Marukolo seemed a little strange: "Child of the wolf, if I remember correctly, you are not of the ice bloodline, right?"

"What if not?"

"The blood alliance of the War Mother is not just a companion." Marukolo said sternly, "It also means strength and responsibility, and vows to defend the War Mother to the death."

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There is a magical bloodline widely circulated in the Freljord, and the locals call it "Iceblood" or "Iceborn". People with ice blood are not afraid of the cold by nature, their strength and endurance are far beyond ordinary people, and this strength can continue to grow with age. The transcendent power of the Frostblood has also caused most of the Freljord clans to fall into a class division—the Iceblood class and the non-iceblood class, the former usually being much nobler than the latter. Mortals who are not of ice blood are generally called "warm-blooded" or "furnace households," meaning "mortals who need a fire to survive." Furnace households are usually not qualified to participate in war, and can only do grass-roots work in the tribe.

—Excerpt from Ezreal's Travels of Valoran: The Freljord Chapter 1: The Making of Society

Chapter 4 The Journey

Lothar thought for a while, then said seriously: "Yes, if it's for Ashe, I think it should be no problem for me to die."

"Enough! Lothar!" Ashe was a little angry, "Don't be ashamed in front of Marukolo!"

The people around began to laugh at Lothar for talking big. Everyone knew that although this wolf cub was a good hunter, when he encountered a war with other tribes, he shrank faster than anyone else.

Marukolo didn't smile, he could feel that what Lothar said was true.

Marukolo looked at Ashe, this beautiful girl was locking Lothar's neck and dragging him away, looking like she was going to repair Lothar. Lothar is not of the ice bloodline, and his strength is completely inferior to Ashe, but he grimaced at Marukolo with a proud face: "Ashe was taken away by me!"

"Shut up!" Ashe gave Lothar a hard knock on the head.

Marukolo smiled bitterly: "A child raised by wolves, he is really unruly..."

…

The clan began a new day's journey, and they continued to travel far away, obeying the orders of the war mother Glenna, to find the legendary throne of Avarosa.

Avarossa, also the name of their tribe.

Lothar ran out of breath. Because of the advantage of the Frost bloodline's physical strength, the clan was divided into two groups. The first wave was led by Warmother Glenna, all of which were of the Frost Bloodline. The latter wave is naturally all ordinary furnace households, taken care of by Glenna's sister Heerno.

Lothar is not of the ice bloodline, he should stay in the team behind him, but he ran with all his strength and followed closely behind Ashe.

"He must be crazy!" Ash didn't even look back at Lothar. She began to regret why she went to Lothar last night. If she didn't go to Lothar, he wouldn't have a conflict with her mother. , and will not be stimulated to launch a furious offensive on himself.

"Ai Xi, what happened to that wolf cub?" An old man with a large white beard stayed beside Ai Xi and asked strangely.

"Ilu, I beg you, don't ask." Ashe pleaded.

Iru laughed: "I am your sworn father, you can't hide it from me."

Ashe turned her head to the side.

Yilu stroked his beard and looked unpredictable: "Let me guess, that wolf cub said he wants to be your blood alliance, right?"

"Iru!" Ashe punched Iru's arm hard, "You must have heard Lothar's nonsense last night!"

"It's not just me, almost all the Frozen Bloodlines in the tribe have heard it. Our ears are much smarter than furnace households."

"It doesn't matter what you hear, I won't let Lothar marry me." Ashe kicked a stone away.

"Is it because you don't like him, or is it because he's not from the ice bloodline"

Ash paused for a moment, and his heart was a little messy: "I have it all."

Iru patted Ashe on the back lovingly: "You have five sworn fathers, and I am the oldest of them. When I married your mother, I had no hope at all, and each of them was younger than me. Lizhuang, and guess what?"

Ashe has heard Iru tell this story countless times: "The result is that the three children born by mother are all yours."

"And only you survived to the spring and to the naming day." Iru touched the top of Ashe's head.

"What on earth are you trying to say, Dad?" Ashe wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible. Iru liked to hear her call him that the most. Every time he heard it, he would jump around excitedly like a child without anyone else.

But this time, Iru said meaningfully: "What I want to say is that you will never know what fate will bring you, don't deny that wolf cub so quickly."

Ashe stopped in her footsteps, she looked back, Lothar, the idiot, was walking hard at the end of the Frozen Bloodline team, trying his best not to fall behind, not to mention carrying a huge package on his back.

It suddenly occurred to Ashe that no one would help Lothar carry the package, or even let him put it on the cart, because he was not from Avarossa, he was just a child that Glenna picked up in the wolf's den.

He is an outsider, an outsider who has never been loved by anyone since he was a child.

Ashe looked at Lothar staggeringly walking in the snow, and was a little lost.

"Ashe, tell me the truth." Iru suddenly said, "Wolf cub and Marukolo, who do you like? Or do you like both?"

"Iru!" Ashe beat his father fiercely.

Iru laughed, enjoying his daughter's youthful fist.

…

Lothar felt like she was dying.

"These icy bloodlines...why...walk so fast!" Lothar stared at the team in front of him, not letting them out of his sight.

But Lothar was on the verge of collapse, the heavy package overwhelmed him.

A hand held Lothar.

Lothar looked to his side, and the man who helped him had a face that he hated.

"Can you hold on?" Marukolo asked with concern.

Lothar just wanted to say that he couldn't hold on, but when he thought that if he said these words, wouldn't it mean to admit defeat to Marukolo?

"It's okay!" Lothar gritted his teeth and continued to walk with all his strength.

"You don't need to force yourself so hard." Marukolo walked beside Lothar with a bone staff, "Aishie is at the front of the team, and you won't be able to see her no matter how hard you try."

"I want you to take care of it!"

Marukolo smiled bitterly, not expecting this wolf boy to be so stubborn.

"You don't have to treat me as an enemy, wolf child." Marukolo's palm condensed a dark chill, dispelling part of Lothar's fatigue, Lothar felt that his legs had regained strength, and he had to walk faster. Not a lot.

"Wow, is this the magic of the Frost Priest? It's amazing." Lothar felt that his body was too light.

"It can only last for a while, you should go back to the team of the furnaces first." Marukolo advised.

"I don't!" Lothar continued walking.

"Why do you work so hard?" Marukolo couldn't understand.

Lothar looked at the Frost Priest with wild sparks in his eyes: "Warmother Glenna doesn't admit that I am stronger than the Frost Bloodline, so I won't let me be Ashe's blood alliance, I want to prove it to her."

Marukolo was speechless for a long time before slowly saying: "I really don't know whether to laugh at your stupidity or admire your courage."

"I prefer the latter one, rival in love."

Marukolo laughed and said, "You really don't need to treat me as a rival in love. It's impossible for me and Ashe."

Losa looked at Marukolo suspiciously: "Why don't you like her"

"Ashe is the most beautiful and best girl I've ever seen, but..."

"but what"

"I am the Frost Priest." Marukolo smiled bitterly, "The Frost Priest will not marry, and I have dedicated my life to my master, Lissandra."

Lothar tilted his head: "So do you like Ashe or not?"

Marukolo was in a hurry: "Didn't I tell you, it's impossible for me and Ashe."

"But you like her." Lothar spat, "You like her, you are my rival!"

Marukolo stared blankly at Lothar, and the boy began to trot, catching up with the procession ahead.

"Regardless of origin, only about feelings..." Marukolo looked at the bone staff in his hand, "Unfortunately, wolf child, I don't have the courage like you."

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Although matriarchal, most Freljord tribes practice monogamy. The only exception is the War Mother, who can have multiple blood alliances to ensure that at least one healthy and strong girl can be born to inherit the position of the War Mother. For that child, her mother's husband is her sworn father. The father vowed to protect the mother and her children with all their might, so that the fire of the clan could continue.

—Excerpt from Ezreal's Travels of Valoran: The Freljord Chapter 1: The Making of Society

Chapter 5 Duel

After a day and night of migration, the clan returned to a village - Weskar.

This was once the residence of the Avarossa tribe and where Ashe grew up, but Glenna's last expedition to find the throne of Avarossa took away all the people, making the place deserted and dilapidated.

Compared with the people who set out at the beginning, there are a lot fewer people coming back now.

Lothar felt that his legs were about to break, but he gritted his teeth and started pitching the tent. Freljord nights without shelter were terrible, and Lothar didn't want to be a frozen corpse tomorrow morning.

He wants to set up the tent as soon as possible, cook whatever he wants, and then sleep, so as to keep his spirits up for tomorrow's migration.

But Lothar was interrupted by a loud noise.

"what happened?"

Lothar dragged his exhausted body towards the center of the village, where almost all the people in the tribe gathered, whether it was Frozen Bloodline or Furnace Household.

Lothar is looking for Ashe. There are not many people in the tribe who are willing to talk to him as an outsider. They think that children raised by wolves are unlucky. If Ashe is not found, he may not even know what happened.

Fortunately, Ashe is easy to find. She stands in the crowd, like a sunny flower growing on a barren rock wall, very conspicuous.

Lothar slipped through the crowd and patted Ashe on the shoulder: "Hey! What happened?"

Ashe turned her head and found that it was Lothar, her expression flashed a bit of complexity, but it was quickly overshadowed by worry.

Seeing that there were more and more people around, Ashe pulled Lothar away from the crowd, and climbed with him to a sentry building not far away: "Aunt Heerno is going to challenge mother."

"Hernor is going to challenge Warmother Glenna," Lothar was surprised. "Will she take the position of Warmother?"

"Aunt Haiernuo did this definitely not to usurp the throne." Ai hoped to the center of the village, the crowd surrounded a large open space, and two tall and strong women were wiping their weapons.

"What's that for"

"For the tribe, another furnace household died on the way today."

Haiernuo walked into the battlefield first. She was carrying a two-handed long sword. The faint cold air proved that it was actually a true ice weapon.

Haiernuo's face was solemn. On the contrary, Glenna, who was the challenged, had a relaxed expression, and even smiled frivolously. It seemed that she was not in the eyes of her sister's challenge to her power.

Glenna holds a small axe in her right hand and a short spear in her left, both of which are true ice weapons.

She walked slowly into the battlefield, and Heerno raised his long sword and pointed it at her sister: "Glena, immediately announce the stop of migration! Stop chasing the throne of Avarossa that doesn't exist!"

Glenna laughed twice: "Sister, just because you can't challenge my position, it's too late for you to give up, at least this way I don't have to beat you out of bed."

The surrounding crowd burst into laughter, and Glenna's supporters and Heerno's supporters began to swear at each other. If the duel between Glenna and Heerno was not very important, they might have fought.

Ashe looked at the crowd sadly. The tribe was not of one mind, and there were many who opposed her mother's search for the throne.

Lothar put his arms around Ashe's shoulder: "Don't be afraid, no matter who wins, I'm on your side anyway."

Ashe's eyes froze, she didn't break loose from Lothar's hand, and let him hug her.

Until Lothar's hand slowly drilled into Ashe's chest.

Snapped!

"Oh!" Lothar was overturned by Ashe's slap. If Ashe didn't keep his hand, the slap might have knocked Lothar's teeth out.

"Running all day, how can you still have the strength to think about such a thing!" Ashe kicked Lothar's back fiercely.

Lothar smiled apologetically and blocked Ashe's feet: "I was wrong, give me another chance to hug you, I promise not to cross the line!"

"Beautiful thoughts!" Ashe wanted to punch Lothar a few more times, but the duel between Glenna and Heerno had already begun. Ashe hurriedly leaned over the railing of the sentry building, watching the duel.

Heleno's sword swung a cold wind, and the axe in Glenna's hand crossed the spear, blocking the wind that was sharper than a knife.

"My dear sister! Only this ability is not enough!" Glenna laughed wildly and rushed towards Heerno, slashing with axe and spear, each blow accompanied by a cold wind whistling.

Heerno was not afraid of Glenna's fierce attack, his two-handed swords opened and closed, and the cold wind danced wildly.

"Wow, they are really fierce." Lothar was watching the duel on the watchtower, and even Ashe and Lothar on the watchtower could feel the cold wind and waves engulfed by the exchange of the two Zhenbing weapons. Many onlookers couldn't stand the cold wind and ran to the periphery of the crowd.

Heleno blocked Glenna's slash and shouted angrily: "Glena! You are no longer fit to lead the tribe!"

"Then you are suitable!" Glenna avoided the sword glow pierced by Heerno.

"We should find a place to settle down! Sow rice! Catch summer eels!" Heleno's sharp sword stabbed against Glenna's face, and a small piece of frost condensed on Glenna's face.

"Sister! I'm not here to listen to a coward! If you have anything to say, just use your weapon!" Glenna kicked Heerno's chest, knocking her back a few steps.

"Come on then!" Haiernuo quickly regained his stance, and his long sword continued to move forward.

"Don't..." Ashe looked regretfully at her mother and aunt, but she couldn't do anything.

Lothar put his hand lightly on Ashe's back.

"Sister! Listen up!" Glenna's offensive became more and more fierce. "I'm a pointed spear!" The True Ice Spear in Glenna's left hand stabbed at the neutral block beside Heerno, and Heerno hurriedly raised his sword to resist.