It didn't take long for his escort to arrive, but it was still a bit awkward as Heimdall kept silent and just scanned the Bifrost portal for more intruders.

A man and woman, both wearing heavy plate armor, the man looking a bit worn and tired, the woman looking fresh and rather pretty.

*Tyr, Leader of Einherjar.

Asgardian. Level 411.

*Sif. Legendary warrior.

Asgardian, level 268.

Pef blinked at the armored Asgardians, but nodded politely anyway.

The leader of the entire Asgardian army?

"Lord Tyr, Lady Sif..." Pef muttered in a half daze.

"Visitor from Midgard...and a Saint class Mage." Tyr replied with a frowning face.

Pef nodded. "I am Pef. Nowadays, training to become a Master Alchemist, in Geneva." he explained politely.

Lady Sif tilted her head to the side, now visibly interested. "Alchemist... I see now. Lady Freya might want to see you." she murmured with a glance at Heimdall for confirmation.

"He smells like those Druids, though. I sense the Blessing of Gaia on him." the Guardian said without turning his head, still focused on his door guarding job.

Tyr massaged his temple with a grimace. "Our King wants to see him first." he said turning to leave and gesturing with his palm over his shoulder.

Soon enough, the party made their way across the Rainbow Bridge, which was some form of solid state or hard light, leading towards a large castle flanked by huge mountains and crossing over an endless waterfall.

Pef tried to make sense of his surroundings but failed. Too much magic interference, coupled with his lowered stats, made discerning reality a chore. Which event, was possibly the whole intent of this Valhalla dungeon.

They reached a great palace, all gold and shinny.

*You have entered the Halls of Asgard, by invitation. Restrictions removed.

Lady Sif glanced at Pef in surprise, as his power levels climbed rapidly, getting close to her own.

"Our king has accepted your presence. It seems I'm no longer needed for security." the woman explained with a wry voice, and a tiny smile.

"Eh, you should stay though. This meeting will be fun, and later we can go for a beer." Pef quipped with a smile of his own.

Tyr turned to glare at him, before gesturing towards a far away, but rather big golden throne. "For your sake, you better not waste our king's time. Or the meeting will not be fun at all."

Pef checked himself, making sure his enchanted armor was clean, and all his buffs were still powered on.

As expected, Charming Guy was already slightly working now, slowly raising social levels with Lady Sif, if only by a few percents.

*Your Charisma rolls 3 with Lady Sif. Total roll 110. 100 resisted due to mental resistance and level difference.

*Relationship with Lady Sif is now 10. (Accepted)

Pef smiled kindly towards his new lady friend and walked forward.

At the foot of the golden dais, a field of some kind blocked his progress.

"Pef, emissary of Gaia. Welcome to Asgard." an old man with a single eye spoke from the throne, although there was nobody on it a second ago.

"King Odin. We finally meet. I hear you like my potions quite a lot." Pef replied after a small bow.

Odin raised a hand to stop Tyr from interfering. "Well met, young Pef. Indeed, I do admire your potions very much. Nothing like them in the whole Nine Realms." the old guy said and stepped down from his throne, reaching beside Pef in a single step.

Odin, God of Valhalla.

God, Lvl ????

Status: sickly, dying, crippled.

Pef almost gasped as he observed the dying god.

"I have brought a few potions, but I can't see how they can help you now, King Odin."

"Yes, that's why it's called twilight, young one. The sun has to set first, before a new day can arrive." Odin spoke with a wise but sad voice.

"... Twilight of the gods, huh? I bet you are rather eager for Ragnarök, aren't you? At least you'll die in battle..." Pef mused to himself, patting Odin on his forearm.

The old god smiled wryly. "Indeed. However, I rather win this last war, even if it costs my life. And for that..."

Pef produced an Elixir and a couple of Major healing potions.

Odin raised an eyebrow, and collected the gifts into his inner subspace. "A worthy gift, eh? So what do you want in return, young Alchemist?"

Pef thought for a moment. "Let's visit the dungeon first. No need to ask for it, if I can't use it." he said in a fake whisper, and raised his eyebrow.

Space distorted for a second, and the surroundings changed.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

*You have entered Asgard's Dungeon.

*You have detected an ominous aura.

Pef looked around, as there were now hundreds of cells and storage lockers lining a long hallway.

"You may select anything you want from here. But be warned. I will not allow you to leave, if you overstep." Odin muttered, and he began chugging down the Elixir and the potions, seemingly lost in thought.

Pef sighed. Gods were always flimsy and erratic, and Odin was rather a good one.

He began examining the cells, until he found a white fire burning fiercely in a metal tray.

"Observe." Pef whispered inward.

*Eternal Flame. Elder God artifact. Cannot be extinguished. Able to resurrect anyone below God class.

With a hesitant hand, he poked the fire, almost expecting his hand to vanish like in molten metal.

*You have touched the Eternal Flame. Gain +50 Magic. Gain +20 Constitution. Gain +10 Karma.

*Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased. *Your Adaptation to Fire has increased.

*Your Adaptation to Fire has reached level 20 and has evolved. You gain Fire Resistance, passive. Your Magic Resistance increases by 10 percent.

The flame felt cold, and not just cold, immensely cold, like freezing arctic ice.

*You have tried to store the Eternal Flame. You need 3000 Magic attributes.

"Damn it, I'm not strong enough to wield this." Pef complained in a low voice.

"... Yes, you're not that strong. And yet...you're still alive. And even gained something from the attempt." Odin whispered from his side, having appeared there unnoticed.

Pef turned, and saw Odin has regrown his lost eye.

"... As have you, King Odin. Wisdom was supposed to cost you half the light of the world." he muttered in defeat.

Odin snorted at that and patted his shoulder. "Still, the attempt should not cost you this much. Anything else you want?" the Asgardian god asked in a more relaxed voice.

"Well... I will come back for some Eternal Flame later. It told me what I need to do to be worthy of it. But in the meantime..." Pef said while thinking out loud.

"... Oh. That changes things, yes. All right."

Pef summoned his Drill Torpedo and shot it at a nearby forcefield blocking a cell.

"I've been trying to make a Lightning spell, but it's not very good. Still has lots of trouble damaging resistant monsters." he explained with a shrug.

Odin raised an eyebrow at his prowess. "I see. Slow, cumbersome, costs too much mana, and doesn't follow targets?" the god asked to make sure.

Pef just nodded sadly. "I need like 20 of them to kill an Ice Troll leader. Not to mention those Siberian Mammoths."

Odin blinked as he tried to recall those particular monsters. "Right. Try to use this spear, it has an innate spell."

he said and passed him a golden spear, brimming with energy.

*Gungnir. God class artifact. Adds 10000xMagic damage. Never misses. Users can cast Holy Arcane Spear for 1000 MP. Has 1000 percent Penetration and 1000xMagic damage at ranges below 1 light second.

Pef flung the new magic spell at the glowing forcefield 30 times in rapid succession, since his Mana pool was barely over 30 thousands.

*You have learned Holy Arcane Spear spell, by casting it repeatedly. Holy Arcane Spear fuses with Drill Lightning Torpedo and Lightning Spear.

*Holy Torpedo is now level 4 and does 1000xMagic damage with 400 percent Penetration. Chance to hit increase by 40 percent and homing to target is now at 80 percent. Cost 1800 MP.

*You have learned a God class spell. Gain +10 Magic.

Pef smiled grandly and passed the Gungnir spear back to the old Asgardian god. "Thanks a lot, King Odin. Learned the spell and it's at least twice as good as before." he said with a large smile.

Odin raised an eyebrow, and examined Pef with his new eyes. "A natural ability from Gaia..."

Pef just shrugged. "Perhaps we can visit Lady Freya for a bit? We can brag about my potions healing your eye."

Odin sighed and waved a hand in dismissal.

*You have been expelled from Asgard.

-100000 HP.

*Left Eye destroyed. Regrow time - 120 minutes.

*Regrow gains a level up.

Pef looked around, finding himself in slight pain from his gouged out eye, and observing Geneva approaching rapidly as he fell among the clouds.

The city was rather nice from high above, streets illuminated and the Geneva Lake sparkling in moonlight. It seemed the visit to Valhalla has lasted much longer than he knew.

"Damn gods..." he muttered with a pained sigh.

Perhaps he shouldn't have joked about an eye for an eye.

Sadly, only the wind heard him.