Chapter 287: Grave Pit, Leinas and Imina Both Level 28
Gagaran found the "Herbalist" among the demonkin and, after using herbs and magic to cure the plague toxin on his body, wore a grim expression.
He headed toward the territory of the Blue Maggot Tribe, near the mountain range.
Along the way.
Gagaran saw many goblins. They were in groups of three to five, carrying the corpses of iron ratmen, other demi-human races, or monsters, also heading in the direction of the Blue Maggot Tribe.
As he neared his destination, the number of blue maggots gradually increased. At the same time, a faint, nauseating stench began to permeate the air.
It wasn't emanating from the blue maggots themselves, but from a deeper location.
Gagaran held his breath slightly and continued forward. Most of the blue maggots nodded in greeting when they saw him.
"Lord Gagaran." A respectful female voice came from ahead.
Gagaran looked at the blue maggot walking toward him, remaining silent with a blank expression. It wasn't out of coldness; he just wasn't sure who it was.
Very well.
All blue maggots looked the same to him.
"I am Beibeibei." Beibeibei introduced herself, as if she knew Gagaran couldn't tell them apart.
"If I may ask, Lord Gagaran, where are you headed?"
"The Grave Pit," Gagaran replied.
"I see. Please wait a moment, my clutch-mates are currently feasting," Beibeibei said with understanding, her tone apologetic.
This Lord Gagaran before her was not only powerful, but his status was also equal to the "King." She had to remain respectful.
Gagaran's expression paused for a moment. "Alright."
The so-called "Grave Pit" was a project started after that mysterious human took control of the Blue Maggot and Pandes tribes. He had them dispatch a portion of their people to dig the pit.
Gagaran couldn't be sure how deep the entire pit was now. He only knew that all the corpses were transported here and then thrown into it.
This looked like food being bestowed upon the Blue Maggot and Pandes tribes.
However.
These demi-human races didn't understand, but Gagaran, who had spent time in the human world, knew what the other party was doing.
Undead!
There were many reasons for the emergence of undead. Gagaran didn't know much about this topic, but having spent so much time in the Baharuth Empire, he knew that after every war with the Re-Estize Kingdom, corpses would be sent to graves and mourned to prevent the dead from turning into undead.
This was especially true for those who died an unnatural death, as their chances of becoming undead were much higher.
That human had constructed the "Grave Pit" and thrown a massive number of demi-human corpses into it. It was highly probable that this was to generate negative energy from these corpses, thereby cultivating undead.
It wasn't just highly probable—it was certain!
Gagaran thought this to himself. Since he was a warrior, he couldn't sense the presence of negative energy. He had specifically asked a magic caster from the demonkin about it.
The other party's response was that they couldn't detect any negative energy either.
Gagaran wasn't sure if the living could sense negative energy, or if it was because the "Grave Pit" hadn't existed long enough. But he knew that over time, it was very likely that powerful undead would truly be born.
That would become a calamity not only for the entire demi-human population, but a calamity for all living beings!
Gagaran had originally wanted to tell the other kings of the demi-human races about this, but he had clearly sensed during this period that the Blue Maggot King and the others were extremely fearful of that human.
Especially since, every so often, the Blue Maggot King and the others would disappear together with that human. This made Gagaran hesitant and uncertain.
Undercurrent Moon.
March 9th.
Two figures lay prone on a mountain ridge. Following their gaze, one could see goblins, ogres, and iron ratmen in the mountain terrain below.
Three demi-human races with vastly different appearances were actually working together, transporting meat and food they had acquired through a transaction with humans.
"Those human traitors!"
"To think they'd do something like this for money," one of the two, a young man, said through gritted teeth.
The middle-aged man beside him, his face weathered by experience, was much calmer. His eyes were fixed on the passing demi-humans below.
If Enri were here, she would surely recognize these two. They were two of the ten people who had purchased the "Regeneration Potion" back then.
The young man, in particular, was the one who had inspected the potion.
"Kaleb, should we go deeper?" the young man asked.
Kaleb shook his head, his small, narrowed eyes filled with seriousness. "This is our limit. If we go any further, we'll definitely be discovered."
They were the elites sent to investigate the cause of the disturbance in the hills, ten people in total.
After entering the hilly region, they had split into pairs to investigate. The Abelion Hills were extremely dangerous, so splitting their forces wasn't a good choice.
It meant that if they encountered danger, their chances of survival would be extremely low. Yet, they had no choice but to do so, as their most important mission was to gather intelligence.
Everyone was aware that they might die on this mission!
"Have you noticed anything unusual?" Kaleb suddenly asked in a low voice.
"These different demi-humans..." the young man began to whisper, but was cut off before he could finish.
"Not the abnormality of the demi-humans, but the environment." Kaleb looked up slightly, gazing at the clear, cloudless sky.
"Have you noticed? Ever since we entered the hills, the weather has been unusually good, even a bit hot. This kind of weather shouldn't be happening in this season and month."
Hearing this, the young man was stunned, not understanding why Kaleb would be concerned about the weather at a time like this.
"Alright."
"The weather here is indeed a bit too good. It hasn't even rained once. However, Mr. Kaleb, I personally feel that our focus shouldn't be on this right now."
The young man whispered, his gaze falling to the last squad of demi-humans transporting goods below.
"We have limited intelligence so far. We need to personally ask these ugly-looking demi-humans."
Kaleb also looked over, understanding the young man's meaning. "Alright."
*Shwa! Shwa!*
The gray, raincoat-like cloaks draped over their bodies slowly began to turn transparent, and the two men vanished along with them.
The cloak was a magic item that possessed the second-tier ability "Invisibility." In addition, their boots could eliminate the sound of footsteps, and the magic ring on their hands could eliminate their scent.
In short, all the equipment on their bodies was specially provided to them by Her Majesty, the Holy Princess to complete this mission.
"Silence!"
Suddenly, an invisible wave of magic power spread out.
The ogre at the very front had yet to react to what was happening when Kaleb's figure appeared out of thin air to its right.
The short sword pierced the air.
It accurately plunged into the armpit of the ogre's weapon-wielding right arm, followed by a forceful twist.
"Aaargh!"
The ogre let out a painful howl, subconsciously releasing its weapon and raising its arm.
"You thick-hided fool."
Kaleb was agile. He grabbed the ogre's right wrist a step ahead and used the upward force of its arm to flip over its head with ease.
"Throat Slit Strike!"
Kaleb clamped his legs around the ogre's head, preventing it from struggling, and his short sword quickly pierced its neck, followed by a sharp slice.
The ogre, which had just been about to struggle, suddenly lost all its strength and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Kaleb stood on the ogre's corpse and looked in the other direction. The young man had also taken care of the scattered goblins in an instant.
In the blink of an eye!
Only one iron ratman was left.
Faced with the two humans who had suddenly appeared before it, the iron ratman was clearly stunned. It then snapped back to its senses and let out a sharp cry, "Enemy attack!"
"His voice really sounds like a rat's."
The young man commented, positioning himself behind the iron ratman, blocking its escape route with Kaleb in front.
Under the effects of the "Silence" magic, no matter how much the iron ratman shouted, its voice could not penetrate the barrier.
"Is there a way to make this rat answer our questions honestly?" the young man asked loudly.
They had killed the goblins and the ogre first because those two races had low intelligence. The iron ratmen had higher intelligence, making it easier to pry useful information from their mouths.
"I don't know."
Kaleb squinted his sharp little eyes, sizing up the iron ratman. "If he were human, I'd have him telling me by morning what age he last wet his pants."
"As for a demi-human, it should be able to hold out a bit longer... We should disable it first, then we'll talk."
Hearing his companion's words.
"Understood, Mr. Kaleb."
The young man felt an inexplicable shiver. He strongly suspected that before joining this elite reconnaissance squad, his companion had worked in some kind of unspeakable line of work.
...
During this period, Tang Zheng had been living a monotonous life.
He teleported between three locations: the Sacred Kingdom, the Abelion Hills, and the Re-Estize Kingdom. Thankfully, he could use the seventh-tier "High-Tier Teleport," otherwise, using ordinary teleportation magic to travel between countries would require several transit stops.
At present.
Matters in the hills were gradually becoming more complex and intense, but overall, they were completely under Tang Zheng's control.
However, even without needing to guess.
Tang Zheng could predict that a relatively large conflict would likely erupt in the hills before long.
With the ogres and humans engaging in such frequent transactions, even the iron ratmen had been able to discover it. It was only a matter of time before other demi-human races found out as well.
Coupled with the destruction of the powerful iron ratman tribe, the scattering of a large number of its members, and the death of the "Gray King," one of the "Ten Evils of the Demi-Humans"...
This series of events would inevitably attract the attention of the other races.
Therefore.
Tang Zheng's main focus during this time had been on the hills. As for the Sacred Kingdom and the Re-Estize Kingdom, there wasn't much that required him to expend his energy.
As for the Baharuth Empire.
Tang Zheng had sent someone over in advance to leave a magical mark, so he had also gone there secretly a few times but was still unable to determine Fluder's location.
Royal Capital, Re-Estize.
Night.
In a noble courtyard.
Leinas and Imina were sparring in the spacious courtyard. The two beautiful figures would quickly pull apart after each clash.
Leinas wielded a spear, her long golden hair tied in a ponytail swaying in the air with her movements. Her heavy spear strikes transformed into afterimages in the night, relentlessly lashing out.
Meanwhile, Imina's movements were agile, showing no intention of engaging Leinas in close combat. She continuously harassed her from a distance with her bow and arrow.
It seemed that neither could get the better of the other.
"The gap is still quite obvious."
Tang Zheng sat on a wooden chair on the sidelines, watching Leinas and Imina in the center. He didn't think their skills were on the same level.
"Imina's attacks have little effect on Leinas, but if one of Leinas's attacks were to land, Imina would be severely injured. Such is the power of a high-tier job class."
"Ninjutsu: Detect!"
Under the perception of his detection magic, both Leinas and Imina's levels had reached 28.
"Stuck at this level again?" Tang Zheng frowned, thinking quietly.
Ever since he developed the "Dragon Blood Potion," which could increase life strength, Tang Zheng naturally hadn't been stingy. He had been traveling back and forth to the Re-Estize Kingdom during this time precisely to provide Imina and Leinas with the potion.
As for the other type of Dragon Blood Potion that could provide a "Berserk Effect," Tang Zheng couldn't be bothered to make it. It wasn't very useful and was a waste of dragon blood.
So far.
Only four people had been provided with the "Dragon Blood Potion": Green Leaf Witch (Lvl 28), Lizardman Kuru Xue (Lvl 25), Leinas (Lvl 28), and Imina (Lvl 28).
The levels of these four had reached a point where no matter how much "Dragon Blood Potion" they consumed, they could no longer improve.
"Could it be the so-called 'bottleneck'?"
Tang Zheng wondered inwardly. "The description of the 'Dragon Blood Potion' clearly states it's 'effective below level 30,' yet they're stuck at level 28."
"'Heroic Realm' might not just be a simple title."
These four people consisted of two demi-humans and two humans. By comparing how they reacted to taking the "Dragon Blood Potion," Tang Zheng gained a much clearer understanding of the potion's true effects.
The most special case was the Green Leaf Witch.
She had already reached level 28 through the "Wild Transformation Ritual." After taking the Dragon Blood Potion, it had absolutely no effect on her.
"Normal level-ups are, in the end, an increase in job level. The life strength increased by the 'Dragon Blood Potion,' however, will drive a certain degree of job advancement."
"This should be related to the job the user is proficient in. The more proficient they are in a certain job, the more their level in that specific job will be raised."
This was a guess Tang Zheng had analyzed after asking the four about their level-up process. "But in reality, the most direct increase should be to their HP value."
When Tang Zheng had consumed dragon blood himself, the biggest increase was to his HP value. And the level shown by detection magic was not 100% accurate.
For example.
When the Bone King used detection magic to scout the Elf King, he found that the latter's life level was above 70, and his magic power value was comparable to Shalltear's.
Therefore, he judged the Elf King's overall level to be at level 70 or higher.
This was because the job data on a status panel could not be seen by anyone other than the player themselves. Not to mention the natives of this otherworld, who didn't even have status panels to begin with.
The level Tang Zheng detected with his ninjutsu was closer to an assessment of their HP values. Therefore, he guessed that the true job levels of Leinas and the other three had some degree of variance.
It was just that their HP values had increased significantly under the effect of the "Dragon Blood Potion," reaching a life strength equivalent to level 28.
(end of chapter)