A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 172 Blood Filtering Ritual

It was early autumn, yet heavy snow was falling in the far north, as if winter had already arrived.

On the vast expanse of frozen soil, a splash of green stands out strikingly.

Those were orcs fleeing from disaster.

What drove them was hunger, extreme hunger.

The Far North is located at the northernmost point of the Northland. Crops can only be grown in the last two months of summer, as the temperature is extremely low at other times, making it difficult for ordinary crops to survive.

The elderly, women, and children make up the majority of this team.

"Grandpa, where are we going?"

"A young orc asked."

"We...cough cough, we're going south..."

The respondent was an old orc, so old and frail that his once-powerful muscles had atrophied, leaving only his intelligent mind. He was the leader of the group, guiding them in the right direction.

"Where there are four seasons in a year, where we can have enough to eat and wear?"

"Does such a place really exist?"

"It exists, it must exist."

Suddenly, a furious roar came from afar.

"Traitors must die!"

"Byers, how could he?!"

The old orc appeared terrified.

The ground trembled as countless orcs riding polar bears charged forward.

"It's the Bear Tribe!"

"Let's fight them! Going back would only mean becoming slaves or being eaten, so we might as well go all out!"

"Either die in battle, starve to death, or be eaten. Since that's the case, the only option is to fight to the death!"

The orcs' fierce nature meant they would never surrender easily, especially since they were already on the verge of death.

Without food for the winter, this small tribe would have long since died; this was merely its final, death throes.

"Kill them all, and take their bodies back for safekeeping!"

Bayes gave the orders while laughing.

Soon, all the fleeing orcs died.

"Now the food can last for a few more days."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Based on our calculations, the orcs will launch an attack soon."

Jiang Shuzhou and Jess have already led the students to the border province of the North.

This place is further north than Jiang Shuzhou's Hamlet territory; compared to this place, Hamlet is practically spring-like all year round.

Everywhere is semi-permanent permafrost, and only crops modified by alchemists can barely grow here.

There's only a two-month window of opportunity each year to cultivate some common, cold-resistant crops; most people simply can't live here.

However, orcs can.

That's why walls were erected in the North.

The city walls, hundreds of meters high, stretch endlessly, while the radiance of the mage tower illuminates every corner.

Soon, not long after, an endless wave of green will arrive.

Jiang Shuzhou and Jess are tasked with holding this place.

This is a test and an opportunity for the students.

But that's not what Jiang Shuzhou is concerned about right now.

When does the blood filtration ceremony begin?

"Sir, it will begin soon."

Jiang Shuzhou had always had a question: Is the blood of orcs green?

He would soon see it, because the blood-filtering ritual had begun.

One by one, strong orcs were taken away, their expressions tragic as if they were about to die heroically, yet they did not resist at all, not even uttering a single word of resistance.

Tell the children that I love them.

After saying that, the orc was led to a strange device.

Restraints, syringes, blood pumps, and tubes engraved with runes—it looked more like torture instruments than ritual implements.

The origins of the blood-filtering ritual can be traced back to a very long time ago.

Without a doubt, the orcs are a suffering people, and their suffering comes from their chief god.

Gruush, the chief god of the orcs, is said to have created them.

In the ancient war of the gods, the human pantheon ultimately destroyed the orc pantheon and won, but victory came at a price.

The Winter Goddess Asura was the price, but she was not killed outright; rather, she was killed out of pity for the orc god Gruush.

The result was naturally disastrous. Gruush feigned agreement to surrender but then betrayed Asura, leading to the death of a god.

The land of Asura's death is the far north, and from then on, the Prime Material Plane began to be divided into north and south. The south is warm and spring-like all year round, while the further north you go, the longer the winter becomes.

Of course, Gruul's fate wasn't much better. He was killed by the angry gods, and the orcs were exiled to the North, where they would suffer from hunger and cold forever.

No one wants to directly destroy a race; that could easily cause problems.

Therefore, they adopted a form of punishment: once all the orcs were dead, Gruush could never be resurrected.

However, Gruush had already planned ahead, and he completely integrated himself into the orcs.

From that time on, all orcs carried the blood of Ger'ush; He lived forever, and He died forever.

The orc became Gerwush.

This was also the beginning of their tragedy, even though Gruush gave the orcs strong physiques and cold resistance, and every orc was a qualified warrior.

But hunger and cold remain insurmountable survival challenges for them.

Things were better before. Before the Mage Alliance was established, Silvermoon City was the jewel of the North, where the magic network mages defended against the orc invasion.

When Silvermoon City was destroyed, the orcs sang and danced, their faces beaming with joy.

It seems they have finally escaped these hard times.

But unexpectedly, the one who sent away their "big father" was an even bigger "big father." As soon as the Mage Alliance was established, it immediately began to reclaim lost territory, and even the originally barren northern region was developed by the mages.

Through environmental modification and climate change, the beastmen were driven directly to the far north, making their situation even worse.

The blood filtration ritual was invented under these circumstances.

The mages were kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the orcs suffer, plus these orcs were indeed excellent cattle and horses.

So the blood-filtering ritual was invented. Through magic, blood is slowly drawn from the body, filtered, and then returned. After several cycles, the effects of Gruush will disappear.

The orcs became normal civilians, no longer part of Gruush, and were able to live and multiply within the Mage Alliance.

The mages were also able to obtain a herd of cattle and horses, as well as a trace of Gruush's divinity, for their research.

It can be considered a win-win situation.

The only drawback is that the mortality rate is a bit high, around 70%.

However, if a monk is presiding over the ceremony, the mortality rate can be reduced to a maximum of 20%, which is considered quite good.

After all, there is food, clothing and shelter in the Mage Alliance, which is much better than the Frozen Land, where the mortality rate is 80%.

If it weren't for the orcs' high reproductive rate and rapid growth, they would probably have gone extinct long ago.

"Let the ceremony begin."

Jiang Shuzhou gave the order; he wanted to see for himself how the ceremony was conducted.

Soon, the needle was inserted into the orc's body, and green blood slowly gushed out. After being filtered by the magical instrument, the green blood turned bright red, and the blood was injected into the orc's body.

Soon, after rounds of filtering, finally, accompanied by a crisp jingle.

The blood filtration ritual was completed, and another orc was reborn.

But this was just a successful case; many more orcs died with convulsions.