Wilson was scared of her wager. After all, he only asked for a date if he won, but if he lost, she could take his life.

Umbra looked at him with a taunting gaze, a stare that was belittling his pride as a man. He felt many gazes directed towards him and found out that other colleagues of theirs were looking at him. He could see them whispering to each other while looking at him; they were talking badly of him. He wanted to renege and play it cool, like he's just joking around, but he's already far from saving himself; all he could do was trust his group to win their bet.

"Deal. I hope you won't renege when the results don't lean towards yours."

"Of course, of course. But don't go running when I'm looking for your ugly face, alright?"

The crowd laughed while some dissed him loud enough for him to hear some of it. Wilson heard the words "shameless," "ugly," and "eww." to describe him in their conversations.

"What's the festivity happening around here?" An overpowering, majestic, manly voice stopped the crowd's noise. Everyone's attention shifted to where the narcissistic voice came from, and after they realized who it was, their rowdy behavior stopped. Some kneeled, some bowed, but there were a small number of people who just stayed as they were. Some like Taw't Umbra, Ford, and the elite inside the carriage.

The Elite person in the carriage only looked at the man before shutting the window, different from how the bodyguards around her carriage are kneeling on one knee.

Umbra only gave this man a nod before telling her other students to stand up. For her, their courtesy is already enough; after all, they were under her wing—someone who's on the same level as him in terms of power level.

Ford, on the other hand, stopped Eigh from kneeling with respect to the person. He went in front of Eigh as a sign of his way to challenge the person's authority.

His haughty attitude received a mixed reaction from the crowd. For some who don't know what's going on, they thought the kid was foolishly courageous, but for those who know the kid, they were commending him and praying to the gods to keep him safe and help him reach his maximum potential.

The man basking in the limelight was none other than the leader of the tribe, Al'him. He looked around his subjects and only smiled towards the naughty ones if he would describe them.

He walked towards their group, and Umbra replied to his query, "Nothing important, tbh. Just a pesky mud trying to woo a snow."

Her words made those who heard them laugh and snicker. Was it the person who was being talked about? He's already looking for a hole to hide. His only redemption would be winning their bet and taking advantage of his winnings.

'I'd make sure you won't be able to laugh anymore.' he thought to himself as he formulated a scheme for their potential dinner date.

"I see." He looked at Wilson, who just stood up from his kneeling position. He sneered at him, as if looking at dirt. 'What gall.' he thought. Even with his position and standing in society, his looks were not enough to earn any progress from trying to bed the woman. He was tired of the average woman who would willingly serve him every night to gain his favor. Any woman in the tribe who has neither money nor power would die to serve a man like him.

"Good luck to him then; even I would never try my chance."

Umbra wanted to say something as her rebuttal, but she didn't want to look antagonistic out of nowhere; they had no bad blood with each other as well. So she decided to just leave him there without saying anything and go to her students to brief them again on the things they had to do and to watch out for.

Alohim watched Umbra walk away from him; of course, his eyes wandered at her back to watch those bumps as she moved. As his gaze followed, he caught a glimpse of a haughty kid looking at him.

Alohim went to this kid and greeted him, "Hello, Ford. How are you doing?"

Ford sneered and replied, "Cursing you. How about you?"

"Well, quite busy the past few days; it's not easy to be a tribesleader," he said as he gave Ford a sarcastic look.

"Then why not step down then? If it's that hard, I think a better hard-working person can do a much better job than you." His words were so low that only Al'him and Eigh on his back were the ones who heard them.

Al'him laughed quietly, and Ford felt ridiculed in the process. "No way, I'm going to step down. Seeing my hardworking people do their part every day for us to survive?" He looked around and said it loud enough for everyone to hear. They all nodded to the leader after they felt his gratitude for their part. He then went near Ford, near his ears, and said, "And who would replace me? Your father?? How is he, by the way? I'm pretty sure he's not in very good condition?"

His laugh almost blew Ford's head, but he was good enough to control his temper when he felt Eigh holding his hand, warming him up. He also understood that it wouldn't do him any good if he threw fit towards this hateful person in front of him.

Alohim saw this gesture and thought of a good way to rile him up more: "You better mind your own business, or else you might lose.." and shifted his gaze to Eigh behind him: "Someone completely this time."

Ford's temper finally hits its peak. His eyes lost their light, and anger took over him. Eigh held his arms, which were about to fly out towards Al'him's face, and hugged him to control the raging Ford.

"Ford, stop. It's not worth it."

Eigh, who was just on the sidelines, could only watch and hear their conversation. She had a small idea regarding what they were talking about. The only clue she had was that Ford's father only traveled around in his wheelchair. She could only conclude that the tribesleader has something to do with it. She still couldn't get why their conversation revolved around the position of the tribe leader. Eigh might seem like she doesn't care about Ford in most of the cases, but their friendship has already been tested by multiple tribulations. She knew that if there was a friend that she could trust and rely on 100%, it would be him. So at times, like he always does, she has to protect him in return, especially in this scheme where it would definitely put his family in bad light if he tried to attack the tribe leader in front of the crowd.

Al'him gave them a final glance before leaving for the other person around, greeting and doing what a common politician does when they are in the public's eye.

Eventually, Ford's breathing calmed down, and Eigh lessened her hold on him. "Thank you. You saved me. You saved our family there," he whispered, turning his gaze towards the ground.

She felt his sorrow, and for the first time ever, she thought of ways she could do for him. For all the things he had done for her, she hoped he could watch his back in return. If he decided to protect her, who would he be? She wished to fulfill that role.

They walked back to their group. Sadness still controls Ford's mood. She was thinking about asking Ford about it, but Ford has a history of being open about things regarding him, so if he never talked about it, it meant that he's not ready to share or that he's not comfortable telling about it yet.

Eigh never started a conversation with him, and for some reason, she felt that it was time for her to start the conversation with him.

"You.. alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Im okay, I'm okay. Thank you again."

"No worries. I only did what I thought was right."

He just smiled at him and looked toward the crowd again. But they noticed that everyone was already packing their stuff into their sleds. Some that were done were just looking at the tribe leader, Al'him.

Ford and Eigh picked up their bags and went to their group's line. Upon reaching there, they heard Umbra speaking to the group.

"Every second now, they will blow the horn at the signal of the tribe leader, and just like I said, drop your lamps on the frozen lake. And from there, the guide will appear. Don't be scared or be too fascinated, alright? Or else you might get left behind by the expedition. Hahahahha." Her heartfelt laugh was brushed away by everyone in the group. All of them were curious in regards to what this lake guide was.

From afar, Al'him raised his hand, and a horn was blown as a signal for everyone to bring their lamp on top of the surface of the frozen lake.

One by one, the tribesmen do their thing. For those who had done this before, their eyes were filled with excitement. But for the kids and some adults who never had the chance before, fear for the unknown filled them.

While they were waiting for it, something under the frozen lake appeared.