2 - Snowfire

Snowfire Tribe had a population of approximately 108 people. Of which, more than 70 were duds and couldn't advance to Novice status in their whole lives.

The history of this tribe dated back to about 70 years ago, when Karth Snowfire united this group of people with strength and authority. Back then, they were just a group of nomads trying to find a place in these rocky mountains. But after his advancement to Adept about 10 years ago, their status had changed entirely.

The Rainbow Mountains housed a total of 18 tribes, all headed by at least one Adept. While the number and strength could vary, it was an undeniable fact that being an adept granted you the power and authority to establish a small force of your own. That was exactly what Karth had done.

Draven strolled through the rocky grounds and watched his tribesmen go about their daily tasks. Among them, many were lacking any sort of fabric to cover their intimate parts, and many showed hideous scars that were no doubt the result of their forays into the wild.

Danger Beasts.

Much like other humanoid sentient beings, beasts were designated a rank based on their strength and level. Nascent Beasts were equal to Nascent beings, while Captian Beasts equaled Adepts and Elite Beasts Experts.

A beast, upon its death, would have its origin cores extracted. The strength would depend on their colors. Like Nascent Beasts left Black Cores, Captains left Violet, and Elites left Blue.

These origin cores could be sublimated into one's own omega core to strengthen them and advance in stages. However, the process itself was excruciatingly slow, and it took years just to advance by a minor stage in Nascent Level, which only increased the further down one went.

If, however, the core had a white portion at the center, it indicated that an ability of the beast had condensed into the core and could thus be adopted into the ability slot. If it had a black portion at the center, then it was an average core that could only be used to strengthen one's origin.

Draven had read it all from the books he was taught by his sister Loraine.

Loraine was different from Alice in that she didn't speak as much as her sister and almost always wore that cool, indifferent expression. Draven had once admired this look of her, almost wishing that he himself could adopt the same look as her. But it all turned out to be a farce.

Loraine Snowfire was a slut, one bigger than even her mother and sister. She might look cool and calm all the time, but the truth was that underneath the veneer of modesty, she was a horny little bitch.

Although it shouldn't have been shocking, after Draven saw how she acted while writhing beneath her father and the words she uttered, he was utterly bamboozled. Honestly, he shouldn't have been so quick to judge.

Draven shook the thoughts out of his mind. He was almost ten years old this year, and he already looked about 15–16 in average human years. This was something he realized not too much later.

The fact that the human-looking beings weren't exactly humans. He had seen how old a person could get in a decade; his wet nurse, the one who helped his mother in her delivery, was already looking old with wrinkles when she was still somewhat beautiful ten years ago. It frightened him that in just another two decades, he would sport a bushy beard, a head full of white hair, and crow's feet. Thankfully, he had a system and was almost guaranteed to walk the path of an evolver. In that, even his father didn't doubt.

He found a rock large enough to sit on and put his knife out. It was a bony little trinket with worn-out edges. He used a whetstone to polish the surface and sharpen the edge.

By the time he was done, the morning sun had set beyond the horizon, and he traced his way back to the camp.

The Snowfire Tribe was always on the move. They didn't build permanent residences and never stayed at one place longer than half a year. This was mostly because, while Karth was strong, he couldn't defend the entire tribe by himself.

The Rainbow Mountains were a dangerous place. Strong beasts roamed these mountains, and only sufficient strength granted a modicum of safety.

A campfire was lit in the middle, and a huge boar was being roasted above it. Almost all of the tribe had gathered there, and Draven smiled at the atmosphere he found himself in. Despite the fact that all of these people had come from different places at one point, they still lived together like one big family. And he loved it all.

He found a log to sit on, where a beautiful woman occupied one end.

Cornelia Snowfire was almost the same as her oldest child, with bluish white hair and ice blue eyes. Her hair, however, was cut short, and unlike her daughter Alice, who almost always dressed in her bony gear, she wore normal clothes most of the time.

Well, normal by their standards. Her bare stomach was wrapped by a waistband made of bones, and her deep, plunging neckline would've had one peering over in yearning. She wore a short skirt that showcased her tanned brown legs and almost nothing underneath. Draven sat beside her.

His mother turned her head to look at him and asked, "Again with the broken knife?"

Draven found her eyes tracing the bony knife bound at his waist and shrugged. "I have to be prepared." He looked around himself and asked in a hushed whisper, "Do you think I could come with you tomorrow?"

"Well, of course, you can 'cum' with me anytime." His mother winked.

Draven snorted and said, "You know what I am talking about, so stop joking."

His mother fell silent. The burning wood let out a crackling noise, and the people started to cut into the boar, picking pieces of meat on wide wooden platters.

"You are still young." She shook her head. "We have had this conversation before, but before you turned twelve, you were not going anywhere outside the perimeter, understand?"

Even though Draven grumbled under his breath, he still nodded his head. His mother smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulder. She leaned closer and whispered, "How about I compensate with something else?"

Draven took a hard look at her and nodded, like a chicken.