"Lord Bai Luo?"
"It's nothing."
Seeing Red Leaf look at him curiously, Bai Luo gave the charming fox-eared girl a smile, telling her not to worry.
The group trekked through the mountains. There was no direct path between Xiawu Village and Yaohu Village; they had to cross mountains and ridges to get there.
Bai Luo initially worried that the girls were too young and might not be able to keep up.
However, he had clearly overthought it.
The beastmen in this world had excellent physical constitutions; even without considering magic enhancement, they were generally two to three times stronger than humans.
They stopped once along the way to rest.
Carrying the village's remaining supplies, they quickly replenished their energy and then set off again without further delay.
Watching the girls, who had been traveling for half a day and were still gritting their teeth and persevering, Bai Luo felt a pang of heartache for their thoughtfulness.
Yaohu Village was very far from Xiawu Village; it would take at least another half a day to reach their destination.
There was no other way, so Bai Luo had to find an open spot for the girls.
Then, one by one, the beast-eared girls skillfully took out materials from their backpacks, and under Red Leaf's command, quickly constructed a tent large enough to accommodate everyone.
This scene left Bai Luo utterly astonished.
"We beastmen often go hunting in the mountains, so we learn how to live in the mountains from a young age."
Living off the land was quite common among beastmen; even children knew how to do it.
The spot they chose for camping was near a stream and sheltered by a large tree, making it quite pleasant if they weren't in the midst of fleeing.
"Brother Bai Luo, Chun and Qiu found fish in the river!"
The black and white cat-girls, like two adorable furballs, happily ran to Bai Luo, reporting their discovery.
Bai Luo originally wanted to say that it was too cold and dangerous to go into the water.
He subconsciously projected his understanding of children from Blue Star onto the beast-eared girls.
However, Red Leaf stated that beastmen were natural hunters and there was no need to worry about such things.
Moreover, the two cat-girls often caught shrimp and fish in the water, and they were very skilled at it.
"Alright then."
Bai Luo sighed, considering the differences between the two worlds, and could only admonish them: "Be careful."
"Yay~~~"
Granted permission, the two adorable cat-girls happily ran off to catch fish.
The wolf-girl and dog-girl in the group voluntarily stood guard for everyone. Their noses were incredibly sensitive, no less keen than actual wolves or dogs.
The remaining young girls, only five or six years old, also did what they could.
They gathered firewood, filled water skins from the stream, and cleaned bowls and chopsticks, making Bai Luo marvel at the beastwomen's domesticity.
After happily enjoying a meal of fish soup personally cooked by Red Leaf, Bai Luo and the others entered the tent to recover from the fatigue of a day's journey through the mountains.
At night, Bai Luo opened his eyes.
Around him were the adorable sounds of the girls' breathing; they were sleeping soundly, clearly exhausted.
"System, check-in."
Bai Luo opened the system and performed his eighth day's check-in.
[Check-in successful. Congratulations on obtaining 'SR Enhancement Card' x1]
"SR Enhancement Card?!"
Bai Luo hadn't expected his luck to be so good, managing to draw an SR card with a single pull without any guaranteed pity.
"Too bad I don't have any attributes that need boosting right now."
"And I'm still 9 SR Enhancement Cards short of synthesizing an SSR."
Bai Luo originally thought this, but when he opened his attribute list, he discovered a strange symbol.
[Bai Luo]
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Abilities: Magic Growth SR (Can be enhanced), Magic Control SR (Can be enhanced)
Held Items: R-grade Enhancement Card x4, SR Enhancement Card x1
Overall Rating: Seven-figure (Early Stage)
Current Draw Chance: 1 / 30 (30th draw guarantees SSR)
"Can be enhanced?"
Bai Luo was a bit confused. He focused his attention on 'Magic Growth,' and the system immediately popped up an option box.
[Do you want to consume 1 SR Enhancement Card to increase Magic Control level?]
"Consume an SR Enhancement Card to increase Magic Growth level?"
Bai Luo pondered these words for a long time, and finally made a decision.
"Enhance!"
It was just one SR Enhancement Card anyway; since he couldn't use it now, he might as well try adding points and testing this new function of the system.
And so, very quickly, Bai Luo saw the Magic Growth attribute change.
From its original Magic Growth SR, it became Magic Growth (SR+1).
It was at the moment this information appeared that Bai Luo felt his already incredibly vast magic within him once again receive a significant boost.
"This?!"
Bai Luo didn't make a sound. Using his SR-level Magic Control, he forcibly suppressed the surge of magic.
"Double!!"
"My magic has increased by a full double!!"
Bai Luo was incredibly shocked. He hadn't expected that the SR+1 obtained by consuming one SR Enhancement Card could directly double the original amount.
Not only that, Bai Luo also received a piece of information.
That was, when he consumed an SSR Enhancement Card on his current Magic Growth, the system would return an SR Enhancement Card.
Yes, SR rarity skills, in addition to being directly enhanced with SSR Enhancement Cards, could also gradually approach SSR level by consuming SR cards.
Similarly, if Bai Luo later obtained new SR Enhancement Cards and consumed them, for example, +2, +3, +9.
When using an SSR Enhancement Card, it would still return 2, 3, and 9 cards respectively.
Of course, an SR skill at +9 could also be upgraded to SSR quality by throwing in one more SR Enhancement Card.
However, this final step from SR to SSR would result in a more exaggerated enhancement ratio than all previous additions combined.
So, in a sense, +1 to +9 was more like buying a fund.
The Enhancement Cards didn't disappear; they simply accompanied Bai Luo in another form.
"This mechanism is pretty good, quite user-friendly!"
Bai Luo was very satisfied with this operation by the system, because this way, the SR Enhancement Cards accumulated in Bai Luo's hands would have a use.
The only pity was those R cards.
Because R rarity skills couldn't have enhancements like R+1, R+3.
"However, R-grade Enhancement Cards have a higher drop rate, and accumulating ten for synthesis wouldn't take much time."
"But this magic amplification rate, isn't it a bit too exaggerated?"
Bai Luo had considered the strength difference between SR and SSR, but he hadn't expected the gap between them to be so immense.
SR+1 was 2 times SR, from which two possible strengths for SR+9 could be inferred.
The first kind would be 10 times SR.
After that, SR+9 to SSR would undergo another qualitative change, thus fitting the prestige of SSR.
The other kind, however, was somewhat terrifying.
"Exponential explosion!"
"If each enhancement doubles the previous amount, then SR+9 would be more than 500 times SR."
Due to a lack of information, Bai Luo temporarily couldn't determine which one it was: "I'll have to wait for another SR Enhancement Card; I'll know once I add it."
As for the increased magic.
SR-level control was already sufficient to handle the current surging magic.
Rather, this greatly increased Bai Luo's endurance.
After all, Magic Growth brought not only magic capacity but also magic recovery speed and faster growth speed.
"Although today's check-in didn't yield an SSR, the SR was still incredibly lucky."
With this joy, Bai Luo embraced Red Leaf's silver-gray fox tail, which was like a blanket, covering himself with it: "Becoming stronger means I can survive better in this world."
"Hmm..."
Red Leaf noticed Bai Luo's action.
But she didn't refuse; instead, she thoughtfully relaxed her body, making her tail even fluffier and softer.
The beast-eared girls had long noticed Bai Luo's fondness for their ears and tails.
Although they didn't quite understand it.
To be able to gain Bai Luo's affection was, of course, the best possible outcome.
The only thing that made Red Leaf feel helpless was that Bai Luo's affection for them did not involve any romantic desires.
"Alas."
"What's wrong?"
Hearing Hongye sigh, Bai Luo thought she was worried about Yaohu Village, but he didn't know that Hongye was doubting her own charm.
The Silver Fox girl wondered why Bai Luo could remain unmoved when she was confident in her looks and had a delicate body.
Beastmen are different from humans.
The more dangerous and desperate the situation, the stronger their desire to procreate becomes.
For a female Beastman like Hongye, who had already become a young woman,
With her family destroyed and everyone dead, at her most sorrowful, she suddenly encountered a hero like Bai Luo who descended from the heavens. How could she resist?
Especially the affinity Bai Luo displayed, which was extremely rare among Beastmen.
There was no doubt that if Bai Luo were to do anything to Hongye at this moment, with all these factors combined, the Silver Fox girl would absolutely not refuse.
Even if there were children nearby, it wasn't good to do such things.
But you could at least touch her!
Hongye was already pressing so close, where couldn't Bai Luo touch?
"Don't worry, I won't abandon you all."
However, Bai Luo didn't know Hongye's inner thoughts. He only thought she was worried about Yaohu Village.
"Mm."
What else could Hongye say? She could only force a smile.
The better Bai Luo treated them, the more enchanted Hongye became with him, even as she was moved.
'Xiawu Village, Yaohu Village, and the conspiracy behind the West-East Tribe.'
In the face of absolute strength, Bai Luo had no need to worry: 'At worst, I'll just crush them!'
Originally, Bai Luo thought so.
However, the next day, when Bai Luo brought the Beast-eared girls to the forest outside Yaohu Village, the scene before him once again exceeded his expectations.
"Didn't we just run all this way for nothing?"
Bai Luo looked at the village, engulfed in flames.
Snowflakes fluttered, corpses lay strewn across the ground, and black smoke billowed, a replica of the scene outside Xiawu Village.
"It's on fire!"
"Why is this happening?"
The scene at Yaohu Village stimulated the girls, reminding them of the massacre that occurred three days ago.
"Something isn't right."
Bai Luo didn't rush to act. It wasn't that he was afraid, but the feedback from his Magic Perception was strange: "The invaders are not the black-clad individuals we encountered before; they are normal Beastmen."
In other words, the attackers of Yaohu Village were not the black-clad individuals, but another group of Beastmen.
So, this was an internal war among Beastmen?
"Lord Bai Luo?"
Hongye looked at Bai Luo, anxious inside, but didn't know how to speak.
If it were the same situation as Xiawu Village, Bai Luo would have acted without Hongye needing to ask.
But the problem was, this looked like a war had broken out between Beastmen.
War has no good or evil.
Moreover,
"It's too late."
His powerful Magic Perception allowed Bai Luo to see the distant scene clearly without needing his eyes.
He divided the living people in the village into two groups: invaders and resistors.
The resistors were few, while the invaders still numbered at least several hundred.
Undoubtedly, Yaohu Village had lost.
"Alas."
Bai Luo sighed. He found that the people of this world seemed particularly brutal.
The Beastmen invading Yaohu Village had a clear objective: to kill everyone.
Elders, women, children—no one was spared, exactly like the black-clad swordsmen Bai Luo had encountered before.
The current situation was like a tribal conflict between villages in ancient times, fighting over water sources.
There was no good or evil; there was only the struggle for survival.
"But even so, isn't it a bit too much?"
Bai Luo's former moral compass made it difficult for him to accept such slaughter.
At least, the children as young as the Beast-eared girls were innocent.
"You all stay here. I'll go check and look for survivors from Yaohu Village."
"Please be careful, my Lord."
"Mm."
Bai Luo left defensive magic on the girls, then, under Hongye's grateful gaze, he rushed towards Yaohu Village.
Yaohu Village was Hongye's maternal family's home. Her mother often brought her here to visit relatives.
So at this moment, Hongye was very worried about her cousin, fearing that something might happen to her.