'You... shameless!'
Ignis was flushed with anger and embarrassment.
'Shameless or not, you'll know when you lose.'
Wu Liang shrugged, unconcerned.
'Well? Do you dare take the bet?'
The surrounding clansmen held their breath, eyes fixed on the two in the center.
Ignis clenched her fists; her pride would not let her back down.
'Fine! I accept!'
She almost roared the words, voice trembling with excitement.
'Excellent.'
Wu Liang nodded in satisfaction.
Just then, hurried footsteps rang out.
'Chieftain! Chieftain!'
Everyone turned to see Sa Lan, the scout leader, racing toward them, face etched with urgency.
She carried the scent of wind and snow—clearly just back from the wilds.
'What happened?'
Wu Liang's brows drew together.
Sa Lan skidded to a halt before him, gasping, 'Chieftain, the roland people are back!'
'Their main force is harassing us thirty li from the Tribe!'
roland people!
The words darkened every face.
Memories of the last war were fresh; though Black Rock Tribe had won, others had paid dearly.
Wu Liang's gaze slid from Sa Lan to Ignis.
'It seems our wager will have to wait.'
His tone was flat, unreadable.
Ignis stared, stunned.
She hadn't expected this interruption.
The fighting spirit she'd just summoned felt doused by a bucket of ice water.
'No!'
The protest burst from her.
'Our duel—'
Wu Liang cut her off with a raised hand, voice cold: 'This is war; personal matters come second.'
'If you want to prove yourself, do it on the battlefield.'
'Earn your glory with Roland heads.'
'Our bet can wait until the enemy's driven off.'
Without another glance at her frustrated face, he turned to Sa Lan and the others.
'Pass the order: the Tribe enters wartime readiness! Akomann!'
'Here!'
Akomann stepped forward, voice ringing.
'You hold the camp—strengthen defenses, protect the people, especially Medical Camp and Military Workshop!'
'Yes, sir!'
She answered crisply.
Though eager for the field, she knew the rear's importance and didn't hesitate.
Wu Liang signaled a nearby Personal Guard: 'Inform Suina—Military Workshop drops everything non-urgent and forges one thing only!'
He sketched out a design for skis and handed it to the guard.
'What is that?'
Sa Lan asked, curious.
'Skis,'
Wu Liang replied with a grin.
'With these, our warriors will fly across the snow.'
'I'm forming a ski unit—to give the roland people a nasty surprise!'
Skis?
Run atop the snow?
Everyone listened, baffled.
Yet this man always produced bizarre yet devastating inventions.
Finished, Wu Liang turned to Ignis again.
'Disappointed you won't face me?'
Ignis said nothing, only jerked her head away, stubborn.
'Don't worry,'
Wu Liang teased.
'The battlefield is the finest place to test a warrior.'
'I'm eager to see how brightly this Ember of yours burns out there—don't disappoint me.'
'Just watch!'
Ignis ground out.
'I'll show you who the strongest warrior is!'
'I'll be waiting.'
Wu Liang smiled and strode away.
Watching him go, Ignis clenched her fists.
Inside Military Workshop, fires roared and hammers rang day and night.
Since Wu Liang's order, Suina and every Artisan had poured heart and soul into crafting skis.
To her, any new idea of his was both challenge and chance to prove her worth.
'The Chieftain's drawing is weird,'
a young Artisan muttered, eyeing the plank.
'Can a simple board really let people race on snow?'
Suina hammered glowing iron, sparks flying.
Without looking up she barked, 'If the Chieftain says yes, then yes!'
'Less talk—follow the plan!'
'Pick the toughest wood, polish it smooth, and get that front curve just right!'
'Yes, ma'am!'
Under Suina's drive, the Artisans' zeal blazed.
Meanwhile, Wu Liang selected the swiftest, most agile warriors for his first ski special-force.
Most came from Sa Lan's Zhu Feng Tribe and Ignis's Ember Tribe—born skirmishers and raiders.
When the first pairs of skis arrived at the training ground, everyone crowded round, eyeing the odd planks.
'That's it?'
an Ember warrior asked, skeptical.
'How do you even use them?'
Wu Liang demonstrated personally.
Fastening his boots to the skis and gripping two poles, he glided across the snow, swift as a ghost.
On flat ground he flew; down slopes he shot like the wind.
Gasps erupted.
The warriors' eyes lit; doubt fled, replaced by hunger to learn.
'See?'
Wu Liang halted and said.
'This is the power of skis.'
'While warhorses flounder in deep snow, we'll be ghosts—striking hard, vanishing fast!'
His words set the men ablaze.
'Chief, teach us!'
'I want to learn!'
For days the training ground bustled.
Under Wu Liang's guidance, warriors began their skiing lessons.
Tumbles were routine; bruised faces common—yet no one complained.
They clenched their teeth, rose, and tried again.
Ignis joined them.
Gifted, she mastered the skill almost first among all.
Flashing across the snow, she looked like leaping flame—graceful, fierce.
But no smile crossed her lips; resolve burned within.
She would prove herself strongest.
Besides skis, Wu Liang had Florgloria's people sew white camouflage robes.
When warriors donned the white cloaks and lay in snow, they vanished into the landscape.
Thus, in days, a ski-borne, white-clad snow special-force was born.
Meanwhile, Roland Empire's harassers still prowled the fringes of Great Desolate Mountain.
They launched no full attack, only probing cavalry raids.
Commanding them was a middle-aged knight named Holt Dekes.
Tall, bearded, eyes laced with perennial arrogance.
He blamed the last crushing defeat on the previous commander's folly.
How capable could a bunch of savages be?
'General, how much longer?'
his deputy asked, rubbing chilled hands.
'This cursed cold is freezing the men solid.'
Holt Dekes swigged liquor from a flask and answered lazily,
'Why rush? Heavy snow has them caged like birds.'
'Once we know their strength, we'll strike in one blow.'
'I'll teach those barbarians what Imperial iron cavalry truly means.'