A white-winged, bird-shaped magical pet slowly descended with a long-awaited letter.
"It's finally here?"
The contents of the letter were quite simple. There were only two lines: "It's done. The official invitation is included. Come early."
The letter was a reply from my old classmate, Kaid. I definitely had to go to the Mage Country's Cloud Tower, but I had to pay attention to how I would get there. Going by myself and being invited to the Mage Country's Cloud Tower were two completely different things.
That was why I wrote Kaid a letter not long ago and asked him to help me communicate with him. I revealed some information so that the Mage Country's Cloud Tower would officially send me an invitation.
There were some things that I would need to discuss with the Truth Overseers. However, not only were there old friends, there were also many mortal enemies who wanted to kill me. It was necessary to have the identity of a diplomatic envoy in order to have an equal (peaceful) communication platform.
Not only that, the identity of a diplomatic envoy was real. The wood spirits and the Forest of Dreams were definitely going to establish diplomatic relations with the Mage Country. Not only that, the envoy was an old acquaintance of mine.
"Rosa, why are you the one going? What about your older sister? "
"She doesn't want to go, so she left it to me. My younger sister Jill is the same. She said that we shouldn't look for her unless there's a war. "
I thought back to Samantha and Jill. Samantha cherished money like gold and had a poisonous tongue, while Jill seemed to be a battle maniac. Neither of them were suitable to be diplomatic envoys. In fact, little Rosa, who always had a smile on her face, was the most suitable one.
When I first arrived here, Rosa was the one who personally received me. Her pure and cheerful smile was indeed a treasure of diplomacy, especially since all the people I came into contact with were old virgins … old antiques. It was quite obvious that old things had an instinctive love … love for young girls. This was a major advantage for me.
I could already imagine what sort of commotion Rosa and the wood spirit would cause when they appeared on the streets of the Cloud Tower. Rosa's cute appearance, as well as the fact that an elder would have a preference for younger girls, was a normal aesthetic concept for any intelligent species.
Not only that, their birth would easily win the favor of the mages — Amelia's daughters.
No matter if the wood spirits were the creations of the famous archmage Amelia of the Cloud Tower (in every sense of the word), or if they were simply the first intelligent species to be created by a mage in history, the wood spirits would always be loved and adored by the mages. Of course, the fact that they all appeared to be cute and lively little girls was also a bonus. For certain groups of people, this would be a huge bonus … What was wrong with being a pervert?! A perpetually young wife is the dream of all men!
Cough, even if we ignored all these emotional factors and only considered national benefits, the Mage Country would not only want to establish diplomatic relations with the wood spirits, they would even want to form an alliance with them.
Although the wood spirits didn't have a large population, they were a new species that consisted entirely of Silver Species. Both their current power level and future potential were astonishing. With the Holy War right around the corner, how could they possibly refuse such a powerful ally?
Of course, it was possible that the wood spirits would also have the ambition to spy on the Truth Overseers. Not every Truth Overseer would only pursue the secrets of magic. In that case, it would be the wood spirits' turn to display sufficient power.
That was why I wasn't in a rush at all. The wood spirits' first appearance in this world would be incredibly important. Rather than hurriedly showing up and causing others to look down on them, it would be better to arrogantly show up late and leave a lasting impression.
The wood spirits also had the potential to catch the attention of the world. They were a rare Silver Species.
This was no longer the ancient era when Silver Species were common. In this era of Iron, which belonged to mortals, humans with the Iron Bloodline were the true masters of the world.
The number of Silver Species in the world could be counted on one hand. The most common ones were probably the four major Superior Elves. However, the Superior Elves were basically royalty and nobles of the various Kingdom of the Elves, so their numbers were incredibly low. The only species that were relatively numerous were the dark elves, but they had weaknesses such as being afraid of light. Not only that, after the dark elves had fallen from night elves to dark elves, their racial abilities were overly focused on the mage job class, making them less suited to the other classes. Some people believed that the wood spirits could only be considered a relatively strong Bronze Bloodline.
All wood spirits were Silver Species, and in the Forest of Dreams, they were Upper Silver. In fact, they could even reach the Lower Gold rank with the help of magical plants and strengthened outer shells. This was my judgment of the wood spirits' potential, and Aillé agreed with my judgment.
That was to say, in terms of the average potential of their species, the wood spirits were already at the peak of all species in the world. Perhaps this wasn't obvious enough, but it was quite easy to see just how terrifying the wood spirits were when compared to the other species' basic stats.
"Standard beastman berserker template. Strength: 15, Agility: 8, Constitution: 12, Intelligence: 8. Main stat: Strength. Racial talent: Berserk."
Only beastmen, a powerful combat species, could obtain the evaluation of a Bronze Species. Their racial talents were also overly focused on strength. More than 90% of beastmen could only choose melee combat job classes.
"Standard human warrior template. Strength: 12, Agility: 8, Constitution: 10, Intelligence: 10. Main stat: Strength. Racial talent: none."
This was an even more pitiful standard human template. The only advantage they had was that their racial talents weren't too obvious. They could choose any job class and wouldn't be limited by their racial talents. However, their future development would depend entirely on themselves. Ordinary humans had no bloodline at all.
As for the Silver Species, it was quite ridiculous.
Most people viewed the beastmen, Northlands barbarians, dwarves, and wild elves with the Bronze Bloodline as the limit of powerful combat species. However, there was actually another Silver Bloodline in the world that had always been overlooked, but was actually quite common: the giants.
The most common mountain and forest giants would reach a height of five to ten meters upon reaching adulthood. They would be considered a mid-Silver-ranked species. Meanwhile, the stronger subspecies of the giants, such as the Frost Giants and Flame Giants, would all be at the upper-Silver-ranked species. The strongest subspecies of the giants, such as the Cloud Giants and Lava Giants, would all possess the racial talent of being able to control the elements upon reaching adulthood. They were also quite intelligent due to their natural talent in both magic and martial arts. They were a Gold Species capable of wrestling with dragons.
Of course, there was also a tremendous difference in power level between the various dragon subspecies. The weakest White Dragon would only be capable of melee combat before becoming an Immemorial Dragon. Their intelligence was no different from that of wild beasts. They were famous for being weak among the Gold Species. Meanwhile, the strongest Dragons, such as the Gold Dragons and Red Dragons, would easily be capable of killing three White Dragons of the same age. Rainbow Dragons, Power Dragons, Time Dragons, and other Legend-ranked dragons would be existences that even the Gods would have to be careful when dealing with them.
The strongest of the giants, the Titan Giants, were said to be the creators of all giants. They were far weaker than ordinary giants … Nobody would object if the Titan Giants were given the title of Double Diamond Bloodline. That was because the strongest of the Titan Giants were capable of slaying Gods. Fortunately, this world had long since stopped seeing the Titan Giants. Of course, the Legend-ranked Dragons, which were equivalent to the Titan Giants, were also virtually nonexistent.
According to historical records, the giants who rebelled against the Gods during the Immemorial Stone War were cursed by the God of Wisdom, Kasotiago, to lose their intelligence. Naturally, they also lost all hope. The remaining giants who still possessed intelligence would usually hide away in some snowy mountain or the depths of magma … But I knew that as the Holy War continued, these giants wouldn't dare to be lonely.
"Standard Mountain Giant warrior model. Strength: 19, Agility: 10, Constitution: 20, Intelligence: 3 (10). Main stat: Strength. Racial Talents: Earth Affinity, High-speed Regeneration, Stoneskin Armor, Earthquake (rare), Curse of Mental Retardation (negative)."
From this, it could be seen that if it wasn't for the fact that the Titan Giants had such low intelligence, their racial talents would be more than enough to crush all other species. The main reason why the Titan Giants had always been treated as easy opponents, with two or three Silver-ranked adventurers being able to easily defeat them was because their intelligence was far too low. Not only would it be easy for the Titan Giants to fall into all sorts of traps, it would also be impossible for them to improve their own abilities through job training.
If the Titan Giants could easily train in all sorts of martial arts, it was likely that an adult Titan Warrior would be able to easily defeat a human Gold rank. A Titan Sword Saint would be able to easily defeat a Dragonslayer. Dragons wouldn't have been able to suppress the Aichy Giants with only their racial talents.
By the way, I should mention that at a certain "historical moment", the Fallen Titan Giants returned the Titan Giants' lost intelligence, making the Titan Giants incredibly frightening. That expansion pack was called "The Attack of 1.6 Meters … Giants."
Cough, I seem to have accidentally made fun of something again. Anyway, the Wood Spirits were also a Silver Species, so they didn't have the Titan Giants' natural weaknesses. Their stats were also ridiculously high.
[Standard Wood Spirit Model. Strength: 16, Agility: 14, Constitution: 12, Intelligence: 14. Racial Talents: [Soul Connection], [Devour Evolution], [Iron Heart], [Wrath Incarnation], [Plant Communication], [Forest Penetration] (Merging with the trees), [Eternal Soul] (Limited to the Forest of Dreams)]
As Amelia's species, their seemingly weak and petite bodies had combat talents comparable to the Titan Giants. Their relatively high Intelligence and spiritual power would allow them to easily become mages. Their average basic stats would allow them to choose their own path in the future just like humans.
Even though the invitation letter was already in my hands, I wasn't in any hurry at all. We had the right to be late, and it would be far more effective to keep them in suspense.
"There's no rush. Let's help them build their foundations first."
Amelia's first gift to the Wood Spirits was the Virtue of Modesty. She gave them the ability to learn and evolve. They could improve themselves through job classes and discover their own potential. Although this wasn't listed as a racial talent, it was the most important gift.
But soon, I discovered that although their Strength and Agility stats were quite high, and their martial arts talent wasn't bad, they weren't suited for melee job classes.
The reason? Actually, it was quite easy to understand. It was because they were 1.6 meters … no, 1.2 meters tall!
"Um, although I'm embarrassed to say this, it's best if you don't learn how to wield swords like others. If you really want to fight in melee, you can actually consider strengthening your outer shells. "
That's right, a tall and sturdy body would always be a natural talent for practicing martial arts. The Wood Spirits' short stature was a super fatal weakness for melee job classes. When both sides slashed at each other, the Beastman Sword Saint's Whirlwind Slash could kill a hundred people in one go. A Titan's Whirlwind Slash could create a true windstorm that could easily kill a thousand people. A Wood Spirit Sword Saint's Whirlwind Slash could cover a radius of three meters. It was likely that her short legs wouldn't be able to catch up to her even if all her opponents ran away.
However, Amelia seemed to have already considered this point. Her magical plants and strengthened outer shells were doubtlessly excellent substitutes for melee job classes. The wood spirits wouldn't lack melee job classes in the future.
On the other hand, the Wood Spirits were quite talented in magic. Mages were an astonishing 1% of the wood spirits. Back in the day, the Mage Country had even established a branch base in the Elemental Planes in order to find potential mages. If the Mage Country discovered the wood spirits' outstanding talent in magic, they would probably go crazy.
However, the Wood Spirits were most suited for jobs related to the forest and nature. This was especially true for Druil's Nature Divine Arts and the wood elves' nature magic. They seemed to be naturally suited for working as Druil and nature priests.
Eaglestorm was overjoyed to meet so many good seedlings all at once. He busied himself with spreading his teachings all day long.
But soon, I couldn't stand it anymore. I found an opportunity to stop him and viciously beat him up.
"You taught them that 'the safety of the forest is more important than humans, and humans are the pests of the world.' That's fine with me tolerating the words of terrorists. After all, such words are quite popular among the Wood Spirits, so they're not completely wrong. But you actually dared to teach the Wild Bull Faction that they don't wear any clothes? Do you really want to watch these little fellows run around naked in the forest so much? Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"
"But that's our teachings. Didn't you say that as long as you don't violate the law, you can have freedom of religion? No, absolutely not! I'd rather have my head cut off and my blood flow, but my teachings won't change! "
Eaglestorm's face was swollen and bruised, but he still persisted in his beliefs.
"Fine, freedom. Anyone can teach them. I'll have Kolos teach them. No matter what, she's a Great Storm Druil, and she's not any weaker than you."
I acted like I was about to leave, but I was actually forcing him to give in. Based on my understanding of Kolos, her Great Storm Druil was an elven inheritance. Her main talent was probably to summon storms. The Druil hadn't learned any of the truly powerful Nature and Transformation Divine Arts. Meanwhile, Eaglestorm was a master in both Transformation and Nature Divine Arts.
"No, no, I'll change it. How about I change it to 'Wood spirits are the children of nature, and plants are a part of their physical bodies. Wearing nature's leaves and vines as cover doesn't count as wearing clothes.'"
This time, it was my turn to be astonished. This devout believer of mine actually changed his teachings so easily?
"You're not afraid that the other members of the Wild Bull Faction will make trouble for you?"
"They won't. I'm one of the founders of the Wild Bull Faction, and I'm now a Great Druil of the Wild Bull Faction."
"… Then why don't you just change the human Druil's ban on wearing clothes? That way, it'll be much easier for you to recruit new members."
"Absolutely not! That's the reason why I created the 'Wild Druil Sulfur Mountain Faction Alliance!' It's precisely because I wanted to be openly naked that I had a falling out with the other Great Druil! Heads can be cut off, blood can flow, but clothes can't be worn! "
I didn't know what to say anymore. So the so-called discord between the factions and the conflict of beliefs was all because of this guy's selfish desires!
"… When it's just you guys, do whatever you want. But if you have to be naked in front of the little ones, or even teach them to be naked together, I'll, I'll …"
Gentlemen (perverts) were all people who didn't fear death. I thought about it for quite a while, but I still couldn't think of what they were afraid of. In the end, I asked in a testing manner.
"Are you afraid of becoming an animal and being locked up together with Beifeng?"
"Ha, Beifeng has been playing together with magical plants recently. I think he's been chasing after a three-headed man-eating flower for the past two days. As long as he has a target, he'll be very single-minded for a short period of time. What do we have to be afraid of?"
I didn't know what to say anymore. I was even wondering why I hadn't heard any complaints about Beifeng despite how cute the wood spirits were. So it turned out that Beifeng had found a new hobby and invented a new way of playing. As expected, Beifeng's world was something that normal people like us couldn't understand. Also, Eaglestorm had such a deep understanding of Beifeng. As expected of Gentlemen (perverts), it was indeed possible for them to understand each other. As expected of prison buddies who had stayed together in Sulfur Mountain City to pick up soap.
"I keep feeling like I've been scammed again …"
"… I remember that you Druil can also transform into a tree, right? It seems that as long as you imitate and get close to a creature to a certain degree, you'll be able to learn how to transform. I've noticed that you've been interacting with man-eating flowers recently as well … "
"Please don't! I'll do as you say! "
Alright then, the Great Druil finally surrendered. However, I was still hesitating whether or not I should toss Beifeng out to feed to the undead so that he wouldn't lead the little ones astray. However, Beifeng soon gave me a pleasant surprise.
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