Returning Home

When I awoke the next morning, I was missing my shirt, a boot, and, oddly, half a pant leg. I was also sleeping in a large potted plant. TelVurn was draped over a table, and Jaxon was under it. Tobi, our lovable depressed Elephanti, had apparently shown up last night and is now passed out wearing a dress. Poor guy. Avencast was the only one who not only seemed to be put together but was also awake and looking refreshed.

“Ugh, how?”

“Magic, my dear friend. I can drink with the best of them and feel nothing in the morning.”

“Seems like a waste to me,” I said as I felt the need to hurl. “Or maybe you’re on to something. What the hell happened?”

“If I said a bad game of strip shnog, would you believe me?”

“Depends, what the hell is a shnog?”

“A rather peculiar game that involves daggers, dice, and with the new tradition, drinking.”

“I don’t see how that involves stripping, but let’s skip that discussion. Oh, god, my head is pounding.”

“I’m sure your healing skills are already hard at work. You know, it is still impressive to drink nearly five gallons of alcohol and still be alive.”

“What the actual…”

BANG. “Agh!” Jaxon protested after hitting his head on the table when he suddenly woke up.

“Good morning, princess,” I mocked him. “Avencast, can you cast a healing spell on TelVurn? He’s supposed to be the responsible one.”

Avencast rolled his eyes but tossed out a healing spell that struck everyone, instantly relieving my headache in the process.

“Let’s get you, and everyone cleaned up. I want to get this earthbound mission underway already,” Avencast said. I nodded, and we retired to our quarters to shower and dress for the day. On the way, we came across VeLana, Zarrah, and Kaelyn, and they looked as terrible as we did, perhaps even worse. When our eyes met, we both broke out laughing.

We all met for breakfast, and I gave VeLana the news. She was worried, but I assured her I would return no matter what, and likely later today. Then, the boys and I moved to Jaxon’s ship, which he named Molly after a Sage he had a crush on. Molly, the ship, was a massive flying fortress, at least for a team of Hunters. It wasn’t anywhere close to the capital ships the Lykaians had, but in terms of technology, Molly was far superior. One of the many rooms was a workshop, where Jaxon and Avencast built a key tuned to this world. He then took my suit and turned part of it into a key for my world. It took a few hours, but eventually, we were ready to go. I had my armor on, my weapons in my storage space, and plenty of food and supplies.

We met in the palace courtyard with everyone else and hugged them but reassured them again that this would be a short trip relative to their time. Avencast set up a portable archway with enchantments already set, I then provided an Ultimate Monster Core for power. Ultimate Monster Cores were the highest-grade Cores that dropped from the rarest and most powerful monsters, also known as Kordra. Those were the lesser intelligent monsters. The Majin were the elite intelligent monsters that served the Monster King. After I killed the last one, a new one had risen to take its place.

Avencast inserted the key, which was an enchanted disc that contained the metal cufflinks from my suit. They had the strongest vibrational frequency. “Alright,” he said while crossing his fingers, which brought me no comfort, “let’s get this portal open!” He activated it, and several minutes later, after it finished dialing, a swirling green portal swooshed open.

I must say, I prefer this portal to the red ritual circle one that opened beneath my feet and dropped me like a sack of potatoes. We nodded at everyone, then walked through. On the other side, which was instantaneous compared to the first time I traveled by portal, we landed on the edge of a cliff overlooking a field. It was nighttime, and instead of seeing electric lights below, there were torches lit by fires.

“Um, are we in the past or a dystopian future?” I asked.

“I don’t know, it's your world,” Avencast replied.

“Is it my world?” I asked skeptically. He held up a magical technological device and scanned the air.

“Yeah, it’s your world.” We looked down below and used either magic or skills to get a better view.

“Is that a re-enactment of a battle going on down there, or a real one?” I asked.

“Unless re-enactments involve hacking limbs off, I'm willing to bet it is real.”

“Are those…”

“Vikings, yeah, looks like it.”

“Harry, where are we?”

Harry exited my combat prosthetic arm in his floating orb resembling a Destiny ghost, then scanned the stars above us. Harry Anthony Nuss was my AI implant that became sentient after being transformed by my Blessing, Divine Cyber Lord. That Blessing had enhanced all my implants and gave me special Abilities. All Blessings give Abilities and magically change our bodies to be capable of accessing and using Astra. Astra was more than magic, it was a System governed by the World Voice. Avencast used mana for his magic, but since he wasn’t a Blessing user, he couldn’t hear the World Voice or gain access to Abilities, Skills, or Spells from the System. However, he could tap into Astra and convert it to mana to fuel his magic.

I glanced at my stats to see where I was currently:

*

*

Status Sheet:

Name: Ezekiel Conri

Skills:

Race: Human

Aura Sense T8-R2

Soul Ticket T9-R1

Rank: Orichalcum «««

Danger Sense T9-R1

Sonic Speed T8-R3

Aura: Green

Cleaning T8-R3

Winter's Grasp T5-R3

Astra Power Level: 3080

Conceal T5-R2

Blood Raven Swarm T7-R3

Blessings:

Rune Crafting T7-R1

Taunting Shout T4-R3

Divine Cyber Lord

Rune Forging T7-R3

Blood Tether T6-R2

A.i. Controller

Rune Tech T6-R3

Mask Aura T8-R3

Harry | A | Nuss

Skill Boost T9-R3

Stolen novel; please report.

Pain Suppressor

Thought Acceleration T9-R3

Appraiser's Oculus

Acceleration T9-R3

H.U.D.

Barrier T8-R3

Fission Engine

Healing T9-R4

Communications Chip

Astra Consumption T6-R5

Divine Astra King

Mend Wound T9-R2

Way of the Astra

Chaos Flames T9-R3

Increase Skill Chance

Tame T3-R1

Sage Berserker

Heal Familiar T5-R4

Rage

Last Chance T8-R2

Tough Body

Passive Healing T9-R5

Stamina Steal

Toxin Resistance T5-R3

Titles:

False Data T7-R4

Undying

Cooling Shield T7-R1

Monster Slayer

Rain Shield T4-R3

Nexus Slayer

Stone Skin T9-R3

Sky Diver

Momentum Change T8-R4

Racial Traits:

Sunder T8-R5

Superior Hearing

Meteor Strike T7-R5

Superior Olfactory

Burst Step T9-R5

Night Vision

Life Steal T9-R4

Full Transformation

Momentum Strike T7-R4

Partial Transformation

Necrotic Strike T7-R3

Superior Strength

Seismic Palm T8-R5

Venomous Bite

Resist Charm T6-R1

Venomous Claws

Dual Mind T9-R5

Superior Regeneration

Land Upright T8-R4

Superior Durability

Necrotic Resistance T6-R4

“It appears we are in the final decades of the 9th century in the Rhineland territories. These were the raids against the Franks,” Harry answered. “On a strange note, historical records of this war told of two gods coming down to aid the Vikings. They were losing the war when two gods arrived and turned the tide. You’re gonna love this, one was Fenrir, but it doesn’t say who the other was, or it did, but those records were destroyed.

“So, you’re saying we can go fight in a Viking battle? Hell yeah. Avencast, let’s go!”

“Hold up, cowboy. What happened to getting to your timeline and resolving mental issues?”

“It’s a revenge plot, not a mental health issue, and can we get to the right timeline now that we’re here?”

“No, not exactly.”

“Could you elaborate?”

“Part of my research was to discover how to navigate the time differentials before I got captured and my entire life’s work paused. So, currently, I have no idea. My team and I were still in the information-gathering stage. But maybe one day, if I get home and we figure out how to manipulate the timelines, I can come back and get you. So, we should just get you home.”

“Ok, fine, but what about the gods coming down and helping the Vikings? If we don’t go, will that mess up time here?”

“First of all, presuming we’re the gods that help, we have no evidence of that. For all we know, we could screw up the timeline.”

I sighed, “Fine, go ahead, activate the key.”

Avencast took out the key for home, set up his second archway, which he only needed to get to void worlds and back due to the power requirement, and inserted the key. Nothing happened when he went to activate it. It was as if the power from the monster's core suddenly depleted itself. I removed another core, and it, too, went dull. “Um, Zeke, you can see Astra flow, right?”

I switched Astra Sense on and saw the energy from the archway and the two cores flowing down the cliff and over the battlefield. It continued past the city walls and into what appeared to be a church building. “It is going that way, into a church in that city over there.”

We watched the battle below, and it appeared that the Vikings had tried to breach the wall with ladders and fortified defensive stairways but lost the battle for the wall and had to retreat. The Franks then gave chase into the field, and when the Vikings regrouped, it became an open melee between them.

It was Avencast’s turn to sigh before speaking. “Ok, seems you get your wish, let’s go kill some Franks.” I didn’t reply, instead, I took a leap and soared over the Vikings to land on the front line, crushing a Frank soldier into paste while kicking up a spray of blood, grass, and dirt. The Vikings behind me gasped at my size, since I had activated Partial Transformation up to Phase 4, this gave me extra height, glowing yellow eyes, slight wolfish features, like claws, and some extra fur in places, but it also increased my strength and senses even further beyond my S rank, and Astra honed body.

Astra could be used to activate Skills for those who have a non-mage Blessing or Spells for those who do, but it can also be used directly to enhance the physical body through meditation. One of the perks of my Blessing, Divine Astra King, was that I could visualize the Astra perfectly within my body and manipulate it to enhance everything, including my brain, which was considered far too dangerous for normal Blessing users. Due to that, I was able to push my durability and strength far above my rank.

The dozen Frank soldiers before me stumbled backward in surprise at my entrance. Then, to make an even larger dramatic entrance, I summoned my Serrigheti, which formed two green glowing Skeggøx, also known as the bearded axe. The name of my Serrigheti was Ragnarök, and it has three release stages to transform into more powerful versions. However, I won’t be needing them any time soon.

Then, using Burst Step, I appeared directly in front of the first two soldiers, and with a right diagonal slash, I split his body from shoulder to opposite torso. The two sections of his body fell in different directions. With an upward left-handed cut, I cut the second guy from groin to crown, splitting him evenly in half.

The rest cried out in shock and tried to flee, but then Avencast arrived, floating down and unleashing a barrage of lightning strikes from a hammer. Seriously? I thought. “Seriously?” I said as he touched down. “Thor, that’s who you’re going with?” He wasn’t wearing his mage’s robes anymore but was sporting leather armor with metal bracers, chest pieces, and boots. He also wore a helmet. “Where did you get all that?”

“I conjured it, of course, I am a mage,” he said while grinning. He looked at his handy work of more than a dozen fried corpses. Behind us, we could hear the Vikings cheering, and many close by were bowing and whispering things.

I trusted the translation spell that TelVurn, the crippled Lionkin that used an Astra tech to float with, had cast on me ages ago. He said it was permanent, and so far, it had been, but now let’s see if it knows old Norse. “Vikings! Now is the time to seize victory!” I shouted and then blurred across the battlefield. I cut down Frank after Frank in a gruesome fashion. Avencast flew much slower and rained lightning attacks upon the enemies. I used some of my newer skills several times, not because I needed to, but because it was flashy, and we were putting on a show.

Blood Tether would take any blood on or around me, pool into my hand, then shoot out and tether to anyone in line of sight and drain their life. For other Hunters or even monsters, this would deal ok damage, but for humans, it killed them in seconds. Blood Ravens was much more visually cool to see. For a skill, which normally doesn’t have range abilities unless it is connected to you directly, such as Blood Tether or even Sunder, which travels outward. But skills do not fly normally like a Fireball spell. My Chaos Flames skill was a good example because I had to be in melee range to use it. However, some skills had unique features that could be manipulated. Chaos Flames tended to not go out, so I could place some in a special bullet and fire it.

Blood Ravens had to form directly from me like any skill, however, their wings allowed them to travel out as if it was cast like a Fireball. Glowing red blood ravens flew out of my palm in a stream to attack anyone I deemed an enemy. When they dealt damage, they caused the target's blood to boil within their bodies before erupting from every hole imaginable.

It didn’t take us long to wipe them all out and arrive within a dozen feet of the city walls. The enemies up top looked scared, and many just turned and fled. The remaining few were encouraged to shoot arrows at us and throw spears. I held a handout, but really, I pushed my aura and knocked the projectiles out of the air.

“My god, Thor, son of Odin, you have come to our aid, it is a great honor to have you lead us.” The leader of the Vikings approached Avencast carefully, and I realized they hadn’t figured out who I was yet. I wasn’t offended, I just waited for Avencast to answer. “We will wait for your orders on what you plan to do about the wall.”

“To not be afraid, tell me your name.”

“I am called Godfrid,” he said and bowed.

“Now is not the time for bowing. Now is the time for conquering or meeting in Valhalla for drinks,” Avencast said. Love how he was getting into the roleplay. “Now, watch as Fenrir obliterates their walls!”

The whispers about the name reached my ears from even across the battlefield. So, I turned, activated my full transformation, and became the ten-foot-tall black werewolf. With a howl, I vanished the bearded axes and summoned my hammerscythe. The latest version of this weapon was shaped to resemble a falling meteor. It was made from a clear emerald metal, glowed on the inside, and was twice as large as my chest. The handle was over six feet long. It weighed several tons and was heavily enchanted with Runes. The meteor head had several smaller blades that curved around to resemble fiery trails, but one exceptionally long curve formed the reverse scythe blade on top of the head. The idea of the weapon was to hit very large monsters and send a cutting slash on the follow-through, dealing both blunt and slashing damage.

I lifted the weapon back with one hand in the middle of the handle and the other at the end, then swung down toward the walls. The rune, Seismic Blast, was enhanced by my Sunder skill. A ten-foot-deep trench blasted outward toward the wall and then exploded upon impact. The wall burst with enough force to toss large chunks clear across the city, taking out dozens of buildings.

Avencast gave the command, and the Vikings swarmed through the massive hole, and we left the rest of the battle to them. I didn’t use Rage, which was one of my more volatile Abilities, so being in full transformation wasn’t so bad. I could still feel the innate aggression of the werewolf brain, but between my studies in Bestial Arts, Harry’s help in clamping down the emotions, and the recent peace I’ve made with my brother’s death, I could maintain control.

When the fighting seemed to come to an end, I jumped to a section of the wall still standing, then jumped to a building that wasn’t on fire and howled before transforming back into Phase 4. I wanted to stay in the larger size I had met them with, first impressions and all that.