"Did Big Sister say something? I didn't quite understand..." Orion turned his head back and asked in confusion.
Eric took the opportunity to ask, "Orion, do you not know the Celestia language? Or have you heard anyone in your village speak this language?"
Orion thought for a while and then shook his head, "Sorry, Big Brother, I haven't heard of such... language, neither have I heard anyone speak like this. I am sorry, I didn't understand anything that Big Sister said..."
Eric smiled warmly, "Then don't worry; while we follow you, I will explain your situation to these Big Sisters."
Orion nodded and started jogging to guide the tall humans to his village.
Eric turned and answered Livy's previous questions, "I learnt this language, 'Avis,' from the Town Library's book in the past. Apparently, 'Avis' used to be spoken by a few villages in this region a long time ago, but no one speaks this tongue anymore."
Lyria and Livy were amazed that Eric had learnt this ancient language and could even speak it fluently. They nodded back in understanding.
Eric then continued explaining his conversation with Orion to both Lyria and Livy, and soon both girls understood what was going on.
Lyria thought a little, then requested, "Brother Eric, can you teach me this language?"
Livy hesitantly nodded. She wasn't too interested in learning these things, which would barely be of any use to them ever, but if Eric was teaching, then she would definitely learn.
Eric shrugged. He didn't mind and started teaching.
It was not that much of a difficult language, and with both their intelligence, they would quickly grasp it.
Orion took the trio through the forest. After running around in a roundabout way, they all finally arrived in front of a village which was enveloped in mist and surrounded by tall trees. Only the eastern side of the village had a clear open field, and the entrance gate was also situated there.
As they arrived closer to the village, Eric, Lyria, and Livy noticed the walls were broken in multiple places and looked extremely old and worn out.
The houses that were visible seemed to have been built of wood and were in terrible shape, almost as if it had been ages since they were tended to.
All three found the village extremely strange.
Since people were still living there, why didn't they fix the walls or the buildings?
Eric was feeling an extremely weird vibe from the entire place. It almost looked like an abandoned village—in fact, this village looked much older and more worn out than any other empty villages or hamlets they had passed by so far, almost as if it had been many decades since this village was tended to.
Yet he could clearly hear some loud clamor of noises from the people beyond the gate, so it was clearly not abandoned.
They followed Orion and walked in through the dilapidated gate.
After passing two blocks, they noticed a crowd of people had gathered together in an empty location that seemed like a village square.
Villagers wearing tattered clothes were currently loudly conversing among themselves while a few pointed towards the sole girl at the front of the crowd.
The girl was barely four and a half feet tall, with shoulder-length black hair, and looked no older than 15 or 16.
Everyone, including the girl, wore clothes that were clearly patched together from their meager resources. The fabrics were rough and worn, the seams showing signs of constant repair.
However, what blew Eric, Lyria, and Livy's minds was that there were five late-stage Rank 1 Mana Wielders in this worn-down village!
These five were standing a little away from the sole girl. They were the main focus of most of the villagers.
These five were wearing proper white robes that covered their entire bodies, leaving their heads uncovered. All five looked almost the same, as if they were siblings born at the same time. They had feminine features, but among the five, the one in the middle was the only female, as her chest was protruding; the rest had flat chests but slender figures like females.
As soon as Orion noticed the sole girl, he dashed towards her while crying out, "Sister..."
The moment they united, they hugged each other tightly and started weeping together.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy were not too surprised, as they guessed the girl was probably Orion's sister. Their focus was still on the five.
They felt that if these five had proper map, they could easily conquer the 'prosperous' Ringwood Town, as Ringwood Town mostly had early-stage Rank 1 Warriors.
It was amazing, but the question that bugged them was why there were five late-stages and not a single mid- or early-stage among such a crowd of 100 to 200 people.
Mana Wielders invariably released their abnormal presence, so they were easily noticeable even within a crowd—unless they were intentionally hiding or experts in stealth, which was clearly not the case here.
The moment Eric, Lyria, and Livy appeared, all five late-stage Rank 1 Mana Wielders' heads snapped towards their direction at the same time, which felt quite eerie to the trio.
The crowd also stopped their clamor and followed their Elders' gaze, towards the uninvited foreigners in confusion.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy frowned internally.
They were quite confused by the five Mana Wielders' presence. They didn't know how or where, but all five's presence was very weird and cold. They couldn't put their finger on how it was different from others, as they lacked the experience to judge, but they felt all five had an air that was very different from any other Mana Wielders they had come across so far.
They looked extremely weird. Their sickly pale faces and long, loose black hair stood out. Their facial features were also quite different from the other villagers.
All five Mana Wielders' expressions changed as soon as they noticed Eric, Lyria, and Livy. One of the androgynous figures' expressions turned stormy. Before they could rage out, the one beside them patted their shoulder, and they calmed down and kept silent.
The woman at the center of the four inquired, "Outsiders, why have you come to our village?" Her voice was calm, tranquil, and sweet.
Eric glanced at Orion, who had already reunited with his sister, and spoke unhurriedly, "Hmm... I heard someone named Mila is in trouble. Since Orion asked for my help, we came."
As soon as Eric said the word 'help,' all the villagers' expressions changed. Some frowned while most of them glared unwelcomingly towards Eric.
Eric was speechless. Just what did Mila do to receive this much hate and isolation?
The four androgynous Mana Wielders frowned but didn't say anything. The woman continued, "Do you know how much this sacrifice means for our village? Or are you going to sacrifice yourself for her?"
Eric glanced around at the silent crowd, then at the four 'Elders,' and then back at the woman. He grinned, "I will decide that later, but what are you sacrificing her for? Dinner for tonight?"
"Y-You bastard!"
"How dare you speak such words in such a perilous and urgent situation?!"
"We should send this outsider to sacrifice!"
"Y-Yeah!"
All the villagers got fired up and started denouncing Eric.
Mila was frightened and hugged her brother Orion tightly.
Eric was surprised. These villagers, though poorly dressed and starving, had quite a good amount of inner strength when it came to 'sacrificing' someone.
The pale-faced woman raised her hand, and the crowd instantly turned silent. She then turned towards Eric with a weird smile, which he understood as 'approval.'
"No. There is a dangerous beast in a certain cave some distance away from our village which demands live sacrifice on certain days, and we must provide it, or else everyone here will die," she informed with a gentle tone.
"Is it a Rank 2 Mana Beast?" Eric asked while trying to sound as little unenthusiastic as possible,
The woman shook her head and sighed softly, "No, it's an Elder-stage Rank 1."
Eric breathed a sigh of relief internally. At least this woman understood what a Mana Beast was and how to differentiate them.
Mana Beasts of each Rank were divided into: Newborn, Young, Adult, and finally Elder.
Newborn, in a sense, was at an early stage or had recently made progress. For example, a Rank 1 Mana Beast becoming a Rank 2 would be at the Newborn stage of Rank 2.
A Mana Beast only had hopes to progress to the next Rank until they were at the Adult stage. The moment they hit the Elder stage, their difficulty to evolve further became near impossible. Only a very few could make that jump at the Elder stage with some extreme luck or with some heavenly or legendary treasures. Thus, 99% of the Elder stage died on the same Rank without being able to ever progress further.
The differences between each stage of the same Rank were massive for a Mana Beast compared to Mana Wielders' minor ranks.
A 'Young'-stage Mana Beast was theoretically three times stronger than a Newborn. An Adult was similarly three times stronger than a Young-stage beast, and an Elder was weaker than a Newborn of the next Rank—far weaker, but still far stronger than its previous Adult stage.
That was how they were gauged 'theoretically'. As they progressed through stages, not only did their stats increase, but also their size. In short, they were more than just three times stronger than the previous stage.
That was why, to take down an Elder-stage Rank 2 Beast, a Rank 4 Mana Wielder was generally needed. It might even require multiple, depending on how capable the Master Rank was against that particular type of Mana Beast. Apprentice Ranks could also assist—if they could withstand the beast's pressure.
Eric judged that this woman wasn't lying. Elder-stage beasts were typically like actual elders—they rarely engaged in combat or caused chaos. They usually sought quiet places to spend their remaining days peacefully, surviving either by abstaining from food entirely or by hunting weak prey until natural death.
Thus, it was entirely plausible that this Elder-stage Rank 1 Mana Beast had claimed this human settlement as its livestock reserve for its final days.
However, there was something glaringly off about the situation.
Though an Elder-stage Rank 1 Mana Beast was formidable, five late-stage Rank 1 Mana Wielders could theoretically drive it away with coordinated effort—or sacrifice. So why were they sacrificing their own villagers?
Eric inquired with a strange tone: "You five are all late-stage Rank 1—is it truly so difficult to repel an Elder Rank 1?"
Suddenly, all five glared at him with venomous hatred, as if he'd rubbed salt into open wounds. Even the woman's tone sharpened with annoyance: "Outsider, that's how it is. If you think you can handle it, be our guest." The four androgynous figures beside her stiffened in surprise.
She offered no explanation to them, silently awaiting Eric's response.
Eric nodded without hesitation. He couldn't wait any longer. He deeply feared this Elder-stage's elderly instinct might trigger, making it realize someone was after its old ass, thus, prompting it to flee.
He quickly asked for directions: "Alright, point me to where this Elder-stage Rank 1 is."
The woman frowned. She hadn't expected these foreigners—all mid-stage Rank 1—to be so eager to challenge an Elder-stage. It was suicidal. But this worked perfectly in their favor. She nodded, then shook her head. "You all need to wait until sunset."
After saying this, she turned and walked toward the sole "proper" building in the distance.
Eric was displeased. He didn't want to wait! What was the point? Most mana beasts had some degree of night vision regardless of type. Thus, it wouldn't even count as an ambush; instead, they would be in danger.
After a moment of thought, he shrugged. It didn't matter as they had their torches.
And night was barely an hour away anyway.
The villagers remained bitter. Many snorted, scoffed, and shot grudging looks at Eric, Lyria, and Livy before dispersing toward their shabby houses.