It seemed that the laws of the world were naturally against her today. Embla nearly dropped her fork in shock when she heard Yuki’s rather shocking statement.

“You’re gonna what?” Cal asked.

“I can’t bring you guys with me as part of the official delegation… well, maybe Red but not you guys so, I did the next best thing. Hire you! Isn’t this going to be great? We haven’t had a vacation in years. Despite being a wasteland of fascism and racism, Muspelheim has great beaches that we can visit,” Yuki said, clapping her hands together.

“Are you allowed to do this?” Embla asked.

“Yeah. As long as I can pay, I can hire extra security detail. Besides, I don’t trust anyone in Ataraxia since they’re all greedy quest hoarders,” Yuki said. “I might as well hire you guys for this… possible high ranking quest. Maybe an S.”

Embla bit the inside of her cheek. An S Rank? With her sister now in the play? Embla doubted that Valentina was going to even let her leave the country at this rate. She knew how overprotective her sister could get.

“Sure,” Red said.

“I’m sorry what?” Pandora looked over to Red with wide eyes. “Isn’t there some sort of rule against this?”

“Nope! I researched all the guild’s rules and stipulations before coming here. I even asked Kaguya to get me the latest edition of Ataraxia’s Guild Laws and hiring process,” Yuki said.

“Alright, if you say so. I’ve never been outside of Midgard first. All the things that I was sent to were all within Midgard. Some were close to the border like in Nidavellir but never that far,” Embla said. Yuki’s explanation had calmed her down somewhat. Behind her fear was excitement. Excitement of a new journey beyond the borders of her country. She wondered what Muspelheim was like in her head.

“Welp, I need to get to sleep. I have an early day tomorrow with the delegation refueling. We’re leaving on Casitas so that’s in… three days?” Yuki said.

“Three days is enough time for us to prepare,” Red said.

“Alright! So, be ready guys!” Yuki said.

Three days? That’s… I guess enough time to get pointers from Val. She said that she’ll let Koji and Azalea handle Alfheim to spend more time with me so that’s a plus too, Embla thought. She smiled at the thought.

The crack of dawn was never the best time to wake up. Yet everyone insisted that the time before sunrise was the best time to train. Embla huffed at such a suggestion. Mornings were evil and a mistake made by Odin. Embla gulped down her morning tea and got off the chair.

Valentina was doing some light stretches. She wasn’t wearing her uniform like she normally did. Her sister was wearing a white tunic shirt with black pants. Ragnarok Blossom was in her left hand in its sword form, Black Lily. Embla gulped when she saw the blade. That blade cut down more people than there were trees in the forest.

“Ready?” Valentina asked. “I heard you only have three days. Princess Shirayuki is planning on hiring your party as an escort to Muspelheim so we won’t have much time to get the basics down.”

“I can always practice while I’m there,” Embla said.

Valentina smiled and nodded.

“We’re not sparring but I’m here to teach you how to use an Arts. Did Uncle even tell you anything about it?” Valentina asked.

“He told me not to beat a river into submission,” Embla said.

“Well, that’s a useful tip and he’s right. You shouldn’t try to force your Arts under your heel. That’s like trying to order your lungs to breathe,” she commented. Valentina raised both her hands.

Embla watched as an array of translucent blue cubes manifested into existence above her sister’s left hand and an erratic black and red orb manifested above her sister’s right.

“Woahh! That’s just like the laser beam I fired at that woman! Sigrun I think her name was.” Embla reached out to touch the red orb when Valentina suddenly closed her hand.

“Don’t touch it unless you want to lose a hand,” Valentina said, giving her a blank stare.

Embla slowly retracted her arm and stood in attention. She wanted Valentina to explain this. The ability was amazing. Even if she knew nothing of it, Arts were a power beyond skills and bursts. As a Sage’s Apprentice, she could finally go forward and stand by her status proudly. Not that she didn’t before. It was just a way of proving to herself that her efforts were not in vain.

“Arts is a mysterious, nebulous power that this world has yet to understand. People in the temples and churches will all refer to it as the Power of God. No one knows where it came from or why some people have it. Ask a Priest where Arts came from and they’ll all spout the same story over and over again no matter what country.

“Odin hung himself from the Hodmimmis Holt in order to attain forbidden knowledge. Using that knowledge, he blessed living beings with the power of Eitr which grants them the power of an Arts. I know that’s how Mom called it but the texts and temples all refer to it as that too. It seems that Mom’s naming sense wasn’t too far off the handle,” Valentina said.

“So this Eitr stuff is just energy inside our body? And only a few people are born with it right since only 12… well a few people in this world can use it?” Embla asked.

“Yes. Essentially, only one in a million people are born with the capacity to possibly awaken an Arts and out of those people, only one in a million will ever awaken it,” Valentina said.

“How did you awaken yours?” she asked.

Valentina said nothing for a few seconds. The light in her usually bright eyes dimmed and Embla’s face grew tight at her sister’s prolonged silence.

“A long time ago, when… when Dad and Mom died,” Valentina replied.

“Oh,” Embla said.

The two said nothing for a few minutes.

“Right, let’s continue on. Since it’s awakened inside you, all you need to do is find the source and direct it,” Valentina said.

“Where is the source?” Embla asked.

“Your soul. But unlike your mana where you can draw it from your soul via focusing on mana fonts in your body, Eitr does not. Eitr is directly found at the core of your soul existing as a separate entity unlike mana which is energy your soul generates. You’ve felt it before I think. Inside of you. It feels completely different from mana. It feels like… what you would think yourself felt like,” Valentina said.

“That’s a really weird explanation,” Embla said. She gave her sister a pointed look.

“Hey, you’ve known me all your life. You should know that explanations aren’t my thing. Besides, this is the best you’ll get. Uncle’s not good at explaining things either and Aunt Lilim uses lots of technical terms so I mostly had to figure this out myself,” Valentina said.

“Right… so meditation?” Embla asked.

“That’s a step in the right direction.” Valentina crossed her arms and watched her intently.

“...” Embla sighed and sat on the ground. This would be the second time in her life she would meditate. Why did everything that required using some sort of esoteric inner power require sitting in a weird position and do introspection? She sighed again and looked deep within herself.

The first thing she noticed was that she immediately found her mana.

Val said my soul so if I just follow my mana back to its prime source I can-

Embla’s eyes opened rapidly. She lurched forward, trying not to heave onto the ground. Her left eye flickered erratically between gold and red.

“Not so easy is it?” Valentina said.

“What… it felt like I was being tugged through a rapid!?” Embla said, wiping spit off her chin.

“Well, you’re trying to breach to your soul. And I’m the best you got. There are a total of five people in this city who has an Arts. One of them is your friend’s handmaiden, one of them is your sister, the other is the Grandmaster, and the last two are over two centuries old. And I’m the only one willing to teach you!” Valentina smiled.

“That’s not an explanation! Why does it feel like I’m being blasted back?” Embla asked.

“Well, breaching the gap to your soul isn’t something that’s normally done. It’s like accessing forbidden territory or trying to stick two magnets together on their same poles. It’s hard to do. Doable but hard. Let me give you a tip. When trying to crossover into your soul, don’t rely on mana to guide you there. Mana flows outwards so you’ll meet massive resistance if you rely on it. Just… let it take you,” she explained.

“Let what take me?” Embla asked.

“Your gut. Just rely on your gut feeling. This power is supposed to feel like you,” Valentina replied.

“Like me? How am I supposed to know what I feel like?” she said.

“I don’t know. Less asking, more doing,” Valentina said. She clapped her hands in front of her sister’s face.

“Ugh fine! Jeez. Just stop clapping,” Embla said. “Alright.” She closed her eyes again and began following her mana trail.

Val said don’t use mana when trying to cross over so…

Embla scrunched her eyebrows and tried to sense herself. It was odd. She felt silly. How was she supposed to feel herself? Was it some sort of gut feeling she just had to rely on? This was stupid. How was she going to find herself when she was clearly here? There was no point to this exercise. She was fishing for something in the dark that didn’t exist.

“Ugh, I can’t find it and I…” she stopped talking. She couldn’t sense anything, not even her own sister. “Val?”

Her voice echoed in the emptiness she suddenly found herself in. Her eyes opened to the infinite expanse of different colors. Embla nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a shard of glass pass by.

“!?” She took a step back. Both of her eyes were golden. “Did I…? Is this my?”

Embla’s face fell. “This is really empty,” she commented. Her eyes took in the streams of colors that flowed through the “sky”. It was the best word she could come up with at the moment. This was a world inside her. Her eyes fell upon a large font just across from her. The water was a mix of different colors but the ones she mainly saw were blue and red.

“Just like Val’s,” Embla said. “Should I…?” she pulled her hand back. Her body had just moved on its own. Embla stared apprehensively at the water and gulped. She dipped her fingers into the water and was suddenly pulled in by an unseen force.

She tried to swim up but whatever it was that was pulling her in had a firm grip on her body. Embla let out a breath. Was she going to die here? Her eyes closed before noticing that the feeling of drowning never came. Opening them slowly, Embla looked around her.

The underwater of this pool was clear.

“It’s not your time yet.”

Her eyes widened when she heard another voice with her.

The voice was warm and feminine.

“It’s too early for you to be here. You’re only here for the Arts so go back and don’t explore any deeper than you have to.”

“Who are you?” Embla whirled around, trying to find the source. After spinning frantically for several seconds, she laid eyes upon herself.

It was her. A version of her with white hair and golden eyes. The only difference between her and the doppelganger of her was that the doppelganger was older.

“It’s too early for you so go back. I’ll give you what you came for so learn how to control it. When it’s time, she will be the one to tell you who I am,” the other Embla said. She smiled and touched her forehead.

Like before, Embla felt a rush but this time, it wasn’t nauseating.

Her eyes snapped open and she immediately got to her feet.

“Good job,” Valentina said.

“Huh?” Embla turned to her, only noticing that she was back in reality. Her head throbbed in pain whenever she tried recalling what had happened.

“You okay?” Valentina asked.

“Huh? Yeah, I just… did I do it?” Embla said.

Valentina created a mirror and held it up for her to see.

“My left eye is,” Embla trailed off.

Her left eye was now gold.