The age of magic has begun, and the orcs of the land will run...
The orcs of Xia have always paid close attention to Lan's actions. The day after Jiang Yunlan received Svita's blessing, the orcs in the grassland habitat all knew that Lan had received another blessing from nature.
"Oh my god! As expected of Lan!" Xia's beastman exclaimed excitedly and proudly.
The beastmen were delighted and thus remembered the conditions for receiving the blessing.
The orcs who wished to receive nature's blessing had to pass the elves' test. This fact entered their minds, replacing their previous misconceptions.
A group of orcs, yearning for power, wanting to become strong, and wanting to protect their clan, looked at Lan with clear and bright eyes.
Jiang Yunlan was very familiar with what they were thinking when they gave her that look, so she explained directly: "Yes, orcs who pass Sveta and Freya's tests can receive blessings. The content of the tests will be different for different orcs."
"The only thing they have in common is that the orcs who come to take the test must swear an oath to the elves in their true names when they receive the blessing."
She swore the same oath before the two spirits. She volunteered to become the guardian of summer, to protect all living beings worthy of her protection, and to never harm any spirit with the power of nature.
As for what promises the other orcs will make, that depends on their own wishes.
“An oath to the elves is a promise made with one’s life, and also a covenant. Therefore, before you swear, please think carefully about whether you can accept it.” Jiang Yunlan looked at the beastmen standing in front of her with gentle eyes.
The creature that breaks its oath will lose the right to use the power of nature at that moment, and the spirit that bestows the blessing will also sense at that time who the creature that broke the oath is.
The orcs nodded in unison upon hearing this. They remembered Lan's reminder.
From that day on, the number of orcs seeking Freya and Sveta's assessment increased daily. However, the two elves consistently selected suitable orcs for the assessment at noon and evening each day.
Since this period coincides with Lan's rest time, Lan will place them on the newly built platform in the clan square.
The only hurdle for orcs to receive a blessing is whether they possess the potential to wield the corresponding natural power. Once they cross this threshold, the trial begins.
The orcs who came to request the assessment would not receive the assessment content on the same day. There were simply too many orcs who wanted to receive the blessing, so Sveta and Freya decided to refer to the method used by Lan to select orcs for their positions and arrange a large-scale assessment for them, only selecting the most outstanding orcs to receive the blessing.
The orcs who came to Xia and the Xia clan orcs mostly had a pure desire to protect Xia and help Lan.
They can see the sincere hearts of the orcs.
"It's incredible. The orcs here are very similar to Lan, which always reminds me of what happened during the Age of Calamity. The creatures of that time were also very similar to Lan." Sveta stopped accepting the orcs' requests for trials and spoke with Freya with emotion.
Sveta spent many days in its summer habitat, and the fruit season had arrived. It set out its own test, often using the plants to track the beastmen's actions.
It was because it had been watching them all along that it became aware of these things it had not been aware of before.
“I don’t really remember what it was like back then. That era is very far from now, and the new orcs are looking at us differently now. Maybe it’s because there are fewer elves.” Sveta leaned on the wooden railing of the high platform with a wide view and transmitted his voice to Freya, who was also watching the Xia clan not far away.
"There are very few elves being born now?" Freya wondered. Her understanding of the world came from Ishdor and everything that Lan had shown her.
“Yes, very rarely. In the past, we were everywhere, but now we only see wood spirits, water spirits, and wind spirits. I rarely see ice spirits like you, or earth spirits and fire spirits, being born. It's as if you don't want to exist anymore.” Sveta’s voice became confused as he said this.
It expressed its bewilderment, saying, "But there are more beasts blessed by nature now. I remember the beastmen seem to call them 'giant beasts'."
"It's strange. They can control wind, wood, water, fire, earth, and later ice and snow that separated from water, yet I have never seen the nature that blesses them, and I rarely see them either. They are often mentioned by beastmen."
If its memory is correct, then there were no such things as "giant beasts" long ago.
However, once it sensed the changes in the orcs, the behemoth's figure had already appeared in every corner of the continent. So what? It wasn't the Ancient Tower, nor was it an elf who favored orcs; even if it heard news of the behemoth, it wouldn't take any action.
Just as it wouldn't try to prevent a beast tide by keeping the number of wild animals in its area to a very low level. That's something the Ancient Tower would do.
"I don't understand," Sveta sighed.
"Me too. I really don't understand what the other elves are trying to do by creating so many giant beasts." Freya, inside the ice crystal, wanted to shake her head like Lan. Unfortunately, she didn't have a head.
Sveta listened to its voice and sighed again.
It could sense Sveta's distress and suggested, "Why don't we ask Lan? If it's Lan, she'll definitely be able to figure this out someday."
Sveta wholeheartedly agreed with this statement. No matter what Lan promises, she will do her utmost to fulfill it.
The two elves shared the same idea. So, when Jiang Yunlan came to pick them up after lunch, she heard their confusion.
"To find out why the giant beast appeared?" Jiang Yunlan said, searching her mind for things she had heard about giant beasts.
When she first arrived in the Beast World, the footprints of wind beasts were seen at the edge of the forest, and Yan Duoyu and the others even faced an attack by wind beasts. She suddenly remembered that a giant beast that controlled the wind had also appeared on the other side of the White River.
The beastmen from Baihe Mountain, whom she brought back, told her that the two bear-beastmen, Duoguo, who possessed the power of wood, and Tianfeng, who possessed the power of wind, joined forces to kill the wind beast. As a result, the bear-beastmen took a winter break to rebuild their habitat.
Jiang Yunlan realized something she had been overlooking: the bear-beastman Chi. How did that beastman who had plundered the fire spirit's power die?
The words Aliya had once spoken echoed in her ears.
[During the snow season when Hati and his men drove the Bear-Beastmen away, I saw them return, leading the Bear-Beastmen who had gone out. They wanted to reclaim the grasslands, but coincidentally, a beast tide occurred that snow season. Most of the Bear-Beastmen were killed by wild beasts, and only a small number escaped.]
The bear-orc clan at that time consisted of Chi and Duoguo. Why were they defeated by the beast tide? Unless Chi had already died before the beast tide appeared on the grassland.
After Chi died, Duoguo led us away from the grassland where the beast tide had occurred.
The information provided by the bear-beastman didn't reveal the time of Chi's death. Jiang Yunlan couldn't understand it, so she took the two elves and ran to ask Hati.
Hati, who enjoys fighting strong opponents, would never miss an opportunity to battle orcs wielding the power of nature. He should know whether Chi returned to the grasslands when the beast tide appeared.
When Jiang Yunlan found Hati, he was lazily lying on the ground sunbathing and digesting his food.
"What? You mean what happened after I defeated the Bear Beastman clan? How would I know about that? After I defeated the Bear Beastman, I took Lup and the others and went on a wandering journey. The Wolf Beastman clan that stayed behind was the one that led Wolf Ann and the others."
He opened his eyes and looked at Lan, his voice calm, "I once told you, 'Where I am, there will be no beast tide.' That's because I didn't experience that beast tide, but I witnessed the devastation after it receded."
"That was a Pyrrhic victory, a Pyrrhic victory that could hardly be called a victory. I don't know the exact number of orcs who died then, but I do know that of the ten orc clans at the time, only Wolf's An and his group survived. That's the complete opposite of the victory you brought." He recalled the scenery he saw when Wolf's An and his group dragged him back to the grasslands, and inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable lying down.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunlan subconsciously counted the number of orc clans on the grassland when she arrived.
Five orc clans were wiped out in that beast tide. But the surviving wolf-orcs, grassland sheep-orcs, horse-orcs, fox-orcs, and Zelan were different; they were hunted by wild beasts. Just how many of their people did they lose?
She belatedly realized why Hati had said that during the last beast tide...
Only 34 members of the tribe died, which is much, much better than before.
Hati sat up, put his hands on his legs, and looked at Lan, who was clearly in a daze, and said, "Go ask Wolf An and the others, or the bear-beastmen you brought back. Maybe they can find out what you want to ask."
She nodded blankly, then turned to look for Lang An, seemingly still in a daze.
She knew, of course, that the beast tide that occurred when Hati wasn't on the grasslands was one that the beastmen had just fled the bear-beastman clan and hadn't even recovered from before they had to face it. But it was still far too devastating.
Do other orc clans feel the same way when facing the beast tide? Is that why they choose to pack their belongings and leave their long-established habitat before the beast tide arrives?
Jiang Yunlan exhaled a long breath and brought her thoughts back to the present moment.
The things at hand, the things she can reach, are what she should be considering right now. The past cannot be changed; she only needs to think about how to save the orcs she can save in the future.
Her mind started working again. She stopped following Hati's words and instinctively went to find Wolf Ann and the others, turning instead to look for the few bear-beastmen in her tribe. Asking Wolf Ann and the others wasn't as efficient as asking the bear-beastmen; after all, she just wanted to know how Chi had died.
The six little bear-beastmen were used to acting together, and Jiang Yunlan found them all together in no time.
They were judged by the other bear-beastmen to lack great strength, but their arm strength was already greater than half of MapleRed's, and they could do all the tasks in the tribe that required strength, just like most adult beastmen.
It's fruit season, and tasks related to planting are the most popular. Jiang Yunlan eventually found them by the edge of the farmland. Like most orcs, the six of them had chosen to harvest crops today, but they rarely approached the surrounding orcs.
Jiang Yunlan noticed this when she led them back to their habitat, and therefore kept an eye on whether they were being secretly bullied.
Fortunately, the orcs listened to her. Even those orcs who harbored resentment towards her wouldn't harm them. Their situation in Xia was similar to that of the working orcs, only they were slightly marginalized within the Xia clan of orcs.
They paid no heed to this slight coldness. For them, life after meeting Lan was like returning from hell to the human world.
They had each other as companions, and wouldn't think of contacting other orcs; having five companions who had come together all this way was enough. Their only worry was that they couldn't get close to Lan, and didn't know how to repay her.
However, this problem was solved when a contribution value ranking system was created within the clan. They believed that as long as they could keep climbing up the contribution value ranking system, they would surely be repaying Lan in some way.
They never imagined that they would see Lan come looking for them on such an ordinary day.
"Have you ever heard why Akane died before?"
When they heard Lan ask them this, they whispered among themselves and decided to speak with Lan, choosing the bear-beastman who knew the most about the cause and effect.
Xiong Guang was pushed out by her five companions. She stood up straight nervously and met Lan's gaze, but heard Lan's comforting words in her ears.
"Don't be nervous, it's okay even if you don't know."
She suddenly remembered the time when she thought Lan would kill her, but Lan didn't; instead, he stroked her head. A sense of relief washed over her, and her tense body relaxed.
"Lan, Chi was killed by a giant beast they encountered while leading other bear-beastmen out."
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Author's Note: I'm here! I'm here! I'm in such great shape today! Even though I didn't update until after 1:30 AM, I still managed to write over 3500 words! (Proudly puffing out my chest)
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