[You have successfully quelled the giant rebellion and helped them recover their precious sanity.]
[Your kindness moves people's hearts!]
[Soul Fusion increased by 0.5%.]
Easy work!
Ethan hooked the corners of his mouth, raised his hand, and stroked the black dragon's head as it leaned in to claim credit.
His technique was practiced, murmuring, "Good boy, good boy."
He rubbed the black dragon into a state of sheer ecstasy.
Its expression practically melted.
It was one step away from barking "Woof, woof"—truly the shame of the Ancient Dragons.
Just then.
A flash appeared before Ethan's eyes.
The hard, pitch-black scales under his hand suddenly turned into fluffy blonde hair.
Luna was nuzzling against Ethan's palm.
She looked up, her eyes curved into crescents.
A smile lit up her soft little face as she laughed happily:
"Hehe~"
"...."
In that instant.
It was like a tiny, sharp arrow had struck his heart.
Ethan's eyes widened slightly.
He felt a warm current flow from his heart to his limbs and bones.
"Hehe~"
Ethan laughed too.
As he stroked Luna's silky long hair, a pink, romantic atmosphere permeated the air.
Beside them, the single old bachelor Hagrid: "..."
Ah, youth is wonderful...
Fifty points to Ravenclaw.
Hagrid shed tears of relief and envy.
The giants: "..."
"Is this madman going to be our King? I don't want that!"
A young giant cried out with a mournful face, muttering in a low voice.
Smack!
The back of his head was immediately punched by an adult!
The adult scolded:
"Shut your trap! Aren't our lives firmly in that terrifying wizard's hands right now?!"
An elder sighed, whispering softly: "Alas, is the history of our persecution going to repeat itself..."
The atmosphere among the giants was depressed.
It was like a dark cloud hung over them.
One must realize that such melancholic emotions rarely appeared in brains occupied only by fighting and eating.
Hagrid took all this in.
Clenching his fists, he hesitated before speaking:
"Err... Ethan? What do you plan to do after this?"
The half-giant fidgeted uneasily with his fingers.
Despite his massive physique, facing his own student, he looked like a panicked little chick.
His presence was completely suppressed.
Hagrid cautiously suggested: "How about we wait a bit, let the giants elect a new leader..."
"What are you talking about, Hagrid?"
Ethan tilted his head.
A mysterious smile rose on his face:
"Isn't the leader of the giant race right here, alive and well?"
After speaking, meeting Hagrid's confused gaze, he took a few steps back.
He raised his hand, reaching out towards the tall cave where the chieftain resided, as if in welcome.
Immediately following that.
Thud, thud, thud...
The sound of heavy, muffled footsteps, growing gradually louder, came from within the cave!
Hearing the familiar sound, the giants raised their heads in shock!
In their dull eyes, a gleam of amazement and hope lit up!
Bang!
Accompanied by falling debris and dust, a colossal figure appeared at the cave entrance.
Standing there like a cliff face on the rocky ground, treating trees like toys—it was their former Gurg, who was supposed to have been "killed"!
Golgomath!
At this moment, large patches of blood had congealed on his gray-white chest.
On the left side of his chest, there was a hideous wound.
One could see the dark red flesh inside; it was hard to imagine how he had survived such a fatal injury.
Hagrid's mouth hung open in shock.
He suddenly looked at Ethan.
He met the latter's smile, a smile that seemed to hold everything in the palm of his hand.
His heart trembled.
Then, a wave of uncontrollable emotion surged up!
"Oh, Ethan!!!"
Hagrid shouted with immense admiration.
Only now did he finally understand why Dumbledore was willing to entrust this important task to Ethan.
Although Ethan's methods were... otherworldly and grim, he really got things done!
A hundred percent success rate! No complaints!
"Lord Gurg—————"
A young giant leaped up, shouting excitedly.
The next second, he was interrupted.
"———————Y-You're actually still alive?! That's impossible!!!"
On the ground, the traitor Gorg, whose head was cracked, roared hoarsely.
He looked at the chieftain as if seeing a ghost.
"This is impossible... You can't possibly be alive!!!"
"I clearly pierced your heart————————Urgh!"
A spear plunging downward abruptly cut off Gorg's roar.
Trickles of fresh blood gushed out from under the spear.
It gathered into a small river, flowing into the flat central rocky ground, covering the dried bloodstains with a fresh layer.
"Gu, gu ah..."
Gorg's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; he opened his mouth and spat out blood foam.
Death was imminent.
Yet, his eyes still glared at the chieftain with boundless resentment.
"What an ungrateful fool!"
The chieftain said hoarsely.
Looking down at his former deputy, his eyes held only thick disgust.
"A traitor who thought what our ancestors passed down was merely violence and blood, who nearly caused the extinction of our entire race!"
"We giants were once called 'Furnace Giants,' because of the ever-burning fire of life within us."
"Even though we have long lost the power to wield fire, we must not degenerate into a clan of beasts that only knows how to drink blood and eat raw flesh!!"
Under the chieftain's stern rebuke, the traitor Gorg swallowed his last breath unwillingly amidst extreme pain.
His eyes remained wide open; he died with everlasting regret.
It was over. The rebellion that should have succeeded.
At the same time.
"Hmm?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow, feeling a gaze upon him.
He couldn't help but look up towards the boundless, deep canopy of the sky.
Two seconds later.
He grinned.
"How about that, high and mighty Lord Death? It seems I've 'accidentally' changed the course of fate again~"
Following Ethan's murmur, that gaze became noticeably tinged with anger.
This made the smile on Ethan's lips deepen.
With pleasure and anticipation, he licked his canine teeth.
...Since I'm pursuing excitement, I might as well go all the way.
Oh, Fate, I look forward to it.
What kind of "gift" will you bring me next?
Having finished off the traitor, the chieftain pulled out the spear with a squelch.
He raised his head.
His majestic gaze swept over the circle of giants who had followed the rebellion, forcing them to lower their heads in fear.
Finally, his gaze landed on Ethan.
His tone became respectful.
He bowed his body and declared with a booming voice:
"Thank you for saving me, and saving my entire tribe, Wizard."
"I swear by the name of Golgomath: From this day forth, the giant tribe will unconditionally trample flat whatever direction you point!"
"We will use our strength, solid as rock and earth, to sweep clear the path ahead for you!"
The steady and powerful voice resounded between heaven and earth.
An invisible vow wrapped around the hearts of the giants, carving itself into their surging blood.
"Ohhhhh..."
Hagrid was deeply shaken, letting out an incoherent shout of excitement.
He even felt as if a layer of the vow had faintly attached to him too.
It made him, who had always been drifting, feel a rare sense of belonging.
"I look forward to the time when the giants display their true strength."
Ethan raised the corners of his mouth.
He lifted his hand and grasped the single index finger slowly extended by the chieftain.
He shook it with mock seriousness.
In the original story, a race that Lord Voldemort took pains to recruit definitely wouldn't be weak.
[Congratulations! You have successfully forged a friendship with the Giant Race!]
[Lamp brightness increased!]
[You have obtained inspiration: The Founding Giant]
Whoosh.
A tall, magnificent figure emerged in Ethan's mind.
It made his eyebrows raise slightly.
————Bigger than the chieftain, truly like moving mountain ranges.
A life furnace that never extinguishes burning in its chest.
Walking slowly upon the earth.
Able to—under the dominion of Ancient Dragons—continue its species from the barbaric era to this day!
"If I can recreate the heroic form of the Founding Giant... even Fate would be wary of it!"
Ethan's eyes shone.
He felt a surging heat rush from his heart to every blood vessel, making him unable to resist the urge to start painting immediately.
————But before that.
To recreate the Founding Giant, there was a necessary prerequisite.
That was: a Giant's Heart!
The Primal Fire Seed, the Life Furnace!
Ethan looked up at the current Giant Chieftain.
He asked hoarsely:
"You can give me the goods we agreed on earlier, right?"
Hagrid: ???
Hagrid's pupils quaked.
——————Ethan! What kind of unspeakable deal did you make (threaten) with the Giant King?!
Really, couldn't you tell your poor professor beforehand?!
Hagrid felt that while he was sound asleep, the world had advanced by a hundred years.
"...I understand."
The chieftain paused, then nodded.
He turned and walked back into the depths of the cave.
Not long after, accompanied by a few rumbling sounds, the chieftain walked out swaying, holding something.
"That is————————"
A young giant's eyes widened.
Then, he scratched his head in confusion:
"What's that?"
Clang!
"Ouch!"
Ignoring the commotion of his clansmen, the chieftain slowly bent his massive body and opened his giant palm.
He revealed a "small stone" in the center of his palm to Ethan.
It was a black "stone" only the size of a human palm.
From the outside, it looked exactly like burnt-out coal.
Chieftain: "It is a treasure passed down through generations of our giant race—a small piece of a heart passed down from our ancestors in the ancient era..."
"However, the way I see it, it has already completed its mission."
Ethan took it curiously.
It felt cold to the touch.
Like a piece of wreckage, a bit of embers.
He couldn't feel any life force.
However.
When Ethan's magical feelers probed deeply into it, he could detect a tiny, extremely subtle energy.
Like a match flickering with a dim light.
[You have received a gift from the Giant Race!]
[Extraordinary Material: The Burnt-Out Heart of the Furnace]
[Once the heart of a giant, burning with the inextinguishable Primal Fire. Now it has fallen silent along with the disintegrated body.]
[If infused with massive power, perhaps it can display its final efficacy.]
[Evaluation: Do you want to link the fire too, brother?]
——————The heart of a Founding Giant!
And.
It's still usable.
"With the artistic inspiration of the Founding Giant, and a heart containing the last bit of energy... I can recreate the past glory of the giant race!"
Ethan's eyes lit up as he tightly grasped this silent "coal."
He couldn't hold back any longer.
He immediately pulled an easel from his moleskin pouch and stretched a canvas.
Using a protruding rock as a chair and his wand as a paintbrush, he began to paint with total concentration.
It was as if, suddenly, he had entered another world.
"What's... wrong with him?" The Giant Chieftain asked in confusion. "Is there a problem?"
"It's nothing," Luna answered.
Her gaze towards Ethan was as gentle as water.
"Ethan is just doing what he loves~"
Hearing this, although the chieftain didn't quite understand, looking at the black-haired boy devoting his heart and soul to that small piece of paper, he suddenly felt that the boy's true purpose for this trip wasn't to conquer, or to enslave them like some greedy wizards.
In fact, it seemed he simply wanted to see what other races looked like.
As for "becoming the Giant King" or whatever, that was just done in passing.
"What a strange person," the chieftain muttered.
Yet, a smile couldn't help but rise on his weathered face.
If it was this strange human, perhaps their giant race could truly resolve the conflict between the two species.
To return to the surface, to the sunlight.
To live a life with full bellies every day.
"After all, this wizard possessing terrifying power is the biggest threat..."
The Giant Chieftain spoke the wisest sentence of all.
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