The thick, bloody sll of deer blood assaulted Garrett's senses.
Garrett stepped back, his face contorted in disgust.
Deer blood! Deer blood! Why did they want him to drink it? It was said that deer blood... contained certain... effects...
He was only in his early twenties! And as a half-elf, those early twenties were equivalent to an elven child!
Why were they making him drink this stuff?
He had seen them prepare the deer blood, and they had put so unidentified powder into the birchwood bowl. Stirring and stirring, so of it was floating on the surface already!
Ti was tight, and he hadn't had a chance to use an Identification Spell. Judging solely by the sll and color, he guessed there were various spices, fungi, and nurous herbs... even if it wasn't poisonous, were there hallucinogenic substances in it?
Were there ingredients that accelerated the heart rate and blood circulation?
Were there other indescribable substances?
The words of refusal rolled around in his mouth. Then he saw the face of the high shaman of the Reindeer Tribe, holding the bowl and looking equally unpleasant.
"Honored guest," the shaman tried to maintain politeness, but his wrinkled old face clearly showed confusion, "Do you not wish to receive the blessing of the Deer God? Do you not want to share the Deer God's blessings with our tribe and beco our brother?"
Brother... Garrett's thoughts jumped. Suddenly, he rembered that eating gods wasn't just sothing indigenous people did...
The most famous example, the Holy Communion from his past life, didn't that involve red wine representing the blood of God and unleavened bread representing the body of God?
Everyone eats gods; who is more civilized?
With this thought, his heart cald, and his blood pressure dropped by 20 mmHg. He stepped back slightly, raised his head, and smiled calmly at the high shaman:
"Ah... you saw earlier when we arrived, I have a companion, the white deer that can cast healing spells. With him here, it's impossible for to drink deer blood; it would upset him."
The high shaman hesitated, instinctively looking outside, then turned back to Garrett. He scrutinized Garrett carefully and slowly nodded:
"I see sincerity in your eyes. Soone who travels with a white deer is naturally our brother... then, please do as you wish."
Garrett sighed in relief, taking a few more steps back. He raised his head, activated the Detection Spell, and looked above the tribe's settlent:
Amidst the praises to the Deer God, as the warriors raised wooden bowls and drank steaming deer blood, as the elderly, won, and children scooped up pieces of cooked deer at, laughing and feasting...
In the sky, wisps of mist condensed into a bright mass of light. On closer inspection, the light strands seed to outline the shape of an antlered quadruped?
Are you the Deer God?
Are you the totem beast or spirit beast worshiped by this tribe?
Garrett extended his spiritual power, trying to communicate with the glowing mass in the sky. Gently and softly, like ripples stirred by a breeze, he touched the light:
What is your origin? Are you a magical beast raised by this tribe?
Or were you once a magical beast roaming around the tribe, whose spirit was worshiped and eventually developed into this form?
Or are you simply a creation of the tribe's imagination and hope?
The night breeze was gentle, the starry sky silent. Garrett's spiritual ripples lightly touched the glowing mass, only making so light nodes slightly brighten, without any feedback. He focused intently, trying to communicate for a long while before sighing softly:
"Sigh..."
It seems communication wasn't successful... is it because this spirit beast isn't intelligent enough, or did I not use the right thod?
"Roar—"
Outside the settlent, in the wilderness, a high-pitched neigh suddenly rang out. Garrett imdiately looked towards the sound. Under the starry sky, Appa raised its front hooves high, standing on its hind legs, its bright eyes fixed on the glowing mass above:
"Roar—"
The call, understood only by its kind, echoed into the night sky. In response, the glowing mass above the settlent grew brighter and brighter, finally revealing its beautiful form—
It was a deer.
Like Appa, it was also a white deer, a giant white deer. But its shape wasn't entirely the sa, especially the antlers:
Instead of spreading out to the sides and branching upwards like Appa's, they extended upwards diagonally, branching out in all directions around the main branches...
And at the tip of each branch, light, multicolored vines and flowers adorned it.
It lowered its head, its gentle almond eyes looking at Appa as if seeing a long-lost brother or beloved child. Its hooves stepped lightly in the air, circling Appa closer and closer.
Finally, it stood in the air, lowering its antlers to touch Appa's. The vines and flowers on the spirit deer's body floated down, silently rging into the Silver Moon Deer's body.
"Deer God..."
"Deer God..."
From the ground, various exclamations of awe arose. The Silver Moon Deer only lowered its head, with brilliant silver light gradually radiating from its snow-white fur.
"Those blessed by the Deer God!"
"And the spirit deer blessed by the Deer God..."
Garrett, standing on a nearby hill, slightly curled his lips. Whether or not the Silver Moon Deer was blessed by the Deer God, it seed Appa was about to advance...
Garrett, who was leveraging the spirit deer to control the natives, also received a great deal of benefits. Not only did he gain greater freedom of movent, but he was also given many gifts: herbs, minerals, amber, furs—
Garrett quickly calculated the value; it was much less than the cost of a dozen Remove Disease spells, so he silently accepted them.
Among the various gifts, the high shaman of the Reindeer Tribe also presented a short, single-branched deer antler.
"This is a new antler grown by a stag in spring." The high shaman personally tied a rope made of deer tail hair around the antler, forming a complex knot:
"This antler can invoke the Deer God's life force, healing the wounded and weak. With our prayers and blessings, any shaman will know you are our friend..."
Garrett took it with a wooden expression. Before he could move, the high shaman stepped forward and swiftly tied the antler to the top of Garrett's oak staff:
From the top of the oak staff, under the perforated pottery piece from the Redstone Tribe, and the birch bark box from the White Birch Tribe, the deer antler was now attached. It jingled like a wind chi, swaying at the top of the staff.
...Great, now he had three tokens representing "this is a friend" for passing through. Garrett looked at the string of gifts and suddenly felt a bit dazed:
If he kept collecting a token from each tribe along the way, would the string of gifts eventually reach the ground?
Or should he get a bag specifically to store these things?
—No, maybe what he needed was a pass, getting a stamp at each tribe... so, am I taking the role of Tang Monk?
Hmm, if he walked from the east coast to the west coast, it would indeed be similar to the journey to the West to obtain scriptures...
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