Unable to refuse Hazel's request, the Orc leader, Drebur'tok, reluctantly accepted and then guided her back to their village. The leader and she stood at the front while the other Orcs, minus the Shaman, were stationed behind them, cautiously following the pair.

"I'm surprised that you agreed to my terms so easily," Hazel remarked, not even sparing a glance at the Orc at her side.

"What is the point of refusing? If I did, you would've killed us and simply tried to search for our tribe on your own."

"Guilty as charged," She said with a smile.

"Besides, I only agreed to guide you because you promised to only talk with our chief and not lay a finger on our home."

Hazel nodded. "Yes, I did agree to that." She then turned over to the Orc Leader with the same malicious smile on her face. "But, this little deal is only valid as long as your Orc brethren don't attack me. If they do, then I will no longer keep my end of the bargain. And you know what that means, right?"

Hazel could clearly see the color drain from the Orc's face. It was easy to tell when his normal deep emerald skin shifted to the color of a green apple. It was quite amusing to watch, nonetheless.

As for their deal, Drebur'tok agreed to guide Hazel to their village so long as she didn't harm his people. Of course, that deal only applied if the Orcs from the tribe didn't attack her. Besides, Hazel's plan wasn't to kill the Orcs but to simply ask them to move away from the border of the Valiant Guild's territory.

According to Drebur'tok, his tribe was situated very close to the Valiant Guild's turf, meaning they could easily enter their territory without wasting a lot of time. The only problem was the scale of the guild's domain, which was rather large.

Drebur'tok's guild only had a small patch of land that was a quarter the size of the Valiant Guild's. Because of this, staging an assault on their base would take forever due to the distance and sheer size of the land owned by Zoe's guild. That was why Drebur'tok and his fellow Orcs were investigating the Valiant's guild's territory. It was so they could understand the geography of their domain and figure out the best way to invade Zoe's guild and conquer it.

Thankfully, they were unable to get very far with their exploration, which explained why the Orc sightings that the other players told Hazel about were so close to the border of their territory. With how much progress they had made, Hazel didn't have to worry about the Orcs gathering together and beginning their little siege on the guild's base. Not with the very little knowledge they had on hand.

"What exactly do you plan to do once you enter our tribe?" Drebur'tok questioned.

"As I said before, I'll be asking your chief to take your tribe and move somewhere else. That is all I wish to do."

"...And if he refuses?"

Hazel paused, letting the idea sink in for both her and him. "Well, considering you already know the outcome, what other possibilities can you think of?"

Drebur'tok had no answer, remaining eerily silent as he and the rest of them continued to walk. All the while, Hazel waited for some kind of response. However, nothing was said, causing her to let out a heavy sigh.

"Good grief," She grumbled. "Don't you guys have some kind of honor-bound tradition where you make deals with one another or something?"

While it was a long shot, Hazel wanted to try and avoid things getting too dire for her. She didn't mind the situation resulting in her slaughtering the Orcs, but she'd also like to avoid it since it would take her some time to actually do this. Then again, she could just spam her Curse bomb spell, but even that would take time to do. Especially if the Orcs managed to organize themselves and attack her.

Her best chance of avoiding bloodshed was making a bet with the Orc chief of the tribe and winning to have him listen to her request. But that was only if she was right about them having an honor-bound tradition.

"You are talking about the Challenge Oath?" Drebur'tok stated.

Hazel's head shot up to look at the Orc leader with an anticipatory look. "Yeah, that. How exactly does this Challenge Oath work?"

The leading Orc mused, stroking his chin. "The Challenge Oath is essentially a challenge where two participants duel one another under the oath, where if one loses, the loser grants the winner one wish."

"Sounds pretty simple. Any catches I should know about?"

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"Absolutely not," He spat, almost sounding offended by Hazel's question. "The Challenge Oath is a sacred tradition that follows the rules to the letter."

"And what exactly are the rules?"

"There are only two rules," Drebur'tok explained while raising two fingers. "The first rule is no outside interferences. The challenge must only be between two individuals. If another person interferes by the request of one of the participants, both are killed as a penalty."

"Geez, you get the death sentence for something like that?"

She didn't expect their penalties to be so severe. Though this also told her how seriously they took the Challenge Oath. Thankfully, this rule didn't apply to Hazel since she didn't have anyone on her side. Though she did have to worry about the person she challenged in that case. Even if this was a sacred challenge, that didn't mean there weren't ways around it.

In fact, if they were clever enough, her opponent could easily cheat without even getting exposed. After all, it's only cheating if you get caught doing it.

"What about the second rule?"

"The second rule is just as serious and severe," The Orc said grimly. "If you wish to request a challenge Oath, it must be against an opponent of equal strength or above. Requesting a challenge Oath against a weaker opponent is forbidden and shows that you can only pick on the weak instead of the strong. Such a mindset is not allowed within our tribe, and those who do this are banished."

"Huh...that makes a lot of sense, actually."

Although Hazel didn't expect such a rule, she did believe that it was a valid one. Picking on weaker opponents doesn't prove anything and was actually a waste of time. To truly prove yourself and make your actions and reputation known, it would be better to challenge a much stronger opponent.

However, this rule might pose a problem for Hazel. Unless some Orcs were stronger than her, she couldn't even request a Challenge Oath. Maybe she could goad one of the Orcs to challenge her instead? There was no rule against that, right? As long as the one who requested the fight chooses someone stronger than themselves.

It was a bit of a long shot, but Hazel didn't have any other options available at the moment. Aside from destroying their base altogether. But again, she was trying to avoid that route since it could take some time. That, and she would only do this if the Orcs attacked first.

After a bit of walking, Drebur'tok spoke up. "We're close to the village. Stay vigilant."

Hearing this, the Orcs following behind them straightened up, preparing themselves for anything. Despite going to their own base, they were more on edge than ever before. Though Hazel knew the reason why, and simply remained silent on the matter.

Instead of focusing on them, she turned her attention to another matter. Like the Tribe base she was about to enter. She called upon one of her Astral Eyes and sent it ahead of them, allowing Hazel to get a look at their base before they got there.

Momentarily switching her vision, Hazel caught a glimpse of their home. It was a rather large village with a wooden spike wall surrounding them. Within the walls, multiple huts made of sewn-together cloth and wood were stationed all over the area. Some were small enough to only fit one or two individuals, while others were big enough to hold at least twenty.

And roaming around the area were not just Orcs like Drebur'tok but other species as well, like Gnolls and Kobolds. They were walking around with the Orcs and helping them with various tasks, from carrying logs or other heavy materials to building new homes within the village.

After doing a bit of counting, Hazel noted that there were at least fifty or so residents within this village. While that didn't seem like much, that was only the ones that she counted. For all she knew, there could be more either lurking out from of the village or somewhere inside where she couldn't see them from above.

Switching her vision back, Hazel realized that they were now getting closer to the entrance to the village. Ahead of them, she saw the wooden spike wall as two Orcs stood in front of the entrance, acting as guards.

Approaching the gates to the village, the two guard Orcs immediately stopped Drebur'tok and the others in their tracks, placing their weapons in front of the door to keep them from moving any further.

"What is the meaning of this, Drebur'tok?" One of the guards questioned the leading Orc with a scornful expression.

"Why is there a human among your group?" The other demanded, glaring at Hazel.

Drebur'tok hesitated to answer, which irritated their brethren, who questioned.

"Answer us, Drebur'tok!" One of the guards growled, saliva practically spilling out of their mouth. "Why did you bring a human here?!"

"He brought me here because he was left with no other choice," Hazel explained, stepping forward to confront the guards.

The two Orcs that protected the entrance shifted their gaze onto Hazel, narrowing their eyes suspiciously with a hint of hostility mixed in.

"And what does that mean, human?"

Hazel smiled when she was asked this, causing Drebur'tok to grow nervous. Even though she was looking at him, she could tell that the Orc was sweating bullets right now. Because he knew he couldn't stop what was about to happen next.

"Would you like a demonstration?"

"The hell are yo-?!" The Orc guard was cut off when he suddenly gasped for breath, grasping his neck as if something was strangling him.

"W-what the hell?!" The other guard panicked while raising his weapon.

Just then, the first guard, getting strangled, began to levitate off the ground until he was around half a foot in the air. Hazel and the other Orcs witnessed the guard's feet dangle and flail around, trying to find some sort of footing. However, that wasn't going to happen.

"You! Human!" The second guard pointed his weapon, which was a sword, at Hazel. "Release him now if you know what's good for you!"

"Okay, sure," Hazel shrugged.

Then, with a flick of her wrist, the guard was then thrown backward, colliding into the second guard before both of them crashed into the gate, breaking it down with ease. Once Hazel noticed that the gate was open, she slowly walked forward with a wide grin on her face.

Behind her, she could hear Drebur'tok grumbling. "You said you wouldn't do anything."

"I said I wouldn't kill anyone," Hazel corrected. "And so far, I haven't yet." She glanced down at the two unconscious Orcs that she had just thrown through the gate before walking past them without a second glance.

Now that Hazel was in the village, it was time to start the second phase of her plan with these orcs.

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