Volume 1 Village Story Chapter 154: Breaking Through (2)

  The temple of the Shaman God is simple and primitive, with an altar in the center, surrounded by four giant totem poles over ten meters high. Each pole has complex patterns painted in red and white. The altar has a special mark of the Shaman God, while the surrounding building is the Shaman Temple. The temple made of rough logs may not have much carving, but it looks simple and mysterious. Inside the temple, the highest deity of the beastman tribe - the Shaman God - is worshipped. He has a ferocious face, wears simple clothes, with a giant snake wrapped around his left hand and holding a totem in his right hand. Many beastmen pray devoutly before the Shaman God, and the temple is constantly filled with people, showing the importance of the Shaman God in the hearts of the beastmen.

  Passing through the altar, around the temple, we came to a huge square behind the temple. The square was made of large stones that were cut and polished into blocks, each block having a width of five meters and a length of ten meters. I couldn't imagine how the beastman craftsmen completed this massive project. The temple is on top of a mountain, and it's hard to believe that such huge stones could be transported up the mountain one by one and then assembled into a large square nearly a thousand meters long and five hundred meters wide. I had to pay tribute to the beastman craftsmen who built the Shaman Temple from the bottom of my heart. Such an engineering feat would require great effort and many tools even for humans, let alone the relatively backward and simple beastman tribe.

  "Why is such a large square being built here? What's it for?" I couldn't help but ask curiously.

  Every year, each tribe of the Beastmen sends their descendants under the age of ten to be selected and tested by the Shaman God. Every year at that time, this square is filled with countless candidates. If even one person from their own tribe can become a candidate for the Shamanic priest, it's a day worth celebrating for the entire tribe. Because the Shamanic priests hold a very noble position in the empire, even major decisions of the empire need to be approved by the council composed entirely of Shamanic priests, otherwise not even the great Khan of the empire can execute them.

  So, if a shaman appears in one's own tribe, it is the greatest honor, and the treatment and status of the entire tribe in the Beastman Empire will be improved. Because shamans are extremely rare in the entire Beastman Empire, even rarer than human magicians. Every year, many people come here to wait for selection, but only one or two get recognized by the Shaman God, and some years, not even one gets recognized. And the shaman is the concrete manifestation of divine power among the Beastmen, we are the spiritual leaders of the Beastmen, without shamans, the faith of the Beastmen will have nowhere to rely on. In war, shamans also play the role of magicians and spiritual motivators. As long as there is a shaman in a Beastman army, that army is unbeatable, they will fight until the last man.

  Sa Ren said a lot in one breath, looking somewhat tired. He pointed to an altar in the middle of the square that was painted with mysterious symbols and said: "It's no use saying more, go to the center of the altar yourself, I've already had the Saman who guards the temple prepare for your ceremony."

  I followed Salen's words and walked to the center of the altar, standing quietly there. From the four corners of the square, four Shamen slowly entered, their faces painted with oil colors, wearing strange clothes that seemed to be pieced together from various colors, holding wooden totems in their hands, each Shaman's totem representing an element.

  Four shamans slowly walked to the surroundings of the altar, stood in position according to direction, and quietly started chanting a language that only they could understand. Although I couldn't comprehend the meaning of those words, I felt an abnormal fluctuation of magical elements around me. Those elements became active, but I couldn't sense their emotions; it was as if they had no emotions at all. They were activated around me in response to the shamans' voices rising and falling. To my surprise, these magical elements began to show a tendency to merge, completely overturning my understanding of magical elements!

  These magical elements gradually merged with each other, and more and more elements joined this merging trend. The magical elements gradually wrapped around my body like a pool of water, becoming thicker and thicker. The shamans' voices became more urgent and higher-pitched, the thick feeling for me also became heavier and heavier, gradually pressing down on me until I couldn't breathe.

  I suppressed my feelings, slowing down my breathing to the utmost, but I still couldn't resist that sticky feeling. I almost felt the magical elements drilling into my body from my nose, ears, eyes, mouth and even skin. Those merged magical elements permeated every pore, gradually filling my body. I slowly lost my ability to breathe, think, and felt my body being devoured and disintegrated by those merged elements. A flash of white light appeared before my eyes, and I completely lost consciousness.

  I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to, I felt the wind lightly brushing against my body, yet I couldn't hear its sound. I realized that my face was pressed against a cold, damp ground, and I could even smell the scent of soil. Where am I? I asked myself, but I couldn't make a judgment. I struggled to open my eyes, wanting to take in my surroundings, but my eyelids felt incredibly heavy. I told myself, no way, I have to open my eyes, I still need to face trials, and I still need to learn lightning magic from Salen.

  I persisted like this, and suddenly I felt a lightness in my body. The previous sticky feeling suddenly disappeared. Very easily, I opened my eyes.

  What kind of world is this? It's so desolate, except for the sky and the ground, there's nothing else. There are no clouds in the sky, no sun, moon or stars, and on the ground, there are no flowers, grass, trees, animals, not even rivers or mountains. Everything is just empty and bare.

  I got up in confusion and looked around blankly, where was I?

  "A human? How interesting, no human has come here before." A voice echoed in mid-air.

  "Who are you? Where are you?" I shouted into the air.

  "Heh heh, I am Shaman God, human, how did you come to this place? This is where the Beastman tribe accepts my trials." The voice replied.

  "I too have come to undergo trials, for the sake of a task I must learn the Shaman's unique lightning magic. An agreement was reached between humans and beastmen, so I was sent here to undergo your trial, revered Shaman God." I replied respectfully.

  "Oh? Things are starting to get interesting... Alright, since that's the case, are you ready to accept my trials? I'll treat you just like those beastmen. You'll have to pass five trials, and each time you clear one, I'll give you a reward. As for what the rewards are, you'll find out when the time comes." The Shaman God said with a cheerful tone.

  I nodded and said: "I'm ready, respected Shaman God, let's begin!"