Chapter 49

Despite the fact that the Empire of Grin had occupied the Warsaw Plane for over two hundred years, the indigenous people of Handanar County still maintained their primitive way of life.

Here, men are destined to become hunters from the moment they are born. Starting at the age of twelve, they begin to accompany the tribal leaders on hunting expeditions. The game they catch during these hunts belongs to the entire tribe and is distributed evenly by the tribal elders upon their return.

To more effectively rule over the indigenous people of Handanar County, the Empire imposed a trade embargo on them. Items such as cloth, ironware, and grain crops are very difficult for the indigenous people to obtain, so to this day, most of them still use wooden bows and spears. Many have never tasted baked wheat cakes, and the women have never worn linen skirts, instead wearing grass skirts or simply wrapping themselves in animal hides.

Many indigenous hunters dream of owning a more refined skinning knife in their lifetime.

The buildings in the village are constructed using local materials, with trees from the forest being cut down to build wooden houses covered with thick layers of thatch. Due to the influence of the environment and climate, these wooden houses have almost no walls, with only a few pillars supporting a simple round roof.

The indigenous women spend most of their time in the wooden houses, only coming out to welcome the hunters with their children when they return from a hunt. Only at these times does the village atmosphere become more cheerful.

Recently, the indigenous people of Handanar County have been in frequent conflict with the Imperial legions, often resulting in bloodshed, and many indigenous hunters have lost their lives.

Moreover, the living conditions around Mount Gandar are extremely harsh, with rampant monsters. Every year, at least half of the population loss in the indigenous tribes is due to hunting deaths.

These reasons have led to an imbalance in the male-to-female ratio in the indigenous villages. In this village, the number of indigenous hunters is now less than fifty. The three indigenous hunters who participated in the sacrificial ceremony a few days ago have completed their final journey, and they, along with the seven other hunters who died in that battle, were buried in the forest on the opposite side of the valley.

The local indigenous custom is to bury deceased relatives near the roots of trees to prevent their souls from falling into the fiery hell.

To He Boqiang, this was a very strange custom. Based on what he saw during the sacrificial ceremony, the indigenous people here should worship a two-faced, four-armed demon god. Logically, the souls of the deceased should ascend to the god's realm, but what he saw was entirely different.

When the indigenous hunters cannot bring back enough game, the people in the village inevitably go hungry. At such times, the women will gather berries, forest mushrooms, and various edible wild vegetables around the village. Of course, they occasionally catch fish by the river, but finding a Tim fish, which is like finding a windfall, is not a common occurrence.

...

This time, Sulidak and the second squad of warriors came to the indigenous village specifically to take He Boqiang back to the camp. However, Sulidak did not expect that after hearing the news, the swordsman Baijiale would decide to come along as well.

Perhaps because He Boqiang had helped Baijiale out of a difficult situation and nearly died from a kick by the green-faced demon, Baijiale felt that he should come in person to show his gratitude.

Sulidak bought a Roman sword, two alloy bows, and a package of fine steel arrowheads from the merchant Lajin. He brought these gifts to Inoyatira, the great shaman, as a token of thanks for her careful care of He Boqiang over the past half month.

The great shaman Inoyatira accepted these gifts with an open attitude, happily receiving them and even asking Sulidak if it would be possible to bring more alloy bows next time. She was willing to trade any resources from the tribe for them. From the look on Inoyatira's face, even if Sulidak asked for one or two Handanar indigenous women, she would still be able to arrange it, as long as he could get the alloy bows made by the Empire.

When Sulidak and his group arrived at the indigenous village, they found that He Boqiang was almost fully recovered. They were impressed by Dake's remarkable healing ability, as even the most severe injuries seemed to heal quickly.

The reason He Boqiang was referred to as a "Divine Favored One" by the great shaman Inoyatira was that during the sacrificial ceremony, when Inoyatira offered the demon's head to the gods, she sensed that He Boqiang also felt the divine power when the gods descended.

People who can naturally perceive divine power are called "Divine Favored Ones" by the indigenous people of Handanar County. If an indigenous person has this ability, they are destined to become a great shaman in the tribe.

However, the swordsman Baijiale believed that the divine power mentioned by Inoyatira was actually a very rare type of holy magic element.

Warriors of the Grin Empire have the opportunity to awaken magic element powers during each level-up process, although the probability of this happening is very low, even lower than the chance of a mage being born during a magic awakening ceremony.

Of course, there are also warriors who are proficient in both magic and martial arts. The Duke of Newman has a group of magic swordsmen, and holy magic power could potentially create a magic swordsman.

According to the swordsman Baijiale, He Boqiang is a shield warrior. If he is properly trained, he has a good chance of advancing to the first rank and even the second rank.

Seeing the intense gaze of the swordsman Baijiale, He Boqiang felt a bit dizzy. He really didn't know how to refuse him.

The swordsman Baijiale sat at the entrance of the thatched hut and said to He Boqiang, who was sitting beside him, "Dake, if you're willing, I can take you back to the swordsmen's guild. You can temporarily serve as my retainer. As long as you undergo systematic training in the Constructed Swordsmen's Guild, I believe you should have no problem advancing to the first rank. Once you reach the first rank, you can choose any of the Constructed Knights' Guilds in the Bena Province."

He Boqiang glanced at Sulidak, thinking that Sulidak should step in at this moment to deflect the swordsman Baijiale's proposal.

He lowered his head and rubbed his fingers, thinking that if his entire life would be spent moving from one battlefield to another, what joy would there be in life?

However, Sulidak remained silent, sitting to the side and listening to the swordsman Baijiale's persuasion.

The warriors of the second squad looked at He Boqiang with envy, fully embodying the role of onlookers.

The swordsman Baijiale was not in a hurry for He Boqiang to make an immediate decision. Since they had already discussed this, he decided to check He Boqiang's injuries. He saw some terrifying scars on He Boqiang's arms, chest, and back, and couldn't help but frown. He asked, "But what happened to these injuries?"

To his surprise, the swordsman Baijiale actually cared about his scars. He Boqiang gestured for a long time, and with Sulidak's help, the swordsman Baijiale finally understood what He Boqiang was trying to convey.

The swordsman Baijiale leaned close to He Boqiang's ear and said, "Alright, you must have experienced a fire. These scars will have a significant impact on your future. In the future, it's unlikely that any inscriptionist will be willing to spend time drawing 'magic runes' on your body. You should know that the magic runes on your body can bring about a qualitative change for a warrior."

After saying this, he realized he shouldn't have said such things and awkwardly smiled, adding, "I seem to have strayed a bit. Having your own magic runes on your skin is something that only happens after the second rank."

"… Come with me. Staying here in the forest has no meaning for you and will affect your future development."

The swordsman Baijiale patted He Boqiang's shoulder and said earnestly.