The Current State of Zutona

Granting the trolls the power to control fire was the reward for the system's main quest that had just been completed.

The quest rewarded a new class, Flame Warrior, along with ten Infinite Waters.

[Infinite Well lv1: Creates a well at a designated location connected to the Water Elemental Plane, allowing an endless flow of fresh water. Limited to producing enough fresh water each day to meet the daily needs of 10,000 trolls. (Upgradeable)]

[Flame Warrior: Passive skill. Can consume the power of faith to grant followers the ability to control fire.]

The well could wait.

Un'Goro Crater was not short on water at all. It was practically damp to death. Beside Zutona ran a river several hundred meters wide, and beyond it lay endless swampland. There was no use for a well.

The Flame Warrior reward, however, was excellent. Tonatiuh had initially thought it would merely upgrade troll warriors into warriors capable of wielding fire. He had not expected that warriors were not the only class that could be upgraded—witch doctors and Voodoo Archers could change classes as well.

After successfully changing classes, they would gain the ability to control fire in addition to their original abilities. The difference between them and their former selves was probably like the difference between the Cenarion Circle's druids and Molten Core's flame druids.

This was highly useful for improving combat strength.

Among Azeroth's four basic elements, fire—the most violent of them all—still possessed the greatest offensive power.

After changing classes, witch doctors would become Flame Witch Doctors and could use many fire-related talents and spells. The same applied to Voodoo Archers and warriors; only Divine Warriors could not change classes.

Compared to the original Voodoo Archers and witch doctors, these trolls would clearly become far more formidable in terms of damage and combat spells once they gained the ability to control fire.

After using his god-stick methods to upgrade the trolls, Tonatiuh entered the city, gathering tiny motes of faith along the way and receiving the trolls' reverent gazes.

Such looks could easily make someone feel smug, but after more than a year, he had long grown accustomed to them and could take them in stride.

"That power."

"It's very similar to the power worshipped by those Kaldorei and by the Loa your trolls worship. Those powerful wild beasts love collecting this kind of power!"

Xal'atath, who had shut herself away for two days,

suddenly spoke.

"I never expected you to wield this power so proficiently, troll. Which Loa or wild beast stands behind you?"

She had finally spoken.

It seemed that his god-stick stunt of instantly upgrading over a hundred trolls had indeed been rather shocking.

The astonished, thoughtful expression on Modera's face had yet to fade. Even Xal'atath could not help but ask after witnessing such a display.

Playing along with the dagger lady, he asked, "Wild beasts?"

"Those enormous beasts sleeping within the Emerald Dream!"

Oh. She was probably referring to the wild demigods in the Emerald Dream, like Ursoc and the like.

All right.

To an Old God, calling wild demigods wild beasts did not seem like much of a stretch.

Xal'atath was perhaps suspicious that he had gained the support of some wild demigod. Aside from a few oddballs among the Loa worshipped by trolls, such as Hakkar, who had been summoned here, the powerful animal Loa could all be considered wild demigods. Their greatest trait was that they were difficult to truly kill.

As long as the Emerald Dream remained intact, and there were believers or other powerful beings willing to help, they could always be resurrected.

That was the wild demigods' greatest strength: they could not truly die.

But whether wild demigods were truly that powerful was another question. The White Stag, said to be the strongest wild demigod, had still been killed by Archimonde. Rezan, Zandalar's royal guardian Loa and supposedly the mightiest Loa of Kings—even old Bwonsamdi had to show him respect—had ended up being effortlessly killed off by the plot. It was honestly hard to see where that strength was.

In summary, nearly all animal Loa were wild demigods, but wild demigods were not necessarily the trolls' Loa.

Xal'atath's suspicion was understandable. After all, Tonatiuh was a troll.

"You can take a guess."

Tonatiuh said with a smile.

He had yet to witness the strength of any Loa firsthand, but both the Loa and wild demigods in the game had seemed rather unimpressive.

Xal'atath did not answer.

Perhaps she did not wish to continue talking with Tonatiuh, or perhaps there was some other reason.

She shut herself away again.

Tonatiuh had no time to keep teasing the dagger lady, either. After returning to Zutona, he became busy once more.

He arrived at the top floor of City Hall.

To those outside, it looked as though he was looking down over the city. The countless trolls below could see their Majesty watching over them from above, making them work harder and study more diligently.

But in reality,

Tonatiuh was inspecting his city.

[Zutona]

[Lord: Tonatiuh]

[Type: Troll City]

[Population: 14,963 units]

[Buildings: City Hall, Enchanting Hut, Eternal Statue, Fountain of Life]

[Can Build: Houses, Mills, Watchtowers, Wells...]

[Current Forces: Zutona Troll Recruits (2563), Zutona Troll Warriors (1510), Tonatiuh Divine Warriors (536), Tonatiuh Voodoo Archers (1439), Zutona Troll Witch Doctors (269), Tonatiuh Berserkers (639)]

[Evaluation: This troll city is located amid a primeval tropical forest and has a bright future ahead.]

The streams of data before Tonatiuh's eyes vanished completely.

He could only see these specific figures after returning to Zutona's City Hall.

The troll race possessed tremendous war potential. With a population of fewer than 15,000, they could still field a regular army of more than 4,000 trolls and over 2,500 troll recruits without even resorting to full-scale militarization.

If they went a little crazy,

15,000 trolls could certainly field an army of over 10,000. Though the combat strength of such a force would be difficult to guarantee.

The Flame Warriors who had just changed classes were not listed. They remained their original unit types, only with the added and more powerful ability to control fire.

Bloodpetal and the Stone Guardians were allies, not Zutona military units, so they were not listed.

It had only been a little over a year since he had crossed over. Although he had arrived as chieftain from the start, the Sandblood Tribe had initially been completely destitute. The tribe's greatest assets had been a few rusted metal weapons and those tents.

The Sandblood Trolls had once been a desert race that endured hunger, surviving as long as they could find even a little muddy yellow water to drink. In terms of misery and savagery, they definitely did not lose by much to quilboars or gnolls.

But in the span of a single year,

the trolls had put on brand-new clothes, moved into houses built from wood, bricks, and tiles, eaten meat every day, and even begun to study. They also lived in a safe city protected by a powerful army, no longer needing to worry every night in the desert that some insect would suddenly emerge while they slept and drag them away to be eaten.

Such changes

filled Tonatiuh with immense pride.

Though the system deserved most of the credit, the system was him and he was the system. Rounded up, all of it was his achievement!

Looking at Zutona, which was growing larger by the day, a surge of heroic spirit rose within him. He could not help spreading his arms as though embracing all of Zutona, then shouted loudly in Chinese with embarrassingly chuunibyou swagger:

"This is my realm!"

His voice echoed through the city.

The trolls who heard him raised their heads one after another, gazing at their Majesty above with boundless reverence and love.

In a corner of the city,

a certain "little troll girl" finished the last skewer of grilled devilsaur meat, looked at the troll showing off with chuunibyou flair in the distance, and muttered:

"This is getting more and more chaotic. Even Modera is here! Sigh... Lord Nozdormu, I already sent the notice. Why haven't you come yet?"