The black bear bared its fangs and claws at Ulfric, its roaring waves of sound and hot breath assailing him. Ulfric felt fine beads of sweat break out on his forehead, his calves seemed to be trembling, and his hands, clutching the wooden spear, had gone numb. He felt as if he stood naked before this beast, and humanity's fear of wild beasts stemmed from instinct.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo." The black bear's round eyes fixed on Ulfric. It twisted its body, swaying as it walked towards Ulfric, its oily fur and flabby flesh jiggling. Its outstretched arms bore sharp claws; if it landed a blow, it would surely tear flesh and skin.
"Ah ah ah ah!" Just as Ulfric faced the encroaching black bear, suddenly, Vargarr's furious roar came from the hillside. He leaped down from the slope onto the black bear's back, wrapping his strong arms tightly around its neck. This sudden attack startled the black bear, which now ignored Ulfric in front of it, desperately trying to throw Vargarr off.
"Vargarr, hold on!" Ulfric's pupils suddenly constricted. He tightened his grip on the wooden spear, raised it, aiming for the black bear's heart, and charged forward with all his might, shouting loudly at Vargarr.
"Ooh!" The black bear seemed to sense the threat from Ulfric. It roared and swiped a claw at Ulfric. Instantly, Ulfric felt a gust of wind. He instinctively ducked, and the sharp bear claw barely grazed over his head, landing squarely on a small tree behind him, instantly snapping the wrist-thick sapling.
"That was close," Ulfric thought with a secret sigh of relief. If that claw had landed on him, he would have been flayed alive, if not killed. He no longer hesitated, holding the wooden spear like a bayonet, and fiercely thrust it into the black bear's chest.
The black bear roared. The crude spear could not pierce its chest, but the sharp stone tip still sank into its flesh. The intense pain made the black bear go wild, roaring in a frenzy, and shaking Vargarr, who was clinging to its back, even more desperately.
"Oh!" Vargarr was thrown off the black bear's back, falling hard to the ground. Ulfric, ignoring everything else, released his grip on the wooden spear and helped Vargarr up from the ground. The two supported each other and fled deeper into the forest, while the black bear behind them seemed to vent all its fury on the wooden spear stuck in its back, frantically swatting it down and then biting the shaft with its teeth.
Listening to the black bear's roars behind them, and the sound of trees breaking, seemingly caused by its pursuit, the two dared not look back, running continuously. After an unknown amount of time, they felt their lungs were about to burst before they finally stopped to catch their breath.
"That damned thing! If only I had my Viking iron sword, or a sharp spear, I could have surely killed it and made a new cloak from its fur!" Vargarr leaned against a towering tree, panting as he spoke.
Ulfric ignored him, raising his head to look around. Everything around them seemed so unfamiliar. He felt they faced a more urgent matter now: they might be lost in the Black Forest.
"Lost?" When Ulfric told Vargarr about his discovery, the Viking warrior seemed not to believe him. "Why don't we go back to where we were?"
"No, that bear is definitely still there. We have to wait patiently." Ulfric shook his head. He pushed aside the obscuring branches and peered out, but the dense forest made it impossible to see any trace of the black bear.
"Coward! Slave, you should have stayed to help me kill the black bear!" Vargarr rudely pushed Ulfric aside. He believed that if Ulfric could just hold on for a while, he would surely be able to deal with the black bear once he recovered.
"We are unarmed, and I don't think dying at the hands of a bear will add glory to your achievements." Ulfric turned back and sat on a moss-covered rock. He decided to stay there until the black bear left, and then follow the familiar route to where the prophet was located.
"You're right. When I return to the Town, I will gather men and definitely eliminate this damned bear." Although Vargarr was reckless, he was not foolish. He generously agreed with Ulfric's words, which surprised Ulfric, as he had thought all Vikings were hot-headed brutes.
"Let's rest for a bit." Ulfric nodded. He looked around and said to Vargarr.
The two leaned against the rock, resting in silence, but soon they heard rustling from the bushes. Ulfric, alert, crouched down and picked up a stone, while Vargarr clenched his fists. They stared at the bushes, alarmed. Could the bear have followed them?
"Ooooooooh~~~" But with a long howl, a wolf's cry came from the bushes. Immediately after, a gray wolf's head appeared in the bushes, its sharp teeth and dark eyes staring fixedly at them.
Meanwhile, the Norsemen outside the forest waited patiently, but Grünn seemed somewhat restless. His face was grim as he constantly surveyed his surroundings, seemingly waiting for someone. Just then, several Norsemen hurried over. When Grünn saw these men, a sinister smile appeared on his face.
"Why are you so late?" Grünn approached the men, scolding them.
"The Lord instructed us to do something," the leading Norseman said in a low voice. Swords and daggers were tucked into their belts.
"That foolish Vargarr actually rejected my suggestion. Now we can only do it ourselves." Grünn indeed did not want to let Ulfric go. He knew that because of the Lord of the Rings story, Ulfric was no longer an ordinary slave in the Lord's eyes, but he couldn't swallow his Angr. So, he gathered a few close Norse warriors, planning to seize the opportunity to kill Ulfric in the forest.
"Don't forget Vargarr. Someone has offered a bounty for his head." The leading Norseman sneered. They had already learned this news from elsewhere. The Lord was also hesitating at this time whether to accept Vargarr or kill him for the bounty.
"Understood. Then let us make up the Lord's mind!" Grünn cautiously glanced around. The other Norsemen were still unaware of this and were only concerned with the competition. After the few men finished discussing, they immediately slipped away from the crowd and infiltrated the forest from another direction.
"Angr, who do you think will win?" The slave Heide also arrived there at this time. The work at the Lord's Residence was done, and even slaves could rest. So, when they heard about the competition between Vargarr and Ulf, they came together to watch.
"Only the Gods know," Angr said, turning to Heide, who had suddenly called her. But out of the corner of her eye, she happened to see a Norseman stealthily entering the forest from another side, which made her frown.
"Although Vargarr is a Viking warrior, Ulf has also been different lately, have you noticed?" Heide wanted to continue chatting with Angr, but Angr slipped away. She quietly picked up someone else's axe and followed into the forest where Grünn and the others had disappeared. As a Shield Maiden, her movements were agile and light, like a shadow.
"Huh? Angr?" Although Heide was a slave, she had grown up with Angr since childhood. She said worriedly.
Beside her, the cook Parchena bit her lip nervously, her gaze anxiously fixed on the forest, even nervously biting her index finger.
In the dense Black Forest, an old man wearing a wolf-head decoration and with a bare, muscular upper body had his face smeared with green mud and white ash. His thick, white beard, like tangled weeds, flowed over his chest. A wooden stick served as a cane to help him walk through the hills and woods, though his agile steps were as if on flat ground. Two ravens circled above his head, cawing unpleasantly.
"Is he the prophet?" Vargarr couldn't help but ask Ulfric, following behind the old man.
"It doesn't seem like it." Ulfric frowned. Just when they thought they were being attacked by a gray wolf, they found that this person stood up. He stood up, craned his neck, and let out a wolf howl, then waved to the two, signaling to lead them away from the place.
"No? Then is he a forest hermit, or perhaps an incarnation of the Gods?" Vargarr was even more puzzled. The old man said nothing except for the wolf howl, leading them in silence.
"He doesn't seem to have any ill intentions. Let's follow him." Ulfric, however, felt that the other party's appearance must mean he wanted to help them. After walking silently for a while, they noticed the dense forest gradually thinning out.
Suddenly, the old man stopped beside a large tree, turned sideways, and pointed forward. Vargarr and Ulfric walked forward curiously, and a memory surged into Ulfric's mind.
"It's the sacred place, the Oak Sanctuary, where the prophet is." Ulfric blurted out. This was the center of the Black Forest, and the great oak tree where the prophet resided.
"Oh!" Vargarr immediately sprinted. He wanted to be the first to receive the most precious gift from the prophet. He also remembered that prophets generally had the ability to prophesy, and he hoped the prophet could tell him where he could gain glory, wealth, and power.
"Despicable fellow!" Seeing Vargarr running, Ulfric also hurried to keep up. When they burst out of the woods, the two saw that the center of the Black Forest was actually a huge clearing, with no trees except for lush green grass on the ground, and only one gigantic, towering tree. Their destination was that towering tree.
"The sacred place, the Oak Sanctuary." Ulfric couldn't help but look up at the large tree. There was a tree hole in the huge trunk, large enough to accommodate about ten people. The distance they had to run to the tree was also five hundred meters.
"Thank you." Ulfric suddenly remembered that he hadn't thanked the old man who had led the way. When he looked back, he saw the old man leaning on his wooden stick, calmly watching them in the dim forest, with two ravens perched on his shoulders, one on each side, cawing a few times at him.