Ikuta walked through the frost hearing Petra's screams asking him to come back . He felt a cold breeze carry his long hair into the air ' I'm inside Niflheim but am I also inside the waterfall source ? ' he was confused about it and assumed this kind of thing was like the snow globes at home .
' if I were to fly out of this place would I appear at the waterfall ? ' he didn't exactly want to test this theory unless he wanted his father to be exposed to some secrets that could mess with his already comfortable life ' it's cold but I can handle this '
He feels relaxed thinking about all the advantages of being surrounded by mana " But first I have to try and absorb it " he took a deep breath feeling the cold chilling air " Haaaa " he watched his white breath leave his mouth and activate his stomach fire to warm his body " Lee "
He was glad the tiny ice crystals melted " I gotta remember to keep my stomach fire going " he walked through the icy realm to search for the mysterious party or possibly the ice giant that had allowed Niflheim's frost to go into the other world .
' It's hard to see but as long as I use the seeing dark , looking is no problem I'm even breathing some of the ice mana in , although it is making my throat feel dry '
He hopes to find a place where the ice giants could be in and heard a voice in his head ' Ikuta ? " ' Yukina you learned how to do this already ? " ' Yep teacher was very nice to teach this early in the morning "
' That's great what did you call me for then ? " ' Ratatoskr wanted to tell you where to find Vedrfolnir and Nidhogg " ' Okay just tell me where they are but first I need to look for someone so I won't be able to go back home yet " ' Okay "
Ikuta learned of the location which happened to be further from the portal ' I should be able to find the mysterious party so how should I find it ? ' he was already sure that it was an ice giant and wished he had someone who could tell him ' If I ask Ratatoskr it might be bad if he accidentally tells anyone that I somehow knew that it was an ice giant '
He could ask the elf but that was too hard ' I could search for the caves though ' he knew that idea would work since there was no other way for someone to speak shelter in this realm of primordial frost where survival is much harder than the realm of giants Jotunheim .
' Hmm ' he recalls the location of Nidhogg and Vedrfolnir ' it's the location of that spring ' Hvergelmir the source of all rivers where Nidhogg resides chewing the roots ' It's probably just one of them but since it's here '
He decided he could start there since it was the only location he knew of but also the fact that he could at least get Nidhogg . As he walked a giant mountain shapeshifts into a frost giant ' So that child has an affinity to Niflheim I better watch out for him he already revealed a part of his identity casually breathing the frosty air '
Unbeknownst to Ikuta the giant smiled watching Ikuta walk through the cold with no problem " I suppose he is searching for something " the giant prepared to welcome Ikuta going to his cave to prepare while Ikuta searched for the springs .
Hvergelmir , a spring that boils in Niflheim " Wow " he soaked his hand in it and felt it warm up " Nidhogg and Vedrfolnir should be around here " He used the seeing dark spell but found nothing .
' I mean it's not like Dad would just give Ratatoskr the exact location ' he wondered if the frost giant would know a thing or two about it " Congratulations young giant " Ikuta was surprised to hear a loud voice .
" Huh ? " " Young man to think you would be brave enough to come to this realm shows that you have much greater promise than the Jotuns , giants with lineage closer to the great giant Ymir have a brighter future than the Jotuns who failed during Ragnarok "
Ikuta was surprised that the giant just revealed himself " Uhm you are ? " " Oh I'm sorry I never thought there would be more giants , let me introduce myself "
The giant shapeshifts back to its true form growing taller and taller and his face grew a beard . He brings his hand down where Ikuta sat on the palm " My name is Berg since you are still young I doubt you will be able to shapeshift to this but worry not I will teach you all the secrets of the giant "
" All of it ? " Berg nods and Ikuta wonders what he should do " Why are you destroying the beacons ? " " Oh you mean those devices that are keeping Niflheim's frost ? " Ikuta nodded .
" Well I wanted to make sure that some giants like you would feel it and maybe come to this world , the small people have a habit of sending people with matching affinities to a location when there is a problem so I made a problem "
" Oh , but you could freeze the planet " " Oh don't worry I can unfreeze it anytime but I'm keeping it in control for any giants who happen to have weaker affinity to Niflheim " Ikuta decided to put aside the idea that Berg was unleashing Niflheim's frost .
" Why did you do that then ? " " Because I want to gather up more giants " Ikuta wondered if Berg knew that there are no more giants but thinks that it might not be so " So you think there are more ? " " No but I am very patient in ensuring that there is a way for them to come to this realm "
" I mean I have never heard of other giants " " I see but it doesn't mean that the blood hasn't been spread through the world you may think you are the only one but some of us ice giants could be hiding which is why I opened the portal as an invitation to those giant's with lineage closer to Ymir "
' It could be true he was a remnant of Ragnarok or maybe he never participated ' " Now let me teach you we have all day for me to mentor you , I had to write everything down in case I failed to remember so I'm glad to give you some materials to read "
Ikuta was worried that the books might be too big because of Berg's size and had to make sure that he left as soon as possible ' I already found the mysterious third party but the problem is this party isn't a danger if he is keeping it in control so that some of Niflheim's frost could go to our world but not freeze it '
" What will I be learning ? " " Runes of course you already have enough intuitive knowledge in controlling it now you can start with the language of magic " Berg was excited to mentor Ikuta seeing how much talent he already has and how high his affinity is .
' I'll still need to leave him but I want the runes ' " Uhm Berg is it okay if I take them to study at home ? " Berg looks at Ikuta " I suppose you could hold on let me bring you to my cave "
Berg takes Ikuta to the location and shows him giant books enchanted by Berg to last long " I used to have stone slates but they took up too much space and even though the paper is hard to make it was much easier to use as long as I write it over Hvergelmir " Ikuta wondered what kind of paper Berg had used .
" First let me teach you more about the runes so this way you can read them at your home " Ikuta diligently learns from Berg and imagines how he could incorporate it with coding magic " Interesting you understand most of these concepts "
" I have been reading a lot " " Good as learners we should strive to learn , being barbaric is ridiculous if you can easily be manipulated " Berg said " Now as for your material " Berg grabbed a giant book .
" Here you go , this is my best works , it's only this size because it would be a waste to make it small but you can still read it , I wrote these pages with a smaller body " Ikuta was surprised " So will you stop destroying the beacons ? " " Of course not , I don't have any other way to invite other ice giants "
Ikuta felt irritated considering that Berg was in his way " How about this I will ask my uhhh , Berg what do you call people who do what you want them to do ? " " I do know servants but there are also other kinds of words like employees but you can always say your helpers why ? "
" Then I have some helpers who will do anything to help me , those beacons that were inside are supposed to absorb Niflheim's frost so that I could absorb it because I still have to go to school " " I see school , children at these times do have to entire these kinds of school "
Ikuta watched Berg thinking " I suppose that book should be enough for a child like you for weeks ... Perhaps we can do it like this , since you were able to come here on your own I believe you can take your time and come here any day you want ? "
Ikuta considered that he could take his test but would still prefer to have a good attendance score " Maybe I could in every Sunday when I don't have school " " Is that so then you may come here anytime if you encounter a problem "
Berg said " Ahh but can you really please stop destroying the beacons I can make a solution for you " Berg was confused what kind of solution Ikuta has " I know some people who can use Ice magic but I doubt they are giants "
" Oh it's okay , I know they aren't " Ikuta was confused " Wait then what made you think I was a giant ? " Berg looked at Ikuta " Let me show you " Berg took Ikuta to a small cave and he shrunk his form and showed some frozen body .
" This is an ancient ice giant , their affinity was so great they were frozen the moment they reached this stage , which is why I must warn you child , do not go rush your affinity refining , your body should be able to handle it before you can increase it "
Ikuta compared his affinity to the giants " It's almost the same " " Exactly that's why I say you were a promising child " Ikuta felt guilty for tricking another adult again " I'm sorry Berg , I'm not really an ice giant "
Berg's eyes widened " You aren't ? " Ikuta nodded preparing to battle " That's amazing , you don't even have a single drop of blood at all ? " Ikuta was surprised by his calmness and shook his head .
" How ? This is amazing so you are human ? " Ikuta nodded " Amazing child , even if you aren't a giant I don't care " " But didn't you talk a lot about being a giant ? " " I did but that was when I thought you were "
Berg fixed his attitude and cleared his throat " Okay let me take this from the start ... Human child of excellent potential , you whose Niflheim affinity rivals the giant over here , I am proud to offer you my teachings and mentor you "
Ikuta looked at Berg remembering that he wasn't one of the giants in the stories who had wished to overthrow people but was more like the giant who had challenged Thor and his companions " Hahahaha to think I'd find a student as great as you "
" Why did you want to teach then ? " " Obviously it's in an elder's joy to see youngsters grow , I have been living for a long time constantly being frozen and freed back , so I had to keep learning the changes became less frequent the more I learned to control the ice affinity so I thought it would be best if not everyone experiences it "
Ikuta thinks if Berg even needs giants " Then is that why you wanted to search for giants ? " Berg frowns " Not exactly I just know that ice giants are susceptible to being frozen and freed from ice "
Ikuta doesn't understand why " But from the way you have been talking are there even any giants out there ? " Berg asked " I don't think there are " Berg smiled " That's both bad and good " " Why ? "
Berg looked at Ikuta and sat with him " Because this way I don't have to worry about the youngsters anymore , no more giants who will freeze up when they entire Niflheim " Ikuta was surprised to here that .
" What do you mean ? " Berg sighed with resignment " Just a thing giants do , since I heard you say there aren't anymore, I suppose I won't have to care about it anymore " he looked at the book they left outside " Take care of that book child it's my life's work I'll be going to sleep now you can still wake me up if you don't understand a part of the book "
Ikuta watched Berg's body grow and run out of the cave watching a finger poke out " Huh that's strange " Ikuta was confused about this and looked at the giant book " I can at least look for Nidhogg and Vedrfolnir now "
He controlled the frost of Niflheim to carry the book and rode it to search for Nidhogg and Vedrfolnir " NIDHOGG ? VEDRFOLNIR ? " He called out hoping he could find them " Hmm maybe I'll go back I am feeling kinda hungry "
He went back to the portal to see Petra " Young master !! " Petra waved at Ikuta surprised to see he was riding a giant book " I found the third party you were talking about " Petra was confused and Ikuta got off the book .
" They agreed to stop destroying the beacons so you can continue making them now " Petra was surprised that Ikuta solved the problem in less than six hours " Also I'm hungry it's already lunch for me "
Ikuta walked past the portal gaining the attention " the young master is back " the escorts bought blankets that emitted warmth and wrapped Ikuta in it . Having been to the freezing realm he let them carry him to a tent that worked like a sauna .
" Ahhh this feels so nice " Ikuta was happy to feel the warm steam warming his body while Petra had to answer the media assuring that they have secured Ikuta .
After Ikuta felt satisfied with the heat he leaves the sauna and talks to Petra " Petra are there any restaurants that are open at midnight ? "
" Young master I don't think " Petra figured it should be important to feed Ikuta something fulfilling considering what she knows about stomach fire keeping the body warm by burning as much food as possible " I think we can arrange food for you just wait for an hour "
Ikuta was disappointed that he was going to have a late lunch " Young master you have made it hard for all of us " the adventurers said " Oh sorry about that but I really want to make it up for the cost of the beacons "
" No young master you mustn't go inside Niflheim " " I will go back though I still haven't found the thing yet plus the beacons will be fine and I even found a giant's book look " He pushed the first page revealing the lifework of Berg .
" See " the adventurers were surprised how Ikuta managed to find such a treasure , they appraised the book's material , finding traces of ancient species from the leather and the paper " I need to read "
Ikuta used his console to conjure a pixelated on top and start reading ... Petra had all the food from any nearby restaurants ordered " Young master ? " " Oh hold on I'll go down " Petra looked at the runes fascinated by the age of the book's material itself .
" Where did you get this ? " " A giant named Berg was the one attacking the beacons , he said he wanted to use this hoping to find any surviving giants , he thought I was one because I had a high affinity to Niflheim "
Petra writes it down " He taught me Niflheim's runes but after I told him I wasn't a giant and that there probably wasn't any left , he went back in the cave where he froze probably because he let his affinity do it " Petra thinks of how she could have this delivered to the media .
" Petra I still need to get something at Niflheim so I might stay for a while " " Then we will prepare the hotel to accept you , would you need anything there ? "
Petra didn't question what Ikuta wanted and thought it might be related to Berg . Ikuta eats his lunch gorging everything while some adventurers observe him .
" So the kid is like that , you think we are going to keep our bodyguarding job ? " " Probably not " the adventurers look at Ikuta eat comparing him to a monster that popped out of a dungeon " If we wanna keep our job we just gotta do it "
Petra was also wondering if Ikuta even needed a bodyguard , she had intentionally hired some bodyguards in case Ikuta couldn't defend himself but he made it seem like a pointless idea ' We'll never know even if he managed to take down a threat like that he is still vulnerable when he is eating '
While Ikuta was eating though ' Someone is watching me ' his study in black magic already allowed him to detect malicious intent ' What should I do to them ? ' he knew whoever was aiming for him could be observing him making sure to memorize his habits to perfect this shot .
' I don't want to do anything if I'm eating ' he hid a shield made by dark magic and let light conceal it ' Any minute now ' he reached his fork to grab a pork cutlet and the sniper fired a shot . Everyone heard the sound of shattering and they turned to see the bullet frozen in the air with dark crack surrounding it .
" YOUNG MASTER !!?? " Ikuta turned to look at the sniper " Yeah ? " " Are you okay ? " Ikuta nodded undeterred from dipping his cutlet and biting through the crust " Yep " Petra was surprised and looked at the shield " Okay just stay still " she turned to the adventurers " What are you doing find the sniper ! "
Petra turned back to Ikuta " Young master please stay still " " okay " " Sorry we should've taken further precautions on these assassins " Ikuta remembered that they may use Nisse and decided to take care of it ' that assassin is packing up at the elevator but I can get their soul '
He used the dark flame on the hourglass sending it to the assassin " Hmm ? " The last thing they saw was a dark flame and the hourglass before they found themselves in between Purgatory and Paradise . One side screamed and the other side shouted with joy and Innocence being an assassin they worry about what kind of illusion they are in .
The elevator door opens and the adventurers found the body . While Petra had some experts check the bullet " Magic piercing and poison , Young master is your magic okay ? " Ikuta showed some darkness " Should I do more ? " " No this is okay " ' So young master's magic is at that level ? '
" We found the body it's dead " the forensics checked the body to identify the killer ' Something's not right ' Petra reflected on the evidence wondering how the killer managed to kill the assassin so quickly " There was no resistance in fighting it was almost instant , they used a soul reaping magic from this "
" at least we identified the assassin " Petra said ' and young master isn't afraid even though this was the first time he was targeted ' " young master are you okay ? "
Ikuta first viewed the food and emptied his mouth " yeah why ? " " Are you not afraid of being shot ? " " Nope " his immediate answer showed how little he actually cared .
" okay just checking if you are okay " Ikuta finished eating his lunch " I wonder what school is like right now ? " Most of the adventurers were sleeping while Ikuta remained awake . He kept his watch on the same time zone as home and continued reading ' School is more fun '
He was bored reading it and remembered the hot spring that he uses at home ' Maybe I can go there ' he asked for some drinks to be delivered he turned to the escorts who were looking out for any assassins and decided to leave a note before using dark magic to turn invisible like the shield he made .
He took the giant book with him and walked through the icy realm prepared to indulge in the warmth of Hvergelmir ' I haven't used a hot spring like this before , Niflheim is so cold that the hot springs are just right to bath on '
He planned to stay only for a while and soaked on the hot spring with his backpack locked in place ' this is so warm ' his resistance to the boiling spring was high due to his Niflheim affinity . He still doesn't forget what he was here for so after soaking on it for long enough he drank the cold milk and got ready to depart .
...
The adventurers looked at the note "I'm going to Niflheim to relax in Hvergelmir , the spring is really warm for me so you don't have to worry about me , I already ate my lunch and did some reading I'll be back for dinner"
They had no idea what to do " Should we tell her ? " ... " WHAT !!?? " " Yes the young master went inside and took the giant book with him he said he'll come back when dinner is ready " Petra had already given up in controlling Ikuta's entrance to the realm and only hoped that Ikuta would come back .
" No this could be an oppurtunity " Petra murmured " Miss Petra what will we tell the media " Petra thinks of Ikuta's trip and said " Tell them that young master is going out for a walk he'll be back when it's time for his dinner "
Petra proceeded to order some food " There won't be a problem if he actually returns it's pointless to try to get in when we are still repairing the beacons "
...
Ikuta looked at the corpse of Nidhogg wondering what had happened to the dragon .
" She's all bones is this because she was eaten by Berg ? " Ikuta wonders if there was a spell he could use and remembered some of the stories about someone who consumed the bone marrow of Thor's goats after being tricked by Loki .
' Mmmhmm I don't know what happened to him but I really would need the magic ' he wondered if Vedrfolnir was also dead and felt something getting closer . Ikuta took his sword to parry an eagle who is normally sized " Who are you ? " Vedrfolnir yelled .
" Uhm I'm here to bring you and Nidhogg to Ratatoskr ? " Vedrfolnir stood on the bones of Nidhogg " You do have a connection with something similar to Yggdrasil " " So are you coming ? "
Vedrfolnir looked at Nidhogg's bones " Then can you use that black mana to animate her ? " Ikuta was surprised that Vedrfolnir saw through him " How did you know ? "
" That's what the stories depict me , Normally I would not like it if you were to use Black magic but since they were derived by sinners like those on that hourglass then I will accept it "
' At least he doesn't know who caused the Ragnarok ' " Can you keep the black magic a secret ? " " Sure I'll just blame it on myself I know how much black magic is shunned even though some use themselves as a source of black mana "
Ikuta takes out the hourglass which doesn't surprise Vedrfolnir and turns black mana into ink " Impressive boy you have a stable understanding of black magic " " Yeah all the souls in here had to give me their knowledge , but I stored it in my sword "
The eagle looks at the blade carrying it with his talons " Then it will be useful if you can read it is it not ? " " I mean yeah it would " " Well you will eventually head to Mimisbrunnr maybe you can soak this sword "
Ikuta was surprised by how easily he was going to go to the well of knowledge " Is that okay ? " " Of course , as the one to provide our young mistress her nutrients , it is only right for you to get it , moreover you will have to purify the forbidden knowledge that stained the well "
He was very familiar with the term but lied " Forbidden knowledge ? " " Exactly it is one of the things that has appeared and predicted by Yggdrasil , she told me I must never get near that well in Ragnarok "
" Okay then that means only I have to go " " Be very careful young child even the fates and the Norns were damaged severely by Ragnarok which has driven chaos to the mortal worlds "
Ikuta didn't see the chaos at all " I mean we are still fine " " You may be fine now but that's only because the fates and Norns had to focus their strength on keeping the other realms that are a threat to mortal destiny from interfering , we have already lost both of them and when the time came it will really be the end of all "
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