Astvar looked at one of his guards and the guard knew what to do. He left the throne room and clashed his swords in the village center to catch everybody's attention. Around twenty people gathered. I could hear them chatter even when I was inside Jarl’s house.

[ Crowd ]

“Do you know what Jarl is going to say?”

“Will it be something about his son?”

“No, he already did the funeral.”

“That’s right… He said he couldn’t burn his son’s body.”

“So, will it be about the monster?”

There were many ideas for what Jarl could say but no one was right. Astvar appeared on the balcony and clapped his hands a few times. Everybody stopped talking and watched him.

[ Astvar ]

“Last day… wasn’t a pleasant one for the village. We lost one of our brothers. My son. Galarr. My second son, Hakon also almost died. He survived. It cost him his arm but it’s better than being killed by the monster. Also… He survived thanks to one man. Eric!”

I didn’t know what to do because Astvar didn’t explain anything… I think he got too excited about that… I stood beside the Astvar and I stood there… and I did… nothing. Astvar placed his hand on my shoulder and started talking again.

[ Astvar ]

“This man! Was the reason why my son is alive. And I think for that reason he needs a title!”

It wasn’t anything big for me… It’s just a title but everybody was excited about that or they were all hyped because of that man.

[ Astvar ]

“As of this day! Eric will be known as Eric The Spear Fisher!”

Yeah… I thought that he might be bad at giving titles… Probably his title Golden Edge was also his idea… Like what does it mean?!

[ Astvar ]

“Do you have anything to say?” Whispered Astvar.

I had only one thing in mind for now. To warn everyone in this village about the danger that is coming to this place. I was standing there on the balcony, in front of twenty people. I hesitated for a moment but, if not now, when will I say it…

[ Eric ]

“People of this village! I know that I appeared out of nowhere for you but I came here with a warning! Some of you have seen that monster that killed… Galarr! There will be more of them in the future… I don’t know when. All I know is that they will come from the water. This is not a joke. So, please. Prepare for the attack…”

Everyone had mixed feelings about this and I understand that. It’s the same as someone would say that world war three would be coming in a few days. I could hear some of them worrying about it and some saying I'm insane. I know that Tae warned me about it but I didn’t have any other ideas. He warned me about one more thing but I’m willing to take a risk.

[ Eric ]

“If you doubt my words then I will show you something else…” I pulled up my sleeve and showed the tattoo.

All of the people were in shock, especially Tae. Luckily only Astvar saw it in detail. Probably no one could tell which God blessed me. After a short discussion between themselves, one of the villagers asked me.

[ Villagers ]

“Who blessed you? Which god chose you?” I didn’t want to tell them that, especially when Loki blessed me.

[ Eric ]

“I can’t tell you that… because of the taboo…”

It looked like everyone calmed down and understood the situation. Astvar left the balcony and everybody knew that that’s all he wanted to say.

[ Astvar ]

“I knew there was something special about you… but I didn’t expect that.” Said Astvar as he sat on his throne.

[ Eric ]

“Yeah… sorry about that… You know. I heard that people have mixed feelings about blessed people.”

[ Astvar ]

“Mostly about your god…” Pointed Astvar.

[ Eric ]

“So you… noticed.”

[ Astvar ]

“I can’t blame you but it is a little bit troublesome… BUT! You probably have some powers that will help us against those monsters!”

[ Eric ]

“Uh… Yeah…”

I don’t have any cool powers! I only have poison resistance! And probably this was the reason that I survived that acid or whatever it was… but that’s all I have… but Loki said about a reward for that… monster in the mountain!

[ Eric ]

“Jarl… Do you know anything about the monster in the mountain?”

[ Astvar ]

“Yes. It appeared out of nowhere… 5 days ago.” It appeared when I was crossing the mountain… Loki left it there for my… test… “It’s a rock bear.”

[ Eric ]

“Rock bear? What is that?”

[ Astvar ]

“So you don’t know? It’s a big animal covered in stone as his armor. It’s slow but really strong.”

[ Eric ]

“Slow huh?”

That's all I needed to know. Since it will be covered in stone I’ll need something else than a sword or an ax for that… I hope I will get something cool for killing it… Loki!

[ Eric ]

“Oh… and what’s the name of this village? You know… there is no sign or anything like that.”

[ Astvar ]

“It’s Dalir Village.”