Spending My Retirement In A Game

Chapter 768: Cloud Giants

"They're living on a cloud? How is that even possible? I thought clouds aren't actually solid like that..." Sky pointed out confused, and Eisen quickly nodded his head in response, "Normally, yes. But they used magic to solidify it, but as far as I know, they use things similar to airships so that they don't have to use such a massive amount of mana." The old man explained, before letting out a sigh, "Not that it matters, since even then, the amount of mana they use is exorbitant. And not because they need to, but because they can. They're basically pushing pure mana into the air around them just to show off that they're there."

"So what should we do? Just wait for them to get here?" Bree asked, concerned after seeing Eisen's bothered expression, but he old man immediately shook his head, "No, we won't. I'm going to have to meet with them. I don't want to bother those five any more than I already did." Eisen pointed out, turning his head into the direction of the small town that the five great golems were now living in. Setting up camp nearby for a few days, as they did, was still far more than Eisen wanted to do to them. Forcing them to be under the eye of the cloud giants would be the worst thing he could do, since he was trying to make up to them for his past actions.

"Wait, right now? But we're not done preparing yet... They'll be here by the time we can leave." Sky pointed out, switching back and forth from looking at one of the maps in front of him, over to trying to figure out where the giant cloud currently was and how fast it was actually moving toward them. The old giant standing next to him slowly shook his head as he opened his storage space, pulling the mannequin wearing his royal armor out of it. While creating a thin rock wall around him to give him the privacy to change out of his current clothes into his 'royal' outfit, he started to explain the situation, "The only ones that are allowed to step onto that island are pure giants. I'm a half-giant, so even I wouldn't normally be allowed, but being who I am, they made an exception for me. I can't bring any of you along when I meet them, sorry." He said, even pulling the pendant he was wearing from his neck, "Not even you, Kirisho."

The mist spirit appeared next to him once he got rid of the rock walls, taking the necklace that her soul was housed in into her own hands, "I understand. If that is the case, we will wait for you to return."

Sal looked at Eisen with an annoyed expression, "Seriously? You're Eisen! You're a King! You don't have to do everything they want you to do, they're nothing but chiefs! They should bow to you and invite all of us in!"

"It's more complicated than that, Sal. There are bound to be a lot of powerful giants on that island, so it's simply too dangerous for you to head up there. Not to mention, I'm trying to make sure they cooperate with us, so I don't want to do anything that annoys them too much. Cloud Giants are by far the ones with the greatest pride out of all the clans." Eisen explained, "Don't worry, for all the others, you all are going to be right by my side. But now, I have to go alone. When I spoke to Girland about what might happen on our trip here, even she agreed to let me go there alone."

Eisen stretched his shoulders a little as he transformed into his True Demonic form, soon growing in size as well. He looked over toward the half-dragon knights, locking eyes with Kiron, "I'm going to leave everyone here to you. Follow the route suggested by Sky once you are done packing up. I will catch up with you all." The old man explained, and without further ado, jumped into the sky. The wind created by his wings pushed some of Sky's maps around, but they were quickly pulled back down by Sal's threads and Melissa's bees. He knew that he didn't give much of an explanation to the others, but he didn't feel like he really had the time to do so. If the Cloud Giants went as far as to seek him out, then they really must have a reason for it.

Eisen shot toward the giant cloud, soon feeling himself enveloped in a thick mist of man

a. It was an uncomfortable amount, but he was able to cut through it and soon found himself in front of the gate that acted as the entrance to the city. The rest of this floating city was covered in a barrier fused with the cloud magic, so he wouldn't be able to enter through anywhere else but one of these four gates. Before he even had to announce his presence, the large, nearly heavenly gate opened up. Eisen landed on the platform right behind it, and quickly pulled his wings onto his back.

The first two people that he met there were two Cloud Giant guards. Rather than with thick armor and powerful weaponry like swords or spears, they were clothed in decorated clothing that looked like something a noble on the central continent would wear, and held large bows in their hands. It made sense. There was no need for other weapons here in this city. None of the giants living here were dumb enough to start a fight while inside, and since Cloud Giants couldn't fly on their own, they had to use ranged weapons to defend the gates. Not that there were many things that dared come close enough to this giant cloud anyway, with how much mana they forcefully kept around it.

"I'm here to meet with the chieftain. Is he in the city?" Eisen asked immediately, looking at the two giants guarding the city's entrance. Quickly, the old man realized the giants' animosity toward him. They weren't trying to hide it that much either, "The great Nubes is in this city, yes, but he will not actually be meeting with the likes of you." One of the guards explained in a blunt tone, "You should be happy that you're even allowed to step into this pure city, halfling."

Eisen looked at the man in front of him, before letting out a deep sigh, "I look like this, with scales, horns and wings, and your biggest issue is still that I'm not a pure giant?" He asked, simply stepping past the two guards, "Not that it matters. I guess I'm going to have to look for him myself."

The old man simply walked away, feeling the glaring eyes of the two giants piercing the back of his head. They didn't want him here, but clearly, they were also told to let him through. The cloud giants were the ones that came to seek out Eisen first, and only the cloud giant chief had the power to control where this city went. At least, in the memories that Eisen had recovered in regard to the cloud giant chief. He had managed to recover some very surface-level memories regarding all of the giant chieftains, like how they led their people in the past, and filled in the gaps with things he was told about by his retainers that could remember such matters from back then. And from this information, he had also learned just the extent of pride that the cloud giants held. While their pride as a clan was greater than that of the other clans, a cloud giant's individual pride was much, much greater than that. While they followed the chieftain's commands, it was nigh impossible to change their minds once they found something to be true. Rather than proud, it might be more correct to simply call them stubborn, although the line between the two was thin enough already.

As such, even though the cloud giant chief commanded his people to let Eisen come in, the people in question were disgusted by the idea that a 'mere halfling' was allowed to enter and dirty this pristine, holy land. And considering that Eisen was filled with a vague sense of nostalgia and recognition as he saw the expressions of these giants while walking through the city's streets, this has been the case for centuries, if not millennia. And what would have happened if he really did end up bringing Caria, Melissa and Sal with him? He was the greatest Giant that has ever lived, and even he received such hatred simply because of his 'impure' blood. Those three, belonging to originally weak monster species, would be seen as nothing but dirt, and many would certainly try to trample them as such. After all, while they held themselves back toward Eisen upon the chief's command, it was doubtful whether or not those three were mentioned in that command as well.

As he continued to walk through the city, the giants' scornful expressions simply continued on and on, to the extent where Eisen wasn't even able to enjoy the scenery too much. This was a floating city, where the roads were paved in wood, and that which would be grass or dirt in other cities was made of literal solid clouds. But he couldn't allow himself to slip up and let the giants look down at him by taking his time and curiously looking around at the a

rchitecture. Instead, Eisen sent out multiple pulses of mana, trying to scan the area around him to get a closer look at it later. At the same time, he could use that mana to spread his influence to show off his 'royal aura' a bit more, so he could kill two birds with one stone.

Soon enough, Eisen reached the castle of the cloud giant chieftain. The guards standing in front of the gate scowled at him as he passed by, and one even spit at him. Of course, the spit was evaporated by his flames before it hit him, but it still wasn't quite nice.

But for now, Eisen ignored it. He could let out his anger and annoyance at this situation once he brought the cloud giant chief over to his side.