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The Allfather (03)

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The next day they, Odin and Nox, begin their journey to Orario. At first, they planned to leave early. But according to Odin, this area would be more dangerous at night and he also needed to make preparations so they postponed their trip until tomorrow.

Odin sends a letter using his crows. The crows that after Nox asked were not Huginn and Muninn. Saying that he found those two crows in this cabin when they were still babies. When asked where the real ones were, Odin just smiled and said,

“they're doing something important, somewhere else.”

which only made Nox even more curious. But he chose not to question it any further as Odin kept avoiding the topic and he didn't want to explain any further.

So they end up talking about the nature of Falna and Magic from both sides. For Nox, it was interesting to see such a system, the system that can be used to see and manipulate a soul, look so simple, at least the way it uses. So simple in fact that it reminds him of a video game. When he said his opinion to Odin, after he explain what ‘video game’ is, Odin just laughed and said

“that's actually, a good analogy. Genkai, the place where the gods play.” 

They started descending the mountain at sunrise, with Odin in front as their guide, for he knew more about this forest, and the newly Nox familiar flew in the sky as their scout. 

Nox new familiar was the raven he had found, or rather the one that had come to him, yesterday. 

She's a bit weird that's for sure, and acts too friendly to him but not too Odin. This is weird considering Odin himself is known as the Raven-god. Odin tries to be nice to her but she remains cold to him and even acts like Odin is not there. Odin just looks dejected and sulking in the corner.

Nox chuckled seeing his new … God? Hmm, saying that makes him look like he just embrace a new religion. Which he doesn’t. So, new ... Master? No, that does not sound right. While ‘Falna’ can be considered as a magical contract, a divine contract, it doesn’t really bind them. They both still have their freedom and both of them see each other as more or less equal. Besides calling him ‘Master’ make him feel a little … kinky. So, a sponsor? Yeah, that’s the right word. Nox nod to himself seemingly agrees with his thought.

His newly form familiar look at him while he was still in deep thought. If she could make a face, it would be a confused face.

Nox's contract was not a full contract, it was only a quarter. he wanted to check if there was a difference between the contracts he made in his world and those made in this world. A quarter is enough to make some mental connection between him and the raven but not enough to force his will on her. It also makes it easier to break the contract if anything goes wrong. 

Nox also give her a new name, Valravn. Which from his connection he knew she took it with pride. Odin knew there is something in her name, so he ask Nox 

“So, Valravn. Is there any meaning of it?” Odin asked, after seeing her fly happily.

Nox thought for a moment then answered, “Well, there is a story in my world about a Raven with the ability to talk and shapeshifting into a knight.” he said.

“Ah,” Odin said as he understood the implication. “So you basically, make her a knight.”

“... Yeah,” Nox said. “let’s just hope she doesn’t demand a newborn heart,” he said under his breath.

But it seems Odin can still hear it, “... I’m sorry, what?”

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...

The newly formed familiar flew high, to find where many monsters were gathering. They using her to find the path where the monsters are the least. They manage to avoid some herd of monsters but unfortunately, they still fight with some of them. Well, it was Nox who fought and Odin just needed to find a safe place. 

Nox found the shape of the monsters in this world interesting, to say the least. When compared to the monsters in his world that sometimes take forms of abominations or the creature from the abyss and nightmare.

There is a group of monsters that looks like a stag but instead of horns, they have a sword stuck in their head. and it was a real sword, a steel sword. They got some magic stones and a few ‘swords’ from them. Then there is a group of monsters that looks like a T-rex if their scales are red. They got another magic stone and some of their eggs because some of them accidentally get destroyed in the fight. There are also some giant white apes.

‘I guess this world has 'fantasy' as their main genre’ Nox thought.

Valravn also helped collect magic stones, but he also took some magic stones to eat. Nox tries to stop it but she doesn’t want to and from their mental connection she send a message to Nox that is akin to ‘part of the contract’ or ‘her share’. 

‘Is she talking about the mana I give to her? Surely that is enough for her right? Hmm, the contract is still just fine. So why? …  I need more data.’ Nox thought.

In the end, he let it go. As long as it didn't hurt her or break the contract, he would continue to observe and regard it as part of the experiment. He then turned his attention to the monster egg he was holding.

“I wonder if we can eat this,” Nox said while holding one of the monster’s eggs.

“Technically we can. Although people commonly use it as part of a potion.” Odin stated.

“A potion, hm.” Nox mutter. He checked the potion that was still in his bag. “I still have some, but I don’t want to use it. Did you think we can get some in the next village or city?” he asked.

Odin nods, “yes, the city we are going to has a potion maker which I guarantee is good.”

“Oh, guaranteed by Odin himself. I wonder how good the product is.” Nox said curiously about who the potion maker is.

“You will see,” Odin said with a smile.

After that, their journey continues more peacefully because they don't meet any more monsters. but before they come out of the forest Odin said

“Well, I think we are safe now.”

At that very moment, a dozen of goblins came out from their hiding and ambush them.

Nox groan, “You need to jinx it, did you?”

“sorry” Odin muttered.

Nox look at the goblins equipment.

‘they used swords, axes, and arrows, they also wore some kind of coats. Hmm, I can feel some kind of charm in their coats.’ Nox thought.

“No, don’t worry. Their coat using some kind of charm that makes them invisible from my detection. It’s my fault.” Nox said truthfully. He being careless, again. He increases his detection magic to make sure no other monster is around. He found none.

“Get back, I will handle this,” Nox said to Odin.

Odin, without arguing, moved following his orders.

Nox takes a vial of mercury from his pocket, then began to cast spells.

[Permutatio coagulatio vis lamina.]

(Disintegration and solidification, turn to power.)

The liquid flows out from the bottle and transforms into became a solid sword.

[Gravitas residito, massa reductio.]

(Abate gravity, reduce mass.)

And with that Nox dash forward. The goblins were surprised by how fast their target was moving. Because of that, they could only gawk when their two companions were cut by swords. 

“I guess killing goblins is something that ‘must’ to do in a fantasy world, don't you guys agree?” Nox says to no one in particular as he takes a few steps back and wipes his sword from the blood.

Aware that they are being mocked, three goblins charged head-on while shouting. They swing their swords and ax wildly. 

Nox easily dodges the first two and parries the third. He then started to attack. He cut off the hand of the goblin he was parrying. He then cut the second goblin's face which made it blind, the goblin screamed in pain while holding his face then stabbed the third goblin killing it instantly.

When he saw two goblins wielding arrows take a position and the other four goblins started to take positions to flank him. Nox started to cast a spell.

[Primum moenia, expansio localis!]

(First rampart, local expansion!)

The two goblins shot their arrows. The two arrows shot towards Nox, only to be stopped by a shield made of magic circles. While the two archers were shocked the other four goblins immediately started attacking from all directions.

Nox drew his sword from the goblin body and immediately cast the next spell.

[Permutatio coagulatio vis flagellum!]

(Disintegrate, flow and sharpen!)

Nox's sword began to glow with this spell, and with two wide swings, Nox easily slashed the heads of the four approaching goblins as easily as cutting butter with a hot knife. He then killed the two goblins that were still alive. Both archers tried to fire their arrows again. But Nox swiftly swung his sword again forming two waves of energy that cut through the two goblins. The last goblin, seeing his friends easily killed tried to escape.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Nox said as he cast another spell.

[Volvito.]

(Grovel.)

The goblin fall and was pinned to the ground. 

Nox move closer and when he was close enough, he swing his sword and cut the goblin head from his neck. 

The goblins are no longer exist. As their bodies explode into dust and Exilia, leaving only their equipment and their magic stone.

Nox takes a deep breath to calm himself. His sword returns to its liquid form and flows back into the bottle. Nox closed it and put it back in his pocket. He heard applause and then looked up at him.

“ Even though I've seen the way you fight, it still amazes me,” Odin said as he approached.

“Is that so?” 

“The ability to cast spells while moving as well as skill in using a sword. It was a rare skill that only a few people possessed.” Odin explained.

Nox frowns, “Where I come from, these are all basic skills. If you can't move while using magic, you will become an easy target. Learning self-defense is also a basic must-have in situations where you can't use magic.” he stated.

Odin nods, “Yes, in your world. But here those skills call ‘concurrent chanting’ and those with such skills are usually top-class Adventurers.”

Nox just nod, as right now he still had not seen anyone in this world use magic so he had no source of reference except Odin's words to compare the two magics. ‘I have to see how the magic users in this world work, one more thing to add to the list.’ Nox thought.

Valravn flew over and immediately collected the scattered magic stones. and as usual, she ate some.

Nox approached the coat and equipment lying on the ground that the Goblins had been using. He knelt and took the coat in his hand then started checking it.

[Correspondentia sit omni creation.]

(Correspondence of all creation)

“What is it?” Odin asked.

“Just like I thought. There is enchantment in this coat. This makes the user undetectable using magic. It's not perfect, but if you stay still, it'll work well” Nox stated. He checked the armor the goblins were wearing. he found there were bite marks and claws, and they were big.

“They must have found the coat and armor from the corpses of Adventurers entering this forest.” Nox stated. 

“Yes, that seems what happened to them,” Odin said with a grim.

Nox was just about to collect it when something crossed his mind, “It's okay if I take this, right?” he asked. 

Odin raises an eyebrow, “Well, you are the one who kills the goblins, so it’s yours.” 

Nox just nods and starts to collect his rewards. 

“you feel consciousness,” Odin stated. 

“A little bit,” Nox confesses “I fell like grave robbery.”

“You don’t have to worry. They are Adventure they know the risk.” Odin tries to reassure him.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Nox said as he start to collect the loot. “How long until we get there?” he asked.

“We probably get there around noon.” 

“Right then,” Nox said as he stand up. “Let’s go.”

The rest of the journey continued without any other surprises. 

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They finally reach their destination.

“There it is,” Odin announces as soon as they came out of the forest. “the city of Brún.”

It was what could be described as a small frontier town. With that high walls and towers made of stone surround it. The walls are gray with a height of about 10 meters with some parts of the damage that look like burns and claw marks. But from the looks of it, the walls hold up.

They both walked towards the gate and looks like the guard at the tower saw them coming because he started shouting something at the guard at the gate. 

The two of them continued walking towards the gate until they reached the front of the gate.

Odin knocked on the gate several times until a small window opened revealing the face of a gatekeeper. 

The guard looked the two strangers up and down trying to figure out who they were. He looked at the old man for a while until finally, something clicked in his head.

“Old man is that you?” The guard with a hoarse voice asked.

“Yes, Verja it’s me.” 

“You're still alive!” The guard, Verja, said he still can’t believe it.

“of course I'm still alive,” Odin said.

“Damn it! you still alive,” Verja said slightly annoyed.

“Hey, what do you mean by that?” 

“It means I lost my money,” Verja took a deep sigh. 

Nox watched from behind while the two men started bickering with each other. While they started hurling insults, Nox thought of something else more specifically the language they used.

‘Interesting, they use a language I've never heard. But I can understand them perfectly? how? did my translator spell still work? and I remember Odin using a different language when talking to me…. Curious.’ Nox thoughts.

“So, who is he?” Verja asked while looking at the other person.

“A friend,” Odin said.

“A friend?”

“Yes, a friend.”

“Hmm, is he an adventure?” Verja asked, now looking at the young man.

“Yes, I am.” Nox answer his question. 

Verja looks at Nox up and down, “I suppose you are not high ranking one? You don’t look like one as well,” he stated.

‘Rude,’ Nox thought. “No. I’m just a level 1.”

“I see,” Verja said.

“So, can you open the gate?” Odin asked.

Verja then turns back to Odin, “Yeah sure. 1500 valis.”

“Right here,” Odin said as he produces a bag of money.

another window opened under the first one then a tray came out of it. Odin put money on it which Verja then took. after a while, Verja then said

“oke. Hey! Open the gate!”

The gate was slightly ajar, wide enough so they can pass. As soon as they walked through the gate, they closed the gate again. Nox saw that there were two other people behind the gate who he assumed were the other guards. Those other two were younger than Verja.

“Glad to see you alive old man,” the taller one said.

The other one chuckled, “yea, thanks to you we won our bet.” while making a hand gesture for money.

Odin stares at them, “... don’t tell me, you boys bet whether I will die or not?” 

“Yup,” they both said at the same time while making smiling faces as if there was nothing wrong with their actions.

“... Unbelievable,” Odin said in a deadpan voice.

“don’t worry we will buy you some drinks.” the shorter one said

“You two back to your post!” Verja shouting order.

“Yes Sir!” they shouted and saluted before starting to run to their place.

“Verja, how you can do that?” Odin asked. He looks hurtful.

“Honestly, don’t know. I drunk and the next thing I know is someone write a bet on the wall.” Veja stated.  

Odin sight heavy, “I’m going to the Guild if you need something.”

Verja nods, “Right. Still, It’s good to see you again Oldman.” He said with a friendly smile.

“Heh, you too,” Odin said as he and Nox start to walk.

The city of Brún is a small, frontier town, with medieval European architecture or at least what people think of medieval from games and pop culture. People walking on the street going about their daily lives. It was quite cold according to Nox with light snow covering anything, but this seemed to be something the townspeople were accustomed to since they weren't wearing too thick clothes.

“So what do you think?” Odin asked while making a gesture around

“... like back in time, I suppose. Thought it was more like going to a theme park.” Nox said while he looking around.

The people give them a look for a moment before going back to whatever they do.

“... say,” Nox begins, “did the guard know you are gods?” he asked

Odin gives a side glance, “No, I like to travel as a ‘Human’ rather than a ‘Gods’. It gives me a lot of perks.”

“I see, so how do they call you?”

“Wodan.”

Nox stopped his steps, “Wodan?” he said slowly, “Realy? Wodan?”

Odin stop and turn around, looking very amused, “For your information, the only gods who know that name can be count in one hand. and you may be the only mortals in this world who knows.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes until they arrived at a building that looked like a saloon with the words Guild emblazoned on the front. they enter from the double side doors. 

The interior looks like something from an RPG game. A combine between a tavern and several counters. A spacious room with a table facing the entrance were two girls, a werewolf, a demi-human with some animal features, in this case, a wolf ears and tail, with silver hair and a human with dirty blonde hair. Both wearing a set of black vests and pants with a white collared long sleeve shirt underneath and a grey bow tie. To the left, many long tables were arranged with many people sitting and talking. There is a staircase that leads to the second floor, there is a balcony from the second floor so you can see the lower floor.

“I'm gonna meet someone, you can go ahead and sell your magic stones and drop loots,” Odin said while starting to walk to the stairs.

Nox just nodded and immediately walked towards the counter. 

Seeing Nox the two employees give a professional smile, the werewolves stood up to greet him, while the other was busy continuing to scribe on paper.

“Hello,” said the werewolf. “My name is Tia. Welcome to the Adventure Guild, can I help you,” she said with a small bow.

“Yes, I want to sell my magic stones and drop loots.” Nox said.

The girl just blink twice before asking, “... are you an adventurer?”

“... Yeah ...  Something wrong?”

“Ah, well, you don’t look like one,” she said while gesturing to Nox attire.

Nox looks down then looks to the side where many adventures gather. some of them started observing him.

“Ah …” is the only sound Nox makes.

Compare to the Adventure that wearing armor or a cloak and staff for the mages. Nox still wearing his suit from before gets teleport to this world. The clothes he wore were almost the same as those worn by Guild employees except he wore a tie, trench coat, and gloves which were all black. He is looking more like a guild staff rather than an Adventure.

‘I should buy some clothes, and some armor to blend in.’ Nox Thought

“Well, this is the only thing I have so.” Nox said with a shrug.

“I see …” she said.

She then takes a tray from below the table and puts it on the table. 

“Please put all your magic stones and drop loots here.”

Nox nod and open his bag. He takes all the magic stones except for the dragon ones and he keeps two of every stone from every monster he encounters. He puts all the swords he got from the stags, three of the five eggs that came from the red t-rex monster, three of the five dragon scales, and two of the four dragon fangs.

Tia’s mouth just opens and closes like a fish out of the water while her collages just stop scribing and stare at the pile of drop loots in front of her.

“ I … I need some help, please wait a moment,” she said as she run to the back door that says 'staff only’.

Another man came from the door with Tia follow behind him. The man looks old, maybe in his forty wearing a guild attire. The man greets Nox with a smile,

“Good afternoon sir. My name is Alfred, and I’m sorry for the wait. Mister ….?”

“Nox Black. And no I don’t mind.” ‘Alfred? really?’

Alfred smiles and gives a nod, “Is this all?” he asked as he gestured to the pile of loots.

“Yes, is something wrong?”

“Oh no, not at all, Black-san,” Alfred assured while he inspect the dragon scale. 

‘-san? did he just using a Japanese suffix?’ Nox thought

“If I may ask, which Familia are you came from and what level are you?” Alfred asks as he starts to inspect the other items.

‘Odin never tell to make it secret, so.’ “I came from Odin Familia and level 1.”

Alfred’s hands stop, “level 1?” his eyes narrow.

The whole room fell silent as people focused on the stranger. There can be heard some whispers among the customers.

‘Oh, oh no, did I just paint a giant target on my back?!’ Nox thought.

 “Oi, oi! you joking right?” came a loud voice from the other side of the room.

Nox looked in the direction the voice came from. A man, with a muscular build wearing armor with fur, sharp grey eyes, and raven hair. There was a battle-ax tied to his back.

The man started walking towards Nox, holding a drink in his left hand. The closer he got, the clearer the difference in their heights became. He was a head taller than Nox with a more muscular build than him.

The man stopped in front of Nox, closing the gap to emphasize their height difference. 

The man growly, “Where do you get this?” he asked. There is a smell of alcohol on his breath.

“I got it from a slain monster” 

The man takes a sip from his drink before saying, “Liar.”

“... sorry?”

“I said you are a Liar!” he slammed his wooden glass to the counter. “Do you think a level 1 can kill a dragon? Come on spit it out, where do you steal this thing.”

“I think you make a mistake. I didn't steal anything, this is all my work.”

“Is that so?” The man said. 

“Ivar-san, don’t …” but before Alfred can finish that person acts first.

“Let me test it myself.” His hand moves to grab his battel-ax. But before he pulls his ax out, Nox moves first.

Nox's hand moved forward and with one flick he activated his magic. His magic created a shockwave that sent the man flying backward into the table behind him. There was a loud crashing sound when the man, Ivar, hit the table.

The rooms grow still, shocked about what just happened. 

“You Bastard!” Ivar Roar.

Nox’s hand moves to take his vial of mercury.

*Bang.

But before Ivar stand up, another loud voice came from a woman that just punch her hand on the table. The table cracks from the force it got. 

Everyone turned their head to see where is this sound coming from. 

A woman, with a beautiful figure wearing grey leather armor with fur around her neck. She has fair skin, blue eyes, short dirty blonde hair with a braid running on her left. A polearm with a single-edged blade on its end, a glaive, on her hand.

“For the love of gods! Would you stop making a fool of yourself!” the woman growled as she stand up and start walking toward Ivar.

“But Captain, I ...”

“Shut Up!” She said as she stop beside Ivar who was still on the floor. “You will pay all the damages.”

“Guh,” Ivar makes a hurt voice.

The woman turns and looks at Nox.

“Sorry about him, he always doing something like this.” The woman said.

“No, it’s okay. He was drunk, so.”

She turns his head toward Alfred, “Hey Alfred while you counting at that, I will take him for a drink.”

“Of course Veleda-san, and thank you for your help,” Alfred said with a little bow.

“Eh, don’t sweat. Come, let me buy you some drink to make this up.” She makes a gesture to follow her.

Nox followed her to an empty table. As they move people return to what they doing but still occasionally give curious glances.  She sit and ordered some drinks. Nox sits across from her.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Veleda Volva, Captain of Skadi Familia. The man that you just hit, his name is Ivar. He’s part of my Familia.” 

“Nox Black, from Odin Familia.” Nox replied.

“Odin huh. So what are you doing far up here?”

Nox becomes quiet for a moment, “Well, to be honest, I got lost.”

“You get lost? In Dragon Valley” Veleda quirk her eyebrow.

“... yeah.”

“How?”

“Well, I was doing another job but something happen and I accidentally got here.” 

“and you, a level one, somehow kill a dragon?”

“Pretty much.” Nox said giving a nonchalant shrug.

Veleda just stare at him for a moment. Blue eyes meet black eyes. Then she explodes with laughter showing her row of white teeth.

“Hahahaha, You know it will probably be more believable if you just say you are level 3 or 4 and come here to hunt a dragon.” 

“is it that hard to believe?”

“Of course, there is a big difference with each level up. The drop loots you get can only be obtained by someone at level 3 or at least a party consisting of level 2, and for the dragons, you need at least a level 3 party. And considering this place, you need at least think like you going to Dungeon”

“I see,” Nox murmur. ‘So that’s the standard. I need to be more careful.’

A waitress came and bring their drink. Veleda takes the glass and starts to chugged in, while Nox stops when he sees the content.

‘Wait, is this mead?’ he takes a sip, ‘yup, definitely a mead.’ he put the glass down.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I have low alcohol tolerance.” Nox state. “So what are you doing here?”

“Me? Well, this city is where our base is and many came from this place as well. So this place is our home you know.”

“So you own the city?”

“What? No. We are not like Rakia or Telskyura. We are mostly just hunting monsters in the forest and make sure the city save went some strong monster came down from the mountain. My Goddess doesn’t like playing politic.”

“Hmm, Do you know where I can sell and buy some armors? I also need some potions and supplies.”

“You plan to go?”

“Yea, I’m going to Orario.”

“My, looking for a fortune in the big city?” Veleda said then took a sip of her drink. “Yea, I know a place. Come on, let’s take your money and  I will show you the place.” she stood up from the chair.

“Ah, thank you miss Volva.” Nox said as he stood up.

Veleda turn and said, “Just call me Vel, I don't like being too formal.”

“Then you can call me Nox.”

“Right, let’s go.”

…

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