"May I have your name."
Under the shade of the tree, Sylutia landed on the ground, while the Orc boy who had just escaped death struggled to his feet.
" Azhelin."
"Can you tell me which direction this monster came from?" Sylutia actually had a vague guess.
"It came from the southwest. I was hunting at the time, and it caught my scent," the boy recalled.
"It's very special. It didn't seem like a second-tier monster from the start, and then it directly advanced to the third tier and even changed its Aspect Power."
"I understand." Sylutia nodded.
Afterwards, the girl helped the tribe members extinguish the fire. To express their gratitude to their benefactor, the remaining tribe members prepared a sumptuous feast for her, a customary way for the tribe to entertain honored guests.
The campfire dispelled the chill of the night. Having just experienced a calamity, many were still immersed in the grief of losing loved ones. The tribe's Shaman elder sat beside Sylutia, telling her about the tribe's situation.
"About a hundred years ago, our ancestors migrated here with some of their members and settled down."
"There are many Magic Creature and monsters here, but the hunting rewards are plentiful, supporting many of our people, and some of the spoils can even be traded elsewhere."
"Our ancestor was a fourth-tier powerhouse, and only he could lead his people to establish a new settlement in the wilderness."
"However, no one in the tribe has been able to reach the fourth rank since then, and even the chieftain is only at the third rank." The chieftain was seriously injured in the previous battle and is still in a coma, but fortunately he is out of danger.
Have there ever been Magic Creature like today before?
"No, it's rare to see Tier 3 Magic Creature here. Generally, Tier 3 Magic Creature are the local overlords, and we always avoid them carefully. We only fight them head-on if absolutely necessary."
Although the third tier seems commonplace to Sylutia now, in reality, once a creature reaches the third tier, the overwhelming effect of the Aspect Power tier makes it extremely terrifying to ordinary people and creatures. A single creature can easily destroy a town or tribe of hundreds of people, causing panic among the residents of a small city.
If it also possessed intelligence, such as a third-tier Knight, it could easily slaughter a team of thousands of ordinary warriors with a greatsword if it so desired.
Therefore, most settlements in this world rely on the protection of higher-level organizations, such as the Knight and nobles of the human Royal Authority School, the warriors and patrol riders of the Orc warlords, the guardians and gardeners of the Elf Court of the Sacred Tree, Dragon Lord to whom the Lizardman are loyal. In addition to these, many existing supernatural schools of thought also protect their subordinate cities and towns. For example, in some remote forests, there are no powerful nations, but there are " House of Witches " where Witch serve as local healers, educators, and guardians.
"Our tribe is too far from other settlements and currently does not pledge allegiance to any overlord. The nearest overlord should be Crimson Fang Sotus the Elin Mountains to the east. He is a fourth-tier powerhouse who currently governs four tribes and has nearly a thousand warriors under his command."
"Fourth level, huh?" Sylutia recalled the information her teacher had given her before she came to the western region.
In the past two years of war, the Mage Alliance has focused on eliminating organizations and forces with powerful Fifth Order Transcendent, while paying little attention to the scattered fourth-tier organizations.
Firstly, there are too many such organizations, and they are fragmented. Secondly, if all these small organizations are eliminated, the local residents will lose the protection of powerful figures, leading to a collapse of security and order.
No wonder they didn't even know about the existence of the Mage Alliance, nor were they aware that the top leadership in this region had changed.
After learning about the situation from the old Shaman, Sylutia returned to the corpse of the dead Ape Monster and examined it carefully.
This monster is very special. Just as the boy and the Shaman said, a normal second-tier monster could not be this strong. Furthermore, it advanced and changed its rank. This is indeed possible among intelligent beings, but it is extremely rare for beasts and monsters that follow their instincts, unless it has other fortuitous encounters that cause its previously inconspicuous Aspect Power to suddenly increase, surpassing its original core Aspect Power.
As a beast, it's no surprise that the gorilla chose to "advance" with its Beast Fang; it's an instinctive choice. But its possession of the Black Steel " characteristic is unusual, because the acquisition of "Black Steel " related abilities is the result of human research. It is not a mineral or metal native to the world, but a metal that was first refined through Alchemy.
It was only after the existence of "Black Steel " that abilities or professions related to "Black Steel " were developed, such as "Black Steel Blade," " Black Steel Armor," and "Black Steel Knight."
Animals cannot naturally possess this ability, and its combination of abilities is extremely good. Normally, after Black Steel-Hardening, because its body becomes heavy, ordinary creatures simply cannot support its enormous physique and will be crushed by its own weight.
In its early stages, it chose the "Beast Fang " Aspect Power, which greatly enhances bone strength, making its body capable of supporting such power. Later, it used the Blood Law " Aspect Power to strengthen its flesh, further increasing its strength and enabling it to move its heavy and powerful body swiftly and agilely.
"This feeling—it's like using the Blood Law ' to excessively enhance physical strength, causing a shift in the primary Aspect Power during advancement." Sylutia wrote this down in her notebook, then continued her deduction.
This is a sparsely populated area where most Orc lack education. To cultivate such monsters would require an immense amount of knowledge and skills. If the Orc truly possessed such skills, they wouldn't be so weak, hiding deep in the mountains. Moreover, " Black Steel " is clearly an invention of human Alchemy, and few Orc understand it.
"This does resemble an experiment conducted by some Dark Mage, except this monster has escaped control and run away."
Finally, Sylutia wrote this deduction in her notebook.
Since the destruction of the Star-Gazer School, the secret knowledge of Mage regarding bloodline modification has been largely sealed off, and the similar system of training battle beasts has also been severely damaged and sealed off. Currently, no major school is researching this.
If such experimental research were conducted within the Mage Alliance, it would be easy to be discovered and arrested by the " Inquisition Hall." However, this is the desolate mountains of the west, which the Mage Alliance couldn't control in the past. Moreover, there is no unified large force here, making it very suitable for a group of people to hide.
As she continued to deduce the truth, Sylutia increasingly believed that the monster "cultivated" by the Dark Mage was the cause of today's accident.
It seems she needs to report the situation to the Academy's teachers and professors as soon as possible; otherwise, if they realize something is wrong, they might run away or come to silence her.
Get a good night's rest.
The next day, Sylutia gave a Magic Orb to the tribe's Shaman, telling him that if he encountered an unknown powerful enemy invading, he could activate the Magic Orb, and she would sense it and come to check the situation.
"Thank you, sir." The Shaman elder gratefully accepted the gift, and Azhelin also bowed and knelt down to express his gratitude.
"Thank you for saving me."
Seeing that the girl was about to leave, Azhelin finally couldn't help but speak up.
"May I ask your name?"
Upon hearing his words, Sylutia stopped, who was about to take off. After thinking for a moment, she raised her hand, and a black feather gradually condensed and landed in her palm.
"I'm not used to being addressed with various titles. This is a Black Griffin feather that represents my identity. You can use this as a memento." This feather is not a natural product, but rather something she created using Alchemy by transforming a small piece of Black Steel. It can be preserved for an extremely long time.
"Yes." The boy raised both hands, took the slightly heavy metal feather, and bowed deeply to express his gratitude.
If it weren't for Sylutia, he probably would never have had another chance to redeem himself.
Seeing the young man's solemn expression, and noticing the desolation of the tribe as she looked around, Sylutia sighed.
"Alright, I'll give you another hand, but how much you learn depends on your abilities." She thought of the secret technique for inscribing runes and totems that she had previously obtained.
"It just so happens that the blood of that Ape Monster is a material with an extremely strong ' Blood Law ' Aspect Power, which can be used to inscribe a totem for you."
Afterwards, Sylutia stayed there for half a day, explaining the principles and uses of this secret method to the Shaman and the boy.
"It's okay if you can't remember it for now. I will leave you a Memory Gem. As long as you learn the basic Meditation Technique, you can use it to review and recall it."
Then, she used the essence and blood from the gorilla's heart to mix with other ingredients and inscribed special runes on the boy's back. Considering that he did not understand the complex theories of the Mage school, Sylutia chose the Bionics School " Orc to understand.
It's a pity she didn't know the " Beast-Type Rune " of the Bionics School, but Professor Knox was clearly a specialist in "Avian Runes," which meant she mostly studied that type of rune.
Finally, a majestic, Blood-Red Griffin appeared on the boy's back. After the inscription was completed, he used the tribe's secret techniques and totem resonance to connect with his bloodline, gradually integrating it into his destiny, and finally completing the advancement to the third tier.
Fate Card: [ Pale Horn Warrior ] [Tier 3 - Blood Law ]
The young warriors of the Orc tribes, having hunted countless monsters, have made fighting instinctive.
-Effect: [ Horn-Tooth Body Lv.6], once strengthened itself with the " Aspect Power " of Beast Fang, making its bones as strong as horns and fangs.
- Effect: [ Orc Instinct Lv.5], Orc of the Pale Horn Clan possess keen combat instincts and can react quickly in battle.
Core Card: [ Griffin Totem ] [ Blood Law ]
Although it is not inscribed with the blood of a lion, the combination of runes within grants you powerful abilities like Griffin. (Gain seven runes: " Flying Bird," " Feather Wing," "Sharp Feather," " Eagle Eye," " Swift Charge," and " Wind Wing.")
- Effect: [ Rune Resonance ], allows you to utilize rune combinations from totems to unleash abilities similar to those of Griffin.
-Influence: [ Blood Law Coordination ], can enhance the power of rune abilities by utilizing one's own Blood Law " Aspect Power ".
Ability Cards:
[ Breathing Technique Lv.7] ( Blood Law ): Regulates blood flow rate through breathing, thereby boosting and enhancing overall strength and reaction speed. (As the body grows stronger, the side effects of the Breathing Technique are eliminated; as long as stamina is sufficient, it can be continuously used.)
[ Horn-Tooth Collision Lv.6] ( Beast Fang ): Greatly increases the Sturdiness of one's bones and horns, and allows the power of all the muscles in the body to be transmitted through the bones to the point of attack. (This strike is extremely powerful.)