The tribespeople has set up camp throughout the perimeter of the cloud. The uppermost layer o that we are currently standing in is filled with the soil from the ground below so, at a glance, one would assume that this is just the ground and not someplace high. I have also moisturized the soil with cloud vapor to return the desolate dirt its original texture from the previous dried state.

We are now currently flying northward towards the location that Elder Havies was telling me. Where we are truly going is foreign to both tribe and me. I myself had been trapped for thousands of years and the tribe has not received physical contact with the outside world for almost the same amount time that I was gone. Five thousand years is a very long time. Kingdoms could fall and another takes its place. Entire empires could rise. Or perhaps a catastrophic incident wiped civilization from the region. We truly don't know. What we do know is that geographically, the equator is located at the center of the planet's axis which caused the region to be humid and hot. Back then, the tropics housed odd and eccentric kingdoms.

Creating a cloud this size that is able to be inhabited have put some drain into my power. This meant the cloud is currently flying at a very slow velocity—slower than one would perceive a normal cloud floating in the air. It will take quite a while for us to get to the equator. so I have also informed Elder Havies to have some tribespeople stand on the edge of the cloud to scout the area below to find anything or anywhere where we can extract resources from.

“God Awana. Your tent is ready.” I hear Neityr calling me from behind.

“Ah yes. Thank you. I shall be there soon. Also, just as a practice for when we encounter outsiders, call me Tiven.”

“Y-yes, God A- Tiven.”

“Without the title.”

“Yes...G-...Tiven.” It seems she really struggled with saying that.

“Good.” I smiled as I walked away towards my tent. It seems to be situated right at the very center of the new settlement. In fact, they seem to have used their best and biggest tent for me. Well, it is truly fitting for a god like me after all.

The tent was triangular in shape and seem to be constructed from actual fabric rather than just dirt and twigs. It seems this is a tent that survived from five thousand years ago when the White Leaf tribe was still a bustling elven metropolis. I entered the tent to find the bed to be as shabby every other tent but I did not mind that much as we will surely get better ones in the future. The most unique part of my tent is perhaps a long mirror situated right beside the bed. Another relic from the past. I looked at the mirror to see my entire figure.

“My appearance has not changed much.”

My current appearance was of a tall, devilishly handsome man wearing white fabric with an equally long white hair. My chin was chiseled and my pupil purple. The few mortals who witnessed this form in the past depicted me gallantly in their paintings and songs.

“But if my appearance stays the same…”

I would risk someone recognizing me. I have to disguise myself. I started to will mana into my entire body.

I turned my hair shorter and into the color black. My eyes turned blue and my face less handsome than before. My height also decreased into what’s considered average in this world. The gods surely will not recognize me this way.

“Perfect. I am now Tiven.”

“Excuse me, G- Tiven. Is everything to your liking?”

Neityr opened the entrance of the tent. Suffice to say, even when quite malnourished, Neityr was an attractive elf with long flowing blonde hair. It was not only a stereotype that elves are attractive. They were made that way for some reason.

“W-what!? Who are you?” She was shocked to see another person staring back at her.

I just smiled as a response. “The disguise is working well then. Let Elder Havies know to bring all the talented and smart people together for a meeting. I want to see what we have in terms of manpower.”

--

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“This is all we have?” I expected the number of talented individuals to be low in number but not this low. Out of five hundred people, these are the only ones?

Twenty-five people. Aside from Neityr and Havies, twenty-five elves were standing right in front of me. Twenty-five. That’s only five percent of the entire population. No wonder they were struggling.

“Yes...These twenty-five people are the only ones I would consider talented. The rest of the tribespeople are adequate in simple work like farming and manufacturing but these people in front of you are the only people that have the potential for great things. Of course, you already know my granddaughter Neityr here. She is also perhaps one of the most talented in terms of combat and exploration, that was why she was the one sent to free you, Tiven.”

“I see…” This was worse than I thought. “What are their skills?”

“Neityr.” Elder Havies looked at his granddaughter.

“Right. Here’s a list of their skills. I’ll try not to bore your holiness with their names, for now, to move things along quicker.”

She gazed at a makeshift paper made out of dead tree bark in her hands.

“Wait.” I interrupted her.

“Yes, Tiven?” She has gotten more used with my new name.

“Those are writings, correct? Is everyone in the tribe literate?”

“Yes. Even though our general education is incredibly lacking, everyone is taught how to read and write. This was due to a decree one of our ancestors made to not let our written language become extinct.”

“That’s fantastic. Alright. You can read it now.”

She looked at the paper again. Neityr called out their roles while pointing at them individually. “I understand. Then the list goes as follows. We have four mages, five archers, five warriors, one botanist, one blacksmith, two craftsmen, three farmers, and four scholars.”

No hunters. I guess they have been strictly vegetarian for thousands of years.

“Wait. You three.” I pointed at the farmers.

“Yes!”

“U-uh…”

“What is it, your holiness?”

The three replied at the same time. Startled.

“Did you bring any crops and seeds? What did you grow?” I asked.

“We did. We grew fruits that we were able to grow in the dry soil thanks to the help of the mages who used water magic on the crops.”

“Hmm…” I stroke my chin. “These twenty-five people are truly all we have?”

“Well…” Elder Havies replied. “ You asked for the talented ones. These people are those. The rest of the population are more like grunts who can perhaps do some of their tasks if they are ordered but they have not grasped it completely yet.”

“I see.” I was the God of Clouds and Weather. I was NOT the God of Management or something like that. I have to use my instinct and logic here.

“And the four scholars. Can you tell me each of their specialties?” I am quite surprised they still have some educated people in the mix. I suspect it was also due to the decree their ancestors made to not let some knowledge be lost. The knowledge was probably passed down to their own family line.

It was Neityr who answered again.

“We have one historian, one mathematician, one linguist, and one philosopher.”

Philosopher? I am not sure how that would be useful for now but I’ll take it.

I took a deep breath and faced everyone valiantly.

“Alright. Here’s what we are going to do.

"Everyone will work and learn. This includes the children and elders. This means that even if someone received a job, they will also have to get an education as well.

"I’ll start with the children. The children will gain both primary education and extracurricular education. The primary education includes the subjects that the scholars here are knowledgable on. They will receive primary education for around, say, four hours of primary education. One hour with each lecturer. And then after primary education, they are allowed to choose what they would like to be specialized in. This includes farming, magic training, fighting, crafting, and so on. This will ensure the mental and physical development of the child.

For the adults, they will also receive an education but perhaps they will only get two lectures per day instead of the maximum of four lectures. They will spend most of their time working. The experts here should conduct examinations and selections for each individual to gauge their specialty. For example, someone with a knack for fighting would be trained under the warriors while people who have more mana will undergo magic training. The rest may be farmers and craftsmen.

The elders will solely work and won’t have to receive an education. They shall work jobs that would require the least amount of physical labor. Farming and crafting should be alright for them if they do it moderately.

I want all of these to be implemented. Do you all understand?” I finished my explanation.

Everyone stared at me blankly. Perhaps it was the first time in a very long time that they have received some sort of clear goal that they are ordered to strive for instead of just the monotonous daily lives they were used to.

Elder Havies woke up from his daydream first.

“Y-yes, your holiness! Truly a wonderful plan! I am in awe! We shall do what you say. I am truly excited to see what comes out of this.”

I smiled brightly from his praise. A god is prideful after all.