WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 15

It had been a really long time since I slept on a bed. I believe that was the reason I found myself sleeping for so long despite the fact that I could go half a month on very little sleep. By the time I woke up, the sun had risen high into the sky.

“Master Eryk?” A knock came at the door. “Lady Fray and Lord Tor have requested your presence for lunch.”

I sat up on the bed and stretched the kinks out of my muscles, wincing as my back popped several times. My left arm was gone again. With a grimace, I channeled Spiritual Power into my arm. Brown earth bubbled around my stump, transformed into the shape of an arm. Water flowed through it like blood through veins. Then I felt the arm connect with my nerves as I channeled lightning. Finally, I used the life element to make it “alive.” I tested my new arm out to make sure it worked, curling my fingers, clenching my hand. It looked like everything was good.

“Tell them I’ll be right there,” I said.

“I shall. Would you like to take a bath first?” asked the servant girl on the other side.

“Oh. That might be a good idea.”

I had not taken a bath since arriving in this world, instead relying on water manipulation to keep myself clean. While it got the job done, it really couldn’t replace a nice, hot bath.

“In that case, please come out and I shall lead you to the bathing rooms.”

I was already dressed. Last night, I had been so exhausted that I didn’t even take my boots off. Walking over to and opening the door, I looked at the person standing before me. She was young, or at least looked young. Her blonde hair was luxurious and tied into a bun on her head. The whiteness of her dress complimented her pale skin and light blue eyes. She had a small nose, dimples on her cheeks, and light pink lips.

“Lead on,” I said with a gesture.

The girl smile and bowed her head. “Please follow me.”

The baths were not located far from where I slept; the servant girl opened the door that lead inside, revealing a spacious interior with a marble tiled floor. There was a large bath on the far side that made me think of a lake. Closer to me was a partition screen. I also spotted a shower stall not far away.

“I will fetch you some new clothes,” the servant girl said. “Your current ones are very… worn.”

“Is that a polite way of saying my clothes look like they’ve been through hell?” I asked. The girl blushed, but I just smiled. “Thank you. What is your name?”

“I am called Chloe.”

Bowing to me one last time, the servant girl left the bathing room. I went over to the partition screen and found a towel waiting for me. I removed my clothes, which were the same clothes I’d been wearing since my battle with the Sekbeist Overlord. After wrapping the towel around my waist, I went over to the shower and rinsed off. It had been a long time since I’d been able to enjoy a shower and a bath, so I decided to take my time, but I still remained conscious of the fact that Fray and Tor wanted to see me for lunch.

Chloe came back with a change of clothes. I changed behind the partition, slipping the underwear and brown silk pants up my hips and cinching them with a belt, throwing the white undershirt and green tunic over my torso. My outfit was finished with a new pair of brown boots. Everything was very comfortable… but it wasn’t my old clothes. I hoped there would be someone who could repair the outfit Fay had bought me so many years ago.

Fray and Tor waiting in a room that looked like a private dining hall, though it was still about a third the size of the banquet hall used for last night’s party. The two of them were sitting at a round table. Tor was already eating, but Fray sat with her hands in her lap, not touching her food yet. She smiled when she saw me.

“Good afternoon, Eryk. I hope you slept well.”

“Better than I expected to,” I replied.

“Come.” Tor swallowed his food and gestured for me. “Sit. We will talk.”

I didn’t have a reason to refuse him, so I sat down at the only chair remaining. A servant placed a large plate of food in front of me. Steaming flatbread made from a kind of oat sat next to what looked like eggs mixed with ground mutton. There was also a bowl of porridge with dried fruit inside.

Using the fork provided, I ate took a bite of the eggs first, sitting straighter when the somewhat spicy seasoning hit my tongue. I wasn’t sure what this spice was. However, it was not unlike fire in my mouth. I couldn’t deny it was good, but I had to drink a glass of milk to cool my tongue.

Tor laughed. “Not bad, right? Our chefs seasoned this food with chili powder and ghost pepper salt. It creates quite the kick.”

“I noticed,” I said, taking a deep breath before taking another bite. Maybe it was because I had been too focused on meeting people at the party last night, but I was really ravenous this morning. I focused more on my food than the two people sitting with me. They fortunately didn’t seem to mind.

“Now that we are fed and watered, perhaps now would be a good time to discuss important matters.” Tor raised his goblet, a servant came over, and filled it with a type of grape wine. The large redhead took a swig before continuing. “First, we have decided on the date for your challenge against Skude. It will take place one week from now. While I do not doubt your skill, I believe you should also use this week to familiarize yourself more with the Concepts of Life and Death.”

“I understand,” I said.

“Beyond that, I would like to know what your plans are going forward,” Tor said before taking another long swig of his drink.

I didn’t say anything at first, but I already knew what I planned on doing.

“Right now, my only plan is finding a way to reach Vindenket,” I said. “Fray believes my two wives who battled against the Sekbeist Overlord with me were sent there. I must go there and search for them.”

“You can leave this matter to me.” Fray gestured to herself. “We have a Warp Gate here that leads to Vindenket’s capital, the city of Lindwurm. It will take some time to activate it. Travel between realms is tricky business even with a Warp Gate, but I will travel there myself and ask Tiamat if she knows if your two wives are there.”

“Thank you,” I said.

The palace contained a total of eight Warp Gates, one leading to each of the other eight realms, though two of them were broken. I learned from Fray that the Guddemolig did their best to keep in contact with the other realms. The only two they were unable to remain in contact with was Miðgarðr and Niðavellir. It seemed the two Warp Gates for the lowest realms broke some time ago, and they were unable to repair them without the help of the dweorg.

“I suggest you go into closed-doors meditation,” Tor said. “Mediating for a week might not grant you a great boon in your cultivation, but if you can gain a slightly better understanding of life and death than you have now, your victory over Skude will be secured that much more. We have several meditation chambers. Chloe will show you to one after lunch.”

There were several meditation chambers that were used to close oneself off, to lock oneself away so they were not distracted by the mundane aspects of everyday life. They were not large rooms. In fact, they were quite small, but that made them perfectly suited to meditation. Chloe showed me to one of the rooms after breakfast.

“These doors have a powerful rune array that seals people inside of this room for a set period of time.” Chloe gestured toward the door, covered in symbols I recognized. “I will set the time for one week and come back to get you when your time ends.”

“I appreciate that,” I said, stepping past Chloe and into the room.

For the rest of my week, I spent most of my time in closed-doors meditation, pondering the mysteries of life and death. These concepts were like two sides of the same coin. Without death there could be no life, and without life there could be no death.

Life was not a concept that could be used for attack. It could reinforce the body, provide a body on the verge of death with life and prevent someone from dying, but that was it. Even if that didn’t seem impressive, the ability to continue fighting long after you should have died was a powerful ability. I imagined any enemy fighting me when I used this power would feel demoralized.

On the other side of the coin, death was a concept that could be used to attack. I could fire death energy from my hands or through a weapon. Anyone weaker than myself would be felled instantly. But that was not all the Concept of Death had to offer. I could also resurrect the dead, creating a horde of undead creatures controlled by my will. This wasn’t a power I particularly cared for. Regardless, I knew better than to disregard an ability just because I found it distasteful.

I had no real idea about how much time had passed while I was inside of that room. Time felt meaningless when I was meditating. It felt like no time had passed at all, but the door to the meditation chamber opened eventually, and Chloe stepped inside.

“Lord Eryk, it is time for you to emerge.” Chloe bowed to me. “You should freshen up with a warm bath, then meet with Lady Tor and Lady Fray.”

“I understand,” I stood up and left the room. It looked like it was finally time for my competition with Skude. To be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to it.

***

The competition was taking place at the Ásgarðr Arena. Fray, Tor, and I were driven there inside of a carriage that wasn’t being drawn by any animal. I learned from Fray that these carriages moved using runes that had been carved into the carriage and powered with a monster core. Hearing that made me consider bringing one to Kari once I found her. She would love to take one of these apart.

The Ásgarðr Arena was easily the most massive arena I’d ever seen, about five times larger than the one in Midgard. It was very different from the arenas I was used to. When we arrived, I immediately noticed the two giant statues standing before the arena like gatekeepers. They were gigantic things that towered over even the arena itself, which I believed was about ten stories tall. One of them was bearing a sword and a shield. The other carried a spear. Both were dressed in thick armor plating. Beyond the armored statues was the arena itself, which looked like a giant tower spewing fire.

A large crowd had already formed at the entrance. I could see nothing of the ground because a sea of heads was in my way. There were so many people that even my sharp eyes could not pick out individual faces.

“Are all these people here to see my competition?” I asked as I stared out the window.

“Of course,” Tor said. “I made sure to announce that Freyr and Gerd’s son was challenging Skude, son of Klaue, to a competition the moment it was decided. I’m sure many of the people who were at the party also let their friends and family know.”

“We Guddemolig enjoy watching people compete against each other,” Fray added.

It seemed this God Race really was not much different from humans.

The moment we stepped out of our carriage, many of the people who’d been near turned to us, and many of those eyes turned on me. I paid them no mind as I walked with my back straight, head held high. Being a public figure in both Nevaria and Midgard had taught me the importance of maintaining my composure.

That just made people talk more.

“So that’s Eryk Vanir? He’s just a pretty boy.”

“Did he really challenge Skude to a competition.”

“This man must be an idiot. Everyone knows Skude is one of the most powerful members of the younger generation.”

“Look at his baby face. I doubt this child is even a hundred years old, and yet he challenged someone as strong as Skude to a competition. Foolish.”

Not many people seemed to think I would win against Skude, who I learned was actually considered one of the more powerful members of the youngest generation. Even though he was only 156 years old, he had already mastered the Concept of Death. It was his complete mastery over death that allowed him to fight against Demon Beasts like the Lesser Prismatic Wyrm, which was considered a mid-rank Demon Beast among the Guddomelig.

Being underestimated like this was actually kind of nostalgic.

We entered the arena with those comments at my back. Fray and Tor escorted me to a waiting room and told me to wait there until it was time for the competition to begin. I ended up sitting on a bench with my eyes closed and my arms crossed.

“Eryk? It’s time.”

The one who came to get me was Fray, who led me to the arena where the battle would take place.

While I was never the greatest judge of size, the battleground looked to be at least two times larger than the one in Midgard. Dozens upon dozens of seats encircled the arena floor in rows. All of the seats appeared to be already filled. Just like the arena in Nevaria, this one featured a balcony upon which Ásgarðr’s most prominent members could view the battle. I also noticed several strange screens hovering above the arena, which were showing me as I walked onto the battlefield alongside Fray.

“What are those?” I asked.

“We call them bildschirm,” Fray said. “They are screens made using an advanced rune array and are connected to a device called a ri’korder. The ri’korder captures light particles in the form of moving images, and the bildschirm displays those images. When you go into the dimension Tor and I have created, several ri’korders will be entering with you to show the competition to viewers.”

Oh. That explained how everyone would watch this battle. I had wondered about that.

Skude was already waiting for me. He was dressed differently than before, his body clad in a light leather chestplate, greaves, and gauntlets. He wore brown and green clothing underneath. If he was in a forest, I imagine he’d blend in quite well. Strapped to his back was a sword and a shield.

I was also decked out in armor that had been given to me by Tor, who said I needed to look the part of a heroic warrior. Like Skude, my breastplate was made of leather, but it only covered my chest, leaving my stomach exposed. My biceps were bare, but my forearms were covered in leather vambraces. A pair of boots covered my feet. The ends of my brown pants disappeared into my boots.

I did not have any weapons.

Fray vanished after escorting me onto the arena floor. I looked at the balcony to see her reappear next to Tor and Sif. There were several other prominent figures sitting in throne-like chairs there, one of which was Tyr, the man who Fray told me to watch out for.

“Not carrying a weapon?” asked Skude. “Are you that arrogant, or are you just stupid?”

I shrugged. “Unlike you, I do not need a weapon to be secure in my victory.”

“I will make you regret every word you have ever said to me!” Skude growled. “You’ll be calling me Father by the time I’m through with you!”

I pretended to ignore Skude instead of continuing to bicker, which seemed to upset him even more than if I’d actually said something. His entire face turned puce. I imagined steam rising from his head.

Tor stood up and raised his hands, and the crowd that had been making all kinds of noise quieted down.

“We are here today to watch an exhibition match between my nephew, Eryk Vanir, and Skude, Son of Klaue. The competition will end when one side surrenders. This competition will take place in a dimension that Fray and I have prepared beforehand. Will the two contestants step into the runes before them.”

With a wave of his hand, Spiritual Power flew from Tor and activated two rune arrays on the arena floor, one in front of me and the other before Skude. This looked like a more basic version of the runes used to create a Warp Gate. Skude and I both stepped on our respective runes, which caused them to glow even brighter than before. There was a brief moment in which nothing happened. Then the world around me was replaced with something completely different from before.

It looked like I was back in the Ironwood Forest. Trees that were hundreds of times larger than myself filled my vision on all sides, the scents of the forest filled my nose, and the feeling of a warm breeze caressed my skin. Was this what people who had mastered the Concept of Dimension could do? Wait. Fray had told me that Tor had mastered the Concept of Creation. That being the case, I imagine Fray had created this dimension and Tor had populated it with all kinds of flora. Whatever the case, I was very impressed.

I hoped I would be able to do this at some point in the future.

At that moment, Tor’s voice echoed around me, seeming to come from everywhere. “The competition will take place in a dimension based on the Ironwood Forest. This competition is a hunting one. However, instead of hunting a Demon Beast, Eryk and Skude are hunting each other. Remember that killing is forbidden and will be dealt with harshly. You can begin now begin the competition.”

Even though the competition had begun, I did not move right away. I closed my eyes and sent my Spiritual Power into the ground, merging it with the earth, drawing upon the power of the earth to fuel my own and extend my perceptions. The world seemed to open around me. It felt like my mind was expanding. I could feel the soil, the trees, and the plants… and I could also feel the vibration of footsteps coming from several dozen kilometers to my left.

I turned in the direction I had sensed Skude, and then slowly sank into the ground. The hunt was on.

***

Fray sat on Tor’s left and watched the bildschirm as it showed Eryk and Skude in their respective starting positions. While Skude began moving the moment Tor announced the beginning of the competition, Eryk did not move, instead closing his eyes as if he hadn’t heard Tor’s words.

“What is that boy doing?” asked Tyr. “Should he not be moving? The competition has already started.”

“Maybe he is beginning to regret his decision to challenge my son,” exclaimed Klaue.

Klaue was large like many of the warriors among the Guddomelig. He had a scar traveling across the right side of his face, going from his hairline down to his jaw. No eyepatch was used to cover his milky white eye. While most members of the God Race had red, blond, blue, and even purple hair, with a few like Sif who had dark hair, Klaue’s hair was pure white. Fray had once heard a story that his hair turned white due to the trauma of when he’d been captured by the Sekbeists during the Great War.

“That is not it,” Fray said before anyone else could speak. “Eryk has mastered the seven main elements. I believe that right now he is using the earth element to track your son’s position.”

“Huh? Why would he bother mastering the seven main elements?” asked Klaue. “There’s no point in mastering the seven main elements when high level concepts offer so much more power.”

Many Guddomelig often scoffed at people who used the seven main elements since, just like Klaue said, high level concepts offered far more power. The ability to warp reality to your whim was indeed a great power. However, Fray had learned from watching Eryk that it was unwise to underestimate the seven main elements, especially when they were used in the hands of someone who had mastered the elements to such a degree.

At that moment, Eryk made his move, sinking into the earth and disappearing from view.

“What sort of trickery is this?!” demanded Klaue. “Where did he go?!”

Klaue was not the only one who created a hubbub over Eryk’s sudden disappearance. Fray could hear the rumble from the many people sitting in the arena, and though she could not hear what they were saying, it did not take a genius to figure out what everyone was talking about.

“That is an ability that someone who has mastered the earth element is capable of,” Fray lectured. “Eryk is able to merge and become one with the earth. Not only can he merge with it, but he can draw Spiritual Power from the earth and manipulate the element in its raw, natural state.”

While it was not a reality warping ability like the high level concepts, it was still a powerful ability. Like this, Eryk could not only perfectly hide his presence, he also had a near unlimited supply of Spiritual Power to draw upon. Only someone who had mastered the Concepts of Space, Dimension, or Life would be able to interfere with him now.

“That is an impressive power,” Sif said at last. “I have always neglected the elements in favor of mastering the Concept of Space, but perhaps I should think about mastering the seven main elements as well. It sounds like they could be quite useful.”

“Hmph! An ability like that is something only a coward would use.” Klaue crossed his arms and scoffed, his eyes showing a clear disdain. “He is afraid of confronting my son head on like a real warrior.”

“Do not speak anymore. You sound foolish,” said Tor.

“What was that?!”

Ignoring Klaue’s anger, Tor did not look away from the competition as he continued to speak. “This competition is not a battle but a hunting competition. These two are hunting each other. Everyone knows that when hunting, it is important not to let your prey aware of your presence. Unlike your son, Eryk is perfectly aware of this fact, and he is doing what any good hunter would do.”

Klaue looked like he wanted to say something. His face was scrunched up so hard that his scar had wrinkles forming around it, but after opening and closing his mouth several times, all he could do was scoff and looked back at the battle happening on the bildschirm.

Fray continued to watch the battle, her hands clasped neatly in her lap, knuckles completely white as the blood drained from them. She had the utmost confidence in Eryk’s abilities. She had seen him fight, watched him comprehend the Concept of Time enough to unravel Durmuz’s time lock. In all her life, Fray had never met someone who could accomplish such a feat. But even though she was confident in his victory, that did not stop her from worrying over her nephew.