Caleb took the blade Ornn handed him and carefully examined its body. Compared with the feeling it had before, when the blade felt as soft as flower petals to the touch, it now felt somewhat harder. Compared with falling cherry blossoms, the sword now better matched Caleb's idea of what a weapon should be. Even the cherry blossoms lingering around the blade carried a trace of scorching heat.
Caleb had a feeling that from now on, this blade would cut through everything he wanted to cut through even more smoothly.
"All right. Now two of them are already handled."
Caleb was glad he knew enough to persuade Ornn, an ancient demigod who had wandered within the mountain for so long. After all, the other party was an ancient life that had appeared ever since the Freljord was born.
Now Caleb only had two problems left to solve. On Volibear's side, he had to figure out how to convince him to coexist peacefully with Ornn, coexist peacefully with humans, and fight the Void together. And on Lissandra's side, he still had to figure out what exactly was going on.
Everything else was minor by comparison. Under the rule of the three sisters, the ancient demigods had gradually declined, that much was true. But why had they not noticed even the Void's invasion at all? For beings with the identity of demigods, that was not very convincing.
So during that Void invasion, what role had Lissandra actually played? What had the specific truth been like? As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Caleb had to prepare properly. He could not just charge in blindly with no preparation. Under those circumstances, he would most likely die very horribly.
"Too bad time is a little tight. Otherwise, once Mecha Malphite was finished, I'd have a bit more confidence."
Caleb's thoughts never stopped. The others beside him, as well as Ornn, patiently waited for him to finish thinking.
"Thank you."
Caleb returned the blade to its sheath. Although Ornn had merely done it in passing, he had still helped him a great deal. At the very least, using it from now on would feel much more natural.
"...It was nothing."
Ornn froze for two seconds, then replied. In a daze, he seemed to see the people of Hearth-Home who had followed him long ago. They would forget to eat and sleep while forging their own weapons. They would be overjoyed at receiving his guidance. They were pure people, and rare ones as well. Unfortunately, a tribe like that, people like that, seemed unlikely to ever appear again.
Caleb looked at Ornn's slightly disappointed face and fell silent for a moment as well. Now that Ornn, the secondary objective, had been resolved, what he needed to consider next was Lissandra. She was the main purpose of Caleb's exploration this time.
But Ashe had not arrived yet, and Caleb was not sure how much suppression the Iceborn could exert against Lissandra. He had no confidence in his heart. Lissandra could more or less be considered a human who, like Ryze, had lived through long, endless years while wielding tremendous power. The difference, however, was that Ryze's lifespan was actually far shorter than Lissandra's.
When Caleb pulled himself out of his thoughts, he found that everyone was looking at him.
"Hm?"
Caleb looked at Kai'Sa in confusion, while she looked back at him with the same innocent expression.
"Then take this. When you need help, blow it and I will find you."
Ornn handed over a horn. Caleb looked at the enormous horn and was somewhat stunned. This thing was almost as tall as him, and its opening was ridiculously huge.
"Do you think I can blow this? This isn't something I can manage just by trying harder."
Looking at such a massive horn, Caleb had already guessed its purpose. It was probably the one Ornn used in the game when he cast his ultimate to summon that ram.
"Hmm... that does seem to be the case..."
Even the smaller end of the horn was bigger than Caleb's mouth.
"Then I will go with you."
Forget Caleb, even the people behind him were shocked by Ornn's words. After staying shut away in the mountains for so long, was he finally willing to go out for a walk?
"No."
But Caleb ruthlessly rejected that answer. As a demigod, Ornn's majestic body was far too conspicuous. Who in their right mind would bring a nearly ten-meter-tall, muscular ram around while walking through the streets? Too ridiculous. Way too ridiculous. Caleb silently rejected the idea of bringing Ornn along on the road with him.
"Then use the one in your hand."
Ornn poured a breath of flame into Caleb's Youmuu's Wraithblade, but Caleb did not feel even the slightest trace of heat. Demigods did not merely possess power. Their control over that power was also unbelievably precise.
"Looks like reaching T2 is going to be a very long road…"
Looking at Ornn's display, Caleb deeply realized his own shortcomings. If he did not use the power of the World Runes, Caleb was probably only a human who had surpassed the T3 ranks. Whether it was Ryze or Volibear, the fact that they had not attacked Caleb was merely the result of coincidence and circumstance, not because Caleb had given them a reason they absolutely could not act against.
Caleb gripped the blade in his hand, and suddenly had a feeling. If he fully activated the flame portion of the blade pattern, then the entire sword would become incredibly hot while maintaining its original hardness.
He had to admit, Ornn's skill in forging had truly reached the peak. Things that looked completely impossible to achieve could be perfectly realized in his hands.
"Then we will go search for Lissandra."
Caleb's heart sank along with those words. This was the greatest problem right now. The Frostguard, the village of orphans, and the Frost Priests present among all the tribes. Caleb could be certain that this was a home field firmly controlled by Lissandra. Caleb was not merely walking into the other party's territory, but even more likely into a gauntlet the other party had carefully prepared.
But to break the deadlock, Caleb had no choice but to take this risk. If the Void truly invaded, Caleb did not want to see a scene where the Void and the Black Mist appeared at the same time. If that happened, even the World Runes might not be able to suppress it.
The world would not be so convenient as to let problems line up one by one and wait for Caleb to solve them. Just like how champions were safe in cinematics, yet Caleb himself had already killed several champions. Champions did not possess some special buff. No matter how powerful they were, even if they were like the Star Forger and had lived longer than the universe itself, the day of their end would always come eventually.
So Caleb had to solve every problem in front of him. He even wanted, once his strength was sufficient, to seek out Kindred, that being made up of Lamb and Wolf, and make a trip to the spirit realm.
As a major event that lasted an entire year, the Ruination was something Caleb did not dare take lightly.
"When you have time, come take a look at my city. Humans have made a few things that might surprise you too."
"What?"
Ornn clearly had not reacted yet. Was this fellow in front of him... showing off to him? He had forged for so long. What kind of work could possibly compare to the things made by his own hands?
"The Freljordians spend all their time fighting and lack imagination. You'll understand when you come."
Caleb's words made the entire group feel a little awkward, but he continued anyway.
"But you'll need to become a bit smaller, so you don't scare the people in my city."
"They haven't exactly seen that much of the world either."
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