"The average Lizardfolk lifespan is even shorter than a human's. Usually, fewer than half as many young Lizardfolk survive as adults. Lizardfolk society is patriarchal, so the strongest warrior is generally the chieftain."
Borne walked ahead as he spoke.
Everyone at Giles Academy knew Borne only ever spent time in two places: the underground laboratory he had built himself, and the library.
There were so many books in the library that an ordinary person couldn't finish them in a decade or two, yet Borne had practically "flipped through" them all.
Yes, "flipped through"!
Every few days, people would see Borne "flipping through" a different bookshelf.
At first, some people had mocked him for putting on a show, but they soon ate their words. Borne didn't just "flip through" books quickly; he also published papers at an astonishing rate.
The members of the Arcane Society had witnessed firsthand what it meant to be "prolific": ten or twenty papers a day, most of which were accepted. Borne had taught them some tricks for "padding out" papers, but it wasn't as if anyone could just pad one out on demand.
Quite a few members of the Arcane Society had tried. Their acceptance rates had indeed gone up, but it was still difficult. Without a solid grounding in theory and knowledge, their work wasn't a paper—it was nonsense.
Several of the Academy's reviewers had praised Borne's papers highly. They had repeatedly commended his breadth of knowledge, and even hinted, with great tact, that his knowledge already surpassed that of some of the instructors.
Judging by the praise of those "highly respected" scholars, Borne's erudition was almost on par with Seventon's "Archivist"!
Lisper gave a "hmph" and shot him a sidelong glance. For an instant, her beauty took his breath away and set his heart racing.
Borne glanced at her, drew a small breath, and continued, "Male Lizardfolk rarely die of old age. They spend almost their entire lives fighting, either challenging other tribes or challenging their own chieftain."
"Doesn't that mean they're basically 'all soldiers'?" Dalena couldn't help asking.
"More or less! Lizardfolk have an amazing ability to heal. Even severed hands and feet can grow back after a while, though, of course, everything comes at a price!"
"They must have suffered casualties in their recent battle with the army. Recovering from injuries also shortens their lives. And though Lizardfolk are humanoid, they still have the cold-blooded nature of lizards, so they bask in the sun. Especially those who haven't died in battle or are close to dying of old age—they lie on warm rocks to maintain their body heat!"
"Those Lizardfolk are no longer useful to their tribe, though. They're driven to the outskirts, where they serve as lookouts and help fend off attacks."
Everyone felt a chill run through them.
Did they use their own kind as "shields," and as cannon fodder when necessary?
So this was how humanoid creatures survived.
Seeing the varied expressions on their faces, Borne added another disturbing detail.
"Those who are no help to the tribe don't even get their share of the basic food supply!"
"Huh? Then what do they eat? Do they just get abandoned?"
"Bark, weeds, or little creatures in the dirt!"
Borne smiled faintly. "Of course they aren't abandoned. After death, they still have a place in the tribe!"
Everyone stared at him, confused.
Borne bared his teeth in a faintly mocking smile. "After they die, the other members of the tribe eat their bodies in a ritual. They believe that this way, they can continue to be part of the tribe."
Everyone shuddered.
Cannibalism!
And since the Lizardfolk were humanoid, the thought immediately brought some awful images to mind.
"Ugh!"
"..."
Dalena and Jennifer couldn't take it. They covered their mouths, and the other members of the Arcane Society also looked queasy.
Lisper was uncomfortable too, but she was holding up fairly well. She just gave Borne a disapproving look.
It seemed she was blaming him for bringing this up!
Hubwick had clearly known about it already. He was curious, though, about how Borne had learned all this—and why he was trying to unsettle them.
Borne smiled but offered no explanation.
After they had walked for another ten minutes or so—
"Stop!"
Borne raised a hand to signal them to halt and spoke in a low voice.
They quieted their footsteps and moved behind a rock. Far ahead, they spotted another seven or eight Lizardfolk lying in the sun.
The members of the Arcane Society no longer looked at them with the hatred they'd felt at first. They seemed to pity them instead!
Borne whispered, "Don't assume the old, weak, and sick are harmless. And the Lizardfolk see other races as either prey or predators. Don't let your sympathy run wild!"
"Understood."
Everyone quickly composed themselves.
Borne began assigning tasks.
"Right. Cook, Belon, use your crossbows to take out the two in front. President, you and Hubwick handle the three in the middle. I'll take care of the rest."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
Dalena hurriedly asked.
Borne looked at Dalena and Jennifer. Dalena was all right, but Jennifer still hadn't recovered from the shock of what they'd just heard. He couldn't help shaking his head.
Their mental fortitude was really too poor!
"This is close to the Lizardfolk tribe. You two just need to make sure they don't send out a signal."
The two looked at each other, then nodded.
Borne checked once more that every part of the plan was in place, then they spread out.
"Ready!"
"One, two, three—fire!"
The air split with a whistle.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
In an instant, three arrows flew out and pierced the Lizardfolk through the head.
Borne's steel crossbow fired three shots at a time. The other three arrows followed right behind, taking down six Lizardfolk.
The two remaining Lizardfolk reacted with years of battle-honed instinct. They immediately rolled aside, dodging the arrows that followed!
Without a second thought, they ran toward the tribe, trying to raise the alarm. In an instant, two spells struck them, and they couldn't make a sound.
Whoosh, whoosh...
Several arrows hit the two fleeing Lizardfolk. When they saw them fall, everyone else let out a sigh of relief.
Borne quickly drew his longsword and rushed out. Hubwick followed close behind, and they finished off the Lizardfolk lying on the ground.
The battle was over. The members of the Arcane Society felt as if all their strength had been drained away; they could barely keep hold of their weapons.
When Dalena and Jennifer saw the severed heads and bodies scattered across the ground, they both retched again.
Lisper had gone pale too.
Borne and the Ranger didn't go over to comfort them. They took out the prepared potion and quickly sprinkled it around the area. It would slow the spread of the smell of blood and buy them some time.
Borne said nothing. He left Hubwick behind to watch over the others and went to scout the surroundings himself.
After circling the area twice, he finally chose a high vantage point.
He quickly chanted a spell under his breath, then used [Fly] to rise into the air and look out over the depths of the swamp.
[Eagle Eye]
Magical light flashed in his eyes. In an instant, the distant landscape rushed into view, and Borne could clearly see the patterns on the weeds a thousand meters away.
"System! Analyze the Lizardfolk tribe!"
"Ding! Authorization complete. Beginning information gathering..."
Any spell Borne cast could be linked to the System Chip. Using the image formed from Borne's vision, the system immediately began running a simulated analysis.
As his gaze moved, a model of the entire Lizardfolk tribe appeared before him. Streams of spectral blue data flowed across it.
Soon, a three-dimensional map of the Lizardfolk tribe appeared before his eyes.
According to the Chip's simulated analysis, the tribe had nearly seventy-four Lizardfolk.
Borne returned to the meeting point and told the others what he had seen.
When they heard there were more than seventy Lizardfolk, everyone was clearly shocked.
They hadn't expected so many Lizardfolk to remain after several battles with the army. And the ones inside weren't like the old and weak ones outside.
They were all inexperienced newcomers fresh out of their ivory towers. It was only natural that they didn't know what to do in a situation like this.
The battlefield left behind by the army's ambush in the forest, and the death of the accompanying mage, had both shaken them deeply.
If the Lizardfolk in the tribe discovered them, they'd never outrun creatures that had lived in the swamp their whole lives.
The fear of death made their emotions spiral toward losing control.
Borne watched them in silence.
From everything that had happened along the way, he already understood what the higher-ups in the kingdom and the Academy had intended.
With the memories of his previous life, he understood.
War!
Especially a war between races—there was no such thing as perfectly accurate intelligence. Unexpected situations happened at every moment.
Fortunately, the Lizardfolk in the surrounding area had already been cleared out. Once the others had let out their feelings, they sat there in a daze, staring at one another in silence, their faces flushed and their heads bowed.
President Lisper was the first to come to her senses. She didn't know what Borne was planning, but he knew the Lizardfolk best. Thinking of what he had done at the Black Market, and how he had focused on eliminating the Lizardfolk on the outskirts, she seemed to realize something!
Borne knew that was probably enough. If he pushed them any further, it might backfire.
After all, the people here were still just kids. On Earth, they'd still be in high school at this age. Even new recruits trembled when they first went to war, let alone when directly confronted with the threat of death.
There was nothing shameful about that.
He was afraid of dying too, which was why he kept moving forward.
The Ranger stood quietly to one side, watching too. He wanted to see what Borne would do.
Under everyone's gaze, Borne silently took a long iron rod from his pack, his face expressionless.
Everyone was at a loss. He then took out a handful of weeds and set them down in front of them.
"Drunk-Fish Grass?"
The Ranger recognized the plant.
Drunk-Fish Grass was also called fishing grass. It could paralyze fish in rivers.
Borne nodded. "There's plenty of Drunk-Fish Grass around here. Go gather some, as much as you can. Be careful not to alert the Lizardfolk in the tribe."
With that, he busied himself taking various things from his pack and fiddling with them.
"Is he planning to use this to paralyze the Lizardfolk?
Drunk-Fish Grass has very little effect. It's not just humans—even omnivorous Lizardfolk that live in the swamp year-round eat it. When food is scarce, they eat it often.
Since Borne knows this plant, he must know it won't work on the Lizardfolk. The Ranger was puzzled, but still led the others to gather some from the surrounding area.
Soon, they had collected a large pile of Drunk-Fish Grass and set it aside.
Borne quickly set up a stand.
The members of the Arcane Society were dumbfounded by what they saw.
"An Alchemy Table?!"
Before you continue