Chapter 147: Chapter 146: Silent Gemstone, Nine-tailed Shadow Cat; Semi-Divine Artifact—Shadow Dagger
[Former Guard Army Commander: Rethof]
[Clan: Wood Elf (Bloodline Evolutions: None)]
[Tier: Middle Clan]
[Level: Fifth Level]
[Profession: Guard Army]
[Skills: Solid as Fortresses, Unmoving as a Mountain]
[Talent: Natural Affinity, Magic Affinity]
[Power: 16]
[Agility: 19]
[Constitution: 18]
[Intelligence: 17]
[Spirit: 18]
Evaluation: A competent member of the Guard Army. With him around, your city walls will be as solid as fortresses!
When Zhang Yi opened Rethof’s personal interface, its contents immediately caught his eye.
First was the Clan entry.
Rethof was a Wood Elf.
But he hadn’t undergone a single Bloodline Evolution.
In Zhang Yi’s Divine Realm,
even Wood Elves much weaker than him had undergone bloodline evolution.
Many of them had even become Natural Elves, a type of Upper Class Elf, after their evolution.
The fact that Rethof had reached the Fifth Level with the potential of a mere Middle Elf showed how hard he must have worked.
Besides the Clan entry, the Skills section also drew Zhang Yi’s attention.
He had two skills: Solid as Fortresses and Unmoving as a Mountain.
[Solid as Fortified Gold Level 3]: You have a unique understanding of city defense. When you are defending a city, its defensive strength increases by 30% and the physical stats of the defending soldiers increase by 10%. As long as you are not facing an overwhelmingly superior enemy force, you will have the ability to fight a war of attrition!
[Unmoving as a Mountain Lv4]: Whether the battle is going poorly or well, as long as you are on the field, every defending soldier will be as unmoving as a mountain. As long as you do not retreat, the other soldiers will not retreat either. They will stand before the enemy like towering mountains!
After reading about these two skills,
Zhang Yi’s first thought was, ’A great defensive general has arrived!’
Currently, in Zhang Yi’s Divine Realm, he had Elf Legion Commander Feiyana, who could command large forces in battle;
he had the Dwarf Leader, Copperbeard Ironhammer, who commanded smaller units and possessed the Frenzy Aura;
but he truly lacked a Clan member with Hero potential who specialized in defense.
But now, this Rethof standing before him...
His two skills complemented each other perfectly, making him ideal for siege defense.
He was practically born to defend cities!
Zhang Yi checked his Faith Value.
It wasn’t high right now; he was only one of the General Believers.
But that was normal. After all, not even a full day had passed since the end of the war.
Zhang Yi was confident that after incorporating this Neutral Elf City into the Elf Alliance,
and after Rethof felt his life continuously improving, his faith in the great God of Nature would surely grow ever more pious!
So, after communicating telepathically with Elf Legion Commander Feiyana,
and learning of Rethof’s prior performance in front of her,
Zhang Yi decided to give Rethof a chance.
Zhang Yi looked at Rethof before him.
Rethof was currently half-kneeling on the ground, beads of sweat trickling down his cheeks.
It was clear that Rethof wasn’t very confident that this step—recommending himself and showcasing his abilities—would succeed. He just desperately wanted to improve!
"Military affairs are managed by Elf Legion Commander Feiyana, but I can intervene in other matters."
"If you performed well on the task that Elf Legion Commander Feiyana just assigned you, I can give you a chance!"
When Rethof, who was half-kneeling on the ground, heard Zhang Yi’s words from beside Elf Legion Commander Feiyana,
it was like hearing the music of the heavens!
Rethof nodded repeatedly.
The next moment, Rethof stood up and began to report his results:
"We first went to the treasure vaults of the other Elf Elders."
"These Elf Elders were weaker, and their vaults weren’t particularly rich."
"With the help of the Elf Mages, we quickly retrieved the items."
"152 Low Level Magic Scrolls, 112 Mid Level Magic Scrolls, and 7 High Level Magic Scrolls."
"Various Magic Materials, 6 Silent Gemstones, 3 Shadow Gemstones..."
He spoke for about half a minute before noticing looks of impatience on the faces of both Elf Legion Commander Feiyana and Zhang Yi.
Rethof instantly realized something,
changed his tone, and offered a summary.
Then he began to introduce the other treasures they had discovered.
"That’s more or less everything from the other Elf Elders. A detailed record will be submitted later."
"The remaining items are the treasures we discovered in the hoard of Eric, the wealthiest Elf Elder in the entire Neutral Elf City!"
When Rethof saw the expressions on Zhang Yi and Elf Legion Commander Feiyana soften slightly,
he once again skipped over the unimportant details.
He went straight to reporting what he had found in the hoard of the wealthiest Elf Elder, Eric.
"In his hoard, we found the complete corpse of a Nine-tailed Shadow Cat, a member of the Beastman Clan said to possess the bloodline of the Shadow God!"
"When we found the complete corpse of the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat,"
"from the looks of it,"
"it seems Elf Elder Eric had it made into a taxidermied specimen, which is why it was so perfectly preserved!"
"And besides the corpse of the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat—which is said to have even greater stealth capabilities than a Dark Elf—"
"we also found the Semi-Divine Artifact of the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat Clan: the Shadow Dagger!"
"This Semi-Divine Artifact, the Shadow Dagger, was placed right next to the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat specimen, along with a handwritten explanation by Elf Elder Eric."
Rethof’s mouth was dry from speaking. He paused for a moment, swallowed, and then continued:
"According to legend, the Shadow Dagger grants the ability to travel freely through shadows."
"As long as a shadow exists, the wielder of the Shadow Dagger can appear in any location where there is a shadow!"
"We had the Elf Mages and Elf Soldiers test this just now, but unfortunately, we couldn’t verify if it was true."
"Because the legend also states,"
"that this Shadow Dagger is a Semi-Divine Artifact of the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat Clan. To use it, one must possess the bloodline of a Nine-tailed Shadow Cat."
"Those who are not of the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat Clan cannot use it."
"However, while we have no way to solve this problem, the great Elf God might."
"To possess such a powerful Divine Artifact and offer it to the great Elf God—"
"the great Elf God will surely be pleased when he learns of it!"
After finishing his report, Rethof added a bit of light flattery.
During his recent work, he had learned that this group of Elves came from the small Elf Tribes to the south.
He had been shocked when he first heard the news.
Like the other Elf Elders, he hadn’t believed that the small southern Elf Tribes could possess the strength to crush them just by uniting.
But the facts were laid out before him, and he had no choice but to believe.
And so, Rethof, who was forced to quickly accept this reality,
had already started sucking up to the Elf God.
Hearing his words, Zhang Yi and Elf Legion Commander Feiyana did indeed grow excited.
However, Feiyana’s excitement was the lingering remnant of her initial joy followed by disappointment.
But Zhang Yi’s excitement was the real deal!
It was true that this Semi-Divine Artifact was exclusive to the Nine-tailed Shadow Cat Clan and couldn’t be used by others.
But that didn’t mean Zhang Yi had no way to remove this restriction!
In Zhang Yi’s mind,
he had already figured out a use for the Shadow Dagger once the restriction was lifted!
It was a born tool for Assassination!
If this Shadow Dagger had no other limitations,
then on the future battlefields against the Moon God and the Elf God,
this Shadow Dagger could increase Zhang Yi’s chances of victory by thirty percent!
