Frost Valley, Primus World.
The Frost Valley was located at the extreme north of the Primus World. The northern range was by far the coldest section in this world. There's rarely any sunlight, just lots of snow.
The Frost Valley was where the temperature was the lowest. Because of this the creatures here all resemble those from the ice age.
There were even some birds that looked like an ice phoenix and others looking like ice eagles.
In such a cold place, four people were in the white plains of snow.
One was standing, while the other three were sitting.
The three that were sitting were in a meditating position, with thin clothing despite the cold.
These three were Sasha, Tessa, and Kristen, the one standing in front of them was naturally Kimiko.
“That's it. Let all the cold air travel through your pores and flow inside your body. We’re descendants of frost giants, the cold cannot harm us. Instead it's empowers us.”
Kimiko said as she observed the three in front of her.
“Achoo!”
Tessa suddenly sneezed and opened her eyes.
“Grandma, I'm freezing!”
She complain.
“Like I said, you're a frost giantess. It's impossible for you to freeze to death. You'll at most feel cold.”
Tessa frowned when she heard that.
“Look at your mother. She's not even trembling.”
Sasha's face was relaxed as if she was sleeping.
In fact, she was.
Kimiko frowned for a bit, but she didn't say anything.
This Frost Valley was filled with rich ice attribute mana. This type of mana was very beneficial to those who practice ice magic. It boosts their strength and speed up their growth.
However there were sometimes when one tries to absorb too much at once and enters deep sleep.
This deep sleep is to refine the ice attribute mana inside them and solidify their foundation. The more solid the foundation, the more powerful their ice attacks will be.
Once they wake up from this deep sleep, their control over ice magic should improve.
This is why Kimiko brought Sasha here.
Sasha had a natural talent for death magic, but her ice, mist, and dark magic skills were lacking. This was a problem.
Death magic was powerful but it's wasn't omnipotent. There are countless ways to get around it. If Sasha only relied on death magic, then she'll be seeking her own demise.
Because of this, it was important to develop Sasha's other traits as a descendent of Hel.
Kimiko looked at Tessa who was obviously unsatisfied and Kristen who was obviously put on a strong front.
“Alright, you two can have a break.”
“Yay!”
Tessa sprung to her feet and grabbed Kristen and ran while dragging his hand.
“We're going to explore the valley and play with the animals!”
"Okay."
Saying that, Kimiko watched as the two disappeared in the snow wonderland.
She didn't need to feel concern about monsters attacking them. This domain was already under her control, there wasn't anything that could bring them harm without her knowing first.
Even so, she still paid attention to their positions by sensing their aura. This was just a precaution in case something out of her expectations went wrong.
Kimiko can be lenient on twins when it came to their training, however Sasha was different.
Sasha was already 28 years old, all though the period of rapid growth for the normal person was the first 100 years, Sasha still wasted over a quarter of that time.
Sasha was currently an [A Class]. For 28 years old that wasn't bad. But for geniuses like she and Nero it was mediocre.
Sasha's talent was greatly wasted and a lot of time was lost.
Kimiko didn't blame Sasha. She blamed herself for spoiling her.
Kimiko tender treatment of Sasha actually stems from her time raising Nova.
Nova was a very abnormal child.
Calling him a genius was an understatement.
In Kimiko's eyes there was never a period when he acted like a child. He would always give off an aloof aura when interacting with kids his age, as if he saw them as insignificant.
He was dependable and was very mature. This made Kimiko feel like she didn't raise him. He raised himself.
Whether because it was a disappoint or fear that her other children would become the same, Kimiko waited 5000 years to have another child.
To her surprise and joy, Sasha was nothing like her brother. This caused her to shower Sasha with 5000 years worth of motherly love.
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She never wanted Sasha to be put in harms way no matter the cost. What made it worse was that because of internal issues in her country, she had to leave Sasha for over a decade, causing Sasha's current situation.
Sasha even wanted to repeat her mother's mistake with her own children. Kimiko decided that she wouldn't let that happen.
“After this whole thing with the throne, I'll focus on grooming not only Sasha but the twins.”
She then thought about it some more.
“Kristen will be a problem though. I sensed a similar demonic aura in him that's in both Miko and Leon. But his is far weaker…...I'll ask Raven or Kroc to check him out later for me.”
It was at this moment that Sasha awoke from her deep sleep.
“How are you feeling?”
Kimiko asked with a smile.
“I feel a bit less cold now.”
“I see. Then it's coming along great.”
Sasha stood up and looked around for the twins.
Seeing that, Kimiko informed her that they went out to play.
She then looked at Sasha and said-
“Sasha, do you want to become my heir to Niflheim?”
Around this time, outside Raven’s fortress.
*Boom!*
Two figures were moving so fast that they left several afterimages.
*Boom!*
The figures clashed in the air, and on the ground with reckless vigor.
These two images were Leon and a black scale gorilla-like monster.
Leon's appearance was a bit different from usually.
His eyes were demonic, his skin was darker, and he had fangs and claws.
He didn't look a bit human.
*Boom!*
The gorilla monster slammed its fist in the side of Leon's face and sent him flying.
*Boom!*
Leon crashed into the earth and created a small creator in the ground.
“Roar!”
The gorilla leaped and aimed a stomp at Leon.
“Shit!”
*Boom!*
Leon desperately rolled out of the way. But the crater was expanded by the gorilla’s stomp.
He quickly got to his feet and drop-kicked the gorilla.
The gorilla bounce off the ground a few times before standing up again.
It rushed towards Leon and swung its thick arm.
“Piss off!”
Crimson aura quickly gathered around Leon's fist as he thrust it forward.
*Boom!*
Fists collided and an explosive shockwave swept out.
“Roar?!”
The gorilla cried out in pain and took a couple steps back.
It clenched its crushed fist and glared at Leon with hateful eyes.
“What's with those eyes? This is a life and death battle.”
A savage grinned then appeared on his face.
“Even a pile of shit like you knows what a life and death battle is right?”
“Roar!”
Sensing that it was being insulted, the gorilla roared and angrily charged at Leon.
Leon swept his hand to the side and a crimson and black axe appeared in his hand.
He licked his lips with a savage look in his eyes and charged towards the gorilla.
“Roar?!”
The gorilla swung its claws with the entirety of its strength, at Leon.
Leon didn't even bother to dodge.
He just laugh hysterically and swung axe.
*Boom!*
A loud sound range out as Leon's axe severed the gorilla’s lower body from its upper body.
“Roar?!”
The gorilla gave out last cry before the light disappeared from its eyes.
*Thud!*
The two gorilla halves dropped on the ground and its green blood stained the land.
Leon looked down at the slaughtered monster.
“…….”
At first there was indifference on his face.
And then-
“Heh.”
*Boom!*
A savage smile appeared as he started chopping up the corpse.
*Boom!*
Blood stained his face as he split the head.
*Boom!*
He split opened the chest and revealed its heart.
*Boom!*
He crushed the long dead heart under his foot and started to chop up the limps.
This brutal scene was calmly being watched by two persons.
They were Raven and Gallu.
“What do you think?”
Raven asked his mother.
“He's definitely becoming a demon. But this is a bit different from normal demonification.”
“Oh? How so?”
“His demonification is similar to a parasite taking over a host. The only thing is, he was born with this parasite.”
“In other words, this a natural demonification. Interesting.”
“It really is. Beleth is truly worthy of his title as demon king.”
Gallu said as she watched Leon's savage display.
“These sudden acts of savagery are the side effects of his demonification. Once he becomes a full demon, he'll have better control of himself. However, his personality will undergo a significant change.”
“Do you think it's too dangerous to let him participate in the upcoming Throne Wars?”
Gallu shook her head.
“There shouldn't be a problem. He only becomes like this when he's fighting. It's similar to the regular [War Face] curse. I'm not saying that there's zero chance of him losing control, but it's quite low.”
After he chopped the corpse until it couldn't be chopped anymore, Leon finally calm down.
He sat down and started breathing heavily.
“Anyway, we’ll continue to observe while he trains against your monsters. But make sure to gauge him properly before you create a monster. It will be a problem if he dies. With his soul in such a fragile state, I doubt it can handle the pressure of resurrection. And I doubt Sasha would want us to use necromancy to turn him into a High-level zombie.”
“I understand, mother.”
Location unknown.
When Nero accepted to train Luka for a year, he immediately took her to an unusual place.
In this place there was nothing that had the slightest hint of order.
There was no way to tell the sky from the ground.
There were no land marks of any kind, just pure chaos.
In such a place, Nero made Luka do something that would shock anyone.
He made her do nothing.
That's right, nothing.
She wasn't even told to sit or walk around. He didn't give her a single instruction.
This greatly confused Luka.
Nero said that he was the perfect person to teach her about her Proxy abilities. But she's been here for two months and has yet to receive a single tip or advice on how to get stronger.
In fact, he didn't talk to her at all.
If she tried talking to him, he would indicate her to be quiet.
Naturally, Luka couldn't wait on him forever, so she eventually began training herself.
She carried on like this for two months until Nero finally opened his mouth.
“Hey, do you like Miko?”
“?!”
Luka was busy doing one-hand-stand push ups at the time he asked that question. The shock almost made her land on her head.
“You haven't spoken in two months, and that's first thing you say?!”
“This is important for your training, not only that your life.”
“What?”
Luka was visibly confused by Nero's words.
“Did you know that all of Ouroboros’ proxies seemed to be cursed when it came to love?”
“……”
“What, you don't believe me?”
Nero said after seeing Luka's skeptic face.
“It's true you know. No matter the gender or how long they lived as an Ouroboros Proxy, they have never marry or reproduced.”
He pointed at her.
“The sole exception was your father, Zanis.”
“?!”
Luka suddenly recall Ouroboros saying something similar once.
“I've never observed an Ouroboros Proxy before so I was checking if there was someone different about you, but I couldn’t find out anything. This is the reason why I asked you if you like Miko. I thought I may be able to discover something if it's related to romance.”
“…..You mean to tell me that you wasted two months to do this?”
Nero stood up.
“Hey, I'm a simple man. I can't work if there's something bugging me.”
He stretched his body.
“Just answer me honestly. After that I'll make you at least twice as strong as you are now.”
Hearing that, Luka decided to think about it.
She recalled all of the events that occurred between she and Miko.
The first time they met. The time they competed in the game, the time she declared war, their intense battle, the time they called a truce, Miko's constant playful behavior towards her, even the time he gave his prized technique.
When all those memories rushed into her head-
“…...Huh?”
Her face turned red.
“I'll take that as a yes.”
Nero said with a slight smile.
“But it seems like you didn't realize it yourself. Well, you're a Flameheart after all. But still, Miko have both you and that Hina girl head over heels. As his grandfather I must say that I'm proud!”
He walked up to her while laughing, and stood in front of the confused Luka.
“Well, now that my curiosity is done with. Let's beginning your training.”
Hearing that, Luka snapped out of her daze and put on a solemn expression.
She decided to deal with other matters after she kills Dario.
Nero smiled when he saw her determined eyes.
“Your training has three goals. Increase your strength, better your skills and techniques, and finally unlock your other [God Personas].”
“Wait, Father said that I shouldn't try to unlock Jörmungandr until he says so.”
“I wasn't talking about Jörmungandr.”
Luka was once again confused.
“If you're not talking about Jörmungandr then who?”
Nero smirked and said-
“The Feathered Serpent.”