The next day, the snow stopped, and the rare sunlight broke through. In this season, sunlight was a luxurious blessing.
"Praise the Titan God, the feeling of sunlight on my skin is mesmerizing."
"The temperature has risen a bit, but it won't last long. Other tribes will surely rush to prepare their winter supplies during this last window."
"Luckily, our supplies are abundant this year, thanks to Orion. We don't have to worry about food at all."
"We should thank him."
...
While Orion was enjoying Lysinthia's special massage service, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the tent. He quickly put on his beast skirt and helped Lysinthia dress her upper body as fast as he could.
Ten seconds later, a voice called from outside the tent, "Brother Orion, are you there?"
Orion opened the tent flap to find three people: the two elders and his sister, Clymene.
"Is there trouble in the tribe again?"
"No, not at all," Rendall smiled, exchanging a glance with Thorak. "Thanks to you, the Blackstone Tribe's winter supplies are plentiful this year. With the chieftain missing, the tribe needs a strong and responsible leader. I wanted to ask... do you have any interest in leading the Blackstone Tribe?"
"You want me to be the acting chieftain?" Orion shook his head. "To become chieftain, one must have great strength. I haven't completed the bloodline trial, nor am I a bloodline warrior, so I don't even meet the first requirement."
Orion thought for a moment, looking at his sister. "Actually, I think Clymene is more suited to be the acting chieftain."
Seeing that Orion had made up his mind, the elders said no more. They had considered this possibility. If Orion refused, Hyperion's daughter would temporarily take the chieftain's place.
"I'll do it then. I'll try my best to be a good acting chieftain," Clymene sighed, resigned.
The others nodded, agreeing with the decision.
In the following days, as acting chieftain, Clymene led the tribe in repairing and reinforcing the damaged walls.
This was the Blackstone Tribe's most basic defense in the Black Forest, requiring significant effort.
With this, winter would pose no danger unless they were extremely unlucky and faced a large dark beast tide.
While Clymene was busy, Orion lounged in his tent, resting.
Lysinthia crawled up from Orion's chest, her eyes sultry, her forked tongue gliding over his firm chest like it was the most delicious dessert.
Orion pinched her breast, "Little minx, careful not to stir my desires again!"
Lysinthia smiled, whispering in his ear, "It's okay, I'm your maid and sex slave. Besides taking care of your daily needs, you can do whatever you want with me."
Orion lifted Lysinthia's chin with his finger, gazing into her eyes, "Lysinthia, besides taking care of me, you should train hard. I look forward to you evolving into a human form. When that happens, I'll fill your entire pussy with my big cock."
Lysinthia giggled, her sweet face full of longing, "I look forward to that too. Serpentfolk are naturally reverent and obsessed with mating... Master, let me continue pleasing you."
Lysinthia lowered her head, her mouth expanding to engulf Orion's massive member...
...
Three hours later, Orion had Lysinthia stop.
Though her skills were improving, Orion couldn't waste more time. He needed to quickly enhance his strength and complete the unfinished newbie quest.
The unfinished quest was to run 10 kilometers with a 2000-pound weight in 30 minutes, rewarding +1 agility, which he hadn't completed yet.
Back then, he lacked the strength.
But after the Titan Potion boosted his attributes, the quest's difficulty was now trivial for Orion.
"It's time to challenge it again!" Orion thought.
As the quest activated, a red glow enveloped him, adding 2000 pounds of weight.
Orion tested his movement outside the tent, feeling at ease.
Bare-chested, he began running.
Though it was dark, the tribe wasn't dimly lit.
Besides the snow's reflection, the tents glowed warmly from burning firestone. Orion ran through the tribe, leaving footprints in the snow.
"Hey, Orion!"
"Good afternoon!"
"Yo, Orion, want to spar in the arena?"
Along the way, his tribesmen greeted him warmly, and Orion responded in kind, chatting and laughing.
Passing through the tribe, Orion reached a stone gate.
A one-eyed giant sat at the entrance, watching him quietly.
"Six minutes left... plenty of time." Orion calculated, deciding to chat with Kolgor.
He was curious about the mysterious one-eyed giant.
"It's cold outside, what are you doing here?"
Seeing it was Orion, who had greatly contributed to the tribe, Kolgor smiled stiffly, "Hello, young one. Have a great day."
"You too," Orion replied politely.
Kolgor observed him for a moment, then said, "I'm the guardian of the stone gate. Normally, I'm here."
"Stone gate?" Orion looked curiously behind Kolgor, wondering what lay beyond that needed guarding.
Seeing his confusion, Kolgor patiently explained, "It's one of the entrances to the Abyss. I've been guarding it since my youth, for decades."
"I see." Orion nodded, bidding farewell to Kolgor.
He was still on a quest and couldn't chat long.
With little time left, Orion increased his speed. What was once an impossible quest was now trivial.
The panel flashed the quest completion message, and Orion felt lighter, the +1 agility reward taking effect.
"Is there more weight? Bring it on! I can handle a 5000-pound challenge!" Orion was pleased, satisfied with his strength, but the newbie quest changed.
[Newbie quest triggered: Kill Abyssal creatures for attribute rewards]
Standard level: +1 random attribute point for every 50 kills
Elite level: +1 random attribute point for every kill
Orion was taken aback.
The quest rewards were nice, but the content was odd—it required killing Abyssal creatures.
Did this mean he had to enter the Abyss?