New Avarosa

The journey went smoothly at first, as Sejuani prepared a token for Harren that symbolized the Claw of Winter.

A small plaque forged from cold iron, engraved with crossed double battle axes—the totem of the Claws of Winter.

Harren had suggested that Sejuani add a picture of a "deer" behind the axe, but Sejuani refused. She didn't want anything random appearing on the totem until food actually grew in the fields.

With this token, Herren truly enjoyed the treatment of an "envoy from a superior nation".

The tribes that Harren first stopped at were all those that maintained contact with the Winter's Claw. After hearing about Harren's origins, they all acted very friendly.

This stems from the title of Winter's Claw, and also from Harren's own reputation...

As a blacksmith who considers forging his second life, the first thing Herren heard was the title of "Master Brewer".

Many people even thought he was a shaman, and he was often referred to as "the one who brewed the divine medicine," which made Herren quite nervous.

However, while Harren could indeed travel this distance by begging, he did not want to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, he had to disappoint Serjuani and give her the wine she had prepared for Harren to drink on the road as a gift to thank the tribes for their kindness.

Anyway, he really doesn't like drinking much.

After passing through several tribes, a new glacial lake came into Heron's view.

In the distance, one end of this glacial lake can be seen flowing into the boundless glacial sea along the continuous mountain range.

It seems we're almost there...

Herren tightened the bundle around his body, feeling somewhat excited, as if he were about to witness something.

He quickened his pace, and soon a tribe located near the glacial lake came into view.

The tribe was larger than Heron had imagined, but there were few fortifications and few warriors patrolling around. From a high vantage point, the tribe seemed to number in the thousands.

This is more than the expanded Winter's Claw.

However, upon approaching the tribe, Herren discovered that most of the inhabitants were ordinary people from all walks of life.

He even unknowingly walked into the interior of the tribe without seeing a single warrior, and no one even came up to question him.

Was the tribe too unguarded in the face of the arrival of a stranger like Heren?

"Hello friend, is this the Avarosa tribe?"

"Yes, if you want to join, just go ahead and register."

The man squatted by the stove, carefully polishing a branch of pine tree into the shape of an arrow, and answered without looking up.

He was very thin, but his complexion was rosy, which meant that his diet was adequate and he was not malnourished.

This is relatively rare, or even extremely rare, in Freljord, because being small in stature is equivalent to having no fighting ability, which means having no ability to hunt prey. Such people are often ignored or even excluded in the distribution of resources in the tribe.

Even in the Winter's Claw, which has secured a stable food supply through arms trade, the supply of resources to ordinary people without combat abilities is often deliberately reduced in order to concentrate resources and win over other tribes. Although their daily needs are sufficient, few people have been raised to this level.

"Up ahead... to register? By the way, don't you need to know who I am?"

"No need, as long as I can breathe, that's fine."

The man finally deigned to look up at Herren. Seeing that Herren was not missing any limbs and was even quite strong, he became a little more eager.

"After you register, the War Mother will assign you accommodation. You can collect your food every day, but you'll have to work. With your strength, you should be able to follow the War Mother on hunting trips."

"Oh?"

Herren smiled and bent down.

"Is your War Mother named Ashe?"

"Yes, our great war mother."

"Where is she? Can I see her?"

"Of course, the War Mother would be happy to receive everyone here... but not now. The War Mother has gone hunting with her people, and she returns every day in the afterglow of the setting sun."

"Every day? This kind of hunting mission, the War Mother has to do it every single day?"

It's worth noting that even Sejuani, after becoming the Warmother, only occasionally led large-scale hunting expeditions. She didn't participate in daily hunting tasks, but instead stayed behind to oversee the tribe.

"Yes, there are too many people in the tribe, but too few warriors. The War Mother has to work very late every day to bring back enough food to feed the entire tribe."

"Supporting the entire tribe? Are you involved too?"

"Of course! The War Mother treats everyone equally. Only warriors who follow the War Mother on hunts can have priority in selecting the best meat from the prey... but that's all. So we respect the warriors just as we revere the War Mother... A strong man like you can definitely become a warrior. If you need a bow and arrow, feel free to come to me."

"Forehead……"

Hearing the words of the thin man, Herren was momentarily stunned.

As if by some strange twist of fate, he blurted out something.

"That sounds... a bit unfair?"

As soon as he said this, Herren was stunned; he never expected to say such a thing.

Yes, during his time in Winter's Claw, he seemed to have become accustomed to the privileges enjoyed by the strong, so much so that when he heard that the warriors of Avarosan were treated so "poorly," his first reaction was that it was unfair.

But after realizing it, from the perspective of the weaker party, he felt quite sympathetic to the situation... He felt a little guilty, but he also knew that his instinctive reaction was probably the instinctive view of the vast majority of Freljordians.

So why were those warriors willing to accept such treatment and still risk their lives for the tribe? There's probably only one reason...

"You must have a warlike mother..."

A single sentence revealed what Herren was thinking, but those words did not come from his mouth.

Herren turned his head, only to see a huge "door panel" carved with a ram's head, completely obscuring the person's figure, with only a bald back of the head, as smooth as a braised egg, vaguely visible.

"I really want to see her... She'll be back this evening, right? I'll wait for her, I'll wait no matter what."

Seemingly sensing Herren's gaze, the door panel that was talking to others slowly turned around, revealing a muscular figure with a bare upper body, as strong as Juvask.

But what's incongruous is that this beast-like body is topped with a kind face as gentle as a friendly neighbor.

Herren stared at him blankly, while the man grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

Hello, friend!