Barbarian Spirit King, Wedding, and Reincarnation Array

"I remember you left me a message back then, saying you went to the Northern Highlands."

Ronan sat down again, watching as Andre and Nicole spoke first, the orange flame illuminating his pale face.

"Right."

Andre took a marinated frozen trout out of a jar and slowly roasted it over the campfire, nodding as he said, "But then something happened, and we ended up here."

The Northern Highlands are in the south, while the Arctic Frozen Earth is located at the northernmost edge of the entire Upper Ring Continent. The two are separated by thousands of miles, so it seems that Andre and his companion have encountered quite a change.

"And what about you?"

Andre looked at Ronan with sincere curiosity and inquiry in his eyes, while Nicole carefully brushed the precious honey onto both sides of the grilled fish with a small brush.

They then took out some pickled, brightly colored Northern Lands olives and grilled trout coated with honey, placed them on a silver plate, and handed them to Ronan.

During his nine years in the Fire Leaving Realm, Ronan's tongue was scorched countless times by the lava, and he almost forgot the taste of food.

He casually tore off a few pieces of trout meat, put them in his mouth along with the blue olives, and chewed them slowly. Andre and the other man remained silent, waiting for his reply.

Me too.

Ronan slowly swallowed the fish, savoring the aroma on his lips and tongue, and calmly replied, "After you left, Hoddam suffered [Catastrophe], and we left soon after."

Later I joined the Silver Magic Ring, and then went to the Central Region. To be honest, I didn't expect to come to the Northernmost Land this time.

"Hoddam. That name is so old that I've almost forgotten it."

Andre tore apart a grilled trout without honey coating with his hands, and sighed softly, "So, what about the others?"

Old Wells, and..."

Andre accurately named everyone who had been around Ronan back then.

Ronan shook his head. "I haven't seen them since we parted ways."

Andre sighed softly.

The two fell silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy, until Nicole handed them a large bone cup, carved and polished from an animal bone, filled with a brownish liquid.

Ronan brought the glass to his lips and sniffed it gently, catching a peculiar aroma. He readily accepted it, smiled at Nicole, and said, "Thank you."

A hint of shyness appeared on Nicole's dark, rugged face, which was over two meters tall and imposing. She quickly lowered her head. Andre picked up another glass and clinked it with Ronan's, laughing, "It's already a rare treat that we can meet again. You've come at just the right time, right when Nicole arrives."

Before Andre could finish speaking, several figures suddenly rushed in rudely from outside the tent.

Andre and Nicole stood up almost immediately. Andre shouted at the newcomer, "Ruben, what are you doing?!"

The leader of the intruders shouted back, "Do you know why? Andre, you've been having an affair with a wizard!"

"He is my best friend, not the kind of person you're looking for."

"You know the king's orders."

"I will explain it to the King myself."

The group of people who came in were all barbarians. The one who spoke had green hair, which was draped over his shoulders in strands. He was obviously not good with words. Although he had a loud voice, he was quickly silenced by Andre.

Nicole, who was a size larger than a normal savage, glared at him fiercely, and he stiffened slightly as he backed away.

Then, leaving with a remark and looking dejected, he took his people and left.

"I hope you can give the King and everyone else a perfect explanation."

The joy of the three old friends reuniting was somewhat dampened by the sudden intrusion of the group. Ronan didn't think much of it, but Andre took the initiative to say to him, "It's a small problem, I can handle it."

"Tomorrow is Nicole's wedding day, Damien, you must stay."

You can rest here tonight.

After saying that, Andre left with Nicole, and the sound of the two talking in hushed tones could still be faintly heard after they left the tent.

Ronan stayed alone in the tent, facing the campfire, and silently finished all the grilled fish that Andre had left behind.

He heard voices outside, the crunching of footsteps on the snow, followed by a long shout, and then all the sounds faded away.

His spiritual power naturally spread out, encompassing the entire tribe where Ronan was currently located.

The scattered igloos and animal-hide tents are like building blocks scattered across the vast snowfield. This tribe, where elves and barbarians live together, has a total population of just over one hundred.

By this time, most people were already asleep, with only a few barbarians on night watch standing in the snow, enduring the lash of the cold wind with their weapons in hand.

Ronan did not deliberately seek out the "secret" of Andre and his companion. Over nine years, Reincarnation into Dream twenty-three times, and four of those dreams saw Ronan reach the Dawn Rank.

These memories of practicing spells and meditating during his dream state are gradually being digested and fed back into his Character Panel as corresponding proficiency levels.

Before we knew it, the night had passed.

The campfire in front of him had long since burned out. Ronan walked out of the tent and happened to run into Nicole had brought him breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of a large piece of raw fish of unknown origin, a little bit of pickled jam, and a few pieces of frozen wine to cut through the richness.

Ronan glanced at it briefly and asked about Nicole Andre's whereabouts.

Nicole had just pointed him in a direction and hadn't even spoken when Andre arrived, looking utterly exhausted.

Damien, want to take a walk together?

The sunrise in the Northernmost Land is a sight no one should miss in their lifetime.

Andre paused for a moment, then said, "Although it's a little late today."

Ronan did not refuse, and the two strolled out of the tribe in the morning light. They happened to run into the barbarians returning from their night watch. Everyone who saw Ronan looked at him with a shocked and strange gaze, but Andre ignored him.

Andre looked like he had traveled all night; there were still ice shards left on his bearskin coat.

The two left the tribe, and the vast ice plains were bathed in the golden light of the rising sun, making everything appear quiet and beautiful.

"Can I ask you a question, Damien?"

Andre suddenly spoke.

"You say."

"You now"

Andre looked intently into Ronan's eyes and asked, "Are you already a level two wizard?"

Ronan blinked, Andre quickly said, "If you feel offended, you don't have to answer."

I'm just guessing, Nicole told me about what happened when you met yesterday.

The axe she threw once blew a full-fledged wizard's body apart head-on. You caught it effortlessly, so I'm guessing you're at least level two."

Ronan thought for a moment, then finally said, "More or less."

He couldn't tell Andre the truth. When they met yesterday, Ronan sensed that Andre was still at the apprentice level. Dawn was probably just a legend to him, let alone level five.

"Really.."

When Andre heard Ronan's disguised affirmative answer, a complicated expression on his face showed whether it was joy or emotion.

"You were the best one from the start, and your appearance in the Treehouse Area with Venecia was an incomprehensible accident."

"Venecia?!"

Ronan looked slightly taken aback.

Don't you remember her?

Andre bent down, grabbed a handful of snow, shaped it into a snowball, and threw it forward with childlike force.

"That girl who used makeup to conceal her true appearance, she was of noble birth, like a pearl lost in a swamp..."

Venecia is of noble lineage.

Ronan listened to Andre's words with both surprise and confusion. He had never known that Venecia was hiding a huge secret. Judging from Andre's tone, he seemed to think that they all knew this, so he said it very naturally.

Before Ronan could delve deeper into the issue, Andre had already changed the subject.

"You must be wondering where I went last night?"

Ronan calmly asked, "Did you go to see the king that Ruben mentioned yesterday?"

"Yes."

Andre nodded, gazing at the vast Snow Field before him.

"A powerful figure who leads us."

Under his command were dozens of tribes, large and small, similar to ours.

Most of them were barbarians and mixed-blood elves, so he also called himself the Lord of the Barbarians.

Andre said solemnly, "Five years ago, the peace of the Northern Highlands was shattered by the Black Witch Cult. In despair, Nicole and I stumbled into an ancient secret realm and were inexplicably teleported here."

Hanglas, the realm of the Great Barbarian Spirit King.

"He was a wise ruler who was willing to protect us barbarians and bastards who were not accepted by the world, allowing us to survive in the harsh Northernmost Land."

"But he especially hates wizards, which is why Ruben brought people to drive you away yesterday..."

Ronan listened quietly to Andre finish speaking, then thought for a moment and said, "Judging from your expression, it seems that this problem has been resolved quite well."

"Yes."

Andre looked at him and smiled, saying, "I explained the situation to the Barbarian Spirit King, saying that you are my and Nicole's best friend, and he agreed that you can stay in Hanglas for a while."

"He seems to be very reasonable and easy to talk to."

Andre shook his head. "You're wrong. He's not easy to talk to."

"Mainly because Nicole has a lot of influence."

Andre remarked, "I am dull-witted when it comes to wizardry, while Nicole is a born savage."

The Barbarian Spirit King valued her highly, almost regarding her as his own daughter; he would even personally officiate at Nicole's wedding.

Ronan was surprised, not expecting Nicole's talent to be so outstanding. However, considering Nicole's robust physique, which far surpassed that of an average adult male barbarian, and her terrifying brute strength that could smash a formal wizard to pieces with a single blow, it was indeed not surprising.

He had just awakened his [[Immaculate Body]], and that was pretty much it; besides, Nicole was still young.

"Looks like I'm really lucky."

Ronan thought for a moment and said, "Nicole's wedding tonight, is there anything I can help with?"

"Everything has been prepared for a long time. I have been preparing for this day for three whole years."

Andre's face lit up with an expectant and joyful smile. "You don't need to do anything, you just need to come with me."

Andre turned around and looked back. Only then did Ronan see that all the people in their tribe had come out of the igloos and tents, carrying a lot of things, and were heading towards another direction of the Snow Field under Nicole's leadership.

Ronan and Andre caught up with the group and arrived at the "capital" of Hanglas, which Andre had mentioned, around noon—a Super Large tribe about twenty times the size of Andre's own.

Just as Andre said, the Barbarian Spirit King especially valued Nicole.

More than thirty small tribes of barbarians and elves came to celebrate Nicole's wedding.

Ronan used a little trick to make himself less conspicuous among the barbarians, elves, Northern Lands dwarves, and several other races he couldn't name.

The wedding began in the afternoon and reached its climax as the stars and moon filled the night sky.

Dressed in animal hide armor, Nicole is like a war goddess as she fights ten barbarians who are trying to "steal" the bride.

Every time she knocked down someone, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd outside the arena.

Ronan also saw Nicole's "groom," a very "handsome" mixed-race elf who looked like a teenager but was said to be over eighty years old.

The groom, wearing an exquisite wreath woven from fairywood and ice orchids, sat on a high wooden chair, his eyes fixed on Nicole's figure, feeling either pride or worry for each of her moves.

"Kakata is a good man of pure character, and eighty years old is not a very old age for an elf."

Most importantly, he really loves Nicole.

Andre, completely drunk, rambled on and on in Ronan's ear, pouring out his heart about everything he had experienced over the years.

In fact, the two didn't have that much interaction, but the passage of time blurred and beautified everything, turning their friendship from water into wine.

Ronan felt that Nicole's groom, the elf named Kakata, looked quite similar to Andre when he was young.

Ronan also met the legendary Barbarian Spirit King.

He was a burly man who was at least three meters tall, his entire body covered in incredibly thick and sturdy armor, making it impossible to see his features at all.

Ironically, Ronan sensed runic fluctuations from more than one place on the Barbarian Spirit King, who claimed to hate wizards the most.

In the latter half of the night, a small commotion broke out amidst the celebrations.

Andre was already fast asleep, drunk, while Nicole was still fighting fiercely and showed signs of getting stronger with each battle.

Ronan walked alone through the crowd to the location where the commotion had started.

Then he saw a petite and frail elf girl lying on the cold, snowy ground, her body and the ground beneath her covered in blood, like a crushed flower.

"A cunning ice lizard was hiding in that crevice, something no one expected."

Poor Vanessa, her chest was crushed like that.

An elderly elf stood beside the girl, wiping away tears as he recounted her tragic experiences over and over again.

But most people just watched, expressed their regret, and then turned around to continue their celebrations.

On such a day, no one would grieve even a second longer for the death of a completely unrelated, helpless elf girl.

Ronan watched the girl die bit by bit; her internal organs were almost completely ruptured.

After a few breaths, he walked over and picked up the girl from the ground as if she were a light, floating leaf.

Those around him seemed oblivious to his actions, even the old elf who was constantly weeping for the girl's death seemed to be completely blind to him.

Ronan walked through the bustling crowd and gently laid the girl down on a snow-covered ground bathed in moonlight outside the tribe.

Then, he took out various materials from the Mist Space, quickly mixed them, and carefully inscribed a Rune Array on the ground.

When he was halfway through painting, Ronan suddenly stopped and turned to look to the side.

There stood a small, thin figure, staring at him with curiosity and fascination.

Ronan recognized the other person as Gal, the mongrel elf boy he had previously rescued from the jaws of the Icefield Wolf.

Ronan was surprised that the boy Gal had noticed him and even followed him all the way.

When Ronan noticed the latter, he took two steps back in a flustered and shy manner. However, Ronan did not intend to drive him away. Instead, he chuckled and said in a low voice, "Gal, brave Gal. Shattered Bones, could you fetch me some clean water?"

It would be even better if we had a dry towel.

The boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what he meant, nodded vigorously, and turned to run.

Ronan watched Gal run into the heart of the village, where the campfire blazed, then turned back to continue his unfinished business.

Ronan quickly inscribed a complex and mysterious Rune Array, which resembled black snakes slowly swimming across the moonlit snow, forming a mysterious pattern.

The dead elven girl lies within this pattern.

This magic circle originates from Alazan's teachings.

Its name is— Reincarnation Array.

Ronan sat up and watched quietly as the girl's last vestiges of soul escaped from her cold body and vanished completely into the air.

Then he immediately recited an ancient incantation, raised his hand, and summoned Kosti's soul.

Kosti's soul needs a body to nurture it; it cannot be a corpse, nor a living person.

The body of the girl who had just died was the perfect choice.

It can only be described as a coincidence.

Moreover, Ronan had just briefly examined the body of the deceased elven girl, and fortunately, this body possessed wizarding aptitude, and not bad at all.