After being let go by his aunt, Ragna was finally able to breathe, his eyes scanning his aunt to see if he could sense her power level. Like his mother and Aksel, Ragna couldn't tell anything of her strength so he decided that she must be powerful. She smiled at him rifling his hair like he was a little kid. Ragna tried his best not to show his annoyance. Bestla smiled at Ragna's control of his emotions.

"I bet you can't wait to see your cousins," Princess Ingrid said as they climbed up the stairs to enter the building. Princess Ingrid led them through a hallway where servants were laid out waiting to help bring in their belongings. Ragna raised his eyebrows at the servants, noticing their hidden strength, His aunt brought them to a room that took up more than ten room spaces. His Mother seemed to be familiar with the room, looking at the yellow-colored walls filled with portraits of runes and weapons. The living space was large and filled with exquisite decorations and furniture. Bestla went to the window with a view of the garden underneath.

"You guys kept this place well clean," Bestla said. This was the old room she used to live in back when she lived in the palace. Her sister smiled at Bestla taking a seat as one of the servants made tea for her and Bestla. Bestla took a seat by her sister followed by Aksel.

"Father made the servants to maintain it's orderliness," Ingrid said. She sipped her tea and glanced at Ragna, who was going through the shelves of books by one of the walls. "I hear you're a scholarly person, Ragna," Ragna raised an eyebrow at his aunt's remark. How did she know that about him? He turned to his mother who shrugged at him while maintaining a smile. Ragna was getting irritated by all this secrecy that was going on around him.

"I'm interested in history and knowledge so I suppose that yes, I am a bit scholarly," Ragna nodded. Ingrid couldn't help but smile at his answer. Not many Vikings care about such things, only caring for training and getting stronger physically. Their cultivation was all that mattered. Volur was the only group that sought knowledge about the world and its nature. The community was all about secrecy and protecting their knowledge. Luckily the House of Lothbrok had its own Volur subordinates who recorded knowledge for the Kingdom of Norland and the Palace had its library that anyone could access.

"The Palace has its collection of texts and books about the world if you're interested," Princess Ingrid said. "Some of them are texts about the state of the world before the catastrophe, at least the few that were managed to be saved." Ragna's eyes raised, his head turning to his mother. She had recently allowed him access to some of the texts back in Kattegat, but none of the books had information about the old world. He had been annoyed at that but now he was interested to know that there was a place he could get the answer he wanted. But before he could read or learn about the history of the world, Ragna wanted to awaken first.

"How does the Awakening happen," Ragna asked. Princess Ingrid was surprised at hearing his question. She turned to Bestla and Aksel, raising her eyebrow at them.

"You didn't tell him," Princess Ingrid said.

"No. Most of the children outside the royal family don't know much about what the Awakening ceremony entails," Bestla said. "We thought since we were outside the capital and lived in Kattegat, it would be better to treat Ragna as one of them," Ragna sighed as he felt there were pros and cons to the treatment. He enjoyed being given a normal life as any royal could be given, something he lacked from his former life. However, Ragna had also been prohibited from certain privileges that would have been useful to him. But he didn't complain about it as he preferred things the way they were.

"I guess it's your right," Ingrid said with a shrug. She had no idea why Bestla would limit her son in that way. Ingrid had seen just from her first interaction with Ragna how intelligent he seemed. She was beginning to wonder just how his cultivation talent would transfer from his Intellectual genius.

"My daughter, Freya is also interested in knowledge like you," Princess Ingrid said. "I guess being a Volva makes her that way,"

"Freya," Ragna said. "Isn't that one of the names of the Old gods,"

"Yes, a powerful Name for a powerful future Sorceress," Princess Ingrid said. Hmm! Names were an important factor in this world as they possess significant essence of that entity that is named. Just invoking that name gave one access to that power. It was the same in his former world and it was the same in this world. To be named after a special being is to share in that person's power and fate if they can work hard to gain it. It was why so many Norsemen named their children after the gods.

"I'm sure she would be," Bestla said. "She's a Lothbrok after all,"

"Well, I for one can't wait for Ragna to meet his cousins," Ingrid said. "Luckily you will get to meet them tonight during dinner," Ragna didn't miss how his question hadn't been answered but he left it alone, not bringing it back up. He turned his attention to the books and began to go through them one by one. With his internal sight and his mental processing speed, he was able to go through most of the books as quickly as possible. After he was done reading, Ragna turned to stare at his mother not believing the things he had read. Most of the things he had read about were on the art of war and combat, the most efficient way to kill one's enemy. He did not know his mother was a battle maniac.

Ingrid didn't stay for long, having duties that she had to attend to, so she bid herself goodbye after a cup of tea with her sister. Bestla and Aksel went up to the room they would be sharing while Ragna chose a room for himself. His new room was bigger with a large bed and a nice view of the outside. There were mounts of wolf heads on the wall and a chandelier-looking artifact on the ceiling of the room. Ragna noticed that his things had already been arranged in the room. He sighed as he laid his back on the bed, thinking about the library his aunt had mentioned. He should have asked her how to get to the damn library. A knock on the door and Ragna raised his upper body to his Mom by the door. She had a smile on her face, her countenance seemed to be glowing.

"How are you doing," Bestla asked.

"I should be asking you that," Ragna said. "How does it feel being back home,"

"Hmm!, the place hasn't changed much," Bestla said. She came over to his side, sitting on the bed. "I never talked much about my family, I know that,"

"Hmm! Not much to talk about, I guess," Ragna made an attempt at humor. Bestla noticed his effort, surprised at it.

"No, there is much to talk about," She said. "I...I just wanted to give you a different life,"

"Different life from what," Ragna said.

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"My life," She said. Ragna raised an eyebrow at what his mother said. "I love my family. I love my kingdom and I respect the position our family has and the role they play. All my life I worked hard to maintain that role. I trained, I got stronger, and I've done lots of things I'm proud of and not proud of. I don't have much to complain about how my life turned out to be, after all, it led me to having you. But I don't want your life to be similar to mine. I..I tried to not raise the way I was raised."

"And I appreciate it, Mom," Ragna said. Ragna didn't know much of his Mom's past as she rarely talked about it. Though she had revealed to him that they were a part of the royal family stationed in Kattegat, she never spoke about her family or her childhood. To think that her childhood was similar to his from his previous world. Ragna now understood why she had always been strict, and yet spoilt him at the same time growing up. It was a little bit contradictory, but then again it was human nature to be contradictory.

"Though I wanted your life to be different from mine, it seems fate has a different plan in mind for you," Bestla said.

"You're not worried about my Awakening are you," Ragna said.

"My...Our family, the Lothbrok clan has always been different," Bestla said. "Different from the other family in this world. Our blood is special."

"Is this from the rumors about us being descendants of the gods," Ragna asked. Of course, he had heard those rumors back in Kattegat. Every season when the Rune walkers attack the port at Kattegat and Mother goes to drive them off, the people were assured of her victory.

"It's not a rumor," Bestla said. "My grandfather, Ragnar Lothbrok was a demigod. He passed on the Divine bloodline of the Aesir to us. It's the reason our family is always talented in cultivation. Every Lothbrok is special, and I know there is no one as special as you among the Lothbrok," He had always wondered if it was true that he had a Divine bloodline from the rumors. He knew how integral bloodline played a role in cultivating. He had been born with a Divine bloodline in his past life, and his cultivation had been smooth and glorious. So now finding out that he was born with a Divine bloodline again, Ragna was ecstatic. One's bloodline was divided into tiers and various levels, determining how far one could go in cultivating. There were six bloodline tiers: Mortal, Epic, Rare, Legendary, Immortal, and Divine. Ragna was sure that this ranking was the same in this world. If his mother had a Divine bloodline, then that meant she had the potential to become a god. Ragna already knew he could become one. His soul was already halfway in the Transcendent process, so all he had to do was refine his body with cultivation to reach the same level as his soul, and Ragna could fully become a god. But was that something he should do? He had no reason to become one in this world. Back before he died, he had harbored feelings of vengeance against Arkus and Lilin, but now Ragna wasn't so sure. He felt nothing towards them, nor did he have any attachment to his former world.

"Are you worried about me going through the same things you experienced," Ragna asked. Bestla smiled at her baby boy.

"I was at first. But after finding out that you possess memories of your past life and your curiosity about Awakening, I take it you're not a stranger when it comes to Cultivation and its perilous path," Bestla said. Ragna shook his head. Yes, Cultivation was a path that led to pain and suffering, both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Ragna had been through his fair share of it. But that wasn't going to stop him from going through it again. He knew that his second time around would be smoother and easier, which meant if he wanted to surpass his past self, he would have to suffer more than anybody in this world. This was why Ragna was questioning becoming a god this time around. To be honest, living in this life of peace would be the best thing for him. Yes, there was the threat of Rune walkers but there was the containment field around the continent. And life wasn't always so perfect. Yes, Ragna was being contradictory. He wanted to cultivate but he didn't want to put more effort than he did before.

"No, I'm not a stranger to it," Ragna said. "I'm not much for battle and all that. I only care about Knowledge. Knowledge of this world," Ragna said.

"And I'm glad you are. But only Volur can grasp the truth of such things," Bestla said. "They have a connection to the Natural forces of the world that gives them certain advantages. But I'm sure if any non-Volva can accomplish it, it would be you."

"I'm thankful for your confidence in me," Ragna said.

"It's my job as a mother to believe in you," Bestlas said. "You should rest and get ready for dinner. it's going to be strenuous meeting the rest of the family." Bestla left the room while Ragna took a lotus position on his bed. Something had been bothering him since he got into the capital but he had put it behind in his mind. He closed his mind and projected his Internal senses around himself. Ragna began to expand it beyond the palace. As he did it, Ragna felt a flow of energy that was in the atmosphere around him. Essence! Ragna could feel something emitting it, something powerful and hidden from him. He could feel the structure of space around the Palace rearranging itself to stop anyone from pinpointing the coordination of this entity's location. He opened his eyes when he realized that he would be unable to locate the source of the Essence. Instead, he decided to absorb the Essence from the atmosphere into his body by using his Psychic energy. Normally, one uses their core to absorb the Essence through the receptor organ within their core known as a Spiritual gate, but Ragna used his psychic energy to bend the energy into his body. He felt the energy mix with the cells within his blood, his vitality getting stronger from it. That was the minimum he could achieve without a core.

****

When Ragna and his parents arrived at the dining hall, he noticed the long table that was set up with so many varieties of food. Servants were arranging the cuisines on the table while standing and talking to each other, with wine in their hands were Prince Magnus, Prince Harbard, and Princess Ingrid. The kids were in the corner waiting for the time when they got to go to the dining table. When the door to the hall was opened by a servant, the Lothbroks turned to see Bestla and her family for the first time in a while. Princess Ingrid smiled when she saw her sister. Prince Harbard fidgeted a little, his hand going to his ribs that ached upon seeing his sister. He still remembered the beatings his little sister used to give him. He couldn't believe the little monster was back and pregnant again. Prince Magnus briefly glanced at Bestla but his attention went to the boy that was in the middle of Bestla and Aksel. The boy was different from what he had expected. His appearance was elf-like without the pointed ear, an exotic appearance that did not meet the standard of one of the Lothrbok family. it was only the blue eyes that assured Magnus that the boy was of Bestla's blood. What also drew Magnus's attention was the aura around the boy. He felt a sharpness that surrounded the kid, a sharpness that reminded him of his brother, Sigurd.

"This must be Ragna," Bestla's uncle said.

"Uncle," Bestla nodded. "Ragna, this is your grand-uncle, Prince Magnus Lothbrok," Ragna observed his Grand uncle, noticing the way he was already studying him. Ragna could tell that he was a strong warrior just from the way he stood. The man had the smell of blood on him. He must be a battle maniac just like his mother. He wondered if all the Lothbrok was like that.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Granduncle," Ragna said, bowing his head as a way of greeting. Prince Magnus nodded at the boy.

"And this is your uncle, my elder brother, Harbard," Bestla said grabbing the the frail-looking man next to Ingrid. She grabbed him across his neck, giving him a great hug. Habard felt anxious as he received a hug from his younger sister. He was wary of her, anticipating some kind of attack from his sister. Ragna noticed the nervous tic on the face of his uncle. Ingrid smiled at the familiar situation between her siblings.

"Nice to meet you, Uncle," Ragna said.

"Who is this, Father," a boy who resembled Harbard but with more muscle and healthy looking. He was just as tall as Ragna, his golden hair shorter. There were two girls beside him, both bearing identical appearance. Ragna figured they were Helga and Freya, Ingrid's children.

"Hvisterk, this is your aunt and uncle, Princess Bestla and Earl Aksel," Prince Harbard said. Hvisterk stared at the woman he had heard so many stories of. He gulped a nervous tic developing in his eyes. His eyes landed on the boy, noticing how different he looked from anybody else in the room. Ragna noticed his cousin staring at him and couldn't help but smile.

"And I'm Ragna, your cousin," Ragna said.