24 Almost there...

"You chief?" asked Yorky with alarm. "You human, not Tengu" he finished. Adam noticed the Tengu said it with the same tone he used to speak to underclassmen.

"I know that. Would that be an impediment?" asked Adam with a menacing smile. "How do your tribe selects the chief regularly?"

"Well... It simple. Strongest Tengu is chief" answered Yorky.

"Ok. So if I am the strongest in the tribe, how do I prove it?" asked Adam.

Yorky stared at him for a minute, slowly blinked those big eyes of him, and answered.

"You duel chief. If you win, you chief".

"And nobody will have an issue with me not being a Tengu?" asked Adam. "Will you support me?"

The creature sat down and thought for a moment.

"I support you. You help Yorky grow tribe. Get more food, not meat. Make weapons for all" Yorky demanded.

"Agreed, Yorky. It matches my plan for the tribe. I want to build an army and gather as many soldiers as I can" answered Adam.

At that, the Tengu's eyes opened to the max in shock. He had thought to strengthen his tribe but had never entertained to turn it into an army.

Adam enjoyed the look on Yorky's face. He had taken things easy until now, but he decided it was time to let his competitiveness out for the world to see. Adam used to fight with all his being to get to the top in the games. He would do the same here, but seeing there were no score charts, he would have to amaze the whole world.

"Ok, I have all my gear ready, Yorky. Can I join the protective group in front of the village? I need to practice my fighting" asked Adam.

"Yes" answered the Tengu. "Careful. The others not help, until show you strong" he cautioned.

"Ughh, no wonder the dead are always the smallest of the group. Ok, how do I prove myself?" asked Adam.

"Kill beast. That is mark of warrior" answered the Tengu.

"Got it. So I need to make my first kill. I am ready, so I'll be spending my days near there to be ready for attacks" announced Adam while he was placing several red items on his body.

The creature did not know what those were, but any other gamer would have recognized bracers, shoulder guards, leg guards, and chest pieces. Donning the items restricted somewhat Adam's movement, but he wanted to train his body to move with them on.

Fighting without any defense items, as the Tengu did, was not an option for Adam. If he was of many fights, he was bound to get hit sometime. He would rather be hurt than die right away.

Adam also picked up his knife and spears and placed each thing on loops he had made for this on his belt. Lastly, he picked up a red square thing with a small rope loop on the backside.

"All ready" announced Adam.