[ A boon has been granted by Odin. ]
[ Your attacks are more likely to be successful. There is a higher chance of causing more damage with strikes. ]
[ A boon has been granted by Thor. ]
[ By facing that which is greater than you, your damage done to creatures at least twice your size has been increased. ]
[ A boon has been granted by Tyr. ]
[ Recognizing that not all fights require brute force and instead tactics, your ability to see openings and the movements of your foes is increased. A bonus to perception has been granted. ]
Holding onto the shaft that was buried deep inside the giant's skull, Einar slowly turned and saw that every man and woman who had just experienced their first boon was standing there with their mouths open.
“I need a healer!” Skardi shouted, breaking the moment. “Someone fetch both of them!”
Movement began immediately, and even as some cheers broke out, no one wasted a moment to see what they could do to help the group that had just caught the giant's weapon when it fell.
Einar then looked at Bartia, who was grimacing.
“You okay?” he asked as he jumped down off the giant.
“I… I got a boon. We… we dwarves do not get boons. Ever.” Her voice was more than enough to display her shock as the dwarf stood there, scratching her beard near her chin. “Tell me, Einar Sibbison… why have I been granted a boon?”
Chuckling, he moved to where her large, two-handed hammer stood upright, its weighted head resting against the ground.
“You used this, didn’t you?”
She nodded and motioned to the spot on the giant's head that had blood coming from it, a shallow divot in its skull.
“Not that I did much. Its skull is thicker than mine.”
Laughing, Einar shrugged.
“Then you earned it. The gods are watching us, and they saw you fighting with us. Can I ask which of them granted you a boon?”
“Thor… he…” She paused, obviously still stunned at whatever message she was reading. “I have gained increased damage against anyone who threatens my realm.”
Einar felt his eyes widen and could only imagine how strong a boon like that could be.
“Well, it would appear that the god who is ever grateful for the hammer your people crafted for him decided to share some of his power with you. Tell me, Batria, do you now feel that we are on the right path?”
She shook her head a moment before it started to bob.
“Your wife… she mentioned a few things and yet… I doubted and didn’t believe but this… When we meet the King, he will want to know about this.”
“I’ll leave that part to you,” Einar replied, giving her a gentle smack on her arm. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to check on my warriors and see about harvesting this giant. Feel free to help.”
Snorting, the dwarf picked up her hammer and glanced around the area, finding Avitue and the other shield maidens and moved in their direction.
“Einar!”
Turning to see Osvif coming toward him, the way his friend chewed his lip meant nothing good was about to come.
“Do I want to know why you look like that?”
Slowing down, Osvif shook his head and checked in each direction before leaning in.
“I’m not certain but I think someone messed with the ballista. Its firing mechanism was jammed but it might have happened while traveling, yet… I doubt it. The way it was–”
Einar held up his hand, cutting off his friend as Vidar and Jepi both drew near to them.
“Later,” he whispered. “For now, everything went as planned.”
Nodding once, Osvif turned and smiled, seeing that both Vikings were grinning from ear to ear.
“Tell me every fight goes like this!” Vidar exclaimed. “Three boons! You must be Odin’s own son for such a thing like this!”
Jepi had been walking with a pep in his step and appeared just as excited.
“Gylfi is dead, but provided he didn’t miss out on these boons, I doubt that fool will be concerned for a moment. When will we fight our next giant?!”
Holding up both hands, Einar waved the men off.
“We need to first harvest what we can from here,” he sighed. “Part of me wonders if we should send a wagon or two back to Scrombles at the fort and store some of the materials. I’m not keen on having that stuff with us for so long.”
“The smell…” Osvif said as he wrinkled his nose. “It already stinks worse than most of our men.”
As if to make a point, the corpse suddenly let out a loud fart and the air around them grew thick with a smell of shit so bad you could taste it.
Everyone closer to the midsection groaned and moaned, and all four men quickly made their way upwind.
“Gods… that was awful,” Jepi said. “Tell me I can choose which of my men must harvest that thing.”
Laughing, Einar shrugged.
“If you’re volunteering your men, then so be it. We’ll need it stripped down and harvested. Though, all of us need to take part. Now tell me, did anyone else die?”
“One of my warriors did,” Vidar replied. “He caught the brunt of that club. Two others will be fine upon healing.”
“Two deaths…”
Einar glanced at Jepi who had almost whispered that.
“That is a good thing, isn’t it?”
Nodding quickly, the pack leader grinned.
“I was in shock. To know we only had two deaths upon facing this giant. I… I had heard stories about what you all faced and had accomplished but being part of it… I’m still in shock.”
“Well, let’s forget that. For now, I need your men to help harvest this thing while we have light. Also, be careful when handling that harpoon. There may still be poison on it and the spears.”
Both men nodded and took off in different directions, barking out orders to the warriors under them.
“Play it off. We meant to hold the ballista until I had its attention,” Einar said as Avitue and Thorodd moved toward them.
“Understood. I’ll get to work on making sure no one kills themselves from the poison. It appeared that it worked by how the giant suddenly stopped fighting.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Avitue got there as they finished their conversation and strode up to Einar, putting a hand around his hip and one on his neck, pulling him in for a long kiss.
“That’s what I’ve always done wrong,” Thorodd teased as the pair stood there kissing for a moment. “I never started the conversation correctly.”
Avitue made a hand gesture as she let go of her husband's hip and then turned, winking at the taller Viking.
“You can try, but I doubt he’ll kiss you back. He does not prefer to kiss beards.”
Thorodd began to roar with laughter while Osvif turned at Einar and raised an eyebrow.
Upon seeing the smarter Viking not get the joke, both Avitue and the taller warrior began to laugh so hard each started to cry.
“What am I missing?” Osvif asked, now frowning at whatever it was they were talking about.
Einar started to chuckle and shrugged.
“Perhaps one of the shield maidens can offer you wisdom on that one. As a friend, if I say anything now, it will only make it worse.”
Thorodd, however, didn’t seem concerned, it appeared, as he took a deep breath, wiping away a few tears, and moved to put a hand on Osvif’s shoulder.
“A beard, boy! A beard! Not on one's face!”
Less than a second later, the knowledge hit the warrior like a club to the head, and his face turned red, matching Avitue’s hair as he groaned.
“You two… are… awful,” was all he got out before turning and walking away.
“Are you certain he has had a woman before,” Avitue asked her husband. “He seems awfully naive.”
“Yes… but unlike you two, he isn’t as crass,” replied Einar. “Now then, tell me what I need to know.”
Both of them took a few more breaths, getting their breathing under control before sharing their thoughts on the fight.
***
*****
[ V.A.L.H.A.L.L.A ]
Magnus / Einar Sibbison
Age: 32/19
Strength - 29+30
Endurance - 27+18
Agility - 27+8
Perception - 23+9
Wisdom - 21+3
Mysticism - 25+11
Runes:
Gungnir’s Strength (Chest) Legendary (Hidden)
Max Training Stat for Strength, Endurance and Agility is racial limit plus 50. 2.5 x Growth Rate
25% Bonus to Perception - No Stat Limit
Max Training Stat for Wisdom and Mysticism is 50. 1.5 x Growth Rate
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Lvl 2 + 10% Bonus to Agility and Perception
Lvl 3 Divine Protection. 50% Damage Reduction for 1 Minute. 5 Days
Lvl 4 Healing of the Gods - 100x Healing and Wyrd Regeneration Rate for 5 minutes. 3 Day Cooldown
Lvl 5 Thor’s Blessing - Summon one bolt of lighting to strike one target. 14 Day cooldown
Experience 1%
Warrior’s Defense (Back) Advanced
10% Bonus to Endurance
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 5% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 2 + 5% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 3 + 5% Bonus to Endurance / Resist Damage
Lvl 4 + 10% Bonus to Resist Damage
Experience 62%
Warrior’s Blessing (Stomach) Advanced
10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
5% Bonus to Damage
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 4% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Lvl 2 + 5% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 3 + 7% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 4 + 5% Bonus to Damage
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Experience 100%
Might of the Viking (Right Arm) Advanced
10% Bonus to Strength
10% Bonus to Damage
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 2 + 7% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 3 + 5% Bonus to Perception
Lvl 4 + 5% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Strength
Experience 100%
Forked Rune of Elements (Head) Advanced
15% Bonus to Wisdom and Mysticism
Advanced Lightning Affinity
Intermediate Fire Affinity
Basic Ice Affinity
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Mysticism
Lvl 2 + 8% Bonus to Mysticism
Lvl 3 + 15% Bonus to Spell Damage
Lvl 4 + 25% Bonus to Wyrd Recovery
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Mysticism
Experience 100%
Rune of Primal Body (Right Leg) Advanced
+7% Bonus to Strength and Agility
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 6% Bonus to Strength and Agility
Lvl 2 + 7% Bonus to Strength and Agility
Experience 68%
Strength Milestone - Rank 1 - All damage done with melee weapons is increased by 25%. Muscle is denser, resulting in a 10% decrease in damage taken from all attacks.
Endurance Milestone - Rank 1 - Resists Attacks as if twice normal height and weight. Health increased by 25%. Body is naturally more resistant, resulting in a 10% decrease in damage taken from all attacks.
Agility Milestone - Rank 1 - Attacks are 30% Faster. The ability to see incoming strikes and dodge or parry them is increased by 25%.
Mysticism Milestone - Rank 1 - Spell damage is increased by 20%. Wyrd regeneration is increased by 20%. Casting time for spells is decreased by 10%.
Boon:
Gungir’s Striking - 15% bonus to attacks striking their target. 10% chance of striking a vital area.
Time Remaining: 7 days
Thor’s Might - 15% bonus damage done to creatures that are twice your size or larger.
Time Remaining: 10 days
Tyr’s Battlefield Vision - When in combat, your ability to see openings and movement of your enemy is increased. Perception will act as having a bonus of four.
Time Remaining: 7 days
*****
Looking over his stats and the experience gained from a single giant, Einar tried to once again figure out just how much was granted for a kill against a new creature.
Surely, each giant can’t give this much… but then again… how much more dangerous is something like this versus a standard animal or monster?
Knowing that their first fight had been successful and trying to determine whether there was a spy and saboteur in their camp, he turned his attention to the sounds of metal against flesh.
Sighing, he strode to where Osvif and Thema were shouting out orders on what to take.
This is going to smell horrible…
His mind began to find the mental wall he always hid behind when a task was about to be horrible.
Unlike most, Einar smiled as he prepared to butcher a giant.