Dragon Genesis: I Can Create Dragons

Chapter 592: The First Rejection.

After the Rimewood, Kael and his party continued to move even further. This time, his party had yet another new member, a Rimewood.

The Alliance was getting stronger and stronger, at the very least, it didn’t sound as one-sided as before.

And with this confidence, Kael and the party flew towards another settlement—

The Frostvein Settlement, the home to the Frostvein Tribe.

The Frostveins lived beneath snow.

While other tribes climbed on mountains or guarded valleys, Frostvein cut into ice and stone. Their shelters were dug half underground into frozen ridges, with thick doors and narrow vents.

The Frostveins were pale from low light, their eyes however, were sharp, probably from years of studying cracks and veins in ice.

The Frostveins were... builders.

They knew how to make ice channels for water storage. They knew how to reinforce ice tunnels, they knew how to survive... the winters.

Yes, while the rest of the Heights feared snow and the cold, these people used it to their advantage. Of course, it didn’t mean they weren’t affected by the said cold, the cold at the Heights was cruel, it didn’t let anyone go.

Even those who knew and understood how to use it were... affected and killed by it...

But despite that—

The Frostveins, on average, dealt with the harsh winters better than most tribes in the Heights.

And for that very reason, Kael wanted them badly.

Since he was with the Alliance, his people wouldn’t have to worry about food, that much was obvious. But food wasn’t the only thing that was needed to survive in the Heights.

One needed... ways to survive winters.

To keep themselves warm, to... use the winters to their advantage and increase their chances of survival.

That was the knowledge the Frostveins had, and he needed to distribute that to his people, he needed his people to learn how to create warm underground shelters so they could survive the air raids.

Not to mention the Frostvein could easily build secret routes that would be of big help in war, Kael could already imagine how a tunnel that would help his men move in secret to launch a surprise attack would help him.

A resource like that was... quite valuable.

If he had the help of the Frostveins, and enough time to build those tunnels, large enough for his men to move around—

The war would... become somewhat easier.

But...

The moment Kael and his party got there, he... noticed something almost instantly.

The Frostveins... while just like any other tribe, hated both the Stormcallers and the Velmourns...

Their hatred for the Velmourns because of them being ’outsiders’ was... far worse.

Their leader didn’t even show the courtesy of receiving Kael’s party, he just... gave a straight warning.

"Leave."

Kael understood it because he knew the Frostvein language, yes, his ants were there, but even they couldn’t pick on Frostvein hatred for the outsiders in less than a day.

Kael tried to argue, he tried to say how even the Stormcallers were being helped by ’outsiders’, but the leader simply refused to listen to him.

He just... waited.

Almost as if he was counting down in his head.

That if Kael didn’t leave, they would attack. Their intent was very clear, the tribe’s warriors had already begun to gather and unlike the previous tribes that had received Kael and his party, they weren’t there just for the sole purpose of defense.

They were prepared for offense.

Kael looked at them, then he looked at his own people, especially Lavinia and—

"Let’s leave."

He spoke with a grim look on his face.

"Are you sure...?"

Lavinia questioned.

She believed they could convince the Frostvein if they just made them talk, according to the ants, the Frostveins weren’t in contact with the Stormcallers, at least not in the day the ants had been there.

If they had no connection with the Stormcallers, convincing them shouldn’t be impossible. Heck, they hadn’t even used their trump card, the Gel Rations yet, not to mention the other points that convinced other tribes, the recordings of the Stormcallers’ current condition, Kael’s strength, the power the alliance was building and the possible future perspective of the Heights but—

"There is no point."

Kael shook his head, this time speaking in normal tongue.

He then looked at the Frostvein Leader and—

"If one doesn’t wish to talk, you cannot make him."

He spoke, as he then told his people to move. There was slight hesitation in it, Morvain too, tried to move forward and have another shot, but the Frostvein Leader was very clear, he had already taken out his weapon, prepared to attack.

In the end, Kael’s party left the Frostvein Settlement with disappointed looks on their faces.

"That was out of expectation."

Lavinia commented.

She expected harsh welcomes, but to not even be willing to talk?

Kael looked at her and shook his head—

"There is nothing we can do."

Lavinia nodded as well, she understood it.

"Do you think... it’s Stormcaller influence?"

Morvain asked.

Kael looked at her and shrugged.

"I do not know.

But my eyes now cover their settlement, if they are involved with the Stormcallers, I will know."

"If they are in contact with the Stormcallers, then they would know we have already recruited three more tribes."

Lavinia spoke with a grim look on her face.

"If it happens, it happens.

We couldn’t have hidden it for long anyway."

Kael answered simply.

What else could he even do?

"Let’s just continue."

He spoke with a sigh.

"Where are we going next?"

"The Cinderstep Nomads."

Lavinia answered, she had already memorized the names and locations. Kael nodded and the party continued their journey.

...

The Cinderstep Nomads were... like their name.

Nomads.

They... lived on movement.

Their "territory" was not a single camp. It was a web of routes—narrow ledges, snow tunnels, rope bridges, and hidden caves—paths that looked like death to outsiders, but were roads to them.

Their shelters were light and temporary, built to be abandoned within minutes if needed. Their people were lean, fast, and always wrapped in layered cloth that looked more like travel gear than clothing.

And this was also the reason the Alliance wanted them.

While the Frostveins could have built the secret routes that they could have used, these people already had secret routes, it may not be the exact routes the Alliance wanted, but at this point, they couldn’t be choosers.

They needed people and they needed people with skills.

Because the Cindersteps were in constant movement, Kael’s ants couldn’t get much information about them. These people barely talked about other matters as they travelled, their focus was more on terrain and which area was more suitable to camp on.

The only thing Imperia did tell was that the Stormcallers hadn’t yet reached the Cindersteps simply because they were difficult to reach and... they most probably did not think they were worth the effort.

The Cindersteps greeted Kael’s party with wary looks, but after what happened in the Frostvein, Kael didn’t mind it one bit.

At least they were willing to talk.

Their leader did not sit like a... leader. He stood sideways, almost as if he was ready to walk away mid-conversation.

His eyes kept moving, counting Kael’s escorts, noticing the Stonefangs, the Rimewood, the Borealis and Shardpeak Elders, then he glanced at Morvain, Lavinia and the rest of the party.

Then, he looked at Kael, whom he assumed was the leader since he was standing at the front and asked a direct question.

"What do we get?"

Kael raised his eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

Not just him, Morvain, Lavinia and the other Velmourns present were surprised too.

"You know our tongue."

Kael commented.

"How else were you expecting to converse?"

The Cinderstep Leader laughed.

"I don’t expect your lot to know ours."

At those words, Kael tilted his head, as he looked at this man for a moment and then—

"You underestimate us."

He answered in the Cinderstep tongue.

An action that surprised the Cinderstep Chief and Elders.

"You... know our tongue."

The Cinderstep Leader spoke in his tongue, this time, he was the one who was surprised and Kael just smiled—

"This was how I was expecting to converse."

For a moment, the Cinderstep Leader looked embarrassed, but it was clear that the Cindersteps had become much more welcoming the moment Kael used their language.

The rest of the conversation, however, Kael requested it to be in normal tongue so Lavinia and the others could follow along, something the Cinderstep Leader agreed to.

As the conversation continued, Kael learned that the Cindersteps, because they were in constant movement, understood most regions and languages in the Heights.

Kael was surprised, this was an extra bonus he wasn’t expecting and it made the Nomads even more valuable than before.

Kael looked at them and smiled, then, just like their Chief had asked, he laid out everything he was going to provide them in return for them joining their alliance.

Since the Nomads already had a positive opinion of them, the convincing part didn’t take long, especially when Gel Rations were distributed.

And just like that—

The Alliance recruited another tribe.