Chapter 112: The Hunting Ceremony
A simple and warm breakfast.
When Soren brought little Vivian downstairs, Gloria happened to come out at that moment. She glanced at the little girl beside her, her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out, just a whisper in Soren’s ear: “Vivian had another nightmare last night!”
Soren nodded silently, his face serious and silent.
This was already the third time!
As time passed, the signs of Vivian being the Demon Son became more and more obvious, and her nightmares occurred more frequently, with the intervals between the last two dreams even shorter. Although the little girl often smiled and didn’t say much, Soren knew she must have guessed something. Vivian had always been very smart since she was young; though she didn’t like to show it, she was definitely not a simple and obedient little girl. Many times, she was smarter and more perceptive than Soren, but it was not obvious due to her age.
After all, she was only eight years old.
As they descended the stairs, a halfling figure just entered through the front door, with obvious wet marks on his feet, as if he had been outside. Aladdin quietly walked over to Soren’s side, found a stool to sit down, and whispered, “The Elven Patrol was attacked last night; it seems it was the Beastmen who worship the God of the Hunt, but I couldn’t find out exactly which type of Beastmen it was. The Elven Patrol is very angry and seems to be preparing to contact other patrols to move out.”
Beastmen.
Primarily referring to humanoid creatures, such as werewolves, minotaurs, lion-headed beings, centaurs, tiger-headed beasts, goat-men, eagle-headed beings, sirens, and so on. These creatures all have significant human characteristics along with noticeable animal traits. It is said that they are the product of certain forbidden experiments during the Arcane Empire, and some have been ancient beings existing for a long time, mostly scattered in tribal groups around the world.
Another type of intelligent beings is the Orcs. They are ancestral beings like humans and do not belong to the category of Beastmen.
“The God of the Hunt, Mara?”
Soren frowned and paused for a moment before speaking in a deep voice, “Are you sure it was his followers who attacked the elves?”
Aladdin nodded firmly. “Absolutely sure.”
“Looks like we have trouble.” Soren looked up at Gloria and suddenly asked the halfling beside him, “Are we planning to set off soon? Do you intend to continue traveling with us or do you have other plans?”
Leaving so suddenly?
The halfling looked surprised at Soren, and Gloria also raised her head in astonishment.
Aladdin was still confused, but the Northern Witch glanced deeply at Soren, then nodded gently, “Yes. We’ll be setting off again soon, traveling all the way to the Frozen Kingdom.”
The halfling showed a reluctant expression and whispered, “Going that far? Isn’t it very cold there?”
The inn’s door was pushed open.
A grim-faced elven guard walked in, scanning the inside of the inn. His gaze lingered on Soren for a moment before he closed the door and left.
There are no followers of the God of the Hunt in this inn!
Soren quickly stood up, glanced at Gloria, and said, “Pack your things; we’ll depart shortly.”
The halfling clearly became conflicted.
He stood in place pondering for a long time before quietly saying, “I don’t plan to go that far. How about we part ways here? I’ll treat you to a big meal when you visit Shire next time.”
Soren smiled and replied, “Alright. You’d better not get involved in this. The followers of the God of the Hunt can be quite insane.”
Indeed.
Soren had resisted his curiosity last night and didn’t go down to join in, but the halfling couldn’t contain his curiosity and went to investigate.
They quickly decided to leave.
Vivian followed quietly behind, and Gloria did not ask further. Only the halfling remained in place, watching them leave with a somewhat regretful expression. The companions and the witch in front of him must have stories; even that little girl was not simple. Her talent was undoubtedly powerful. Although the wanderer was unclear about the wizard’s talent, the halfling could see that Vivian had excellent wizarding potential. He hesitated, glancing at the location of the temple, but ultimately remembered Soren’s warning. He did not get involved in this matter.
Soren was right. The followers of the God of the Hunt were indeed a bit crazy!
………
They walked far.
When Soren set Vivian down to rest, Gloria approached with a serious expression and said in a low voice, “Why the sudden departure?”
It seemed she had come to trust Soren quite a bit, as she only spoke up now.
Soren glanced back at the village behind him and then slowly said, “The God of the Hunt has probably also fallen asleep. As a weaker deity, once he falls asleep, his followers and priests may not be able to obtain divine techniques!”
“I estimate that this attack incident is a hunting ceremony.”
The knowledge of the Northern Witch was undoubtedly very rich. She hesitated, glancing at Soren, mumbling, “Are you suggesting that this attack might be for legendary bl**d?”
Soren silently nodded, saying gravely, “The God of the Hunt is only interested in hunting ceremonies above the legendary level.”
The God of the Hunt—Mara.
A primitive deity with weak divine power, he is also known as the King of Beasts and the Beast of Black bl**d. He is a chaotic evil deity who revels in bloodshed and merciless hunting ceremonies, drawn more strongly to more powerful hunting targets. His true form is a creature that resembles a monkey but has a grotesque face, with black fur and bl**d-red skin. His face looks somewhat like that of an orc, but is even more hideous and fierce.
Many deities are not human or humanoid; some are purely intelligent beasts.
Mara is such a deity, a rare monster that became a god for some reason. His followers are primarily evil Beastmen, hunters who enjoy hunting, bloodthirsty people, and some fallen ranger druids. He is one of the easiest deities to awaken and descend. His desire for legendary bl**d is strong, and any hunting target above legendary can attract his avatar.
Nearby, there are quite a few Beastmen tribes that worship the God of the Hunt!
Soren estimated that at least half a chance involved Beastmen conducting some kind of ceremony. In the ‘legendary bl**d’ hunting ceremony, Beastmen also hunt a large number of ordinary creatures as preparation. Mara is a very peculiar deity; he appreciates hunting powerful targets, and the stronger the prey, the more likely he is to be drawn to it. If they simply slaughter ordinary creatures, he might not even care at all.
Such legendary level hunting ceremonies can strengthen his divine power!
To please this evil deity, his followers attempt to hunt legendary-level targets periodically.
At first, it was beasts, and later, even intelligent beings were included!
The Northern Witch looked thoughtfully at the distance and lowered her voice, “Is there a Copper Dragon nearby? Could it be a target?”
Legendary creatures.
Dragons are undoubtedly the most standard legendary creatures.
Soren thought for a moment and looked at her, saying, “Slaying a dragon is not that easy; unless necessary, Mara’s followers probably wouldn’t attempt to hunt a dragon.”
Creatures of the Chaotic Evil faction are generally quite mad.
Mara’s followers are all very crazy individuals, and Soren could not determine their targets or wish to have too much interaction with them.
……
In the dense primal forest.
A completely black Werewolf leaped through the trees. This Werewolf was different from those Soren had seen before; it appeared more agile and more dangerous. Its pupils were green, darting through the forest like a phantom, often rushing past in an instant, making it hard to capture its trajectory with the n*ked eye. It wore some kind of leather armor made of black beast hide and had no visible weapons, but at the positions of its claws, there was a metallic glint; its claws had apparently been replaced with metal through some special means.
Thud!
The level of the Werewolf undetermined, it landed and glanced at the side with its green eyes, saying in a low voice, “The ceremony is about to begin. We must draw the attention of the God of the Hunt. Without the protection of the deity, our tribe will grow weaker and our prey will become fewer and fewer.”
Heavy footsteps approached.
A very sturdy and giant-looking half-bl**d orc appeared, with a fierce and ugly face showing exposed fangs. Looking at the Werewolf in front of him, he said, “The ceremony requires a legendary-level prey.”
“I know there’s a Copper Dragon nearby, but it seems we don’t have the strength to k*ll it!”
The Werewolf revealed a cruel smile, with metallic sharp teeth on the right, and spoke, “No need to hunt the dragon. I know there’s a Demon Son nearby; the bl**d of these sons will surely attract our lord’s attention more than that of a giant dragon.”
Demon Son?
The half-bl**d orc looked around. Next to it were many strange creatures; the followers of the God of the Hunt were very diverse, including humans and orcs, even intelligent beasts, and dark creatures who enjoyed killing.
The black Werewolf glanced at the others and said in a deep voice, “I have seen him demonstrate divine power, it seems he has just awakened; some of you go prepare other offerings while the rest follow me to track the prey!”
“I believe using a Demon Son as a sacrifice will surely awaken Mara’s attention again!”
Swift figures leaped out, these hunters with powers above the third tier spread out, accompanied by various strange howls, quickly dispersing into the dense forest. The Werewolf raised its metallic claws and slashed a bl**d mark across its face, droplets of bl**d cascading down the side of its face. The same was true for the other remaining creatures, as the strong half-bl**d orc made a cut on its forehead with a blade, then knelt down on one knee to begin praying, a fervent yet mad smile on its face appearing.
The hunting ceremony!
At this moment, it truly began!
……………(To be continued ~^~)
