Together with Victoria Kingdom's Thousand Blades, Norman Empire's Severance of All Things, and Brown Kingdom's Golden Law, they were known as the Three Great Miracles—magical formulas passed down through family bloodlines that possessed power beyond the reach of living beings.
The Sage Art, regarded as a faith by all Beastfolk, possessed neither combat ability nor the means to be inherited and spread through bloodlines.
Instead, after an individual who possessed the Sage Art and was revered by the Beastfolk as the Great Sage died, their power would condense into an extremely powerful formula crystal that could not be destroyed by any external force, preserving the art within it.
Newborn Beastfolk children would then be made to touch it, while observers watched to see whether the formula crystal flickered.
After all suitable candidates had been found, they would participate together in an inheritance trial consisting of nine stages under the witness of the Orc Council of Elders in the Saga Kingdom. Upon completing the ninth trial of will—
The final surviving candidate could absorb the Sage Crystal through a ritual and integrate the Sage Art into their body.
They would then officially become the next Great Sage of the Beastfolk.
A being capable of commanding all Beastfolk.
The Sage Art possessed only one effect: Bloodline Ascension.
Under the influence of this art, which was not a Miracle yet possessed effects comparable to one, a Beastfolk sage could perform the Bloodline Ascension ritual on any Beastfolk, comprehensively improving the target's strength, endurance, speed, intelligence, and even lifespan.
Naturally, there was a price to pay. For physical enhancements, the Great Sage only needed to consume a certain number of magic stones or Magic Lake Water to avoid paying that price.
However, extending a target's lifespan required sacrificing the Great Sage's own lifespan.
Thus,