Digestive Systems and Rewards and Punishments

With the morning lessons over, noon arrived, and it was time for the young trolls to eat again.

The food was the traditional raw meat and fruit, all fresh catches from the previous night.

Now that they had cooked food such as roasted meat and boiled meat, why did they still choose raw meat as they always had?

It was a matter of risk assessment. The witch doctors, Blade Tusk included, could not be certain what substances meat might lose in the process of changing from "raw food" into "cooked food."

What if some "element" essential to a young troll's growth could only be obtained through raw meat?

So, even though his experiences from his previous life gave Blade Tusk countless reasons why cooked food was superior to raw food, he still did not dare make the attempt lightly.

Who knew whether this absurd world might play some enormous joke on him?

Thus, the tribe's diet, including that of the adult trolls, remained centered around "raw food." Boiled meat and roasted meat were more like the "snacks" of his previous life.

Also, speaking of food, it had to be stressed that only young trolls in their developmental years needed five meals a day. Adult warriors only needed about one meal a day.

There were perhaps two reasons for this.

First, growing young trolls had to go from less than one meter tall to nearly three meters. During that period, their weight increased by far more than a mere doubling, requiring enormous amounts of energy to sustain their bodies.

Second, the young trolls' digestive systems were far less developed than those of their adult and prime-of-life elders.

The adult trolls spent nearly half of each day traveling, while much of the remaining time was spent relying on their outstanding athletic ability to capture prey.

Logically speaking, their energy expenditure should never have been low.

And indeed, it was not. The reason a single meal a day could sustain them was precisely because of their unparalleled digestive system.

A troll's digestive system was divided into the "active zone" and the "passive zone."

The "passive zone" was very similar to the digestive system in Blade Tusk's common knowledge from his previous life, so there was no need to elaborate.

The "active zone," however, was different. It was an area where trolls could decide, according to their actual needs, whether food entered it.

Dissection revealed that the active zone began with a "dehydrating intestine."

Here, most of the water in the food would be absorbed by the "intestinal walls." The abundant capillary channels within the outer structure of those walls were responsible for transporting the water elsewhere for storage.

Afterward, the food, now retaining only a tiny amount of moisture, would be pushed by intestinal muscles into a "passage" named the "grinding intestine" by the witch doctors. The "hard granular layer" lining the grinding intestine would crush every morsel passing through it.

Once the food had been ground into pulp, it would be squeezed into the "compression stomach." Under the repeated contractions of the muscles within that chamber, its air would be expelled, and it would be compressed and condensed, ultimately stored at only ten percent the volume of an equal weight of meat.

Only when a troll felt hungry and was unable to eat conveniently would the "compression stomach" spit a portion of its reserves into the "softening stomach." There, the food was softened with water before finally being sent into the "passive digestive system" and turned into nourishment.

Additionally, although the cells' energy-storage structure had not been thoroughly investigated, the ability of "limb regeneration" suggested that it was likely quite remarkable as well.

The combination of these two functions greatly facilitated hunting, allowing trolls to meet their nutritional needs by eating huge amounts only a few times.

Therefore, though adult trolls appeared to eat only once a day, the real question was how much they could consume in that one meal.

Back to the point, afternoon soon arrived. The young trolls, who had no idea what a midday nap was and had spent the entire noon playing themselves silly, returned to the classroom once more.

This time, they would receive lessons in mathematics and physics in succession.

The Old Witch Doctor was in charge of mathematics today, and he looked far more relaxed than Night Tusk had that morning.

"Thump, thump."

Two taps of his cane against the lectern drew most of the students' attention. Leaning on his cane, the Old Witch Doctor gave his instructions in an unhurried tone.

"In the last math lesson, we covered an intuitive introduction to basic geometry, right? The Head Witch Doctor said he assigned you homework. Did anyone fail to do it? Taking the initiative to admit your mistakes is also a kind of courage."

At that question, two particularly stubborn young trolls actually raised their hands.

"Taking the initiative to admit your mistakes deserves praise. After class, go to Wood Tusk and ask for two pieces of roasted meat."

Before the little ones could rejoice, the Old Witch Doctor continued.

"Rewards are rewards, but failing to complete your own task is still a serious mistake. Punishment cannot be spared. Get up here."

The delight froze on the two young trolls' faces. Under the old troll's stern gaze, they could only trudge up dejectedly, remove their fur skirts, bare their bottoms, and lie facedown across the lectern.

The Old Witch Doctor picked up a teaching rod as wide as a palm and as long as a forearm, then gave each troll twenty strikes.

The young trolls shrieked miserably under the blows. Twenty strikes would not damage their still-soft bodies, but it was a lesson more than memorable enough.

As the punished young trolls wiped away their tears, clutched their bottoms, and walked down from the lectern, the Old Witch Doctor gave another instruction.

"Next, we will check the homework. Prepare your clay tablets. In the groups of five assigned during our first lesson, neighboring groups will exchange clay tablets, and the group leaders will inspect them."

After another brief while, the Old Witch Doctor studied the expressions of the little ones below and slowly asked.

"Well, how did the inspection go? Were there any clever little ones who thought they could muddle through? Group leaders who found any, raise your hands."

No one raised a hand for a long time, but the Old Witch Doctor did not believe there truly were no problems. He had specifically kept an eye on several of the naughtiest little ones earlier, and their clay tablets had clearly been blank.

It was simply that, in the tribe's plain and simple culture, hating informers was a widely held value.

That value could not be called wrong. The Old Witch Doctor himself rather appreciated it.

But everything needed moderation. These little ones had to understand the boundary between shielding others and keeping secrets.

"You must remember: knowledge is power. If one day they lose their lives in the jaws of Magic Beasts because they lack strength, would that count as the fault of the group leaders who concealed things for them today? Also, perhaps you cannot understand it yet, but rewards and punishments, right and wrong, are the foundations of a tribe's development. Every process of clearly dispensing rewards and punishments is a step forward for the tribe. Therefore, group leaders who discover problems, do not bear the burden of thinking yourselves 'informers.' You are in the right."

As his words fell, the "group leaders" below looked at one another, and several slowly raised their hands.

Among them, some group leaders had truly understood; others simply had the habit of obeying the witch doctors' instructions.

"Mm, come up, then. You little ones who wanted to sneak past the test."

Several of the discovered young trolls hesitantly walked onto the lectern.

"Failing to do what you should do deserves punishment. Attempting to conceal it deserves punishment. From now on, you must learn shame."

After delivering forty sharp strikes to each of them, the witch doctor said this amid the young trolls' crying.