Chapter 83: My Rights
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Christian was knowledgeable in terms of magic, but no one knew about everything, including Christian. Judging from the magic surges from Christian, he had tried various ways to test the reaction of the red stone with the strange carving, but the result was disappointing. Anfey had waited long for Christian, then finally he smiled. He did not sneer at Christian. It was just a smile.
"It is different than what I thought." Christian felt awkward and passed the red stone back to Anfey. "As far as I know, shelter is a treasure bestowed by Beast God to immediate relatives of ancient orcs. There were seven shelters. Most of them were with wolf orcs, bear orcs, and leopard orcs. I do not know how these orcs got one. In other words, shelter is a portable magic transmission portal and has a fixed coordinate in the magic world.
"Fixed coordinate in the magic world? Does it mean we will be sent to the same place every time we use the shelter?" Anfey asked.
"You are right." Christian nodded. "It is said that all the shelters are connected. If one shelter can help transport someone to the Stone Forest in the Forest of Death, then there must be another shelter that starts from Stone Forest."
"According to what you said, another shelter’s destination should be here. Am I right?" Anfey asked.
"Something like that." Christian thought for a while and said, "But, all of these are legends. Maybe the truth will be slightly different than legends."
"You do not know how to use this shelter, do you?" Anfey asked.
"I could not find the magic conjunction point. The shelters were bestowed by Beast God to orcs. I am not an alchemist. I do not know what tricks this shelter can do." Christian smiled bitterly.
Anfey laid his eyes on the orcs below. "I’ll ask one last question. Who knows how to use this shelter?"
Orcs used to zealously answer Anfey’s questions, but they hesitated to answer when they heard this one. They looked each other, but no one was willing to answer it.
Anfey thought to himself, "If these orc did not know how to use the shelter, shouldn’t they have looked confused or disappointed instead of hesitating?" Anfey raised his voice and asked, "This is the last question. If anyone can answer it, you will have freedom. If no one can answer it, besides the few who already earned their freedom, the rest will be killed. It’s your choice."
"Master, would you really give us freedom?" A female orc asked timidly.
"I have said that I have a good reputation for keeping my word," Anfey said.
"Master, to start using the shelter, you have to dedicate sacrificial offerings on the full moon, then the Beast God would come down for his blessings," the female orc said.
"Sacrificial offerings? What kind of sacrificial offerings?" Anfey asked.
The female orc answered, "You have to dig out a girl’s, oh, no, I meant an unmarried female orc’s heart, and put this red stone back into her body. This ritual has to start three days before the full moon. You need change a female orc every day until the full moon. As long as the shelter can absorb enough blood, it will start on its own."
Hui Wei suddenly interrupted. "Do you want go to the Forest of Death? I suggest you do not."
"Why not?" Anfey asked flatly.
"Because it took almost everything for me to escape from there. I do not want to go back there ever again. It was not a good place to be," Hui Wei said.
"Anfey, Forest of Death was not a good place indeed." Christian shook his head. "Do you…Do you really want to go there?"
"It is a magic beast forest, right? It should be similar to Forest Clarm, isn’t it?" Anfey asked.
"Definitely not similar. Forest Clarm is just over a thousand miles wide, while Forest of Death is…I am not sure since no one has measured it, but it should be over ten times the size of Forest Clarm. We only met a few wyverns, manticores and unicorns in Forest Clarm. In Forest of Death, these senior magic beasts are everywhere. There are supreme magic beasts as well. I do not mean the ones evolved from senior magic beasts. I mean the real supreme magic beasts. I would not be surprised to see a couple or even more than ten manticores that had died in their cave. It is common in the Forest of Death," Christian said seriously.
"Forest of Death, Wild Prairie and White Bone Mountain are the most dangerous places on the Pan Continent. Forest of Death shares a border with Wild Prairie, while White Bone Mountain is in the north of Pan Continent."
Suzanna jump back onto the stage. She looked as serious as Christian. She said, "Anfey, if we go to Forest of Death, there will be too many unpredictable dangers; hundreds of Magic Wolves, packs of Flash Leopards, and waves of Magic Ants and junior and senior magic Killer Wasps with natural immune systems, a furious mammoth that can crush magic beasts and humans with one stomp, and other supreme magic beats. No matter which one we encounter, it would kill all of us."
"Anfey, do you know about Entos? He is also a student of the professor, just older than us. The professor asked him to get training in Forest of Death after he became a senior magister. Well, I am not qualified to go there for training."
"Are you students of Archmage Saul?" Hui Wei suddenly interrupted. It was obvious he had heard the name Entos. "It is ridiculous that you could not see humans as dangerous, but only see the danger from magic beasts?"
"Can you tell us what we were ignorant about?" Anfey sounded like he did not see Hui Wei’s sarcasm and wanted to learn from him with patience.
"Forest of Death is a place without laws. As long as you are strong, you can rob and kill anyone you like. Besides some powerful mercenaries who have been digging gold in the Forest of Death and some powerful men wandering in it, you will never be able to know the identities of others in the Forest of Death. A bloody, evil slaughterer who robbed others could be a polite archmage or an honorable master swordsman outside the forest. Only in the Forest of Death will you see their dark side that they’ve been trying to cover. It’s a pity that you will only be able to see their true colors when you are about to die; by then it will be too late." Hui Wei sneered. "It looks like you are pretty good, a senior swordsman, a junior magister, hmmm, not bad. However, I bet you would not live more than ten days in the Forest of Death."
"Are you trying to scare me?" Anfey smiled. It was believable that powerful men robbed and killed others in the Forest of Death. It was also possible that some humans had killed others for their own benefit. However, Hui Wei exaggerated how dangerous Forest of Death was. He made it sound like it was a tomb for humankind. If it was really as Hui Wei said, why would Saul send Entos to get training there? Wouldn’t that be like sending him to die? Hui Wei also said there were some mercenaries searching for gold in the Forest of Death, which obviously showed that the Forest of Death gave them more benefits than dangers, otherwise no one would be willing to stay in the dangerous forest.
"You…Fine. If you want to die over there, then you can take your people and go. I am not going to that damn place." Hui Wei’s face was purple.
"Don’t talk bulls#*t. You are our captive. No matter where we go, you have to go with us, unless you can tell us how to start the Antimagic Terra."
Hui Wei turned his head to the side. He did not want to look at Anfey anymore.
"Anfey, what he said makes some sense. Forest of Death is located right among Ellisen Empire, Shansa Empire and Mercenary Empire. There has not been any law over there. It was not like Forest Clarm, which belongs to Maho Empire. It was almost burned to the ground in the Hundred Year Saint Battle, so there are neither many magic beasts left nor many people going there for training," Christian said.
"Do you know why these orcs came here? Because they wanted to leave Forest of Death," Hui Wei interrupted again. It looked like he really did not want to go back to Forest of Death.
"Anfey." Suzanna wanted to say something as well.
"There are a couple of days before the full moon. We do not have to worry yet. We have time to talk about it." Anfey waved his hand and said, "We have to think about what to do with these orcs."
"What to do with these orcs? Anfey, didn’t you promise to free them?" Christian asked in surprise.
"Hahaha, don’t worry. I am not going to hurt them. I just need them do something for me." Anfey thought a little bit and asked quietly, "Christian, would orcs like gold coins?"
"Of course." Christian smiled.
"Humans are so hostile towards orcs that I thought they would have no way to spend them," Anfey said.
"They can trade gold coins with other orc tribes. Gold coins are the currency on Pan Continent. They would work any place on the Pan Continent. Even if humans do not sell them goods, they still can find agents to shop for them. When those wolf orcs and bear orcs reach a certain level, they can transform into humans to wander in the human world. They need gold coins as well. Even those spirits want to accumulate gold coins. Gold coins will not be unhelpful at any time," Christian answered.
Anfey now had some idea how gold coins work. He stood on the stage and glanced at the orcs below him. Anfey had agreed to free them, but Zubin and Sante still blocked the exit of the cave. No orc was trying to test Anfey to see if they could leave. They curled up against the cave, tensely whispering to each other.
"You have your freedom now. You are going to have two options. One is to leave and the other one is to stay and work for me. If you want to leave now, I will not stop you." Anfey took out a handful of gold coins from his dimensional ring and tossed them underneath the stage. "If you are willing to work for me, you can get a gold coin. It’s just a deposit. You will be paid more later on."
Orcs were all shocked, since they were considered the lowest level among other living beings on Pan Continent. Even female elf slaves had a higher position than orcs. People could at least appreciate their beauty, while nobody liked the orcs’ ugly face. In other words, no one even wanted to have them as slaves. They had never had any experience of working for anyone.
Christian walked quietly to Anfey and whispered, "Anfey, are you trying to win them over to your side with gold coins? It is not going to happen. Don’t forget how many orcs we have killed."
"I know. I only need them work for me for a few days," Anfey said with a smile.
"Master, are you really giving these gold coins to us?" A female orc shouted out.
"Of course, but I need you think carefully before you agree to work for me. It is not going to be an easy job. You have to work very hard, but at the same time I will pay you very highly as well. You will be happy with the pay," Anfey said.
"Master, I do not mind hard work." The female orc actually felt relaxed when she heard she only needed to work hard. She ran to the gold coins, picked up one immediately and put it carefully in her pocket.
"God, for the sake of Beast God, please look at them. They have given up their beliefs and self-esteem to work for a killer. My greatest Beast God, please come down…" Suzanna kicked on the orc chief’s chest before he could finish his words. Blood sprayed out from his mouth. It looked like he had died.
The orcs had wanted to come forward to get gold coins. After they heard the orc chief’s comment, they just stood there and looked at each other. They even showed Anfey a look of mixed feelings. The female orc took out the gold coin from her pocket and tossed it on the ground.
"We came here for a reason. As some of you know, you attacked us yesterday, but failed. I swear to the great Bright God, I have never looked down upon orcs. I think all living things should live happily together. I have my own principles though. No matter who tries to hurt me or my friends, I would give them no quarter," Anfey said.
"Was it my fault?" Anfey continued. "No! You attacked me first. I have every right to take revenge. I know I am a killer in your eyes. Those soldiers in your tribe are killers as well. They attacked us in surprise without any legitimate reason. It was their fault, not mine."
"Ok, I have said enough. If you want to work for me, you can stay. If not, you can leave now," Anfey said flatly.
The orcs looked less tense. Anfey’s reasoning was easy to understand for the orcs who have struggled to fight for food with other magic beasts. It was like they were attacking magic beasts for food. Some of them had died in the fight. This was the rule of nature.