The Next Morning we were awake before the sun rose over the control room.
Wrapped in warm knitted wool, we ate a small breakfast out on the terrace. My gaze wandered across the garden — the sheep still slept under their little roof, bundled in thick layers of wool.
I took a full fork of scrambled eggs — yes, we had chickens now too — and looked toward Gaia. She looked exhausted, her head nodding every few seconds.
"Still tired?"
She nodded, yawning and covering her mouth with the back of her small hand.
"You should really work on this house… or leave it in ghost mode! I can hear every step you take!"
"Haha!" I grinned, stuffing my mouth again. "Sorry!"
"So why are you… yaaawn… up so early?"
I finished my breakfast just as the first ray of sunlight touched the underside of the dark clouds. The air smelled of coming rain, and I pointed my fork at her with a smile.
"Isn't it obvious? I told you yesterday right? Until Schildegard and Schildbert grow up a bit, we can already start creating new intelligent beings!"
"You mean… a species like me?"
I nodded, stealing a bite from her plate. She protested weakly but didn't stop me.
"But why now? You always act like time's running out."
I shrugged. "It literally is! Every day here equals more than a week on the floors."
Gaia sighed and gave up arguing. "So, who do you want to create first?"
"I've thought about that," I said, leaning back. "I'll start with the first of the Iceland Giants. After that, I'll create the first two of your kind — so we'll have time to teach them a bit."
Her brows lifted as she stacked the empty plates, snatching my fork in revenge.
"You want to build their civilization starting with just two individuals?"
"Hahaha! No — just to make sure they're not shocked when others start appearing beside them later."
"Ah," she said, half-smiling.
I clapped my thighs and stood, carrying the dishes inside. By the time I returned, the sky was a bright gold muted by thick clouds.
With a few quick gestures, I built a larger hut on the grass and waited for the rain to pass. When it did, the air smelled crisp and new — the scent of autumn rain. I walked to the cliff's edge and opened the creation interface.
I selected the completed blueprint and pressed Create.
[Cost: 1500 EC]
The moment Gaia appeared beside me, the air shimmered — and a colossal naked man stood before us.
He was enormous, easily six meters tall and several meters wide. At first, I had worried he'd simply look… big. But as I adjusted him, his form became something far beyond that.
His body looked as though it had been carved from frozen stone and sinew — broad shoulders layered with a sheen of frost that clung to him like armor.
His skin was pale as glacial ice, streaked with faintly glowing blue veins, like frozen rivers beneath the surface. The light pulsed gently — the mark of one of his racial skills: Burning Ice.
His face was sharp and severe, a mountain ridge given human shape. A thick beard shadowed his jaw, and his straight nose looked carved by wind and time.
Tiny bone-like shards, frosted white, curled backward from his brow — horns still short and unformed. His long, stiff hair gleamed like snow under the light, already coated with a glaze of ice.
Then his eyes opened — two silver-blue lights, calm and ancient, yet empty, like a glacier awakening from a thousand-year sleep. Each breath sent a mist of frost crawling over the grass at his feet.
He stood there, silent — naked, unarmed, unknowing. A primordial being drawn raw from the bones of the world. Yet even in stillness, you could feel it: this was no mere creature.
This was the first stone in the foundation of an entire race.
⸻
[Status]
Name: —
Title: First of the Jötnar Glacialis
- Immune to aging
- racial skills strengthened
Age: 0 Years, 0 Months
Species: Jötnar Glacialis (Icy Giant)
Level: 1 / 4
Exp: 0 / 250
Mana: 80 / 80
Strength: 20
Agility: 12
Body Control: 18
Stamina: 15
Skills: [Body of Burning Ice — 5], [Nimble Hands — 5], [Strong Will — 3]
⸻
I watched the thoughts forming across his face as he slowly looked around. The ground seemed to tremble when he took his first step toward me, his gaze fixed on my figure.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gaia staring — wide-eyed, trembling, utterly captivated. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I wish… I could create something like this."
I smiled and met his silver gaze.
"Welcome to this world, Stenvar. Don't fear me — I am your creator."
For a long moment, we stood in silence. The giant's breath steamed in the cool air. Then, slowly, he fell to his knees.
Stenvar's shoulders bowed until his forehead nearly touched the ground. The sound he made was low, deep — like ice settling after an avalanche.
I crouched beside him — so small by comparison — and placed a hand on his massive head. Warmth flowed faintly through the contact, soft and strange against the cold aura he carried.
Gaia stepped forward, voice trembling but steady.
"Stenvar… I am Gaia. You will learn names, hunger, weather — as I once did. But for now, rest. The world can wait."
He lifted his head with the slowness of thawing ice. A soft glow rippled through his veins. Then, crude but clear, a word rumbled from his lips — old and heavy, like the first drop of rain before a storm.
"My… creator," he said, looking at me.