Chapter 7

"Come one, Astrid, please stop making that face"

Vemir pinched Astrid bulging cheeks teasingly. Throughout the rest of their exploration within the town, he tried to get his answer from Astrid, who seemed to know a good place for training.

Clearly, it's not going too well as Vemir thought, ended up with he giving up on trying to get the information he wanted on Astrid.

Vemir decided to give time for the child Astrid throwing tantrum at him, and begin teasing her cute face from time to time whenever Astrid remember that she was now being angry with Vemir and acted cutely in 'tsundere' (AN: cz I slightly weeb, i will insert something like this from time to time on my monologue lol. For normal reader information : tsundere is an act where someone tries to hide their true caring emotion by being annoyed and angry on the surface).

"Stahwp phincinn my chweeksss! I yem nowt a chwilld!!" (Astrid)

"Hehehe, anyway, let's go back to the settlement, it seems this town slowly became crowded with people. If I remember correctly, I didn't see this crowd of people this morning" (Vemir)

"I-I believe the people from other small towns and villages began to arrive in this town for the soon coming age ceremony I-I suppose" (Gram)

"Finally, I got bored waiting these days, with them coming the ceremony should happen soon in one of the coming days then" (Vemir)

Gram nodded in agreement at Vemir, and began to follow Vemir who was still busy teasing the annoyed Astrid, back to the Ten Beast Clan settlement.

The awaiting day whe they step into adulthood will come soon.

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After a couple of days passed, the waiting was finally over, and the day of the coming age ceremony finally came.

On this eventful day for the young generation of Nordland, the town suddenly quieted down a lot.

People who usually started to get busy early in the morning, stop working for some reason and stand outside their houses or buildings to spectate the youngling of their people walking to their awaiting important days as a sign of honor.

Apparently, this spectacle is one of their cultures.

Back in the day, the old generation always did this to honor the next generation and blessed them a good fortune in their lives in silence.

This showed that the bond between the people of Nordland is very strong.

Considering their small population caused by the harsh environment, it was natural for them to have this nature of caring for each other for their necessity to survive.

The power of humans couldn't be underestimated when they united as one, the people here knew this too well compared to people living on other lands outside Nordland, where their life in more fertile and better conditions.

Kaaa!! Kaaaa!!

The sound of the Raven noises filled the silent atmosphere, making the already solemn atmosphere become more sacred, as a raven is symbolized the Allfather's eyes.

People of Nordland believe the Allfather, Odin, always watching them through his two sacred beasts Huginn and Muninn which had the same appearance as ravens with golden eyes.

In this solemn and sacred atmosphere, the people who stayed within their respective Clan settlements which sheltered the youngling of their people coming all over the South region of Nordland, finally slowly appeared, led by their own respective Jarl that governed them.

The young faces within this crowd appeared more serious than usual.

A hint of nervousness could be slightly seen in their immature faces, showing the importance of the coming event for them.

After enough time passed, the people stopped appearing.

At this moment, their respective Jarl or representative started counting their numbers and checked that no one who was supposed to attend the ceremony was left behind.

As time passed, the Jarl begin to leave one by one, bringing their respective tribesman with them while being watched by the people of Agderfilk.

Within one of the groups who began to walk and left, the youngling of Katterggat could be seen within the line.

Within this group, Vemir could be seen slightly nervous as he moved and followed the crowds in front of him.

The solemn and silent atmosphere started killing him for some reason, making his heart tremble in confusion between excitement and worry at the same time.

The sound of rhythmical steps from the crowd echoed in his ears, somewhat making him relax his trembling heart.

Thou the eyes of people standing outsides their building failed to make him completely at ease.

As he continues walking, trying hard to ignore the atmosphere, the words of his mother who now waiting back within the Ten Beast Clan appeared in his head.

Before leaving with Hilda, the Jarl representative, His mother embraced him with a hug and whispered some encouragement and advice for him.

'Don't be dreaded, and strengthen your will, fight your inner demon and control it. Always remember, the son of Bjornson has the will of Iron and couldn't be shaken with anything. Take the time on your way to the temple to clear your thought from unnecessary things and hardened your heart more'

Ending her whisper, his mother then kissed him on his forehead as a blessing and let him leave with the others.

At that moment, Vemir also saw his peerages also get the same treatment as his from their respective parents or guardian, as the ones who were parentless got Hilda to take care of them in the same manner.

The scene at that time made Vemir's affection for his people slightly increase, he somewhat understand, although his people look rough and boorish, they were actually good people who strongly cared for each other.

'Tho, what did mother means by saying all that things to me? Is that something more within this seemingly simple ceremony that couldn't be told?

Looking at the solemn face of the people outside, I suppose this ceremony is not simple as I initially thought'

As Vemir had this thought, all of a sudden he felt something grab his hand, and the warmness began to spread in his palm.

Turning his head, he saw Astrid's beautiful cute face staring at him with a hint of nervousness clearly visible in her eyes.

He could feel the hand in his grasp trembling, unconsciously making his grip stronger, trying to ease the silly girl who was now staring at him.

"T-thanks" (Astrid)

'It seems is not only me who was bothered by the adults' unusual atmosphere before'

Vemir smiled kindly on Astrid and has this thought in his mind at the same time.

Thus, they held each other hand and followed the group in silence.

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Feeling somewhat of an eternity from Vemir's perspective, the group finally stopped.

Unbeknownst to them, they finally arrived at their destination.

The group of his peers began murmuring here and there, exhaling the breath that they held throughout the journey as a hint of calmness slowly back to their faces.

Vemir was also included in one of them.

After exhaling his breath, the grip that was holding Astrid's hand slightly loosened.

Feeling somewhat pierced in his back, he just realized that Gram was now meekly looking at him with a begrudging face.

Emir gave him a foolish smile and choose to ignore the "hoes before bros" face vibe in him.

Ignoring Gram and Astrid, who now back at her usual curious and adorable face, Vemir began checking his surroundings.

Looking at the surrounding area with his eyes, Vermir began opening his mouth in awe at the majestic beauty of the snowy mountainous scenery that he could only see from the internet in his previous life.

The white snowy arched mountain covered by misty clouds gave him a sense of grandeur.

The sun, which now could be clearly seen, hung within the blue clear sky on top of the majestic mountainous sight, giving a slight physiological warmness within the extremely cold air surrounding him.

Turning his head to the front, not far from the crowd, he could see an ancient old Nordic style grand-like building within the blankness of snow white.

In its surrounding area, a totem made of stone decorated the building vicinity, with a hint of priests wearing a white fabric and a face that looked like covered with dark mascaras in their eyes, visibly standing and waiting for their arrival near them.

When you looked closely, the stone totem somewhat resembles the idol of the gods that people of Nordland usually had it carved with a piece of wood.

But different from the woods, the stone one seems to be naturally shaped, thus if people not paying more attention to it, it only resembled an ordinary totem.

As Vemir started paying attention to the vicinity of the building, he slowly realize that the Stone god's idol was naturally placed in a circle, seemingly surrounding a vast circular flat area similar to the shape of a town square.

Within the middle of the empty flat circular area, Vemir could see a bunch of restless animals tied in one place, mooing and screaming with a hoarse voice.

'wait! Screaming?! There are not only animals in there, I-Is that people?! It looks somewhat familiar... AH! The Thrall!!'

"Silence!"

Before Vemir could fully digest the unbelievable scene in front of him, a somewhat hoarse and heavy androgynous voice interrupted him.

As the source of the voice, a mysterious person covered in black with a dark veil covering his/her face with a bone staff decorated with animals and human skulls on top, on hands, standing not far from them with the Jarl respectfully and solemnly standing behind him/her.

'Seer?'