[This offspring's aptitude is: Grade 3 aptitude, aptitude direction: Warrior.]
[Bloodline Feedback is activating....]
[Bloodline Feedback activation complete. You have received the following rewards: one year of cultivation experience, your aptitude has increased by one-tenth, Bronze-level skill: Steel Body, Bronze-level skill: Rapid Healing.]
Grade 3 aptitude is not considered good. But in this small borderland, Grade 3 aptitude is already considered a decent powerhouse.
After all, even Bennett, a Stage 4 Knight, could become the Clan Leader of a large family.
Therefore, Lane did not feel any dissatisfaction that this offspring did not inherit too much of his aptitude.
On the contrary, the skills feedback from this offspring were quite effective combat skills.
Steel Body and Rapid Healing are both passive skills that only warriors can learn. However, under the power of The Breeder's Gift Bloodline Feedback, Lane, this Knight, actually mastered them and used them with ease.
This power was indeed somewhat terrifying.
"How is this possible." On the other side, Bennett muttered to himself: "This recovery ability and resistance to strikes can only be possessed by warriors. This is Steel Body, a warrior's skill. Who are you really?"
"Dual profession? No no no, you don't even have a warrior's heart. How could you learn a warrior's skill? Impossible!"
Bennett screamed hysterically, as if he had fallen into deep self-doubt.
"Want to know?" Lane smiled calmly, with no intention of explaining to Bennett: "Ask in the netherworld."
"Quick Slash!"
The knight's longsword in his hand slashed straight out, rushing towards Bennett's body. Bennett, who was deeply entrenched in self-doubt, could not dodge this terrifying strike and was instantly killed.
Lane's mouth curled into a smile. He instinctively felt that his Quick Slash ability was becoming more proficient.
Don't look at this offspring giving him only one year of cultivation experience due to being Grade 3 aptitude. But this one year of experience was not inferior compared to the previous three years.
The reason was simple. The cultivation experience feedback by The Breeder's Gift was a year of intensive training for all abilities Lane had mastered. This was a comprehensive enhancement. Not only Quick Slash, but even Knight's Protection, or the two new abilities Steel Body and Rapid Healing, also improved within this one year of cultivation experience.
This was also the reason why he dared to withstand Bennett's Flame Shot.
This meant that the more abilities Lane mastered, the more rewards the cultivation experience feedback would give. Whether it was cultivation experience or additional abilities, Lane needed to continue marrying and having children. This was the most powerful ability of The Breeder's Gift.
"Many children, much happiness, Many children, much happiness."
Lane thought with a smile, turning his head to look at Selena beside him.
At this moment, Selena had already ended the battle. The ground was covered with the corpses of the Slave-hunting group. Even the corpse of that unnamed Stage 3 warrior lay on the ground, full of fear.
Thieves are the most suitable basic profession for assassination. With Shadow Magic, they can attack from any shadow, any corner unnoticed by others.
Bennett and the Stage 4 warrior leader's deaths left the unnamed Stage 3 warrior trembling in fear. In a moment of distraction, he lost focus during the fight with the thief. Even this brief lapse was extremely fatal.
Thus, he died under Selena's assassination.
After the four strongest individuals all met their demise, the Slave-hunting group, consisting only of Stage 1 and Stage 2 members, were naturally no match for Selena. Even if they tried to flee, it was difficult to escape Selena's assassination.
Therefore, after just a short while, the vast area was left with only Selena and Lane.
Lane paid no attention to the bloodstains on the ground. He picked up the knight's longsword and slashed through the large locks on each prisoner cart, releasing the Nightblade Clan elves confined inside.
Their faces were full of panic. Although they had no physical wounds, their eyes were filled with exhaustion and fatigue.
Seeing this, Lane understood the reason.
Elves are a naturally magical race, inherently attuned to magic. Though it was unknown how Bennett's Slave-hunting group captured these elves, it was unlikely to be through direct confrontation.
After all, just at a glance, there were dozens of Stage 3 elves in the prisoner carts, and even one or two Stage 4 Transcendents. This scale was absolutely not something the Iron Guard Clan could handle through brute force.
The Iron Guard Clan must have used some sinister scheme to control these elves. They did not resist, not because of cowardice, but due to the dark blue glowing shackles on their wrists.
[Anti-Magic Stone].
This could be considered a specialty of the empire. The material was not particularly hard, but it was a significant tool against Transcendents. Except for warriors, all other Transcendents needed to communicate with magic to use their extraordinary abilities. In other words, without magic replenishment, they could not use their abilities and would gradually weaken, even becoming weaker than ordinary humans.
The function of Anti-Magic Stone was precisely this. It could block the communication between Transcendents and magic. With sufficient Anti-Magic Stones, even the strongest Transcendent could only be like fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.
Lane counted the number of elf prisoners in the carts, which was roughly several hundred. This quantity of Anti-Magic Stones was not something a small Iron Guard Clan could produce. After pondering for a moment, Lane could not draw any conclusions, so he didn't think much about it. He just helped Selena unlock the shackles of the elf prisoners one by one.
Months of imprisonment made these elves harbor great malice towards humans. If not for Selena's persuasion beside him, Lane would likely first face the anger of these elves.
He shrugged, knowing that the elves' feelings stemmed from their imprisonment by the Iron Guard Clan. It was normal for them not to feel kindly towards humans. But seeing such a large number, Lane vaguely had an unpleasant thought.
"Could Selena turn her back on us?"
Lane rubbed his chin. Although he was somewhat worried, his face showed no emotion.
However, after Selena confirmed the status of all the elves, she suddenly knelt on one knee, regardless of the bloodstains on the ground, and spoke softly to Lane.
"Lord Lane·Berk, Nightblade Clan is willing to serve you!"
...
On the way back.
Lane walked ahead, his face full of contemplation.
Nightblade Clan's sudden allegiance left him momentarily confused. His relationship with Selena was just a transaction. Now, their sudden allegiance left Lane puzzled.
When something is abnormal, there must be a reason.
He perked up his ears and silently listened to the elves chattering behind him.
"Clan Leader, are we really going to serve a human?"
An elderly elf bit his lip, looking at Lane's broad back, his eyes filled with hatred.
Although they knew the human in front of them was not their enemy and had instead saved the Nightblade Tribe, prolonged imprisonment made them instinctively resist humans.
Moreover, their Clan Leader had sworn allegiance to this human.
Selena sighed: "We have lost the protection of the Ancient Tree of Life. To replant the Ancient Tree of Life, we need to rest and recuperate. We need a safe place."
"Lord Lane... is a good person."
As she spoke, as if thinking of something, a sudden blush appeared on her face.
"Humans are cunning creatures skilled in deception!" A small elf protested: "If it weren't for those humans poisoning our water source, would we have been captured!"
"Even the Ancient Tree of Life was destroyed by those humans!"
Speaking of this, the elf gritted his teeth, his face full of hatred.
The Ancient Tree of Life was the most important and cherished spiritual reliance of the elves. The destruction of the Ancient Tree of Life was not just about being unable to connect with other elf tribes.
"Lord Lane is different." Selena sighed, hesitating for a long time before continuing: "Do you remember... the legend that has been passed down in the elf race?"
Upon hearing this, all the elves showed expressions of surprise and doubt on their faces.
"Lord Selena, are you talking about him?"