The secluded chamber allocated to the Stonehide Chieftess was a good place that allowed her to decompress, its walls smooth and etched with scratches that this was a place that hadn't be inhabited for quite some time.

The air was warm and humid, carrying the subtle mineral tang of heated water and the herbal scent of crushed leaves used for cleansing. In the center, her four honor guards had fashioned a makeshift bath from a large, shallow basin carved from the rock floor, filled with steaming water hauled from a nearby spring and heated over fires outside. Buckets of fresh rinse water stood ready on the side, and soft cloths—woven from mountain goat wool—lay folded neatly on a low stone ledge.

The Chieftess's black iron plates had already been removed, stacked in a corner with reverence, the metal still bearing the dents and bloodstains from her recent kills. She stood naked in the basin, her scarred green skin exposed, a towering figure of raw power and wounds older than majority of the goblins here.

The honor guards moved with the utmost delicacy, treating her as if she were a fragile goddess descended from the heavens, their touches light and reverent despite their own callused hands.

The first guard, her bone helm set aside to reveal a face marked by old frostbite scars, dipped a soft cloth into the steaming water, wringing it gently with a soft drip-drip that echoed in the quiet space.

She approached her from the front, kneeling to scrub her legs, starting at her calves and working upward in slow, circular motions. The cloth glided over her skin, lifting away the fresh blood in pinkish swirls that clouded the water below.

As she worked, she spoke in a low rumble to the guard beside her.

"The goblins here are different. Weak, but organized. The other one—Byung—they treat him like a king. He shouldn't be alive, those wounds would kill any of us."

The second guard, focused on her arms, soaked her cloth in herbal infusion that released a faint, minty aroma as he scrubbed delicately around the fresh nicks. She nodded, her voice a gravelly murmur.

"Saw him myself. He has changed—taller, stronger. Like he evolved. The goblins chant his name like he's their savior. If he rallies them, they could become a real threat. But that duel... there is no way he is surviving it," The second orc said confidently.

The third guard attended her back, her cloth sweeping in broad, gentle strokes from her shoulders down to the small of her back, rinsing away the gore from fights she had already forgotten. She was careful around the deeper scars, dabbing a paste of crushed leaves from a small pouch, its cool, tingling sensation spreading like a balm.

"The goblins breed with orcs now. That Naz one—survived the birth. Kid's a hybrid. If they spread that secret, clans will swarm. But Byung's the key. If we can kill him, they would crumble."

The fourth guard handled her hair and upper body, pouring warm water from a bucket over her white locks in a cascading rush that filled the chamber with the soft patter of droplets hitting the basin.

She massaged in a lather of ground roots and oils, fingers parting the strands with care to scrub out the matted blood, bubbles forming and popping with faint snaps. The foam ran down her neck and shoulders in sudsy rivers, carrying away the grime of slaughter.

"Byung's no ordinary goblin. He fought even Kraghul and lived. If she duels him and he holds his own... what then? He's got that look—like he's meant for more. But our Chieftess is not interested in killing him, she just wants to fight."

Throughout it all, the mute Chieftess stood still, her golden eyes distant, lost in unspoken thoughts. She remained silent, as always, her presence commanding without a word. The guards' conversation flowed around her like water over rock, their voices low and respectful, filling the chamber with murmurs while she absorbed every detail. The scrubbing continued in reverence, the warm water soothing her skin, but her mind was fixed on Byung—the goblin who had defied nature. The first of his kind. And the duel that would decide if he lived or died.

The Chieftess remained quiet, she understood right away that these orcs had no idea what they were talking about, nothing was ever this black and white.

Byung was an abomination for a reason, this must also be why Maui staked this much on him but they were right.

He shouldn't have survived those wounds, more so healed to this extent in such a short amount of time.

But if news spread about this, other orcs from different regions would swarm this area and there were orcs even she didn't wish to face.

However, this was an opportunity to draw in Urgar, with his son missing and also news of this birth, there was no doubt Urgar would either come himself or put out a more qualified squad to pay them a visit.

The Chieftess smirked and her honor guards immediately clamped their mouths shut.

-

Byung had been bitten by Vrognut but nothing happened, even Vrognut was confused as to why it didn't affect him.

"How? How are you unaffected?" Vrognut questioned but all Byung did was look at his wounds, he could feel something coursing through his veins.

[Ding!]

[Poison detected!]

[Adjusting cellular structure...!]

[Poison neutralized!]

"I see, you are trying to poison me," Byung muttered under his breath but even he was suprised his system was capable of this.

This must be passive perks from the half-blood mutation.

Byung was grateful for this discovery because it gave him an idea for tomorrow.

"You might be more useful than I thought," Byung muttered under his breath and Vrognut could tell he had made a mistake in that moment.

Byung was about to defang him and use the unique properties of his teeth in his fight against the white-haired woman.

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