Yggdrasil and the two paths.

We were adventurers and explorers. We are not men of war, of carnage, and of desolation. The horrible scene was burned into our mind. As men of the sea, we are used to death. It was inevitable, but it was also the reason we mortals seek godhood.

My crew was silent, perhaps mourning the loss of others. We are not pirates, we still cherish live while we have it.

By the time we got significantly far away from the serpent, the night had once again fallen. The stars above were plentiful and could be seen through the massive branches of the giant ash tree. It was a serene moment after what we had gone through.

I turned toward my crew.

“Men, get a good night’s rest,” I hoped to reinvigorate them. “Tomorrow we will face the challenges this domain will throw at us.”

My men nodded back but they know their tasks. The ship needed small repairs after the skirmish with the imps. It was a good thing they turned into smoke so there were no corpses to dispose of. Annoyingly, a lot of tridents were left behind.

As Jobs said before, “Never throw away useful metal.” So we wrapped them up and stored them downstairs.

The crew who were injured were treated by our onboard doctor, Dr. Mortis.

“Hey Rigor, how are they?” I asked. “They good to go tomorrow?”

Rigor stared at me with his ghostly flames glowing in his eye sockets.

“All good Capt. just a few scratches, nothing serious.” His boney jaw clicked. “Just clean them and avoid getting them infected and all will be right.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Egg said with sincerity. “I always wondered, how can you feel my pulse when you’re a ghost?”

Rigor stared at Egg. Then again, he stares at everyone since he doesn’t have any eyelids.

“I’m a ghost, the undead aura in me counters the aura of the living in you,” He nodded. “The attrition between the two allows me to feel the pulse since your pulse is also connected to your aura.”

I’m sure you’re wondering just how we got a ghost for a doctor. Well, it’s a long story. So, I’m just going to sum it up in a single sentence.

He mourned, he got sick, he died in an explosion, he felt unfinished, and he joined us to seek what he was missing.

A wise man once said men are driven to insanity by their curiosity. Perhaps Rigor was one of them. His loved ones had died all around him by a mysterious plague, even he himself eventually succumbed to it. As a final effort to cure himself, he exploded. It left him without flesh or skin on his chest, hands, and face. As a doctor, his drive to find a cure made him a vengeful ghost. Although mostly harmless, he can really put up a fight.

He saved my life on many occasions, I owe him my life.

“Get some rest Egg, I need you to be sharp tomorrow.”

“Got it Capt.”

“Rigor, I hate to bother you but can you take lookout duty tonight?”

“Sure thing Capt.,” He nodded without emotion on his face (Although he can’t really show emotion without muscles and skin.) “Ghosts don’t sleep anyways.”

I nodded in thanks. Can’t really pat the back of a ghost.

I still had tasks to do. Although the other crew insisted I don’t, I light the lanterns on the ship every night. It was a ritual I kept from the time my dad took me on a journey on his ship the Sinclair.

Each and every flame jumped with fiery excitement when they touch the oil drenched rope inside the lamps. They were mesmerizing and provided warmth on the cold ocean night. My father once said I had an affinity with fire. Never truly understood what he meant. Magic was a far off thing for us mortals. Only those blessed by gods and goddesses had access to them.

With my grudge against our goddess, there was no way I would accept a blessing from her.

Sleep did not come easy that night, but with the rising sun comes a new day.

______

We were awoken by Rigor in the morning.

“Hey everyone,” He shouted from the crow’s nest. “There’s land ahead!”

I got out of my quarters and took my spyglass.

“There seems to be a gathering of participants.”

The crew smiled. My father had recorded this in his records. Each domain will have a town where race participants can mingle with the locals and trade for goods and supplies.

“Egg, bring us closer to the bay!” I commanded.

The mighty Sinclair Jr. slowly reached closer to the bay. The sails were brought down and the anchor was thrown overboard.

Jobs was left behind on the ship since he said he had experiments to perform. The rest of us boarded a small dingy and rowed to shore.

There were a lot of wounded and excited people.

“Did you see that serpent?” A man with bandages over his chest said with fear. “It nearly did me in!”

“I’m amazed you survived that horrible thing.” A beast-man said. “My animal instincts were telling me I would have died definitely if I had even gotten close to it.”

It seemed a lot of participants faced the serpent. Those who survived were considered lucky. Many did not survive.

Although we were in the head of the pack, the number of people on shore still nearly reached a million. It was utter chaos as the small port town was nearly overrun by people. The bars were filled, the streets were cluttered. Fights broke out everywhere.

The locals were terrified. No amount of forewarning could prepare them for this.

“The aura of death here is strong,” Rigor said. “I didn’t feel it while on the boat, but on land, the aura is nearly overwhelming.”

“That’s because you’re in Niflheim, my friend.” A man walked towards us. “We welcome a fellow undead.”

“You must be one of the locals.”

“Yes, my name is Vallaskrr.” The man bowed. Suddenly a ghostly aura emerged from him. “I’ve been dead for a good century now.”

“Name’s Charles, Charles Brie.” I bowed back. Got to remember I can’t shake hands with a ghost. “And this here is my crew.”

Vallaskrr stayed quiet.

“Allow me.” Rigor stepped forth. “Mr. Vallaskrr, could you please introduce us to a nearby mercantile?”

“Yes, it is always an honor to help a fellow undead.” Vallaskrr grinned with his decayed jaw. “We don’t try to talk to living here, a taboo and all that.”

I was shocked for sure. How does anyone do any trading if the locals don’t talk to the living…

“Don’t worry about it Capt.” Egg said. “It’s just a local tradition, it’s not that they don’t want to talk to you.”

“No, no, we are allowed to talk to the living during this event, the Gods allowed us to,” Vallaskrr said with a chuckle. “That man is just dressed far too gaudy for me to properly speak to him.”

I slumped onto the ground in despair.

“A-am I really dressed too gaudily?” I asked my crew, hoping for reassurance.

They were silent.

I wanted to cry.

“Why didn’t you guys say anything?” I muttered.

“W-we just thought it was your personal fashion sense Capt.”

“Y-yea, it looks just fine.”

“Really?”

“Nope.” Egg replied blatantly after my other crew members tried to reassure me. “You look like an idiot.”

“…Thanks, Egg.”

Always count on Melanzana to tell the cold hard truth.

Valaskrr led us to a large tent. It was in a relatively remote region of the port. Even with nearly a million people at the port, the area we were in seemed to be very quiet.

“This place is very exclusive,” Valaskrr said. “Thankfully your crew had an undead with you. They only deal with their own kind.”

We entered the tent and saw something interesting. On the outside, the tent looked like a small 15 by 15ft tent. On the inside, it was an entire bazaar. There were a few participants in here. The most noticeable part is each team had at least one undead among them.

“Welcome, to the Niflheim Night Market.”

“But it's daytime.”

“It’s just a name,” Valaskrr replied annoyed.

I looked towards Egg.

“What supplies do we need?”

“We are still well stocked on most things. Perhaps a few participants had to let go of their cargo in order to speed up to escape from the serpent.”

“Then we will just browse around?”

“Looks like it, Capt.”

“Kinda wish Jobs was with us. Perhaps he can spot something useful.”

“Shall I go get him?”

“Nay, leave him to his research.”

We proceeded to explore the bazaar. It had a lot of weaponry and armor made for the undead. There were even some shamanic items. Ritualistic tools, herbs, and even live sacrifices.

It was an interesting sight. To us explorers, it’s what fueled our motivation. The addiction to the sight of something new and interesting.

Out of nowhere, a fight broke out.

“You bastard!” The man yelled. “Give it back!”

“You stole this!” The ghost yelled. “It was mine to start with!”

“I bought it fair and square!” The man yelled back. “If you have a grudge, go settle it with the person who sold it to me.”

The ghost took out a pair of daggers while the man reached for the large hammer resting on his back.

“Calm down you two, think about where you are.”

An armored ghost walked out of the shadows.

“Hmph.” The ghost walked away with the item in hand.

“Give it back!”

“Let it go. It’s not worth it.” The man’s crew held him back.

After that incident, my crew and I remained vigilant with what we purchase.

“Who was that armored ghost?” I asked.

“That was one of the guards of the market.”

“Who’s in charge of the market anyways?”

“South,” Valaskrr whispered.

“South?”

“South, one of the four mighty dwarves. He created this market.”

“Would it be possible to meet South?”

“I doubt it, South doesn’t meet with just anyone,” Valaskrr looked at me again. “Especially someone who dressed so gaudily.”

I frowned.

“Get over it Capt.,” Egg said while patting my back. “If we see him, we see him. It isn’t a big deal.”

As soon as he said that, a screen appeared on the market. 2 people were displayed.

The first was a woman in gray. She was surrounded by ice particles and a chilled frost emitted from her breath. Her white hair made her a being of amazing beauty.

All the locals immediately got on their knees when the screen appeared.

The other person was a short bearded man. His eyes seemed to hold the wisdom of a thousand years. His beard had frost accumulating on it from being so close to the woman.

“I-it’s the Goddess Hel and Lord South!” A local said with fanaticism in his voice.

“Welcome participant to the Niflheim, the first leg of the first domain. I hope you enjoy your stay here and do try to die.”

“What did she say? Try to die?”

“I could always use some strong new guards,” Hel said with a cold smile. “Anyways, there will be 2 routes to the next part of the domain. Either you take the Bifrost Bridge up or you travel through the stems of Yggdrasil itself. “

“Which path should we take, Capt.?” Egg asked me.

“Choose quickly, those who still remain after a month shall be killed and turned into a death knight,” Hel added one quick note at the end.

She stepped back and South walked forward.

“I am the dwarf South,” He said with his booming voice. “I have a mission for those brave enough to take it.”

He took out a single key.

“As you all know, this is a key to the chest you all carry. We gods can give one key out per domain. This key I have here will be the reward for this mission.”

A lot of people gasped. To be able to win so early would be amazing. But I knew something this important had to have a catch.

“The mission is to destroy the serpent in the mist,” South said with a stern tone.

Everyone went quiet. A lot of people had seen the carnage the serpent had caused. It was not possible for a mortal to slay that creature.

“Godspeed, racers,” South said with a sinister smile.

The screen vanished.

“Are we going to try Captain?” Egg asked. “I highly suggest we don’t.”

“I’m not looking to die just yet, Egg,” I smiled back. “Anyways, that key is a fake.”

“How do you know?”

I remember the picture my father showed me before his untimely demise.

“I have seen a real one before.”