[Can Level Up]

Tanaris beneath the moonlight.

Atop the dunes.

The area had become an insectoid hellscape. Severed Silithid limbs and brownish-green insect blood covered the entire dune. From time to time, trolls passing by would finish off insects that had not quite died.

Tonatiuh stood atop the tallest dune, gripping his greatsword. Brownish-green insect blood dripped continuously from its blade. He caught his breath and kicked away the Silithid head at his feet.

"Victory belongs to us!"

He roared and raised his greatsword high. The blood energy within him, combined with his will, manifested in reality, becoming an almost tangible roar that rippled outward from him.

The exhausted troll warriors shuddered. Their weary, aching bodies were suddenly filled with vigor again. Raising their crude weapons, they howled across the desert:

"Victory belongs to us!"

"For Tonatiuh!"

"..."

The battle between the Sandblood Tribe and the Silithids had ended.

Since leaving their former territory, this was already the third time they had encountered Silithids. Although there had been the most insects this time, the trolls had still won.

Under the leadership of their powerful chieftain.

They had won.

The moment the battle began.

Tonatiuh unleashed every bit of power he could currently use. Empowered by that special power of faith and fueled by the rage of a powerful warrior, he charged into the insect swarm first, cutting through them like an unstoppable force.

The more than five hundred troll warriors he had strengthened with the power of faith saw their chieftain's ferocity. Bolstered by both will and external power, they charged in as if possessed.

These insects outside Ahn'Qiraj's seal were originally the weakest type in the Ahn'Qiraj insect hierarchy. Most were worker insects, while the insects bred for combat remained within the walls.

In ordinary combat, as long as trolls had suitable weapons, they did not fear these insects one-on-one. The insects were fearless of death, but trolls were equally savage when driven into a frenzy.

This battle had been ordinary worker insects against frenzied troll warriors. The insects also lacked leader-class units, so despite their lack of fear, they still ultimately lost when they held no numerical advantage.

Not one survived.

If the insects inside Ahn'Qiraj's walls were an insectoid empire, whose powerful members possessed intelligence not much inferior to humans and elves, then the insects outside the walls were, at most, mere beasts.

Defeating them was nothing remarkable.

The Sandblood Tribe defeating them was roughly equivalent to defeating a large, unusual pack of beasts that did not know fear.

The trolls outnumbered them. More than five hundred troll warriors strengthened by Tonatiuh's power of faith, plus the other trolls who arrived later and joined the battle, brought their total to over two thousand trolls.

Even so, although the trolls had won, despite their overwhelming numbers.

They had still paid a price of twenty-one dead trolls, more than a hundred seriously wounded, and over three hundred lightly wounded.

But for trolls.

As long as they were not dead, even serious wounds could practically be considered no injury at all—feed them well and let them recuperate for a while, and even a severed arm would grow back for you to see.

Zangar led all of the tribe's roughly one hundred witch doctors, along with the uninjured trolls, as they cleaned up the battlefield. They used voodoo spells and medicines to treat the trolls while finishing off insects that had not yet died.

The old troll came to the young chieftain and said, "Chieftain. The losses have been counted, and the valuable organs from these insects have been removed."

"Mm. Leave scouts on watch and keep an eye on the dunes. Everyone else, return to camp. Leave these insect corpses alone. Tomorrow, the sand and desert storms will help us clean up the battlefield," Tonatiuh said softly.

Insect corpses were unusual.

Even hyenas and vultures that enjoyed carrion did not like their flesh. Their blood was somewhat corrosive, so even with so many insect corpses piled here, there was no fear of attracting large numbers of predatory beasts.

Because predators had no interest in them.

That was understandable. After all, every insect served the Old Gods and had been corrupted and altered by the power of the Old Gods down to their very bones. It was perfectly normal for ordinary creatures to find them repulsive.

However, some of their organs and their tough outer carapaces were rather sought after because they possessed a certain degree of magic and quality.

Some spellcasters purchased insect organs and shells as spellcasting materials. Tonatiuh had the trolls cut away those useful organs and carapaces because he intended to sell them for money.

Throughout their migration.

The Sandblood Tribe had encountered insect attacks three times. Altogether, they had killed more than two thousand insects, and the parts harvested from them that could be sold made for a rather respectable income.

Come to think of it, these insects were truly reckless. Without intelligent insectoid leaders, whenever they encountered creatures that were not insects, they would swarm forward without even considering their enemy's numbers. Even when a tribe of more than ten thousand trolls was migrating, as long as it passed near an insect nest, insects would come out to throw their lives away.

For now, that had nothing to do with Tonatiuh.

What concerned him was his tribe, as well as the system's mission.

The tribe's situation was all right. Although twenty-one warriors had died, the kind whose bodies had been torn apart by insects, troll physiques were incredibly strong. Aside from children, a troll tribe of over ten thousand could easily field an army of seven or eight thousand trolls if everyone were called to fight.

In that respect, they somewhat resembled the orcs who had not yet arrived in Azeroth.

The deaths of a little over twenty trolls.

Would not cripple them.

With the experienced Zangar and several other troll witch doctors handling the aftermath, Tonatiuh, as chieftain, did not need to concern himself with such trivial matters.

He checked the system.

The system displayed that the mission had been completed across his retina. He looked over the information and was a little surprised.

[Ding... After a fierce battle, the enemy has been eliminated]

[Temporary mission: "Silithid Attack" completed]

[Reward obtained: Light Fungus Seed]

Besides those expected notifications.

There was more than one dialog box on his retina.

[Ding... You can level up]

[Ding... Someone in your troops can level up]

During the battle with the insects, Tonatiuh had used all kinds of buffs and expended a great deal of the power of faith, carving through these ordinary insects like an unstoppable force.

If not a hundred, then at least eighty insects had died beneath his greatsword... Combined with the previous battles, leveling up seemed only natural.

He had fought, and his troll soldiers had fought just as fiercely.

And they had achieved considerable results.

As the battle descended into chaos, the frenzied troll warriors acted as the vanguard, each taking on two enemies. A portion of the insects became a disorganized, headless swarm, and many were simply killed outright by the troll archers and spearmen charging in from the front.

Therefore, aside from the witch doctors who arrived last and came away empty-handed, the troll warriors at the front gained the most combat experience, while the archers and spearmen also gained some.

Come to think of it.

Tonatiuh had not expected the system to let both himself and the warriors in his tribe level up. If leveling up could make them stronger in battle, then the tribe's future would have even greater security.

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