The Giant

A few months later.

"Ptooey!! Damn, that was close!"

Solam crawled laboriously out of the snow. He had just survived an avalanche; if he hadn't been lucky enough to find a protruding rock to shelter behind, he would have been a goner. Even so, he had been buried under a thick layer of snow and had nearly suffocated before finally clawing his way out.

Solam had left Avalon and spent the last few months wandering the Spine of the World. He had set off a few days after his conversation with Arando that night. Aside from saying goodbye to old man Kramsh, he hadn't alerted anyone else, as he didn't know what to say to them. Saying anything would only increase the sorrow, and as a grown man, Solam was very uncomfortable with such scenes. Although he felt guilty toward the others, he still felt this was for the best.

The old man hadn't said much either, merely telling him some stories of the past, including those about his parents. He then gave him a bracelet and provided a list of names and addresses, telling him to seek them out if he ever ran into trouble. Those people included the old man's friends as well as his father's former comrades-in-arms. The bracelet was a keepsake from Solam's mother, enchanted with communication spells to reach his parents' comrades.

However, not long after leaving Avalon, Solam ran into big trouble—he got lost. Although he had the general direction right, having a direction was useless in a place where mountains towered everywhere; the terrain was too complex, and he could drift off course at any moment. Coupled with the complete lack of a map, Solam had no idea where he actually was.

If not for Frostfang to talk to, Solam felt he would have died of boredom. Come to think of it, if not for the amulet Arando had given him, Solam wouldn't have known how to bring Frostfang along at all.

After crawling out of the snow, Solam sat in the snow to rest for a while, finally finding the mental space to wonder what had triggered the avalanche. Without a loud noise, natural avalanches were rare in such desolate, wild mountains.

Either it was some monster, or there were people nearby. Thinking of this, Solam decided to investigate thoroughly. If there were people active in the area, that would be great; he really couldn't stand the desolation of the Spine of the World anymore.

No sooner said than done, he released Frostfang from the Amulet of Shelter and had it help him search. Frostfang had clearly grown fat over the last few months. There was no helping it; Solam had discovered that while the amulet could store living creatures, they immediately entered a state of suspended animation upon entering that space. Frostfang spent most of its time sleeping, only coming out to move around when they made camp, so it was no wonder it had gained weight.

"Hey, buddy, you need to get some exercise, or a fine direwolf like you is going to turn into a pig," Solam teased, cupping Frostfang's noticeably chubby face.

Although Frostfang didn't know what a pig was, it clearly sensed that Solam wasn't saying anything nice. It struggled hard to break free from Solam's hands and ran off, barking at him from time to time. It was clearly unhappy.

"Stop messing around, go look around, and don't bark so loudly. I don't want to be buried in snow again."

And so, Solam and Frostfang split up to search.

Before long, Solam heard Frostfang's barking. Clearly, it had found something.

Solam hurried over, fearing that Frostfang's barking might trigger another avalanche. He didn't know how to use flight magic yet, and if another avalanche hit, he would likely be skinned alive even if he didn't die.

Soon, Solam arrived beside Frostfang and saw it circling a giant humanoid creature. Solam was also taken aback by the sight.

It was massive. The humanoid was at least seven meters tall, with skin the color of a milky white with a hint of blue. Its features were refined, and its hair was a beautiful, silvery white. However, judging by the sparse fuzz around its mouth, this giant was a young male who hadn't reached adulthood. Although his clothes were a bit tattered, one could still see that the craftsmanship and materials were quite exquisite. There were no obvious wounds on the giant; he appeared to have fainted, though the specific circumstances were unclear.

Solam figured this must be a giant, but he wasn't sure which kind. He felt it was most likely a Frost Giant, as only they preferred such icy environments, but he had never heard of Frost Giants wearing such exquisite clothing; they usually wore animal hides. However, Solam had never actually seen a Frost Giant, so he couldn't jump to conclusions.

Solam was conflicted about whether he should wake the giant. If it really was a Frost Giant, waking him up might just bring trouble upon himself. He had heard that Frost Giants had terrible temperaments, and there was no telling what might happen once he woke up.

Solam agonized over it for a long time before finally deciding to save him. He didn't want to keep wandering these desolate mountains, and besides, although Frost Giants were said to be cruel and vicious, he had never heard of them returning kindness with malice. Furthermore, even if this guy had evil intentions, he had nothing to fear; if he couldn't win, he could at least run away.

Once the decision was made, Solam immediately cast Wind Agility, Rock Guardian, and Resistance on himself. He took his battle-axe and warhammer in hand—one can never be too careful. Prepared, he cast a Rejuvenation Spell and a Minor Wound Healing (a level 2 spell) on the giant, then watched him nervously.

The giant woke up quickly; it seemed his injuries weren't too severe. After waking, the giant sat up and shook his head vigorously, clearly still a bit dizzy, before spotting Solam.

"%#￥%#￥%...￥" The giant immediately spoke a mouthful of gibberish at Solam. Solam couldn't understand a word; he assumed this was the legendary Giant language.

Solam pointed to his ears, shook his head, and then asked in Common, "I don't understand what you're saying. Do you speak Common?"

The giant was stunned for a moment before switching to Common, though his accent was peculiar; if one didn't pay attention, it would be hard to understand. "Did you see that white dragon?"

"White dragon?? I didn't see one. I just saw you fainted here and saved you. What's this about a white dragon?" It seemed this giant had fainted during a battle with a white dragon. But for this guy to only suffer minor injuries after fighting a white dragon, he was not to be underestimated.

"You saved me? Thank you so much! It's a good thing you didn't see that white dragon, or it would have been dangerous. I'm no match for it." He flashed Solam a bright, hearty smile. "My name is Milor, and I'm a resident of Cloudtop City. I was out looking for Snow Velvet Flowers today when I ran into the white dragon. I'm so unlucky; I clearly remember there shouldn't be any white dragons around here."

It seemed he had encountered a "fake" Frost Giant. Frost Giants were usually cold and not very talkative. Solam was genuinely curious about what kind of giant this was, knowing that giants had many branches.

"Uh, sorry, I'm just curious—are you really a Frost Giant? And where is Cloudtop City? I remember that giants don't have a custom of building cities."

"Frost Giant??? No, no, I have nothing to do with those savages. I am a noble Cloud Giant. As for those guys you mentioned, we don't acknowledge them as giants. They are just a bunch of beasts and have nothing to do with the great race of giants."

"Cloud Giant?" Solam had never really heard of this race. "Forgive my ignorance, I really haven't heard of your race."

"It's fine, it's fine. We rarely interact with outsiders. By the way, are you a human?" Milor asked, looking at Solam with curiosity.

"Uh, no, I'm a half-orc. My name is Solam." Before leaving, Arando had warned him not to casually reveal that he was a Beast Elf. Firstly, to avoid discrimination, as Beast Elves had a terrible reputation, and secondly, to avoid being hunted by Elves. Those paranoid long-ears would kill any Beast Elf they encountered. So, Solam played a trick. Actually, he was telling the truth—weren't Beast Elves a type of half-orc?

"Half-orc? That's not right. You don't look like the ones drawn in books?" Cloud Giants were a race that loved to read. Although they didn't like interacting with the outside world, they weren't completely ignorant of it.

"I'm telling the truth. My father was an orc, and my mother wasn't." Solam wasn't lying about this. "As for my appearance, I don't know why. I don't look like my father, nor my mother, and I don't look like other half-orcs either." This was also the truth.

"Huh? There's such a thing?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Solam shrugged. He was technically telling the truth.

"That's true. That's true," Milor didn't know what else to say.

"Enough about me. Are you feeling better now?"

"I'm much better. Thank you for your help."

"That's good. Do you know how to get out of here to the outside world? I've been wandering here for months." Seeing that he was indeed better, Solam sought his help.

"I don't know that either. I've never left Cloudtop City before; this is my first time out." Great! Another rookie.

Solam couldn't have been more depressed.

"But I know someone who can take you out. My father has been out before; he knows the way. Let him take you," Milor said hurriedly, seeing his savior's spirits drop.

"Really? Where is he? I'll go visit him right now. That's great! I thought I'd never be able to get out."

"He's in Cloudtop City."

"Cloudtop City?"

"Yes, right there." Milor pointed to a cloud-shrouded mountain peak in the distance.

And so, Milor happily led Solam toward Cloudtop City. Since Milor's spells were exhausted, he had to walk with Solam. Along the way, Solam learned a great deal about the Cloud Giant race from this naive young giant.