Chapter 5: Life in the Forest

The sun narrowly begins to creep in through the curtains of our log cabin deep within the mountains of Angenehm Forest. My mother told me the name meant a pleasant place. Our new home was hundreds of miles away from Alvain kingdom, and is somewhere further south east of the Eastern Continent. It had been roughly 3 weeks since my mother and I fled with Hlökk to this place and I’ve honestly lost track of all that has happened over that last several days.

“Hmmm.....Vali....don’t disobey your mother..zzzzz”

‘Hehe..seems mom’s having an interesting dream.’ As I roll over I see the face of the beautiful woman who sleeps next to me I know now as my mother. Her face looks rather peaceful with arms still hugging me from the night before. This has actually become a frequent occurrence since we arrived in this cabin a few days ago. Even though there is actually another bed in this cabin she decided since I was still a baby it was appropriate to sleep next to each other..... Though I’m not exactly a baby anymore.

I’ve grown roughly two and a half feet since we’ve arrived here amongst several other changes that have been occurring within my body that even in a world of magic is truly mind boggling. At day 3 my leg muscles developed strong enough for me to walk around the cabin. Day 5, I was able to speak my first words and within a few hours was capable of speaking fluently with my mother for the first time in this world. These actions both surprised my mother in both good and bad ways. I guess she liked the idea of me staying a child for a little while longer. Though I’ve had no complaints on my end either. ‘I wish Loki would have told me about my abnormal growth rate...as now I am no longer allowed to breast feed from this woman, apparently if your old enough to ask for it your not old enough to have it..........ah what am I thinking about anyways!’

“ZzzzZzz mmm”

pat pat

I pat the top of my mothers head and her fox ears started twitching as she smiles while remaining soundly asleep. She looks so peaceful lying there in. I casually look down her head towards her bare slender neck and towards the two large mounds that are now practically inches from below my chin, then back up to her face. She really is such a breathtaking woman. Even in my world the women from there couldn’t compare to Elyria's gentle and alluring beauty. Though her wounds have still not yet healed, and she is still blind in her left eye, I still find her to be one of the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I don’t know what it is but there is just something about a woman with fuzzy anime ears that tickles the heart of a man.

I try to pull away from her and get out of bed without waking her. My mom apparently loves sleeping in. I can’t blame her as this is the first time in what seems like forever that she can truly relax like this. I’m no different, ever since having mom sleep beside me and coddle me throughout the night I’ve finally got a good nights rest in what has felt like a year. I use to have agonizing nightmares but ever since I’ve come to this forest with this fox woman I’ve been able to to find some sense of peace here I can’t seem to ever remember having. All because of this woman......

I gently try to remove the hands off me that now no longer are shackled with any magic deterring slave fetters, along with the collar around her neck has also been removed. Hlökk was nice enough to remove them for her upon arrival at the cabin, I guess she felt some sense of guilt for being unable to do more for us earlier. She did seem to be quite remorseful over the whole ordeal....

As I get out of bed I put on a shirt and sandals and get ready to go work out. I use this time in the early morning to thoroughly train my body since after my first week arriving here. My mom originally was against the idea claiming she wasn’t sure if it was healthy for a child to do such things, but eventually realized those kinds of things probably don’t apply to me.

I walk outside to one of the trees I’ve been using for punching practice. I originally would just do air strikes to get use to my new body but now I have the body of an athletic 8 or 9 year old. I eventually moved to hitting the tree for a little contact. At first my skin would get scuffed and blistered up and my mom would yell at me but after a few days my skin somehow naturally became quite tough, normal blows like this wouldn’t even be able to tear at the skin. I don’t know if this is due to Loki’s blessing or that weird growth essence he apparently put inside me but my growth is substantially increasing at a predominant rate. ‘But.....let’s be honest, that is no where close to the weirdest thing I’ve found out about my new body......ughhh fucking Loki. I feel like smacking him.’

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Twack!

After several punches and kicks I received a notification.

Strength + 1Stamina + 1Agility + 1

‘Hehe....nice.’ I never tire of seeing that. In my old world there was never any indication of your growth you just had to see the results after long extended periods of time of hard work. But now....literally everything in this world can be placed into numerical values and one can witness their growth first hand. However.....since Loki being the bitch that he is didn’t explain shit to me upon arrival and I had to casually pick most of this up myself or through conversations with Hlökk or my mother. Which brings me back to the first day I spent in this cabin.......

---------------------------------

Apparently if I focus hard enough I can see something of a central hud around the corners of my vision. The first time seeing this rather bizarre but I can see a red star in the top right corner of my vision. Upon clicking it a message popped up in front of my view.

Would you like to turn on your notifications?

Yes or no?

‘What.....Notifications?......ugh yes.’

Upon clicking yes I found out since I’ve been here I’ve had all the information I should have been originally receiving turned off.But that wasn’t what surprised me most.

My status had changed....

Name: Vali Race: Human Level: 3 Age: ?

Class: N/A

Title: N/A

Health: 700 Mana: 1300

Stamina: 55 Intellect: 300

Strength: 55 Wisdom: 400

Agility: 15 Defense: 55

Luck: 500

Magic Resistance: 10%

Poison Resistance: 0%

Elemental Resistances:

Fire: 25% Earth: 0% Light: 5% Lightning: 0%

Water: 0% Wind: 0% Dark: 5%

‘Hah? how am I level 3? Shouldn’t I be level 1 since I’ve come here. It took me a while to realize how this could have happened until I remembered I had killed random man. Though I’m quite positive he wasn’t a guard, I can’t tell how strong he must have been. Apparently enough that my level rose 2 times after killing him. You can gain experience in this world in a number of ways and oddly enough murder is one of them. Though after looking at my stats I just became more confused as even for a child my stats were all over the place.

For a person at at level 3 I originally thought those stats were rather, odd especially for a baby. Hlökk said the essence Loki gave me was from one of the great world trees. She told me that the essence itself was binding to my body so my growth would rapidly increase until I reached around the same age I was in my past life. Though other than that she said she wasn’t aware of any other effects it had. Since it came from a tree that was supposedly capable of holding up an entire dimension, it may have had other unknown effects that could change my body somehow. Though she did say a lot of the high stats I’m seeing should have come from Loki’s blessing. Apparently Loki’s Blessing also came along with granting a couple of unique abilities and greatly improved my luck while affecting growth correction in my stats and also allowing me to gain experience much quicker than an average human.

When I asked if all this was normal she just shrugged and said every God gives their own unique blessings as to whatever they’re affiliated with. Seriously though, these blessings from God’s I can see why mom was so surprised upon finding out I had one.

Originally I thought these stats were rather odd for a child of my size to have my mother was even more surprised by it. After showing her my status by turning on the display for other’s to see she was quite pleased and shocked at the same time. By the way her strength as a demi-human now that her shackles are off is around 350 while her intellect was a whopping 950. Though she still wont tell me her actual level her wisdom stat she said was somewhere around 1200. Also, after Hlökk had taken off my mothers shackles and collar I learned my mother is actually a 4 tailed fox. Apparently the large amount of her power was being subdued with those shackles she had on for so many years and getting to bring out her other tails was also very satisfying for her.

I had asked at that time if she ever met a 9 tailed fox as I’ve heard about them in myths in my world but she said she hasn’t either as it is as much a legend to her. Though, she did say an elder from a neighboring tribe had 6 tails and apparently for fox priestesses the number of tails one has is directly proportional to ones power for the fox tribe. She said in her clan she she was the one with the most tails in her village and was looked up even as a child for her great potential. It’s possible to have your tails increase with age and when they grow in magical or elemental affinity but according to her it’s very difficult, as she herself was born with two tails which is incredibly rare according to her. Now that she currently has 4 I think my mom might be holding back on just how special a person she actually is.

----------------------------------------------------

I’d like to say that’s all I found out after looking at my status but there was much.......much more things I found out that day that just brought up many more questions. Next to the inventory icon was a skills list.

Now as a child I shouldn’t have been born with any skills but as a child who received the blessings of the God Loki I assumed to have maybe a couple of skills but what I found was much more concerning. During my swing’s I recalled what was going through my head the first time I saw my skills list.

Skill’s List:

Divine Blessing of Loki:

Spatial Magic

Universal Language Acquisition

Racial Skills:

Demonic Absorption

Demonic Awakening

Magic Manipulation

Learned Skills:

Cooking

Ingredient Identification

Upon first seeing this my jaw dropped.....

“Loki......just what the hell did you put inside my body you bastard!”

After seeing this I apparently scared both my mother and Hlökk who was still a little crow sitting on the windowsill.

“Hlökk....do you know anything about this?!”

“Ah....eh well I just found out myself recently yes.” She answered while turning her head. It had been a few days since I got to this world and after collecting food and eating lunch with my mother I decided to learn more about this game world and myself. But what I had found was truly terrifying.

“What the hell did he do!!!”

“Well you see Vali.....that is what Loki is currently trying to understand right now. Those skills you have acquired......we did not give to you. Other than Loki’s divine blessing we do not know how those other 3 racial skills came to be.” Hlökk said nervously back towards my angry tone.

“It says DEMONIC......what the fuck is going on!”

“VALI! Language.....and do not raise your voice so much at a women you know better than that.” My mom becoming aware of my hostilities looked towards me with an unpleasant look and entering into our conversation.

“Now sweetie......what appears to be the problem exactly?”

“Just look at my status!”

As I turned my display to on for others to be able to see it I flick it towards my mother and turn it around for her.

“Oh dear.....so that explains that night.”

“HA?” I’m shocked....does she know what’s going on with me?

“You don’t remember when you came and rescued mommy? Your eyes were as black as the night and you had an appearance completely different than the little boy I knew. I wont lie that at first I was a little frightened of your appearance, but one simple hug from your mother and it all went away.”

“Yes...Vali, you need to understand that currently that is what Loki has been looking into and trying to find information as to those abilities as they are quite......unique.”

“Ya think! So....what’s this mean that i have some demon powers in my, how is that possible?”

“........ We believe it could be due to you.......inheriting these skills.....Perhaps, we can speak in private?” Hlökk said while timidly looking towards Elyria.

“Oh...well if it is something that private between God Loki and my son I guess I can go outside and collect some ingredients for dinner. But remember.....you can always come to me about anything ok sweetie.” My mother came over to me and rubbed my cheek before leaving out the front door.

“Now what were you saying....are you.....implying my mother was raped by a demon all those years ago?” I couldn’t comprehend what was going through my mind right now, I could feel my heart beginning to pound through my chest. As my insides began to churn Hlökk turned into her human form and came over to try and console me.

“We do not know what happened Kayle, nor do we know anything about your origins as of now, but we are currently trying to find this out.” She placed her arm on me awkwardly and continued.

“I know its hard to accept, I know how much you hate demons, it came as quite a shock to Loki and I as well. But maybe.....it’s a blessing in disguise......

-------------------------------------------

Going through the memories in my head I continued to swing at the bare tree with bitss of bark being chipped away with each swing.

Strength +1Stamina +1Agility + 1

It wasn’t usually this easy to get my stats to go up in the game but I remembered and old trick in the gym that gave my punches devastating power. I would at the time hold dumbbells while I would train and throw punches. I eventually got to the point where I could do it normally with 55 pounds in each hand. though now I’ve had to succumb to using weighted stones tied to my wrists and ankles. this helped me raise my stats much quicker though and not just my stamina or strength either. I wonder how long it’ll take until my body gets back to my usual self. Hlökk did say some world tree’s essence is inside of me and it will drastically increase my growth until I get back to my usual self. Hmmmm...

Bam! Bam!

Congratulations!!!

You have now advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 8!

20% Increase in strength and evasion rate while fighting without a weapon.

10% Increase in attack speed.

Strength + 5 Stamina + 10 Agility +5 Defense + 5

‘Ahh good. I should be able to raise it to Level 10 by breakfast. Along the moment it reaches 10 it will switch over to Level 1 intermediate hand to hand combat. Since I didn’t have weapons I had to work on my martial arts. Which I personally believe is a good place to start off before holding any weapon. if you don’t have any good fundamentals and jump straight into weapon mastery there are actually penalties later on.

I remembered in the game I played back home that a lot of players were unaware of this fact and when starting the game they would immediately go out and buy whatever weapon they could. Though if you didn’t learn the basics of hand to hand combat there was a slight penalty when holding a weapon and you didn’t get to exert its full power. Though if one were to increase his hand to hand combat first there would be no penalty and if you raised it high enough would actually greatly increase the damage when holding a weapon later on. Though many people besides monks would never do this, though they weren’t ones to ever really use weapons themselves. So due to that many people in the game were completely unaware of this fact.

As someone who enjoyed martial arts I enjoyed trying to use hand to hand combat in the early portions of the game and randomly came to learning this fact after later changing over to a sword. The effects were amazing on the overall power it granted me later on.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Strength + 1Stamina +1Agility +1

Twack!!

The tree I was swinging on rupture after my last swing as my fist went straight through it.

Congratulations!!!

You have advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 9!

Strength + 5 Stamina + 10 Agility + 5 Defense +5

You have Learned a new Skill!!!

Powerful Strike

Perform a powerful strike that will devastate your enemies!

50% increase in Attack Power

Cost 30 SP

Cool down time: 3 Seconds

Nice I got another hand to hand combat skill.

After getting past the basic level of hand to hand combat and becoming a beginner I also learned a skill at beginner level 3 called “Quick Fists” which increased my attack speed by 10% but was also a non passive skill.

The skill lists go to 8 levels of mastery. Beginner, Intermediate, Novice, Advanced, Adept, Expert, Master, and Divine. Well that is according to the the game from before that I was use to. I really want to acquire a lot of passive or semi passive skills that I can stack on top of each other that will really come in handy later on.

See passive skills are skills that are always turned on, and are always helping you in the background. They can range from any number of attributes and will always assist you without any cost to your magic or stamina points. Semi-passive skills such as my demonic awakening skill if turned on will stay on using up mp or sp while in use.

Walking to another tree I began to continue my training while swinging at a tree.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Currently right now I now have 9 skills. The abilities I have received from Loki were incredible. I’ve yet to fully understand just how unique and profitable it is to be blessed by a god. Universal Language Acquisition will allow me to communicate with any sentient race that has a language. This is an invaluable skill as my mother says this is something that she has never seen before. She herself can speak in human tongue but many other races like the elves and other demi human races have languages that are very hard to learn. Such as the lizard-man race talk with a weird series of clicking sounds with their tongue and is quite hard for others to understand. Though if I were to be in a room with one I’d be able to understand anything it was saying while also being able to converse with anyone in a universal language which is recognized by anyone.

Though Loki’s blessing did not stop there. While also greatly increasing my luck and stats, it also gave me the ability to gain experience much quicker than the average humans. He also gave me a very powerful magic known as Spatial Magic. In my opinion this is something of a cheat skill. It allows me to teleport myself or any object practically anywhere within my range of vision within 50 meters. As my level and intellect grow stronger I can apparently increase the distance as well as the uses of Spatial Magic in battle. My mouth seriously drools at the opportunities of this skill. I guess this is probably how Loki moved around so well and was able to pull off those tricks of his....Ughh thinking of that annoying laugh right now is off putting.

Hlökk told me to train in my Spatial magic daily as it would become a very valuable tool later on. She implied that teleporting myself during a battle is only one small portion of the potential seen in this magic.

I’d like to say that’s all but the other 3 unique abilities I have are equally absurd skills.

Demonic Awakening: Awaken the power of the fallen. Increases Strength and Defense by 200%. Increase Agility by 150%. All other stats rise 25%.

This is the skill i may or may not have inherited and is what caused my vision to grow blurry and change my eye color and nail length. It turned my nails razor sharp and even grew two small fangs in my mouth. The first time seeing my appearance in my reflection of some water I was bathing in was a lot to take in. I looked very......creepy. Though intimidating, I didn’t hate it. If these demons gave me these grotesque abilities I’ll use the same skills to tear them apart. Something capable of tripling my strength and defense isn't a bad thing.

Demonic Absorption is another ability I acquired and is something that Hlökk was quite interested with when I had brought it up to her. Apparently she told me that amongst the demon races there are several very strong demon kings all under one Demon lord who controls the lands to the northern Continent. Apparently there is constantly infighting between clans and demon families, even more so than the humans. Amongst the stronger clans are lineages that hold great power through their blood lines and over time they have survived and grown to be very strong. Each of the strongest families have powerful abilities that are unique to their family making them outlandishly stronger than the other demons in the area.

When I asked Hlökk what the demons were like in this world I was surprised to find that they weren’t much different than the humans in this world. Some don’t even seek out violence or war and enjoy living life normally in their cities with their families. Much like humans do as well. Though I’m told there is quite a bit of hostility between them and humans, which isn’t much different than most races with humans in this world it seems.

These abilities apparently are passed through these families like royalty would in the human continent with their noble lineages. Though humans rarely inherit any abilities......Though somehow I managed to have inherited 3.

Demonic Absorption: Upon consumption of a fallen foe you can acquire one random racial ability and take on its traits. One must consume the heart, blood, or power source of the individual within an hour upon the victims death (Unless consumption from a monster's core). The ability stolen will be selected at random based on one’s own skills. Max limit of 2 abilities for fallen monsters as your diet will allocate to the absorbed parts and unable to learn any new abilities. Limit does not adhere to unique races.

‘......yah anyway i look at it this it's a cheat.’ Though it selects a skill at random, there was never any ability anywhere close to that in the game. The skills I had acquired through the game were all through my class or ones I gained from quests following unique conditions my siblings taught me about. But I never found any way to obtain monster abilities through the game.

Bam! Bam! Thwack!!!!

With my continued swings on the new tree bark began to scatter around as the sun was now creeping overhead above the trees. ‘Damn...almost time for breakfast.....no I need to keep going I need to get to intermediate today!’

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Oh yah I had one more unique ability. Though demonic absorption was something Hlökk seemed to be weary and concerned over the ability Magic Manipulation was something her and my mom showed to have more disbelief of. The ability stated,

Magic Manipulation: You can manipulate any magical properties in the world and bend it to your will.

Now reading this I just assumed it meant I would be able to use magic but that was quickly refuted by both Hlökk and my mother. Any mage has specialties in magic they spend their lifetime on developing. But their magic isn’t necessarily manipulating their respective elements or fields. My ability however seems to be something else entirely from that.

“Though I am not a mage type this is an ability that seems to be troubling Loki the most as well. if the possibilities are right, it may be possible for you to manipulate any magical properties you come into contact with and change it into your own.”

“Isn’t that just what magic is?”

“No...this skill apparently gives you the innate ability to manipulate magic at its core. You can change the magic within objects as well as anything in your general surroundings to your own. It could even be possible to manipulate magic that is projected towards you....that is what Loki communicated with me over his findings. Henceforth he wants you to continue training your magic with your mother from here on out as well......”

Bam! Bam! Bam! Twack!!!!

Strength + 1Stamina +1Agility +1

Congratulations!!!

You have advanced your hand to hand combat level to Beginner Level 10. Now it will advance to Intermediate Level 1!

Strength +10 Stamina +20 Agility +10 Health +200 Defense + 10

You now no longer will hold any penalties when holding a weapon for the first time.

30% Increase in Attack Power and Evasion Rate while fighting without a weapon.

20% Increase in attack speed when fighting without a weapon.

You’ve been awarded a new skill!

Stunning Blow!

Strike your opponent and stun them for a brief period of time.

40 Sp cost

Cooldown time: 10 seconds

‘Ughhh finally!! Nice i got an added boost to my health and even a new skill. This is great.

“Good morning Kayle......I can see your hard at work as always.”

“Oh hey Hlökk, did you bring those ingredients I asked for last time?”

Becoming aware of Hlökk’s presence I don’t turn around to greet her as I’m still reading up on some of the new added boosts to my stats I’ve acquired.

“.......yes. Though I’m curious as to why you asked me to go collect such odd things for you. Lord Loki has also voiced his concern with your diet and thinks you need to start eating more meat. He thinks you will grow up to be a rather scrawny champion and asked me to pick up some food for you this morning.”

It was at that moment I turned around and noticed Hlökk was carrying three very large rabbits with horns growing out of their head.

“Hah! Loki said that huh. Ya know he still hasn’t paid me a visit since I got here. Is he really that busy stuck in a library all this time?”

“Yes....he’s the type of person who throws himself into his studies. Though he may show an image of a troublemaker amongst the God’s he is actually quite wise and the hard worker.”

“Ah so god’s think of him as a nuisance too huh?” I stated as I stare back at her with a smirk on my face.

“......well he is known for his games he likes to play. They can.....rub some the wrong way, yes.” Hlökk answered quite awkwardly, I guess she doesn’t like speaking ill of the God she serves directly under.

“Oh..... you mean others find him pretentious?........I’m shocked.”

“.........is that sarcasm?”

“Nothing gets past you Hlökk.” I roll my eyes and start to take off my shirt that is covered in sweat.

I sit down and start to do some light stretches after my workout and untie the weighted rocks from my wrists and ankles. ‘Ya know, Hlökk is an odd one. I can tell she doesn’t get out much and isn’t use to extended conversations. It’s amazing how a women with such an amazing figure and face doesn’t have more experience dealing with people. Though I guess she is a Valkyrie whose made for war.’

“So wha’d Loki decide from breakfast this morning?

As she stared back at me with the same straight face she answered.

“ I went out and captured a few horned rabbits in the area.....you know come to think of it you should be able to hunt on your own at this point, why can’t you do this yourself?”

She made a beat red face and turned away, I assume because of my partially naked appearance. Upon turning around I can see now that the rabbits do in fact have horns coming out of them. Ya know come to think of it she is right. I haven't had the opportunity to eat any meat since I’ve been here. A growing body does need protein but all I’ve had is fruits and other ingredients my mom and I have collected and tried to cook together with during our time here.

“Well let’s go inside and cook some breakfast before mom gets up with the other ingredients you brought as well. I know just the recipe I’ve wanted to try out. I found some other interesting ingredients in the forest the other day with mom and have been preparing them waiting on you to come back. “

As I got up I began to head back to the house and ushering for her to follow.

“.....I see you do in fact enjoy strange things for a boy your age.”

“Have you forgotten I’m not really a 9 year old boy. besides in my past life I loved getting to try out new dishes and cook for my two younger siblings. It was just one of the few hobbies I guess I enjoyed. Come on you should stay and try it out I promise you won’t be disappointed. Besides I need help convincing mom it’ll be ok to let me leave the house and start hunting on my own soon. She still doesn’t trust me to be out alone.”

“Do you blame her....she still doesn’t know of who you really are Kayle. Why are you withholding that from her anyways. Surely she doesn’t think of all of this is from mine and Loki’s influences.” Just before crossing into the threshold of our log cabin Hlökk questions me. I stopped and contemplated how I wanted to answer her.

“.....yah I guess I haven’t found a good chance to tell her. It’s not like I want to withhold anything from her but.....I don't know I want her to enjoy seeing me as her son for a little while longer is all.” After saying that I entered into the house with Hlökk.

“....I see. So that is why, you were thinking of her. She is not your real mother however?”

Pausing to figure out how to answer her I continued.

".....yah.....but she does a really good job at being one. Why not let her continue thinking of me as her son if not for just a few more days.”

Walking into the kitchen I grabbed the meet from Hlökk as well as the ingredients I had previously asked her to obtain to start preparing breakfast.

“.......do you believe she would stop thinking of you as her mother after learning the truth then.” Asking this she made a puzzled look towards me while I started to begin with the ingredients.

“Ugh....honestly I couldn’t tell ya. Guess we’ll find out eventually wont we.”

She looked down as if thinking about something while I started up a fire on the ill conceived skillet and prepared an interesting dish I don’t believe to have been made in this world yet.This kitchen was actually quite convenient. Though not as high tech as the one at the diner or even my home, it did have a lot of free space I wasn’t use to. ‘Ughhh......I can’t wait to taste some delicious meat!!! With water running down my mouth I prepared the meal.’

Hlökk’s POV:

‘This boy Loki has sent me to watch over is becoming more and more confusing as time passes. Upon first meeting him in the park that day all I saw was a disheveled man with an arrogant attitude. Though Loki seemed to think much more of him.’

He was much different than the humans I met as his face would make a smile though his eyes never showed to do the same. I knew he had a rough past after meeting his little sister. But who knows what all that time alone did to him. After coming to this world however he became even more of a strange existence. He had demonic abilities.......the same as the species he claimed to hate so much for tearing his family away. But these abilities even for demons were truly unique. Demonic absorption was an ability I had never seen and I doubt even the demon kings in this world even possess such an oddly absurd skill.

If the individual consumes parts of his fallen victims then he can acquire a skill from those he has vanquished. Truly a ridiculous weapon that could be terrifying if left unchecked. If that is possible his potentials he could reach are mind boggling for me a Valkyrie attendant to the Gods.

Though that would be enough he had another ability we couldn’t find out to what its origin was. Magic manipulation that is something even some Gods can not utilize perfectly. It can allow you to interfere with this worlds magical laws and turn them into your own. If this person learns how to increase his affinity and knowledge of the magic in this world he will be a truly frightening opponent to face. Even with his Spatial Magic he acquired from Loki can possibly be manipulated in time.......truly a puzzling thing this boy.

‘Seriously though who is this person. I can’t seem to want to trust him as he doesn’t speak much. Though, I am use to Gods who always speak and say what is on their minds. I can’t accept he has no information about his past but Loki seems to think he wasn’t lying. This boy doesn’t speak much about his past, all he does is swing his fists at a tree for hours on end everyday and trains himself to the point of physical exhaustion.’

I must say even for a warrior maiden I find his will to be incredibly strong. Maybe it is true what Loki said about individuals born from weakness hold terrifying power that gives them an edge over those born from privilege. I never knew what he was talking about until I had seen this boy work his body till he was covered in sweat and blood from such an intense work.

Currently right now I am sitting and watching him cook breakfast for all of us. He asked me to collect some weird assortment of ingredients the next time I visited. Though I’m never far away, I do have to go back and speak with Loki on occasion to receive and give new reports. He seems very interested in wanting to cook a meal today, and since I did bring the ingredients I do have a reason to be here but this is the first time spending such an extended period of time with this boy. I....I really don’t know how to act in such a situation. Should I say something?’

“Mmm this rabbit meat is going to go perfect with today’s entree. thanks for bringing me the milk, eggs, and hehe....other ingredients.” As he started to chuckle to himself I remembered some of the other odd things he asked me to collect.....Ughh why would he ask me a Valkyrie to the Gods to collect such things!’

“........yes though it does smell appetizing why did you ask me to collect such odd things. And what is that white substance you are using?”

“haha to the first question you’ll just have to see. And to your second this is an ingredient used quite often in my world known as flour.”

“That is a flower?”

“Hahaha....no its not what your thinking it is called floooourrr. It’s said the same but spelt differently. Basically if you take certain seeds or roots and mash them together they can make this white powdery substance known as flour. it’s a major cooking ingredient where I’m from though this will taste much different than the more purified versions from where I’m from.”

He started to mix the ingredients together and mashing the white flower substance into a bowl.

“And we are going to eat this flower?”

“Haha something like that, that see now with this I throw the powder into a bowl and mix it with water, salt and oil you brought. After mixing it thoroughly I’m going to throw it on this weird iron skillet and make toritillas!” He seemed rather excited as he said that last part.

“Toorteeyahs?”

“Ha would you like to come see. I use to make breakfast burritos for my siblings all the time. It was easy because it was really cheap to make and the cook at the diner would always run out of ingredients so I learned first hand how to make some of these things without the normal methods. See growing up we came from a really poor family and it was just my mom and two younger siblings for a while. Well, until she passed, so I took on most of the cooking duties from there on.”

“.......I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Eh.....don’t be. Now, the floud is pressed down I can throw the flattened pieces in the skillet and when they heat they will eventually become hard and able to wrap around the rest of the food I’m preparing.”

“Why would you want to consume hard food?”

He made an odd face when I said this and looked back at me confused.

“.....It’s not that hard. Now next I’m going to scramble some egg yolks as well over the fire. The egg yolk is a good compliment to this too. Now....all we need after this is the cheese which I have to say was quite difficult to make. Which is why I told you to bring those odd other ingredients from before haha.”

“Eh! You mean we will be eating that as well?”

I wanted to vomit when I remembered the other things Kayle had asked me to gather from him......why....why did he make me collect such things!

“Yep....It’s an ingredient that I also found out about working at the diner, the cook I learned under was very smart after all. Though I never thought I would use it until coming here. It’s an ingredient that is found in cattle or sheep’s stomachs and is an enzyme that helps them to digest their foods. It’s an enzyme known as rennet. We also use this ingredient commonly to make cheese, which is also a huge cooking ingredient in our world. When added to milk and churned for a period of time it will change the texture of the milk and turn it into cheese. Though I’m not sure how it is going to taste with some of the ingredients we’ve had to gather in more crude ways. But that’s the fun of experimentation!”

‘What is he saying? I’ve never heard of some of those words coming out of his mouth. Rennet, cheez, inzhimes, toorteeyahs? Maybe this boy is actually much more intelligent than I had previously thought of him. Though he always had a smart mouth I was use to it after so many years working under Loki. Though this boy seemed to be very resourceful. I must say even as a Valkyrie who gets to dine amongst the Gods this foods aroma that wafted into my nose was intoxicating. He had also seasoned the meat in a strange way before cooking it over a fire. I don’t want to show my eagerness but I would very much like to taste some of this food from another world. I always visited with Loki but I never took part in dining in the world Kayle came from.

“MMmmm....Vali waht are you making for me this morning!!!!”

His mother had apparently awoken to the aromas and entered into the room to see where the delicious smells were originating from. walking into the kitchen of the cabin she held her hair and stroke it to cover the scar on her face. I can see how much it still pains her to have such a wound.

I feel horrible over what atrocities this women must have gone through. If it wasn’t for the possibility of descending I would have tried harder and even wanted to asked some of the other Gods or Valkyries to heal her but that would only bring awareness to this child and to Loki’s plans. If they found out of this child’s existence all kinds of problems would arise and some may even come after him to hurt Loki indirectly.

I asked Lord Loki if he would heal her as well but he told me that it would be healed in due time, as this was simply just another stepping stone Kayle must overcome. Apparently he wanted Kayle to heal his mother as that drive would apparently push him further and is what Loki originally had wanted.

Though it truly saddens me ever time i see this fox women’s scarred face, Loki had consoled me a little by telling me if she wasn’t chosen to be Kayle’s mother she would still remain in that horrible place. Though that didn't ease my feelings much at all.....

“Just sit down.....this is aa surprise I’ve prepared this morning. I’m sure you will both enjoy it.”

“Oh.... Hlökk I didn’t notice you came in today. How are you?”

Elyria had eventually taken notice of me as she couldn’t help but to be swept up in such a sweet aroma that filled the entire house.

“I’m doing well. How are you miss Elyria?”

“Oh you don’t have to call me miss....It makes me feel so old. Just call me Elyria, were friends after all!”

“Ok......Elyria.”

‘Did she call me her friend.....hm. That may be the first time someone has said such words to me. I have sister Valkyries back home but......I’m not sure if I would consider any of them friends.’ I looked down contemplating this as Kayle presented us with plates full of his dish he had created.

“Alright eat up. This here is a breakfast burrito! It contains egg, cheese, and the meat Hlökk was so kind as to hunt for us. As well as the outside is covered in a fresh homemade tortilla. Enjoy.....oh and before I forget I found this herb that’s very spicy so I made a make shift salsa as well and is what originally made me want to make this dish today, so don’t forget to try on your food as well!”

As me and Elyria drew closer to the food Kayle has prepared we both look at it quite oddly. It doesn’t really look like food. It’s just a white stick shaped object. Apparently he said egg and meat were in there with this weird substance from before he called cheese, which I believe also exists on this world. I was just unaware of this being the way it was made. Thinking back on what he said he used to create such a substance however made me want to vomit. Valkyries don't necessarily need to eat anything and with my limited interactions with Humans I was unaware of some of their creations. Loki did say they could get quite creative.....

“Oh...this looks interesting Vali! Hmm let’s try it.......eh!!!! Mmmm!!!!”

As Elyria took a small bite her face became red and she brought her other hand to her cheek. She jolted upon taking the first bite which makes me think she disliked it but her appearance seems to be smiling.

‘Ughhh do I have to try this....uh he’s looking at me now waiting for me to take a bite. Ugh...ok! I’ll make it quick......munch.....’

“Mmmmm oh wvow! Sho Gerd!”

It was amazing. What a wonderful assortment of flavors that upon touching the tip of my tongue sent my whole body into shivers. It was an indescribable taste. The meat was so juicy and the there was a taste of something sweet in there as well, is this the cheez he spoke of.....Oh my its wonderful. This taste is something I’ve never experienced in the hundreds of years I have spent living.

Opening my eyes I see him smirking towards me then he looked over to his mother. He gave her a different more gentler smile as he watched his mother enjoying what he had made. He wasn't the same angry and quiet boy I remember......‘wow.’

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Upon seeing him smile it was the first time I’ve ever seen him show such a warm and caring atmosphere since we’ve met. He’s always shown to be so detached and this is a look I did not think he was capable of. Kayle always showed signs of holding on to such painful memories but he......really did have such a cute smile. Though he’s still just a child, I must say he has a very attractive face. I didn’t notice this until now. Seeing this though made me forget I was chewing on food and I almost choked.

“Haha careful! Now yall need to try it with this salsa alright. Trust me it adds a little kick.” As he then pointed towards the green substance in front of us he then took a bite of his own portion.

“Oh Vali!! this is so wonderful! Where did you learn to cook such foods?!” His mother said with her eyes still clothes enjoying her meal.

“Oh just some trial and error and spending some time messing with herbs and other ingredients. So you like it?”

“MMmhmmm....oh yesh itsh sho derisheous!!”

“Hahaha don’t eat with you mouth open mom, come on now.”

“Mmm hmm”

“And now after messing with these ingredients and making this dish my cooking skill has rose to Beginner level 4! Hahahaha! Did you know that after raising your cooking stat can pull out more flavor from your food and also get incredible boosts to your health points permanently. Ah this world is truly something!” Kayle said this as he continued to eat his meal.

COughhh Cough!

Though he then made an odd look and stared back at his food with a weird look. He made a concerned face as he continued to chew his food. ‘What is it? Is it not what you thought it would taste like? It’s really good Kayle!’

“Cough...Cough.....I just learned a new skill.......Flicker?”

““Hah....what are you talking about!””

Elyria and I were both shocked as we didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Apparently my ability demonic absorption has finally shown itself hahaha! I learned a new skill from eating this monster meat Hlökk brought for us. It’s a skill called Flicker!”

With that Elyria and I had looked at him in amazement as we had forgotten about his other odd skill to absorb abilities. Looking after this boy as per Loki's orders I can see is going to be a handful.....

End of Chapter!