I gave the clothes and armor to Tae but he had something in mind because he didn’t put it on. Then he asked me if I could give him a flat rock. So I gave him one and he started rubbing it with a rock…

“What are you doing! It looked so good! And! And! Expensive!” I shouted at Tae.

“And too risky to wear it like that. Some people might be scared, some suspicious, and some even aggressive toward as… I don’t want to risk anything.”

“Ohh… Is that so? Still… What a waste. But there is no one on this island anyway…”

“And again you don’t know anything. There is a small village on the other side. I didn’t see any clan banners before I escaped so this is a clanless village.”

“Really! If I knew I would have gone there immediately, then try to survive here alone…”

“Nahh… They wouldn’t help you. You are a stranger and you don’t speak their language. This world has its own. Similar to Danish.”

“Like the one when you screamed something seeing my armor?”

Tae with his head down said “...yes”

I’m twenty years old and yet in this world, I’m like a kid that doesn’t know anything… The only thing I want now is to somehow settle in this world.

“Wait… you want to go to this village?”

“Yeah. We could sell the parts of armor or something and find some job.”

“Someone told you already that you’re pretty smart?”

We were preparing for the journey. Basically, I told Tae to check all the traps and I gave him a sword for protection. He hesitated to go alone for a moment when I told him about wolves. Meanwhile, I was checking the ship again. I was looking for a bag or backpack but there was nothing like that. The only thing left was to use clothes like bags… I also took a few knives.

I was really looking forward to the journey but while I was walking through the forest I felt the pain from the wound that the wolf left. Now I’m not sure about it.

Sun showed itself on the horizon. It was time to take our leave. We walked beside the mountain to find some kind of path. Luckily there was one. Wide enough for a car to casually drive but the ground wasn’t smooth…

With every step, I could feel my wound. After an hour we were halfway to the top but the path changed the direction from going to the top to going around the mountain. I don’t complain since I will no longer go up.

We took a short break to drink the water. We had the water in the bucket and drank it with bowls made by me.

“You told me that we are another worlders. Have you met any others?” I asked Tae out of curiosity.

“I know only two. I didn’t meet them personally because they are clan leaders. Leader of the Blackwood clan, Severin The Headless. I don’t know who blessed him but no one ever cut him. There were attempts. Even execution. It looked like the ax hit his neck but there was no blood and when they removed the ax, there was no scratch on him.”

“Cool. Wait… Why would they execute him!?”

“About that… he is a a** hole. He thought he could conquer the whole island with his bare hands. Swords didn’t work on him. Some old lady smacked him with a pot.”

“Defeated by an old lady hahaha!”

“I wouldn’t do it in front of him if I were you… He also is called the headless because he did many executions on his own.”

So he just would execute me without hesitation… I will keep my distance from that dude.

“Ehh… So the second person is?”

“Neva The Righteous. Leader of the Valkyrie clan. She is ruling over the only clan that is close to the earth with the laws. She is trying to avoid any war and helps the people in need.”

“And she is amazing.”

“But she doesn’t trust men.”

“Understandable.” No, I don’t understand but that’s her choice.

As we moved forward there was a bridge made of wood and ropes. It didn’t look safe but there was no other way. When I was on the bridge I noticed that Tae was still standing there.

“Scared of heights?”

“...Yes.”

“Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine.”

“Ok…” He said okay but he was still looking down. I don’t get this guy. I would smack his head and drag him when he is unconscious but it would be a pain in the ass…

When I was going back to help him I saw the wolves slowly coming toward Tae. At first I was happy because now he had a good reason to cross the bridge but then I imagined what would happen if he was still scared.

“RUN!!!” It was the only word that I could shout. Nothing else came to mind.

The only thing that he needed to do was to step on the bridge. Even a few steps would be enough because wolves would be scared to walk on something else than solid ground. Luckily Tae took a few steps but he was still close to the edge. He looked up and grabbed the rope as he slowly walked forward.

“Little bit more! Hang in there!”

I was getting happy that he was crossing the bridge but then I saw that the wolves also got the courage to walk on this. I didn’t need to shout it for Tae to realize that the wolves are on the bridge. I could see how stressed he is. Wolves were braver and moved faster.

“They’re getting closer! RUN! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE RUN!”

Tae stopped for a second, he took a deep breath and started to run. Wolves didn’t let him escape and also started to run. One of them was close to biting Tae but the wolf stepped between the planks and fell down. That didn’t scare the four wolves behind Tae.

I couldn’t imagine fighting against four wolves. I took out my ax and screamed “JUMP TAE!!!” With a slight hesitation, he jumped forward. At the same time, I cut one rope. The bridge titled itself. Wolves couldn’t grab anything with their paws so they fell down. Tae was able to grab the bridge close to the edge of the mountain. I helped him get up.

“You okay?”

“...Yeah… I’m... Fine.” He said he was fine but he looked like he was going to puke at any moment.

“C'mon… Don’t tell me you feel sick because of my tea.”

“That’s not… it…”

“Ok then! Let’s go!”

He said he is fine so I kept going. For some reason, he was so slow compared to earlier. When I looked back to check how he was doing… I saw him vomiting… Everything is fine he said…

Finally, the path was going down. We were getting closer to the other side. I could even see the village from here but it was on the other side of the island. There were... maybe ten buildings? After the whole situation with the wolves, we stopped again. It looked like it could rain at any second. Luckily we found a cave.

It looked like it was empty but the scent said something else. Maybe there was something deeper but we only wanted to rest for a bit. Tae finally looked better so we were good to go! If not for the rain that just showed up…

We were expecting that the journey would be long… but we didn’t expect to sleep on rocks in a cave… I had to choose… sleep on the fur to lay on something fluffy… or cover myself with it so I could get warmer…

Somehow I fell asleep but because of the rocks, I was the first one to wake up… We had no time to waste so I tried to wake up Tae. He didn’t even budge… I was going to scream into his ear but there came something louder and scarier from the depths of the cave.

Tae immediately woke up with the weirdest face I have ever seen. He was going to scream with me but a bat flew into him. Both screaming from the top of our lounge we ran down the mountain.

“Are… you… okay?” I said as I was lying almost dead on the ground.

He didn’t answer me but I saw his face. He was revealed… He had something on his face. Probably dirt from that bat... Also… he kinda… pissed his pants.

“Really?”

“What?” Said confused Tae.

“Isn’t it to… wet down there?” I said, trying not to laugh.

“It… is…”

“You better wash it. Let’s go to the beach or any pond that we might find on the way. I also would like to wash myself.”

Definitely, villagers came here because some of the bushes or trees didn’t have any fruits hanging. There were no paths or any lead to their village. Walking along the shore is the best option. Also, I don’t want to run into any wolves or bears…

While we were washing I noticed that Tae isn’t some skinny dude… He was pretty well built. Compared to me… We were close to the mountain. It looked like there was only one path leading to the other side. Then I saw something shiny in the water. When I got close to it the ground collapsed.

I was trying to swim up but something was pulling me down. Was I that deep under the water that I couldn’t see anything around me? When I blinked I was sitting on the chair… It was very comfortable. Or at least it feels that way after sleeping on the ground. Everything around me was black… or actually, there was nothing around me.

“You’re quite an interesting person… Eric Hoffman.” Said someone as his echo traveled around.

“Huh?! Is anybody here? Show yourself!” I was shocked and scared a little bit.

“Oh. I can’t show myself you can’t see me yet… but I can introduce myself! My name is Loki, son of Farbauti.”

“Huh! You’re the Norse god right?!

“Yes, I am. And one of the biggest at that… But enough about me. You’re the main character!”

“What do you mean?”

“I chose you to live in this world! Miserable! Pathetic! And a weak person! I gave you a chance in a world where only the strong can survive!”

“You could drop the part about pathetic… and weak…”

“I could… but where is the fun in that! You’re the amusing person here! You survived my first test mainly because of your poison resistance but whatever.”

“Didn’t you give me this power?”

“Yes, I did… Well… I chose it randomly.”

“WHAT?!”

“Anyway! You passed another test! In a bad way but what does it matter? If you would kill the beast in the cave I would give you another blessing bu…”

“Beast! What kind of beast! I’m still alive!”

“Oh yeah… Your friend pissed himself and the beast didn’t like the smell so it left you.”

I just sat there in shock. Not that I met a god but that Tae piss saved my life!

“Bless you… Tae…and your piss” I whispered.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing!”

“Ok… So I was talking about a small reward… I will give you the understanding of the Midgard language!”

It was the last thing that I heard when someone pulled me from there. Tae took me to shore and slapped me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine…”

“You don’t know how to swim or something?”

“Nah… I was talking to Lo…” I was going to say Loki when I felt my mark burning. It looked like it expanded itself a little bit. Then I heard his voice again saying “It’s taboo to talk about our meeting.”