Tanya answered almost every question Allen was interested in, filling her in on every one.
"The current dean of our Warlock Academy, Mr. Randolph, is a 'Storm Warlock.'"
"His cultivation level is said to have reached the late fifth stage, making him one of the strongest fighters in the entire South Island Federation!"
"And the two vice-deans, Russell of the Nature School and Ganesha of the Violence School, also have early fifth-stage cultivation."
After hearing her senior sister's introduction, Allen understood clearly: these three deans represented the three most powerful families in the South Island Federation!
The South Island Federation comprises thousands of affiliated island states.
Each autonomous state occupies at least one sizable island with a population of at least ten thousand.
In such a large yet loosely organized federation, most of the power and resources are divided among the three aforementioned families.
Below these powerful families are many smaller, vassal families.
My senior sister's family is a vassal of Vice-Dean Ganesha's family.
The instructors in each department under the dean all hailed from various sorcerer families, large and small.
The Warlock Academy was, in reality, a place of fame and fortune, where the major families competed openly and covertly.
Disciples from non-aristocratic families faced a polarized situation within the academy.
Those with ordinary talents and bloodlines were not valued, treated as inferiors by the aristocratic children and dismissed with disdain.
Those with superior bloodlines or exceptional talents were recruited by the warlock families.
Those who married into the family or married into the family family served as a source of enrichment for the family's bloodline.
From the larger population base of the common people, talented new blood was continuously discovered and drawn to nourish the wealthy families.
This was precisely the original intention of the major families to unite and establish the Warlock Academy!
Those gifted students from the common people who chose to join a particular family also became the target of their rival families' attacks.
Countless open and covert struggles erupted as a result. As long as they weren't caught, the school turned a blind eye and condoned the private feuds between the children of the major families.
Many children of commoners became pathetic victims in the feuds between the aristocratic families.
The reason why Allen kept a low profile.
The reason why he persuaded his senior sister to invest in the winery.
Thus tying the interests of her family to his own.
It was all about surviving in the brutal warlock academy and avoiding becoming cannon fodder.
…
Meditation World.
Snow Valley.
Smoke filled the air, blood flowed everywhere.
Alan was defeated.
A terrible defeat.
His defeat was by a woman named Agrippina.
To be more precise, she was a female half-green dragon ogre.
After dozens of fierce rounds of fighting.
Alan's physical and magical strength were on the verge of exhaustion.
The half-dragon, half-demon monster across from him was still full of energy, attacking frantically.
It left him stretched thin, exhausted from defending himself.
He couldn't find a chance to fight back.
After holding on until the very end, Alan finally showed a flaw.
The witch, quick-witted and swift-handed, cut in from the center.
The massive dragon claw, accompanied by a howling gust of wind, struck Alan's chest firmly.
BANG!
A muffled thud sent a sharp pain through Alan's chest.
He couldn't help but spit out a large mouthful of blood!
He fell awkwardly to the snow.
The world spun before his eyes. His consciousness gradually faded...
In his semi-conscious state, he heard Agrippina burst into laughter, exclaiming how satisfying the fight had been.
"Hahaha! That blue-skinned boy is quite good!"
"He held out against me for a full twenty minutes, putting up a fierce resistance!"
"I just love these kind of fierce young men!"
"Don't kill him!"
"Give him a solitary cell!"
"Find a witch doctor and heal him!"
"Wait until he's revived, clean him up, and bring him to my room!"
...
It had been a full year since Allen and the four sisters arrived in the Snow Mountain Tribe.
Times of peace are always so fleeting.
This winter, the smoke of war returned.
The ambitious green dragon Kroshir.
Not content with conquering the Iron Stomach Clan, he dispatched a massive army of dragonmen to invade the Snow Mountain Tribe. Agrippina, the commander of the Dragon Legion, is the half-sister of Augustine, the new leader of the Iron Stomach Clan.
It's said that her strength is no less than Augustine's!
Alan's combat experience proves the rumors true.
Agrippina possesses the terrifying talents of both a green dragon and an ogre.
This female demon possesses brute strength, surpassing even Allen's.
She's covered in dragon scales, invulnerable to swords and spears.
She also possesses level 4 poison resistance!
This perfectly counters Allen's poison demon specialty.
The strongest poison Allen possesses is a level 4 poison derived from the breath of a lesser green dragon.
Unfortunately, this poison is ineffective against Agrippina.
Agrippina herself can spit out lesser dragon breath.
His strongest poison technique was completely suppressed.
His physique and strength were completely suppressed.
Alan had managed to hold on for so long, relying on his superb martial arts.
Ultimately, they were defeated and captured.
The battle ended in a crushing defeat for the Snow Mountain Tribe.
Though the resistance wasn't over yet, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Snow Mountain Tribe's surrender was only a matter of time.
Most of the Snow Mountain Ogres' elite, including their former foremost warrior, Meat Mountain, and Alan, the rising star who had defeated Meat Mountain, were taken captive.
Few men remained in the tribe.
Could they expect a group of elderly, weak, women, and children to resist the ferocious dragon-men army?
The Snow Mountain Tribe's leader, an elderly ogre matriarch, had already come to terms with the harsh reality.
Their current resistance was merely a means of gaining a better bargaining chip.
…
Same night, different moods.
A gloomy mood pervaded the Snow Mountain Tribe.
A celebratory banquet was being held at the Dragon People camp outside the valley.
Agrippina made an appearance at the banquet.
Half-drunk, she left early and returned to her tent.
She had left the other soldiers and hurried back to her tent because she had just received good news from the witch doctor.
The blue-skinned boy she had captured alive on the battlefield was surprisingly strong.
After suffering such a severe injury, he recovered in just two days of rest.
Agrippina was delighted.
She rewarded the witch doctor with a barrel of wine and said with a wild laugh:
"Hahahaha! I can't wait to enjoy this feast! Serve it up!"
Alan glanced at her and turned his face away.
A female ogre, half green dragon.
She was tall and chubby, barely tolerable.
However, her skin covered in tough scales, and that ugly lizard-like face...
Alan couldn't praise her at all!