Chapter 92: Another Reputation Crisis!?

On the Tartarus Continent, there existed many races into which Foreigners could be born: the Beastman Species and Dwarf Species with their powerful physical prowess, the Elf Species with its extremely high affinity for nature, and the ordinary but highly enduring Human Species.

Each species was largely composed of various ethnic groups, with detailed and complex classifications. The innate attribute distribution of each ethnic group also differed.

Feline Beastmen alone could be divided into Tiger Beastmen, Cat Beastmen, and so on.

If one were to record each ethnic group individually, there would be hundreds of them, but if classified by pupil shape, there were only three.

Vertical pupils with an outstanding Agility Attribute—the Stealth hunting type.

Horizontal pupils with an outstanding Intelligence Attribute—the Magic detection type.

Round pupils with outstanding Power, Agility, and Intelligence Attributes—the perfect type.

Blaze locked eyes with the chicken, using [Visual Sharing] to confirm his own appearance. He had round pupils.

However, the first Werewolf he had defeated, as well as Belcimann, both had vertical pupils.

It seemed that there were also physical differences among Silver Werewolves. It was also possible that, because his Attributes didn’t have massive gaps between them, his Werewolf transformation resulted in round pupils.

This Power was full of unknowns, the most dangerous of which was undoubtedly the [Curse].

If a Foreigner triggered the Curse, it wouldn’t be just... Ah.

Resting a hand on his chin, Blaze narrowed his eyes in thought.

He realized that Foreigners didn’t seem to have those kinds of needs, meaning there would be no problem. As long as they didn’t lose their purity, they would never trigger the Curse.

"?!"

Startled, Blaze abruptly turned his head to look at the ceiling. A bizarre, silver Werewolf was hanging upside down up there.

Its body was nowhere near as massive as a normal Werewolf’s, but it exuded an aura of extreme danger. The most terrifying aspect was its W-shaped pupils—eyes that seemed to belong only to creatures from the deep sea that spread eerie Faiths.

And those very eyes were staring fixedly at the three of them.

"Don’t mind me. Please, continue."

Greenland formed a strange square with her thumbs and index fingers, staring intently at the three of them through the frame as if recording something.

"Greenland, what are you doing?"

Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be Greenland, who had transformed after using [Silver Blood].

To be honest, he had been quite worried about whether Greenland, as a Cat Beastman, could accept the [Silver Blood]. After all, even if her body was compatible, he wondered if she would feel psychologically uncomfortable.

Like harboring some kind of racial pride.

From the looks of it now, he had overthought things.

However, Blaze still felt uneasy. After all, the last time Greenland made such a gesture, she immediately turned around and told him he had a credibility crisis.

Greenland dropped down from the ceiling and framed Blaze at close range, lingering for a few extra seconds on his muzzle-like protective gear.

"There’s someone who’s extremely eager to see you. But since Arcadia’s Teleport Point isn’t open yet, she’s afraid you might leave, so she private-messaged me asking for a few photos of you.

"However, I feel like this new look of yours will make her scream and faint a few times first."

"!!!"

Blaze understood instantly. He canceled his transformation on the spot, reverting to his human form.

"What’s wrong?" Audrey asked in confusion.

Blaze waved his hands vigorously in silence. He was certain that if he spoke now, he would definitely let out a weird sound that would make Audrey notice something was amiss.

"Don’t worry, those kinds of things only circulate in our world; they can’t be brought over to this one..." Greenland reached out and patted Blaze’s back. Just as she tried to comfort him, she suddenly looked as if she had remembered something.

"Ah, wait. For a god-tier artist like her, she could probably pump out artwork even if you just gave her a handful of sand."

"Let’s talk about the [Silver Bloodline] Skill instead. Greenland, do you feel anything special right now?" Blaze stiffly changed the subject. However, topics about Skills and Professions were particularly effective on Foreigners, especially someone like Greenland.

Greenland immediately threw everything else to the back of her mind and began chattering away in excitement.

"I feel incredibly good! I transformed back and forth a few times and even compared notes with the others. This Skill is overpowered—it’s an Attribute-specialized transformation.

"The Attribute bonuses provided by other Professions always allocate a few points to unnecessary stats. However, the [Silver Werewolf] Profession doesn’t give a fixed amount of attribute points. Instead, it scales based on one’s Attributes prior to transformation, dividing the buffs into four different types of enhancements. This is extremely friendly to us Foreigners.

"Simply put, those who specialize in Power will become stronger, those who specialize in Agility will become faster, those who specialize in Intelligence will become smarter, and for someone like me who focuses on Faith, my Faith is massively boosted. And these eyes are absolutely fantastic."

Greenland pulled out a mirror, obsessively admiring her bizarre pupils.

"These eyes only appear in species that master Faith. The W-shaped pupils have only ever shown up in the artbooks! I can already smell the giant octopus Evil God.

"Evil Gods, Evil Gods are great! An Evil God wouldn’t be hostile toward a Vice like me."

For some reason, Greenland was starting to seem a bit dangerous.

"Um, there’s something I’d like to know," Audrey said, interrupting Greenland’s eerie state. There was a particular issue she was very concerned about right now. "When Foreigners are born as Arcadians, what state will they be in?"

"Hmm... I reckon they’ll have latent genes like yours. They’ll only attain the Silver Werewolf state after acquiring a certain Experience Value... No, it’s more likely they’d need to complete some trials first. Normally, they’d just be ordinary members of the Human Species." Greenland paused for a moment before adding, "Considering how strong the Silver Werewolf Profession is, the trial will probably be extremely difficult. That makes it more balanced."

"Then... then will the Foreigners be unwilling to be born as Arcadians?" Audrey’s expression tightened with anxiety.

"How could that be? The Human Species is super popular. Audrey, you have the [Adrenaline] Skill, right?"

Audrey nodded.

"Even though the Human Species has slightly lower base Attributes, it boasts the highest SP—that is, Endurance cap—in the entire ga—ahem, out of all the playable species. Plus, their unique Racial Skill is the highly potent [Adrenaline].

"Even if they fail to complete the trial, Arcadians will still possess all the standard functions of the Human Species.

"I estimate that in a while, Arcadia will experience a massive population boom. Although the high difficulty will deter many, those who are willing to take on the challenge and never tire of it will ultimately make up the majority. After all, there’s nothing to lose."

"That’s good," Audrey breathed a sigh of relief. As if mentioning it in passing, she muttered to herself, "Just to be safe, I should still issue stipends to the Foreigners born as Arcadians and grant them land to pioneer... I’ll lower the taxes on commissions, too. No, I should make them tax-exempt."

"...Ehehehe, Lady Audrey~~" Greenland suddenly turned incredibly sycophantic. Rubbing her hands together, she widened her eyes in her Silver Werewolf form as much as possible. "I’ve been wanting the [Farmer] Profession for a long time now. Do you think you could..."

The only unlock condition for the Advanced Profession [Farmer] was [Acquire a land lease from a Lord].