Chapter 229: [229] The Gift Of Fire

Ring Ring Ring!!!

The long-discarded village bell, one that had not rung for several years, was spreading its tunes throughout the humble village.

One of the women woke up from her hunger-induced slumber, pulled out of her sleep by the echoes of the bell.

When she got up, she realised that her children were already glued to the window, watching what was going on outside with great interest. They were giggling amongst themselves and pointing fingers.

"Get away from the window!" The woman cautioned, her voice heavy with the northern accent.

The moment they heard her, the children scrambled away from the glass. She always wondered how they still managed to look so alive, despite the hunger gnawing at them.

One of her children ran up to her and hugged her legs. "Funny people outside!"

"What is going on? Is the village under attack? Why did they ring the bell?" Was it possible that one of the nomad tribes would come after them?

Her heart trembled with panic as she stumbled to the window.

There was nothing their village had to offer, so why? Why would they come after them?

"No! Pots, mommy, they are carrying pots!" The child chirped.

"Pots?" The woman glanced at the window, only to find out that her daughter was right. She could see the villagers carrying their biggest pots and sprinting towards the village square.

Most of them did not manage to make it five steps before they collapsed, but they got up and continued running.

"By the gods, what is going on?"

She got out of her house just as a woman collapsed by her door, face first into the snow. She recognized this woman; they were old-time friends.

"By the gods, Janeytt, what are you all doing? What is going on?"

"Mmmmm mmmm mmmm!!!"

"What??"

The woman flipped Janeytt to the other side, and she spat out snow before speaking frantically once more. "M-Martha! Haven’t... you... heard??"

"Heard what? By the gods, speak!"

"There... there are strangers in town!" The woman said breathlessly. "Meat... as tall as heaven... there is going to be a feas—"

Before the woman could complete her sentence, Martha sprinted into her room and laid hold of her largest pot.

"Grab the pots, children, and come with me!"

At the village square, just as the rumours had gone, there were stacks of meat in all directions.

Fresh Frost Bears littered the snow, a haul greater than had ever been seen in Alask. Some of the villagers had tried to count, only to come up with unbelievable numbers.

Frost Bears were fierce monsters. Usually, three experienced Sunborns were required to take a single Frost Bear down. So how were there this many??

The monsters were arranged around a certain group of people, the outsiders. They stood alongside the village chief and his daughter, Yrsa, as they prepared for the feast.

The man who seemed to be leading the group was a skeleton who wore an apron made out of bear hide, and a hairnet to cover his shiny skull.

Although they were seeing a moving skeleton, the villagers did not question it one bit. It was almost as though it was natural to have skeletons walk among them...

The villagers crowded around them, gossiping loudly, their energy renewed by the sight of the meat that would soon fill their bellies.

— Strangers that come bringing meat? Surely this must be divine intervention!

— I have heard of it in the great books. It says that one day, the gods will walk among us.

— Isn’t that going a little too far? Could they really be gods?

— Are you blind? Look at their leader, look at the way his head bends the light, look at how it glows with glory. Surely he must be a god.

— Hmm. You may be right.

"..."

Ark was left speechless as he listened to each and every single one of their whispers.

"Did you hear that, Ark?" Olivia smirked.

In the past, she would not have been able to hear most of it, but now her sense of hearing was improving.

"Your shiny head has made them deem you a god." She chuckled.

Rodolph, on the other hand, was staring intently at Ark’s head, completely speechless.

Ark glanced at him. "What?"

"Why?"

"..."

Rodolph’s facial expression twisted slightly. "I understand the apron, but why do you have a hairnet on?"

Ark cocked his head to the side. "Because I don’t want any hair getting into the food. Isn’t that obvious?"

"?!?!"

Although Ark had more than enough meat to feed the village, he did not have enough pots. That was why he made the village chief issue an order to have them all bring out their cooking utensils.

Now that it was ready, it was time to cook!

Thalia led the cooking process, alongside the support group and the best chefs in Alask.

They washed the meat, diced up several spices, most of which were plants that had mutated to adapt to the winter, and then set the meat in the pots.

Now all that was left was fire...

All the pots had been filled up with ice, which would serve as water, and placed on a wide expanse of rocks that the men had gathered.

Ark walked to the pots and instructed the villagers to distance themselves from them.

The entirety of the village grew silent as they waited, watching. Some prayed in their hearts for another miracle, others kept their eyes wide open to see the miracle come to life.

Many of the villagers were ready to eat the meat raw if they had to, but filling their stomachs would not solve the issue of hypothermia.

If they did not find heat soon, then it would not matter if they satisfied their hunger; they would eventually die.

Ark stood in front of the gathering of pots for a few seconds, and then he stretched his hands towards them.

Yrsa stood in front of the villagers, her child sitting on her shoulder and watching curiously.

"Mommy, what is the bone man going to do?"

"He will summon the gift of the sun, dear." Yrsa replied with certainty.

"The sun?" The little girl looked confused. "Is he the son of Odin, Thors?"

"No..." Yrsa shook her head. "Perhaps he is even greater..."

"[Black Fire]" Ark whispered.

For years, the villagers had all known fire to be orange, just like the sun they prayed would return.

They was a long held belief among them. All fire came from the sun, the sun was the source of all heat. That was why when it was obscured, all hope was lost as the world was encased in ice.

But that very day, the day strangers happened upon their lands...

The villagers were blessed with a new sight.

A new revelation.

Not all fire came from the sun, the sun was not the only source of heat in this world. And so they were given a new, darker hope... One that surpassed even the pyromancers of old.

Maybe... maybe they had relied on the sun for far too long?

"It is black..." Yrsa muttered in disbelief.

"It is black!" Another man screamed at the top of his voice, just as the heat of the flames washed over them, the pots bubbling, steaming as the ice within them melted.

This heat was not orange like the sun, it did not originate from it. It was black, like darkness, like the eclipse they had grown to hate.

And yet—

"It is warm." Yrsa’s child reached out for the fire, giggling as the cold burned away.

"Mummy, it is warm."

Yrsa stared at Ark, the stranger that had wandered into their camp, right at their point of need.

And then she smiled, tears slipping out of the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, it is, darling."

— A GOD WALKS AMONG US!

The crowd suddenly erupted in cheers, causing Ark to stare at them in shock, begging them to conserve their energy.

"Be quiet already, I’m not a god, you fools! The food is far from ready, do you want to drop dead before you have a bite?!"

Yrsa smiled.

Two miracles... that was what they had prayed for. Ark had brought far more. It was for that reason that Yrsa knew that he was no god.

No. The gods were never this kind.