《The Best Title!》 First Title Layng in his bed crosslegged Benjamin Stone looked worried, while holding in his hand a red stone and mumbling from time to time, the red stone was only a little bigger than a thumb but it was a deep red as a freshly pluked rose, it had weirdlooking veins inside it looking like it was crackedbut its surface was smoothlike it was just polished . After a moment passed, Ben''s voice got a little louder resembling a whisperand his incorrigible mumbling starting to sound like words "I was sure that a light flickeredinside it a moment ago,does it have a light bulb inside it? hmm, maybe I got a bargain" Benjamin hasbought the small stone at a fair from a small mountain of pebblesmainly because the seller was an oldwoman that was lookingright and left at the customers that graced other stalls but not her''s after all, who would buy pebbles? Seeing her worriedface and eyes that flickered every time someone approachedher stall, Ben wanted to cheer her up so he bought the red stone from her and put it beside his bed. But who would have thought that the seeminglysmall and beautiful stone was also used for illumination, at least that was going in Ben''s head as he tried to make the rock shine again. "How does this work? does it have any switches on it?" Ben''s starts shaking the rock around and tryingeverytrick in the book, almost at the end of his ropes Ben catches a small flickerfrom inside the stone. " ha ha ha I knewit, it works!" just after he finishes his words the smallrock erupts with a blinding light that lights up the whole room and only after 3 seconds does the bright and all-encompassinglight disappearrevealing an emptyroom.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Ben wished to never see light again. But his wish will not be fulfilled, because after a short while Ben tried to open his clenched eyes that had been attackedby the blinding light. And he sees it, the turquoise sky like a never-endingsea and in the middleof it a beautiful sun that radiatedneverending light that nurturedall living beings in the world. But this trance-like state is broken by the hustle and bustle around Ben and by someone right in front of him that says "You are in the way human." The voice sounded deep and grim. "ah sorry, I did not notice yo..o." Ben''s voice stops as he takes a better look at the owner of the deep voice and finds himself looking at a green monster that is hunchbacked but still towers over Ben with fangs growing from each side of his face and with grey eyes that pierce through Ben''s soul. "AAAAAAA...." Ben''s scream shattersthe relative silence in the surrounding area, the monstergrimaces at the screechthat assaults his ears. Ben is walking backward and screaming at the same time before he bumps into a hard object, turning around Ben faces an even bigger monster this time and he falls on his but dead quiet and looking around for any more horrors around him. And he would in a moment come to regret that decision because where ever he looked there were monsters, small ones, big ones and every one of them was looking at him. The silence and stares are interrupted by the first monster. "What is wrong with you human? Are you crazy? why are you screaming so loud for?" The monsters start to think that maybe the weird screaming human is crazy, it was not so weird after all if humans did something crazy, after all, they were humans, and the marketplace returned to its normal bustle. But before Ben could register what is happening he saw and heard something that made him question his sanity [Crazy Title gained!] [Crazy Passive gained!] And that was the last straw, Ben fainted and fell down in the mud, leaving the two monsters, to wonder what to do with his body. Realization When Ben woke up he found himself in a small cabin made of wood that looked old and primitive but had a charm of its own and made you feel drawn to it, he slowly got off the wooden bed and checked if there were anyone in the room besides himself. Only then did he see that he was wearing different clothes, a few sizes bigger than what he was normally wearing, besides the size, they were made out of something quite coarse and they had been washed too many times resulting in the grey colours. After checking what was in the room he came to the conclusion that either the owner is a giant of a man or he just liked big things because the bed, ceiling, table, chairs etc... were e few sizes bigger than normal and then it hit Ben all of a sudden, he slowly got besides the old wooden bed and sat in it starting to think. "What if after I fainted the monster took me to ITS house? He changed my clothes and cleaned me of mud, maybe I was not tasty in my old clothes, dirtied by the mud and every...." the conclusion leaves Ben perplexed and scared he tries to think how this all started, the beginning of his journey to become a meal for some kind of smaller Hulk. "What happened to me? one moment I was inside my room, the small marble glowed, and then Puff a huge green monster is breathing on my neck...-Maybe I am hallucinating, and the rock had some natural gases inside it, that disturbs and toys with the human mind right?" Ben gets up and tries to inflict self-damage to himself by pinching his arm, trying to wake up or prove that he is just having a nightmare but has little success besides causing himself pain. He sits on the bed again but this time he is paler "Where I am? all that monsters looked like orcs but orcs should not exist...." Ben stays petrified for a second and he speaks his thoughts without knowing "Orcs should not exist, they should not exist on earth so that means...-I am in another world?!" The conclusion leaves Benjamin speechless and he suddenly remembers the message he got before he fainted, it was like his own thoughts but more subtle speaking in his head, he tries to remember and they appear before him again. [Crazy Title gained!] [Crazy Passive gained!] But this time he also knows what they do almost instinctively, like magic, the way the title and passive affects him appears in his mind and he remains lost for words.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "So the crazy passive just makes people around me more wary of me? What the f**k is this?" Driven speechless by the newfound knowledge, he does not hear the floor creaking, and somebody approaching him before he hears his voice. "So you have woken up, crazy human, you owe me, for dragging your sorry ass from the marketplace." Benjamin quickly recoils and hides behind the bed only leaving his head in the open and looking wide-eyed at the unwelcomed guest. He would be a beast of a man only that he is not human and more closely relates to the fictitious race of orcs, a huge body full of muscle and green but this one apparently also has a white beard being more advanced in age than his peers , he wears baggy clothes , the same like Ben''s but they are almost tight on the old orc because of his muscles , his uncovered skin is full of scars that mark his body. Then Ben slowly analyzes the orc''s face and is surprised at how humane it looks beside the tusks and greenness of it, but the eyes of the orc, are what makes Ben believe, that he has been a fool to even think that the old orc would eat him. His eyes are a grey but his pupils are violet, but it is not the colour of the eyes that astonish Ben but his kindness that emanates from them, Ben''s musings are interrupted by the orc under scrutiny. "What are you staring at me for human? I am not some beauty even by my people''s standard" The orc cracks a smile before he continues, "What is your name, crazy human?" The orc takes a chair and sits, for the first time since he came to the room he is at eye level with Ben, "My name is Benjamin Stone and I am not crazy," says Ben wile slowly leaving the cover of the bed. "Your Title says otherwise and I agree with it, screaming in the middle of the market, running about and then fainting in the mud, what would you be if not a crazy human?" Ben only hears the first few sentences of the orc and with a frantic look in his eyes he asks, "You know about Titles? what are they? why do they say I am crazy?" The orc has an astonished look on his face, "Human, have you hit your head? Everybody has Titles, even the stupid humans should know this " Ben starts thinking that maybe he is into a world just as the orc describes it, Full of titles, he looks at the orc and asks with agitation in his voice " Where are we?" The orc is still astonished, at how stupid this human in front of him is, but still answers. "We are outside the village, my house is on a higher level up the mountain than the Uen village, it helps if there are any attacking monsters, from the Namila Forest that surrounds us." Ben founding the whole geography foreign to him continues " And further than that? " "Hmm... The quickest way out of the forest is south, after about 30 km you will reach the Bradum city, the city that made the small colony Uen here on this mountain and later became a full-fledged village on its own, even further than that and you will reach the Narhara mountains and they...." After a wile, Ben sits on the bed defeated, the whole world was foreign to him, proving that he was on another planet and at the same time finding that this world had a lot of races besides humans and orcs. "What is your name?" Ben asks a simple question, trying to keep talking and not stop to ruminate over the fact that he is on another planet. "My name is Grey, and my Title is -Grey the kind- If you got your bearings, could you tell me what you were doing in a village of orcs? I know that humans and orcs are at peace at the moment but the past is hard to bury, are you here for the dungeon or are you trying to score it big by finding Ukkonenium on the mountain?" Artifact "Well, do you know what teleportation is?" Ben is looking at Grey with eyes full of hope trying to make sense of the things around him. "Yes, teleportation is a method of travel used by the rich, the bigger the distance, the bigger the costs. Or did you perhaps earned the ire of an archmage and he teleported you at random?" "No, I don''t know what happened, one moment I was in my house playing with a pebble and then BOOM! The pebble released light and BAAM! there I was face to face with an ugly... " Ben stops his story and his gesturing and realises that even if Gray has the Title as -Gray the kind- he would still smack whoever called him ugly in his face. "Cough...cough as I was saying I appeared in front of you and the other... orcs" Gray takes a thinking stance and after a while he says, "That pebble as you call it, is perhaps a powerful magic artefact that could teleport its user, but it is rare to find such powerful artefacts, did you perhaps took it from a named dungeon?" "No, from where I come from there are no dungeons, or Titles, or orcs..." "No Titles? where are you coming from exactly?" "Earth, have you heard of Earth? We have nice clothes and big buildings" "No, I have not heard of it but it should have entities more powerful than archmages if they could make an artefact that could teleport you so far away, a Space Master for example could..."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The rest of Gray''s speech does not register in Ben''s head as he realizes now that he had a conversation with an orc and weirdly they could understand each other, why does the orc speak English? on another planet and different species,s there should be different languages, there must be a connection between earth and this planet, there would be too big of a coincidence, otherwise for a language to evolve the same on two different planets. Ben''s thought process is interrupted by a gurgling sound, he stops and sees that Gray is looking at him and after a moment "GULULU.." Ben''s stomach is protesting, he had nothing to eat, for a while now and all the agitation had made him ignore his hunger. "Well Ben let''s first eat and we shall discuss afterwards, I think I still got some food in my cupboard, let''s go get it, the price for a fresh enchantment is a nightmare but you must recognize that it is really handy" Gray finishes talking and gets up from the chair , he goes and and opens the door with Benjamin in toe, Ben is curious about what is behind the door because he was unconscious the time he got here, outside the room lies an even bigger room, that has a table and connects at least 2 other rooms, the same size as the one they just got out of. There is an average size stone cupboard, that Grey reaches to and takes out a chunk of meat, and starts cutting it and putting different spices on it, after he finishes cutting the meat he starts a fire in a stove in the corner of the room, the stove is made out of bricks and has a metal door, it also has a chimney that goes throughout the wall and outside . While waiting for the meal to cook, Gray becomes Ben to sit at the big table with him. Looking at Ben with calm eyes he says "Well Ben you can ask me anything that you want, I am sure you have a lot of questions if what you are saying is the truth" "What are Titles?" "Hoo I see you are starting big, nobody really knows where they come from or what they are, but if you complete certain requirements you will get the Title for it. For example, if you are training to be a warrior, you need to have a certain mastery over a weapon, enough physical fitness or kill somebody in combat. Now here it gets tricky, after you get a warrior''s Title you will also get a skill or passive that depends from person to person, it is random what you will get, and if you want to improve on a certain Title, you can train in it gaining more skills or passives If you are a mage, research a skill or practice with your magic enough and your title will improve, if it improves enough times it can evolve into a Mage Master or an Archmage etc... the possibilities are endless" Ben is amazed and shivers at what amazing and wonderful things that could be in this world but the next words wash over Ben''s mood like a cold shower. "Of course if you manage to survive long enough because there are too many things you could die from in this rotten world, my son he..." The words are left unsaid but the mood is visibly grimmer and Gray is immersed in his own thoughts. But the silence is momentary before Gray says in a better mood:" Let''s eat, we don''t want to burn such juicy meat, it is the calf of a Raptor, very hard to catch if you are not a good hunter." Ben enjoys the meat from the unknown animal that Gray cooked and relinquish the silence and peace for what its worth. Staying While eating, Ben is worried about his life, from Grey''s words, he would be dead meat everywhere else, he could get eaten by a red rabbit, whatever they were if he takes what Grey''s says as truth, and he doesn''t want any of that. Ben''s feels alienated on this new and dangerous planet, his only source of comfort being Grey the old orc, who dragged his body from the mud, away from the thief infested market, who knows if some thief wanted Ben''s shoes, or even clothes and decided that if the owner is dead, the objects would be theirs for the taking. This thought makes Ben shiver at how close he was to die, just because he fainted. He would not even know how he died. Grey observing Ben, who is not eating and spacing in his own thoughts, speaks. "Start eating, tomorrow will be a long day, and with your scrawny little human arms, you will not be able to help me " "I can sleep here tonight?" Ben asks with hopeful eyes. "Do you have anywhere else to sleep? After I helped you, it would be a shame for you to die shredded, by the animals outside, or become the nutrients for some bloody tree, there is 3 km of forest, between my farm and the village, and you would die 9 out of ten times before reaching it." "Thanks a lot, I will be sure to repay you when I can..."Ben''s almost tearing up by the end, but he is interrupted by Grey, " Don''t go sentimental on me boy, you get where to sleep and I get a scrawny human helper, it is just a deal." Grey continues to eat without looking at Ben again. Ben is moved by the green giant and continues to eat in silence, knowing that even though he is in a new world, he has someone he could trust. Finishing they''re the meal they get up and Grey takes the bones left from the meal and says to Ben.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "I will go feed Huno, don''t go outside and don''t wander by yourself." Grey is already outside the house before Ben could ask who Huno is, left alone , he examines the room more in-depth , the whole house is made of some type of brown wood that is very hard and glossy , on the ceiling there is some kind of rune etched in the wood that illuminates the rest of the room , on a rack a big and old axe makes it''s rest , the handle is made of some kind of white wood and the axe head is made of some type of metal that shines even not polished, even if the old axe is covered in scratches and has a couple of nicks in its blade, it is obvious to see that this is not a normal axe . The door opens and Grey comes inside, he is unaccompanied by the rest of food that he took, most likely eaten by Huno. And instead carrying some firewood. "Who is Huno?" Asks Ben, trying to not sound afraid of the answer. "Huno is my bear, he is so lazy that he would starve to death if it was not for me bringing food to him" Grey replied while putting the firewood in a stack of firewood by the door. "I will sleep in the first room, you will sleep in the same room that you woke up in, I need to sleep, not everyone can nap in the middle of the day like you, "Grey says this with a smile on his face while going in his room. Ben is left alone again but this time with a bugging question on his mind,''Who has a bear as a pet?'', he shakes his head and goes in his room exhausted, by all the new things he got through today, he could instantly fall asleep if not for the Teeth-chattering cold. He gets up and tries to warm up by moving, but has little success, but he does see a small stove in his room beside the bed, and then it all clicks together. Ben goes outside his room into the common room, and looks at the stack of firewood, thanking Grey in his mind, he takes 4 pieces and rushes to his room, before throwing them in the stove. Ben is celebrating before a problem strikes him,''How do i light them up?''. But he remembers the bigger stove that they cooked in and hopes there are still hot charcoals inside. Luckily for him, there still are some inside, and he somehow manages to take some with the metal pliers besides the stove, and light up the fire in his room. Layng in his bed and feeling how the cold is driven away by his small trusty stove he finally gives in to tiredness, but he is awakened by an animalistic sound. "Awooo..." ''Of course, there are wolfs on the mountain. Only they were missing from the picture...'' putting his pillow over his head he finally falls asleep. Grey finally hearing Ben''s breathing slowing down from his room, goes into the common room, seeing the door to the stove open, he shakes his head he goes and closes it ''Cute human, but stupid nonetheless, the whole house could burn down...'' Taking a coat over his shoulders, and picking the axe from its rack, Grey goes outside the room careful to not slam the door and wake up the human inside. ''She should know more about this than me, if there is one person that I can ask, then she is the only one.''Thinks Grey before he disappears into the night. Answers Through a dark forest, a figure moves unhindered by the thick foliage. The bigger obstacles such as thick vines, small trees and lurking monsters are directly eviscerated, by the axe in its hands. Grey''s eyes wander the forest looking for familiar places, trying to ascertain his path before he starts moving again. The trek barely tires him out, he may be old but his strength never left him. His second Title -Mad Berserker- ensures that he is a powerful warrior by all standards. Not many have their title evolved from their basic one, but when they do, that means that they have reached another level entirely, and it depends on their personality, decisions and achievements what kind of new addition they get. Grey''s title is an evolved one from a normal Berserker, meaning he is at least twice as powerful as any normal Beserker. Grey finaly stops moving. He has reached it. His destination. He looks upon the small hut, with smoke coming out of its roof and with tribal etchings on it. The forest is quiet around the hut. Not even the chirps of birds are heard. The silence is deafening, it causes nervousness in the air around it. Grey drops his axe on the ground and slowly walks to the hut and knocks on its door. "Come inside" a raspy voice is heard from inside the hut. The voice sounds high pitched and filed with tremors caused by the age of its owner. Grey slowly enters the hut and as he looks inside he sees it. An old orc woman, far older than anything else that should be alive at that age, her eyes are clouded, most likely blind and she has a bone staff that looks old itself. With cracks running through it, she uses the staff as a walking stick and turns from the cauldron she was cooking and looks in Grey''s direction. "Why are you here Grey? Want to know how your daughter is doing?"The words leak out of her mouth, one at a time, taking her far more time than normal. "No, I need to find something out about an artefact," Grey says this respectfully, not having moved from his place since he got into the hut. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "An artefact you say..." The old women come closer yo Grey and move her hand to touch him, her hand is blackened by some kind of charcoal and her finger nails are long enough to coil by themselves, more properly calling them claws than nails. But Grey moves closer to her, and knees leaving her to caress his face, not recoiling in the slightest at the wizened old hand. "Look at you Grey, how old you have gotten, all because of that cursed Title, oh Grey do you remember that I told you not to use it? I watched you grow. From a small boy into a teenager full of vigour and dreams....do you want to make me watch you die before me?" A tear drips, coming down her aged face. Her hand is shaking from the strong emotions. "I don''t regret doing it, and I don''t want to discuss this again, it has already been done."Grey gets up and looks at the old women with strong feelings. She was to one who raised him up and cared for him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More than fifty years ago, in the Namila forest, a high pitched cry is disturbing the forest. A small green baby is on the forest floor, in his bindings, only his face can be seen, he has small tusks at the edges of his mouth and his grey eyes are full of tears, Crying, asking to be feed. Most likely his parents abandoning him in the forest, not being able to feed and care for him. But the baby does not know that making any noise, in a forest is like lighting a beacon, startling the peaceful animals and waking in monsters the hunting instincts. A pack of wolves far larger than normal ones hearing the commotion head straight for the unprotected and defenceless child. There are 7 wolves in this pack and they are all fierce killers, working in a team, instincts teaching them to not sub estimate prey, they surround the crying bundle. Getting closer, they start growling. The baby cries even louder, frightened by the growl, his cries reach a wooden hut and a certain old woman hears them. Suddenly, the wolves ears fall down, they whimper, and like a pack of sheep chased by the wolf, they dissapear. The baby may be too tired after all that crying and falls asleep. After a few moments soft sounds are heard beside the bundle, they are steps, somebody comes and picks up the small bundle, that someone speaks "Well, well, what do we have here, eh a small troublemaker" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She has been more to him than any parents, and she loved him like her own child, but he wounded her feelings, when he put his life in danger for his family, fighting desperately against the trolls that attacked them and even so he only managed to save his daughter. Shaking the bad memories out of his head, he says to the old women "Mother, I found a human who was been teleported right in front of me, and from his words, this was done by some powerful space artefact. Check for yourself, I don''t know any artefact strong enough to teleport someone the distance he says." The old shaman comes close to Grey and cuts his arm with her nail, a small drop of blood remains on the fingernail that she puts in her mouth, and closes her eyes. In her head, everything that Grey spoke with Ben replays itself like a movie. After a moment of waiting, she opens her eyes and with a frown, she says" He is most likely an otherworlder, but that remains to be seen, there has not been anyone powerful enough to send keys to other worlds for thousands of years now. And what is they''r motive for doing so?" Thoughts The atmosphere is visibly grimmer, how could it not, Otherworlders were people from another world, and every one of them was a human. Every time the human kingdoms were in a disadvantage against another race or faced peril, they would summon Otherworlders. The so-called heroes, who could earn titles faster than anybody else and become peak existences, overturning the tides of wars and winning the human Kingdoms land and fortunes. But the price is high and causes too much grief. The ritual requires Over 100 human lives before they can summon an Otherworlder, and there have been records depicting Otherworlders rebelling against those who summoned them, making the practice of summoning them taboo and even frowned upon. Even worse, there have been some who had gone insane after being summoned. How could they not? being dragged from a heaven-like world, into one full of dangers and horrors. Becoming useless, the huge price becomes even more glaring, after all, which king could sacrifice his subjects without remorse, and for nothing in return no less. The human kingdoms agreed, to bury this dark practice and designed it as taboo. The ritual seemingly forgotten has not made its appearance again. Till Grey came face to face with Benjamin Stone, an Otherworlder.Being unsure, if Ben really is the Otherworlder or just an unlucky human, he took him back to his house, and shortly after a short conversation with him, he came to the conclusion that Ben is almost surely from another world. But is he dangerous enough, that warrants a death? Grey is visibly grimmer, wondering which king was mad enough to make this bloody sacrifice, and what could drive a kingdom into a situation so grim, that the only option would be a taboo ritual.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The records of the ritual have been lost in time, only a few people even knowing about it. "Mother, as you saw, Ben is on my farm, maybe we can change him, teach him to be tolerant of non-human beings. Not like his predecessors, who killed and pillaged all other races, treating them like dirt, just because they were not human." "You have a point, but I think we better kill him and save the world from another human hero, "The old woman says this with a defeated tone, knowing that her son is too kind to kill someone unless he is in that state. "But mother, he is still not strong enough to cause us any harm, and I don''t think he is so dangerous that warrants a death... I will watch him, and carefully monitor him if he becomes the monster we believe he is, I will kill him "says Grey with a tone full of hope. "I am not afraid of Ben, but what if he is not the only one who was summoned?" her words strike Grey, who becomes agitated. "We must let the Horde know, maybe we can salvage this, The Heroes need time to grow, that''s why the human kingdoms do everything they can to hide the news of a ritual as hard as they can, but if we know this beforehand, we can limit the damage they cause us" "I will take care to inform The Horde, you better go back to Ben, it is not wise to leave him alone for too much time, maybe we are not the only ones who know about him " "Dont''s worry, Huno is guarding the farm, I will go back, and mother... it was nice to see you again" The old woman wants to say something to Grey, but before she does, he is already outside and walking with hurried steps back to his house. Grey picks up his axe, that he left outside and hurriedly makes his way to his Farm, hoping he gets there before sunrise. The trek is easier this time, his marks of passing through the forest still fresh, the trip takes halftime the first one did, no monsters attacked him either, thanks to his earlier trip. In the small hut left behind, the old woman takes a small parcel and writes something down, before she slowly goes outside the hut, staying unmoved for a few seconds, she starts mumbling growing louder with time. A small rift opens in front of her, that she puts the small parcel in. "The message has been passed, now the world will go in chaos" saying this, she goes back to her hut, resuming her job of stirring in the old cauldron. Pigs, or is it boars? Waking up, Ben found himself in an unfamiliar place, taking a moment to gather himself, he remembered. '' Ohhh I am on another world.... and I slept in an Orc''s bed...'' sitting he remembers the day before and with a sarcastic smile on his face he says "Well, there could be worse fates, than being guest in an orc''s house I think...? " feeling the need to relieve himself, Ben goes outside his room in a common room, looking around and not seeing Grey, he shouts for him " Greyy I need to go relieve myself" taking a moment of pause, he thinks '' Should I ask him where is the bathroom, does he even have one? '' but Ben does not hear anything from Grey''s room. So he goes outside, for the first time that he got in this world. Outside the house, there is an enclosure that is made of Big wooden fences, not managing to see anything inside the enclosure, besides some stones, Ben starts looking for a place to relieve himself. Fortunately, he manages to find an outhouse behind the farm. Finally relieved, Ben decides to explore the farm and it?s inhabitants, besides the house where they live, there is the weird empty enclosure, so Ben decides to start with it. Getting closer he is amazed at the size of the fences, Big fences, at least 2 m tall all around it makes it look more like a city wall than a simple enclosure to keep animals inside. Getting at the gate, he manages to unlock it and get inside, carefully closing it behind him so no animals escape, even though he did not see any till now. Looking inside he sees that the whole space inside the enclosure is full of mud, and there are about 20 big mud mounds inside, without any animals, Ben wonders '' why did Grey build such big walls, if there are not even animals inside it....'' getting close to a mound, he climbs it, trying to get a better view of the whole enclosure, wondering if maybe the animals are so small that he can not see them. Managing to climb to the top, he is interrupted by shaking of the earth, he feels like the earth under his feet is trying to run, frightened, he quickly hugs the mound, till the shaking stops. ''What happened, was that an earthquake? '' just as he thinks that, the tremor returns but this time, he even feels, that the mound is almost ripped out of the ground by the force. Congratulating himself, for managing to hold on the mound , through the earthquake , Ben get?s up , starting to review the pen again , but he manages to see a figure, coming through the trees, Ben manages to see it?s face, happiness flickers on Ben''s face before he screams, "Greyy, I am here , Where have you gone, I did not find your inside the housee" Grey , hearing the noise looks over. A dumbfounded look appears on his face. before he erupts in agitation, he drops his axe and running over he starts shouting and waving his arms, he tries to make Ben get out of the pen. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Whatt, I can not hear youu!!" Ben?s scream makes Grey even more agitated, running, trying to reach the gate of the pen, he points behind Ben multiple times. Ben confused, turns to see what Grey is pointing at, but he remains dumbfounded, the big and small mounds inside the pen, start shaking before they get up. As it appears, they were not mounds... they were giant pigs, so dirty and big that they resembled more like mounds or rocks than actually living beings, Woken up by Ben''s screams, they start looking about for the source of the noise. The giant pigs look like normal pigs, but a lot larger and fatter, they''re fur is longer and they have tusks jutting out of their mouths. Ben regains his witts and in a moment, a horrifying thought passes through his mind, he looks down and hastily jumps off the mound and starts running. That was just in time because just as he looked down, his mound also started getting up, quickly transforming from a harmless mound or rock, into a giant pig that had 1 m tusks and razor-sharp teeth . The boars quickly find the intruder, and quickly chase after him, they are massive, round balls of fat that jiggle as they run, but they''re speed is nothing to scoff at. Ben looks behind him, and almost wishes he had not, there are at least 5 massive pigs who had reached maturity, and the others only being young ones, but still dangerous to a normal human. And they all chase him. Ben puts his focus into running, reaching the gate, he finds it locked. His face whitens in fright, but just in time, Grey also opens up the gate from the other side, letting Ben get out, and quickly closing it back again. The pigs losing their target, seem unsure, they look for any food in the encirclement and not finding any, they sit down and curl themselves up, gaining the earlier form of natural landscape. Grey looks at Ben who is panting, almost like his lungs will come out any moment now, and starts speaking " Why on the great mother, would you sit on a Munching Pig?" Ben looks offended, taking big breaths he says with an innocent look on his face " I thought they were Rocks, why do the pigs look like rocks? and why are you keeping such dangerous pigs, in your backyard?" Grey looks shocked at Ben''s words, saying with a face dignified like he is talking about the rules of the universe. "Munching pigs are the greatest livestock that orcs breed, With they''re Title -Quik Gains- They can quickly become fat , and if you are a professional in the business of rearing pigs, you can even use that they''re title and make the pigs run after they are fat enough, and in no time you will get a pig full of delicious muscle or you can even ride them in battle, they hide is thick enough, and they don''t have any fear outside of they''re natural predators, they eat everything else . Hum, what do you humans know about the greatness of munching pigs, they eat everything they have within reach, they are not picky eaters at all." Grey''s tirade about munching pigs is interrupted by Ben "Yea, not picky eaters, THEY WOULD EVEN EAT ME" With an awkward face, Grey says " Well they might think you are delicious...." Not knowing if he should be proud or indignation, Ben finally slumps his shoulders in defeat, at least knowing another fact about Grey, he is a pig fanatic... "Can you at least tell me, why are pigs looking like stones and small mounds? at least that should not be normal...." "Well..." says Grey a little ashamed " The munching pigs are great , but they are kinda lazy, and with no food in sight, they can remain unmoved for long periods of time, at such they gained the Title-Stone Lazy- but don''t be fooled... " with a pick up of pride in his voice, he says "If any unsuspecting prey foolishly approaches them, then they will devour..." he stops, understanding that he is describing exactly what Ben had done . "Anyway, let''s get moving, there is a lot of work to be done, and you owe me for keeping you around..." saying so, he turns around, picks up his axe and goes inside the house, probably cleaning it and putting it back. Ben remains fixed on the place and looks inside the pen, the stone looked like it moved a little, he quickly darts inside the house, screaming: " Don''t let me alone with them..."