Ulla had taken the fight too far afield and gotten herself surrounded by two opponents who made quick work of her once she was outnumbered and cut off from help. The next to fall were Nullik and Frelki, who had gone on the attack and couldn't make much of an impact without their larger and more aggressive pack mates to back them up. That left Ulf, Frun, Wrut, and the human outnumbered. Ulag at least noted that they fixed their mistake, drawing closer together to watch each other's backs. Of course, by then it was far too late and the Thorns picked them off one at a time with their advantage in numbers. First, they went for Frun, who charged out of the formation to be quickly tripped and clubbed across his armoured back. After that, Wrut became much easier to outflank where his missing Limb could offer him no protection on his left side. He Landed in a heap beside Frun soon after.

That left ULf and the human, back to back and looking understandably worried as the Thorns closed in for the final attack. The orc pups called for blood, just as they always did. Then the human did something no one expected. Instead of letting the circle of his opponents close in around him, he bolted straight for the strongest member of the Thorn's pack. He must have said something to ULf, because the orc did the same in the opposite direction. The Thorns split their circle and were momentarily stunned at the sight of the human engaging in a brawl with a much larger orc and not Losing.

It was clear that the opponent that the human had chosen was skilled, but the man's smaller size was proving to be an advantage in dodging the incoming blows. The orc had moved to swat him out of the way Like a fly, and had quickly been taught a swift lesson in not underestimating his enemy. Ducking under the blow, the human cracked his club onto the orc's chest-plate so hard that it knocked him backwards. He followed that up with a hard kick into the side of the orc's leg before taking up a new line of attack. So, all there assembled watched one of their brethren start to Limp whilst trying to fend off the attacks of a very pissed-off human male.

It was the first time that Ulag could remember the proving grounds going completely silent.

The advantage didn't last, of course. When the orc realised that he wasn't fighting a ferret, he managed to get back onto equal terms with the human. His pack mates helped and soon enough, the human was sent flying back into the dirt to slide across the pit gagging for breath from where the orc's club had smacked him in the gut.

ULf had already fallen by then, Lacking the human's means of surprising his foes. He'd only managed a few seconds of sparring with his opponents before they'd forcefully put him down.

Beaten, the Runts slowly helped each other get back to their feet. Nullik offered Gregory a hand to lift him up and couldn't quite suppress a grin at his performance.

“Not bad. Not bad at all," Nullik spoke under his breath.

The human had managed to get air back into his Lungs by the time he was standing upright again. Something inside him called out for another bout, and he was ready to push Nullik aside and go right back at the biggest of the Thorns who he'd almost managed to take down before they had swarmed him. Instead, he gave his pack mate a thankful nod and lifted his club into the air towards Ulag. There was a not-so-subtle implication in that action. He didn't speak out against the proving master, but all who saw the gesture knew its meaning.

Is that all you've got?

Normally Ulag would have liked that sort of spirit, but these were no normal circumstances. He couldn't throw the human out of the provings now after his surprising display of skill and bravery. The Runts had been beaten, but he'd made a better showing of himself than some of his allies had. So, the master of the provings stood up and stormed off away from the pits toward his tent.

Below, Ulf walked over to Gregory and patted his shoulder. "Better than your first day. Be here tomorrow at dawn. We'LL see if you can Last it out."

KOR OK KOK

Gregory arrived back at Bolut's camp just about ready to strangle something. It only came to his notice that a large chunk of the camp had completely disappeared after he'd walked over to one of the storage tents and found it wasn't there anymore. Those particular tents weren't often occupied, and he wanted a place where he could cool his temper before showing his face to his friends. Sure, surviving the day had certainly been an accomplishment but the match-up of the provings had shown him just how truly dire his current situation was. The Runts weren't going anywhere fast, and he needed to pass the proving grounds to get the ring back from Grolfir. If his pack’s performance was anything to go by, he might just get it back by the time hell froze over.

The familiar red crop of Janette's hair flitted between the many heads assembled in the orc encampment. When she broke free of the crowd to run towards him, Gregory's frustrations fell to the wayside at the sight of her approach. Even her troubled expression couldn't stifle her allure. She was all the more captivating having taken to wearing the garments of her new friends, the courtesans. A thin veil of sea green material covered her body, though he could easily see her gorgeous figure beneath the fabric. The shapely curves were adorned with simple and delectably skimpy undergarments that barely covered the girl's modesty.

She flung her arms around him only a few moments Later and pressed just as much of that incredible body against him as she could. That soft, strong figure of hers felt almost good enough against his hardened muscular frame to forget about his current troubles altogether. It certainly beat stewing in his own frustrations in a storage tent.

“Are you ok?" she asked.

“Yeah. I'm fine. Just a few bruises this time. Nothing broken."

His assurances did very Little to settle her nerves and she immediately pushed at his shoulders to step back and look him over. This wasn't a difficult or remotely objectionable task, as Gregory had quite the appealing body of his own. His training with Algra combined with his time in the camp had bulked up that formerly lean frame quite a bit. He wasn't orc-like quite yet, but his muscles were much more defined. Even as she constantly worried about the scars that now ran along his chest, she couldn't deny that they did make her want to nibble at him quite a bit.

He was still only wearing the boots and trunks that were allowed in the proving grounds. There was quite a lot of nicely toned and sun-kissed bare male on display. By the time her gaze reached his belly button, she'd quite forgotten that she was Looking for injuries and was simply enjoying the view.

Gregory spied that look in those bright blue eyes of hers and gently but firmly pulled her back against him. Their Lips met a moment after that and only a few seconds later they were settled into a much-needed kiss. The heat of that touch made them both realise how cool the air was, and so they squeezed each other tighter to let their mutual warmth be shared.

It was getting to the point where Gregory was seriously considering taking up the orc practice of wildly rutting out in the open when Janette finally wiggled out from the kiss. Since he didn't want her wiggling away completely, he held her tight and playfully chased a couple of kisses from her lips and along her cheek. His enthusiasm made her Laugh and brought a fresh flush of pink to her cheeks before she relented and stayed put. Though she did Lift her finger to place on his lips in an effort to get the amorous male to allow her to speak.

Ik, I believe you. You're not about to keel over."

“I might be about to bend a certain someone over." Greg nipped her fingertip with his teeth to show her he meant business.

"WiLL you stop!" She slapped his shoulder and looked around for potential voyeurs. Only the backs of the tents could be seen from that part of the camp.