Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Tribe

Letting out a long breath, since he had already made up his mind, there was no need to hesitate any longer. All that remained was to confirm one final thing: to see whether the souls of the beings in this world could be extracted after death. If it worked, it would serve as a supplement, and he could use the energy of this world to enhance the early stages of his advancement, conserving as much soul essence as possible.

He took out various tools from his wristband. Although his own power was sealed, the storage wristband was still usable. Relying on the bits and pieces of knowledge he’d learned from old Mole, he separated the choicest cuts from the wolf and began roasting them.

Soon, the aroma of grilled meat wafted through the air. Lando tasted a piece—hmm, it wasn’t much different from ordinary wolf meat.

…

Meanwhile, the arcanists who had been teleported here began their own adventures.

Alice was sent into a mountain forest. Unlike Lando, she didn’t hesitate; she chose wind element decisively and shaped her weapon as a longbow, capable of firing wind-element arrows at will. The wind element also constantly surrounded her, lightening her weight and increasing her speed.

This made it easy for her to leap and dart between the trees, moving as joyfully as an elf. Wherever she passed, the crystal creatures suffered—each flash of light was a wind-element arrow that struck and killed its target.

Leia, on the other hand, walked somewhat aimlessly across the plains, holding a crystal-formed earth-element staff. Occasionally, sand snakes or sand worms burst from the ground to attack her. Despite her seemingly daft demeanor, Leia’s reactions were swift; a point of her staff, and the creatures were impaled and pinned in midair by sharp earth spikes.

Once her staff had absorbed the crystal energy, Leia would move on, though she had no idea where she ought to go.

…

After eating and drinking his fill, Lando put away his tools and prepared to get to work. The only good news was that every crystal creature contained neutral crystal energy, so he didn’t have to search for targets—just kill any he found.

Three hours later, Lando stopped his slaughter.

He had indeed collected a few souls, but the efficiency was too low. Killing many second-tier crystal beings advanced his progress by no more than one percent at best, and often less. Third-tier crystal beings, however, advanced his progress by five to ten percent. So, he decided to change tactics—he would challenge higher tiers, pushing forward until he could go no further.

…

Three days later, Lando, looking somewhat bedraggled, was hiding in a small lake, surrounded by dozens of enraged eagle-like crystal beings.

Lando swore that if he’d known these crystal eagles were so united and vengeful, he never would have provoked them.

He waited for half a day before the flock finally flew away, still reluctant to give up. After waiting a while longer, Lando surfaced and removed the breathing device from his mouth. Even with such gear, soaking in the lake for so long had been unpleasant.

By now, he had raised his companion crystal to the third tier (35%). Those crystal eagles were fourth-tier beings—he could handle one, or even four or five, without fear. What he hadn’t anticipated was that these ferocious flying beasts were social; being hunted by dozens at once was simply unfair.

As for souls, the past few days had yielded decent results. The stronger the creature, the higher the chance it would “drop” a soul—just as expected. Aside from green talents like ferocity, wildness, tough hide, and sharp claws, there was another interesting one:

[Crystal Skin (Green): Grants certain protective properties.]

This was a talent possessed by all the souls he had collected so far.

At this moment, Lando scratched his head. The drawbacks of neutral companion crystals were all too clear—the enhancements were insufficient. He could still defeat fourth-tier crystal beings, but once he reached the fourth tier himself, he wasn’t sure he could handle the fifth, let alone anything higher. Would he really be forced to grind away at weaker creatures, collecting soul essence and leveling up solely by investing points?

Oh, perhaps that wasn’t so bad after all! If he could fight lower tiers at higher levels—sixth tier against fifth, seventh against sixth—and focus on drops rather than “experience,” he could still move forward.

That settled that.

Actually, there was another method: the knight profession. Only his arcanist abilities were sealed here; his knightly strength remained intact. That was why he could currently challenge higher tiers. He also possessed numerous cultivation methods from the knight order of his original world. The only hesitation was that investing a large amount of soul essence into a profession with limited future benefit seemed wasteful, and he wasn’t sure how much being promoted to a national knight would really help him.

Originally, Lando had intended to practice those methods only casually, as a pastime while researching arcane arts.

So, he decided to keep that option in reserve for now—he’d only use it if truly necessary.

With his mindset shifted, Lando felt lighter at once. The only regret was the lack of a map. He could still use his detector, but while it was good for observing terrain, it couldn’t identify the tiers of crystal creatures. For that, he had to rely on sensing through his companion crystal. The power level in this world was also very high—when he first deployed his detectors a few days ago, half of them were destroyed for various reasons within minutes. In the end, he had no choice but to scout ahead on his own.

As Lando was planning his next steps, not far away, a group of five deep in the forest was beset by a flock of furious crystal eagles.

Among the five, three were warriors, one an archer, and the last was the most unusual—the form of her companion crystal was a bird. Though smaller than the crystal eagles, it was far more agile, darting from the defensive circle to wound or kill a crystal eagle before swiftly returning.

Despite their impressive combat strength and tactical retreat, the group’s peril was obvious.

The leading warrior, wielding a giant hammer, displayed astonishing agility. Though his wounds multiplied, his combat prowess did not diminish. He quickly assessed the situation and realized that if things continued, all five would die. In a low voice, he said, “This won’t do. We must break through in one direction. Shamira, once we’re out, have your companion crystal beast carry you away. We’ll hold these crazed crystal eagles off.”

The others, though grim, made no objection.

The girl named Shamira opened her mouth to protest, “Uncle Kenneth, I—” but was cut off sharply.

“Silence! Of us all, you have the best chance of escape, and your talent is highest. Your companion crystal is innately intelligent. Do you want to stay and die with us?” Then, in a gentler tone, Kenneth added, “Don’t feel guilty. If my chances of survival were better, I would have you all cover my retreat without hesitation. Live—our families are counting on you!”

By now, Shamira was in tears. She knew Kenneth was comforting her; as the tribe’s warrior leader, he had never before left comrades behind to cover his escape. She also understood that her survival meant more than stubbornly dying here. The tribe was already about to lose its strongest leader and three fine warriors. If she died too, the tribe’s chances of surviving in this land would be even slimmer.

PS: Is this it? Is this all?! Only ten thousand words in and I’m already dizzy and muddle-headed?!

Apparently so!

Since I have to sneak in some writing before work tomorrow, updates will be a bit late, but they will come! With this, today’s session ends—I’m off to bed! Good night!!!