Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 32 – Gnolls
Humans were not the masters of this continent.
Although humans had very nearly unified the continent during the previous epoch, the powerful human civilization back then vanished like smoke one day.
After wandering about the continent, eking out a living, the remaining humans eventually took root in the present Southeastern Plain and developed a new civilization.
However, this didn’t mean humans could just sit back and relax. As rulers of the Second Epoch, humans had conquered many other races with iron-blooded methods. Hence, these races bore hatred for humans.
Fortunately, humans weren’t the only ones that suffered tremendous losses during the Great Cataclysm. The other races had similarly suffered losses and were incapable of waging large-scale wars against humans. Even so, some of the larger races would still instigate smaller races, such as the gnolls, to harass the Southeastern Plains’ borders. By doing so, they would not only get to annoy the humans but also slow down the humans’ development.
Gnolls belonged to the demihuman races and were still living in the tribal age. In terms of civilization, they were basically on par with the goblins. However, unlike the goblins, the gnolls had found themselves a good master.
The orcs residing in the Southern Hills were strange-looking fellows who did not discriminate against the gnolls. They even considered some of the gnolls’ mixed-blood shamans to be relatives of orcs. Of course, this opinion had quickly been denounced as nonsense.
It was just like how modern humans wouldn’t really think that yetis belonged to the same species. Even if the orcs didn’t discriminate against the gnolls, they wouldn’t actually treat the savage and greedy gnolls as part of their own species.
Meanwhile, the orcs had long since coveted the fertile Southeastern Plains the humans occupied. If not for the damned trolls and dwarves keeping them in check, they would’ve most likely wiped out the humans well before the humans could settle down there.
Having no intention of reconciling with the humans, the orcs would send groups of skirmishers to the Southeastern Plains’ borders for sightseeing every year.
In addition to the orcs in the south, there was a mist-shrouded forest north of the Southeastern Plains. Many civilizations existed inside the forest, and one of them was the classic forest elves. The forest elves were humanoid creatures that were proficient in longbows and unorthodox magic. Although they wouldn’t actively leave the forest and attack human settlements, the forest gradually expanded every year.
Truthfully, even Zwei’s predecessor had only traveled around the Southeastern Plains before. He had never actually left human territory. After all, he had only been a Basic Magician. If he dared visit the Southern Hills, he would only have become protein for the orcs. If he went to the Northern Forest, while the forest elves wouldn’t have treated him as food due to their obsession with hygiene, they wouldn’t have minded having additional fertilizer.
Meanwhile, this tense situation continued until the humans established their first magic academy.
Although most of the magic, alchemy, and magic technology that humans wielded during the previous epoch had been lost, what survived the Great Cataclysm was still considerable. After reorganizing and categorizing these legacies, the Holy Dragon Magic Academy, the first magic academy of the Third Epoch, officially came into existence. It was also the strongest of the three most powerful magic academies currently in existence.
Meanwhile, after the Holy Dragon Magic Academy nurtured a large number of talents, it dispatched many of them to the various countries as reinforcements. And gradually, these students started occupying high positions in those countries. By the time the countries noticed it, the Holy Dragon Magic Academy had already gained the strength to overthrow the entire human society!
For a time, the Holy Dragon Magic Academy enjoyed unrivaled glory. Meanwhile, the Horngolat Empire, which played an important role in the academy’s establishment, also grew rapidly from an unknown kingdom to the strongest powerhouse in human society!
Soon, though, some countries imitated the Horngolat Empire and established their own magic academies.
Although the Horngolat Empire actively tried to prevent this from happening, due to the orcs’ sudden invasion back then, it couldn’t take any drastic actions. And by the time the orcs retreated, the other magic academies were already thriving.
Realizing that it couldn’t continue monopolizing the magic academy industry, the Holy Dragon Magic Academy took a step back. It, together with several other magic academies, established the Seven Luminaries Mage Association back then, using another means to expand its own influence. Meanwhile, facts had proven that Holy Dragon’s decision was correct because the present-day Seven Luminaries Mage Association was now the official organization governing magicians.
If Zwei wished to establish the world’s number one magic academy, then he would have to surpass the obstacle known as the Holy Dragon Magic Academy.
He had a difficult future ahead of him. Whenever Zwei thought of this behemoth of an existence, he would always be overwhelmed by a sense of impotence.
However, it was still too soon for Zwei to worry about the Holy Dragon Magic Academy now.
“Several villagers have spotted those monsters near the village. Also, the neighboring village has been attacked by gnolls. Milord, what do you think?” the old village chief asked Zwei respectfully.
Originally, the village chief had merely been trying his luck when he asked Alyssa to seek help from Zwei. After all, compared to ordinary nobles, a lofty magician had even fewer reasons to care about the life and death of a bunch of insignificant villagers like themselves. He never thought that Zwei would actually come down the mountain and pay him a visit.
However, Zwei did not respond to the village chief’s question. Instead, he shut his eyes as he leaned back in his chair and subconsciously drummed on the table.
In the meantime, his brain was turning rapidly.
The spring harvest had yet to arrive, so it was unlikely for gnolls to come and harass humans at this time. If something abnormal occurred, someone had to be pulling strings behind the scenes. Meanwhile, since the tribal gnolls had yet to evolve to a point where they could employ strategic thinking, the mainspring behind the gnolls’ early appearance had to be the orcs.
However, why would the orcs do such a thing? If it was merely reconnaissance, the gnolls shouldn’t have appeared near this village. After all, this place was still quite a distance from the war front. Unless, of course, the orcs intended to climb the Angola Mountains and attack the human hinterlands. However, pulling off such an operation would be much more difficult than directly pushing through the Huolian Empire’s three frontier armies.
In that case, he could rule out the possibility of these gnolls being scouts. Meanwhile, since the villagers had managed to spot the gnolls, there was a high chance that the gnolls had noticed the villagers as well. Moreover, based on the village chief’s words, the gnolls had just “attacked” the neighboring village instead of “slaughtering” its villagers. In other words, the gnolls were merely trying to drive those villagers away. The gnolls’ actions were truly thought-provoking.
After thinking up to this point, Zwei opened his eyes to look at the servile village chief and the obedient Alyssa.
“Tell Alyssa where you and the neighboring village spotted the gnolls,” Zwei said as he suddenly stood up. “I’m going to make some preparations. I’ll have Alyssa show me the way later.”
Zwei’s idea was simple. Since the gnolls didn’t want people wandering around that area, they should be hiding something there. In that case, all he needed to do was head over and discover what they were hiding.
However, since he might clash with the gnolls, and it would be his first time fighting them, he decided to make some preparations first.