waaaahg!!

[Obtained: Soul Stone ×16]

[Obtained: Broken Soul ×8]

[Obtained: Vinal Silver Coin ×15]

[Obtained: Crude Bone Arrow ×26]

Shen Xing waved his hand and stowed all the supplies in his backpack, satisfied.

It felt good to wake up from a night's sleep and find resources waiting for him.

"Hellscream, step forward."

He glanced at his talent, which was off cooldown, and said in a deep voice, "Prepare to receive a glorious evolution!"

Hellscream's whole body jolted. Seemingly realizing what was coming, he immediately stepped forward.

Under Hellscream's expectant gaze, Shen Xing slowly raised his right hand.

[Use the talent Life-Sacrifice Evolution to raise Hellscream's potential to elite★?]

[This use requires sacrificing 10 agility]

"Yes."

When Shen Xing confirmed, that familiar power descended from above once more and entered his body.

But after probing him, the power quietly withdrew, turning into a ball of red light that fell upon Hellscream.

The mohawked orc's body instantly stiffened. Red light spread across his skin, and a dangerous aura gradually radiated from him.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared before Shen Xing.

[Please choose Hellscream's advancement path]

[1: Orc Hunter (high flexibility, possesses some concealment ability)]

[2: Orc Fighter (high agility, possesses powerful burst capabilities)]

"Hm? Two advancement paths?"

Shen Xing looked at the descriptions after them, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Clearly, this choice was important: it would determine Hellscream's path of development from now on.

The first offered high flexibility and concealment abilities, making it an assassin's path.

The other focused on high agility and burst power.

Both had their advantages and disadvantages, and both offered a major improvement.

After considering them for a moment, Shen Xing chose the second.

The territory was still in its early stages, and what it needed was sufficiently powerful frontal combat strength.

As for assassins, only some third- and fourth-tier lords would train them in the middle stages of the game.

Meanwhile, Hellscream's body began to transform rapidly within the red light.

The muscles in his arms stopped swelling and became denser and more compact, as though blocks of steel lay beneath his skin.

He also shot up from his original height of 1.7 meters to over 1.8 meters!

The iron axe in his hand changed rapidly as well. Its pitch-black head turned tungsten-steel gray, its handle lengthened to 1.2 meters, and even its single blade became a double blade.

[Evolution successful! Hellscream's potential has risen to elite★, and his class has advanced to Orc Fighter!]

[Attribute increase from this evolution: all attributes +10%, agility +10 extra]

[Weapon: Orc Iron Axe (green) → Steel-Slaying Double-Bladed Axe (blue)]

[Awakened skill: Bladestorm!]

When the light faded, Hellscream stepped slowly forward in his new form.

His build was lean and powerful, his muscles smoothly defined, and his entire body was filled with explosive strength.

The other orcs stared wide-eyed. Gorehowl's mouth even hung slightly open, and he was practically drooling.

Orcs naturally revered the strong, especially orcs with good physiques.

So when they saw Hellscream after his transformation, they were like bodybuilding newcomers seeing a Mr. Olympia champion for the first time, itching to pounce on him and study him closely.

"Boss, I feel like I'm full of power!" Hellscream raised his battle axe high, unable to hide the excitement on his face.

Shen Xing nodded, praised him, and then glanced at the newly activated skill.

[Bladestorm: Swing a weapon and spin at high speed, dealing continuous cutting damage to enemies within 2 meters.

Movement is possible while spinning. The higher the agility attribute, the faster the rotation and the longer the duration.

Cooldown: 120 seconds]

It was a powerful skill. Not only did it have an area attack effect, but its power and duration also increased with agility.

Most importantly, he could move while using it.

Shen Xing could imagine Hellscream activating the skill and standing in the middle of a crowd of monsters. He would be a walking meat grinder.

Next, Shen Xing opened the troop panel and checked his detailed attributes.

[Orc Fighter: Hellscream]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

"These attributes are at least four or five times higher than when he was first summoned."

"And his agility is almost twice his strength. That's ridiculous."

Shen Xing marveled inwardly. Hellscream's improvement this time was enormous; he had made the right choice!

With his troop's strength improved, it was time to begin today's exploration of the mist.

Before that, though, he planned to use the [Worg Recruitment Scroll].

He hadn't recruited the worgs immediately yesterday because he wanted to save some food. After all, these creatures would need to eat once summoned.

Resources were scarce in the early stages, so he naturally had to budget carefully.

Just as he took out the scroll and prepared to summon them, a flurry of footsteps came from deep within the mist again.

[Your territory is about to come under attack. Please prepare...]

Looking at the churning mist, Shen Xing sighed. "You shouldn't have come."

Chapter 15: waaaahg!!

"Bring the cement and assemble at the village entrance!"

At their lord's command, the ten orc infantrymen immediately gripped their battle axes and lined up on the path at the village entrance.

Hellscream, the tallest of them, stood at the very front, with the slightly shorter Gorehowl beside him.

The other eight orcs stood ready as well.

Shen Xing pushed his wheelchair, positioning the orcs in front of him for protection, and took out his repeating crossbow.

"Hoo, hoo..."

Monsters emerged from the mist one after another. The firelight illuminated their twisted, slender bodies, making them look like moving dead trees.

There were twenty-three Lost Ones in all, including two that had reached ordinary three-star level.

Ahead of the monsters were more than a dozen creatures that resembled hunting dogs, with exposed fangs and black aura rising from their bodies.

[Fel Hound]

[Level: 2]

[Potential: ordinary★]

[Attributes: strength 5, spirit 8, agility 11, constitution 6]

[Skill: Pack Bite (locks onto a single target and coordinates with other Fel Hounds to pounce and bite frantically, increasing damage by 30% during the attack)]

[Talent: none]

[Bond-Fel Hound (activated): when more than 10 Fel Hounds are present at the same time, charge speed increases by 30%]

[Description: Vicious dogs of the mist. One alone is not frightening, but once they gather in sufficient numbers, they can tear a bull down to its skeleton in a short time.]

"Oh? New monsters showed up today too. Judging by the skill description, they look pretty vicious."

Before Shen Xing had finished speaking, the Fel Hounds charged as a pack and pounced toward them.

These monsters not only looked vicious, they were also extremely frenzied.

They attacked at the slightest provocation, like a pack of mad dogs.

But Shen Xing was no pushover either.

"Hellscream, go kill the three-star Lost Ones among them."

"Gorehowl, take some men and hold those Fel Hounds off."

The moment he received the order, Hellscream, who could barely contain himself any longer, drove off with both legs.

"Boom!"

The force of his explosive launch left two shallow holes in the ground, and he shot forward like a cannonball.

His burst speed had already exceeded a hundred meters per second!

"Hrrr..."

The Lost Ones let out hoarse roars, stretched out their black claws, and swarmed toward him.

But before they could get close, a double-bladed battle axe swept through them like a hurricane.

"Pfft! Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

Like a hot knife through butter, the axe passed through without the slightest resistance. Four or five Lost Ones were sliced in two on the spot, sending severed limbs and black liquid flying!

That blow also drew more aggro to him, and more than a dozen Lost Ones surrounded him!

Hellscream watched the approaching enemies, unflustered in the face of danger, a calm yellow light flickering in his eyes.

"waaaahg!!"

He let out a thunderous roar, gripped the axe handle in both hands, and spun like a top!