When the being once known as Salazar stirred awake, the first thing he noticed was the new environment that he was in. The white light was gone, and his consciousness was up and running. He felt the cold air around, his senses sensitive to the sound, smell and other stimulus. He felt himself expelling the fluid from his mouth but other than that he didn't feel the need to cry as most babies do. Instead, he focused on the person holding him. A face was in front of him, a brown hair woman, with a stern face that looked shocked at the baby. Salazar's mental force stirred, his Internal senses being used to examine himself and what he saw shocked him to his core. He was a baby. He felt the woman's shock and curiosity which made Salazar dismiss his Mental force. He didn't know if the woman before him could sense his Mental force, but Salazar had felt a similar power within her about to respond to his. So he withdrew his senses not wanting to alarm her. He was sure that a baby displaying such a feat was unheard of. He felt the woman pass him to another woman, a beautiful woman with golden hair, fair skin and sky blue eyes. The woman held him gentle, and Salazar couldn't help but feel a familiar warmth from her.
This woman...her presence...it feels similar to the warmth and presence that comforted me in the darkness. The golden hair woman bought the baby in the cloth towards her, smiling at her flesh and blood. Her baby had a brownish skin tone with a hint of reddish caramel to it. There were signs of golden hair and a clear sky blue eyes similar to Bestla. He was beautiful.
"His name is Ragna. Ragna Lothbrok." Bestla said. She couldn't help but let a little bits of tears out as she named her son. Salazar...no...He had been given a new name, a name in this new life and Salazar felt compelled to take it. To accept it as his new identity. When he did, he felt a tug within both his mind and soul, a searing burn that left behind warmth. And then a change began to form within Ragnar's consciousness. A change within his memories. He still had recollections of his past life, of what he had gone through and experienced. But there was a slight change. Ragna could barely feel any emotions attached to those memories. The feelings and emotions that were normally attached to things one had experienced had been wiped clean from the memories. Now whenever Ragna thought of his past life, it was like he was watching a clip or film with events that were familiar but felt distant at the same time. He felt like a bystander to his own memories. But there was just one problem. The emotions associated with his death, the betrayal from Arkus and Lilin and his desire to become a god had not dissipated. In fact Ragna could feel a burning sensation in the pit of his gut, the desire for vengeance.
"Look at his eyes. He has me and my Father's eyes." Bestla said.
"A sign that he would make for a great warrior," Aksel said. Bestla couldn't help but hold her baby gently to herself, grateful to whatever forces out there that she had not lost her child.
"Mama's going to raise you to be a strong and mighty warrior, my baby boy," Bestla said.
****
Eight years later,
POW!
The butt of the staff slapped the sword out of Bestla's hand as the eight year old Ragna skillfully swung it around his body. Bestla couldn't help but feel a sense of proud and love as she grabbed her little boy and hugged him in a bear hug. Ragna had anticipated it but he was not fast enough to dodge his mother's bear hug. He could feel his body being squeezed on her bosom but even with his well developed mind, he felt nothing weird about it. To Ragna, Bestla Lothbrok was his mother no matter the circumstances that had bought him to this world. Yes, he reincarnated into the body with his past life memory intact, but that didn't take away the blood connection that there was between them. The Universe ran on reincarnation which meant that everyone was a reincarnation of some being from the past. The only difference between Ragna and the others was that he could remember his past life. Oh, and he was also reincarnated from a different world than this world. Yes, As Ragna grew up, he had discovered that he had not reincarnated in his own world but a different world than his own. In his millennia years of living, Ragna had studied the Arcanic and Esoteric forces of the Cosmos, and he had discovered that the cosmos was larger than one could imagine. Not Infinite like most thought, but it was fucking large. Enough that higher beings of existence could carve out a territory and make their own material world within it. This Material world was one of the hundreds that were out there. And each of these Worlds could be ranked based on the strength of the one who birthed it. Ragna's former world was the pinnacle of strength among the various material worlds. The fact that most worlds spawned from Gaia was a testament to it's collective strength. Ragna sighed as he thought of his former world. The reason for that...Well Ymir, this world was dangerously different from his former world.
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Bestla let go of Ragna as she ruffled his golden hair. She picked up her sword and returned it to the pile of weapons on the weapon shelf close to them. Ragna returned the staff he had used. Though he was only eight years old, Ragna was around five feet, something that was a common feature among the Norsemen of Midgard. And it was around this age, that they started training their young ones in the art of combat. Why would they do this? One would wonder. The truth was that Midgard was a broken world, a broken world full of dangerous forces that Ragna had barely even began to experience. With a thought, Ragna extended his Mental force- the energy that existed within his mind- and projected his Internal senses- a part of his consciousness that allowed for long range and enhanced perception- and scanned the air around him. Again he was confronted with something that had been bothering him for the past eight years he had lived in Midgard. There was no trace of World energy in this realm. In Ragna's former world, World energy was the ambient energy that permeated and flowed throughout the atmosphere of a planet. It was a special kind of energy that consisted of the Natural, esoteric and fundamental forces of the world. By cultivating with World energy, one's soul can produce spiritual power that could be converted into Mana that allowed for Magical possibilities. But this world did not have any concept known as Mana. In fact Midgard had no World energy for one to cultivate with. This was why the world was broken. When Ragna's Internal sense sought to feel the World energy, it came across something that felt like empty space. Like the channel where the energy was suppose to flow through was dried out, making the world feel kind of static when he was using his Mental force. Ragna couldn't help but grumble. With his Mental force, Ragna should be working towards awakening his soul core, towards ascending up the cultivation realms. But he was stuck with just his Mental force. In his past life, he was already awakened at the age of six. That was how talented he was.
"What's the problem sweetheart," Bestla said as they left the Combat drill building. The two Lothbroks passed various warriors that were using the room in the building to train and get stronger. As they pass some people, Ragna noticed how they all bowed and showed their respect and awe to his mother and by extension, to him. Ragna knew his mother was well liked by the everyday people of the village. But he still couldn't understand why they revered him so much. Was it because of his Mother. Ragna didn't like it one bit. He would prefer to get by with his own strength. Unfortunately Ragna was weak.
"I want to go to the forest with Aksel," Ragna said for the seventh time.
"You know my answer to that. No, Ragna." Bestla said. They had entered the carriage that would take them back to their place. The carriage led by a massive long horse with six legs, walked through the road that was paved with concrete, passing by various market stores and building stores that sold goods and resources. The village of Kattegat was an important land for the Kingdom of Norland, due to it's location. A strategic location due to it being a port town that was surrounded by mountains from one side, and water and the fjord. The Forest which Ragna refers to also surrounded the village and served as a road to the rest of Norland. In ancient times, the Norsemen used to be a seafaring society but that was a long time ago. Now the sea and the ocean around the great supermassive continent of Scandinavia had become a source of great fear among the Norsemen. Dangerous forces existed within the sea and oceans and it was up to the Warriors of Kattegat to not let such things get into the Kingdoms. Ragna was interested in learning about what this dangers were but his mother refused to let him. Which didn't matter. There were ancient books back home that Ragna could read if he wanted to find the truth. He had already learned the language of the Norsemen, and he knew how to read and write. A feat that proved to his mother that her son was a genius.
When they arrived at their estate, Ragna proceeded to go straight to his room to wash himself and get ready for dinner. Luckily he had a bathtub with indoor plumbing that allowed for a refreshing wash. It was hard not to compare this world with his former world as there was a vast and stark difference between the two. His former world was more progressive and advanced than Midgard. Ragna wouldn't say that Midgard was undeveloped or medieval, but the truth was that they were not as advanced as what he was used to. If anything, the world reminded him of the Victorian era from his former world. After he was done washing himself and dressing up, he went down to the dining hall where his mother was waiting for him. And also waiting was Aksel, his step father.