Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route

Chapter 284: How Much Strength Can I Use?

"I can help you defeat the yeti!"

The surrounding people froze for a moment, then laughter rang out one after another. At first, the laughter was very quiet, but after they saw that the woman seated in the chair at the head of the room did not reject it, the laughter spread. More and more people began laughing, and their voices gradually grew louder, until it turned into roaring laughter.

They were "mocking" a young and ignorant child, because he looked no bigger than a little bean, yet he had the nerve to claim he could solve the yeti problem?

"Tsk, tsk. You little brat, who let you come here?"

"Go back. This isn’t a place you should be."

"If not for how cute you look, what you just said would already be enough for us to throw you out. If even you can solve the yeti problem, then what does that make us?"

The Frostguard tribespeople surrounded Nunu, who had barged in, and spoke one after another.

Surrounded by adults, and not just any adults, but tall, dark-armored adults in full armor, Nunu’s little heart sped up. Even so, he stubbornly held his head high and continued, "I can do it!"

"I have Svellsongur!"

He took out the flute and waved it toward the adults.

But the adults did not care. No one would believe that a child like this could become a hero, much less when he was holding some broken flute he had found who knew where. Svellsongur? There was no such thing in the stories of the Freljord.

It was not hard to imagine that this was most likely something the little fellow had made up.

That was not strange. In the Foundling Village, many children became withdrawn after leaving their parents, and over time, they gradually sank into fantasy. According to the tribe elders, this was a self-protection instinct for young children. They would imagine themselves becoming ancient heroes and great figures from legendary tales. They longed to possess power and change their current situation.

Because of that, the Frostguard soldiers did not reject this.

In the stories of the Freljord, they were forever the hidden masterminds, forever the destroyers, forever inhuman people. But in truth, the Frostguard were not like that. They had humanity. They had their own selves. The reason they acted coldly and ruthlessly was more because of their master. They firmly believed that their master was always right. Because of that, when carrying out missions, they would be cruel and merciless, not even sparing children.

But the Foundling Village preserved their humanity and warmth.

Just like now, after seeing that Lady Lissandra and Lady Fura Brokenmark had not spoken, an elderly Frostguard squad leader could not help saying, "Go back, child. This isn’t something a little fellow like you should get involved in. Hurry back and sleep before we get angry."

"No! I won’t!" Nunu shouted loudly.

He had to prove his worth to Lissandra. Only then could he obtain the help of Lissandra and the Frostguard!

Nunu was indeed a child, but under Layka’s teaching, Nunu was not a mischievous, impolite child who only knew how to reach out and demand things.

His mother had taught him one principle, before asking someone to help you, you first had to earn their goodwill.

Seeing that Nunu refused to leave, several Frostguard immediately reached out to grab him.

After all, if they let this child keep causing trouble and made Lady Lissandra unhappy, then what awaited him might be being thrown out of the Foundling Village. A young child who lost the protection of adults would not survive.

And so, Nunu was lifted up by an adult. That person shook his head and was about to carry Nunu out.

But then a voice rang out.

"How did you learn about the yeti?"

That voice was hoarse and low, as though squeezed out from the coldest ice. It carried cruelty and frost, biting to the bone, like a sharp blade stabbing into the heart.

All the Frostguard stopped in place at once. In an instant, they turned back and bowed toward the woman seated at the head of the room.

Nunu was set down, and the adults made way for him, allowing him to see the tall Lissandra sitting in her seat.

First he froze. Then Nunu mustered his courage and said, "My mom told me. My mom is the smartest and most beautiful person in the whole world. She sang me the yeti song!"

"What is that?" Lissandra asked Nunu.

"It’s, it’s the yeti song!" Nunu said.

What could a child understand? How could he truly explain to Lissandra what it was?

"You said you can help me deal with the yeti? Do you know what a yeti looks like?"

"It looks... it looks like me!" As Nunu spoke, he grabbed the animal ears on the sides of his hat and pulled them up, putting the hat on properly. Then he jumped up, turned his back to Lissandra, wiggled his little bottom, and explained, "I’m a little yeti."

"..."

"Go back. This isn’t something you can handle," Lissandra said after a long silence.

Those words had been transmitted to her by Logan. Otherwise, Lissandra would have simply let Nunu try.

But Logan had said that she needed to play the role of a villain in Nunu’s heart. The world of children was very simple. Sometimes, when you stopped them from doing something, they would think you were the bad person because of it.

"I really can do it! I’ll help you deal with the big monster, and you’ll help me find my mom!" Seeing Lissandra reject his proposal, Nunu refused to give up and raised his voice.

But beside him, after receiving Lissandra’s order, the adults of the Frostguard had already moved to carry Nunu out.

They cleanly tossed the little fellow into the snow, looked down at him, and said in low voices, "Go back. Do it before anything happens. If you barge in again, the adults won’t be this easy to talk to."

"No. We’ll watch you. Don’t even think about barging in again."

"I really can do it. I need your help," Nunu said with red eyes.

But what he received in return was the adults ignoring him.

Time passed bit by bit. In the blink of an eye, Nunu had already stayed in the Foundling Village for some time.

At first, he communicated with the other children. Later, he silently spent more and more time alone. It was not because Nunu was withdrawn, but because he was gradually pushed away by the other children.

They said he was always saying empty, unrealistic things, always imagining that he was a hero, and always bringing up his mother at every turn. It was really, really annoying!

Nunu was very sad, but he did not hate them because of it. Instead, the longer he spent alone, the more he immersed himself in the songs his mother had sung to him. He escaped into a world that had only ancient heroes and legendary stories. He wanted to prove himself.

And so, one night, while the children were sound asleep and the adults were not paying attention, Nunu secretly slipped out of the stone house.

Over these past few days, he had already found out where the yeti was. He could get there.

Walking through the snowy night, Nunu did not notice that several gazes were watching him from behind.

Several Frostguard stood on the watchtower, watching the tiny round figure walking through the night, their faces filled with worry.

Older people protected the young. In the Freljord, this was instinct. The continuation of the next generation mattered more than anything. And a young one as cute, sensible, and devoted to his mother as Nunu naturally earned their affection even more.

"Is Lady Lissandra really right..."

"Shut your mouth! Marlan, how do you have the courage to question her decision?"

"I, I’m not questioning her. I just think this is too dangerous. Nunu is a good child. Actually, we could help him find his mother, couldn’t we? The situation now is different from before. Aren’t we connected to the Avarosans now? If we ask them, they could definitely find Nunu’s mother easily."

The squad leader who had scolded Marlan fell silent. But after a long while, he only shook his head. "This is her decision. We only need to... carry it out."

He watched the tiny figure that was about to vanish into the night. His lips moved slightly, and he murmured, "May winter bless you."

Marlan sighed, closed his eyes, and also said, "May winter bless you."

Clutching the flute tightly, Nunu climbed up to higher ground. As the sky gradually brightened, Nunu finally reached his destination.

"The adults said the yeti is here."

Nunu looked around and discovered that this place was like... like a ruin!

Opening his mouth, Nunu looked around with a cry of amazement. Shields, longswords, armor... all kinds of weapons appeared before his eyes in a dazzling variety, making him incredibly excited.

He walked up and tugged at one sword, then ran to another side and touched a huge wooden club.

In an instant, a child’s nature made Nunu forget his mission. Instead, he began rolling around and playing here.

The commotion he made reached into the deep valley. Inside the pitch-black cave, a pair of vicious and brutal eyes brightened slightly.

Vigilance that had never slackened over countless years made it stand up angrily. Sensing the approach of a human, it prepared to tear the intruder’s body apart and end their life.

Holding a glowing gem, the blue-faced, fang-mouthed creature, taller than deer, pigs, and bears, walked out of its cave. Its body was covered in all kinds of wounds. Beneath its dark gray and blackened fur were thick, powerful muscles. Standing upright, it looked like a human, but that face like a malicious ghost, as ugly as a troll’s, betrayed everything.

The yeti left its territory and came to the edge of the high cliff. When it saw the human rolling and playing around in its territory, it let out a furious roar.

"Roar!"

The wind pressure lifted the snow. Under that violent roar, the pitifully small human nearly failed to stand steady. He came very close to being blown straight off the cliff by the roar.

The human child stood up and drew the long flute from his waist as if drawing a treasured sword, pointing it at him.

Standing before the child, the yeti was incomparably furious.

Adults were one thing, but now even human children had become this greedy?

It stretched out a large hand and grabbed toward him.

But in the next moment, a small snowball struck it right in the face, making it freeze on the spot.

Blinking its ugly big eyes, the yeti looked dazedly at the human child and saw him hiding behind a rock, scooping up snow with both hands, rolling it into a ball, then popping out from behind the rock and throwing it at him.

"Hey, big furry guy!"

That human child shouted at him.

Then another snowball flew toward his face.

His anger turned into surprise. In the gem he had guarded for countless years, the scene that appeared was not of killing him, seizing the treasure, or craving the gem’s power in order to become a king and enslave others. Instead, it was a scene of a hero slaying a dragon and a warrior killing an ancient giant serpent.

The yeti knew this was the image inside the little boy’s mind. He... he was imagining himself as a hero?

He sank into this story filled with fantasy, and the violent aura around him gradually dissipated.

Splat.

Another snowball hit his face, and the scene inside the gem changed again.

This time, the warrior who had slain the ancient giant serpent and the dragon was gone. In their place appeared a human child wearing a hat and a huge, fluffy, chubby, adorable creature with blue-and-white fur and four arms. They were... having a snowball fight!

Surprise turned into joy. This guardian who had protected this place for countless years joined the "war"!

His four arms rolled up snowballs, and snowballs nearly as large as the little boy’s head flew toward him one after another.

His appearance changed along with it. It was no longer humanity’s fear of yetis, but the pure imagination of a child. He became fluffier and fluffier, and his face became friendlier and friendlier. His original terrifying roars also turned into somewhat silly-sounding laughter.

Excitement. Joy. It had been countless years since anyone had played a game like this with him. The "battle" grew more and more intense, and the distance between them grew closer and closer. At first, they only threw snowballs at each other from far away. Later, to dodge the snowballs, the little fellow began circling around him and mischievously hugged his leg.

This little fellow seemed to be trying to trip him!

"Guhaha!"

The yeti’s laughter echoed through the deep valley.

The child’s laughter followed soon after. They were having the time of their lives.

But a change soon occurred, because the yeti accidentally broke a small, thin wooden piece on the little fellow.

The little boy who had been excitedly playing with him froze instantly. The next moment, he hugged the flute and burst into loud sobs.

The yeti felt panicked. He clumsily circled the little fellow, speaking in a language the little fellow could not understand. He was apologizing.

But it was no use. The boy kept crying.

As the yeti tried to comfort the child, he also noticed that inside the gem he had always guarded in his hand, a different image appeared, a gentle black-haired human woman, and a group of smiling humans.

Crying brought sorrow, and the yeti also felt his sadness. But what was different was that within this sorrow, he also sensed something else.

Something the yeti had never sensed from humans before, not even from the Three Sisters in ancient times.

It was something that resisted negative emotions even in despair and sadness. It was love that resisted despair.

He was clearly crying, yet inside the gem, all that appeared was sunlight and hope.

The yeti understood. The reason this little fellow cried was not because the yeti had broken the flute. He did not blame him. He was only crying because his flute had broken. What saddened him was that he had failed to protect it properly.

He did not hate the yeti. Nor did he resent those who had hurt or bullied him. He simply wanted to become stronger, and then become everyone’s friend.

Gradually, the little fellow’s voice grew quieter. He had cried himself tired, so he fell asleep in the yeti’s arms.

The emotions inside the gem reached the yeti, and the feelings of missing family and friends made the yeti sad as well.

He had always been waiting for someone, the person who had kept him alive through hardship and vigilance.

And now, the yeti believed he had finally found that person.

This made him make a... decision. A decision whose correctness he did not know.

But he truly could not wait any longer. Even if he was strong, this had been far too long.

And so, he still made that decision. Forming a gesture with his hand, he aimed the gem he had always guarded at the little fellow’s chest.

The next moment, that gem released a brilliant white light. In the haze, he seemed to hear a clear yet gentle birdsong. Just like that, the gem merged into the little boy’s heart.

Then the yeti saw the little boy open his eyes.

The imagination inside his mind became reality. The broken flute flew high into the sky, and amid a flash of light, it was repaired just like that, then returned to the little fellow’s hands.

And just as the yeti stared blankly at the little boy, the little boy suddenly hugged his big belly.

"My name is Nunu!"

"You’re Willump! You’re my best friend!"

The yeti Willump tilted his head, staring blankly at the little thing in his arms.

In an instant, countless pure and sincere emotions poured into his mind. The boy had used the gem’s power to do two things.

The first was repairing his mother’s flute.

The second was making a yeti become his best friend.

"Guh-ah!"

Four arms spread open, then tightly hugged the little fellow in his arms.

From today onward, he was no longer called the dangerous yeti. His name was Willump.

"That’s it?"

In the sky, the corner of the watching figure’s mouth twitched.

Lissandra was speechless at what had happened before her eyes. This scene that looked like children playing around...

"Wuuu, it’s so touching." Unlike Lissandra’s speechlessness, Nilah was moved. She was moved by Nunu’s courage. In a certain sense, Nilah and Nunu’s way of thinking really was quite similar.

They both liked heroic stories, and they both wanted to become great heroes. Hm, wait, looking at it that way, could Lux also join them?

Didn’t Lux spend every day wanting to use lasers to blast Malphite?

Layka was the same. When she saw Nunu bawling his eyes out, she had truly nearly been unable to hold herself back from stepping forward to comfort him several times.

After all, when he had been in the Foundling Village, Nunu had never cried like that.

Logan looked at Lissandra and wanted to make a jab at her, but when the words reached his mouth, he still did not dare say them.

If it had been the old Lissandra, then no matter what Logan said, she would not care. Back then, Lissandra had only divinity, not humanity. In order to deal with the Void, she did not care about anything around her.

But the current Lissandra was different. The current Lissandra had become more human. She really could get angry now.

"Then let Willump and Nunu spend some time together first. After a while, we’ll have them officially set out on the road. During this time, we need to make some preparations."

"Preparations? What preparations?"

"An adventure plan that will let Nunu grow. The troublesome thing is, Volibear isn’t here anymore..." Logan touched his chin in thought.

According to the original plan, Nunu would next follow his "mother’s guidance" and set out for Windy Peak, which was once Anivia’s old site. Along the way, he would meet Braum, meet Ornn, meet Volibear, and meet the forgotten demigod.

But right now, Braum, Volibear, and the forgotten demigod were all question marks.

Because of that, someone needed to play the corresponding roles.

Thinking of this, Logan chuckled wickedly, then explained his plan to everyone.

After Lissandra finished listening, her eyes lit up. She looked at Logan, and there was actually some excitement in her tone as she said, "How much strength can I use when the time comes?"

Here, Lissandra was referring to part of the plan, where Logan would play a role like Braum and provide Nunu with help. But during that time, he would encounter a crisis, Lissandra would come after him, and then she would send Logan flying with one slap.

Thinking of being able to openly hit Logan, Lissandra... smiled.

Looking at Lissandra’s stunning smile, Logan slowly gave her a single:

"?"

//Check out my P@tre0n for 10 extra free Chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810