"I believe you can handle it, at least you can tell me about it now, which means you've found a way! Right?"
Marco comforted him.
"Every time I communicate with you in this world, my soul power will increase, and now I can basically control a part of my main soul!"
The Three-Eyed Crow explained to Marco calmly, seemingly having returned to its original state.
"Then I wish you success! The return of humanity is a good thing for you, and tonight's events prove that you have taken another big step towards self-control!"
Marco said to the Three-Eyed Crow.
After listening to Marco, the Three-Eyed Crow looked deeply at Marco, then knelt on one knee and swore:
"Witnessed by the gods! By the names of the gods of rivers, fire, earth, storms, thunder, rainbows, mist, desolation, the dead, and life... I, Lei, Seaka, Nok,... (1000 words omitted) Ace, hereby swear to be loyal to the person before me, until the end of the world!"
Marco looked at the Three-Eyed Crow with a puzzled expression and asked:
"You're really acting strange today! What are you trying to express by swearing an oath to me now? To be honest,
in my eyes, oaths have no binding power. Anyone will betray for enough profit! We are allies now, and I will maintain that as long as you don't cause any problems!"
The Three-Eyed Crow remained expressionless and said, "This is the oath of Brynden Rivers! It is also the oath of the Three-Eyed Crow! You have given me great assistance, and I pledge my loyalty to you. That's only fair!
The future of all of us has changed because of your appearance. By continuing to follow you, our race will also become stronger. I will help you seize this world, and this is also an opportunity for Brynden Rivers to prove his value once again!"
Marco looked at the serious Three-Eyed Crow and said with some helplessness, "Alright! Alright! I accept your allegiance! You can get up now! You're a being who has lived for thousands of years, why do you have to be so fixated on this issue? Hmm?"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host! You have gained the allegiance of a special soul. Influenced by its racial characteristics, the system has transformed it into a special unit, Druid Soul!"
"Special Unit, Druid Soul, after parasitizing it within a humanoid creature, it can be transformed into a Druid Elder!"
"Druid Elder, Level 4, Mana 25.
Magical Supply: Active Skill, transfers its mana to the hero.
Spells: Can cast spells in combat, Stone Spike (Basic), Lightning Bolt (Intermediate), and Steadfast (Advanced)."
"Buzz!"
A green light suddenly flew out from the Three-Eyed Crow's body and settled in front of Marco.
The Three-Eyed Crow looked at the light in front of them, and said excitedly to Marco:
"I was right! I was right! This method really works, Marco! Did you see? He really separated! Haha!
As long as I continue like this, my soul will definitely be able to recover to its strongest state, and then I won't need to change bodies to escape the erosion!"
Looking at Marco's puzzled expression, the Three-Eyed Crow carefully explained things to him.
It turned out that after the White Walker uprising in ancient times, the Three-Eyed Crow had been corrupted by the strange power from the meteorite. His soul had been constantly battling against that force.
To prevent his soul from being completely consumed, and to avoid any dire consequences, the Three-Eyed Crow had been constantly changing bodies for thousands of years.
However, each transformation failed to shake off that evil power, which clung to him like a maggot to bone. Furthermore, because of these constant body changes, many powerful consciousnesses had taken up residence within him.
In particular, Brynden Rivers, with his strong Targaryen bloodline, had never lost his soul consciousness, and frequently fought with the Three-Eyed Crow's main consciousness for control of the body.
The most serious incident occurred when Brynden Rivers, unable to control his emotions, interfered with the past, causing a terribly disastrous event.
Since meeting Marco, the Three-Eyed Crow had felt his soul power gradually strengthening. Therefore, from the day Marco began his journey,
the Three-Eyed Crow had been planning this, in order to test his hypothesis: to peel away the powerful individual consciousnesses within his soul, one by one.
Judging from the situation today, his experiment was a complete success, and it wasn't in vain that he spent all the power he obtained from Marco.
"Marco! I really hope you can return to Griffin's Hold soon, so that I can completely transfer my soul over. My master! The Children of the Forest will forever be loyal to you, and we will contribute everything to you!"
The Three-Eyed Crow said calmly. His current state seemed to have stabilized even more, and that emotionless state of mind seemed to have returned to him.
But that slight smile at the corner of his mouth couldn't be concealed. It was obvious that he was in a very good mood!
Marco waved his hand and said, "Alright! Alright! I know. I have already gained your allegiance, and the Children of the Forest will always be protected by me. Your magic is still too crude in my opinion.
And even if you return to your original state, you'll probably only be a little stronger than you are now. I haven't fallen to the point where I need you to expand my territory for me!
Oh! Perhaps your magic might be a little useful in The North, but once the Weirwood there is consumed by you, you'll be back to the way you were before. After you recover, let's plan how to reshape this world!"
"Master! Oh! Sorry! Lord! You are definitely a god walking among men. Such a concept is truly magnificent!"
The Three-Eyed Crow's current state was really unstable, and now it was starting to flatter Marco again!
Marco looked at the Three-Eyed Crow with a face full of black lines, feeling that its profound image had been completely ruined today. It looked like a severe schizophrenic patient!
So Marco reached out and grabbed the orb in his hand, saying to the Three-Eyed Crow, "Alright! Is that okay now? Let's end it here for tonight! I accept your 'gift', goodbye!"
After saying that, he ignored the Three-Eyed Crow and turned into a golden light, disappearing into the world of consciousness. After Marco left, the Three-Eyed Crow was also completely expelled from the world of consciousness.
The next morning, after getting up, Marco found that his magic book had a new option: "Druid Soul."
This option was located on the page of his exclusive magic, in the same place as the Netherworld Banshee.
Just as Marco was about to have Henk and the others find some unlucky guy to test it out, Wolf Fang's voice suddenly sounded outside the tent.
"My Lord Marco! Enemies are approaching, about 40 people. According to Red-Haired Red, it should be a Raiding Party from somewhere!"
Hearing this, Marco was slightly stunned, then muttered to himself:
"Just as I was thinking of getting Henk to do it, here comes the opportunity! Not bad! Not bad!"
Then, Marco gave an order to Wolf Fang: "That's perfect. Go tell Red-Haired Red that I don't like raiding parties. Leave a few alive! Kill the rest!"
"Yes! Lord Marco!"
About a minute later, Wolf Fang found Red-Haired Red in the camp, who was gathering his team. It seemed he was also ready to set off!
After Wolf Fang conveyed Marco's order to Red-Haired Red, the former wildling assured him with a pat on his chest that he would certainly complete Marco's task. He had already intended to deal with these people.
Raiding beyond The Wall was an important part of wildling culture. These so-called free folk could join raiding parties at the age of 12.
The raiders would climb over the walls of The Wall, or use small boats to go through Seal Bay, bypassing The Wall, to raid the villages in the south.
Climbing The Wall took over a day and was extremely dangerous. The Night's Watch rangers often found broken bodies of those who had fallen from The Wall.
To climb The Wall, the Raiding Party wildlings used giant ladders made of rope and crossbars to make it easier for large groups to scale the wall.
They would also send out a team or several teams of vanguard to climb The Wall, clearing the path for the subsequent troops, or a large group of people would act independently.
These raiders wore specially made soft deerskin boots. The tops of these boots had protruding spikes, many of which were made of copper or iron, but more were made of bone.
They usually carried small stone hammers, iron nail hammers, bone nail hammers, or horn nails as climbing tools. This simple ice climbing equipment was extremely dangerous, but it was very easy to make.
The Raiding Party wildlings loved to use this tool. They usually raided south in groups of four or five, and wherever they went, it was like a swarm of locusts, making the people of The North miserable!
In the past few decades, as the Night's Watch grew weaker, the wildlings became bolder. Some wildlings tried to raid the Amber family, even the lands of Bear Island, instead of attacking the villages of Brandon's Gift as they had done in the past.
The Raiding Party didn't cross The Wall for fish or apples. They plundered longswords and axes, spices, silk, and fur, seizing every coin, every ring, and every piece of jewelry they could find. They stole wine in the summer, meat in the winter, and women in every season, taking them over The Wall.
Alys Amber was a victim of such raids, a noble girl who experienced such things, so one could imagine how terrible the suffering of the commoners was!
Therefore, Marco hated this kind of people the most, those who, under the banner of freedom, burned, killed, and plundered everywhere. In a certain sense, they were even more detestable than the Ironborn, and always had a self-righteous attitude!
The tribe's warriors, more than 100 strong, set up an ambush in the forest under the guidance of Wolf Fang. This raiding party was well-equipped; many of them had iron weapons.
However, although these guys were better equipped than ordinary wildlings, they were still no match for the tribe's warriors, who had been preparing for a long time.
After this force of more than 40 people entered the encirclement, before they could react, nearly half of them were wiped out by Red-Haired Red.
In the subsequent fighting, only 3 Spearwives and a leader-like figure were left alive; the rest were all killed, and their bodies were burned!
While Marco was eating breakfast, Red-Haired Red brought over these 4 "trophies." The man was cursing all the way, saying things like, "Free folk don't fight free folk, fratricide!"
The 3 Spearwives looked relatively quiet, seeming to be carefully observing their surroundings. In their minds, as long as they didn't resist, the worst that could happen was being eaten by men!
Just as the man was still cursing, Marco suddenly spoke to Red-Haired Red:
"Red! Do you know this guy? He seems to know you, doesn't he?"
Red-Haired Red answered respectfully, "Lord Marco! This guy is quite famous in the raiding tribe. Everyone calls him 'Eat-You' Both, and he used to trade iron with my tribe.
But this guy is disgusting. His favorite thing to do is to rob nursing women! He often uses children to threaten those women from the south!"
Both then cursed at Red-Haired Red, "Red! You despicable, shameless traitor! Disgusting kneeler! A disgrace to the Free Folk! The gods will surely punish you!"
Red-Haired Red looked at him with disdain, "The gods? Hahaha! The one I kneel to is a god walking among men. You just wait and see what divine punishment awaits you!"
Hearing this, Marco looked up at the man named Both. Without wasting any more words, he directly opened his magic book interface and used "Druid Soul".
A golden orb suddenly appeared in Marco's hand, and then, guided by Marco, it directly entered Both's chest.
Both's body instantly swelled, and layers of golden light burst forth from within. Painful howls emanated from the glowing sphere.
The three Spearwives nearby were terrified, their faces pale. They stumbled and collapsed to the ground, clearly frightened.
Despite their fear, they bit their lips hard, afraid of angering Marco and suffering the same fate.
However, the screams lasted only about ten seconds before abruptly ceasing. The sounds of cracking bones and tearing skin echoed from within the light.
The golden light suddenly flared, then was instantly absorbed back in. Gradually, a completely different, naked adult male appeared before Marco and the others.
He was a tall and slender man, his muscles perfectly proportioned. He seemed to be about a head shorter than Marco. He had milky-white skin and the Targaryen's signature silver hair.
His pointed ears indicated his unique race. He exuded an aura of natural peace and harmony, completely contradicting the bloody, violent birth they had just witnessed.
The eye that had been blinded was now normal, and his wine-red eyes were filled with wisdom. A wine-red birthmark on his cheek and chin resembled a red crow.
"My respected master, Brynden Rivers, pays his respects! Thank you for granting me new life. I will become the sword in your hand, and destroy all enemies!"
The man knelt on one knee, his right hand over his chest, and shouted to Marco.