Chapter 1926: Full of Malice

In fact, the arrival of the gods was beneficial for him, the new Shaman; originally, he was about to be sent into the forest to fend for himself according to tribal tradition, but now he was able to remain in the tribe.

And it was not just him; in order to pass on Wisdom and experience, the tribe also had new arrangements for other elders, no longer sending them away uniformly, but considering providing support at corresponding levels based on their achievements in their youth.

The tribe's hunting ability was limited, and the number of elders they could support was also limited, but this was still far better than in the past.

"What do you want to know?" the Shaman asked.

"I want to know why those long-eared gods descended upon our Wild Boar Skin tribe, and why they killed the old Shaman?"

"The reason behind this question can be answered in a single sentence; even if you didn't ask, the Patriarch would tell you all in a few days, but since you have asked now, I will tell you."

The Shaman weighed his words, then truly said only one sentence: "The gods do not allow the tribe to come into contact with forbidden Witchcraft!"

"Forbidden Witchcraft? Could it be—"

"Yes, you guessed right; the forbidden Witchcraft the gods speak of refers to our Shaman Witchcraft, and it is not just our Wild Boar Skin tribe—all the nearby tribes suffered the same treatment within the same day."

"Not allowed to come into contact with Shaman Witchcraft? Why? Why would the gods do this?" Xia Duo felt very puzzled by this.

But he had a faint suspicion in his heart; perhaps it was a fear that humans would rise and overwhelm the Elves, but the problem was, the Langasi were not even fully civilized yet and were still in a semi-primitive state—was it necessary to lock down the possibility of Magic development so thoroughly?

Or was it that some kind of change had occurred within the Elves, making them believe that humans would be a threat, yet the threat was not great enough to warrant immediately wiping humans out?

Why on earth was it?

Although the new Shaman was not versed in Spellcasting, his life experience and Wisdom were perhaps no less than the previous Shaman's; he only let out a faint, lingering sigh and said meaningfully:

"Perhaps even those as strong as the gods have things they worry about and fear!"

"Does the Shaman think the gods are afraid of us?"

"I do not know; the realm of the gods is far beyond what I can imagine, and no one can predict what the future holds. But do not forget, the gods not only killed the Shaman who mastered Witchcraft, but also demanded that the tribe hand over anyone who awakens Shamanic talent in the future; future Shamans may be nothing more than a title!"

The Shaman said in a low tone; although the outcome of this matter was currently favorable to him, for the entire tribe and even the entire race, it was hard to say.

"Do the gods have any other requirements?" Xia Duo asked again.

"No."

The Shaman shook his head, "In fact, if you set aside the forbidden Witchcraft, the gods may have done even more for us."

"What have they done for us?"

"The gods have demarcated land for our survival and reproduction, and they have banished the large wild beasts from it for us. Haven't you noticed that the tribe hasn't hunted any large wild beasts in the last year or two?"

"The last year or two?"

He hurriedly searched through the memories of Halaer and discovered that indeed, no large wild beasts had been hunted in the last year or two, and not even traces of large wild beast activity had been found in the wild.

"Is this being kept in captivity?" Xia Duo thought to himself.

At this moment, he suddenly felt that the Elves were much darker than he had imagined; if wiping out the Shamanic heritage was destroying the future of humanity, then keeping them in captivity was shackling the present of humanity.

It really was a comprehensive targeting of humanity!

Thinking of this, Xia Duo wanted even more to know what had happened in the Elf World and why it had caused history to deviate so significantly.

One must know that in the Main Plane, the Elves initially had no malice toward humans; for instance, the Netherese were originally brought to the door of Magic entirely by the Eaerlann Elves.

Although from Xia Duo's perspective, he felt the Elves might have wanted to use this to control human Magic development and were cultivating humans as vassals, from the Elves' perspective, they might not necessarily have thought so.

The initial idea might have been very pure, perhaps just to help humans become civilized. It was only later, when humans became strong and developed the intention to break free, that the Elves' attitude changed.

But in this Projection Plane, the Elves wiped out the Shamanic heritage of the Langas Tribe right from the start, and subsequently did not allow individuals with awakened Spellcasting abilities to appear—this should have nothing to do with helping!

It was pure, unadulterated malice!

"Is it the Arcane Energy Elves, or the Demon Descendant Elves, or the Dragon Madness Mythallar, or even the fault of the Drow?"

The variables were always just those few; the key was how it evolved into the current state. Xia Duo knew the answer to this question could not be obtained from the Shaman, and he could only head to the Elf World to find the answer.

Thus, he soon bid farewell to the Shaman and found an excuse to enter the forest alone.

……

Xia Duo prepared to head to Evereska; compared to other Elf nations, he trusted Evereska more. Of course, the main reason was that the Mythallar Permission of "Asuosi," the avatar he had initially assumed, had not been handed over.

As long as he could restore his Spellcasting ability, he could use it immediately. As for what kind of shock the sudden activation of that Original Permission would cause, that was beyond his control.

In any case, he was not prepared to stay long; exhaustion was urging him to return at every moment.

……

In the forest, Xia Duo dragged his exhausted body, bracing himself and refusing to let himself stop. At the beginning, he had relied on the robust physique of his avatar "Halaer" to move quickly through the forest.

Having experienced an Elf body, he could truly appreciate how cumbersome a human body was. By the second day of his journey, he felt waves of physical fatigue that were no less intense than the mental exhaustion.

This was not the worst of it; because he could not use Magic, he could only rely on experience and intuition to judge his current location. If no accidents occurred, he might be able to find Evereska in a month or so.

But—in this life, how could there possibly be no accidents!

Perhaps it was because the gods had set up Magic in the forest when they descended, but as Xia Duo walked, he found himself lost; he repeatedly encountered the marks he had carved on trees as road signs.

In other words, if he did not make any changes, or if he were just an ordinary Langasi Warrior, he might never be able to walk out of this nameless forest that the Elves had likely designated as a "farm."

But Xia Duo was, at his core, a Spellcaster proficient in Magic; although he had temporarily lost his Spellcasting ability, his Knowledge would not diminish by even half.

He knew well that Magic was not omnipotent; as long as one found the right method, it was possible to counter Magic even without Spellcasting ability.

Like now, what Xia Duo encountered was a Jieti similar to a "ghost beating the wall"; even spells that altered space would leave flaws, but breaking through a spell that altered space was too difficult.

Therefore, Xia Duo placed his hope in mental spells; he felt that the spells the Elves had set up here might only be intended to influence the consciousness of sentient beings, after all, the targets were merely ordinary humans who had lost their Magic.

Even if there were a few who slipped through the net, they could be killed with a wave of the hand, so why spend so much time and energy on spells that alter space?

As for what the truth actually was, he would know after a simple test.