23th day of the month of the green elf (February) 11:43 PM

  The flames devoured everything in their path, the cries of the inhabitants and warriors had long since ceased, swallowed up by the crimson flames. Of the once-thriving Oni village, only the still-smoking ruins and the memories of its survivors remained.

  "What a catastrophe..."

  A figure sighed in the darkness, surveying the rubble. He gripped the hilt of his katana and used his free hand to strike the nearby tree, slightly cracking its trunk.

  "Those damned orcs and trolls! We will take our revenge!"

  It roared into the night sky, lit only by the brightness of flames and stars.

  "Luckily we managed to save you and your sister, young sir..."

  Another figure intervened, shorter and older, but who exuded power and wisdom. It was clear he was standing at attention, judging from the way he gripped the katana at his belt. It was Hattori Hazno, the village's most skilled swordsman.

  "You're right, master..."

  He fell silent and took a breath, rubbing his forehead near his pointed black horns, a symbol of pride for his race.

  "I swear by my father, the Oni Leader, that I will restore my tribe to its former glory! Even if there are only six of us left..."

  The oni turned to the other survivors, sighing again. He didn't feel ready to be a leader, much less worthy, but it was his role now—whether he wanted it or not. He would protect his companions to the death and, one day, take revenge on those who had attacked their village without pretext.

  "Dad, I swear I will strive to be the best boss I can be. I will make you proud of me!"

  He shouted, raising his katana towards the night sky.

  “How do we proceed, Supreme Shen?”

  One of the two remaining women asked him. The first was his younger sister Huna, the other was the warrior Shion—it was the latter who asked the fantomatic question. They were without food, without a home, and few in number. The only thing they had that was concrete was an uncertain future.

  "First, I'd say we look for supplies and shelter. Heading for the Lake of Nasus might be a good idea."

  “With all due respect, but I doubt it.”

  Shen turned to the one who had spoken, namely Zed, the scout of the group.

  “And why?”

  “I know orcs and trolls are of limited intelligence, but even a fool would know we're in a desperate situation. The first thing those monsters will do is scour every pool of water in the area.”

  Shen clenched his fists at that sensible reasoning. He had been friends with Zed since childhood and trusted his instincts blindly. When it came to survival and exploring the territory, his friend was superior to him, so he willingly listened.

  “What do you propose to do, my friend?”

  "Going to the lake isn't a completely bad idea. However, we should take more time to avoid being surprised by the enemy. We could head to a nearby river and only head towards the lake after gathering some supplies."

  “Won’t we risk having the same problem at the river?”

  "No, they won't start chasing us right away. For now, they'll enjoy the victory."

  Shen nodded and turned to the elder of the group, who was his fencing master and his late father's best friend.

  “Master, what do you think?”

  “It sounds like a good idea to me. I think we should hit the road.”

  After the old man gave his blessing, the six set out toward a nearby river. It was heartbreaking to abandon their village in those conditions; it was like leaving behind their lives, their customs, and their families. Unfortunately, nothing remained but the flaming ruins.

  There are six of us left, but only two women and four men. The old man is to decrepit to have children. To repopulate our race, we'd need to mate, but I don't feel like forcing my sister and Shion to get pregnant.

  It was a difficult position. Polygamy was not frowned upon in their culture, but it was usually practiced only by the village chief to produce more children. The Oni were peaceful, but often had to fight off the various invasions from other races, like orcs and trolls. The males of the chief's family were always expected to be on the front lines, to demonstrate their strength and valor, so it was common for many to die in battle.

  He was the leader now, but one of the two women was his younger sister, so mating with her was out of the question. Shion, however, was available. She was the strongest woman in the village, and among the most beautiful, rivaling even the Sacred Priestess Huna. She would have made an excellent bride, but there were reasons why Shion hadn't yet been married. Besides her lack of interest, there was also the problem that she was only good at fighting and nothing else. She was terrible at cooking and housework. That wouldn't be a bad thing for now, but if they had children, it would be certainly a problem.

  I'll think about it later, we need to find better accommodation first.

  Honestly, he was almost afraid to talk to Shion about those things. They had no romantic feelings for each other, only respect and trust as fellow warriors. He feared, above all, her rejection, which would be justified; a pregnancy and a child changed your life forever. Not to mention that it would take several generations to repopulate their race, but they would have to start by producing many heirs first and quickly.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Simply put, they should have had much more than one child per couple. Even five would have been too few, but he could understand the point of view of the two women in the group.

  If I were to force her to marry Zed, my sister would hate me for the rest of her life.

  He was certain that his friend Zed would be an excellent husband for Huna. However, Shen was absolutely certain that if he forced a union between the two, he would find both of them against him. It was a thorny situation, where personal desires conflicted with the right course of action.

  “Young sir, may I speak to you?”

  As he thought, his master approached him quietly. Despite his advanced age, he was probably the most skilled with a sword. Speaking of swords, the katana he wore at his belt was an oni relic. It was said to have been forged by an ancient god, and that it had been passed down through more than ten generations of village chiefs.

  He should have been the one to wield it, but wasn't worthy yet, so the old man acted as its guardian.

  “Sure, what is on your mind?"

  “I know you are doing your best, and that this new leadership role has been sudden, but I ask you to think carefully about every single move.”

  “I know what you mean, unfortunately. I'm already thinking about how to repopulate our tribe, and it won't be easy with only two women.”

  “Uh! Uh! Don't rack your brains, young man! We have to survive this situation first; the important thing now is to find shelter.”

  The old man's laughter irritated Shen quite a bit, as his nerves were already on edge.

  “I know that, old man! But...it's something I'll have to think about sooner or later.”

  “Young people today only think about getting women into bed. You remind me of when I was young and—”

  “Are you serious, Hattori?!”

  The elder's jokes had completely made the leader lose his cool, and he was now actively shouting at him.

  “Our village is destroyed, our friends are dead, and we're out of supplies! Our very survival is in danger, and you find time to crack jokes and tell camp stories?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

  “...”

  Despite the scolding, the elder remained calm and composed. He simply glared at his student, trying to appear more authoritative.

  “Does this seem like the right way to address your master, young sir?”

  “And do you think this is the time to be ironic?!”

  “I definitely do less damage than you do.”

  Before he could ask what he meant, the old man pointed to the rest of their group, who had stayed back to avoid being caught up in the argument. Shen clenched his fists as he saw the worried faces of his companions. He had been wrong to react that way; he had let his anger drive him, and this was the result. He couldn't behave like that, not now that he was the new leader.

  “I-I'm sorry, I apologize to everyone. I shouldn't have reacted that way.”

  Shen declared, bowing his head towards his companions.

  “Anger is a great tool in battle, but you must not forget that it's just that: a tool- nothing more. Don't use it in arguments; it usually puts you in on the wrong side.”

  “Yes, master.”

  Shen's tone had returned to a more reverential tone as he took several breaths to try to calm himself.

  "I'd say we're far enough from the village. We could camp here too."

  Zed said, looking around the area, before turning to Shen.

  “What do you think, chief?”

  "If you say so, then I trust you. We should, however, arrange for guard duty."

  “I'll start!”

  Shion shouted forcefully, puffing out her big chest.

  “If anyone comes near, I'll tear them to pieces!”

  The woman cracked her knuckles and began patrolling the area. She had a metal club with her, but even in a fistfight, she could have handled anyone. She was undoubtedly the strongest of the group, at least physically speaking.

  I wouldn't want to arm wrestle her.

  Shen sat down under a tree and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. The anxiety from the recent battle was too much. Hours had passed, but it seemed like only a few minutes since he'd fought a troll general, accompanied by a strange masked man.

  He seemed like some sort of clown...

  Shen looked down at his sword, a fine katana. It wasn't as powerful as his master's, but it would do the job well.

  The weapons...We have to find more.

  Except for his sister, everyone had at least one weapon for self-defense. Ghu- their blacksmith- was excellent at his job; he could have forged more if they brought him the materials. The problem was getting those said materials—how to do when it was already a lot if they could eat and not starve to death?

  We should definitely go hunting tomorrow. Maybe we could ask the goblins for hospitality.

  There were several goblin villages in the southern areas of the Dark Jade Forest. They were normally peaceful monsters, compared to their wild cousins who raided villages and city of the Nexia Empire. They might have asked for shelter in exchange for protection; after all, they were still Oni, far superior to goblins in every way he could imagine.

  Protection? Who i am even try to convince?! We haven't been able to protect our own home, let alone that of others.

  As much as he told himself he shouldn't think about it, Shen couldn't help but remember over and over the crushing defeat they'd suffered against the orcs and trolls. They'd been caught off guard and heavily outnumbered- so it hadn't been a fair and equal fightbut- but it was still a devastating blow to their Oni pride.

  If they hadn't fled, they would now be like all their comrades left in the village: dead, or worse- turned into food.

  I will make all those who made us suffer pay dearly, I promise!

  He looked toward the small camp they'd set up, which included only a small fire for warmth. They'd come quite far from the village, so they'd allowed themselves that luxury. While Shion was guarding the area, the others had settled in for a rest.

  His younger sister, Huna, was sleeping next to the elder Hattori. She was obviously tired; she had used a lot of magical energy to allow them to escape and hide their tracks. Huna was only a level 3 magician, but she was still an extremely skilled sorceress, capable of using holy magic.

  Ghu was trying to repair a short sword with the few tools and materials he had at his disposal. He wasn't much of a warrior, but his size still made him fearsome in close combat. It pained Shen to think that this skilled blacksmith had recently inherited the family forge, only to have it taken away by those filthy trolls.

  Zed was deciding where they would go the next day, not to mention that without a map it would be difficult to decide where they would go after.

  "Maybe we should go west, but we'll risk entering the lizardmen's territory. No, better to go south, to the goblins."

  Shen could hear him babbling his thoughts aloud.

  He's the scout of the group; he probably feels a lot of pressure right now...

  He wanted to help him, but wasn't good at scouting. Shen had always been a prodigy with the sword and fire magic- his species' specialty. That was probably why the trolls had allied themselves with the orcs. They needed numbers to crush the Oni, the only ones capable of nullifying the regenerative ability that would otherwise make them immortal.

  Those vile bastards!

  In the forest there was only one rule: the strong eat the weak, nothing else.

  Even so, mass extermination is madness! Can someone imagine what those trolls were thinking?!

  He couldn't believe it. Trolls had always been warmongers, but they'd never done anything like that. Clearly, something wasn't right. Shen had to figure out how to survive first, and then how to get his revenge. His father had sacrificed himself so he and his sister could escape—he wouldn't let his father's death be in vain.

  I will do whatever it takes to make us Oni comeback!

  He clenched his fists and let out his anger by punching the ground. As he did so, exhaustion took over, making his eyelids increasingly heavy, until Shen fell into a deep, restful sleep.