Shaman (Part 1)

He had no intention of concealing his plans. Scholars had their own protective coloring, and Peter knew he was setting up an experimental field.

As long as, a few years from now, he wrote a series of works on economics, domestic affairs, education, medicine, and agriculture, he would become the most renowned scholar in the City-States and even the entire Salia Peninsula—a true encyclopedic figure.

Fame would grant him more opportunities and draw talent to him.

He could rely on the manor to become self-sufficient, use its steady output to support an academic organization, then use that organization as a skin while patiently selecting suitable talent and building a Wizard Organization of his own.

The establishment of the Manor Affairs Department accelerated the construction of the settlement.

Three months later, the manor's Residential Area was basically complete, the mine had taken initial shape, and the idle slaves were directed to reclaim land and replant crops. The farmland was divided into two categories: food-crop farms and cash-crop farms. The pasture had also begun to take shape.

A shortage of manpower soon emerged, and Ace wrote to Romon, requesting another purchase of slaves and supplies.

Romon replied that buying the manor land, slaves, and supplies had basically spent all the Gold Taler. The book market within the City-State was already nearly saturated. They could only wait until Joan opened commercial channels to the Northern City-State in the latter half of the year before they could resume business.

Ace had no solution to this either. He had taken too great a stride and had almost reached his limit. He could only be more patient and wait for the manor's development to yield returns.

Gaul was a Barbarian Slave. His full name was Gaul Owl, and he belonged to the ancient Owl Tribe. At the moment, he was absentmindedly tending grapevines.

Half a year ago, in the bloody battle between the Medimous City-State and the barbarians at Dunqiu, the fishmen and barbarians had been utterly defeated. The Owl Tribe's totem pole had been chopped down. The old Shaman had Berserked the tribe's strongest warriors, yet they still could not withstand the enemy's great fireballs.

He was one of the gifted ones the old Shaman had spoken of, the old Shaman's disciple. Long ago, the old Shaman had passed the precious Berserk Pelt on to him.

At the moment of their crushing defeat, the old Shaman stuffed the tribe's sacred relic into the chrysanthemum between his buttocks, then fled for his life in a different direction.

Gaul endured the foreign sensation and ran for his life, only to crash headlong into an enemy trap and be captured by an enemy with a hooked nose.

The hooked-nosed man searched him and took away his Berserk Pelt, but failed to discover the sacred relic in his rear. After several twists and turns, he was sold to this strange manor.

After half a year of training, Gaul had basically learned the language spoken here. From conversations among the local debt slaves that he had overheard by chance, this manor was unlike others in every respect.

No one would go to such lengths to build houses for slaves, much less forcibly pair slaves in marriage. He had even gotten himself a barbarian girl for free.

He had heard that a department had recently been established and issued a whole series of regulations. In short, the slaves in this manor did not live much like slaves. Though they were strictly managed, the labor intensity remained within an acceptable range, and they even had their own private space.

After being battered by such tremendous ups and downs, Gaul had finally broken through and gained the Shaman Power the old Shaman had spoken of. Although he no longer had the Berserk Pelt, he possessed the more important sacred relic.

As he experienced the relic's trials each day, his power grew rapidly. In a few more days, he would escape this manor. As for the woman, taking her along would only be a burden. He could only abandon her.

That afternoon, the captain in charge of grape cultivation ordered all of them to undergo a physical examination. Gaul did not quite understand what a physical examination was, but since he could not expose himself, he went along with everyone else.

Seeing that the manor's recent development had reached its limit, Ace decided to begin his New Medicine. He would first examine the slaves' bodies and use vast amounts of real data to gather the external characteristics of the human body in this world.

Its internal structure was harder to deal with. He could not simply seize slaves he had bought and dissect them alive. That would be wasteful and would cause panic as well. He needed to think of another way.

In the settlement square, Ace carefully observed every slave's physical condition and recorded it. This was firsthand information. Later, he would see whether he could cooperate with the Guild Hall to purchase fresh unclaimed corpses from small towns for dissection.

When it was Gaul's turn, Ace sensed something unusual. Over the past few months, Ace's spiritual power had grown much stronger, and his perception had increased greatly as well. He keenly detected that the Barbarian Slave before him possessed spiritual power far beyond that of an ordinary person. There was something wrong with this slave.

Without showing it, Ace continued examining more than a dozen people. Then he summoned Kelson and announced that he needed to rest, and that the remaining people would be examined tomorrow. After learning the basic circumstances of the Barbarian Slave with abnormal spiritual power, he gathered most of the hired veterans and went straight to the Plantation Area to capture Gaul.

After being examined, Gaul returned to the Plantation Area, feeling uneasy.

The look in Ace's eyes during the examination had made his skin crawl. More unsettling still, his Shaman Power seemed to have been watched by something. He decided not to wait any longer. He dug out the wrapped sacred relic from beneath the soil under the grapevines and immediately prepared to leave.

Ace came up empty-handed. By the time he arrived, Gaul seemed to have already left, leaving behind only a pit in the earth, as though mocking him. Ace did not split up his men to search. So little time had passed that Gaul could not have gone far. It was more likely that he was hiding somewhere.

He stretched his spiritual power into a thread. At its limit, this thread of spiritual power could extend nearly a hundred meters. Then it rapidly spiraled and rotated, scanning and sensing all living creatures within one meter of the spiritual thread. This was one of several applications of pure spiritual power he had recently developed: the spell, Sense Touch.

Found you!

Gaul hid in the shadows of the bushes, holding his breath. This was the lesson he had learned when he had fled in blind panic last time. A frantic escape would leave too many traces and eventually lead him into a trap. He chose to erase most of the traces, leave behind one obvious clue, then quietly hide.

If the other side was fooled, he could escape without risk. If they were not fooled, searching would still take considerable time, and he would likewise have a chance to flee.

Gaul felt a wave of discomfort, much like the sensation of being watched during the examination. He had been discovered! Like an ape, he leaped nimbly through the bushes, trying to flee as quickly as possible.

"Chase!"

At the veteran captain's roar, everyone sprang into action.

Ace followed neither too close nor too far behind. This slave possessed abnormal spiritual power and might have the abilities of the so-called barbarian Shaman. He could only let the hired veterans test him first.

As the veterans drew closer and closer in pursuit, Gaul pulled out the tribe's sacred relic from his clothes and recalled the old Shaman's words.

"Child, once you become a Shaman, you can lightly touch the sacred relic with your Shaman Power. Point its pupil at yourself, and it will give you a trial. Once you pass the trial, your power will become stronger. If you encounter danger, use your Shaman Power to activate the sacred relic with all your strength. Aim its pupil at the enemy, and make sure to close your own eyes."

Gaul used his Shaman Power—spiritual power—to activate the sacred relic in his hand with all his strength. Its pupil faced the pursuing veterans, while he tightly shut his own eyes.

"Hoo~ hoo~"

An owl's cry rang out. Ace and the veterans watched darkness suddenly erupt from Gaul's hand, instantly blackening the entire world. A blood-red eye hung high in the night sky. Everything around them, people included, vanished. Ace seemed to have arrived in a forest.

"What's wrong with you? Why did the experiment go wrong again?" An old man with graying hair, dressed in a white researcher's uniform, spoke to Ace with displeasure.

Who am I? Where is this?

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