"Tell me, Sōsuke, do you want to have my powers?"
Sōsuke stared at him, dumbfounded. "Have your powers? Is that even possible?"
"Do you know what divine artifacts are?" Sigurd asked, handing his sword back to him.
"Never heard of them."
"An artifact is a divine object. Some of these artifacts are weapons infused with a god's energy," Sigurd raised a finger, which became covered in a layer of ice. "That grants it properties linked to the god who 'blessed' it," Hodr explained.
Sōsuke listened, but in his head it was already a party. 'I'll be able to control darkness and ice like him?! That'll let me catch up to the others!' He smiled with excitement. "And you can do that to my sword?!"
"Of course. Place it on the ground," Sigurd said.
Sōsuke complied, carefully placing his blade on the floor. He stepped back slightly, wary of what might happen during the process.
Sigurd knelt in front of the blade. "Step back a bit more," he murmured.
'Is it really that dangerous?' Sōsuke thought as he backed away several meters.
Sigurd placed his hand on the weapon. Nothing happened.
Suddenly, a dark energy exploded around Hodr, engulfing both him and the blade completely. "Damn it, I wanted to see," Sōsuke muttered, disappointed.
But then he noticed fog coming out of his mouth, and the air growing colder and colder. 'What's happening over there…?'
The ground trembled. Sōsuke slipped, not realizing the floor was now covered in a thin layer of frost. He quickly got back up and looked at the massive sphere of darkness, which was beginning to shrink.
The air warmed again, and soon Sigurd reappeared.
He stood up. "It's done."
Sōsuke walked up to him. "Can I?" he asked, pointing at his weapon.
Hodr nodded.
Sōsuke bent down and picked up his sword. He swung it a few times, testing his new abilities. "Is it normal that nothing's happening?"
"Yes. You'll need training to learn how to use these new abilities," Hodr explained.
Sōsuke looked at his weapon. 'Should I give it a name?' he wondered. 'It's going to follow me everywhere now.' He smiled at it.
He turned his head toward Sigurd. "Thanks, old man!"
'I'm going to fuck him up,' Sigurd thought, snickering.
"So that means I'm your right-hand man now? Like the guy you send to Earth to do your dirty work!" Sōsuke exclaimed.
Sigurd chuckled. "You can see it that way, but that's not the case. Only your weapon is now infused with my power. However, know that there are gods who have apostles. Those gods choose a person and grant them a portion of their power."
"What?! I can become your apostle?" Sōsuke asked, smiling.
"No."
'Oh?' Sōsuke thought, a little stunned by the abrupt rejection.
"You won't need that to become strong. I'm certain of it. You'll become powerful on your own, without being a miniature version of a god."
"I see," Sōsuke replied. 'Becoming strong by myself, I like that,' he thought, clenching his fist.
Suddenly, they both heard a loud boom.
"What was that?!" Sōsuke wondered.
"Come here," Sigurd ordered.
Sōsuke rushed to his side. Hodr grabbed his arm and pulled them both down into his darkness. Sōsuke struggled not to scream in panic.
The fall stopped, and he felt the same sensation again, rising rapidly toward the surface.
They emerged from the darkness. Hodr had moved them outside the base, into the building's shadow.
Another boom echoed, accompanied by the sound of the ocean.
"It came from over there!" Sōsuke exclaimed, running to the edge of the cliff where the base stood.
Below them, massive waves raged and crashed against the rocks, while farther away the ocean was calm.
Sōsuke stared at the marine chaos when suddenly an immense white creature burst out of the water, but not naturally. Its body stretched in a weird way. 'What is that horrible fish?'
The beast fully emerged, and Sōsuke saw it, an enormous man was lifting it, himself carried by the waves. Sōsuke stared at the scene in awe.
Sigurd arrived behind him. "Oh come on, he really brought back Hafgufa?"
Sōsuke turned toward him. "You know him?"
"Yes. That's Njord, the god of the northern seas. I brought him here."
As they spoke, Njord hurled Hafgufa, split the sea in two, and lifted the water dozens of meters into the air.
"Why did you bring him here?" Sōsuke asked.
"He's going to help us with the raid on Asgard to save Jormungandr," Sigurd explained.
"You're going to save him? I want to come too. I promised the soldiers I'd bring their friend back," Sōsuke declared, pointing his thumb at himself.
Sigurd laughed softly. "Train. And if you're strong enough when we leave, I'll ask for you to come with us."
Sōsuke shot to his feet. "I'm fired up! I'm going back to train right now!"
He rushed toward the base, leaving Hodr behind.
Sigurd watched him go, smiling, intrigued by the surprising individual he had just met.
—---------------
Sooner, in Asgard
Freyja flew above all the realms of Asgard. She landed at the entrance of Valaskjálf, the great silver hall where Odin resided.
Loki landed shortly after her, returning to his true form. Together, they entered the hall. The walls were silver, the ceiling as well.
At its center stood an immense throne, Hliðskjálf, Odin's seat. Freyja stopped at the base of it and knelt. Loki stayed slightly behind, standing.
Freyja spoke, summarizing the mission. "We successfully retrieved Jormungandr. No casualties during the capture. Tyr took him to Glitnir so Forseti could imprison him."
Odin, seated atop his throne, replied briefly in a rough, aged voice. "Good."
Loki laughed. "We don't even get congratulations, Harbard?"
Odin did not react.
'How can he be so disrespectful without facing consequences…' Freyja thought, clenching her fist against the floor.
Odin inhaled. "Spread the word. All gods must gather in Gladsheimr in one hour. We need to assess the situation," he ordered.
"Understood," Freyja replied.
She stood and turned away. Her single silver wing burst from her back, and she flew out of the hall.
She flew from realm to realm. Fensalir, Frigg's domain, was empty, as it often had been recently. She passed through Glitnir, Ydalir, Landvidi, and the few other realms still inhabited.
She then returned to her own realm, Fólkvangr. The weather was pleasant, the vast plains were green, and the air was gentle.
She reached the entrance of her palace, Sessrúmnir, folded her wing, and stretched her arms. "It feels good to be home!" she exclaimed.
She removed her armor, remaining in a tunic. "Much more comfortable," she sighed with a smile.
Freyja walked through the halls of her residence until she entered a massive circular lounge, where a large bed of the same shape stood.
She threw herself onto it. "I missed you guys," she said to her cushions.
"Hey."
"AAAAH?!" Freyja jumped, pressed against the wall. A man was sitting in a chair.
"Freyr?! What are you doing here?!"
"I took advantage of you not being here to crash the place," Freyr explained.
"Isn't Alfheim good enough for you?!" she exclaimed.
"It is, but it's far from everything. So, did you capture the serpent?" he asked.
She lay back down, staring at the ceiling. "Yeah."
"So, what's he like?"
"Young. Pretty cute. But a bit hot-headed," she described.
"Hmmm, I was expecting some huge creepy guy covered in blood," Freyr said.
"Me too," Freyja sighed. "By the way, Odin summoned us to Gladsheimr in thirty minutes."
Freyr laughed, his blond hair falling over his face. "And you were planning to laze around here instead of coming to get me in Alfheim? Good thing I invited myself."