[The Path of a Charlatan]

Old Zangar led the witch doctors who had arrived later, along with some ordinary trolls, to begin clearing the battlefield.

Tonatiuh had the warriors assist them.

He himself began studying the system dialogue panel in his retinas:

[Upgradable units: Sandblood Troll Warriors ×45]

[Spend 5 units of faith power per troll to upgrade into: Tonatiuh Berserker]

[Spend 10 units of faith power per troll to upgrade into: Tonatiuh Paladin]

The upgrade options surprised Tonatiuh somewhat, but the faith power they required made his heart ache even more.

Although they had won the battle decisively with minimal losses—and he himself had slaughtered to his heart's content—it had consumed 80 units of faith power. He now had just over 50 units left. If he used it all for upgrades, he could only upgrade 10 berserkers or 5 paladins.

Come to think of it.

Aside from the Zandalar Tribe, he had never heard of any other troll tribe having paladins.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tonatiuh saw several troll warriors watching him with fervent gazes, as though they were looking upon a god.

He knew they did not truly regard him as a god. Rather, they believed gods stood behind him—the Sun Loa and the Moon Loa.

Seeing the looks in their eyes, Tonatiuh suddenly felt that trolls becoming paladins, or even holy knights, seemed perfectly natural.

After all, their faith in the Loa was not much weaker than human paladins' faith in the Holy Light.

Besides the 45 troll warriors, the trolls who had participated in the battle also included 35 archers, and the spearmen could be upgraded as well. Archers could become Tonatiuh Voodoo Archers, while spearmen could become Sandblood Tribe Berserker Spearmen.

Without exception.

They all consumed faith power.

And it was not cheap.

Just looking at the costs made Tonatiuh's heart ache terribly.

Faith power was precious.

For the time being, if necessary, it still had to be used to empower the tribe's warriors in battle, so he could not spend it all.

Still, he could spend some.

It would be worth seeing how strong these troll warriors became after upgrading.

After thinking it over.

He called over three tribal soldiers.

Of the three troll soldiers, one was the bravest troll warrior from the recent battle, having killed at least five mutant insects by himself. Another was an outstanding, powerful archer who had struck at least four mutant insects in the eyes. The last was a spearman who could pierce the mutant insects' carapaces with those short spears that had such low killing power.

"What are your names?"

As Tonatiuh looked at the outstanding troll soldiers—one woman and two men—his mismatched eyes appeared especially enchanting beneath Elune's radiance.

The three troll soldiers were extremely excited.

"My name is Dezra! Great Chieftain!" The archer was a tusked girl, a female troll, and she answered somewhat excitedly.

"I am Efra! Supreme Chieftain!" The spearman was also thrilled.

The troll warrior was even more agitated, his eyes reddening as his voice choked up. "My chieftain, I am Kezra! I am willing to follow under your command forever. You are the war god of the Sandblood Tribe!"

Seeing the excited expressions of the three troll soldiers, and noticing the envious looks from the other troll soldiers, Tonatiuh suddenly raised his voice.

"Dezra! Kezra! Efra! You are the bravest soldiers, the defenders of the Sandblood Tribe! You are followers of Tonatiuh! Here, in the names of the Sun God Tona and the Moon God Tiu, I bestow upon you the power of the Loa!"

Under the watchful eyes of the most battle-capable trolls among the more than two thousand tribespeople, Tonatiuh spent 25 units of faith power to upgrade the three trolls into advanced units.

Three beams of light suddenly descended from the sky, each enveloping one of the trolls, transforming their bodies and baptizing their souls. From that moment onward, they were no longer the trolls they had once been.

Kezra became a troll paladin, also known as a troll holy knight. Unlike humans, who believed in the Holy Light, he ostensibly believed in the Sun God and Moon God, but in truth, he believed in Tonatiuh.

It had consumed 10 units of faith power.

Dezra became a Tonatiuh Voodoo Archer. From then on, every arrow she fired carried the power of voodoo, making her a magical archer in a sense. She would also instinctively grasp certain voodoo spells, bestowed upon her by the system.

That had likewise consumed 10 units of faith power.

Finally, there was Efra. His body remained ordinary, but as a Sandblood Tribe Berserker Spearman, his combat power became formidable when enraged, and the spears he threw dealt astonishing damage. He required the least faith power—only 5 units.

After upgrading the three soldiers into advanced units, Tonatiuh waved a hand, and the three beams of light vanished at once.

Only then did he speak sternly to the trolls still immersed in the "miracle." "Fight for the Loa! Fight for the tribe! The gods will watch over you from the heavens! They will have me reward you! But if you betray the tribe, the Loa will rain fire upon you and destroy you!"

Using the system's power to show off felt incredible to Tonatiuh. But the trolls did not know he was putting on an act. First came the "miracle," then the complete transformation of those three troll soldiers—even their equipment had changed...

This was the manifestation of the Loa!

And their chieftain was the earthly representative of the two greatest Loa. What more was there to say?

"Tonatiuh!"

Zangar, the old witch doctor who had once been the most respected figure in the tribe, suddenly dropped to his knees. Raising both hands high, he shouted in Trollish.

The other trolls came to their senses as well.

Including the three soldiers upgraded by the system with faith power, every one of them fell to their knees, raised their hands, and cried out the names of the Loa in voices filled with incomparable devotion.

In Tonatiuh's open golden left eye, specks of light emerged above all their heads. His left eye greedily absorbed this faith power, instantly replenishing more than ten units of the faith power he had spent.

This showed that the Sandblood Tribe's elites and outstanding warriors had become even more devout.

It also showed that Tonatiuh was straying farther and farther down the road of becoming a charlatan.

Tonatiuh, who had fabricated two Loa, could only sigh helplessly inwardly.

But when dealing with a savage and backward troll tribe, other than the Zandalar Tribe, Tonatiuh knew that his methods were absolutely the most effective.

After handling the tribe's affairs.

Tonatiuh began focusing on himself.

He could upgrade as well.

[Tonatiuh Aztec]

[Race: Troll · Desert Troll · Sandblood Tribe]

[Class: Warrior]

[Level: Level 8 Great Warrior (Currently upgradeable)]

[Skills: Heroic Strike, Whirlwind, Charge, Heroic Leap...]

[Talent 1: Berserk! A troll racial talent. For a period after activation, increases attack speed, movement speed, and strength!]

[Talent 2: Regeneration! As long as no fatal injury is sustained, consuming a large amount of food and mana can rapidly restore the body!]

These were the attributes Tonatiuh had manifested through the system interface.

Aside from the two talents.

Everything else was utterly ordinary, ordinary enough to make him want to complain. Other transmigrators became beautiful blood elves or humans. It was bad enough that he had become a troll. Even those few transmigrators who became trolls were either mages or witch doctors—mysterious spellcasters, anyway, with far more prestige than warriors!

Yet he was a warrior...

Fortunately... even as a warrior, he was a warrior with cheats enabled.

Tonatiuh could only console himself that way.

Still, he was quite satisfied with the trolls' two racial talents.

Berserk was more or less the game's lesser Bloodlust, allowing his combat strength to increase by at least ten or twenty percent for half an hour.

As for Regeneration, Tonatiuh felt it had practically been tailor-made for warriors.

With that talent, he possessed terrifyingly powerful recovery ability, meaning he did not need to fear minor injuries in battle at all.

As long as he was not beheaded or struck somewhere vital, he was practically an unkillable cockroach. It suited warriors who grew stronger with anger perfectly.

That was why, as a transmigrator, he dared to charge straight into hordes of monsters whenever battle began. It was not only because he had cheats and faith power that let him break the rules.

There was another important reason.

This recovery ability, like that of an unkillable cockroach!

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