The door rang and the trio ran to hide in Ikuta's room " Hello ? " Claire answered to a woman named Estrea " Hello I am the representative of all the magic towers the sage " " What are you here for ? "
" Oh I'm here for Ikuta Seishin he has bought some forbidden knowledge on his trip back from Niflheim and I want to make sure that he is faring well " " He's still asleep so you'll have to wait " " Do not worry I will wait "
Claire invites Estrea inside while Louis brings some tea " Looks like the sage got here " Ikuta's father said facing Estrea who couldn't see him at all " For someone who is looking for forbidden knowledge she doesn't seem to sense me "
Estrea looks in the general direction of Ikuta's room but is unable to penetrate through the room's walls ' Seems like someone is blocking my perception but I think I understand what he did '
Estrea was interested in what Ikuta had been doing and finally , Ikuta came out of his room rubbing his eyes " Good morning Ikuta Seishin " Ikuta looked at Estrea wondering who she was " I'm what people called the sage I hope you don't mind me intruding "
Ikute went to eat breakfast not knowing how to welcome Estrea " Uhm why are you here so early ? " " Because I wanna ask you about the forbidden knowledge that you have " Ikuta was confused as to why she knew that and he was too tired from dreamwalking to make strong reactions .
" Do you know that the forbidden knowledge that you have is harmful " ' The most dangerous one is beside you though ' " I know but it's not like I got the most dangerous forbidden knowledge "
Estrea became curious wondering what Ikuta meant " When I got Mimisbrunnr I removed all the forbidden knowledge I sealed the last one from Yggdrasil's memory in a jar because it was very bad " Estrea smiled with much curiosity .
" Then would you be willing to give it to me ? " " For what ? " " Safekeeping obviously , I came here to check how well you are faring against forbidden knowledge but you rejected the last one a very good move from you "
Odin's eye twitched with a strange desire and Ikuta knew that it wanted to learn which would end badly if it did " It's fine with me " Ikuta said " Are you sure ? If it was the last forbidden knowledge it would be the most dangerous ? "
Ikuta knew if he gave it to her she would instantly die " It's not going anywhere if I leave it in one place " " You don't think people will tell this to anyone ? " Ikuta shook his head " I'm sure everyone will keep this a secret "
" You really trust them , since you took Mimisbrunnr have you seen Odin's eye ? The legends never told what happened after that " Estrea was very curious about Odin's eye and Ikuta received information on what she wants .
" Yeah It's here " Ikuta showed Odin's eye which was less pressuring because Vedrfolnir taught him how to suppress its powers and use it " Impressive how did you do that ? " " I had a very good teacher "
Estrea looked at his room and guessed it must be inside " Must be a good teacher , I hope you are not going to be affected by forbidden knowledge at all "
...
Richard kills all the black mages in a horrifying way soaking their blood on the Mimic taking advantage of the spell formula that Ikuta wrote into the Mimic to supply it with enough black mana " Nonono I need more "
He desired more power to avoid the shame of losing . He rummages through all the text that the main cult has finding one and smiles at the book . He skipped the warning text ignoring them like they were nothing to him .
He is faced with a spell lock drawing that sealed the paper behind it . He rips out the hardcover of the book and holds the stacks of paper " I didn't stop to kill for black magic do you think I'll stop here "
He used the black mana to erode the spellbinding pages to reveal the contents .
" I'm here to ask you to confirm you haven't been corrupted " " It's okay I'm still okay even though I don't understand most of it it's like learning about the different life theory my friend told me about " " That's the kind of knowledge you have ? " Estrea asked .
Ikuta nodded " Huh that means you have an open mind but if that's the case you will have to be careful about a different kind of forbidden knowledge " " Different kind of forbidden knowledge ? " " One of them is like banned information of a bomb blueprint if anyone gets this they would gain power "
" But it's not something that would corrupt me " " You are right but there are some runes that are strangely enchanted , if someone is able to learn about runes that bring about a forbidden spell then it would be something that could corrupt you because normal magic that is a passive force this kind of forbidden magic is very active "
Estrea created some examples " Take this for example the black book " the color of the book was the same color a paper would have " It has never been found and the knowledge of this book is said to be made from the souls of those who were sealed inside it which means it could also talk to you and update it's contents "
" Is it called the black book because black mages use it ? " Estrea nodded " Uhmmm Why are you telling me ? " Ikuta was confused and Estrea looked at Ikuta's room " Not many may know this but that sword of yours the knowledge in it is also the same right ? "
Ikuta's guard rises " Yeah when Faulks was going to die I quickly used an artifact he had to seal his soul " ' It was very hard but luckily the sword and Harkness helped me ' " So the knowledge in there is just what Faulks had ? You removed it to keep his soul inside that artifact "
Ikuta nodded and Estrea was more surprised at how he had the moral strength to do something like this " Why did you do that ? " " I thought he might resurrect so I had to do it you know like when the final boss goes to his next phase " " How did you do that ? " " It was very hard but I did it "
Estrea imagined that Ikuta wouldn't be able to give her a straight answer " I see you are that strong in will and power ... and while I came here just to be sure that you are okay I was also hoping that I could recruit you in case we find forbidden knowledge you are able to resist it even that stained the spring "
Estrea gets up ready to leave and Ikuta receives a notice ' I can't tell her this " ' Well you will have too , other black mages are currently being subdued by Richard " Harkness said casually ' I will be detected so I'll be watching from afar "
Ikuta was worried about that ' Then let's hope Estrea notices " " Uhm where is the black book again ? " " It hasn't been found , we think it might be in the hands of black cult " " Well I did learn that there is a mimic that disappeared around here "
Estrea was wondering if Ikuta was trying to help and found his attitude adorable " The mimic might have a lot of anger so wouldn't that make them hate ? " " That does work " " And it disappeared weird "
Ikuta tried to put the dots very close for Estrea to connect " Okay we will investigate it " Estrea was a little bit convinced and took Ikuta a little seriously . She leaves and Ikuta is worried that it will be a problem .
He goes upstairs and knows he has to find more of the characters his father created " Vedrfolnir is it possible for me to dreamwalk to Nidavellir ? " " I mean you could but that would be hard " Ikuta was in a rush considering that Richard already got the Black book and even ripped it releasing the seal on it .
" Hmm I'll have to learn really fast " he decided to prepare for the lessons that Brokk was gonna teach him and headed for the library where he studied as much as he could about dwarven techniques " Haaahh " he's eyes were so tired at lunch .
He ate so much at the restaurant ordering everything on the menu . He had to be forced to return home after lunch when Claire told him that his desire for knowledge might be the eye's doing which he was left to rest at home " What are you gonna do with the golden apple ? " Yukina asked .
" I was going to eat it when it multiplies " but he thinks he might get tired of the taste of an apple " I could just swallow it in the abyss but I still have to chew the apple that it multiplies out of " " then why don't you use dark magic then ? " Ikuta thinks about the creature that can be made with dark mana " That could work "
" But I have to change it into life force " he thinks about the abyss but is confused about how he can even do that ' I did share stomach fire with Yukina once maybe I can do the same to the creatures of darkness ' he remembers how he shared his digestive flame with Yukina when she was cold .
' I don't have to do it now I still have to see how the apple multiplies ' he has a headache from having to read so much . It seemed like Odin's eye really desired knowledge but understanding it was left to Ikuta . He yawned and decided to take a nap and was awoken to eat dinner .
He prepared to dreamwalk to the underworld with some money in his pockets and passed the ferryman . He arrives at the workshop to see Brokk and his brother Sindri " So you are the possessor of Odin's eye ? " " Yeah he is so do you agree to learn ? " Ikuta nodded and even showed them the gold .
" Here is the tutoring fee " Ikuta learned from Sindri about the runes that were used to enchant it and from Brokk how he uses his affinities to forge " Is there a way to go from Midgard directly to Nidavellir and svartalfheim ? " " You want to head there ? " Ikuta nodded and the two dwarves remembered the sons of Ivaldi .
" You can try the sons of Ivaldi however you have to pay a lot " " oh that's fine " Ikuta didn't care about the finances that he had ' But I don't think I can keep paying with gold , it's just too heavy ' he thinks of the other kinds of things he could pay with like the ambrosia honey but he was saving them for trading .
' I really need to find ores then ' he hates how he plans to pay with ores when the Sons of Ivaldi were the ones who could help him get such rare ores ' I do have the ores but I'm not sure if it would be good ' " I have some ores but I don't think you will like what it does "
" What does it do ? " Ikuta remembered the antimagic ores and used them to describe it but replaced the magic with soul " How did you find that out ? " " It's a very long story " ' As much as possible I don't want to tell everyone about this '
" A soul-destroying ore that could be a weapon in the underworld , alright we'll buy it " Ikuta sends a message to Harkness to claim all the ores for him to send to the midnight mansion which Ikuta uses to bring one piece .
" Ohhh this is fascinating " " Try to be careful with the dust you might die since I lost my affinity when I was forging an antimagic ore " " Ahh don't worry us dwarves are better at the forge you might even buy the spear of Gungnir from the Sons of Ivaldi "
" What they have it ? " " They had it for a while nobody just earned it but some of our workers spread rumors that you have Odin's eye , just show them the ore and they'll give you Gungnir which would be quicker if you tell them about Odin's eye "
Ikuta was really glad he absorbed Odin's eye and decided to forgive it for the headaches it made him feel " Can you keep the fact I gave you this ore a secret ? "
Ikuta left the workshop to look for the sons of Ivaldi , and unlike the workshop Brokk and Sindri managed this one had several kinds of people working that weren't just dwaves . The name of the workshop was written as Ivaldi's to show that it was sort of a family business .
He didn't know how to introduce himself so he looked at the counter " Another customer what would you like us to make ? " Ivaldi asked " Uhm Brokk and Sindri said I could buy Gungnir since I have a rare ore and Odin's eye "
Ivaldi looks at Ikuta " You fit the rumors that describe the possessor and that rare ore what could it be ? " Ikuta whispered to Ivaldi " Oh that's something we can get by give us some of that and we'll give you Gungnir " Ikuta gave Ivaldi a pouch of the ore while he went inside to get Gungnir .
Ikuta was glad that he could use Gungnir and didn't think he would get it so easily ' I should definitely make good use of it ' a gust of wind blew and Ikuta was seized before anyone could notice " I got Gungnir " Ivaldi said and found that Ikuta was gone and became confused .
Alekto one of the Furies carried Ikuta to her sisters Tisiphone and Megaira " Is this because I put Cerberus to sleep and let the souls that you are torturing out ? " " So you do know what you did " " I do but I didn't think that would happen that time I just started dreamwalking yesterday "
Alekto didn't see a reason to punish Ikuta and decided to explain to her sisters when they arrived at their home . It was in a dark region and named after Erebus " So that's it then , he didn't intend to release it so he just has to help us gather the souls to clean up the mess he made "
" It would be hard " Ikuta explained why " I saw a black mage get these souls and I think they unleashed the black book " " That means they have the souls of other black mages and the ones we were punishing ? "
Ikuta nodded " That's fine then " " You're not gonna chase them ? " " The black mage will torture them but it would be better if you are able to leave more quietly " Tisiphone said " Then you can go ask Hecate "
He was wondering if someone was messing with the fates and Norns to make his journey easy . He follows Alekto to the home of Hecate passing a forest and to a hut , Alekto knocks on the door and Hecate opens it .
" What is it ? " " I wanna ask if there is a way for this dreamwalker to leave the underworld with peace " Hecate looks at Ikuta " It's not like you to allow such a thing , I doubt Cerberus would even let him "
" That's why I had to use a music box that had Orpheus's essence " Hecate looked at Ikuta " Him what a strange boy " Ikuta was confused about what Hecate meant and asked " Can I ask one question ? "
" What kind ? " " Why is it so easy for everyone to get along in the underworld ? " Hecate looked at Alekto and then turned to Ikuta " I don't think it's everyone that is getting along with each other in the underworld but more like it's you whose journey is going very smoothly "
" Wait why ? " Hecate uses her power to see what Ikuta would be like " I think it has to do with how you have been working so hard every day think of it like learning all there is and starting at kindergarten "
Ikuta was confused by Hecate's phrasing " Not enough then how about this then , your motivation was basically to avoid worrying about the future yet the future you worried about is not going to happen "
He does remember that the only way he had to stop worrying about not surviving was by getting stronger " Yet despite the many futures and hardships that you are prepared for , you are still working hard ... is there a reason "
Ikuta covered his mouth " I can't tell you that " Hecate couldn't peer so far through Ikuta's worries .
" I understand what you mean , no matter what you do the greatest thing that allows one to pursue strength is unsatisfaction , and yet child like you is still unsatisfied what you have and you even questioned why your current journey through the underworld has gone smoothly "
" Yeah it feels scary " Hecate chuckled at Ikuta's strange worry " Don't be worried , The only reason why it was so easy was because all the hard parts of the journey have ended think of this part as the reward "
Ikuta understood what she meant , he had overlooked the value of Odin's eye because he had seen things easily overshadow what Odin's eye could be valued at .
And all the hardship he had been through was easily ignored by him because of the greater challenge up ahead " So enjoy your stay in the underworld and here "
Ikuta was given a map Hecate drew " This is the same kind of map that I drew for Hermes " " Do I have to pay ? " " You can pay me back by giving me some ambrosia I don't need it but I do miss the taste "
He was glad to have a map and Alekto took him back to Ivaldi's " Kid you're back " Ivaldi said " Sorry I made some troubles for the Furies so I had to leave I can still buy Gungnir right ? " Ivaldi nodded " Let me just get it from the back "
" HOLD IT RIGHT THERE " A loud scream was heard through the workshop and Apollo appeared his clothes had the theme of wings on them " Ivaldi , I swore you wouldn't sell me Gungnir despite how much gold I offered "
" Oh be quiet Wingboy , I only let this kid have it because he is the one who has Odin's eye which means he is the closest thing to Odin after Ragnarok "
Ivaldi whispered to Ikuta " Also kid that ore you gave us is really good stuff we'll keep it a secret as much as possible " " Hey what are you whispering ? " Hermes asked .
" GAAAHHH Stop eavesdropping boy , this is why someone had to invent soundproof magic " Ivaldi gave Ikuta Gungnir but Hermes still had something to say about it .
" You're still gonna give him that ? " " SHUT THE HEL UP BOY " Ivaldi shouted at Hermes " You Dwarves are so annoying " " Maybe it's you who is annoying !! I swear even Loki was less annoying than you "
" Don't compare me to that trickster " " Says the god of thieves , crooks , scammers " Ivaldi continues to insult Hermes who throws back at him . Ikuta sees people ignoring it thinking it might be a common occurrence .
" I'll be taking Gungnir then " " WAIT " Hermes yelled and Ikuta was wondering what he wants now " A bet , I will bet my powers to get Gungnir it's only right for me to put something that valuable "
Ikuta was very tempted , a challenge made by Hermes himself which means he could test his limits and see how far he is . He wasn't exactly in a hurry to get as strong after seeing Estrea there were already plenty of strong people to fight against Richard after he talked to the adventurers .
Harkness didn't meet the denier that quickly because she was leisurely enjoying controlling a family . He already had the golden apple that would multiply and it's only time that he could increase the output to increase the amount of lifeforce he could receive from it so .
And he could always take an alternative option to go to the other realms to find his siblings that his father created .
" What kind of powers ? " " Travel through the cosmos " Ikuta didn't feel very interested because he knew how valuable the weapon was " This is Odin's spear " his tone of voice hinted that he views Odin's spear as something more valuable .
" Oh fine I will even throw in the power of thieves with this you can steal even the powers that Hera bestowed to otherworlders " Ikuta was very tempted and Hermes smiled since he never really looked at the theiving power as something valuable .
Ivaldi quickly announced " Hey since you are going to make bets how about we join " Ivaldi immediately put his bet on Ikuta just because he hates Hermes " Then the competition will be at Tartarus , we will race in one point and then to the other "
Everyone was excited to see the race . One side had fate in Hermes while the other believed in Ikuta who was able to gain the eye of odin .
The two competitors stood side by side at the entrance of Tartarus " You will have to reach that mountain which Sisyphus is punished " Ivaldi who was collecting bets was given more and more bets .
The ones on Hermes's side were much bigger than the side of Ikuta which only had Ivaldi's bet until someone added theirs " Trying to win big huh ? " they nodded with a smile and both competitors were excited .
While Hermes was excited to win Ikuta was excited to test his limits " Are you ready ? " Ikuta nodded " Alright , on your march get set and GO " As if time had slowed down Ikuta focused all of his strength on his leg and used his joints as perfectly as he had .
His legs pushed the ground he stood on very hard and when he finally moved the sound of thunder striking was sounded . He ran and with each footstep he took was followed by the sound of a great thunder striking the ground .
He ran and ran through Tartarus ignoring the inhabitants that were in the way slicing through the air resistance like a sword to maximize his speed . He was so focused on optimizing his speed that he didn't even consider where he was supposed to stop and turn .
He only realizes he has to go back when he turns around to see that he already passed his target . He quickly turned back pushing his legs through the ground and ignited it with fire through friction , he felt warm because of Hestia's blessing and his whole body caught on fire .
After fixing his direction he quickly dashed bringing a much louder sound of thunder with fire following him . He spots Hermes in front and accelerates more , his footsteps crack the ground he was running on and he watches Hermes get closer and closer .
' I need to go faster ' he finally overtook the god of travel and hit the finish line with a quick stop that blew the dust and ignited it with fire on his body coming back with an explosion . He couldn't believe it , he won , the victory that proved his efforts against a god .
Hermes was baffled he stopped in his tracks " WE HAVE A WINNNER " Ivaldi yelled at the top of his lungs collecting the money between Hermes " I lose ? "
Hermes was so shocked that he lost and looked at Ikuta who yelled " YEAAAAAHHH " he now understood what Ezio must've felt when he beat Ikuta and even brought him down to last place .
" IIIII WINNNN " Hecate smirked holding the money she won from betting " I told you this is when you receive your rewards " " Good job kid " Ivaldi yelled and presented Ikuta Gungnir " Oh my god " Ikuta felt so much joy seeing how he had won against a god he didn't care about the flame that wrapped him .
He grabbed Gungnir with a smile and hugged it " Mmmmhhmmm this is so nice " " Hey Hermes you better give him your powers " Hermes was annoyed that he lost but readily granted Ikuta his powers .
" Thank you for the challenge " Hermes was surprised to see how Ikuta was more attracted to the challenge than the victory and felt all his bad feelings go away .
" Come on kid brag a little " Ivaldi said " I can't I'm so excited that all that all my training paid off this really feels so much better than the powers " Hermes felt slightly insulted seeing that Ikuta was still more attracted that his efforts of training paid off .
" Hey my powers are great you know " " yeah it is I just really like to know my hard work finally reached a god " Hecate watched the two adults one tempting Ikuta to brag about his victory and the other trying to get Ikuta to praise his powers " What a good kid "
Ikuta extinguished the fire with Niflheim's affinity and went back home with Gungnir appeared on his body along with a map and Hermes's power of travel and thief within him as well as the most important part of his trip a win against a god and a smile on his face .
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