Taming

A huge snort burst from its nostrils. It lifted its heavy eyelids, and its bright yellow vertical pupils gradually cleared from their confusion as consciousness reclaimed control of its body.

It moved its limbs uneasily, but it was so weak that the layers upon layers of chains left it almost completely unable to move.

Everything around it made it extremely tense. It was not merely the unfamiliar surroundings, but more because of that white enemy—the sharp claws and teeth that could hurt it.

Huff, huff~~~

It turned its head, wanting to roar, but its throat seemed to be leaking air. No matter how hard it tried, only a hoarse, low growl came out.

A large circle of those detestable green creatures had gathered around it. Their strange cries made it extremely irritated. Its tail kept striking the ground, and the spines along its back grew redder and redder.

Crack!

It shuddered reflexively and focused its gaze on the white creature. He now held a long object in his hand, like a tail made of segments, with spiked balls strung along its middle.

He walked toward it, carrying a dangerous aura.

Roar!

At last, it let out its first roar. Though so weak, it sounded more like a mournful cry.

But that cry soon truly became a wail. The white enemy swung the "tail" in his hand at the lower eyelid on its right side, and blood quickly blurred its right eye.

Rooooar~~~~~~!

Roaring miserably, it tried to roll away from the "tail," but the rings of iron chains and its powerless muscles left it nowhere to hide.

It was furious. Desperately stretching out its head, it tried to bite the hateful creature to death, but he dodged with ease, then raised his hand and struck its nose.

ROAR!!!!

The iron-wrapped fist tore its nose open in a single blow. Experiencing this bone-deep pain for the first time, it struggled wildly, large tears even rolling down from the corners of its eyes.

"Fierce, huh! I'll show you fierce!"

Guk swung Green Tooth's specially made steel whip, lashing the giant beast on the ground with force and specifically targeting soft areas. His practiced technique drew waves of cheers from the watching boys, and even Guk felt that he might have a talent for beast taming.

To bring this big fellow across Stone Fist Fort, Guk had gone to great effort. He had the mechanics make a special large cart and prepared bundles of iron chains. If Green Tooth had not possessed special sleeping mushrooms for taming beasts, the thing would have run off before all that could be arranged.

It took Guk seven or eight days to get this huge thing properly settled. According to Green Tooth, this was only the first step.

"From now on, listen to me!"

After several hard lashes, Guk stopped, panting. The creature's head had already been beaten into a bloody mess.

"Red mushroom wine!"

"Right here, Boss."

Taking the wineskin handed over by a boy, Guk bit open the stopper and took a gulp. Then he walked over to the creature. Its eyes were still as defiant as ever, so Guk poured all the remaining wine onto its wounds.

This wine, brewed from bloodspot mushrooms, could heal wounds. It was the boys' most commonly used medicine for external injuries.

Roar~

The giant beast did not appreciate it. Instead, it opened its mouth and tried to bite Guk again. He stepped back and avoided the attack.

"Hmph!"

Throwing the waterskin to the ground, Guk had the boys carry over a pile of bloody Squig meat.

Its long slumber had already left it ravenous. When the scent of fresh blood drifted into its nostrils, it could no longer look away.

But those delicious morsels were so far away. It stretched its neck as hard as it could, trying to reach them, but always fell just short.

Time slowly passed. Intense weakness washed over it, its eyelids grew heavy again, and it was about to fall asleep. This time, not because of drugs, but from its own exhaustion.

Crack!

Just as it was about to drift off, that hateful steel whip lashed it again. This time, it struck its belly. Its fragile fine scales could not withstand such a heavy blow, and a bloody mark was whipped open.

ROAR!!!!!!

Its sleep interrupted, the giant beast roared furiously. But after Guk gave it a few more lashes, he stopped.

That night was entirely a nightmare for it. Whenever it tried to sleep, Guk would whip it, sometimes even coming over to beat it directly. Then he would toss it a tiny bit of meat, but rather than filling its stomach, that only intensified its hunger.

The twin torment of body and mind nearly broke its sanity. Only the pride of an apex predator allowed it to endure.

But this was only the beginning. According to Green Tooth's beast-taming guide, it had to be "worn down" for at least three days.

And so, on the second day, the boys of Stone Fist Fort had another spectacle to watch.

"Roar! Go on, roar again!"

Under the blazing sun, Guk was still "diligently" swinging his whip. This was already his second one; he had broken the first that morning. Other than the areas protected by armored plates along its back, there were not many uninjured parts left on the giant beast.

Low groans occasionally escaped its opening and closing jaws. Its once-sharp eyes had become clouded. Under this complete destruction of both body and spirit, a proud, free soul was struggling in vain.

Grief, rage, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, fear—it possessed every emotion of a higher creature. As a descendant of an ancient bloodline, other than being unable to speak, its intelligence was no lower than that of most sentient beings.

But that could not save it. It only made its suffering worse.

The scales it had once taken pride in were covered in bloody scabs. Bruised blood even clogged its nostrils, and the light of wildness was fading from its eyes...

Another day and night passed. Under Green Tooth's carefully arranged plan, all the boys began howling loudly. The Orks' distinctive roars had tremendous penetrating power and nearly ruptured its eardrums.

The giant beast curled up fearfully, trying to let the morning sunlight warm it. Heat was draining from its body, and for the first time, it felt so lonely and helpless.

The howling gradually drew closer, and obvious tremors began to run through its body. Guk saw a hint of pleading flash through its bloodshot eyes.

Guk grinned and stepped forward, holding a huge slab of meat in his hand.

He reached out and stroked its head. It no longer struggled at all, allowing Guk's fingers to slide from the top of its head, down its thick neck, and over its broad back.

The giant beast obediently stretched out its body, its eyes revealing a gentle, submissive light. Guk held tender Squig meat in his palm, and it quickly took it into its mouth—this counted as being tamed.

"Go undo them."

Seeing this, Green Tooth thought the matter was settled and ordered several boys to remove the chains.

But he had not expected that the moment the chains came off, the giant beast would slam Guk aside, then swallow several boys whole in two or three bites.

"Boss!"

Hearing the boys scream amid the grinding of sharp teeth, Green Tooth immediately grew nervous and prepared to pull out a Stinky Squig from his pocket. But Guk raised a hand to signal him not to move, then walked toward the chewing giant beast with whip in hand.

When the creature saw Guk approach, fear flashed through its eyes. Its body shrank back slightly, but it did not run.

Crack!

The crisp sound of the whip rang out. Guk lashed its neck hard, bursting a spray of blood and making it howl in pain.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

After taking several lashes, the giant beast finally learned its lesson. It lowered its head humbly, producing a muffled gurgling sound from its mouth.

"Hmph! If you're hungry, I'll feed you!"

After disciplining his new pet, Guk had the boys drive over five sturdy Squigs.

The giant beast stared at the delicacies, pale red mucus mixed with blood and saliva streaming from its mouth, yet it did not dare make a single move.

"Eat!"

Guk raised his whip and pointed at the Squigs. Seemingly understanding his meaning, before his words had even faded, the giant beast snapped its jaws open like lightning and seized one in a single bite, chewing flesh and bone together.

In the blink of an eye, one enormous Squig had been devoured, and the giant beast immediately bit into the second.

"You sure can eat."

Watching the giant beast gorge itself, Guk was quite pleased. This big fellow would be his mount from now on. That would be damn impressive!

"Boss, what should it be called?"

Green Tooth sidled up beside him. He looked at the giant beast with great envy, imagining how wonderful it would be to have one of his own.

"Jiang..."

Guk looked it over for a while, and suddenly three words popped into his mind.

"...Big Black Mountain."

Green Tooth's eyes widened. The name was certainly strange, but it was fitting enough. After all, its spine did look rather like a mountain.

"What, you don't like it?"

"Good, good, good! Boss is amazing, coming up with such a badass name."

As the two spoke, Big Black Mountain had already eaten all five Squigs without leaving even scraps. Its first feeling of fullness after such prolonged hunger made it yawn, then flop onto the ground and fall sound asleep.

This time, Guk did not disturb it. He even drove away the watching boys, since those overly curious fellows might do who knew what.

"Boss, a group of boys came by a while back. They came from the northwest."

They built a campfire and roasted meat. Fragrant mushrooms paired with special seasonings—after taming beasts for so long, Guk needed a rest as well. While enjoying his "king's meal," he listened to Green Tooth mention something.

"So?"

"There are quite a few tribes over there, and they all raise big fellows. Lots of kinds we don't have here. I was thinking of going to take a look."

"The northwest?"

Guk chewed heavily spiced Squig meat and recalled the situation there. According to the map, there should not be any large tribes to the northwest, so he had not paid much attention to it.

"What could that shithole possibly have?"

"I heard there are especially many poisonous ones."

"Go if you want. I won't stop you. Just don't die there."

"Don't worry, Boss. You know me!"

Green Tooth patted his chest, looking extremely confident. Guk snorted and said,

"Yeah? Then which useless idiot got pinned to the ground and beaten by Naz a while ago? If I hadn't shown up, his head would've been gone, huh?"

"Well, that..."

Green Tooth's veins immediately bulged when his sore point was exposed. If an ordinary boy dared bring that up, Green Tooth would have twisted his head off long ago, but this was his boss.

"...I was ambushed! This time I'll get lots of big fellows and win it back! Yeah! Win it back!"

Guk gave him a disdainful glance and could not even be bothered to respond, but Green Tooth kept chattering on.

Only when a bone bowl was slapped over his forehead did he finally shut up.