Ch.73 Sacred Lands
Eridel finally looked at the 3rd species that was allowed access to this Sacred Land. And unsurprisingly, they were a group of Humans. In this World, due to the great amount of dexterity, agility and gracefulness that a Human was able to employ, they were used as valuable Servants that all the Beast Lords tried to obtain.
It got to a point that the more powerful Beast Kings used them as a show of authority, some conversation amongst the more shameless Beast Kings went something like:
‘You see my servants? They’re great right?... No I’m not boasting, I just wanted to talk to you about the effort I spent in obtaining them!... No, not I’m actually helping you! One day you might find a group of Humans like I did and I can show you how to capture them. I mean, even though it was quite easy for me, it might be hard for… hey, where are you going?!’
Eridel wasn’t surprised that the Humans were treated like this because they were essentially powerless. Their only good ability was the ability to escape but even then they still ended up being enslaved on a daily basis. However, things will not always be like this…
Eridel briefly thought about 2 special individuals in the North Continent before refocusing back on the Sacred Land.
A Sacred Land was a Land blessed by Essence and always affected the area around it based on the primary Essence in the territory. For example, if the majority of the Essence here was Fire Energy, then many of the Herbs and maybe even some of the Trees would gain Fire Affinities. On top of that, the Magic Stones produced in this area would also be packed with Fire Energy instead of Magical Energy and would have at least 10 times the effect on individuals with the corresponding Mana Affinity.
Normally, such spectacular locations like this would be very, very hard to form and even rarer to see. You certainly would never see one in a World that had only had Magical Energy for 127 years but here it was; A complete and undeniable Sacred Land.
However, Eridel was not delusional. He knew it wasn’t because of anything special on his part and he wasn’t about to get pompous. The true benefactor of this Sacred Land was actually Jörma, the territory owner herself.
As previously mentioned, when an Owner of a territory was strong enough, his presence would begin to permeate into the territory. When this happened, the territory would give off an almost imperceptible aura and faint smell that was reminiscent of the Owner, usually acting as a deterrent to predators with keener instincts.
But it was deeper than that.
When the owner gained power that was finally capable of affecting the World (For now, Realm 4 Power), the faint Magical Energy that they released during cultivation no longer dissipated into the atmosphere. Now, it would assimilate and ‘corrupt’ the Magical Energy in the environment. Slowly yes, but surely.
The longer they stayed, the bigger the effect on their domain. Magic Stones, Magic Herbs and even the weaker Magic Trees would gain the affinities of the new Magical Energy in the environment.
On top of that, the density, quality and quantity of the Magical Energy would all rise exponentially, regardless of whether the Magical Energy gained a new affinity or not. And this is what we call a Sacred Land.
Unfortunately for Jörma’s Sacred Land, there was no special affinity to be found. This was because even though Jörma was amazingly talented, she herself didn’t have any special affinity at all. Even with the [Evil Eye of Petrification] and the [Sky Devouring Bloodline], Her Mana was formed from regular Magical Energy and not much would change that.
But despite a lack of an affinity she was still very powerful. Back when she had to help Drako in the war with the Dragons, it was the acquisition of the Evil Eye that she found in this very land that was keeping her so busy. The land was already high in Magical Energy so when she broke through to the 4th Realm, her presence was able to quickly turn it into a Sacred Land.
Eridel could think of a few more Sacred Lands that would probably start popping up soon and one of the more interesting ones was the Western Forest owned by the Dragon Clan. Despite the Crystal Dragon King being the newest Enlightened Beast there, he was definitely the strongest and could be considered the owner of the territory.
However, there were other Enlightened Beasts in the territory and just because they weren’t the main owners didn’t mean they didn’t have any effect. The amalgamation of their individual affinities would make the Sacred Land even more precious than others and the products produced would be various and amazing.
But the Crystal Dragon King was the main Owner in the end so his Crystal and Fire Affinities would be a lot more prevalent.
Eridel was filled with glee at such prospects, but he soon thought of one particular individual and his mind almost lagged.
‘The Abomination Of The North…’
Eridel felt like facepalming.
The Abomination Of The North whilst sealed was still very much alive, or as alive as something harbouring Undeath Essence could be at least. He should be more than capable of making his own Sacred Land and the thought caused Eridel to feel… fear.
Never in his entire 2 lives had something he had created caused him fear but apparently there really was a first time for everything. Even when he was a mere mortal back on Earth and he was up close and personal with all manners of dangerous things he created, he had never felt like this.
‘Damn… This Abomination is really amazing. Hahaha~’
Eridel laughed but he was still worried. What… What the hell would happen if an Abomination like that was able to form a Sacred Land? It terrified him because if things went out of control it might end up being too late, but it also excited him at the same time. He really, really wanted to know.
Eridel focused on a certain area in the Western Region of the North Continent where all those Undead Trees were and zoomed in a little bit to find the sealed Abomination laying flaccid in an underground cavern.
And it was awake.
But of course Eridel knew that, he sealed its powers and mobility, not its consciousness. But yes, the Abomination’s presence was freely pervading a large expanse of land, prompting unknown changes that Eridel had no clue about.
‘Wow…’ Eridel thought as he gazed at the Abomination with a hint of awe.
Eridel backed up his point of focus and found his attention on the Forest of Death, or rather, the Forest filled with the Trees of Death.