•Why do you know that name? • Chief Heindril asked, the previous warmth in his voice replaced with a defensively cold voice that could freeze the blood of a Fire Wolf.

Patriarch Zhen Shi and Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian expected such a reaction, but the sudden shift still caught him by surprise.

"That…"

"When my grandnephew here looked into Hakon's ancestry, we came across the name in a historical journal," Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian interjected. "As far as we can tell from the name, he was a warrior of great renown from your tribe."

Back when Hakon was first introduced to the Zhen Clan, they had received a firsthand account of the Stormsinger tribe's history.

Well, the firsthand account was shared by a young warrior who clearly had more "important" things in their mind other than familial history.

Thankfully, Frosttusk was there to fill in a lot of the gaps of the retold history.

The overall story went that the Stormsingers were originally from the Soaring Griffon continent, but they had moved to the Echoing Valley in order to find somewhere safe to grow and prosper.

From there came a history of growth and recession that most civilizations and groups had to suffer through.

That is, until a person of sufficient merit and genius could be born to help lead the Stormsingers back into prosperity.

In the case of the Stormsingers, that was Fraden, a war chief who had helped them become the top faction in the entire valley. However, Fraden's name was both honored…and hated.

Because while Fraden was the main reason why the Stormsingers became hegemons in the Echoing Valley, he was also the reason why they had fallen so far.

In fact, he was the reason why the climate of the Echoing Valley was so very bipolar.

•That…is partially true,• Chief Heindril snorted. •But he is also someone we detest.•

"Detest?" Zhen Long repeated. "Why?"

Chief Heindril and his wife were silent for a long moment before the former finally sighed and gave an answer that none of the Zhen Clan warriors were expecting.

•Because of the ancestral curse he has laid upon our tribe.•

"Beg pardon?"

The moment the word "curse" came up, the ears of both Zhen Xun Tian and Zhen Shi began to perk up a little more. They also shared a knowing look with one another the moment they noticed each other's sudden change in demeanor.

There was precisely one person in the world they both knew could take whatever bullshit curse was standing before him and turn it into a weapon of his own design.

Regardless, they both made sure to put on the right expressions to show their sympathy for the plight that Chief Heindril and his people suffered from.

Unfortunately, these expressions were slightly wasted since there was going to be a delay before they would receive the full story from Chief Heindril.

The Stormsingers still needed to find refuge elsewhere.

•The story is long and is best discussed someplace safe. As our saviors you are more than welcome to join us at our sanctuary,• Chief Heindril informed the Zhen Clan warriors. •We can't promise you any good eating this evening though. We barely have enough to feed ourselves at the moment.•

"Oh that's quite alright," Zhen Shi waved his hand in dismissal of the chief's concerns. "We actually did a bit of hunting before arriving here. In fact, we might have too much for us to eat. Honored grandaunt?"

"You can just call me grandaunt in casual settings like this," Zhen Xun Tian lightly chided. "But I get the idea of what you want."

From her side, Zhen Xun Tian concentrated on her personal storage aether treasure and brought forth several large aether beast corpses.

Chief Heindril's eyes went wide the moment he saw the corpses, because he immediately identified some of the corpses.

One was that of a fourth-tiered Frenzy Bear, a creature that could tear apart the armored hide of a Frost Rhino with incredible ease.

While another was the corpse of a third tiered Giant Quartz Boar, a beast that could easily shattered the ground with a single stomp.

There were several other notable giant beast corpses, but Chief Heindril was still processing the fact that these outsiders were just giving them to him and his tribe for free.

Technically .

"We were originally going to just butcher the lot of the. for parts and sell what we could at an auction house the first chance we got, but it seems like you guys need this way more than we do," Zhen Xun Tian said. "This should be enough to feed y'all for the evening, I have no idea whether or not it'll be good beyond that. They're yours for the taking...if you need it."

...

[Isn't that enough meat to last them at least three months?] Slug-at-arms asked Terra.

[It is, but it's a matter of modesty and etiquette,] she answered. [Wait, you're a Neo Storm Knights. You should know this.]

[Ah, but I am the successor of martial prowess. Not chivalry. That's Shellvalier's thing.]

[Right...]

...

Chief Heindril and his wife stared at the aether beast corpses with disbelief before simultaneously releasing sighs.

•You saved our lives, you saved our son, and now you feed us as if we were your kin...I suppose sharing a bit of our history is the least we could do in light of the kindness and generosity you have shown us,• Tantra concluded after taking in everything. •Perhaps a proper feast is in order.•

•The sanctuary is accommodating...•

"Cool," Zhen Shi nodded in understanding. "So...where is this sanctuary?"

...One Walk through the Valley floor later...

"Holy shit."

The sanctuary that the Stormsingers had migrated to wasn't anything any of the Zhen Clan warriors was expecting.

They were expecting the sanctuary to be a series of hills, caverns, or maybe an abandoned fortress. Instead, they found themselves staring down a massive chasm that was exuding enough ice-aligned aether to turn water into snow.

Literally.

The moment they saw this chasm, Zhen Hai had been compelled to open his water skin and pour a few drops down it to see what would happen.

The water droplets froze into snowflakes literal seconds after coming out of the water skin.

"Huh..."

While he was busy doing that, though, Zhen Xun Tian and Zhen Shi were getting the rundown on the chasm...and how it related to Chief Fraden.

Of course, all of this information was being shared with them while the Stormsingers and Zhen Clan warriors were sharing a meal right next to the aforementioned ominous chasm.

•Centuries ago, our tribe ruled the Echoing Valley under the leadership of High Chief Fraden. He had defeated countless invaders, subjugated many of the warring tribes under his banner and slain thousands of aether beasts, all thanks to two things. First, a heaven blessed body that had bestowed upon him an Aether formula upon birth. Second, an ancestral aether treasure that had been a part of our tribe since its founding: The Axe of the Thunder Rooster,• Chief Heindril explained.

"Thunder Rooster?" Zhen Shi interrupted. As an aether beast expert, he was

•The founder of our tribe had almost been struck by lightning released by an Aether Beast King that was originally a Storm Fowl when he was in the process of climbing a mountain. He had decided to memorialize the event by taking a piece of stone that had been struck by that elemental burst and turn it into the head of a greataxe,• Tantra added.

"Ah, got it. Carry on."

•By leveraging these advantages, Fraden rapidly rose to the rank of Aether Emperor and started to reach the cusp of becoming an Aether Overlord...but that was when he made the mistake that led to our people's fall from grace...and created that chasm behind you.•

"Oh..."

What followed was a retelling about how Chief Fraden had attempted to slay an Ice-Blooded Mammoth that was on the cusp of becoming an Aether Beast King, but failed at the last moment and ensuring that they both died in battle.

However, there was an additional detail thrown in that only the Stormsinger tribe was aware of.

•And when Fraden fell, he took the Axe of the Thunder Rooster with him. Ever since then, the Stormsinger tribe has been cursed. Every year something terrible happens to our people that almost destroys us.•

"Is...isn't that just life in general?"

•You'd think, but when it seems to happen like clockwork on the exact day that Chief Fraden died fighting the Ice-Blood Mammoth, you start to realize that it's probably something beyond that.•

"...out of curiosity, what happened since that time?"

•Well...•

What followed after this question was an incredibly long list of terrible events like a plague that made people mute for three months, a couple dozen famines that seemed to only affect the hunting grounds that the Stormsingers would regularly visit, and many natural disasters that happened one after the other.

At this point in time, the Zhen Clan was thoroughly convinced of the curse's existence.

"Okay...shot in the dark, have you guys ever tried to retrieve the axe?"

•Now that...is an even longer story...•