"Why are there orcs here?!"
The thought flashed through Sekashi's mind, then she hurriedly pushed down her doubt, crouched and buried herself in the snow until she blended with the white, using the snow to mask her scent so as not to be detected by the orcs' keen noses.
A little farther away, Semiaya likewise concealed herself, gripping the bone spear at her waist, silently watching the snowy woods.
Before long, three orcs draped in thick wolf pelts and wearing bone ornaments stomped into view.
The lead orc, massive in build, gripped a crude skull hammer, first having the other two orcs scout the area. After they found nothing unusual, he approached the snow elk whose blood had already frozen into crystals.
"Ice spire, magic?"
The orc crouched, dipped a finger into the blood and licked it, then ran his hand over the elk's body to feel the remaining warmth.
"Someone hunted here not long ago, didn't go far."
"Ulf, could they be those wild people?" one orc answered in a thick voice.
"If they don't hand over the summer rations, not a single one of them will escape."
"Fine." Kaku growled in response, muscles bulging in his arms, he heaved the heavy elk onto his shoulders and trudged into the trees, leaving a line of deep footprints.
"Move, don't let them run."
Ulf waved his hand and led Chira to quickly encircle toward the wild people's settlement.
Only after the two had gone a distance did Sekashi and Semiaya reunite, worry showing on their faces. "Do you think something will happen? The tribe seems to have little food this year."
Semiaya drew in a deep breath. Reason told her it was best not to offend the overlords of the tundra, especially with Sekashi present, but... her heart softened.
"Go back to the cave at Mount Buda and hide. Wait for me to return."
"If something happens to the tribe, I'll save them."
Sekashi hurriedly shook her head. "I'll go with you. I'm strong now."
To make her words believable, she walked to a small spruce, wrapped her slender arms around the whole tree, and with a little force the frozen soil at the roots cracked. The entire tree was uprooted, chunks of snow tumbling free.
Semiaya was speechless. Seeing Sekashi's resolute attitude, she sighed slightly and could only nod.
The two followed the path they had come, soon catching up to the two orcs. The wild people's outer palisade also came into view.
But the palisade had been toppled and lay scattered in the snow.
A bad premonition settled over them.
Silently approaching the village edge, the sound of shouting and scolding carried over. The orcs were kicking open huts and, like raiders, searching every dwelling for possible food stores.
Most of the wild people were already being shoved together into the open space, surrounded in a tight circle.
The lead orc sat on a stone, his massive hammer casually placed beside him. The pitted battle marks on it sent a chill through anyone who saw them.
"It's 'Skullcrusher' Groln." Semiaya said in a grave, low voice.
Sekashi tightened her grip on her worn oak staff at the name.
'Skullcrusher' Groln's reputation was widespread across this snowfield.
This orc earned his name through brutal fighting and the two-handed hammer that could smash any enemy's skull. He was the Frostbone tribe's most valiant warrior.
He was also one of the reasons the wild people shivered at the mere mention of the tundra.
His arrival signaled the start of plundering: the orc tribe would seize the wild people's supplies and fuel, and hunger and death would follow.
After the orcs left, some would invariably die from starvation and cold.
On the open ground, the wild people crouched, dwarfed by the orcs' towering green-skinned bodies, their faces full of confusion and fear.
The wild people's shaman was forced before Groln, who, expressionless, said, "Your grain this year is much less."
The shaman trembled and looked up pleadingly. "Lord Groln, the game hasn't been plentiful this year. This is all the tribe has left."
"If these grains are gone, many will starve to death."
Groln gazed at the old man and said coolly, "I don't care how many of you die, but I will leave some grain here. Whether you can survive on it is up to you."
He did not speak from overflowing compassion.
It was more like sensible management of resources the orcs owned.
Indeed, in the orcs' view, these wild people were merely resources.
When food was relatively abundant, they'd keep the wild people to plunder and exploit. In times of shortage, those wild people would become food.
Drinking blood and wearing fur—survival by the strong—was the law of this tundra. The weak did not even deserve to decide the fate of their own lives.
Those who despised this law had long followed ancestral prophecy and migrated north to seek the legendary warm harbor where all seasons are spring.
Those left behind were orc strongmen who adapted to the law.
Pity and sympathy were unnecessary emotions here.
"Thank you, lord, for your pity."
Even the smallest show of pity, as if a token handed out to placate them, made the old man kowtow repeatedly, even pressing his lips to Groln's fur boots.
Groln's cold eyes fixed on him, and he spoke slowly.
"I heard there are two lizardfolk here. Where are they?"
Sekashi, hiding in the dark, was slightly startled and glanced at Semiaya.
Semiaya only shook her head, signaling her to stay put.
Upon hearing the question, the wild people's shaman stiffened briefly, but quickly masked it and looked up with a baffled expression.
"Lizardfolk? How could those swamp dwellers dare set foot on this land?"
"My lord, you must be mistaken about something."
Groln remained silent, staring. His hulking body stood like a towering peak—cold, imposing—radiating an invisible pressure that made the bent figure of the shaman seem even smaller.
The oppressive silence lasted several seconds before he spoke.
"It had better be that there are none."
"No one may tread that place again, especially those lizardfolk."
"Kukara must never appear again."
Kukara—once a lizardfolk shaman who tamed snow eagles atop Eagle Beak Peak—had been feared for his strength. The orcs had taken his lizardfolk name in their tongue and given it the meaning of conqueror of snow and ice.
Even now, orc tribes warned generation after generation never to let lizardfolk venture deep into the tundra.
Even proud orcs had to admit that the lizardfolk were powerful.
"Y-yes..." the wild people's shaman nodded in terror.
Groln rose and turned to leave.
But before the wild people could fully relax, an orc suddenly pushed forward a wild person with a bandaged leg and handed some crushed herbs to Groln.
The tall orc brought the herbs to his nose. He sniffed, frowned sharply, and looked to the old man.
"The tang of swamp vines. Brutu, has anyone left the tundra?"
Brutu, the wild people's shaman, was startled. He hadn't expected the orcs' noses to be so keen. He forced calm and said, "To secure enough game, some of the tribe's young ventured out and brought back these herbs."
Groln sneered and tossed the herbs to the ground.
"Bold, daring to lie to me."
"Not only are these vines only in swamps, but you dare pass through the snow curtain."
"It seems Frostbone has been too kind to you, letting you forget the rules here."
Groln strode forward, and Brutu stumbled back, tripping and collapsing.
He crouched like an old man made decades older in an instant, fear and bitterness in his voice. "They saved our people. I couldn't ignore it."
"All these decisions were mine. I beg you, Lord Groln, spare them."
"My lord... please."
"Shaman!"
The wild people cried out and a commotion rose, but the orcs forced them back.
Groln hefted his heavy hammer and rumbled, "Traitors will not be forgiven. Tell me their location, and the others may avoid death."
"My lord, they're truly not involved..."
While Brutu was still explaining, Sekashi's silhouette quietly manifested before the orcs.
"I'm right here."
Hearing the voice, Groln and the orcs turned.
"We lizardfolk do not bully the weak like you do."
"If you have the skill, come out and duel me fairly."
Sekashi pointed her staff at Groln and taunted him.
"Hmph, cheap trick."
Groln shoved Brutu aside, shouldered his great hammer and confronted Sekashi.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the lizardfolk before him, his gaze burning with battle-lust.
"But I'm more than willing."
The legend of Kukara indeed spread through every orc tribe on the tundra, but Groln, born a Frostbone warrior, was proud and unwilling to yield.
He intended to prove that lizardfolk were weak creatures and that orcs were the true masters of the snowfield. That swamp beings defeating them would be an insult.
Seeing Groln advance, Sekashi didn't hesitate. She turned and leaped into the open snow outside the village.
The cold wind whipped up snow, striking the two figures in their standoff. In the silence, only the lichen on branches shivered.
"In the end, we couldn't stop any of it..."
Brutu watched Sekashi's figure, coughed, and sighed.
What could a shaman who only knew natural spells do against those who had adapted to the tundra?
The other wild people couldn't bear to watch and turned their faces away, as if the next moment would bring a splatter of blood.
At that moment, someone behind Brutu nudged him and pointed forward.
Brutu blinked and followed their gaze. Through the orcs, he saw Semiaya slightly reveal herself and make a gesture.
The orcs were focused on the duel and did not notice Semiaya's approach.
A silent message passed among the wild people, and they subtly prepared.
They all knew the price of betraying the orcs;
without a plan to escape, death awaited them.
Brutu had not lied to Groln about one thing.
There were indeed young people who had tried to breach the ever-moving snow curtain to chart a southern migration route for the tribe.
That snow curtain, which trapped their people generation after generation, had lost many explorers. Some even starved to death halfway through.
Normally, those young challengers would be lost and buried by snow like their predecessors.
But they encountered Sekashi and Semiaya trying to enter the tundra.
These two lizardfolk from the swamps carried an ancestor's map and easily guided them out.
The wild people's tribe numbered barely over fifty, with fewer than fifteen youths. Losing even one was a heavy blow—hunting manpower would fall and food would diminish.
Every attempt to cross the snow curtain demanded courage and determination.
Older tribe members or those injured in hunts often volunteered to go into the curtain to save resources, hoping to find a way out. The storm stood like a silent ice tomb, swallowing unknown numbers without return.
Now they had a map and had finally decided to abandon everything and move south to warmer lands.
Their first step was to shake off the orcs' control.
On the snow beyond the village.
Sekashi spoke first. "My ancestor Kukara could defeat you orcs. So can I."
Groln answered coldly, "Posturing. A frail body, terrifyingly weak—that's your reliance?"
"You're waiting for your companions to move, aren't you?"
"And what if I am?"
Sekashi quickly swung her staff and launched the attack.
[Icicle Spire]
Three ice crystals instantly condensed before the staff, elongating and gleaming in the sunlight, then shot toward Groln.
"Hmph, petty tricks."
Groln took a heavy step and swung his two-handed hammer at the incoming ice spires.
Boom!!
The three ice spires shattered on the hammer, releasing cold that immediately spread as frost across the hammer and Groln's arm, forming an ice shell.
Groln let out a low roar and easily broke free. With a spin he added terrifying force to the hammer handle and leapt as the hammer came down.
Boom!!
The snow erupted, flakes scattering.
Sekashi barely rolled out of the way. The ice crystals that had formed on her scales fractured into fine cracks from the brutal impact.
Everyone was shocked by the commotion, watching Sekashi flee in a sorry state with growing concern.
The orcs, on the other hand, cheered, shouting excitedly:
"Lord Groln, smash her!"
"Crush that little lizard!"
"The tundra belongs to us orcs!!"
Sekashi clumsily evaded several of Groln's follow-up strikes, countered with spells, but failed to cause any real harm.
Yet in that moment she no longer felt the earlier dread.
Because she realized—
This orc... didn't seem stronger than her.
"You just dodge?!" Groln felt like the lizardfolk was as slippery as an eel. Whenever his hammer was about to land, she dodged faster than expected.
Her slight frame wasn't as weak as he had assumed.
But this orc's mind was not as crude as his appearance;
it was rather subtle.
After gauging Sekashi's reaction speed, his eyes flickered as he feinted another hammer drop.
Before Sekashi could dodge again, he shifted the direction of force toward where he predicted she'd go.
Sekashi landed exactly in that spot.
Just as the hammer was about to crush her, in the crowd's gasps she bit her lip, dropped the oak staff, and chose to use those slender arms to take the blow.
"Is she crazy?" even the orcs looked puzzled.
Everyone expected the hammer to pulverize those arms and turn Sekashi into a smear. Instead, a mighty thud rang out.
Half her body sank into the snow, the ice armor on the palm scales cracked, but the hammer could go no further.
She had absorbed the heavy blow!
Groln's composed face stammered, then twisted.
Damn!
He felt a deep, terrifying force come from the other side. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't advance another inch.
This spellcaster's strength was greater than his!
Before Groln could react further, that strange force channeled back through the hammer, and he felt the world spin as he was violently thrown to the ground by the lizardfolk girl.
"No way..."
The crowd that had been jeering fell silent, staring at the scene in disbelief.
Lord Groln lost in a test of strength?!
And to a spellcaster?!
The wild people who were surrounded also showed stunned expressions, as if to say, "Huh??"
In their impression, this lizardfolk shaman from beyond the snow was always a frail healer.
Who was this warrior who could floor an orc with sheer strength?
In the instant of everyone's shock, Semiaya moved.
Stealth was not her specialty;
precise and efficient killing was.
Three bone spears trembled and shot out, slicing through the wind and snow with a sharp hiss, striking the foreheads of the three orcs. The force drove the spears clean through their skulls, leaving bloody holes.
They did not make a sound and crumpled to the ground, dead.
"Enemy... enemy attack!!"
The orcs were jolted awake, and the wild people's fighters brazenly burst the encirclement, tearing a path free.
On this brutal tundra, the hardy survivors were mostly youths and strong adults;
even the wild women were muscular, triangular in build.
Their counterattack was loud and ferocious—some orcs were pinned to the ground.
"Run! Shaman and children first!"
They shouted and fought the orcs in a desperate struggle.
"Damn it! Don't run!" the orcs roared, counterattacking with axes and hammers and narrowing the encirclement.
The wild people, lacking weapons, could not stand the blows barehanded and were forced back.
At that moment, Semiaya arrived.
She tossed bows and stone hammers collected from the village into the crowd, not bothering whether anyone could catch them.
Her sharp eyes locked onto an orc about to swing an axe. The killing intent in her gaze felt like ice freezing him. The orc broke into a cold sweat and paused for a moment. Semiaya stepped onto a wild person's shoulder and sprang into the air, spears launching in rapid succession.
Three more orcs fell, and chaos erupted.
By now the children had fully escaped. The other wild people dared not linger;
under Semiaya's cover they rallied and counterattacked while quickly evacuating the village.
"Damn!!"
Groln watched the scene, pupils narrowing, wanting to pursue, but a gale hit the next moment and he had to dodge.
Boom!!!
The hammer plummeted into the snow like a bomb and exploded with a thunderous boom. The flying snowflakes became like sharp blades, slashing several wounds across Groln's disheveled form.
"Your opponent is me."
As the snow blew away, a small figure stood opposite holding the great hammer.
Sekashi's face still wore a flush of exhilaration. She felt as if all the blood in her body had suddenly come alive, giving her a warmth unlike before.
Strange.
How had she never realized how useful a hammer could be?
From now on she wasn't going to be just a mage!
"Don't run, take my hammer!"
Groln hurried to evade, his face full of humiliation and anger.
Being felled by a lizardfolk, stripped of his weapon—this was an unbearable disgrace.
If word of this spread, his 'Skullcrusher' reputation would become a joke!
But this lizardfolk's strength was so bizarre he dared not take her head-on;
he no longer even wanted to duel her.
Stumbling away, he quickly put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly, summoning a frost wolf that charged straight at the fleeing wild people's group.
"Sister, watch out!!"
Sekashi had to drop the great hammer and hurriedly snatch up her oak staff and chase after them.
Semiaya glanced at Groln in pursuit, her face darkening, and shouted, "Don't go into the snow forest! Quick, head to Mount Buda!"
Brutu the shaman led the way, chanting ancient words and waving his wooden staff.
[Cold Wind Technique]
The headwind that had impeded them turned into a tailwind, speeding the wild people's progress.
They dared not stop for a moment and ran straight for the towering snowy peak in the distance.
That area, forbidden by the orcs, often had snow eagles—dangerous, but even more perilous for orcs. For reasons unknown, those snow eagles hated orcs, so reaching them gave a chance at survival.
But Groln had already pressed forward.
Sensing the wild people's intention, he grabbed a wooden spear from a nearby orc and hurled it with all his might.
However, his aim was no match for Semiaya's. She easily knocked it aside.
"Hmph!"
Groln seized an axe, his body instantly heating in a berserk state. With a kick, he felled the frost wolf, which howled and collapsed in the snow.
He shot forward like a projectile and struck Semiaya, who had crossed blades with a bone blade.
Boom!!
Semiaya was knocked backward, her left bone blade dislodged, a metallic taste flooding her throat as blood welled up. Though not immediately incapacitated, her injury was serious.
Even more desperate was the sound of more frost wolves pounding through the snow—the orc tribe's reinforcements had arrived.