Sam looked at him with disbelief, after all the only God outside of the Tuatha she had learned of was one that promoted the torture and murder of those who did not follow him."There are no other gods; The Christians are merely creating a god to pin their actions upon!" To be honest, he had expected this reaction; it was the one thing that was common in the olden days was a lack of knowledge of other religions.

Wil shook his head as he patted Sams head gently."That is where you are wrong little one, but this elder will enlighten you and show you the wisdom I have culminated so far...." Stepping back from her he dropped once more to his knees, resting his hands on his knees as he tilted his face up to the morning sky. He decided to use his paternal grandmother's daily blessing this time around.

"Freya, Goddess of gold, Inspire me today."

"Teach me to walk through my day with pride in my own being, with confidence, with power."

"Goddess of fiery passion bless me with the insight to the marrow of my bones that I am a person of worth in the eyes of the Gods, in the eyes of the ancestors, and of myself."

"May I radiate this and transforms all I meet. That is my prayer for this day, oh great and powerful goddess, that I may mirror your presence throughout my day."

"In return, I shall praise you always, and lay amber before your image, consigning it to the sacred fires that burn when the day is at its longest."

"Hail Freya, Shining Goddess of gold. I praise You."

As he finished the prayer, a brilliant amber light covered his body, flooding it with a heat that tore a deep gasp from his chest, right before Sams' eyes a bizarre blue cat walked out of the forest and rubbed against his body. Licking at his scars and right in front of her eyes causing them to heal and return his body to its unmarred state while causing him to grow more muscular, As this happened Wil smiled faintly and reached out to stroke the cats head softly before he fell asleep.

Sam looked at the cat in shock and awe as it nuzzled the now unconscious boy's cheek, Looking over at Sam it bit his shoulder roughly though there was no blood. However in its place was a small mark that took the shape of a cat curled up with a wolf. Once the mark had taken form, the cat vanished before her eyes, like a haze of mist that soon left the two there alone, Wil asleep while sitting on his knees, and Sam with her eyes and mouth wide open at what she had witnessed.

Even as the daughter of a goddess the existence of another pantheon was something, she had always believed as a pipe dream, especially since the only other religion she had known about was that of Christianity in which the followers were encouraged to kill witches, pagans, and all who did not conform to their ways. But now she had been shown proof to the contrary by none other than one who had proved himself as a druid from another time; It was all so much to take in that she could not help but collapse to her knees.

She couldn't help but stare at him as he slept while still on his knees, head slumped down with his forearms resting on his thighs, it was as though he were still praying. Without the wounds, she was surprised at how attractive he was, though she had thought he was cute before now it was evident that in the future he would be both handsome and powerful judging by his current build. But now she had seen he had the innate affinity to be a Druid, and now she had seen that he was able to offer praise to another goddess of a religion she knew nothing of.

Her eyes flicked up to his left eye, more importantly to the dark crimson pentagram that remained on his eyelid. To save him before the fetish could use its full powers to heal him she had to bind him to herself as a familiar, a servant meant to defend her, and in return, she could channel her mana to keep him alive. She had yet to tell him of this, but she could tell that she had made the right choice to keep him alive, he would become the ideal guardian if she could teach him how to harness the powers of a druid.

For five hours Sam watched over Wilhelm as he slept, the entire time her mind raced with the new information. Growing hungry she decided to pour mana into Wil to forcefully awaken him. Raising her hand up to his cheek she gently rubbed the mark on his eyelid, a pulse of black and red light filled the mark as she yelped in shock. The draw was intense, pulling every ounce of mana from her body and leaving her panting before she could see his eyelids flicker open.

There was a deep gasp from Wil as though he had been holding his breath for too long; his eyes darted around taking in the surroundings before he calmed down, remembering what had happened. He shook his head before holding his hand out and speaking with a ragged breath. "Show Status..." There was a flash of familiar black and red light as a black leather tome appeared in his hand, Sam to tilted her head when he opened the cover. It revealed a list of numbers and colored bars, he then began flipping through pages until he settled on one that said Spells, there were two entries, Both were the ones he had just cast.

Curious she moved behind him and looked over his shoulder as he read he spells. The first was the blessing of protection she had asked him to cast; the second was called the Blessing of Freyja. As she read the page, she shivered faintly.

Blessing of Freyja

Cost FreeUsesOnce per week[/tr]

Description

One may call upon the goddess Freyja to heal all wounds and scars, returning them to their original appearance. However this blessing must be used cautiously as the user will be forcefully put to sleep for twelve hours as their body enters an intense state of regeneration, all excess body fat will be converted to speed up the process. An ally may sacrifice all of their mana and take a penalty of being unable to regenerate mana for three hours to reduce the time remaining by 4 hours.

Wilhelm began laughing as his head fell back, the tome vanished from his hands at the same time. Sam could not help the sense of wonder as she looked down at him as she stood up."Just what are you?" Wil stood up and rolled his shoulders as a grin settled upon his lips."I am a heathen beholden to no one god or goddess, At least not currently as I doubt I would be allowed to draw power from every pantheon."

Sam swallowed as she looked over his body, he had lost his excess weight, his young frame already rippling with muscles showing good definition in his calves and forearms, the faint showings of a six pack. He was the form of a warrior. "And why do you want to become a druid if you are not bound to our gods?" This made Wil smile as he spread his arms wide. "Because Druidism is not just a religion but also a mindset, a way of thinking. A bond to nature and inner peace that is what I hope to gain by learning proper druidism."

Seeing the look of bewilderment on her face Wilhelm couldn't help but laugh, something that earned him a look of agitation from Samantha, Her face turning a little red, out of anger or embarrassment he would never know. "And just what is so funny?" Wil smiled and motioned softly to her."You are, just your confusion and the way you are taking this all. A long time ago if someone were told all of this, they would call the other a liar, attack him, or call a heretic. But you just look dazed and confused... It's an adorable, and refreshing look to see."

With a huff Sam changed to the raven form and pecked him in the forehead before fluttering off, landing on a nearby stump before tilting her head down the path. Noticing that she wanted him to follow he pushed himself up to his feet before stretching, taking a deep breath, and kicking off of the ground as he took off in a run towards her, as he took off she did as well. She made sure that she was flying low enough to remain in his line of sight while he ran, forcing him to run as fast as he could just to keep up.

She decided to put him to the test, Her mother once told her that to become a druid was no simple matter, but now she was faced with someone who seemed to want to do it only for fun. As such she decided to place him in a situation to prove his determination, while she was exploring her new home she had discovered a crypt not far from where they were. If he wanted to become a druid, then he would first have to do the world a service.

It took thirty minutes to reach the crypt, and when they arrived a shiver shot through his spine. They stood a few hundred yards from the entrance to the crypt, and between stood three skeletons, one with a bow and another with a rusty wood cutters axe, the third was unarmed but stood taller than the other two by a foot and was much broader.

From the bushes where the two crouched Sam nudged him. "If you want me to teach you how to be a druid then you must go through the crypt and exterminate all the undead within." As she finished speaking a small black window with crimson text flashed in the corner of his eye.

Cleansing the Corruption

Difficulty Moderate Time LimitNone[/tr]

Description

In return for teaching you the path of the Druid you are to enter the Forgotten Barrow and destroy the undead within!

Reward

The Druid class, A spell tome, A Hunting Knife.

With a resolute nod of his agreement, Wil stood up. " I accept your quest.." While walking out of the bushes, he spoke the blessing of protection and then decided to try another. A blessing his grandfather would recite before every match back in his time as an MMA fighter.

"Morrigan, Queen of Battle, Chooser of the slain give me the gift of relentlessness so I might turn and turn and return. Let my will become that of a wolf seeking to protect his pack, A bear seeking to stand his ground, And a Raven seeking its home.

Grant me your blessing so I may turn my enemies' blows to healing. Let me be resolute and undoubting on my path, let my blows be as powerful as a smiths hammer, and my decisions as wise as the crow who sees the battle from above. Bless me, O' Queen of Phantoms, with all these qualities in your name and in your service."

While he finished a soft crimson light covered his body, and at the same time on his right shoulder blade a new tattoo was formed, One of a human skull with elongated canines framed by a crow with its wings spread. Adjusting the robe until it was properly fitted on his body with the hood pulled up Wilhelm did the only thing he knew to do.

He took a deep breath and charged the three skeletons, He stayed low to the ground, his hands occasionally digging down into the ground to act as another set of feet. The first target had to be the one with the bow, the other two would be easier to handle without an archer in the mix. Once close enough Wil lunged at the skeleton, his right hand grasping its skull as he knocked it over, slamming its skull down to the ground.

With a loud crack, the skull fell apart, the skeleton following after it. Moving swiftly Wil grabbed the bow and quiver it had held before rolling away just as the larger of the two skeletons tried to jump on top of him. Thinking swiftly Wil looked at the bow he had grabbed, it was worn out, and the string was nearly broken, he would be an idiot to even risk using it.

So he decided to put it to use more safely, he ran a short distance from the two skeletons before stopping, placing the bow against the outside of his right foot, stepped inside of the bow with his left leg before turning sharply to his right while pushing down on the bow. This created enough slack for him to un string the bow, effectively turning it into a curvy stick with rusty iron points.

At that second Wil took the bow stave in both hands and spun around, knocking the skull clear off of the smaller skeleton, though this didn't kill the skeleton it immediately ran after its skull. With just the big one to worry about Wil fell upon it with the stave, using every ounce of strength he had to deliver heavy blows down onto the skeleton. Cracking the bones of its forearms until he finally broke through them, bringing one more blow down onto its skull before the stave broke and turned to dust.

At that moment he could hear the rattling of bones from behind him, He quickly grabbed one of the larger skeletons femur bones and spun around just in time to block the axe as it came down towards his chest. The haft of the axe had caught the bone, before the skeleton could react Wil used the bone to pull up against the axe, grabbing the head of it and snatching it away from the skeleton.

He then brought the femur down violently to shatter the skull of the skeleton, causing it to fall apart like a morbid game of Jenga. Panting softly Wil went to retrieve the axe, giving it a few light swings as he looked it over. It was a standard light axe favored by woodsman for the smaller tasks of processing trees after they had been felled and split.

The head was a little loose but nothing that would lead to a catastrophic failure, For now at least. Though he had to break the bow, Wil hung on to the quiver, strapping it around his waist so that he could keep collecting arrows as he went along, having had no doubts that he would encounter more archers during this ordeal.

With one last breath of the fresh air, Wil walked through the opening to the crypt, once inside he found himself in a circular chamber with five doorways around the room. In the center sat a large altar that reminded him of one used by his aunt for black magics, but what stood out the most to him were the statues. Five in total all the size of a medium dog, most importantly was that he didn't recognize any of them.

While far from an expert on mythology it was impossible for there to be five goddesses or deities in the Nordic mythos that he didn't know about, not with them being drilled into his head as a child. The first thought that came to Wil was that these were a new pantheon created by the developers, moving closer to the altar Wil placed his hands softly upon it as he leaned in to take a good look.

Reaching out he gently stroked the statues, cleaning the dust and cobwebs away as he examined them all. They were beautifully made, a quality that should not have been possible before modern tools and the material was cold to the touch and as black as night. It was like metal but at the same time like stone, shaking his head lightly he moved to the one to the far right, the statue depicted a goddess with an athletically built body sitting upon a stump, wearing a flowing gown with an ornate staff with a wolves skull mounted to the top. A look of sorrow on her face as she held a rabbit, the body clearly damaged. Not by the passage of time but intentionally.

She was seemed to be mourning the loss, but as he looked closer, there were thin strands of a silver thread linking the goddesses hand and the rabbit, giving the image that rather than soothing the animal she was siphoning from it. This gave a different look to the goddess in Wils eyes, she was not sad at the animals passing, but at how small it was, that she was not receiving more from it.

Swallowing the spit in his mouth he moved over to the far left, this goddess was full figured, plump all around though not overtly. Wearing a gown like the other she had the look of a mother, this was accented by the fact that she stood over numerous cradles with small babies carved inside. However once again strands of silver went down inside of the cradles and wrapped around the children, one, in particular, was highly detailed, thin and emancipated.

He looked to the next one in towards the center, another thin goddess though rather than the flowing gowns of the other two this one wore a suit of what looked like leather armor by how form fitting it was, a quiver of arrows on her hip and a large ornate recurved war bow in her hands. Defying sense that a bow should not be used in a melee Wil could make out curved blades nestled in the recurves on the limbs, over the wielder's hand was an armor plate embossed with a symbol that looked like solar eclipse, brought out by gold material on the outside of the black orb. A blade was mounted to the front of the plate meant that the bow could be used as a stabbing weapon in a pinch. A large bear stood before the goddess tearing a man apart, another man seemed to be running away only for an arrow from the goddesses bow to have pierced the back of his head and come half way out through his mouth.

Shivering as the air around him grew colder Wil went to the second statue on the right, this goddess also wore light armor. However, she carried dual war axes, seemingly simple in design but clearly made for killing armored soldiers with a large spike coming off of the back of both, beautiful engravings of the eclipse covered both of the axes. This goddess was depicted straddling another female with the blades of both axes seemingly flaying the flesh from her face. The woman's legs flailing as the goddesses knees had her arms pinned to the ground.

Finally turning his head to the center goddess, he shivered violently, as though a hand made of ice grabbed his heart. This goddess was the most beautiful of the five, the easiest way to describe her was Amazonian, wearing a set of heavy plate armor over the top of what seemed to be a robe. The eclipse once more embossed on her chest plate, she stood with a sword that could hardly be called as such, the blade was as wide as she was from back to front, the handle large enough for four hands. However, she had it slung over her shoulder with ease as she stood over a pit, her left hand outstretched as golden threads went into the pit, attaching to the skulls of skeletons and zombies as they tore their way out of a mass grave. In the background of the scene, it was clear that the undead minions were attacking humans.

Wil stood staring at the statues, transfixed at the grim scenes countered by the beauty of the goddesses. No small amount of fear running through his mind at the thought of a pantheon such as this coming to power as some form of boss battle, but in equal measure, he was filled with excitement. There was an unknown war like pantheon that he knew nothing about, he licked his lips faintly as they were now as dry as a bone.

Shaking his head clear of these thoughts he was brought back to the task at hand, the scent of earth and dust flooding his nose as he took in the chamber. He could feel a chill running down his spine as he listened carefully. The rattle of bones could be heard behind the doors, the scratch of bone on iron as they fumbled with the latches. Tightening his grasp on the haft of the ax Wil made his way to the closest of the doors, pressing an ear close to the door. He could hear the faint rattle of metal against bone, whether from the hands on the door or weapons in hand he would not know until he lifted the latch and opened the door himself.

Steeling his nerves, he lifted the latch and pulled the door open, leaping back as a skeletal hand flew out at him. Narrowly avoiding the hand that would have grabbed him by the throat, looking through the doorway, he could see three skeletons, the two in the front unarmed though the one in the back held a small shield and spear. The skeleton with the spear would be a problem, in such a narrow hallway the shield alone was an issue, hardly larger than a buckler yet not quite the same size as a traditional round shield.

It covered a large enough area that even a skeleton could move fast enough to deflect an attack, then came the spear to thrust out should the opponent over extend themselves and leave a hole in their defenses. Taking a breath, Wil prepared himself for pain as he charged in for a strong start, swinging his axe as hard as he could while keeping in mind the length of the haft and the hallways width, slamming violently through the first skeleton. It's ribcage and left arm were torn apart, its skull clattering to the ground only for Wils large heel to come slamming down on it as he swung his axe once more.

The brittle bone couldn't hold against the force and shattered right as the axe came into contact with the second skeletons skull and shattering it in near unison. It was at this exact moment that the spear bearer moved, lunging at Wil as the spear shot out with a shocking amount of speed. Yelping as the blade bit into his left shoulder, slicing him to the bone despite being a glancing blow. Wil let out a loud yell as he grabbed onto the spear before the skeleton could pull back, Pulling as hard as he could Wil swung his axe down hard, shattering the skeletons left clavicle and knocking its arm, and by extension the spear loose.

With another shout Wil charged his enemy, his hand going up to grab onto the shield to prevent it being used as a weapon, slamming the skeleton into the wall with enough force to fracture its sternum, using the back of the axe he shattered the skull before dropping to his knees. Panting raggedly as he clutched his shoulder. Putting pressure on the wound as he wracked his brain for a prayer, it had worked out well enough so far that he tried his best to find a prayer of healing from his childhood.

One came to mind, a foggy memory of when he had shattered his hip as a child, Alice, Lily, and himself had been playing in the woods in the rain when he managed to fall into an ancient well that had been over grown. The next thing he remembered from that time was his father standing over him in the hospital praying out loud, his mother fast asleep.

"I call on you Eir, I call on your sisters, Hlíf, Þjóðvara, Hlífþursa, Aurboða, Björt, Bleik, Blíð, and Fríð.

I call upon your mercy and your love, I beg for all the help of your kin. I pray that you may watch over my body, I pray that you may keep death away.

I offer in your name a sacrifice of wealth..."

As he completed the prayer an intense heat enveloped his body, dragging a howl of pain from his throat as the wound was sealed shut, a grisly scar reminiscent of a burn in its place. Wil stayed on his knees panting for nearly ten minutes, the pain finally reaching a tolerable level as he stood up shakily. He slid the axe into his belt before he grabbed the shield, as he lifted it up a small sheet of surface rust fell away to expose none other than the emblem of an eclipse. Though the paint was now gone, he could make out the embossing on the shield. Rolling it over revealed that it was a unique design, the shield was mounted to an iron gauntlet that he had not seen earlier.

Wil did his best to look inside of the gauntlet as he pulled the bones out of it, a small part of him thinking that anything tied to those goddesses had to come with a price. Looking inside showed nothing like spikes that would bite into his flesh should he try to remove the piece, so he slowly pushed his arm in. Flexing his fingers once inside of the gauntlet before standing up and moving his arm with the shield on his left side, wincing slightly as this pulled on the scar. Despite this it was a well-made shield, still light weight despite being made of metal, the gauntlet was loose as one would expect since its user was now a teenager.

Grabbing the spear Wil took a moment to take a stance, left foot back, right foot forward, shield arm held in front of his body while keeping it tilted just slightly to help deflect arrows while still allowing him to see over it, the spear rested in a small discrete notch, at the ready. He smiled as he thought back to his early teens, to the times that Alice and Lily would drag him out of his room and into their mother's car to a larp their cousins ran. While they called it a larp it was more of a historical combat training group, using full sized accurate models of weapons made with hard latex and wood.

They taught proper form using the ancient manuals that lasted to the modern day, held within was all manner of information on tactics, the proper weapon uses, and stances. Some of which used to be thought of as a joke until put into practice such as grabbing a sword by the blade to uses the guard to hit an armored enemy in the eyes, a technique used mainly during a long battle when the blade was nearly dull, to begin with.

Wil nodded as he stood up straight, rolling his shoulders as he began making his way deeper inside of the crypt, new questions entering his mind as while similar in design to the barrows the Norse would have created, this was now clearly something built by worshippers of the unknown pantheon. Whether it was a resting place for their soldiers or a warehouse for the undead soldiers he now wanted to know more. No, he Needed to know more.

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