When he made his way back over to the town Ethan had to walk for quite some time to find the people that called this place their home before. Surprisingly he saw them already gathered outside of the gate that was facing towards the massive lake that he had used to orient himself on his way here.

  The moment he saw them their heads also turned in his direction and people instantly approached him. They all looked rather happy, which he could understand completely, as he had managed to save them from being mind controlled. On top of that he rescued them using his own blood when their lives were at stake. But he wasn’t prepared for the literal storm of people assaulting him with questions about who he actually was, what he did to save them, how he used his magic and where they would go now just to list a few of them. The looks they gave him were one of reverence and trust, he could feel his connection to them on a deep instinctual level. He also felt like this bond, while it won’t vanish, would diminish so they wouldn’t act so subservient forever. This whole interaction reminded him that he was now responsible for these people at least to some extent.

  If possible he wanted to talk with all of them at least once to know how he could help them with their new situation. Sadly at this point time was still a sensitive matter and while everything that happened here was basically just three days it still felt like he had traveled more than just a few weeks at this point since leaving the cave under the massive mountain range.

  Ethan tried to reassure the people that they would get a new home and start their journey towards it shortly, asking them to quietly prepare themselves. When they dispersed he could finally get towards Liam who was standing near the lake talking with Harris and Hawthorne. Ethan sighed when he reached the three men and rubbed his face in exhaustion. “I rather fight the goblins again than deal with a horde of overexcited people asking me questions.”

  Liam laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “The burden of leadership am I right? Just don’t worry about it, they will calm down, take a good look at them. Their bodies are basically brimming with energy even after the fight. They received a new class and have gone through major changes, not even counting the return of their free will.”

  The elf followed Liam’s advice and just like he said the people were constantly moving, if they stood still they were swaying on the spot, jumping from one foot to the other as long as it kept them moving. Ethan could imagine that they felt the same way he did when he was under that buff during the fight. The difference was that he had burned mana at an incredible pace to keep himself from overloading with energy.

  “Huh…that might be true, I think I need to become more aware about what the people around me actually do…” he shook his head and turned back to Liam. “Alright, so I’m finished with the dragons or rather drakes as I have learned. We had a little talk and they will also go towards your new home or to be more specific they will follow you, Liam, back to my home. But don’t worry they will keep their distance and shouldn’t harm anyone.”

  The guard captain was visibly sweating from that information “Ahh…you’re joking right? Trying to lighten the mood and say something funny…right?” There was desperation in his voice and those pleading eyes as he looked up to Ethan. Unlike him Liam hadn’t seen the memories of the drakes and only saw the monsters they encountered in the battle. Which didn’t even had a change to become very active in the fight.

  “Don’t worry about it, if I trust them you can be sure nothing will happen, I would even trust them more than some stranger! At least those drakes are honest and not really able to lie in with the way they communicate, so you’ll be fine.” He smiled when Liam just deflated, his shoulders slumped forward and his head low. He had hoped this was really just a joke but Ethan was serious, as those drakes could become a good asset in the upcoming war.

  With Liam dejected due to the news Ethan turned to Harris and Hawthorne. “You can just follow the lake and head straight towards the mountain. You will reach an open field and after you cross it you will reach several tunnel entrances. But if they worked on the fields already, you will encounter my dwarven friends. Just tell them I sent you and that you want to speak with Andrew, they will take care of you.”

  The two men nodded and Liam stopped pretending to be so downhearted, while he clearly was uncomfortable with the drakes accompanying them he still had to lead these people to their new home. He gave his guardsmen their orders and turned to the crowd of winter elves. “Alright everybody! Time to move to our new home. Give your old town one last look and then never turn back. The bright future awaiting you is always forward after all!” Liam took a deep breath and smiled, when his guards were formed around the villagers they started to move after Harris gave them a signal with the horn he always carried at his belt.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Ethan watched them walk past him, waving to the winter elves when they started to do it. He even smiled and was surprised that he actually felt a bit of sadness about them leaving them. He didn’t actually know them but it was nice to think he had people like him in this world now.

  He stood there for a while longer and watched them vanish in the distance. Once again he was alone and Ethan had to admit it felt great. He always was more the introverted type and while it got better with the arrival of the system and everything that had happened he still enjoyed being alone or in small groups a lot more.

  Ethan visited the drakes next and told the big one where he needed to go and to make sure they would keep their distance and hurt nobody during their journey. Then it was time for him to pick a new direction to explore, he flew into the air on a thick cloud of frost and looked around. He could follow the lake and would surely find something noteworthy there, then there was the lake itself but he couldn’t even begin to guess how long he would have to fly over water until he found land again. That left the mountain range and the forest, so basically he had no decision at allas returning home wasn’t his plan for quite some time.

  So Ethan turned to the forest and was on the lookout for anything that might be interesting to look at or where people might gather. For a while nothing seemed special about that direction but when he looked further up he could see swirling clouds in the sky. It was hard to make out but it almost looked like they were turning in a circle. With no better option he started to fly in that direction.

  His first thought was that he would only need a few minutes to reach the swirling cloud, but it quickly became apparent that the cloud wasn’t close to him but instead just so massive it covered the entire sky. For around two hours he flew towards it and only when he could see the end of the forest did he witness what was actually going on with that cloud.

  He aimed for one of the big trees that were growing sporadically in the forest and landed with his feet on a straightish branch that looked strong enough to carry his weight. Ethan looked upwards, because bordering the forest was a massive plain covering all he could see almost like the lake but instead he had an ocean of long swaying grass in front of him. But while that was fine and all the massive titan walking over that plain was not. The thing looked vaguely humanoid, it had two arms and legs. It was the basic shape of a human but instead of a head the swirling cloud extended from its shoulders, almost like a white blanket that was spread out from it to cover the sky.

  Ethan didn’t hesitate and used [Identify] on it.

  [Juvenile Cloud Titan - Level ???]

  The system offered no explanation but just the fact that this thing was at least level hundred and still a juvenile made Ethan shiver. While the dragons were also strong they seemed to be still under that level. This titan was an actual force to be wary off.

  Curious he sat down on the branch and watched the titan roam over the plains, sometimes a strand of the swirling cloud would extend downwards to the ground and by the looks of it killing something it caught out there.

  With this quiet moment to himself he finally checked his notifications, he ignored all the ones about killing stuff and focused on the relevant ones.

  *Update* Oath taken - Soul Imprint created - The promise of Winter.

  *Update* Forced rarity change - Frostforged Legion(Expert)] -> Frostforged Legion(Master)]

  *Update* Forced evolution - [Chilling Nexus(Special)] -> [Chilling Nexus(Special+)]

  He raised an eyebrow and saw something he didn’t expect, it seems he had taken an oath during the battle which must have aided him with the rarity change and…an evolution, though it seemed to be the same skill. But what came next made him even more curious.

  *Update* Bonus experience awarded for conquering your first settlement

  *Update* Bonus experience awarded for breaking the influence of the divine

  *Update* Bonus experience awarded for successful use of [Frozen Blood]

  *Update* Bonus experience awarded for taking your first system oath

  *Update* Wizard of Glacial Chains - Level 40 -> Level 50 -> Major Class Change available!

  *Update* Frostforger - Level 35 -> Level 50 -> Major Class Change available!

  It seems he should have checked his notifications a bit more often, because there were some important decisions on the horizon.