A few minutes had passed since the light surrounding the final two dissipated back into their bodies and they now stood up in the centre of the cave, facing towards Faruth, As they did so, the height differences really showed through. Wulfarth standing at about 150 centimetres, Marth standing at about 170 centimetres, Alneth standing at about 190 centimetres and the twins standing well above 210 centimetres. Regardless of their height, they all showed respect to Faruth, their chieftain, and didn't get cocky with their new strength. They all knew that he could still beat them easily.
After talking to Faruth about miscellaneous matters for 10 minutes or so, they began to talk amongst themselves and discuss their brand new powers. Rath bragged about his strength, Marth bragged about his speed and Alice howled happily, that was her bragging. Probably. The wisest two of the group, Wulfarth and Alneth didn't brag about their strength at all, instead, they both looked at each other and shared a knowing chuckle.
Faruth was smiling to the side, standing next to the shaman Grimanth. As Faruth was about to start a conversation with the shaman, he noticed that his jaw was wide open, as were his eyes just above.
["Th-they all... They all have elements?!!!!"] {Grimanth}
To his exclamation, everyone stopped their conversations and looked towards the elderly shaman, who, in his predicament, hastily began to speak once more.
["You see, when Gnolls and others alike evolve, they tend to just evolve into their higher forms, with nothing else attached. But once, every so often, an evolution comes along with an element! No one knows how they are received, only one thing is known about element holders... They are all outrageously strong! They will gain unimaginable strength with the element they are blessed by, but be forsaken by all others, that is an elemental!"] {Grimanth}
["Grimanth, how rare are these 'Elementals' and how do we tell them apart?"] {Faruth}
Faruth knew that elements were bestowed when someone received a blessing form a god, but he didn't know anything else, but, the wise shaman likely did.
["Chieftain... Elementals... They are so rare, that there is likely only a single one in a thousand evolutions, and here you have 5 of them!! As for how you can tell them apart, just look for coloured patterns on their fur. See, the markings that Marth has on his upper arms are blue, meaning that his element is Water. Just like the formations on the elbows of Rath and Drath appear to be made out of some brown crystal, meaning their element is Earth, the same going for Wulfarth and Alneth who have the Fire and Light elements respectively."] {Grimanth}
Judging by the murmurs arising from the 5, it appeared as if they had received some closure regarding the information that had appeared in their head all of a sudden. While this was happening, multiple windows appeared in the vision of Faruth.
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[[Congratulations! Five members of your village have evolved into Stage 2 :]]
[[This is the first step to being recognised by nature itself! You are not far of now, Herald!]]
[[You have gained: 50 Village Points]]
[[You have gained: +5 to all Stats]]
[[You have gained: Totemic Shard x 3]]
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["But, Shaman, what is the Chieftain's element?"] {Rath}
Pulling Faruth from this menu was the voice of Rath, asking Grimanth a question they were all thinking, after all, the only markings that he had on his body that could be classified as being similar to theirs was the patches of white fur stretching an inch or two above his wrists.
["That, I do not know. I have never seen any markings like the ones on the Chiefatin's hands, not that I have seen that many Elementals anyway, you lot are the minority!"] {Grimanth}
This only furthered the mystery that surrounded their Chieftain, but it gave them a positive image of him in their own eyes. After all, regardless of what his element was, it was strong, and the strong were respected.
After a while longer of listening to the shaman, the villagers had returned with the freed prisoners that were about to become the newest arrivals in Faruth's village. Arriving in the centre was Hoki, Droki, Frothen, the two female hunters and the other 8 villagers that lived here previously. Behind them was 23 freed Gnolls, brining the total Gnoll count to 37, not considering the ones that had just evolved. Behind them was 7 Goblins, but they were treated considerably worse than the other prisoners, something that Faruth needed to look into later.
Behind them even, at the furthest point of the line was the 6 special races, that Faruth looked forward to welcoming. The bull like creature was at the back as it was the tallest, just slightly smaller than the Bearkin Rath and Drath, then the Satyrs, Tigerkin and Dwarf at the very front.
As they all came within the walls one by one, Faruth exited the cave, the 5 soldiers following behind him. The appearance of the Chieftain and his followers made the new arrivals shiver in fear, excluding the 6 at the back. But the one that drew the most attention was Faruth, stood in the centre, clearly receiving the loyalty and respect of those surrounding him.
This gave him the image of a godly figure stood in the beaming sunlight at the entrance to the cave. As he looked at the people who were about to be his subjects, Faruth opened his mouth and began to speak.