I stood there, staring at the creatures surrounding us. They appeared feral, scrawny and savage, with sunken eyes and seemingly pointed teeth. They all wore roughly made pelts and were eyeing Sieg and me hungrily. They appeared to be human, but each man had a pair of wolf-like ears. The leader was different from the rest. He had several more wolf-like features and looked more put together than the rest of the group. He wore a sigil of a green wolf on top of a well-treated pelt, and was sitting on a real wolf, which was quite a bit larger than what I was used to.
I couldn't help but think, what the hell are these guys? Redneck furries? I was at a loss for what to do next, but thankfully, Sieg knew what to do. He dropped his pack, wiped the mud from his face, and went to one knee, putting his forehead back in the mud.
"Provisionary Divine Smith Siegfried greets the son of Garm," Sieg said.
"Oh, the little lambling speaks," the leader replied. "I am Gerinier, Grandson of Garm. So I ask you, lambling, what are you doing in my forest?"
Sieg took his head up to look at Gerinier once again.
"Oh, great Gerinier, we are but humble adventurers, I and my traveling companion are returning to town after defeating some insects that were plaguing your beautiful forest," Sieg said. I was trying to understand why Sieg was speaking in such a formal manner, but Gerinier seemed intrigued by our words.
"You two fought against the shadow blades? They are a persistent problem for my pack, taking several of my own. However, you, Smith, seem too weak to handle such a foe," Gerinier said, his eyes turning dangerous. Sieg, noticing the change in Gerinier's demeanor, quickly responded.
"No, I would never deceive you. I was merely a humble assistant to my mighty companion, who is a respected ascender," Sieg said. Gerinier's eyes widened as he looked at me for the first time, clearly taken aback. He dismounted from his wolf and approached me, looking more cautious now.
"Ascender, I am Gerinier, son of Gonier, grandson of Garm, and great-grandson of the mighty Fenrir himself. Why have you come to the forest of my ancestors?" he asked me in a measured voice.
Being put on the spot like this, I wasn't sure how to proceed. I looked to Sieg for guidance and decided to follow the story he was going with.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Mighty Gerinier, it is true what my companion said. We are adventurers who came here to fight the giant cockroaches in the cave. We successfully defeated the guardian beast and are now returning to civilization."
Gerinier's attitude changed abruptly as he started to laugh openly. I was confused, as I hadn't thought anything I said was outrageous, but even his grunts were laughing and Sieg was shaking his head in disappointment. After Gerinier stopped laughing, he looked up with tears still running from his eyes and said,
"False Ascender, that was the best laugh I've had in years. Honestly, I was planning to kill you both, but now I think I'll keep you. You'd make a great jester for my war band." Perplexed and feeling a little angry that I was being laughed at, I drew my sword and leveled it at Gerinier.
"What makes you think I'm not an Ascender?" I asked. Gerinier, still chuckling, drew his own weapon, a massive great ax, and pointed it at me in response to my stance. Filled with mirth, Gerinier responded again,
“Pup, let me educate you on three things, so in the unlikely event that you survive this encounter, you’ll never pretend to be an ascender again. Firstly, a young ascender like you would have little hope of slaying a guardian beast. Secondly, any ascender would have arrogantly stated their name in response to my full name. And finally, you don’t have any divine aura. So pup, what will it be? Become my fool or die.”
This was quite a wake-up call for me. I realized that it was a stretch for a green ascender like me to slay a Paparoach, except for the fact that I was bound to a peak deity. I had been trying to stay under the radar, which seems to be the opposite of what most ascenders do, and Sieg's mask was veiling my divine aura. These were things I would have to keep in mind in the future. However, in this scenario, the biggest loser was Gerinier because, despite my ignorance, I was an ascender.
At that moment, as I looked at Gerinier still chuckling, I realized that pride would be his downfall. Although I was sure he was stronger than most, based on how greatly he was underestimating me, but I was confident that I was stronger. I resolved to avoid underestimating my opponents in the future if I wanted to survive this quest. Gerinier could have avoided this situation if he had recognized the fact that Sieg held the divine essence of Paparoach, but his pride and arrogance dismissed that as an impossibility.
As thoughts swirled in my mind, I finally began infusing power into my sword, ready to name my first technique. Upon noticing my actions, Gerinier also began infusing his own weapon with a red and green light, but did not advance. It appeared that he was planning to take my blow head on, yet another mistake driven by pride. I summoned the power of Verethragna and two words echoed from my mouth and mind.
[PRIDE’S FALL]