great grief had disappeared; he started crying so violently that his lungs felt like they would come out of his mouth. Even though a voice inside him said stop, don't do it, he collapsed where he was, having nervous breakdowns trembling.
"Subconscious Demons trial has ended."
After a while, the metallic voice familiar to Nafız started ringing in her mind.
The dungeon used the person's most intimate secrets sent to the depths of their subconscious not to be remembered. The person could only take the successful experience with them. How many failures Nafız had to face to reach the result remained a complete secret.
When she woke up, she found Alyon watching her; it was evident from his eyes that he was looking with pity.
"What are you looking at, man!"
The hulking orc didn't answer; standing up, he jumped down from the platform, the time had come to leave. When Nafız wanted to join her friend, she would fall to the ground again without straightening up. There was ten times more fatigue on her than from her battle with Astute.
"Rest a bit, Nafız; I don't know how long we have been here!"
Reward dungeons were mysterious places. Time-space laws were completely different from the outside world.
"How long has it been since you woke up?"
"I couldn't calculate at all; I can't say anything definite while in this closed place."
It was as if everything happened within a few hours, but the time passed in the outside world was beyond their guesses. Even though what happened took place in her brain, why was there a burden on her body?
"Watch me, Nafız; we won't have to run anymore!"
When Alyon showed the inside of his right arm, a large bear tattoo caught the eye. A short while after he closed his eyes, the animal in the tattoo appeared beside him from nothingness.
While the bear, twice the height of the giant orc, kicked up a cloud of dust with its roar, Alyon was puffing up with pride with a huge smile on his face.
"How is it, my friend? Does my spirit animal suit my majesty?"
The orc chief, jumping on the back of the animal landing on all fours, called out to his friend watching him from above. A big surprise awaited Nafız, who immediately looked at her right arm.
A small rabbit was sitting and smiling at her. The female orc couldn't believe her eyes; she rubbed them a few more times and looked again. No way, the tiny bunny was standing in the same place watching her.
"Would you look at that, is this my spirit animal? While at it, I might as well get a playboy bunny tattooed on my waist. Are we the Blood God or the March cover beauty; it's unclear!"
While her lamentations continued, she slowly gathered her strength. Meanwhile, her friend had another account to settle.
"Hey! What is your spirit animal like? I'm very curious, show it!"
Jumping from the platform with an agile movement and landing on the big bear's back, the female orc tried to brush it off, saying, "Not everything is shown everywhere, Yallah, we're leaving!"
Although it was difficult, they were able to complete the second reward dungeon without dying, but it seemed the difficulty was valid only for Nafız. Alyon had to struggle with the demons of his old master's self. What he experienced was completely different from his friend. He killed four bear kings in four different climates respectively, and finally brought the spirit animal under him to its knees.
As far as he understood, his master's greatest desire was related to these animals. When he settled the account, he felt he assimilated a bit more of the power of the self he inherited.
Since they skipped the stairs they descended ten at a time thanks to the giant bear, the exit took shorter. The duo found the opportunity to talk about the spirit animals they obtained during the journey. Alyon's view was that the animals represented their core selves inside. The idea annoyed Nafız, but she couldn't say anything without experiencing it.
When they approached the ground, the duo reached the room they sealed thanks to the lid opening by itself, impatient to see the friends they left behind.
When they came from the cellars into the castle, they heard a great noise break out in the city. There was no one in sight, but just as they wanted to look out the window, a voice reached their ears.
"Chief Alyon, what a great happiness to see you!"
The person calling out was City Lord Marcos. The young man with disheveled hair gave off a different air than before; it was as if he had suddenly aged ten years.
"What are these sounds; is there a festival in the city?"
"Ah Commander Nafız, I wish it were as you said. Not even one and a half moon cycles had passed since your departure when we faced a siege from both land and sea!"
The duo was in great astonishment; the timing could only be this bad. Immediately, they held a meeting with Marcos to learn the details.
Apparently, when the Main Orc Tribe lost their only communication with the sea as well, they couldn't stay put any longer.
Evaluating the Black Lily Clan's desire for revenge, two forces simultaneously launched an attack on Parthenia. Alyon, knowing that the weak military power of the Orc Tribe in the region didn't allow this, would be very surprised when he asked about the commander of the army conducting the land siege.
"Beyaz Ayı, the chief of the Orc Tribe in the Glacier Covered Region, sent his son Çekiçdöven here with an army of fifty thousand people!"
When Alyon heard the name Beyaz Ayı, his gaze stilled, his eyes turned to the horizon. The place the mentioned person occupied in his master's life was quite significant. While the orc chief was in a melancholic mood, Nafız spoke in panic.
"What is the situation of the Orc Tribe in the Arid Region and Nikonya, Marcos?"
"Actually, the situations of both are much better than us. The orc army could only intimidate by passing near Nikonya; not even an arrow was shot at the city walls!"
Nafız had guessed this. As long as Godfrey remained City Lord, no one had the intention to disturb him except those who could afford to fight his father.
"The orc tribe said they would leave the region they were in and move to a secret place thanks to receiving the attack news beforehand. This move gained us time to make preparations; I guess our enemies didn't expect us to have such intelligence!"
The spy Nafız placed inside the Main Orc Tribe had been very useful. The tribe managed by Kasaphaydo would seal the mines and flee to the Sacred Lands, packing up lock, stock, and barrel as soon as they received the news. The armies of the Main Tribe were very happy at first for capturing the mines without fighting; when they saw that those who entered failed to come out, they understood there was something wrong with this business.
Kitapkurdu hadn't sat idle in this short time. While giving the transfer order to the tribe, he would prepare one of Mora's recipes and place it inside the mines. The poisonous gas was invisible to the eye, its smell couldn't be detected, but when one stayed inside for twenty breaths, there was only one result.
"Well done to my pasha; he took the minds of the brainless! So, what's the situation with you, Lord of the Rings!"
Marcos looked blankly at the female orc's face for a while after what he heard. He hadn't understood a single word of what was said.
"After the joint efforts of your student and the city council, we perfected our defense systems. The enemy fleet has not been able to approach our ports, which are our weakest point, for a hundred and thirty day-cycles."
"It's not that they didn't attempt a few landings, but the orc army and your captains are truly incredible warriors. Even the person with a bow on his back asked us to give him a ship, saying he wanted to kill all enemies at sea this way!"