"Who goes there?"
Seeing this group of guests who looked anything but ordinary, the guards halfway up the mountain naturally did not dare let their guard down.
"We're just passing through. Could we rest here for the night?"
In truth, it would not matter even if they did not stop for the night.
Everyone in Caleb's group was either far beyond the scope of an ordinary strong fighter, or possessed a top-tier Iceborn bloodline.
But since Caleb wanted to make contact with this unusual tribe, he naturally needed an excuse to warm up to them.
"Wait here."
The guard hurried away, and Caleb's group quietly waited in place.
"A village like this is extremely cut off. They wouldn't know much about news from the outside either."
Sejuani lowered her voice and explained to the people around her. The Winter's Claw also had a certain kind of business, selling information to some tribes while raiding and traveling across the land.
Generally speaking, that kind of thing was rare, but it was not entirely unheard of.
Because of that, Sejuani also knew that a tribe like this, one that lived off the mountain, basically had no interaction with the outside world.
Unless they had no choice but to move away from their original home, they rarely had any contact with outsiders.
"So these are the guests who wish to rest here?"
A figure came forward shakily, seemingly to greet them.
"Yes."
As the one handling negotiations, Caleb naturally took over the conversation.
Under the wind and snow, Caleb's originally gentle features revealed a bit of Freljordian temperament.
More importantly, the long arrow inside him allowed him to continuously release a bone-piercing chill into his surroundings.
That kind of presence, which only the very highest grade of Iceborn possessed, was fully released once Caleb stopped hiding it.
In the Freljord, only the Warmothers of major tribes had an aura like this. The bearing Caleb carried now was undoubtedly telling everyone around him that he was no ordinary person.
"Come in."
The old man did not shut them out. Instead, he led them into the tribe.
"Looks like he's very confident in his own strength…"
Caleb silently sensed the aura on the other party.
It was somewhat similar to his own. Could he be descended from a branch of the Iceborn?
"Do you need us to provide food? If you need it badly, I can ask the cook to prepare extra dishes tonight."
"We brought our own ingredients. Thank you, sir. We'll just need to borrow your cookware."
Caleb spoke without revealing anything, silently observing the surrounding environment.
"Then you're decent guests."
"May I ask your name, village chief?"
Ashe's voice was very gentle, carrying a hint of warmth.
"Lindberg. You can just call me Lind."
"Mr. Lind, do you live here permanently?"
Now that he knew this place was unusual, Caleb also began testing the waters.
"Sometimes we migrate west for a while to catch eels in the lake."
"It must be hard on you, spending the winter here."
Caleb looked across the village. It could not be considered especially wealthy, but it had enough supplies. After this winter, perhaps its population might even grow again.
After all, with a granary that large, if they were in a state where expenses exceeded income, they would not have refurbished it.
At the same time, it was probably to prevent accumulated snow from crushing it.
This place would need at least half a mountain's worth of uncontested resources to stockpile that much food.
If everyone ate three full meals a day, then perhaps it would take an entire mountain.
One person did not eat much, but ten people ate quite a lot.
After placing some food on the ground, everyone began preparing today's meal.
They called it preparing, but in reality, only Caleb and Kai'Sa were doing the work. Yuumi merely provided moral support from the side.
The others were all fighters, and they generally did not participate in cooking.
Even if they were left on their own, their iron stomachs could accept eating raw meat and drinking blood.
However, as someone who had some standards for food quality, Caleb truly did not want to gnaw on raw meat frozen stiff by the cold wind.
Since he was stewing meat anyway, he also needed some staple food and some carbs.
Caleb did not go out of his way to make anything fancy. It was just a big pot of stewed meat and roasted potatoes.
Yet once hot food entered the stomach, warmth and happiness would always rise from the bottom of the heart.
Perhaps this was also an instinct that humans had gradually adapted through evolution. In any case, Caleb started eating.
Even if he was being a little perfunctory, Caleb still did not want to crack his teeth.
"So, did you notice anything unusual?"
Everyone gathered closer, eating around the big pot while discussing things.
"You can all see the unusual parts, can't you?"
"This village's population is rising in an almost abnormal way."
What Caleb said was also what most of them could currently see. However, beneath that, more things were hidden within the unusual details.
"We all know that. The animal spirits also said that these people's hunting methods are still the same as everyone else's. There's nothing unusual about them."
The animal spirits beside Udyr were practically as numerous as cheats.
Caleb could not help feeling a little worried. Compared with himself, was Udyr the real transmigrator?
This kind of talent was a bit too astonishing. One had to know that normally, being protected by one animal spirit and constantly digging into that potential was already considered extraordinary talent.
Yet this guy could communicate with eight kinds of animal spirits and continuously train on that foundation.
It was the kind of talent even Sejuani would find shocking.
Generally speaking, the Warmother represented the strongest combat power of an entire tribe.
However, there were also anomalies like Olaf and Udyr, who stood tall as men in the female-dominated society of the Freljord.
"Then they should be hiding a method for dealing with trolls."
"It should be something that can't be replicated. Otherwise, they would be expanding much faster."
Caleb thought for a moment, then continued.
Caleb's group had not been assigned a house. Instead, they had been placed in the open space in front of the village chief's house.
And it was precisely because of that that Caleb could glimpse a blue-purple figure through the crack in the door.
"It can't be that much of a coincidence…"
Caleb silently pulled back his thoughts and hoped he would not get dragged into this.
"We leave after today. We won't stay long."
Everyone was somewhat surprised when they heard Caleb's decision, but since they had followed him here, they still listened to Caleb's opinion for the time being.
"Is it because of this place's secret?"
Olaf was the only one who kept asking to the end, because this had something to do with how he might die, so he was a little curious.
"Because of the person here."
There was no way Caleb would fail to recognize that bald head.
A man who could leave his name across the entire continent of Runeterra was naturally no simple figure.
Rather, this man represented the greatest height humanity could reach without a cheat.
The mage who wandered the entire continent, Ryze!
Caleb truly had not expected that he would actually run into him in this world of ice and snow, a legend of the entire League of Legends universe.
Although Ryze was easy enough to talk to, Caleb did not want to get involved with him.
The reason was simple. Caleb currently had a World Rune in his possession.
If Ryze, who had spent so much effort sealing the runes away, saw that, would he not beat Caleb half to death?
I worked myself like a dog to bury the runes somewhere safe, and you dug one up to use it yourself?
Yeah… better to retreat as far away as possible.
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