"What we're about to do now is head deep into the camp."
Although they had accepted Caleb's goodwill, the other side clearly had not lowered their guard yet.
Caleb looked at the still-wary crowd and swept his gaze around. He did not see any familiar figures.
"Where's your leader?"
Caleb realized that he was near the middle and rear of the group, so he did not bother being polite with these people.
"Up front!"
The entire group had already stopped because of these two uninvited guests, and they could not afford to delay any longer.
Before dusk, the group had to set up camp and rest.
Otherwise, on the mountain at night, the wild beasts would use their excellent hearing in the darkness.
Those creatures understood very well who the real big threats were, so they would only pick off the old, weak, sick, and injured.
Keeping a small distance from the main group, Caleb and Kai'Sa hurried forward.
It was currently the end of summer. The days were growing shorter and shorter, while the cold nights stretched longer and longer.
And after summer came no harvest-filled autumn.
Instead, it was the endless, biting winter that would wear down countless Hearthbound until they died.
The leader had not said anything, but every Hearthbound knew.
There was not much stored food left. If this continued, many people probably would not live to see the buds blooming next spring.
Everyone understood this without saying it aloud. For the Freljord, a land that placed extreme importance on bloodlines, this winter would be a test.
An extraordinarily difficult test.
Would they receive the blessing of a god, be redeemed through the long winter and endless night, and see the sunlight again?
Or would they simply be eliminated by this land?
No one knew. They could only silently pray to their own faith.
Before long, Caleb and the others had slowly reached the front.
The cold wind seemed as if it wanted to carry away all the warmth from a person's body, yet at the very front, those with Iceborn blood were completely unmoved.
"Miscalculated… I thought this was Ashe's tribe…"
Caleb looked at the enormous boar in front of him and immediately knew what tribe this was.
The Winter's Claw.
That raider tribe that even dared to rob Noxian warships.
Unlike Ashe, who wanted to build an ideal nation, the people of the Winter's Claw believed far more in strength.
So they would never even consider whether someone could endure or not, even if that person was Iceborn.
If this was as far as you got, then it could only mean you were merely someone of that level, still nowhere near strong enough.
"This really is a pretty Spartan group."
Caleb could not help sighing with emotion.
"Spartan? What does that mean?"
Unlike the mixed-bloods and Hearthbound behind them, who were fully on guard, the high-purity Iceborn at the front did not look at him with hostility.
"A place from my homeland. It's used to describe people with a lot of grit and fighting strength."
Caleb answered casually, then looked upward.
Sejuani was not crude like the nickname "boar girl" from his previous life. Instead, she had a highly dignified appearance.
And upon closer inspection, the Iceborn, who were not affected by frost, had nurtured Sejuani's long hair and skin until they were even whiter than snow.
"Whoa. She really is something."
Caleb withdrew his gaze and continued walking in silence.
For now, the most important thing was still to reach the camp. It would not be too late to introduce himself once they arrived there.
"Kid, don't tell me you've taken a liking to her?"
A thick arm wrapped around Caleb without any explanation, like a fierce tiger dragging its prey into its grasp.
"And you are?"
Caleb looked at the warrior before him, who wore a horned helmet, and felt that he looked somewhat familiar.
"Olaf. You can call me whatever you like."
The other man laughed heartily twice, then handed over a wine flask.
Olaf glanced at the long blade at Caleb's waist and the travel-worn cloak around his shoulders.
"From overseas?"
Caleb naturally knew what he meant. Plenty of travelers, mercenaries, and merchants crossed the northern seas into the Freljord, and anyone carrying an unfamiliar blade or wearing foreign gear could be taken for someone from far away.
"Yeah."
Caleb did not explain too much.
It looked like Olaf had made that guess because of the unusual weapon at Caleb's waist and the fact that the two of them clearly did not belong to any local tribe.
As for Kai'Sa, even beneath her thick cloak, one could still glimpse her breathtakingly beautiful face. But more than that, the traces of magic around her made her seem like someone from far beyond the Freljord, mysterious, dangerous, and difficult to place.
"Coming here, and to our caravan at that? You two have guts."
Seeing that Caleb did not say much, Olaf simply took back the flask and poured a fierce mouthful down his own throat.
"You have business with the leader?"
Kai'Sa also remained silent, leaving all the authority to negotiate to Caleb.
"We'll talk about that once we arrive."
A reckless bruiser like Olaf definitely would not be an especially important decision-maker in the whole tribe.
With that fearless momentum of his, any kind of strategy was probably something he would barely listen to before deciding whether he personally wanted to go or not.
Caleb had no intention of revealing too much to this type of enforcer.
"I'm telling you, you came all this way. Don't you want to form a blood oath with our leader?"
"Look at the one beside you. She's like a skinny little reed."
"Now look at our leader. She's got plenty of meat on her bones, especially muscle. One glance tells you she'd be strong enough to bear good children."
"And I'm not just bragging. Freljordian women really do have more flavor."
"Do you mean body odor? The armpit-stink kind?"
Caleb roasted him mercilessly.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Even Olaf could not help choking in the middle of drinking.
He really had not expected that this Ionian could kill a conversation with one sentence too.
"Blood oath?" Kai'Sa asked from the side, puzzled.
It sounded like some kind of vow of brotherhood.
"Haha, you don't know about that, huh?"
Although Olaf felt this woman was not his type, the Freljordian tradition of respecting women still made him explain patiently.
"A blood oath is how we Freljordians become husband and wife."
As soon as he said that, even in the cold wind mixed with flying snow, Kai'Sa's face flushed red.
"You…"
Kai'Sa looked at Olaf, whose expression could not be seen clearly beneath his beard and helmet. She was a little angry, but there was nothing she could do.
"But don't worry. Sejuani is our Warmother. Usually, only the best Iceborn can form a blood oath with her."
Caleb looked at the silent woman. She was riding high atop a boar, and he could not see the expression beneath her helmet.
Caleb's appearance did not delay them for too long. Not long after, an open clearing appeared before everyone's eyes.
While the others busied themselves, the Iceborn responsible for combat scanned the surroundings, alert for any threat that might arrive.
"Outsiders, what are you seeking by coming here?"
Watching the busy crowd, Sejuani lightly patted the head of the enormous boar beside her and removed her helmet.
Silver strands slowly slipped down. That face was both steadfast and carried the softness unique to a woman.
The scar across her nose did not detract from her beauty at all. Instead, it revealed even more clearly the brutal battles she had once taken part in.
"That… is a long story."
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