Working with the other packs who had joined their training also allowed for more mock-proving matches outside of the proving grounds. At Gregory's insistence, these fights were much less intense sparring battles rather than the more brutal competitions in the pits. Any orc who got too overenthusiastic in the fight was quickly tackled to the ground by those watching.

The exercise gave them a good deal more experience, and the packs involved began to diversify in their own approaches to their matches. It showed on the proving grounds. Quite a few other packs began to join them for Gregory's extra training sessions, until one evening when Ulag himself showed up.

He didn't announce himself as he made his way through the trees toward the glade he'd been hearing so much about. Still, as the other orcs began to notice him, he began to radiate a respectful silence outward amongst them. Quite a few of them appeared nervous about the presence of the proving master, and he kept his battle-worn features pointedly inscrutable as he walked.

Gregory hadn't noticed his appearance, as he was busy in his own sparring session with Algra. She didn't quite seem to fully understand the concept of not playing to hurt her opponent, and so he was forced to keep his attention on her or risk broken bones.

“Who is the alpha here?" Ulag eventually asked, addressing Duraz directly.

The alpha of the Blood Snakes lifted his head to look the proving master in the face.

“There is no alpha here, master. There are many."

Somewhere nearby, Nullik snorted with amusement at that assessment before clamping his hand over his mouth and nose and keeping his eyes on his feet.

Ulag looked at the proving packs nearby and saw that there were indeed several alpha’s amongst them with their full packs. There were also a few other stray warriors from other packs who had heard about the glade and wanted a chance for some extra training. Much of what he'd considered the lower tier of warriors were there with a few exceptions; although their accomplishments in recent weeks had challenged his opinion of them in that regard.

“I am not here to condemn or put a stop to this," he spoke out so that everyone could hear.

Gregory turned in the midst of his sparring session to lay eyes on Ulag for the first time, his expression somewhat dumbstruck.

“What the fu-" His words were unfortunately cut short when Algra's fist met his cheek hard enough to knock him clean off his feet.

“Don't be taken by distractions, idiot!" she growled at him whilst he tried to convince the world to stop spinning.

Ulag had noticed the exchange, since it was now the only other noise rising in the glade that wasn't his own voice. He'd seen the Look of bafflement on the human's expression, shortly before it had been wiped off by an orcish fist. It took decades of experience in learning the art of self control for him not to burst out Laughing. Instead, he merely gritted his teeth together and glowered at them.

"Master," Duraz interpreted the glowering as a sign that ULag was about to set Gregory on cleaning detail and decided to try to sportingly help his human competition. "There is no alpha among us, but Gregory Hopkins was the one who began this. Many of us joined after seeing The Runts new way of making battle."

The glowering quickly shifted to wide-eyed shock for a few brief moments. Even decades of experience couldn't quite hold back the surprise of learning that the human had somehow gotten the pups to train more. Let alone that he'd organized what Looked to be a rather professional after hours training session.

“Human! Come here!" Ulag yelled out the order with barely a moment's hesitation.

“Eth thir!" Gregory heard the order and instinct kicked in. Unfortunately, after Algra's haymaker to his face, he was having a little bit of trouble rallying his motor functions. So instead of standing up and running to stand before the proving master, he half stumbled to his feet before spinning around and falling straight on his face again. A groan followed that was partially stifled by the grass and dirt beneath his feet.

Crap.

His mate stood over him and rolled her eyes in a long-suffering fashion before reaching down to grab him under his arms and hoist him to his feet. His right leg wobbled dangerously, and might have put him face-first in the dirt yet again, but she held onto him until he was able to steady himself.

With a brief nod to her, he was released from her grip and shook his head to air out the fuzz before stepping forward to where Ulag was standing. As his vision cleared up, he found the proving master staring at him as if the old orc was about to issue his own challenge. Great. Just another potentially fatal ass kicking. That must have meant it was a Tuesday!

He kept the grim sarcasm to himself and just about managed to stop stumbling by the time he reached Ulag and presented the formal orc salute of smashing his fist to his chest and then raising it toward his superior.

“Put your arm down, boy. This is your time, not mine," Ulag grunted. Gregory hesitated a moment, hoping the words weren't some kind of trick Ulag was offering so that he could take offence and use it as an excuse for punishment. Eventually, he let his arm fall down to his side and stood at ease.

“This was all your idea?" The proving master didn't find the occasion deserved formality, but he did prowl around Gregory like a lion readying himself to strike.

"Yes, sir."