LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

The Asura girl, her radiant form hovering in the sky, turned her gaze down toward Lyerin, who stood on top of the Stonehooves tribe's centaur statue.

His posture was casual, one arm resting on Corora, who clung to him tightly.

From this distance, Lyerin's silhouette, wrapped in a dense fog, made his expression unreadable, but there was no mistaking the smirk playing on his lips.

"Is this real?" the Asura girl's voice boomed across the sky, her eyes narrowing in disbelief.

"Is this truly the Stonehooves Tribe?"

Her ethereal voice carried both incredulity and confusion as she observed the small collection of huts, a few dozen humans who huddled together in fear.

Most of them were visibly weak, mere beginner Mana users, while six battered and injured Mana beasts stood just outside the camp, struggling to stay upright.

One could feel the air was incredibly thick with unease.

Lyerin glanced up, his smirk never fading. "Yes, it's real," he replied nonchalantly, as if the Asura girl's awe and doubt were irrelevant to him.

He leaned slightly on the statue, still holding Corora, who looked at him with concern and confusion.

The Asura girl blinked, stunned by his response. "But... how?" she muttered to herself, her voice booming in disbelief across the sky.

"This tribe... these humans... they are so weak! Only beginner Mana users? Is this truly your tribe?"

Her eyes flicked to the injured Mana beasts standing guard.

"And these beasts? Only six? All of them wounded? How can this be?"

Lyerin chuckled softly, his fingers lightly tapping Corora's arm as if to calm her. "They're fine," he said, his tone light and unconcerned.

"Fine?"

The Asura girl was almost beside herself with incredulity. Her celestial form flickered slightly as if her very understanding of the situation was being challenged.

"This is one of the weakest tribes I've ever seen! How are you the representative of Earth? You, Lyerin, the leader of the Stonehooves Tribe, are supposed to be the strongest human among them?" Her eyes narrowed further, trying to comprehend the situation.

"Why is this tribe so feeble? Why are there no strong warriors here? No powerful Mana users?"

Lyerin shrugged, still unconcerned. "They're just getting started. Plus there's also me, how dare you say I'm not strong?"

"You? Strong? Getting started?" The Asura girl looked bewildered. "I see no sign of power here. No potential. Even the beasts—look at them!

They're on the verge of collapse." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Surely this must be some kind of joke."

Lyerin's smirk widened slightly. "They've been through worse."

"Through worse?"

The Asura girl's voice echoed through the sky, a mix of shock and exasperation.

"You expect me to believe that this ragtag group of humans and half-dead beasts could survive the trials to come? How do you plan to stand against the other races? The Jaldir of Zordrix, the Olerai of Kaeloris, the Sevarin of Treneron? Do you realize how weak your tribe appears compared to them?"

Lyerin's eyes gleamed with amusement, his smirk never faltering. "Looks can be deceiving. Plus those other representatives are weak as hell, we will crush them with ease! Haha!"

The Asura girl's expression hardened.

Gulp!

Swallowing her saliva, she seemed to be searching for any sign of strength, any hidden power within Lyerin's tribe, but all she saw were frightened humans and dying beasts.

She swallowed hard, a rare flicker of doubt crossing her features. "Very well..." she said, her voice strained.

"Let me introduce the representative of Earth and the Stonehooves Tribe—Lyerin, the strongest human among his people." Her voice, once grand and filled with authority, now held a tinge of skepticism.

As she spoke, across the Absorbed Worlds, reactions were swift and merciless.

On Zordrix, the winged warriors of the Skyclaw Brotherhood erupted into laughter.

Velros Skybreaker, with his golden wings spread wide, shook his head in disbelief.

"This? This is the representative of Earth? A tribe of beginner Mana users and wounded beasts? Pathetic."

His laugh was echoed by his comrades, their voices carried on the wind.

On Kaeloris, Elandra Leafshadow of the Greenveil Family stood amidst towering trees, her lips curled in amusement.

"The Earth's representative is barely a spark compared to the power of nature," she mused, her voice soft but mocking. "They'll be crushed by the first real challenge they face and will come back to the nature."

Beneath the waves of Treneron, the Tidalblade Clan shared a similar sentiment. Marinus Tidecaller, the leader of the Sevarin, let out a booming laugh that echoed through the water.

"The ocean will drown them before they even have a chance to fight," he declared, shaking his head at the screen displaying Lyerin's tribe. "They are nothing."

In the fiery depths of Vortan, the Moltenfist Tribe gathered around their leader, Ignar Flameheart.

He watched the scene in the sky and sneered, his molten eyes glowing with disdain. "Let them burn in the flames of their own weakness," he muttered, dismissing Lyerin with a flick of his hand.

Even on Earth, the reactions were no less cruel.

The members of the Borgias Family stood in stunned silence, their hearts sinking as they realized the situation.

Their grand ancestor, who had gone to deal with Lyerin, had not returned, and now, it seemed as if Lyerin had taken the title of the Earth's representative.

For a moment, they dared to hope that their ancestor had destroyed the Stonehooves Tribe, but as the image of Lyerin standing proudly atop the centaur statue filled the sky, they were forced to confront the grim reality.

"Could it be… that our ancestor was killed by him but the ancestor managed to destroy his tribe?" one of the family members whispered, their voice trembling.

"Impossible," another snapped. "Lyerin may be powerful, but our ancestor... he couldn't have—"

But doubt had already taken root in their hearts.

Only Lyuzen, their young but calculating leader, remained calm. His eyes were locked on Lyerin, his mind racing with possibilities. "This… this is far from over," he muttered under his breath, his expression unreadable.

Back in the Stonehooves Tribe, the Asura girl was still fixated on Lyerin, her disbelief palpable. She couldn't reconcile what she was seeing with the notion that this was Earth's representative.

Her voice trembled slightly as she addressed him again, her tone more cautious now. "Are you certain that your tribe is... fine?"

Lyerin, his smirk fading just slightly, looked up at her, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement.

"Of course," he said, his voice calm but carrying an edge of something more. "Do not underestimate the never-ending potential malice of humans."

The Asura girl blinked, caught off guard by his words.

There was something unsettling in the way he said it, as if he knew something she didn't.

The skies seemed to grow darker for a moment, the air thick with a tension that hadn't been there before.

Lyerin's gaze remained fixed on her, his smirk now gone, replaced by a look of cold, calculating confidence.

The Asura girl hesitated, her eyes narrowing as she considered him for a long, silent moment.

And then, with a sweeping motion, she turned away, her voice booming across the skies once more. "The Battle of Races... Rules…"