Toka withdrew his gaze from the "farmland" and continued to walk towards the center of the camp.
The road under his feet was much smoother than when he left; the scattered rocks and obstructive bushes had been cleared, clearly by someone's deliberate effort.
Along both sides of the road were the crude dwellings built by the pioneers using large logs and rocks cut on-site.
Without the help of the two Paladins accompanying the team, they wouldn't have been able to construct houses of this scale in such a short time.
Although far from comparable to the neatly planned stone and wood structures Ital'ruk now boasted, it was a world of difference from the beast-hide tents they had when they first arrived.
Several Frost Troll children were chasing and playing in the open space between the houses; they were the families brought by the pioneers.
When they saw Toka approaching, they immediately stopped, their small hands clumsily pressed against their chests, imitating the prayer gestures of adults, their small faces filled with a hint of nervousness.
Toka nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Only then did the children scatter as if granted a great pardon.
These little ones were relatively lucky in the Pioneer Territory; it wasn't like Ital'ruk, and the supervision was relatively lax—fundamentally, it was mainly due to insufficient manpower, making it impossible to spare the effort to specifically monitor them.
The children who remained in Ital'ruk were comparatively "miserable"; it was said that Siye was vigorously promoting something called "Children's Education," aiming to have them "bathe in divine grace and comprehend glory" from a young age.
Bypassing an area where timber for future use was stacked, the view suddenly opened up again.
A large, flat open space had been specifically cleared, resembling a rudimentary air base; this was the "nesting area" for the Proto-Dragons.
Several particularly robust Proto-Dragons were lazily sprawled in their "nests," which were crudely piled together from broken wood and scattered rocks.
But more Proto-Dragons had completely given up on such efforts, simply lying sprawled out on the cold, hard ground, looking utterly lazy, as if to say, "You can kill me, but I'm not building my own nest."
Some were dozing, others were bored, idly sweeping the ground with the tips of their thick tails, raising small clouds of dust.
Then, Toka saw Frost Fang.
This nominal Proto-Dragon "Chief Priest of the Pioneer Territory" was currently diligently fulfilling his sacred duties—or rather, attempting to fulfill them.
He blocked the path of a young, spirited Proto-Dragon attempting to gnaw on a nearby wooden fence, a low, clearly threatening growl rumbling in his throat.
The effect was minimal at best.
The young Proto-Dragon merely tilted its massive head, looking at Frost Fang with innocent, curious, and even somewhat naive eyes.
Its expression was remarkably similar to Frost Fang's own when he first encountered the Dragon God.
This, in turn, made Frost Fang somewhat flustered and angry.
He suddenly spread his wings, stirring up a gust of wind, attempting to intimidate the other into submission.
"Roar—!"
The young Proto-Dragon flinched, startled by the sudden outburst, but after only a moment, it tentatively poked its head out again, even attempting to stick out its tongue and lick Frost Fang's nose to appease him.
Toka's lips twitched almost imperceptibly as he forcibly suppressed the inappropriate smile.
He knew all too well why the Proto-Dragon Church had sent Frost Fang here.
Among the Proto-Dragon race, individuals who could truly grasp the essence of faith and were devout enough to consistently receive divine grace were exceedingly rare.
The vast majority of Proto-Dragons eligible for a professional class preferred to become "Paladins"—a profession that wielded claws and divine power, which was clearly more direct, more powerful, and more in line with their nature.
This led to an extremely awkward situation: the Proto-Dragon Church, already scarce in dragon numbers, severely lacked priests responsible for daily sermons and comforting the faithful.
Initially, it was manageable; they only needed to oversee two branch churches, Ital'ruk and Obsidian Lair.
Even with a severe shortage of priests, by squeezing and scheduling, they could barely cover the preaching times.
However, now, the Pioneer Territory, this new stronghold, had risen, and the Dragon God had explicitly demanded that the branch here must meet the standards of the main church in Obsidian Lair.
The main reason, Toka vaguely guessed, was that team of Night Elf Druids.
The Great Dragon God clearly hoped that his "facade" here could be maintained, so as not to appear too shabby in front of those pointy-eared elves.
There was no other way; the Old Dragon Matriarch could only "pick the best of a bad bunch" and send Frost Fang, who had seemingly matured a lot and had even voluntarily chosen the priest profession, here.
Accompanying him were ten Proto-Dragons of varying ages and personalities, barely forming the Proto-Dragon branch church of the Pioneer Territory.
Watching Frost Fang struggle to maintain a priestly demeanor, yet every move he made revealed a clumsy, irrepressible liveliness.
Toka could only silently pray in his heart: Hopefully, this "Chief Priest" wouldn't bite his own tongue when officially delivering sermons.
He no longer lingered, walking directly towards the core area of the camp.
Currently, the central area was exceptionally simple, even crude.
A massive, uncarved black rock stood majestically, serving as a temporary idol.
The rock surface had been simply polished, relatively flat, with the majestic divine emblem of the Dragon God deeply imprinted in the center—that vertical dragon eye that seemed capable of piercing souls and overlooking all beings.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"