Three minutes.
The entire village fell silent.
Over three hundred Amons corpses lay scattered in every direction.
They were strewn across the open ground at the village entrance, over the thresholds of wooden houses, beside the central well, and next to the haystacks on the back hill.
Pale green blood soaked the gravel ground, seeping into the soil and forming small puddles in the low-lying areas.
Ethan lowered his right hand.
【Current Life Energy: 9658.】
Over a thousand points of Life Energy.
And this was just a small village of about three hundred people.
How many Amons were there in Amons World?
How much Life Energy could he possibly get his hands on?
"I really need to stir things up."
Ethan flexed his fingers.
Vines erupted from the ground, dragging about twenty surviving Amons—the elderly, the weak, women, and children—out of a cellar.
The survivors were dragged out and thrown onto the open ground at the village entrance.
Their pale green skin shimmered under the sunlight, and their amber eyes were filled with terror. A wrinkled Amons elder had his ankle ensnared by a vine and was hoisted into the air, hanging upside down. His long, pointed ears turned deep green as the blood rushed to his head.
"Your tribe's warriors—how strong are they?" Ethan asked.
The elder clenched his teeth, his amber eyes glaring fixedly at Ethan.
Ethan's finger twitched.
The vine tightened, snapping the elder's ankle. His body plummeted from three meters up, his head slamming against the gravel. Pale green blood gushed from his ear canals. After a few spasms, he went still.
【Life Energy +6, Current Life Energy: 9664.】
A second Amons was hoisted up by the vines. This was an old woman, the wrinkles on her face as deep as tree bark.
"Your tribe's warriors—how strong are they?" Ethan repeated.
The old woman spat in Ethan's face. Before the pale green saliva could reach him, a vibrant green leaf dagger had already slit her throat.
【Life Energy +5, Current Life Energy: 9669.】
The third was a one-armed old man. He didn't struggle when the vines lifted him; his amber eyes scanned Ethan.
"Warriors... First-Tier Warriors," his voice was raspy. "Our tribe has thirty First-Tier Warriors and five Second-Tier Warriors."
Ethan nodded.
"And Sentinels?"
The one-armed man's eyes shifted. "Three Sentinels. They are the strongest warriors in the tribe."
"Priests?"
"No Priests. Priests only exist in the Sacred City."
These Amons had limited horizons; the information they possessed was only at this level.
Even if he continued questioning, he wouldn't be able to squeeze much more out of them.
He changed the question.
"Where did the able-bodied men of the village go?"
The one-armed man's lips trembled.
An Amons woman clutching a child suddenly shrieked, "Don't tell him! You traitor!"
A leaf dagger pierced through her brow.
The woman collapsed with her mouth still open. The child in her arms tumbled to the ground, letting out a sharp, wailing cry. Another leaf dagger followed, and the crying stopped abruptly.
【Life Energy +4, Current Life Energy: 9673.】
The one-armed man's eyes shook violently.
His amber irises reflected the two corpses and the wounds still oozing pale green blood.
Ethan tilted his head, his gaze falling on a little girl huddled next to a pile of corpses.
The girl looked no more than five or six years old, with pale green skin and long, pointed ears pressed against the sides of her head. Her large amber eyes were wide with horror.
She was curled into a ball, her thin arms tightly hugging her knees, her entire body shaking like a leaf.
Ethan's finger moved slightly. A vine as thick as a thumb drilled out of the ground and wrapped around the little girl's ankle.
The girl let out a sharp, piercing cry.
"You see, if you don't answer, she dies," Ethan's voice was calm and steady. "The old fogies are good as dead anyway, but this little thing..."
The one-armed man's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
"They were summoned!" he roared. "They were all summoned! By order of the Sacred City, all warriors, Sentinels, and Priests from every tribe have been mobilized! They are preparing to fight the enemies from the rift! They are all training! Preparing for war!"
"For how long?"
"What?" The one-armed man blinked.
"How long has the rift been there?"
"Fifty... fifty-three years."
"Heh, fifty-three years? Then how are there still children? Tell me, how often do they return?"
The one-armed man's lips quivered.
"They came back once six months ago. They stayed for three days and then left," his voice was dry. "The warriors are training in Ironwood City to the north. That is the gathering point for the seven nearby tribes."
Ethan nodded.
The vines released their grip.
The one-armed man fell to the ground, gasping for air.
"How many warriors are in Ironwood City?"
"Five... five thousand. Three thousand First-Tier Warriors, fifteen hundred Second-Tier Warriors, and fifty Sentinels," the man knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the gravel. "There are also two Priests, both sent from the Sacred City."
Five thousand warriors, fifty First-Tier lifeforms, and two Second-Tier lifeforms.
Such a force was insignificant before a War Fortress.
But for a Third-Tier Wizard Apprentice, running into them head-on was suicide.
"In which direction is Ironwood City?"
"To the north. You can see it after crossing three mountains," the one-armed man's voice grew softer and softer. "The city is in a valley, surrounded by cliffs on all sides. There is only one path in..."
Before he could finish, a leaf dagger pierced through his brow.
【Life Energy +12, Current Life Energy: 9678.】
Before the remaining dozen or so Amons could even scream, dozens of leaf daggers shot out simultaneously.
Three seconds later, the village was completely silent.
【Current Life Energy: 9764.】
"Very good. Since he said north, it's likely east, south, or west. Of course, he might have told the truth. Unfortunately, I'm naturally paranoid."
Ethan turned and began walking toward the southeast.
After two steps, he stopped.
He opened his right hand, and a pale green light surged from his palm.
One by one, vibrant green points of light drifted down, sinking into the gravel at the village entrance, the corners of the wooden houses, the edge of the well, and the haystacks on the back hill.
The moment the light points touched the ground, they merged into it, vanishing completely.
Ethan withdrew his hand and continued toward the southeast.
...
Half an hour later.
Footsteps echoed at the village entrance.
A squad of Amons warriors emerged from the forest.
There were twenty of them, each over three meters tall, their pale green skin painted with dark red war patterns.
The leading strongman had a scar stretching from his collarbone to his abdomen. His amber eyes scanned the village.
He stopped in his tracks.
"This..."
The scarred man's mouth hung open.
He saw the corpse on the tower with its eyes pierced, the bodies of his kin scattered across the village entrance, and the old man who had died in a kneeling position by the well.
"No!"
A young warrior in the squad suddenly charged forward.
He rushed to the well and scooped up the kneeling corpse.
"Father! Father!"
The young warrior's voice boomed through the valley.
Then he saw the corpse of the old woman nearby, her brow pierced by a leaf dagger.
"NO!!! MOTHER!"
The scarred man's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"Pursue them. They couldn't have gone far."
Rate on N.U.
