CH491 Red Rock Hero I

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Alex and his wives strolled through Camp Red Rock, which had changed significantly for the festival. The streets had been cleaned as much as they reasonably could, and the residents wore bright smiles—well, as bright as could be expected, considering the gloomy atmosphere that had hung over the camp when the expedition party first arrived.

At first, they stopped only at stalls selling accessories, clothes, and other speciality fashion items unique to Camp Red Rock.

But after Alex bought the four of them a roadside snack—something the women had initially rejected, by the way—their priorities shifted completely.

They began roaming with one goal in mind— tasting everything worth tasting.

Before long, they turned into quiet judges, silently rating stall after stall with an almost professional seriousness.

"Fen would've liked this," Alex commented without thinking. Then his expression changed. "Ah, that reminds me—where are Fen and Senu?"

"Where do you think?" Zora replied dryly. "Hunting and cooking something, as usual."

"Oh…" Alex couldn't exactly say he was surprised.

He checked his link with Senu, then used it to pinpoint her location.

'Azgrug's mansion?' Surprise flashed in his eyes. 'What is she doing there?'

Through their link, Alex could tell Senu was fine—elated, even. So, being the irresponsible Beast Master he was, he didn't immediately head over.

Instead, he simply nudged their culinary tour in that direction.

They had only just reached the Copper-skinned Orc-controlled district of the camp when they heard a commotion approaching from up ahead.

"Young Master Alex!"

Alex turned at the call and saw a few familiar figures making their way toward him through the crowd.

"Shaman." Alex stepped forward to greet the old orc. "You seem well." He chuckled knowingly.

With Camp Red Rock enjoying an economic boom, it meant the orcs were seeing far more stones flowing through their hands…

Which also meant the old, money-loving Orc Shaman was seeing even more wealth himself.

As expected, the wrinkles on the old man's face seemed to deepen with the sheer brightness of his grin.

Alex also gave short nods of greeting to the orc brothers, Hargul and Harum, who accompanied the shaman.

"Young Master Alex, we were just coming to look for you," the Shaman said, his tone overly flattering.

"Oh? Is that so?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"The silver tongue is back," Zora whispered to Udara and Eleanor as Alex's bearing subtly changed while speaking with the Shaman.

Alex had expected the old orc to bring up some diplomatic matter between the expedition party and the tribe.

However, the Shaman's request turned out to be surprisingly simple.

"In appreciation for your help in vanquishing the nest ruler of the berserk beast nest," the Shaman said formally, "our tribe would like to welcome you to witness our celebration ceremony."

A ripple ran through the nearby crowd.

"What? The tribe is inviting a human to witness their celebration?" someone murmured in disbelief.

"I heard the last time the celebration happened, the three other bosses in the camp tried to attend unannounced," another person whispered. "But Chief Azgrug sent them back—and he even beat up Brieger when he refused to leave."

"Brieger was a fool anyway," someone else laughed. "He thought he could use the combined power of the underbosses to force Boss Azgrug to let them in. He didn't realise the others had stepped back, and he ended up being used by them."

The murmurs spread in a dozen directions, but Alex had already heard what he needed.

"It would be my honour," Alex replied smoothly, his tone clean and proper—perfect noble etiquette.

"Actually, I was just about to head over," Alex added smoothly. "Might we accompany you? And could you fill me in on the ceremony—what to do, and what not to do?" he requested.

The old Shaman's face lit up.

"Of course, of course, Young Master Alex." He nodded eagerly. "You're going to check on your anima companions, right? They've been helping us greatly with preparing for the celebrations."

Alex raised an eyebrow, but he kept his question to himself.

'I'll see what's going on soon enough.'

Instead, he listened as the Shaman began explaining the basics of the celebration and the etiquette involved.

Seeing Alex and his wives moving with the orcs, the other members of the expedition party quickly regrouped and followed behind as well.

By the time they reached Azgrug's mansion—where the ceremony would take place—Alex's lips twitched.

Fen and Senu were already there.

Both of them were in their chibi forms.

Fen was animatedly directing the orcs as they poured ingredients into a massive wok set up in the mansion's backyard. At the same time, three other similarly large woks and pots blazed over open flames beside it, their contents bubbling and steaming with rich aroma.

The culinary wolf was really stepping up his game—moving from a mere cook to something closer to a chef commanding his own kitchen.

Well… sort of.

Alex's gaze moved to Senu, and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

He'd been so busy over the last week that this was the first time he'd properly looked at her small form since her major expansion after rising to Class 3.

A faint film of spatial energy shimmered around her body, like heat haze, warping the air at the edges of her outline.

When Alex probed her about it through their link, Senu—just like before—couldn't properly explain what she was doing.

All she knew was that she was doing it.

Still, from the little she managed to communicate, Alex quickly pieced it together.

'Space Folding…?'

Unlike Fen, who could shrink and expand his size directly, Senu was altering her form by folding her spatial footprint into a higher dimension—compressing herself in the real dimension by displacing her 'true' body into a layered space beyond it.

It also meant she could variably displace her mass as well, storing part of it in that higher dimension at the cost of mana.

Senu's spatial affinity had grown to the point where she was now essentially the darling daughter of Space itself—favoured by its laws, and able to freely control the size and mass she presented in the real world, simply paying mana for every change.

According to Senu, the transformation also demanded intense concentration. So for now, she had limited herself to only two forms: her old chibi form from before her rank advancement, and her enlarged form from after it.

She would add more forms as she slowly mastered the ability.

Alex nodded.

'That's actually a very good way to handle the situation.'

Since Senu clearly had things figured out, her hands-off master decided to leave her to her own devices.

Still, Alex couldn't deny it.

He was a little jealous of her spatial talent.

"Young Master Alex, you are here." Azgrug laughed as he approached from within the mansion.

"Thank you for inviting me, Tribe Chief. It is an honour to be invited to your celebration." Alex replied smoothly.

"Nonsense. The honour is ours." Azgrug responded without hesitation. "We wouldn't be having this celebration if not for you and your party."

He spread his arms wide, his booming voice carrying confidence and pride.

"You are the hero of Camp Red Rock."

Both men exchanged a few more flattering words back and forth—diplomacy wrapped in warmth—before Azgrug finally excused himself.

After all, he had a celebration to preside over.

Soon, the event began.

The orc Shaman stepped forward and led out a group of orcs carrying a strange structure.

The expedition party quickly realised what it was.

An altar.

An altar dedicated to their ancestral spirit.

***

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