Chapter 204 - Asgard, the Realm of Deities

  Eira Green:

  I tio analyze the floating rune spheres, relics steeped in a magic, projeg images of murals and engravings dating back to ages past. It was both magnifit and daunting to prehend. These records came from a time even before my owion. Although I was young pared to some of the oldest beings, the amount of knowledge and history encapsuted in these runes was nearly unfathomable. Eae held fragments of the past that few, even among the Asgardians, could fully uand.

  Many of these artifacts and rune spheres I had discovered in Sisika’s boratory. My former dy had an almost mystical obsession with the murals and records from the previous era. She would try to transte and interpret these remnants with unmatched dedication. However, even for superior beings like us, this task was challenging. The records were not only difficult to uand but also imperable for those who cked the skill to interpret the nguage of mana at its oldest, most primal level.

  Only a few Aesir, the Great Royalty of Asgard, held the right to access the plete knowledge, with the lineage of the Odinsons standing as the most powerful among them all. As Lady Sisika’s assistant, I had permission to access some of these a runes and scrolls, though the secrets of the most potent magics remained locked away. Not even I, despite my position, could replicate any of these arts if I came across Odinson’s records; only the Aesir held that power.

  The mana hologram now projected a set of runes so ahey predated even the human civilizations in the realm below on Yggdrasil. Each of these runes was a window into the past, a living record, a sort of diary left behind by a divine beings. However, interpreting these runes was not just a matter of literal transtion; it required a rare skill, a Soul Aspect powerful enough to interpret the very essenana that posed them.

  Unfortunately, aside from the Body Aspect, I only possessed the Life Aspect. Having more than one Aspect was a remarkable achievement, something few superior beings managed, but still, knowing that the true interpretation of these runes y beyond my reach frustrated me.

  And the Eyes of Jandr grant the user all six Celestial Aspects…

  I returo the problem Sisika had left behind.

  “Nathan Evenhart…” I murmured the boy’s name.

  Over the past few years, we tracked him aually found him. I must admit, I was surprised when I saw the soul of the one my mistress was enamored with. He was just a thirteen-year-old boy the first time I id eyes on him.

  A human boy is the bearer of the eyes of that World Destroyer, and, on top of that, his soul is married to Sisika’s, creating a boweewo.

  "A human being friends with a deity… more than friends… husband and wife…" I murmured, rubbing my temples, trying tanize my thoughts.

  Sisika had sacrificed herself prematurely to glimpse the boy's future, and the sequence was that she could no longer coexist with her reinated body. Now, she was just a new being, devoid of memories. But, knowing her and her mastery of the Soul Aspect, it ossible that, somewhere deep within her ence, she had found a way to transmit her memories. Perhaps something y dormant, waiting for the exact ditions to awaken.

  I turned my attention back to Sisika's notes. Even if I tried, I couldn’t read any of her findings without the power of her owial Eyes. She had sealed everythiiculously, eng her journal in a way that only she could decipher.

  Sisika was a master of the Soul Asped devoted all her free time to unraveling the past. All this was driven by an a search, for a single person who had appeared in her dreams since childhood. All of this... for one name.

  "Icarus..." I whispered, recalling how she once spoke to me. It was the only secret she had ever shared with me, a word that carried immense weight, but to me, remained a mystery.

  ‘Knock, knock.’

  Someoapped softly on my door. I had been so focused that I only just noticed the sound.

  "Lady Eira, I’m ing in," announced Enir, my personal attendant.

  She carried a silver tray with a crystal goblet full of fresh water and a small piece of bread. Knowing her, she had likely gathered the ingredients from the mountaihe mansion. From the aroma, she must have flown at dawn, preparing the bread with utmost care. All that effort... for a piece that fit in the palm of my hand.

  "You didn’t have to prepare anything. I said I wao foy research," I remarked, accepting the tray Enir brought.

  "Five me, Lady Eira. I was just ed. You dismissed all the servants and passed your duties onto your younger brother."

  I sighed, but before she could tinue, I felt another presence approag. A phoenix nded on the baly, visible through the window, and transformed into its humanoid form.

  "Lord Lars has arrived," Enir ehough we both knew I had already noticed.

  "I'll need some time with him, Enir. If he's e directly to the baly instead of using the mairance… I already tell I’ll have more work than I pnned," I said, uo hide my exasperation.

  In the moment, I heard the rumble of thunder. Another phoenix desded at speed, erupting into a storm of dark thunder before taking humanoid form.

  "Prihorsten…" I murmured, realizing that things had just bee even more plicated than I’d anticipated.

  Thorsten was the heir to one of the principal Vanir s, an a and powerful lineage. Among the Vanir, ea was prised of multiple families, with the heir of the main family bearing the title of "prince" or "princess." His presence here could only meahing: this would be a high-stakes meeting, and my researto Sisika's secrets would have to wait.

  I rose from my desk, walked to the door, and stepped out onto my baly. My private garden stretched out before me, ad the entrao my quarters owo-huh floor of the tower. My family’s mansion, imposing and solitary, rested atop this tower, rising amidst a vast, deep o.

  Looking around, I saw floating isnds scattered across the sky like suspended mirages in a magical firmament. Below, the sea roared, its waves creating a stant melody, a natural symphony that filled the air. But what fasated me most was the sky above—a true oic realm, refleg light in deep aquatic hues. Within these celestial waters, some s had their homes, entire civilizations inhabiting the sky as if it were a vast uer kingdom.

  To my right, the immense Great Verdant Forest stretched upward, ined toward the sky-o, with trees growing lush and mysterious, tinuing into the celestial waters. In the far northern reaches, I could see the cions—a nd of id snow, home to s who preferred it, especially those who embraced their animal forms, finding a natural refuge iundra.

  My home was far from Asgard’s main city, where the royal family ruled. The view of this vast, diverse world, with its unique civilizations and ndscapes, was both a fort and a reminder of my isotion—a sanctuary amid Asgard’s vast and mysterious o.

  “What brings you two here?” I asked, attempting to smile despite the apprehension gnawing at me. Prihorsten took a seat on a bench, clearly in a foul mood.

  “I’ve just returned from the human world,” Lars said, and I seized the opportunity to lighten the mood.

  “Oh? Did y me a gift, Lars?” I teased, ughing, but he merely adjusted his gloves and gave me a serious look. Lars, with his perpetual appreciation for liness, was always dressed in pristine formal attire and white gloves.

  “He didn’t tell me anything,” Thorsten grumbled, irritated. “Ever since I was forbidden to pursue the human with Sisika, he’s been keeping pletely silent.”

  At that moment, Lars decided to surprise me. “I had a brief enter with Nathan Evenhart,” he announced, and caught entirely off guard, I choked.

  “You—you what?” I stammered, still in shock.

  With his usual elegance, Lars simply jured a benarble as white as snow and sat, unruffled. The marble was so pristine I could see my own refle.

  “Rex,” he tinued with a faint hint of disdain. “I was disguised. I apanied Grand Lord Sigmund.”

  A heavy silence filled the air. Thorsten, beside me, looked equally stunned.

  “Grand Lord Sigmund… in person?” My voice came out almost as a whisper, tension evident in each word.

  This wasn’t just anyone. Sigmund Odinson, cousin to the Great King and a true legend of the Aesir lineage, had desded personally to the human world? This was more serious than I could have imagined.

  “Nathan Evenhart… he’s alive?” I asked, trying to keep my posure.

  “Alive and well,” Lars replied. “Grand Lord Sigmu down to meet him, even going so far as to sell the boy a coat.”

  I was floored. “Wait… you’re tellihat an Aesir deity desded to the human world and disguised himself as a clothing store vendor just to meet this boy?” I could barely believe it, but I knew no one here would dare joke about our rulers.

  “What else, Lars? I o know everything,” Thorsten said, impatience clear on his face. “Why did he want to meet the human personally? And why did he take this task from me?”

  Then, a cold, authoritative voice echoed behind us, freezing each of us in pce. "Is there any reason more important than seeing the human who's taking care of my niece?"

  The voice beloo someone I’d never imagined would visit my home. It was Grand Lord Sigmund Odinson himself, Sisika’s uncle.