Chapter 518 — Familiar Aura

No one knew of the silent confrontation between Liora and the Human Temple. Not even the temple itself knew of it, much less the Hydra Tribe.

Liora’s movements only paused for a brief moment before she returned to normal.

Then, she stepped into the city as if nothing had happened, blending into the large crowd.

Though she had previously spent some time in the Orion Tribe, she had little time to observe her surroundings back then.

It was only now that there was no one to stop her and, more importantly, no one planning to kill her, that she finally had the time to take a deeper look and observe the humans of this secret realm.

They looked normal. Both in appearance and temperament.

At least, that was true as long as they were not facing an "Otherworld Demon".

Liora watched as the tribe members went on with their lives as usual.

The hunting team went out to gather food, the shopkeepers opened their shops, and pedestrians filled the streets.

The only thing that attracted some of Liora’s attention was the large number of visitors from outside the city.

However, she didn’t investigate any further.

Whether by coincidence or subconscious habit, Liora found herself heading toward a tavern.

The smell of old wine and cooked demon flesh immediately assaulted her senses as she found a relatively secluded seat and sat down.

After ordering some food and a drink, her ears perked up, and she started to listen to the surrounding customers’ conversations.

Most of their talk was about unrelated things that were not worth her attention.

However, there were also some whose conversations greatly piqued her interest.

"Have you heard? The Pegasus Tribe just arrived yesterday..."

"Rumor has it that they encountered the Cygnus Tribe and their Young Masters clashed.", a rough man took a sip of his drink and said to his thin, sleazy-looking companion.

"That’s normal.", the other man spoke up.

"The enmity between those tribes runs very deep. Every time the Tribe Competition takes place, the two will try to put each other down."

"Not only them. Most of the tribes will do the same."

The thin man chuckled.

"Hehe. These guys are used to going to war with each other over some worthless resources. Don’t think too highly of them."

"These people are mere barbarians compared to our Hydra Tribe.", he said, his face full with contempt for the "outsiders" and pride about being a member of the Hydra Tribe.

Liora, whose senses were focused on their table, completely ignored the latter part of his speech.

However, she paid special attention to their following conversation.

After listening for a while, Liora pieced together the situation.

She finally understood why she had seen such a large number of outsiders wandering along the streets.

It was not a coincidence.

Instead, it was exactly because of what these people were currently talking about.

Tribe Competition—a tournament taking place every three years in Hydra Tribe, where the younger members of the eastern region would participate.

This competition was not limited to the members of the Hydra Tribe.

Every recognized tribe of the eastern region could participate.

Because it was organized by the Hydra Tribe and rich rewards were promised each time, no tribe would be willing to miss this grand event.

As such, every three years, a large number of tribes and outsiders would gather in Hydra City.

And Liora’s arrival happened to coincide with this time.

"The rewards of this year’s competition are richer than ever before! According to rumors, the Tribe Chief is planning to open the Dragon Blood Pool to the winner!", the rough man spoke up once again.

However, the thin man shook his head and sneered smugly.

"Don’t think about it. This year, the Tribe Chief’s son is going to participate in the Tribe Competition. I heard that last year, he awakened a powerful talent, suspected of reaching the SS-Rank."

"If I’m not wrong, the Dragon Blood Pool was specifically opened for him this year. With his strength, he should have no issue earning first place and ’obtaining’ the reward."

As soon as she heard of this, Liora couldn’t help but take a closer look at this sleazy-looking man.

To be able to know such information, it was clear that his background was extraordinary.

At least, he had some kind of relationship with one of the Hydra Tribe’s powerful members.

Just as she was deep in thought, however, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

A large group of people walked through the city entrance on the opposite side of their tavern.

Their overall strength was weak, while their clothes looked similar to those of the Orion Tribe rather than those worn by the city’s residents.

Coupled with the patterns engraved on their clothes, it was abundantly clear that they were all members of a single tribe.

The guards seemed to recognize them.

They looked at the "barbarians" with disdain, as if they were looking at country pumpkins.

Even so, he let them enter once the man at the very front stepped forward and secretly offered him something.

The familiar sneaky voice echoed within the tavern.

"That should be the Scorpius Tribe. How dare they come to participate in the competition?"

"Not long ago, their Tribe Chief perished at the hands of the Thunderbird Tribe Chief."

"Their current leader is only a Rank 3 Awakener. Isn’t he afraid that they will all die here?"

Liora barely listened to the rest of his speech.

As she watched the Scorpius Tribe enter the city and disappear into the crowd, her eyes couldn’t help but settle on one of its younger members.

Feeling a very familiar aura coming from the other party, her eyes narrowed.

Other people might not have noticed. Not only the natives of the Blood Forest Realm, but also the humans of the outside universe.

However, Liora did.

As a result, her lips couldn’t help but curve upwards.

"Interesting...", she whispered, and after tossing a few coins on the table, her figure vanished and rushed behind them.

--

Author’s Note:

I think I’ve made the inspiration of this world quite obvious and dropped several hints. I wonder if most readers have figured it out yet.

Thanks for reading!