Novel Full Chapter 532: The Wall.
Chapter 532: The Wall.
“Zul nar’vak me.”
{You doubt me.}
Kael spoke and the instant he did, the Stonefangs—especially Zakaar—widened their eyes in disbelief.
Kael, he…
He was speaking the Stonefang Tongue.
He learned it yesterday. Lavinia told him that if he wanted to influence the Stonefangs, learning their tongue would help quite a bit. Kael was surprised at that and unwilling to put in the work he deemed unnecessary and long.
But…
Very quickly, his opinion changed when he actually began the learning process.
And that was when he felt and understood the difference.
When he first came here, his intelligence was merely in single digits, but now it was well above two hundred. The difference between the two was… absurd.
And while he knew this affected his memory, enhanced his senses, and raised his thinking ability to levels he never thought were possible, when he began learning a new language, this ’difference’ became even clearer.
Yes, his memory had improved; he needed to hear the translations just once to memorise them, but that wasn’t it.
Alongside his memory, his ability to recognize patterns became much, much faster as well, allowing him to learn the language’s almost non-existent grammar almost intuitively. His contextual adaptability reached another level too, allowing him to infer the rules of the language instantly.
Basically, with his advanced intelligence, learning a new language was… only a matter of two hours.
Of course, it wasn’t just him—anyone with his level of intelligence, mostly Eighth or Ninth Circle Mages, would be the same. Even Seventh Circle Mages and levels lower wouldn’t have much difficulty learning a language either, but that is considering they had the resources Kael had.
Imperia.
His little information gatherer who, with her intelligence higher than even Kael’s, could gather all the information regarding the Stonefang Language from the Stonefangs themselves and automatically translate everything in her head for her Father.
Basically, Kael had a tutor who could teach him anything he wanted and solve any of his doubts.
And because of that tutor—
“Zul nar’vak draal’mor. Zul nar’vak Tharn’kaar.”
{You doubt the alliance. You doubt your Chief’s decision.}
Kael continued speaking in the Stonefang tongue.
Sure, his words sounded somewhat awkward, but that was merely a matter of practice and habit. With time, he would become as fluent as the Stonefangs, and this fact surprised quite a few warriors.
Some were pleasantly surprised—they thought of this as Kael actively trying to mix in with them and show them his sincerity. Some thought he was trying to get close only to fool them later.
But whatever it may be, Kael now had the Stonefangs’ complete attention.
(A/N: From here on, Kael’s words will be in English, but know that he is still speaking the Stonefang tongue.)
Kael stared at the crowd again.
The mutterings grew silent, especially now when the warriors knew he could hear and understand them, but the wariness in their eyes did not fade away.
“And you are right to have suspicion.”
Kael began.
“You are putting your and your families’ lives in the hands of someone you have seen once or twice. In fact, most of you are seeing me for the first time.
I too would be wary and think a hundred times before taking a decision like this, and even if I agreed, then just like you, I too would have doubts—countless doubts—and would constantly seek evidence and assurance that my decision was correct.”
Kael took a short pause.
The Stonefangs nodded at his words. Just as he said, they had doubts and even though they stood with their chief, they needed assurance.
And Kael—
“So I will use this chance to give you that assurance.
I will use this chance and… show you—”
Kael spoke, his crystal-blue eyes shining intensely as he stared at all the Stonefangs gathered here.
“—why your Chief, why someone as brave and wise as him, decided to put his trust in me.”
He spoke as he glanced at Gruumak before turning toward the Stonefangs again—
“This entire movement will happen without a single hitch.”
He announced in a hardened, confident voice.
“No scouts will see you.
No tribe will touch you.
You will reach the Wall safely.”
He didn’t use weak words like ’I hope’ or ’I’ll try.’
He promised it like it was already a fact.
The Stonefangs stared at him, their gazes still full of confusion and uncertainty, and Kael—
“Trust me. Just this once.
Like you trust your Chief.
And I will pass this ’test’ with flying colors.”
Kael spoke with a meaningful look on his face and this time—
The people looked at him and their gaze changed just a little. The doubts were still there, but the people were more… silent.
As if they were considering Kael’s offer until finally—
“The Tribe follow. Like you said.”
The Stonefang Chief answered.
Zakaar thought about translating his words out of habit but—
“Thank you.”
Before he could, Kael replied in their tongue and lightly bowed his head as a gesture of respect, making Zakaar realize that he was no longer needed—at least not right now.
The Chief nodded. He then turned towards his men and—
“Prepare.”
He ordered and the Stonefangs began to move, making the final preparations to leave. Gruumak too began shouting orders, making the warriors move faster.
Soon, beasts came out of Sanctuaries, supplies were strapped down, children were lifted onto broad backs, elders were helped up, the injured were settled carefully.
Kael stood at the edge of the valley, watching everything calmly.
Some Stonefangs stared at him with open suspicion, some with fear, some with something close to hope—even if they didn’t want to admit it.
Kael just waited and when the last straps were tied, when the last bundles were lifted, when the last child stopped crying and pressed their face into a mother’s cloak—
Chief Gruumak approached again with Zakaar at his side and—
“We ready.”
The Chief nodded with a heavy look on his face.
Kael looked toward the white forest ahead. Then he stepped forward.
“Follow me.
I’ll move at a pace you will be able to follow.”
He spoke and with a single motion, he began moving—leading a thousand Stonefangs away from their land, away from their fires, away from their ancestors’ stones, away from… everything they had known.
Toward their enemies, toward the Wall.
Toward a future that… none of them could see clearly yet.
…
The tribe moved like a long, dark line cutting through the white land.
Kael led from the front at a steady pace. Behind him, the Chief kept the formation tight.
Beasts walked in the middle, their heavy legs crushing snow into a hard path.
Children clung to fur cloaks.
Elders sat wrapped in hide, faces turned away from the wind.
Warriors ran on the sides, breathing in sharp bursts, their eyes scanning the trees with alert looks—they were prepared for an enemy ambush.
The Ashen Heights was not one terrain.
It changed every few minutes.
First came the thick forest—tall pines packed close together, their branches heavy with snow. The world inside was quiet, almost dead. The only sounds were boots crunching, beasts snorting, and the faint creak of trees bending under weight.
Then the forest opened into a white slope. The wind hit harder there, sweeping across exposed ground. The tribe leaned forward and pushed through, feet slipping sometimes, claws digging into ice.
After that came rocky ridges where snow was thinner and the stone beneath was sharp. The beasts climbed carefully, warriors helped the weak cross narrow paths.
For two hours, no one spoke.
All the Stonefangs were alert, nervous and… afraid.
Afraid of being found out, afraid of being attacked but…
But even after two hours passed, nothing happened.
There were no scouts, no movement in the distance, no shadow gliding between trees.
Some warriors began to look over their shoulders too often. Their nerves tightened—no, they did not ease—their looks… sharpened even further.
“Too quiet. Bad quiet.”
A young warrior running near the back muttered in a rough voice.
“Maybe scout see us. Maybe run now. Maybe army come behind.”
Another answered, equally blunt.
“Or maybe lucky. Big lucky.”
A third snorted.
“Lucky don’t last,”
Someone spat.
Gruumak kept running with a hard look on his face, but his eyes kept flicking from tree line to ridge to open snow.
He didn’t like this silence either.
It felt… wrong, like a trap that had not sprung yet.
He stared at Kael who was running in front of him and…
The man did not turn even once, he didn’t even look around.
He moved like he had already seen the end of the path.
The confidence in his movements was so ridiculously apparent that it almost looked… arrogant.
Yet…
Even after two hours passed, nothing happened.
So as arrogant as he was… he was holding his words.
The tribe kept going.
Snow got deeper again. In places, it reached knee height. The beasts pushed through, breathing smoke.
And still, nothing happened.
And this… only raised the Stonefangs’ suspicions.
Until…
One older warrior, a man who had fought at the Wall and faced Kael as an enemy, spoke under his breath.
“This… might be Flying Man doing.”
A few heads turned.
The man kept running, eyes fixed ahead.
“I saw him in war,”
He muttered.
“I saw what he do.
He… a God.
God can do anything.
Time passing, nothing happening.
Impossible.
Only God make impossible possible.”
More Stonefangs looked at him with uneasy looks on their faces. Some warriors who participated in the war nodded at those words, but then one Stonefang hissed—
“No. Impossible. We just run. No mist. No artifact. No hide. No Magic. Something will happen.”
The older soldier’s jaw tightened at those words.
“He not need show,”
He said.
“He do, but we not see.”
“Then why no scout?”
A younger one scoffed in a sharp voice.
Then suddenly—
“Maybe scout already go.”
A Stonefang woman commented in fear.
“Maybe they already know. Maybe army already come. We not know yet.”
The words spread. The line tightened. A few mothers pulled cloaks closer around children and gulped.
But Kael kept moving as if he couldn’t hear them.
Time dragged.
The sky stayed gray and just like that—
Three hours passed.
Then four.
Then more.
The tribe waited for something to happen.
For an arrow from the trees.
For a horn call in the distance.
For a shadow on the ridge.
But…
Nothing happened.
There was no ambush.
There was no chase.
And slowly…
The muttering began to change.
Fear became confusion and confusion became… disbelief.
Even Gruumak’s shoulders loosened slightly, though his face remained hard.
And then, after more than five hours of movement, one soldier near the front slowed, staring ahead through the thinning trees.
He stopped for half a breath.
Then he whispered, voice shaking like he didn’t believe his own eyes—
“We… in Velmourn land.”
The words moved through the line like fire.
Warriors went silent.
Beasts snorted.
Even the children stopped fussing.
Ahead, through the last stretch of now burnt trees, the land looked… different.
Paths that weren’t made by beasts.
Snow packed in straight lines.
Signs of hidden work.
And far in the distance, like a dark scar against the white world—
The Wall.