"What you said is worth considering."
Ornn still looked as unhurried and unreadable as ever. But Caleb looked at those powerful arms of his and did not dare say too much more.
"Do you... have a plan?"
Caleb asked tentatively, but the other party did not answer.
"Uh…"
Seeing that Ornn seemed to be deep in thought, Caleb did not dare continue speaking. The situation was what it was. Unlike Janna, who had always protected Zaun, someone with Ornn's withdrawn personality would naturally not take the initiative to help humanity. Still, Caleb also knew that the deaths of the craftsmen of Hearth-Home had left Ornn wounded. He was the ultimate tsundere, basically.
Otherwise, when Volibear once asked Ornn to order his followers to forge armor for him, Ornn would not have flatly refused. That war filled with lava and thunder would not have happened either. And it was after that incident that Hearth-Home became a desolate, hard-to-climb place. No one came seeking Ornn anymore, except for a coincidental visit by some of Avarosa's people a few years ago.
"Speaking of which, logically speaking, your relationship with Avarosa should be very bad, shouldn't it?"
Caleb was somewhat confused. Sejuani's Winter's Claw believed in raiding and survival of the fittest. Logically speaking, Avarosa's smaller tribes should have hated them. After all, the Winter's Claw had taken so much food and supplies from them. If not for Avarosa's protection this year, they would have found it difficult to deal with the Winter's Claw when they came raiding.
So why did two tribes that looked like they should be mortal enemies instead seem so harmonious in the camp? To Caleb, this was very important. Looking at it this way, the situation in the Freljord was far more complicated than he had imagined.
"That involves the ideological dispute between the two tribes."
"Although we dislike each other's ideals, we are not in a state of complete opposition either."
"So of course, we would not truly go all out against each other."
There was a cunning look in Sejuani's eyes. In that moment, she did not seem like the decisive Warmother who killed without hesitation, but a young woman in the prime of her life who had just teased someone.
"It seems you're all very clever."
Caleb furrowed his brow. Compared with the Twin Cities, there were more wars here, so naturally there were more schemers too. And Sejuani and Ashe, as the descendants of Avarosa and Serylda, were naturally not reckless people either. At the very least, since they could lead the two largest tribes in the Freljord, neither of them could possibly be stupid.
Caleb's thoughts suddenly drifted back to when he had suggested that the two great tribes work together against the Ice Children. It seemed Sejuani's difficulty back then had not come from hatred toward Ashe, but from fear that Caleb would expose the tacit understanding between them.
"So…"
Taking advantage of Ornn's silence, Caleb grew even more curious.
"The Winter's Claw's main raiding targets are usually outsiders, Noxus and Demacia."
"And when we raid small tribes, we do not harm the other hearthbound."
Hearing Sejuani say that, Caleb understood. For tribes that had still been hesitating, once they saw that the Winter's Claw even dared raid tribes under Avarosa's banner, what were they supposed to choose? Stand alone? Or join that all-embracing Avarosa? There was basically no third option.
"So your alliance with the Ursine fell apart just like that, because at its core, you were only using each other."
Caleb's words were very direct, and Sejuani did not deny them.
"I was wondering. If you were short on food, forcibly raiding would have been much more efficient, so why go looking for Ornn's great cauldron…"
Caleb instantly connected all the previous actions together. Perhaps the essence of the matter was that this year's winter had arrived too early, and they had not seized enough food from Demacia and Noxus. If the two sides truly fought each other head-on and began fighting over food that would determine how they survived the entire winter, real casualties would appear. For both tribes, that would hurt them badly.
So Sejuani's attitude toward Caleb taking that great cauldron, and even helping both tribes deal with the Ice Children, now made sense. For both tribes, the entire Freljord could already be considered within reach.
"I understand…"
Caleb fell into the same kind of contemplation as Ornn. Everything he had done and seen before now connected together. This time, Caleb could confirm that the discord between the two sisters was basically nonsense. Ashe was more like the guardian, while Sejuani was more focused on raiding, but the two of them tacitly avoided touching each other's true interests.
Ashe would build her ideal nation, while Sejuani would create a force capable of launching expeditions and bringing back rare goods and food. Just as Caleb had initially envisioned, the two did not conflict. People were naturally meant to be diverse. There were reckless men like Olaf who wanted to seek a glorious death, and there were also people who only wanted to settle down, live a peaceful life, and tell stories to their grandchildren.
Caleb had always felt that trying to turn everyone into the same kind of person was, well...
Too stupid.
"How much time do we have left?"
Ornn's two curled horns looked like fresh lava from beneath the earth, glowing bright red, with even a faint hint of yellow.
"I don't know."
Although Caleb was somewhat ecstatic, he still tried his best to stay rational and answered straightforwardly. The "we" Ornn had said left Caleb feeling a little light-headed. If he could truly establish a connection with this Forge God...
Heh heh heh. Caleb could already see the glorious future of Piltover and Zaun.
Forge melee weapons?
Caleb had much bolder ideas!
"All right. That means there is still some time, at least."
Ornn did not seem that anxious. After all, he had enough confidence in his masterpiece, the abyss and the bridge.
"That thing at your waist. Whose work is it?"
Ornn noticed Youmuu's Ghostblade hanging at Caleb's waist, and his gaze gradually became scorching. It was the literal kind of scorching. Caleb could feel the places Ornn was looking at starting to heat up.
"I'm not sure. It worked well, so I used it."
Caleb was not lying about this either.
"Does it have a name? Do you mind letting me take a look?"
The moment Ornn saw such an outstanding piece of work, his hands began to itch. Thinking about it, it had also been a long time since he had critiqued a truly fine work, ever since the people of Hearth-Home vanished.
"Youmuu's Ghostblade."
Caleb took out his blade and handed it to him. Any item that could make Ornn give it another look definitely was no ordinary object. If it had been "Doran's Blade," perhaps that would also have been an excellent piece of craftsmanship, but compared with Youmuu's Ghostblade, it still lacked that trace of spirit.
"I once had followers too. They followed me."
"They did their best…"
Ornn's hand did not tremble in the slightest as he held the sword that looked much smaller in his grasp.
"What is he…"
Sejuani, who did not know Ornn well enough, was a little confused, but Caleb did not make a sound. Seeing Caleb pay so little attention to his own weapon, Olaf and Udyr also found it hard to understand.
Then they saw Ornn place the sword on the anvil and bring his hammer down with a single strike. Sparks scattered everywhere, startling many people. And when the equally scorching blade was passed through water again, the pattern on the edge had gained a trace of flame color.
"Youmuu's Wraithblade. I hope you don't mind."
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