Kapitel 44: The Secret of Blood
"Eighty-six warriors from the second settlement died, nineteen warriors from the first settlement, and two builders fell to the Frostfangs ... At least there was no casualty among the cooks."
Blake was doing math in his lab.
Compared to the gains they made in Oswin's raid on the Frozen Shore, the casualties were acceptable.
The biggest gain for the tribe was the people Oswin brought back from the Frozen Shore.
Blake counted 900 women, 200 children, and 600 men.
In addition, Oswin brought back hundreds of seals, reindeer, and bear skins from the settlements he captured, as well as 56 reindeer that would be perfect as pack animals.
Blake had already sent back the warriors from the second settlement, carrying some of the cargo they would have to transport to Thenn and the giants, as well as various gifts for the families of the dead warriors, such as cheese, clothing, and an ornate longbow that would serve as honorary proof that, in their families, a warrior had died for the interests of the Black Axe tribe.
Blake also shared some red honey with these stricken people, which was the highest quality edible the tribe was producing. The red honey was obtained by extracting sugar from beets, from which dye was also obtained.
And as a final benefit, these people would have priority in the construction of chimneys.
Blake left the brush in the inkwell, closing the notebook and placing it in a library he had built to keep records.
He then walked to a corner of the lab, where there was a wooden cage with 3 snow hares inside.
The animals began to jump uncontrollably inside the cage, but Blake placed them on a desk, standing and watching the hares, and after a little over an hour, the animals finally seemed to calm down.
Blake had long ago discovered that the animals were very uncomfortable in his presence, and even being near things that had passed through their hands, as if they could discern by smell that it was a dangerous creature, but these animals calmed down after being in his presence for some time, mainly the herbivorous animals.
Blake took a knife from the table, causing a small incision in his finger, and dropped 4 drops of blood into a bowl.
Blake looked at his blood with a frown, it was a pale blue color, which darkened after being exposed to the air for a while, to finally crystallize like a dark blue jewel.
Blake opened the wooden cage, took a hare, and dropped a drop of blood into its mouth.
The effect was instantaneous; the hare stood rigid as a statue. When he touched it, he found that it had frozen completely, dead.
"I have to be careful with this..."
Blake frowned watching the reaction of a living thing coming into contact with his blood. He had gotten used to wearing gloves and covering all his skin because of the reaction it caused people, but his blood had a much stronger effect.
Blake then walked to a place where there were 5 wooden barrels of different sizes.
He walked from one at a time, checking the liquid inside.
"They're all still frozen..."
Blake couldn't explain how all the water inside the barrels was still frozen.
The barrels were near a fireplace that was lit at all times, and most importantly, the water had been frozen for months, with no signs of wanting to melt.
A single drop of his blood had been enough to freeze an entire barrel full of water, about 100 liters.
Blake reached for a small hammer and chisel and proceeded to break off a chunk of ice from one of the barrels.
He had intended to wait for the ice to thaw naturally, but he had already been waiting 2 months, so he would speed up the process a bit.
After a few taps, a fist-sized chunk of ice jumped out, and Blake grabbed it, placing it inside an iron pot and setting it on fire.
"This explains why the hare died, and why the fire can't hurt me..."
For about 2 hours the ice was inside the pot with no signs of melting, it was only after the third hour that the ice began to drip, first slowly and then at a faster rate.
Blake removed the pot from the fire, placing the liquid in a bowl, and looking at it in detail.
It didn't appear to be much different from normal water.
Blake returned to the cage with the hares, taking out another one and making it drink the liquid while he saw if it had any effect.
The hare tried to escape from his hand, so he placed it back inside the cage, in the company of the third hare.
For the next hour, the hare behaved normally, as if whatever was in its blood had disappeared by the time he gave it the water to drink.
Blake threw some fodder into the cage and set it in place, he would keep the hare under observation for some time, only then would he be sure.
According to his observation, its blood had incredible abilities to freeze any liquid it came in contact with.
This ice had a resistance superior to normal ice, the ice he took from the 100 liter barrel had a resistance of 2 times the normal ice, but this varied according to the concentration of water and blood, the less water the ice was stronger.
And lastly, his blood did not seem to have infinite power, if heated enough it would melt, and, at least for now, it seemed to be non-toxic.
He would keep observation on both the hare and the ice, to learn more about his biology, and the biology of the white walkers.
If the white walkers had a body like his or even had stronger bodies, they were truly terrifying creatures.
Perhaps his initial plan to capture a white walker was too risky.
(We need irrefutable proof, and while I may be proof of my own if I show myself as I am, I may be killed.)
Blake shook his head at the ideas that crossed his mind.
"If a walker is too dangerous, a wraith should suffice."
A wraith was still a dangerous creature, but it was much easier to capture than a white walker, the problem was that walkers still awaited in the lands of eternal winter. A place from which no man had ever returned.
Blake began to think of ways in which to use these abilities that had transformed him into a monster, to his advantage, and thus achieve his goals.
"Right, their weapons were made of ice..."
Blake remembered the weapons the Walkers used, they were ice swords and spears, and now he realized that the Walkers had forged them from their flesh and blood.
He had to experiment with several more things, if he could also make indestructible weapons that could cut steel swords as if they were made of wood, the warriors of the black axe tribe would be unbeatable anywhere in the known world, a card up his sleeve that would help them.
Blake looked at the place where he had cut his finger to draw blood, it was completely closed, as if there had never been a wound in the first place, the white walkers were certainly terrifying creatures.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein