Sarah POV :

I was still trying to sort my ideas when I heard something tapping at my door. The rhythm of a knock, but the sound of a thrown pebble. I opened the door to see a crow perched atop a scroll. As soon as he saw me, he bowed, and flew away, leaving me alone with the scroll, that I unrolled.

Dear Sarah,

It appears to me that I forgot to do some things when leaving your place. Here’s a map with the last known location of my two brothers. You’ll also find a scroll containing one of my own spells. I hope it will be useful to you.

I wish you good luck.

P.S: Thanks.

It appeared there was something else written after the ‘Thanks’, but it had been burned. As I looked over the map, I saw two paragraphs of text.

As Odin forbad Jormungandr from ever leaving the ocean, he spent a lot of time searching for places that would still be the ocean, but could allow him to mingle with people. The last time I saw him, he was investigating some fjords, and especially trying to determine how deep he could go inside. I would recommend searching for a place like this. Also, you can probably keep your researches located around Scandinavia, Jorm never liked the other big sea creatures.

So, a water plan that could technically be considered ocean, but as far inland as possible. And around Scandinavia, or at least away from deep waters. The next paragraph was written above the norwegian mountain range.

Fenrir was imprisoned by the other gods, but Gleipnir, his chain, drew in colossal amounts of mana. I doubt it would have survived very long without it. Before he was tricked, his favorite place was inside the Jotunheimen range. He liked the freedom and solitude.

So I’m searching for traces of a giant wolf, in a remote mountain range in a very scarcely populated country. Easy. Well, at least she asked nicely. And I got two spells! Right, cause I still don’t have any spells. Giiru intentionally disrupted us whenever we were close to forming one, to ‘avoid being blinded by pre made spells’. I can understand the idea, but it’s frustrating! So, let’s see those two.

As I unrolled the first scroll, the one from Hel, I noticed it only contained a single rune, that writhed like the ink was trying to escape.

You discovered a spell!

This spell was personally created by Hel, in order to avoid having to use souls in order to raise servants.

Do you wish to learn : Pseudo-soul of darkness?

I don’t get to see what it can do? Well, I guess I’ll have to trust her, and the Will of the World to protect me from harm. I mentally chose yes.

Pseudo-soul of darkness

Prerequisites : Darkness and Death affinity.

Ability to learn Divine magic from Hel.

Cost : Variable.

This spell allows you to use your understanding of Darkness and Death in order to coalesce both in a sentient amalgam. Thought it’s intelligence will barely be on par with a dog, it will grow with time, eventually reaching consciousness one day.

Congratulations! You learned something only the divines and those close to them can know! New perk acquired : Knowledge of the Divine.

The new perk is cool. Give me more memory, whatever it can mean, and some INT and WIS. But something is strange. Why is the cost variable? If the spell description already tells me how it’s going to end, why isn’t the cost fixed? I suppose I’ll have to test it to know.

I noticed the scroll was blank, the writhing rune having disappeared. Safer than trusting people not to divulge that I think. I unrolled the other one. It seemed to be written on some kind of tanned skin, with a rune so dark it almost ate light around.

You discovered a spell!

This spell was personally created by Loki, his first attempt at being secretive..

Do you wish to learn : Absolute darkness?

Seriously, Absolute darkness? That sound so much like what an edgy teenager would name it’s power. There’s a word for that, in japanese I think… Not important, let’s learn that.

Absolute darkness

Prerequisites : High Darkness affinity.

Ability to learn Divine magic from Loki.

Cost : Depends on the area.

Darkness is the place no one can see. With this spell, you can imbue darkness around you with a powerful anti-sight effect, negating all magical, non-magical and even divine sight. Of course, a dark spot is still visible, but at least no one can see what’s inside.

I must admit it seems… useful. Everybody can see you’re hiding something, but it doesn’t help them see what it might be. From the description, I suppose he has some better means now. Now, the big question. Do I try them now, alone, or do I wait for Audrey and Giiru? Well, for Loki’s one, it’s obvious. I’ll never try anything handed by that bastard without at least three safety nets. But for Hel’s one?

Call me stupid, but I’ll try it. I won’t have this experience ruined by a haughty bird claiming he knows something better.

I searched inside, remembering said bird advices toward spellcasting. ‘You’ll probably have a rune, a word, a sentence, a meaningful gesture, something pop up when thinking about a spell. For a start, just follow the insight it gives you. When you’ll be more used to it, you can try changing things around.’ The dark writhing rune was back in my mind, and I felt the need to trace it in the air with my finger. As I did, I saw some darkness come from under the bed, filling in the hollow rune I just traced. I felt my mana being drained as I felt the rune greedily absorbing it. Then everything turned to hell.

I felt the rune search for concepts, and copy them from my mind. The more it did, the more my mana was being drained. When I understood that, I tried to stop the spell, but even if I managed it, I still saw my reserves being lowered to fuel the already undergoing changes. And there was a lot of them. I tried to grab my phone, but I only managed to fall on my side, as I saw my HP dwindling, and some blue windows flashing before me.

Then, darkness came.