The next morning Ikuta stretched his arms and legs out of his blanket " Ugh hair " he went to the bathroom and fixed his hair . He uses a hairdryer and opens the door to his wardrobe " Ikuta where are you going today ? " " School " " To do what ? " " We have a physical fitness test but I'm not sure how long "
Ikuta went to his wardrobe wondering which shirt he should wear and which pants , he was excited to wear something new . He grabbed a shirt with pixel characters and pants with several items sewed into them and a jean jacket " Perfect "
He took his clothes downstairs " Ikuta your father sent over some books for you " Claire pointed at the box . Ikuta rummages through the box finding one that catches his eyes " That's the one you have to read first " " Okay thanks Claire "
" Hold on before you go to school I'll have to enchant your clothes it's snowing right now who knows what kind of damage your clothes will get " " what about Yukina ? " " She'll be fine Yggdrasil used to connect to a realm colder than this winter , and she still has plenty of food to eat "
Ikuta thinks of the nine realms and Asgard which nobody knows how to reach now that most bridges that connected to the realms are gone ' I'll also have to get her the teachings soon it will make it easier for her to grow ' " I'll get a few things in my room first "
He goes up and uses the dark flame to summon the teachings of nature from the cultist to his hands " Yukina when you have this book just say that you gave it to me okay ? "
" Oh , why ? " " Because it makes the most sense if you gave me the book because the thing that both of them can know about you is that you have a little bit of memories from Yggdrasil so having the teachings would make sense "
Yukina gave an agreement sign and asked " By the way there is a fireplace over in the living room it feels a little strange " Ikuta could tell his father was downstairs watching the news " That fire is actually the sacred flame of Hestia "
" That goddess ? " " Shh I'm only telling you this so you don't touch it , not everybody knows it is the sacred flame and nobody should know now , but if your woods touch it you might enter the realm of Hestia or something close "
" Oh , I should be careful because I might learn about the monster " Ikuta tries to recall any interactions that his father had with Hestia " I'm not really sure Hestia isn't even that well known " " How about we go search for her ? "
Ikuta was surprised by Yukina's boldness " She is supposed to be a forgiving god , but first , let me check something " Ikuta feels through their contract of gardener and plant contract ' Can you hear me ? " " What's that ? I can hear your voice through my head "
' I'll use this to send you message , don't push yourself in trying to learn this even I had to get the inheritance of the duchess of darkness to be able to do this " " Sorry I scared you I was just testing if I could use this to call you "
" Wow you are amazing " " Only because I learned a lot " " Ikuta come and have some breakfast " " I'm coming " ' I'll ask Claire and Louis about Hestia I'll tell you if it's okay to meet her " Ikuta went down and takes a glance at the fireplace .
" Claire I wanna ask about Hestia " " Oh why is that ? " " I just want to ask what happened to her during ragnarok ? " " So sudden ? " " I just learned about the Ragnarok they said that all gods die but Hestia was usually away from all the problems , sooo ? "
" Her being alive would make sense if she wasn't involved , she wasn't very involved with participation before ragnarok in the first place " " Oh Hestia you don't have to worry about her , she's fine , that goddess doesn't participate in wars so she doesn't even know who I am , unlike the rest of her family "
' Yukina I've confirmed that Hestia is alive but you can go only after everyone is gone " Ikuta had to trust Yukina to follow what he said ' I'll tell you when " Ikuta released hold of a cultist . They quickly escaped and he waited while eating .
He watched his father learn of the news and the cultist was swiftly sent to a mental asylum due to the insanity they went through . The news described the cultist as someone who went crazy from exposing themselves too much to the use of black magic .
He hears his father leave and sends a message ' Okay good once Claire , Louis and I leave the house you can visit Hestia , but be careful " he already knew the properties of the flame by the fireplace which acts similarly to the dark flame .
" Yukina make sure you don't burn yourself on the fire and make sure to keep it going , it keeps the house warm " Louis said " Okay " Yukina waited for everyone to leave and quickly drops a branch into the fire " Hmm a visitor ? " Yukina finds her branch on a fireplace.
It didn't burn her just like the fireplace at home and she could still feel that most of her body was at home and only the branch which was separated was barely connecting her to the branch with the contract " Huh a little branch of the world tree " she felt the branches picked by a hand .
" You're not that tree " " Are you Hestia ? " " Oh you think I am ? " " Well uhm Ikuta said you are " the person behind the feminine voice said " Oh is this person your friend ? " " Sort of ? " She hears a chuckle wondering if this person was Hestia .
" I know the sacred flame I burned my branch on belongs to Hestia it should bring offerings to her so who are you if you aren't Hestia " the goddess enjoyed listening to Yukina's loud voice " I suppose It's about time I introduce myself " Yukina felt a familiar force by the goddess .
" I am Nyx , a lot has called me the personification of night " Yukina wondered what she was supposed to do , considering that she can't call Ikuta right now " What about Hestia ? " " She's asleep right now why are you looking for her "
Yukina thinks about her purpose " I don't know I was supposed to be careful about not learning about the monster oh I remember I was supposed to ask Hestia for help after searching for her " Nyx was curious about the monster that Yukina talked about .
" What monster are you referring too ? Did some realms open their gates after a long time ? " " I don't know , Ikuta knows who this monster is but says that the monster is forbidden knowledge " " are you saying the monster is forbidden knowledge or it is forbidden knowledge to know about the monster "
Yukina was confused because Ikuta had only called the monster as dangerous as forbidden knowledge " I'm not sure , but Ikuta doesn't tell me about it saying it would be forbidden knowledge " Nyx recalls the time when one of her children had told her about the forbidden knowledge they had learned which led to their demise .
" Can you tell me more about this Ikuta ? " " Well he is very strong enough to feed me , he eats a lot , he knows dark magic , and he has so much potential " Nyx didn't doubt Yukina's ability to discern a person's potential considering her origin .
" As in the magic of darkness ? " " Yeah but his body is also very healthy even though he is very young " " Oh how young ? " " Like a human child " Nyx was surprised to hear that but figured that it might exaggerated by Yukina because she was young .
Nyx was happy to hear someone else talking other than Hestia but the conversation was getting nowhere " Young tree , since you came to ask for help you don't expect me to do it for free right ? " Yukina forgot that she had nothing to give .
" Uhm I'll give you food , I heard you Olympians like to have banquets " " not me I am a primordial goddess " Yukina didn't know what else to offer and access the memories of Yggdrasil " Uhm I actually don't know what to offer " Yukina wanted to check around the house but knowing that she doesn't own anything inside .
" I have nothing " Nyx sighed with disappointment " Well since you are here for Hestia then you should be talking to her not me " Yukina felt the wind through her branches , Nyx bent down " Hestia you have a visitor " she heard groans beside Nyx " is it morning already ? I feel like I haven't slept at all "
" Because it's still the middle of the night here " " why did you wake me up " the forgiving goddess asked calmly " Someone here who happens to be the child of the world tree is seeking your help " " Did a poor child light themselves on fire ? " " No they willingly did it why else would I have not send them away if that were the case ? "
" Then who willingly bought themselves here " Hestia rubs her eyes to get a good look and sees a branch " Are you Hestia ? " Yukina called out " I am , what kind of plant are you ? You sound young "
" I just grew out of my seed two nights ago " " What do you think ? " Nyx asked " I think it's pleasant to hear a child speak to me face to face , one that is this young " Hestia gently pushes Yukina's little leaves .
" She came here to ask for help and if you haven't notice she is the child of Yggdrasil " " Oh that world tree ? " Nyx nodded " All I can offer right now is some fruits , it's not as good as what Yggdrasil makes but it's at least sweet "
Hestia wonders about the offer " Alright I'm not sure what I can provide but I would like some fruit " " It's only a little bit " " One berry is fine , I haven't had anything in my mouth for a long while "
Yukina tried her best to make a fruit sprouting an adult palm-sized fruit and threw it into the fire " Hmm this is quite the fruit " Hestia sliced it and gave a half to Nyx " Here you go Nyx " Nyx felt it was disrespectful to refuse something from Hestia .
Hestia bit the fruit tasting the juices and felt her taste buds rejuvenate and her stiff teeth moved showing how little she ate . Nyx didn't feel the same at all while eating her half but ate it anyways , both goddesses gulped the last of their share .
" Oh thank you young child for giving us something like that " " It's nothing , it's all I can offer , it's probably not enough to get your help " Hestia was curious why a young child of Yggdrasil wanted her help .
" Why are you asking for my help ? " " Well I have a contract with a human child " " What kind ? " " A gardener and plant " Hestia recalls the details of what the contract contains " A child can feed you so much ? How well is their family ? "
" Oh no I have been feeding on the lifeforce he is emitting " " His own lifeforce ? " Hestia was confused and tried to understand the problem that Yukina needed her help for " Is he dying ? " Hestia asked worried .
" Hestia don't be too worried about the child , He is very strong which meant he has plenty of life force to spare " " Yes that's right , his body has a bright fire in the stomach " Yukina said , Hestia listened and starts becoming confused .
" His blood has so much vitality in it and he eats so much but his stomach still burns them all and turns them to energy " " That doesn't sound like the child is in danger " " I know but he says he is facing a monster , he's not lying but he can't tell me because it's forbidden knowledge "
Hestia remembers stories about this monster " A monster associated with forbidden knowledge " Hestia has already known a few instances of forbidden knowledge " Maybe it's better if we talk with this child on our own "
" I'll try asking " " Okay we'll wait here you can stay if you want but if it's too much we'll send this branch of yours back " Hestia sends Yukina's branch back and she arrives at home .
Ikuta walked in the cold weather feeling the chill but continued reading it , he didn't close his jacket because he felt that the design of the t-shirt would go to waste if that happens . Druk was surprised to see Ikuta wearing so little walking into the school .
" Ikuta , aren't you cold ? " Druk asked with much worry in his voice " A little bit why ? " Ikuta sees that Druk is covered throughout his body even his tail is covered to keep his body warm " Where are your gloves ? " " I didn't bring any these are the only clothes I have on me "
" Are you kidding me ? " " No , I'm fine with it " " Is this because of your training ? " " Probably I did eat more than I usually do " Druk viewed Ikuta as a bear thinking he might hibernate later .
" Why ? " He doubted Ikuta would hibernate and Ikuta said " I was training my body , Claire said I could train all of the organs which got stronger because I'm training my stomach to burn more "
Druk recalled a method to improve one's own body " You mean you viewed your stomach as the element of fire ? " " Sort of , I didn't train like normal because training my stomach was something different it meant I had to control it to burn food so that I could distribute it through my body "
" That sounds hard " " It is , Claire said I need a good body to be able to do this and I also need to know more about my own body which meant all those lessons about human biology was useful , but because of that I have to go deeper into learning more about my own body , I had to start with my stomach "
Druk felt that Ikuta was ahead but still came to school " Then why did you come to school ? Even though you are smart and talented enough to do that " Ikuta recalled the words of his father " Hmm , Well I used to not like going to school "
He looked at Druk " But having friends is fun even if I am smarter and stronger , Ezio will still try his best to find a game that I am bad at like that game he bought from his home and he's a very nice friend "
They both walked to the classroom and Druk removed his winter clothes returning to the normal wear " We are early " " Probably because that's what happens when the weather changes , families have to prepare for the weather , I'm surprised school isn't going to be open late "
Ikuta remembered the guards and janitors they passed by " I'm just glad to come to school " " They said there will be a physical fitness test and a transfer student " Ikuta wondered what having a new classmate was like .
" I haven't even known any of my classmates yet " Ikuta remembers the curious looks they have been giving him " You'll get to know them eventually , even though I'm still trying to get to know them right now "
" It's actually my first time knowing someone other than the ones I already know about " Ezio and Nisse came inside slightly later " Finally the warm classroom " Ezio took his seat , Nisse took her jacket off feeling lighter .
" Morning Ikuta " " You too " " Why were you absent yesterday ? " " I had to do some training at home " " Is it that training ? " Ezio asked " Yep I even made a contract with a magic plant " " Oh you did ? " Nisse asked .
Ikuta nodded and Nisse looked at him " Yeah you do but that's a lot of lifeforce you are feeding that plant " " It's not even growing like a tree , all of her roots are around the house , hopefully , she doesn't get burned by the fire at home "
" Can I style your hair ? " " Sure " Nisse gets to working " What kind of contract is that ? " Ezio asked " Claire says it's a gardener and plant contract " " It's a contract made for gardeners to feed the plant and for the plant to feed the gardener " Nisse explained .
Nisse could feel the strand of lifeforce emitted by the contract " If you can see what I'm seeing you can see a long stream of light from Ikuta's body " Nisse moves her hand over Ikut watching the stream of light dodge her .
" What color is it ? " " Not sure it keeps changing , mom said that the stream of light is dependent on a person's affinity , but since even people with affinities can make these contracts the color is different and more on how healthy their bodies are "
" So Ikuta has a very bright stream of light because of how healthy he is ? " Ezio asked " Yeah , you do eat a lot " Nisse said " I also have to exercise more now that I have that contract " " What did you name the plant ? "
" I named her Yukina " " Another japanese name are you sure you aren't related to the otherworlders ? " Nisse asked " Ahahah I'm not , okay . It's just what dad named me I'm not really sure why though "
" You know there were a lot of otherworlders that tried to defend the world tree when it was alive " " And even helped the defender against the abyss " Druk added " I don't know anything about them , Dad was a wolf and bull hybrid meanwhile mom was a griffin "
Druk was confused about how Ezio could say something so unrelated without shame that it doesn't connect " How is that related ? " " It's not related I just say it to say something " " You don't have to worry too much about the topic we were gonna run out of things to say about the otherworlders . " Ikuta said .
" So how do you go from here " Druk asked " I heard the new student is a hybrid of a dwarf and human " Nisse said " I used to think that a dwarf-elf hybrid is equal to a human " " Elves and dwarves have very different blood than humans " Druk said .
" Why did she transfer ? " " Don't know the teacher announced it in the afternoon " Ezio said " Will she tell us why , maybe her family moved in " Ikuta asked " did she come here because of the winter ? " Ezio asked " Impossible there's no way you can come here that quickly " Druk said .
The class comes inside and Nisse takes another picture of Ikuta " My name is Amber , My father is a dwarf and my mother is a human , only mom leaves with me my dad is working overseas " " You may take a seat over "
Amber sat beside the empty seat at the back near Ikuta " Hello " Ikuta waved his hands to avoid looking rude and class starts . He busies himself by sending a cultist to see how well Yukina had talked to Hestia .
" It was amazing , Nyx was also there too , But they want to talk to you in person " ' That'll be hard if it was just Hestia I could send a cultist but now I need to send something much better ' ' Yukina , I'll figure something out with talking with the goddesses personally " " Okay "
Ikuta sends the cultist away with the dark flame ' Ahh so much to do ' " Hey are you spacing out ? " Amber asked " Oh sorry I was thinking of something " " What were you thinking about ? " Ikuta looks at the teacher and writes a note .
"Dark magic" Amber writes back "Why ?" "Dad said it's rare it's why I should read on another affinity while he finds other books on dark magic" Amber didn't know what to write and Ikuta continued working with the cultist taking note of the subject and holding it at the back of his hand in case Ezio starts asking him about what he didn't listen about .
The cultist takes a voodoo doll that was all Ikuta could rummage through their storage ' This one is perfect no application of magic in here now for some darkness ' the spinning wheel inside Ikuta's room turns and weaves out dark threads .
He sends the straw dolls into his room and sends a message ' Yukina throw this straw doll into the fire , I'm not sure if it will work but I hope it would " Yukina does as she was told and brings it away sneakily while Louis shovels the ice .
The straw appears in the fire and Nyx picks it up " Hello ? " the straws in the doll move to work a mouth for words " It looks like I can still from this far " " Are you Ikuta ? " Nyx asked " Oh are you supposed to be Nyx or Hestia ? "
" Nyx , You said you know of a monster " " Yes I do , and I'm not sure what you want that Yukina couldn't give you and that only I can " Nyx thinks Ikuta wasn't a child and thinks it's likely because he knows of the monster .
" Is this monster associated with the ragnarok , my child the god of sleep had learned of a forbidden knowledge while traversing dreams , you don't suppose this monster is the same , is it ? " Ikuta was hesitant but this was a goddess he is talking so .
" I would like to clarify your knowledge but I will tell you that as long as I don't speak all of it you will only catch glimpses of this monster but it will be risky and only you should hear it to assess its danger "
" Alright say your words child " The doll takes a deep breath highlighted by the smoke " With many names , One which the gods have given Ragnarok " Nyx felt several visions of many goods instantly dying .
This forbidden knowledge affected her powers as a primordial goddess and personification of night allowing her to see these visions , the twilight of gods giving a name to an event was suddenly turned into the name of a person . She watched gods notice Ragnarok and acknowledged it .
Mount Olympus was destroyed not by Aries who only wanted to separate the divines and the mortals and then more visions about Asgard's destruction not by the hand of Loki's children , or a known god , even the father of the children that was supposed to be in Asgard wasn't there , something dark yet seen by the gods was .
" Ragnarok " they all uttered giving a name to the entity that appeared , This act became a naming ceremony and turned the words of Ragnarok into a taboo .
" NYX " Nyx drops the doll that was damaged by forbidden knowledge " What is this ? " Nyx felt her body shiver , not from the cold , the sacred flame of Hestia was still warm " Looks like this vessel didn't work I'll find another doll untouched by black magic "
Nyx looks at the doll crumbling from darkness , she had a vision of the gods crumbling too with the only thing left on them was a dart , it was abstract but it clearly embodied something that killed the gods .
" Until then be careful with the knowledge I gave you , right now you are the third person to know of this knowledge " the strands of the doll holding the stomach together crumbled leaving straws and fell out and faded into existence .
Hestia groans from a broken cellphone ringing that was clinging to a little bit of battery life it still has " Mmgh what happened ? " she opens her eyes to see beside the fireplace " Nyx are you okay ? "
Nyx looks at Hestia and swallowed her fear ' A child has held this knowledge longer than I have , so I must stay strong ' " It's fine I talked with the child , and he sent me a straw doll of dark magic , He really respects you , he probably had a lot of choices amongst the straw doll but took the one left untouched by black magic "
" Oh it's so nice to hear a child have that much consideration for me " Hestia smiled " He told me something before he left , he told me that you should stop looking for the monster , I hope you understand "
Hestia looked at her and knew that Nyx was smart enough to know it was hard to convince Hestia to try to bring back the gods " He must've told you something frightening ? " " I guess it's hard to hide it from you ? "
Hestia nods " I know you know how much I have wished to go back to the more peaceful days like when Prometheus was making humanity or when Epimetheus made Pandora a box to help grant her wishes , Because I know you wouldn't do anything futile but something the boy has said must've made you try at least "
Nyx swallowed up all her fear " Yes he did say something " " Alright I'll stop trying to learn about the monster "
Nyx sighed with relief " But did the boy say anything else ? " " Well he told me to be careful about what the knowledge I got from talking to him " " So is he going to come back ? " " He promised to come back with another doll untouched by black magic "
Hestia smiled " Alright back to waiting then " Hestia walked to a shelf of goods that were burned to find a way to entertain herself .
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