Freya's test, the two summer beastmen, will always follow...
"What you need to do is catch whole snowflakes and deliver them to Lan. However, whether you pass the test will not be determined by the number of snowflakes you deliver to Lan. That's all I'm reminding you of."
Freya left without a word of advice and followed Lan away from the clan square, showing no intention of explaining further.
The hundred or so orcs participating in the assessment stood frozen in place, talking blankly to their companions.
"What was the elf Freya trying to say with her reminder? The test was to deliver snowflakes to Lan, but the important thing wasn't how many complete snowflakes were delivered to Lan. Why is that?" the orc asked, puzzled.
The orcs who stayed in the clan square pondered for the entire lunch break but couldn't come up with a solution, so they simply put the assessment aside for the time being. Some orcs who had originally planned not to take on any quests before the snow ended also quietly went back to continue doing their quests.
No orc could guess Freya's thoughts.
Maple and Cotton didn't think too much about it, because even without this assessment, they would still catch snowflakes to play with, and show them to Lan no matter if the snowflakes were intact or not. Now that there was an assessment, they wouldn't hand out any broken snowflakes.
Unlike the other two, the two orcs, Ah Bai and Gray Honey, kept pondering the warning given by the Ice and Snow Elf. They were both orcs who always liked to think.
The snow that brought the snow season to the grasslands fell for many days in a row, and the number of orcs who came to deliver snowflakes to Jiang Yunlan decreased day by day.
After Freya's assessment began, news of Lan's fondness for snowflakes spread throughout the Xia clan's grassland habitat. However, when the orcs participating in the assessment came to Lan with items, they weren't always able to give them away.
Jiang Yunlan would definitely accept the snowflake they offered; it was the first snowflake they offered. As for the others, it would depend on whether she had the time or the ability to take them.
Unfortunately, she had been busy building the ship all this time, often holding diagrams of the ship's various parts in her hand. Most of the time, she would only glance at the items the orc tanks brought, give them a smile, and then hurry past them.
The orcs couldn't give anything away, knowing that Lan had been very busy these days. Remembering Freya's advice, they naturally reduced the number of times they went to pick up Xue in a day to zero.
“Lan has been so busy lately, she doesn’t even wander around the clan after dinner.” Feng Hong, wearing wool gloves, squatted outside the eaves of the central building and said to Hui Mi, who had not yet entered the central left room.
Grey Honey's break time wasn't over yet, and someone standing not far from her responded with an approving sound.
“You’ve been looking for Lan a lot these past few days, you must be very tired. Don’t you need to rest for a day, or even half a day? The feeling of being blown by the snow is clearly very cold,” Gray Honey paused for a few seconds, her voice full of doubt, “You’re not just doing this for the assessment, are you?”
"And cotton. I heard from Ah Bai that he also squats outside the eaves whenever he has free time. You two take a snowflake to Lan every day, it doesn't seem like it's for an assessment. Even if the assessment is based on the number of snowflakes, the number you sent out isn't much." Hui Mi couldn't understand their actions.
Just as she still hasn't guessed what the elf Freya's assessment was about.
Hearing her question, Feng Hong held half a piece of broken snow in one hand and scratched her head with the other hand, feeling embarrassed. "Because when Lan sees us bringing things to her, she smiles and seems very relaxed."
Hearing this, Grey Honey recalled that she and Cotton often used this method to cheer Lan up during past snow seasons, but back then, the two of them didn't need to catch intact snowflakes, and their movements weren't as noticeable as they are now.
Day and night passed, and two more days went by. The light snow falling from the sky stopped in the early morning.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone on the snow-covered ground. The orcs of the grassland habitat once again gathered at the clan square. Today was the day Freya would announce the names of the orcs who had passed the test, which consisted of only one stage.
Freya, like Sveta, has a very straightforward personality. When all the orcs who were to take the test arrived, she immediately announced the list of orcs who had passed the test.
"The beastman who passed the test this time is Feng Hong."
Actually, it also had its eye on Cotton and a Minotaur, but it didn't have the power to bless all three at the same time, so it decided to bless Maple Red, which it favored the most, first.
Grey Honey and the other orcs stood beside Maple Red, puzzled as to why she had suddenly become so quiet, making no sound at all. They turned to look at her in confusion. She stood there, her eyes wide with astonishment, completely unable to believe that she was the orc who had passed the test.
She wasn't the orc who sent out the most snowflakes, nor the orc who caught the most snowflakes, but she was the orc who persisted the longest in letting Lan see the snow.
Freya didn't want to explain her thoughts to the orcs, but Lan didn't want it to be misunderstood, so it decisively explained its reasons for choosing Maple Red in a few short sentences.
Finally, it looked at the orcs surrounding it, its tone revealing a hint of barely suppressed irritation, "Besides Maple Red, Cotton, and Mountain Shepherd, did the rest of the orcs disappear in the last few days? You remember my reminder, how come you didn't remember that I said before that delivering complete snowflakes to Lan was part of the assessment?"
"I reminded you not to focus on the quantity so that the assessment wouldn't affect your daily lives, not so that you would forget about the assessment while delivering the snowflakes and not go to see Lan for several days."
It is an elf born from ice and snow, and in snowy areas it can naturally see the beastmen's every move.
An orc who aspires to become a guardian must possess a resilient and unwavering heart. An orc who lacks resolve is unworthy to be a guardian.
Freya snorted, ignoring the group of orcs who were bowing their heads in reflection, and instead uttered a single sentence.
"In a few days, I will follow Lan to the mountains. After I accompany Lan back here, the only beastmen who can participate in my next assessment here are Cotton and Mountain Shepherd. They are both beastmen who are about to receive blessings," it said.
In a sudden turn of events, both cotton and mountain fodder appeared as dazed as the red maple leaves.
At this moment, Feng Hong came to her senses and happily patted Mianhua's shoulder, almost pulling him around in circles. Freya's meaning was almost that she and Shanmu had also passed the test.
Shanmu's friends also surrounded him, excitedly cheering him on.
"Go Shanmu! You'll definitely pass the test next time. We believe in you!" Shanmu's clansmen had been watching his efforts over the past ten days and were so moved that they almost cried a few days ago.
Shanmu was unlucky; every time he managed to catch a whole snowflake, something unexpected would happen—either the snow would melt or it would break. They were certain that Shanmu had worked harder than the other orcs taking the test, and they thought to themselves that.
If it weren't for those unexpected events, Shanmu might have passed the test this time.
Orcs are not elves, so they cannot see the efforts of other orcs, and of course they do not know that Feng Hong's dedication is no less than that of Shan Mu.
"Maple Red, come forward and swear an oath to me in your name," Freya said amidst the commotion of the orcs, without waiting for them to calm down.
Upon hearing this, Feng Hong took a few deep breaths and stepped forward under the encouraging gazes of the orcs, including Mianhua and Huimi.
The surroundings had become very quiet at some point, and she could hear the sound of her own footsteps. She suddenly felt flustered and almost walked awkwardly in front of everyone, but fortunately, it only took her a few steps, and outwardly, it only appeared that her movements were slightly stiff.
She rarely felt nervous, but when Lan looked at her, she suddenly didn't recognize where her hands and feet were.
She couldn't explain why, but she knew that when Kurotsuchi and Hati knelt before Lan like this, they must have felt the same emotions as her. From the moment they swore their oath, they had been Lan's guardians.
Maple suddenly recalled a scene from long ago when she found Lan in the forest.
Little Lan was already a semi-adult beastman, and she hadn't felt the pain of hunger for a long time. But she knew that without Lan, she, her sister, Qiuguo, and Abai wouldn't have survived until now, and Green Robe and the others wouldn't have been able to get through that snowy season and peacefully reach the end of their lives in the season of lush trees.
The aura was as important as food. She thought to herself, then quickly corrected herself. The aura was even more important than food. If the tribe didn't have enough food, she was willing to save it for the aura.
She hated being hungry, but she could endure it for Lan's sake. She hoped that the orc who survived was Lan.
"I, Feng Hong, the Deer Beastman, swear to Freya that I will not harm the nature spirits, and I will protect Jiang Yunlan with my life. Before I die, I will absolutely not let Lan die," Feng Hong swore.
She began to understand why she was nervous; it was because she had decided that no matter what happened, she would protect Lan. This was a vow made with her life at stake.
The points of light representing the power of ice and snow entered Feng Hong's body. She blinked and found that the scenery in her vision had changed. This scene did not last long; as soon as Freya's blessing ended, the natural power she saw disappeared again.
"Wow, is this the same scenery that Lan saw during the snow season? It's so beautiful, it looks like snow is falling in the air." Feng Hong sat in the same wooden cart as Lan, sensing the natural forces around her using the method Lan had given her.
Hearing her voice, Jiang Yunlan turned to look at the scenery outside the car and nodded in agreement.
It's snowing now, and icy blue specks of light are scattered all around, just as she said, it looks like it's snowing.
Feng Hong found sensing the power of nature very interesting. While searching for other natural forces, she asked, "Lan, if we go to the mountains now, how long will it take to get back to the grasslands?"
The team set off once the road was passable for wooden carts. She, Heitu, and Hati were still learning how to harness the power of nature and had to travel with Lan. Yanduoyu, Lingxiaocao, and Abai stayed on the grassland to assist Maple Syrup in building its habitat.
"It won't be until the flowering season at the earliest. There are many things that need my attention in the mountain habitat. After the beastmen have finished the assessments of the two elves, they still have another exam to take. They are short-handed there and need me to rearrange things." Jiang Yunlan finished speaking and patted the notebook she was holding.
As the fruit season approached, the Mountain Habitat sent a team to the grasslands. She had the team take away items needed by the Mountain Habitat, a list of the beastmen's contribution points, and some questions about the mountains.
When the fruit season ended, the orcs from the mountains arrived on the grasslands with supplies and the replies from Mo Rong and the other orcs. She was holding a notebook in which she had written down the answers Mo Rong and the others had given.
The situation in the mountains was as she had expected; while there were no major problems, there were many minor issues. She planned to resolve all those problems before leaving, and also to relay news from the grasslands there.
If things go smoothly over there, the mountain orcs who settled in their habitat should have already moved into their dormitories.
The mountain habitat appeared later than the grassland habitat, but some orcs still want to buy houses there. The leopard orcs, argali orcs, and orcs from the rocky region and the White River Mountain are more accustomed to the mountain environment.
Before Jiang Yunlan returned to the grasslands, she overheard the rock who had gone there saying that he wanted to live in the mountains forever. Several argali beastmen also expressed similar thoughts to the rock.
As the clan leader, she naturally fulfilled the reasonable requests of her people, and before leaving, she specifically instructed Mo Rong to issue a task to build houses in the residential area. It's just unknown whether, more than a season has passed, the houses available for the orcs to purchase have been completed.
Filled with anticipation, Jiang Yunlan ran backward, looking at the scenery on both sides of the road.
At night, the group stopped to rest, setting up camp next to the roadside inn where they had established their base. Construction of the inn, leading to the mountain road, had ceased when the snow season arrived. The orcs would return to rebuild it when spring came.
Soon, orcs traveling to the mountains or grasslands will be able to rest in inns and will no longer need to endure the elements.
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Author's Note: I wrote 3,500 words today, as expected of me. (Proudly) (Hands on hips) I'll keep working on 3,000 tomorrow!
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