Necessity

When the Old Witch Doctor finished speaking, the Head Witch Doctor followed up, "Mm. Civilization lies in the future. In our plans, educating young trolls has already become inevitable. With that as a premise, if the current warriors do not study hard, then when generations of young trolls grow up one after another, will the tribe be torn apart at its roots? From that angle alone, urging the warriors onward has become quite necessary."

Immediately afterward, the Middle Witch Doctor spoke, "Speaking of knowledge—'mathematics,' 'geometry,' 'physics,' 'common knowledge,' and so on—there are more and more things to learn. The content keeps increasing, but the growth of our teaching capacity is far too slow to keep up. If this continues, almost all of our time will be spent spreading basic knowledge. Looking at the tribe's future development, isn't that an enormous waste? From this point alone, the warriors' literacy education must continue as well. At the very least, they need to reach a level where they can help us shoulder basic education, so that our time can be used for more difficult matters."

The Middle Witch Doctor's words were somewhat harsh, and the Chieftain's expression shifted slightly.

If this had been years ago, when he had just become Chieftain, he might already have flown into a rage. But now, he restrained himself well. After all, that was simply the truth; it was not something a few pleasant words could change.

Blade Tusk frowned slightly at those words as well.

Put kindly, the Middle Witch Doctor was being forthright, and aside from being unpleasant to hear, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. But on closer thought, there were hints of a "chain of contempt" between different divisions of labor. It was fine for now. With the troll population so small, there were not enough witch doctors to form a highly differentiated "class." But the future was another matter.

As the number of witch doctors grew, even if most of them had no strange ideas, as long as a few self-important witch doctors strutted about in public, they might create a divide between spellcasting trolls and ordinary trolls.

Still, there had seemed to be a saying in his previous life: "When humans think, God laughs." Presumably, it would be the same for trolls. Especially trolls like witch doctors, whose thoughts were so active—perhaps they had not been thinking in that direction at all, but once you mentioned it, you would instead encourage their wild imaginings.

Since the Middle Witch Doctor had shown no clear inclination, Blade Tusk feared that his unwarranted criticism would cause a conflict that had not existed to appear ahead of time.

So, priorities came first. For now, he would take things one step at a time and focus on the problem before them.

The other witch doctors, including the Middle Witch Doctor himself, did not seem to think there was anything wrong with those remarks, and the discussion continued.

"Anything else to add? If not, we'll proceed along these lines, organize it, and pass it on. Oh, and what about your side, Blade Tusk?"

After hearing all the statements, the Old Witch Doctor turned to Blade Tusk and asked.

"I do not have much to add. We just need to think about the methods as well. If it is only the Chieftain opening his mouth and telling them, it may not have much effect."

"Let me think. How can we make them understand the importance of 'knowledge'?"

After pondering for a moment, the Old Witch Doctor spoke again, "Right. Didn't Witch Doctor Sharp Tusk develop the 'Windwalking Spell,' 'Giant Strength Spell,' and 'Berserk Spell'? Chieftain, you have experienced them, right? How was it? With those enhancements, are you confident you could hunt back an adult Blade-Tusk Beast (Note 1)?"

Hearing that, the Chieftain seemed to recall the sensation of power flooding every part of his body when the spells had been cast upon him. His eyes instantly reddened with excitement as he replied, "I can! Absolutely no problem!"

"Mm, it is good that you are confident. Witch Doctor Sharp Tusk, these spells work best when you use them. How long can they last?"

"I improved their stability again. Right now, the 'Windwalking Spell' lasts the longest. It can be maintained for half a standard lamp-hour (Note 2)."

"The 'Giant Strength Spell' is decent. It can last five standard minutes. The 'Berserk Spell' is the least stable; it can only remain for one lamp-minute (Note 3), and after its effects fade, there is also a three-standard-lamp-hour period of weakness."

"If hunting alone, that is not enough time. Then let us do this: Chieftain, over the next few days, order the warriors to search for traces of Blade-Tusk Beasts. Once they find one, notify us as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

Hearing that he seemingly no longer had the chance to solo-kill an adult Blade-Tusk Beast, the glory-hungry Chieftain was somewhat disappointed, but he still agreed.

"Rough Tusk, Sharp Tusk, you two witch doctors will have to work hard. Once we get word, go capture one alive and bring it back."

"No problem. Leave it to us."

"Ah, Old Witch Doctor. Isn't that too dangerous for the two witch doctors?"

Though the Chieftain knew that the witch doctors' power had changed, he still lacked a real sense of the strength of spells, and thus worried aloud.

"It is fine. Send two teams of warriors to assist from the side, and leave the rest to the two witch doctors. You must also prepare well over the next two days. The Blade-Tusk Beast we capture will be waiting to duel you. Before the eyes of every warrior."

The Chieftain sprang to his feet with a clatter. The muscles of his nearly three-meter-tall body knotted and bulged, faintly radiating waves of pressure.

He licked his thick tusks, and two streams of visibly steaming air burst from his nostrils as he said excitedly, "Understood! Hahaha! Leave it to me!"

"You brute, you are blocking the light. Sit down already."

The Old Witch Doctor laughed as he scolded him, then continued instructing, "Send all the half-grown boys out and have them gather as many fruits and branches as possible. The warriors should work harder these next few days too. Aside from their usual quotas, have every team bring back more prey."

"Understood, but food will not keep."

"It is fine. It does not need to be kept for long—only until the day the Blade-Tusk Beast is brought back."

"Understood. I will give the orders afterward."

"Mm. Didn't Blade Tusk let us taste 'cooked food' some time ago? It truly tasted better than 'raw meat' (Note 4). Duels, strength, glory, bonfires, delicious food—let the warriors, and the little cubs too, first experience the changes that 'knowledge' can bring!"

"This is good, this is good!"

"That is right. We have actually been eating raw meat all these years? Just that stuff?"

As everyone discussed, Blade Tusk would occasionally close his eyes and listen quietly.

If he ignored certain "old words," the conversations between the witch doctors and the Chieftain often gave him the illusion of thinking, Ah, I'm still on Earth.

But such recollections were only occasional interludes. After so many years, Black Forest was now his "hometown" as well.

In his previous life, he had not been one of the capable and accomplished, so the proposition of "how to build his hometown into a better place" would have sounded somewhat hypocritical coming from him. But now, Blade Tusk was one of the tribe's tallest figures, and "helping all under heaven" had become both a natural responsibility and a habitual direction for his thoughts.

For instance, just now, "cooked food" and "bonfires" had made him think of "smoked meat."

Note 1: Blade-Tusk Beast, a medium-sized predator (new troll standard: medium-sized predators are predatory Magic Beasts weighing more than one but less than three adult trolls; small predators weigh more than one-third but less than one adult troll; tiny predators weigh less than one-third of an adult troll. Their magic core grades generally correspond to their ecological niches). Though its magic core grade is not high, its innate spell abilities, highly suited to its own nature, combined with its powerful physical qualities, place it in the upper-middle reaches of the Black Forest food chain. Naturally alert and skilled at avoiding harm and seeking advantage, it is difficult to surround and capture.

Note 2: A standard lamp-hour is a new unit of time. The time it takes for a standard lamp wick to burn out indoors is "one standard lamp-hour." Using his own "sense" as the benchmark, Blade Tusk designed and made the first batch of lamp wicks that burned for approximately one hour of his previous life, though the margin of error was enormous.

Note 3: Since trolls had no habit of precise timekeeping, Blade Tusk had been extremely crude when designing time conversions. He used a base-sixty system for the concepts of standard hours and standard minutes, introducing the formula: "60 standard minutes = 4 quarter-hours = 2 standard half-hours = 1 standard hour." Everyone who used it said it was good.

Note 4: The tribe had originally possessed no concepts of "raw food" or "cooked food," but with the appearance of the first skewer of roasted meat, Blade Tusk introduced this distinction as well. Moreover, while eating cooked food occasionally had no effect, whether eating it over the long term would affect trolls remained unknown. The experience from his previous life was not reliable in this regard.