Chapter 25: Facial Markings

Chapter 25: Facial Markings

At dinner, Bran again refused the soldiers the Duke wanted to send over. The distance here was just over a hundred meters from the castle. With the Knights’ abilities, they could arrive in an instant. Moreover, the Northlands were vast and sparsely populated. Knights patrolled and cleared the area near the castle every day, so it was very safe.

After winter arrived, even fewer people would come near the outskirts of the castle. The harsh natural environment was the best barrier.

What caught Bran’s attention now were the faint markings that had appeared on both his older brothers’ faces. So according to Danny, this meant they had heard the call of the Wasteland?

Although Bran wasn’t very close to his two brothers, as family who had lived together for many years, a sense of concern had naturally formed. As the younger brother, he felt he should help them within his capabilities.

For some reason, Northlanders never discussed the Adulthood Ceremony in detail. They seemed more like animals relying on instinct, arriving at a specific place at a specific time, similar to animal migration. Those who were going received instructions from their elders not to talk too much, and those who returned remained silent. This dashed Bran’s hope of getting information from his brothers.

Another thing Bran didn’t understand was that both brothers had heard the call at the same time. Did this mean the second brother’s potential was better than the first brother’s? When Bran raised this question, the eldest brother clearly blushed.

The Duke’s reply sounded particularly heavy: “No, coming back alive is what’s best.”

This sentence made everyone fall silent.

“They will be fine,” Bran said loudly. “I will forge the best weapons and armor for them.”

He knew his brothers had a very high chance of returning successfully. After all, with the Duke’s Authority, his children had received better training and had better equipment from a young age, giving them a greater chance of completing the Trial.

But looking around, feeling the heavy atmosphere, and remembering what Danny had said about the Wasteland being alive, a strong sense of unease rose in Bran’s heart.

…

The next morning, Bran notified all the Knights in the castle that their weapons were finished. During this time, Bran had been testing various weapons and hadn’t released a single one. Now he had more important things to do, so he decided to return the custom-made weapons to the Knights.

Today was a good day, at least for the Knights in the castle.

Ever since Aisa brought back his greatsword, the sword’s marvels had slowly spread among the Knights. All the Knights longed to receive their own custom-made weapons soon, but none showed impatience or haste. After all, this was an era where slow work yielded fine results. Some Knights even sent additional materials, like what they considered miraculous meteorite iron.

Today, Bran amazed them all. Dozens of weapons were grandly displayed at the entrance, each with a name tag of its owner. Danny stood by reluctantly, watching as each Knight stepped forward anxiously to collect their custom-made weapon, then wore a satisfied, silly grin when they drew it.

…

After seeing off the Knights, Bran began closing his door to visitors. He needed to custom-make weapons and armor for his two brothers.

For the current Bran, making equipment was truly effortless. Often, he just didn’t want to become a craftsman, or perhaps laziness struck. He preferred to enjoy the scenery, join in the fun, stay curious about new things for a few days, get passionate about many things for two or three days, and then get drawn to another interesting or dull matter.

But facing last night’s heavy atmosphere and his own family, he didn’t want to regret doing nothing after losing them. So he thought about doing something for his two brothers before they went to the Wasteland. Perhaps to let them leave home happily, with fewer regrets.

Looking at his two brothers, who seemed thrilled about the upcoming Trial, Bran was speechless. Was adulthood really that attractive? Fourteen or fifteen was an age of fearlessness, without worries. They didn’t worry about their parents or consider their feelings. They only thought about breaking free from their restraints, always wanting to prove their strength. Perhaps what they wanted to escape now was what they would want to possess and cherish forever in the future.

The two brothers looked very similar, almost the same height, both with dark red hair and the sharp features typical of Northlanders. Even on their youthful faces, there was little baby fat. Their bodies hadn’t fully grown yet, so they appeared slightly thin, but their slightly broad shoulders and thick necks gave them a strong, powerful look.

Perhaps lost in thought, Bran’s eyes looked empty. Beside him, Huahua copied her master, tilting her head up and staring at the two boys in a human-like manner, which made the two youths uncomfortable. As the eldest, he spoke first to snap Bran out of it: “Stop daydreaming, hurry up.”

“Uh.” Bran sensed the threatening look in his brothers’ eyes. Fine, he wouldn’t argue with them. As a civilized person, he wouldn’t solve problems with force.

Bran recorded his brothers’ arm lengths, shoulder widths, and other features, had them try a few sword blanks of different weights, and then quickly shooed the two away. He originally wanted to bond with his brothers, but facing two obviously violence-prone teenagers at a restless age, Bran really didn’t dare let them stay long in his warehouse, which also served as his workshop. Just seeing their curious and eager expressions made him nervous. Thankfully, at the crucial moment, Danny miraculously appeared at the warehouse door, intimidating them.

…

The crafting proceeded smoothly. Bran, with some mischievous taste, made two wolf-head caps. When pulled over the head, the cap looked like a wolf with its jaws open. The upper jaw rested on the top of the head, the lower jaw protected the neck, and the back edge of the cap completely covered the nape.

Two hand crossbows, a one-handed sword and a round shield, plus a half-body scale armor.

The scale armor had a layer of leather padding inside and metal scales on the outside for top-tier defense. But making the scale armor gave Bran a lot of trouble. He felt deeply powerless against these scales that needed to be woven together, having to manually link them one by one.

Hearing his brothers’ loud shouts and the clear cry of an eagle outside, Bran had a sudden idea. He ran outside and asked Danny, who was playing with the eagle, to help move all the leather padding and scales outside. Using the excuse of teaching his brothers how to maintain armor, he had the two weave the scales themselves.

In the evening, Bran’s two brothers put on the wolf-head caps, wore the scale armor with unfinished weaving, hung their newly acquired weapons on themselves, carried a pile of scales in their arms, and happily ran back to the castle.

…

The rugged style of the Northlands didn’t involve much sorrow at parting. When the two brothers set out, it was as if they were saying they were going out for a ride. Then, accompanied by two Attendants, they headed for the Wasteland. The Attendants would return first after reaching the destination. What awaited the two youths was the test of the Wasteland.

Every night during dinner, Bran looked at the two empty chairs and felt a fear of the future, as if a giant mouth was waiting ahead to swallow him.

He could feel his parents’ full expectation and worry, but he didn’t understand why they had to participate in this Trial. Was this Trial really that important for Northlanders?

In Bran’s heart, people were most important, life was most important. Only by being alive were all possibilities open. Why bet with life?