Bloodfire and Frost Fury

Solam actually quite liked his grandfather, though the old man was someone who simply didn't know how to express his feelings. Most Avalon orcs were like this: their emotions were intense and wild, yet they lacked the ability to voice them. Asking a group of testosterone-fueled, "real" men like them to say something sentimental would be more painful than death; true men never spoke such mushy nonsense.

His way of expressing affection toward Solam was clumsy, but how could Solam not feel it? Yet, Solam was also that sort of awkward child; if he really had to act cute and adorable in front of the old man, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Subconsciously, he still viewed himself as an adult, and the fact that he had already resorted to acting spoiled in front of Granny Karom had already left Solam feeling a bit desperate about his own bottom line.

Besides, the old man probably couldn't handle that either, which was why they had this unique way of getting along. By not deliberately expressing their feelings and just interacting casually, they were actually both much more comfortable.

"What's this?" Solam asked, turning around slowly. Kramsh also emerged from the tent on the other side. "What did Grandfather bring back?" As he spoke, he kept glancing back at his own tent, terrified that Bloodfang might open its eyes while he was out, and if the first thing it saw wasn't him, wouldn't that be a massive loss?

"Your tent is empty, and even if Bloodfang opens its eyes, it won't see any living thing. Once you go back in, the first thing it sees will still be you, so what are you rushing for?" Seeing Kramsh looking back every three steps, Solam comforted him, "As long as you don't let anyone else into your tent, what are you worried about?"

"That's true." Kramsh was an honest kid, and hearing his cousin say this put his mind at ease. However, his eyes still drifted toward his tent from time to time; it seemed he was still a bit anxious, desperately wanting to be the first thing Bloodfang saw upon waking.

"Heh, Ak, look here." Seeing that Kramsh's heart wasn't in it, the old man wasn't annoyed. He simply peeled back a corner of the fur wrapping in his hands, and a slightly bluish metallic luster immediately captivated Kramsh's body and soul.

"Is this a weapon for me?!!!" Kramsh's reaction was quick this time; he guessed immediately that this was his gift. He rushed over and snatched the bundle from his grandfather's hands.

In a few quick motions, he unwrapped the furs. It was a two-handed axe about 1.5 meters long, forged entirely of metal. One side featured a long blade, 0.5 meters in length, with four armor-piercing notches. On the opposite side of the long blade was a smaller, bat-wing-shaped blade, and between the two blades on either side sat a metallic, goat-like skull. The entire piece had a bluish tint, and the handle was wrapped in the hide of a Cleft-hoof Rhino.

"This is it, this is Frost Fury! Father, this is Frost Fury!" Kramsh was so excited he could barely speak, holding the axe up to show off to his father.

Karut looked at the excited Kramsh and nodded with a smile. Every young orc had roughly this same expression when they received their first weapon.

"What about mine?" Seeing this, Solam couldn't help himself. "What's mine?"

The old man didn't drag it out and opened the other bundle. As expected, it was a replica of the legendary battle-axe, Bloodfire. Don't be ridiculous—there was no way a legendary axe like that would be given to a little brat.

This battle-axe was 1.4 meters long with a single blade. The axe head was even larger and longer than that of Frost Fury, measuring about 0.6 meters. It was adorned with small holes, and on the back of the blade, six metal armor-piercing spikes were arranged in an arc. It was also forged entirely of metal. Bloodfire was black overall, but the polishing was excellent, making the axe look even more dangerous and heavy.

Solam was thrilled; between the wolf mount and the weapon, today was truly a lucky day.

It was no wonder Solam was excited. Ever since he had transmigrated into this world, he had heard nothing but stories about these two legendary axes.

Frost Fury was said to have been crafted by a lich, with the axe body wreathed in bone-chilling frost. Legend had it that the soul of a Frost Lord from the Abyss was imprisoned within, and anyone who dared to wield it would be cursed by that mad soul, eventually being consumed and turned into a soulless puppet. That was, until a certain orc hero appeared.

Sakmi Rema, a great warrior wandering the wilderness, took up the axe during the orcs' most perilous hour and subdued the soul of the Abyssal Lord, forcing it to serve him.

He then embarked on a legendary life, using the axe to slay a red dragon, an Abyssal demon dragon, and a powerful Balor, not to mention countless other monsters, demons, and devils.

However, when the Avalon orcs finally arrived at this Sanctuary of Heroes, Sakmi Rema refused to enter, believing he would bring disaster to this place of refuge. He left, and no one knew where he went, nor did anyone know where the axe was.

Many Avalon orcs went out to train, and a large part of the reason was to search for traces of this hero and the demonic axe. But after years of training, the orcs who left hadn't found a single clue. In fact, many people outside didn't even know of the hero or the axe's existence.

As for Bloodfire, its fame was much greater. It had been famous back when the chaotic orc gods still existed in ancient times. The leader of the Warsong Clan at that time had carried this axe to wage war for the orc gods, and countless lives had perished beneath its blade.

That was until Reginald Tomya took up the axe. When he saw the betrayal of the orc gods and realized their chaos and evil, he resolutely led the Warsong Clan of that time to defect to the Prophet Thrall, rising up against the orc gods. The feats he achieved with this axe shocked the entire world. To help the new orcs break free from the orc gods, he fought almost every race in the world. In that chaotic era, this legendary orc Warlord was almost never defeated.

The most badass part was when he raised his axe to challenge Bagchu, the god of orcish strength and foolish courage, and actually won. Even though he didn't manage to kill the god, defeating a deity—what a legendary feat that was! Later, the situation grew even more chaotic as the gods waged war on the mortal plane, and then demons and devils got involved.

At that time, the new orcs, having just broken away from the orc gods, were truly teetering on the edge of destruction. It was this tough guy who led the elites of the Bloodaxe, Blackpeak, and Frostblade clans to fight to the death, finally breaking out of the encirclement of the devils.

They fled to the Spine of the World. It was said that after that battle, the devils of Hell would tremble in fear just hearing the war cry of this legendary Warlord. However, because Reginald Tomya was severely wounded during this breakout, he perished in a mutual kill with a Balor Lord in a skirmish at the Spine of the World. Thus, a generation of peerless tough guys fell. After his death, his old name from the era of the orc gods was abandoned, and he and his descendants took the name Hellscream.

If all the respect and love belonged to the Prophet Garul, who led all the Avalon orcs away from chaos to this Sanctuary of Heroes, then for Reginald Tomya, there was nothing left but raw, naked worship.

There wasn't much entertainment in this era, so these epics compiled from the deeds of ancient heroes became a great pastime. Solam had long since memorized them by heart. How cool would it be to wield the same weapon as these epic heroes? Even if it was just a replica. You had to know that in Avalon, there were at least eight or ten thousand such replicas; everyone went through this phase.

However, there was a small problem: our Solam wasn't even as tall as this axe... which was quite awkward. Solam rested his hand on the replica Bloodfire, his expression shifting constantly.

The old man watched Solam's expression and gave him a big smile. "Does our Solam not plan on growing up? The axe is a bit big now, but it will be just right once you grow up." The old man didn't know if he was teasing or comforting Solam. You had to know that in Avalon, the one thing they weren't short of was a lack of metal.

Orcs were born without any talent for mining or metallurgy, so metal was in short supply. If they bought weapons for the younger generation, they never considered the child's current size; they just bought them to adult standards. They would grow into them eventually, so what was the big deal? No one would go out of their way to forge children's toys; that would be too wasteful.

"Besides, you can get familiar with these weapons now, so you can use them even better when you grow up." The old man wore an expression of "I'm doing this for your own good," leaving Solam speechless. It seemed he would have to carry this Bloodfire, which was taller than himself, for quite some time.

"Right, since you have accepted the choice of your wolf partners, you are no longer children. You must take on responsibilities from now on. First, you must start providing the meat for your wolf partners." The old man said suddenly and sternly. This was an Avalon orc custom: every male who accepted a wolf's choice had to start learning to be a warrior. He had to begin learning to hunt and fight, and a few months later, once the wolf cubs were weaned, he would have to take his wolf out to hunt. This was to provide the meat needed for the wolf's growth and to build rapport and train the wolf.

"Go find your second uncle tomorrow and have him teach you how to hunt." When the old man said this, he didn't even look at the eye signals his eldest son was giving him.

Solam naturally pretended not to see them either. He knew his uncle was worried that he was too thin and weak and might run into some accident. But Solam knew his own state; he was very healthy, and with his Toughness talent, he was even stronger than Kramsh. Although he was a bit short, did short people have no rights? Seriously.

"Understood." Solam and Kramsh acknowledged, and the old man sent them off to attend to their own business.

As soon as Solam and Kramsh walked away, Karut hurriedly said to his father, "Father, Kramsh is fine, but Ram, he is still..."

Before Karut could finish, Kramsh interrupted his son, "What about Ram? Ram is fine. What's wrong with him taking on his responsibilities? This is what a man of the Warsong Clan is."

"I am his grandfather, and I say he is capable."