Walking past the Valkyrie domain without much struggle, the Rustler arrived at the base of the Odo Tree. As it had already been visible from the top of the stairs leading to the Valkyrie domain, the golden tree, composed of two distinct stems coiling around each other, rose high into the sky.
"Now that I'm up close, it's truly gigantic," the Rustler remarked.
Its height was so immense that from his current distance, he struggled to see where it ended, gazing upwards in awe.
He wouldn’t be granted much time to waste being amazed by the sight, for there, standing at the base of where one of the two stems protruded from the ground forming a spiraling stairway upward, were two Odoe, two women, guarding its access.
"Oi, there—an arbian," one of them pointed out, bringing the light up on him.
"Who are you? How did someone like you get here!" they both shouted, assuming defensive stances and summoning their Odo. One of them summoned a blade-like appendage that emerged from the back of her shoulder, coiling around her arm and extending into a sharp blade. The other, displaying a heightened sense of alertness or perhaps simply caution, reached for what appeared to be a whistle.
Without a moment of hesitation, the Rustler dashed forward, targeting the one with the whistle. He knew he couldn't let her alert others to his presence. However, the one with the blade-like appendage stood in his path, forcing him to confront her first.
She swung her blade viciously, aiming for a beheading strike. Anticipating the danger, he swiftly raised his left arm as a shield, positioning it at head level, while his right arm, Odo, met the incoming blade. A resounding clang echoed through the air, and his head remained intact, unsevered.
"What!" she exclaimed in surprise but couldn't utter another word, as he seized the opportunity presented by her blocked attack. Seizing the momentum, he lunged forward, delivering a forceful kick to her abdomen. Capitalizing on the swift motion, he followed up with a mid-air kick to her face, sending her crashing to the ground.
The other woman, the one with the whistle, winced as she distanced herself, witnessing her friend being swiftly dealt with. As she prepared to blow the whistle, a horrified expression crossed her face upon seeing the Rustler, or more precisely, his daggers, closing in on her.
Summoning his Odo, he formed dagger-shaped objects between each of his fingers and hurled all six of them at the woman, attempting to halt her from blowing the whistle. Although not all of the blades landed, they successfully prevented her from completing her intending action. In a defensive move, she summoned her own Odo, two long rope-like appendages emerging from her back. With them, she managed to intercept some of the blades, but a few still found their mark, grazing parts of her body.
Refusing to grant her the chance to catch her breath and certainly not sound the whistle, the Rustler lunged at her. She panickedly backed off, utilizing her whip-like appendages in a defensive manner.
Despite the whips whistling through the air in his direction, he fearlessly lunged at her, exhibiting unwavering determination. Skillfully evading her attacks with swift and agile movements, he closed the distance between them. Seizing the opportune moment, he utilized his left hand to grasp her throat and swiftly executed a choke-slam, forcefully driving her to the ground.
Her appendages dissipating in golden dust, he stood up from over her unconscious form. Retrieving the whistle, he crushed it under his foot in a determined stomp.
He then turned his attention to the Odo tree's stem, the path leading upward. "I have gotten rusty at this. For now, let's hope I won't encounter any more Odoe until I resolve the issue with my stave," he lamented, glancing down at his palm, as he marched forward.
the Rustler continued his ascent, climbing up the spiraling Odo tree. Its two stems seemed to stretch endlessly, making the climb feel never-ending. It took him almost half an hour to reach what appeared to be the first floor of the tree, and he knew there were many more floors to go. However, the daunting sight didn't discourage him in the slightest. His goal wasn't to reach the highest floor; it was to go high enough to find the location of the last batch of Maiden-Valkyrie—the ones who were before Men’ma and the others.
Based on what he had learned from Suraxai and the clues gathered from his discussion with Men'ma, he believed they should be somewhere around this level of the Odo tree, so he pressed on. And soon enough he found it, or to be exact he found them.
***
Proceeding into a cavity formed by the coiling stems that deceptively felt like walking into the heart of the tree, the Rustler stepped into a sanctuary-like place—a haven bathed in a golden aura created by unique golden vegetation. The place was littered with golden flowers.
As all his attention was focused on what he noticed up ahead, he walked past a flowery scenery that seemed uncharacteristic of the Odo tree. He proceeded to the inner corner of the wall. This uncharacteristic scene was due to the tree being made of strictly two stems that coiled around each other, forming a singular, large, leafless, barked trunk shooting high up into the sky. Large branches hid the stars completely above them.
Reaching what had caught his attention, he found himself mumbling, "So that's what it concretely looks like," at the sight. Embedded within the radiant trunk were cradles that seamlessly melded with the golden form of the tree, blending into the bark itself.
Seven cradles were made to host a peculiar guest: valkyries—or perhaps it was more accurate to call them slumbering valkyries. Within the cradles, the valkyries rested in profound slumber, their curves embraced by the structure, providing a peaceful, secure, and hermetically sealed resting place for their eternal rest.
The valkyries themselves, dressed in ceremonial robes and proudly adorned with crowns, appeared almost ethereal within the cradle. Their presence was serene and tranquil, despite parts of their bodies progressively melding into the cradle and, thus, the Odo tree.
“So this is what it is to be a valkyrie.”
While the sight didn’t surprise the Rustler it somewhat intrigued him. It has been years since he learned how the Odo tree works, it being a remnant left behind by a god, he was often told by Suraxai stories about how the Odo tree as a whole worked.
While most of Suraxai's story and teachings glossed over details, such as the ceremony from the other day, Suraxai, at least, made sure to teach him about the valkyries and their relationship with the Odo tree. It seemed clear from the few days he spent in the capital that even the most common of Odoe, including Men'ma's father and his family, believed that being a valkyrie meant living eternally and vicariously, solely devoted to tending to the Odo tree. However, the truth was a little different. The "eternally" part was one thing, but for the rest, the reality was quite something else. The Odo tree didn't require tending; what it needed was valkyries to surrender themselves into it—something the valkyries, a generation after another, had been doing for almost two thousand years.
Staring at one of the valkyries in the cradle, whose lower half was almost completely fused with her cradle, he found himself mumbling, "Sure, you may overcome death this way. Sure, you might witness what your beloved Matriarch wishes to see. However, I doubt you'll ever see any of those with your own two eyes," as he reminisced about his discussion with Men'ma's father.
Walking alongside the wall, lightly touching it with his hand as he moved, the Rustler treaded to the 8th cradle, the only empty one. Instead of a valkyrie, what was inside were golden flowers and vines. Among these meticulously intertwined vines, hidden from sight, was a single golden fruit.
It was exactly what he was after. It was the catalyst that allowed a simple winged Odoe, known to have the vastest amount of Odo in reserve, to ascend into a crowned Odoe, in other words, a Valkyrie—an Odoe with even more Odo in reserve.
Tearing the vine off to reach the fruits, he muttered, "For it to be in the eighth and only empty cradle, this one has to be hers, the eld—" His sentence was abruptly cut short as he heard a heavy object whistling through the air. Reacting swiftly, he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding being violently impaled by the object slicing through the air. Before his attention could even be fully brought to where the attack had been unleashed, another object sliced through the air, coming perilously close to him.
Just like it has been with Men’ma that night what was hurled at him was a long tail-like golden appendages, but unlike with it wasn’t just one that was unleashed onto him but several of them. Before his mind could catch up, instinct and reflexes guided his movements as he swiftly ducked, weaved, and sidestepped, evading the onslaught to retreat to the safer corner of the sanctuary-like cavity.
He had yet to lay eyes on his assailant; all he could see were the swift and deadly movements of her appendages. Yet despite that, he harbored no doubt as to the identity of his attacker. The Maiden Valkyries were typically assigned to their respective domains and rarely ventured out of them. Men'ma, who was at her parents' house, could be ruled out. By a process of elimination, there was only one remaining candidate, unless one were to consider the slumbering Valkyries within the cradles. That person was the Valkyrie who, as per tradition, had yet to offer herself to the Odo tree, like her fellow Valkyries before her: the Eldest.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” A voice barked
And there she was.
The Eldest stood tall, her form bathed in an otherworldly golden glow that appeared to emanate from within. Four large, smooth-surfaced appendages emerged from her back, each pulsating with raw power and an insatiable thirst for blood. They twisted and intertwined, resembling a celestial symphony of elegant tendrils, their radiance casting a distinctive aura that belonged exclusively to her.
Although her gaze remained concealed behind her visor, one could still sense the intensity of her wrath emanating from her piercing eyes, as if they shot through the golden fabric of her visor.
“Who gave you the permission to be here?!”
“No one,” he replied. “Just me.”
Figuring it from the spot she attacked him from, it appeared as though she had descended from somewhere above the upper floor of Odo's tree, rather than the lower floors. Thus, there was little chance that she had been informed about the events transpiring below. It seemed more likely that upon spotting him, she immediately leaped into action with the unhinged intent to kill.
“Can’t I simply be here because I wanted to?” He asked.
The question appeared to ignite the Eldest's wrath to new heights. "I have instructed that child to keep you as far away from the Odo tree as humanly possible, but she would not listen—" she barked, only to trail off mid-sentence, as if struck by an impromptu moment of clarity. Her rage momentarily subsided, replaced by concern as she inquired, "Where is Men'ma?"
Well, well. I guess I was wrong about her in that regard.
Well understanding people has never been my forte anyway.
“Home,” he replied, “sleeping most likely, completely oblivious to the fact that I’m here.”
For a short almost fleeting moment, the Eldest expressed what looked like relief, “so you came on your own accord?” She asked, as if to ultimately confirm his words.
"Yes, haven't I already made that clear enough?" Using his own Odo-wielding abilities, he summoned two daggers, one for each hand. "I am here alone and of my own volition because there is something here that I need—no, it’s not that, it’s something that I want.” Assuming a fighting stance, he concluded, “and I’m going to get it.”
Having summoned only a dagger against an opponent wielding four golden appendages, he was well aware that he wouldn't have the upper hand. However, having never actually fought against someone on equal footing, he preferred to stick to a path he was familiar with. He had fought many individuals before, but most of them were mere mages or average Arabians. The heightened physical boost he received upon acquiring Odo allowed him to overpower them easily. However, this time it was different. His opponent wasn't the average mage or Arabian—it was an Odo wielder, a valkyrie no less. To defeat her, he would have to rely on everything he currently possessed: Odo, a power she had spent a lifetime mastering.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Without his other powers at his disposal, he wasn't foolish enough to believe he could overpower her solely with his mastery of Odo. But what he did possess were his past strifes, his countless battles and slaughters. He understood that in order to emerge victorious, he had to approach this fight with the clear intent of killing her and nothing else.
Understanding his intent, the Eldest's appendage vibrated, fueled by a newfound wrath and bloodthirst. “If you seek death, I’ll be happy to be the one to give it to you.”
With blades of summoned Odo in his hands, he engaged in a furious battle against the Eldest and her four golden appendages. Aware of his disadvantage, he relied on his agility, darting around the battleground, evading the swift swings of the appendages that sought to strike him down. His strategy revolved around mobility and precision.
Darting daggers at her before summoning yet another pair at the sight of her using her appendage to protect herself, he lunged forward, aiming to close the distance, but the Eldest's appendages moved with astonishing speed. Luckily it was in time like this that his little size came in handy, allowing him to evade her attack like he used to evade mage’s and Raj’s elementalis attacks on the southern.
And yet despite his best efforts, as the battle between them raged on, he began to struggle to avoid every strike. One of the appendages swung towards him, but he swiftly raised his left hand, using it as a shield. The impact sent him reeling into the distance, the force of the blow staggering him momentarily, but his body acting on its own, he quickly he withdrew himself from where he’d been blow at—it would be a course of action that spared him the fate of being violently stabbed by the Eldest on the ground.
Regaining his composure, he quickly assessed the situation. He knew he couldn't afford to be on the defensive for long. Evading another incoming appendage, he gathered his focus, ran around, summoning daggers that he unleashed with deadly accuracy. The blades slit through the air, aimed straight at the Eldest.
As the Eldest once again used her golden appendages to shield herself from the onslaught of projectiles, it inadvertently provided an opening for him to close the distance. Seizing the opportunity, he swiftly moved towards her, determination etched upon his face.
"Fool!" she shouted, realizing his intent. With a swift motion, she unleashed all four of her appendages, aiming to strike him down. But in a daring move, he extended his left arm forward as if to meet her incoming attack head-on. To her astonishment, his arm underwent a rapid transformation, morphing into a four-limbed appendage that mirrored her own.
the Rustler's newfound appendage shot forward with an impaling will, diverting the Eldest's appendages away from him. They splayed in both his left and right, temporarily rendering her defenseless against his imminent counterattack.
“What!” The Eldest barely managed to muster upon seeing him, now mere dozen meters away, unleash three daggers with precision and speed at her.
Reacting much more swiftly than expected, the Eldest managed to evade two of the daggers, but one grazed the side of her face, shattering her visor. Though the blow left her visor in ruins, she remained practically uninjured. Sensing the need to regroup, the Eldest withdrew her appendages, prompting him to immediately distance himself to a safer position.
“Tsk… So close.”
The air crackled with tension as both combatants regained their footing, momentarily separated by the battlefield. He, aware of the Eldest's resilience, knew he had to approach the next phase of the battle with caution.
As he looked in her direction, he noticed a peculiar change in the Eldest's demeanor. Instead of immediately following up with another attack, she stood frozen in place. Her focus appeared to shift away from him, her gaze fixated on her own hand, or more precisely, the blood trickling from her head onto her hand.
What’s this? Your first time being injured or something?
She locked her eyes onto him, her gaze filled with unadulterated hatred. The veil of her visor no longer concealed the intensity of her emotions. "Who do you think you are to gaze into my eyes?" she seethed with venomous disdain.
"Well, I'm—" he started, but before he could finish his sentence, the Eldest, fueled by a surge of newfound rage, lunged at him. With lightning speed, she darted her appendage forward, aiming to strike him down without hesitation.
Adhering to his initial strategy of utilizing his mobility to create openings, he soon realized that he had miscalculated the consequences of his earlier attack. The Eldest, abandoning her condescending and immobile stance, closed the distance between them with relentless determination. Evading her appendages' swings became increasingly challenging, as they closed in on him with remarkable speed.
Sensing the urgency of the situation and feeling the winds of defeat blowing against him, he made a split-second decision. He chose to confront her in a battle of Odo, abandoning his evasive tactics. Halting his evasive maneuvers, he thrust his left arm forward, summoning four appendages to meet hers. However, his attempt to counter her proved to be a critical error.
Their appendages collided, but the Eldest's appendages swiftly coiled around his, entrapping them in an unyielding grip. The situation grew bleaker as her appendage pulled him closer, locking him in its clutches. Aware of the bleakness of his situation he desperately attempted to sever his connection to his left arm, but it was too late. He was sent hurtling through the air, propelled by the Eldest's forceful pull, straight toward her.
Mid-air, he swung the blade in his hand toward the Eldest, hoping to take advantage of the fleeting opportunity to strike her or at least protect himself. However, once again, the Eldest displayed an unexpectedly swift reaction. She intercepted the blade with her hand, shattering any hope he had of landing a decisive blow. Confusion washed over him as he managed to utter a choked "Huh?" before his voice was stifled by a harsh gasp of pain.
In a swift and brutal motion, the Eldest's other hand seized his throat, tightening its grip. With ruthless force, she slammed him into the ground, causing him to gasp for air as the impact reverberated through his body.
Crap!
To further intensify the his dire situation, the Eldest's next move was to envelop him completely with all four of her appendages. They coiled tightly around his throat, constricting him in a vicious chokehold. She hovered over him, a menacing presence filled with an overwhelming sense of superiority.
"From the moment I first laid my eyes on you, I knew you would bring nothing but misery to this place," she hissed, her words dripping with contempt. With bare teeth, she withdrew the Odo blade that had been driven through her palm.
"Men'ma, that stubborn child, she refused to listen to reason, believing that you were some sort of chosen one. But you are not," she declared with a chilling finality. "That's what the Odo tree has been trying to communicate to all of us with those random leaf-sheddings in such a short amount of time."
With her free hand, she tightened her grip on the Rustler's throat, holding him in an unyielding choke. The pressure on his windpipe made it increasingly difficult for him to breathe.
"I'm going to do what I should've done the moment I first laid eyes on you," she murmured, leaning in closer to him. Her eyes, filled with a murderous gaze, locked onto his, instilling fear and a sense of impending doom—or at least it should have.
As his vision blurred and her silhouette became hazy, a strange sensation washed over him. Instead of fear, all he felt was an odd sense of déjà vu regarding this situation. He couldn't help but chuckle, a contented expression forming on his face, which only served to further unsettle the Eldest.
"I...am...the chosen...one," he blurted out, each word uttered lower than the previous one. "Want...to...see how?"
Seizing the opportunity that presented itself within his blurred vision, he tilted his head slightly upward, giving permission for the inevitable to unfold. From his forehead, a pair of golden antlers shot forth, propelled by a forceful head-butt motion. They pierced through the Eldest's eyes, impaling her with a swift and merciless strike.
A strident scream reverberated through the air as the Eldest clutched her face, blood pouring from her eyes. Reacting instinctively, she released her grip on his throat and her appendage, allowing him to successfully distance himself from her. Yet, her primary concern seemed to be the damage inflicted upon her eyes.
Amidst her agonized screams, a strange mixture of laughter and coughs erupted from the Rustler. "Pfft, hahahaha... cough, cough... hahaha," he cackled. "Weren't you the one who told me I wasn't worthy of this crown? Now look at me—no, you can't. But am I not majestic!" His voice rang out amidst the crazed laughter, his appearance splattered with his own blood and that of the Eldest, presenting a visage of madness personified. However, he refused to let it affect his resolve. Gathering himself, he summoned his Odo and made sure she would no longer pose a threat to him.
The Eldest, despite her impaired vision, attempted to resist, flailing her remaining appendages with what little sight she had left. But in her weakened state, she stood no chance against the Rustler. The tides had turned against her. She, who had once been on the verge of killing, now found herself on the precipice of being killed by him.
Standing above her barely conscious form, the Rustler held a dagger in his hand, poised to end it once and for all. However, as he stared at her, hesitation gripped him—not out of moral reasons but rather because there was something he desired to do before disposing of her.
While he currently didn't have the system on him, she was a perfect depiction of an H.P brought down to 0.
With the Eldest incapacitated, he declared, "You're done for. I suppose you can wait a few more moments." Dismissing his Odo blade, he distanced himself from her and proceeded towards his interrupted objective.
As he made his way towards the cradles that each valkyrie host now occupied except for one, a curious noise caught his attention from behind. He turned to find the Eldest vanished, leaving only a pool of blood where she had been. The blood trickled towards the edge of the Odo tree’s stem.
"It seems your HP wasn't truly brought down to zero after all," he acknowledged, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
But he quickly refocused his attention on the empty cradle before him. Stepping inside, he forcefully tore away the surrounding vines that obstructed his path, revealing the object of his true desire: the golden fruit. For convenience sake and lacking an actual name, he referred to it as the Odo fruit, the one which ripens from the Odo tree once every seven years, granting eight Winged-Odoe to ascend to maiden-valkyries, and for previous maiden-valkyries to embrace their true duty as a full-blown valkyrie and merge with the Odo tree as did the seven valkyrie in their respective cradles and as did the other hundreds of thousands before them.
Having forcefully cleared a path through the golden vines, a satisfied smile graced his face as he extended his hand towards the coveted fruit. The moment his fingers made contact with its surface, the world around him shifted abruptly, morphing into something entirely different. This sudden transformation held no surprise for him; in fact, he had been anticipating its inevitable occurrence.
Looking around for their familiar silhouettes, he asked aloud, "You're not coming out tonight?" His voice echoed through the space, seemingly unheard by anyone. Voices that resembled those of Fan and Any responded simultaneously, completely disregarding his remark. "Do you realize what you're about to do?" Tonight, their voices didn't sound like Ninjara, Men'ma, or even himself. They sounded how he had imagined their voices to be.
"Pretty sure I do. In fact, I've been certain about something in my life," he responded, his voice growing lower with each word.
"You will regret this..." they warned.
"Will I?" he retorted. "That one sounds oddly like a threat. Was it a threat? Because in my short lifespan, I've heard plenty of threats, and not a single one has managed to make me feel regret over what it intended to prevent. So let me ask again, was it a threat?"
In that moment, the siblings, sensing the futility of their threat, came into view. No longer in borrowed forms, they appeared as their true selves—two children: a little boy and a little girl. Both had lustrous black hair, golden eyes, and warm dusk complexions. They were Fan and Any, the first-born Odoe, living embodiments of Odo. Their golden eyes locked onto his blue ones as they held out their hands in offering.
"It's not too late for you. Join us, and all of this will be left behind. We will never remember. Join us, and you will never be alone. Join us, and you will never be aimless. Join us, and together, as gods, we will conquer the suns and moons."
Their offer hung in silence as he contemplated their words. Suddenly, he spoke, breaking the silence that had settled in. "You see," he began, momentarily snapping out of the trance he was in. He plucked the lone golden fruit from its stem, before, without a single moment of hesitation, taking a first and large bite into the fruit.
In less than five bites, he devoured the entire thing, engulfing it with his little mouth. Having done so, he gazed at his hands and himself, searching for a visible change that would confirm his theory that had led him here instead of immediately leaving the capital.
Time seemed to pass slowly, but eventually, he felt the fruit taking effect on him.
As if in a last-ditch effort to stop him, or perhaps mistaking him for an actual valkyrie, a golden membrane began sealing the entrance of the cradle. Invading vines began to grow around him.
Yet, it took only a lightning arc that shot forth along a powerful gust of wind to shatter the membrane and free him from the confines of the cradle.
He emerged alone, having regained access to all his assets—the aero-elementalis, the electro-elementalis, and his reserve of prana. And by his side materialized a girl, her presence bringing a nostalgic smile to his face.
It was at that moment, in spite of no longer being entranced, he once again heard their voices.
"You've done it..." Fan began, with Any adding, "You're going to regret this choice."
"Once again, will I? And who will make me? You? I doubt it. Your mother, perhaps? I doubt it. The valkyries? No, that wouldn't work either, as they are now consumed and a part of you. I don't see them coming after me anytime soon," he confidently replied.
"They will find you sooner than you can imagine. That we can promise. And they will bring you to us," they replied in unison.
At that moment, in a very brief instance, he thought he caught a subtle movement from one of the valkyrie sealed within the cradle, but upon closer inspection, nothing of such nature seemed to be happening. "I see," he simply replied. "Good luck rebirthing them back, I suppose," he declared while taking his leave now that his goal here was reached and fulfilled, but before doing so, he spoke one last time for them to hear. "Since we're making promises to each other, and since I have a feeling that you have greatly misled me as to who I am, let me make a promise too. One day, without the intervention of your valkyries, I will return to this capital—to this tree. And I will show you both whose dream conquering the suns and moons truly was originally of. I may have failed to fulfill many promises, but count me in on this one," he stated firmly.
In these words, he took his leave from the Odo tree.