The Bifrost Bridge.

I realized things were about to get hectic. I got Egg to pay Valaskrr his payment for guiding us and we quickly left back onto the row-boat. Once we were once again safely on the Sinclair Jr., I gave my crew their tasks.

“We will not attempt such a suicidal mission for a fake reward, so we will move on ahead of the pack,” I said. “We have two choices, either we take the Bifrost Bridge or climb Yggdrasil itself.”

I looked towards Jobs.

“Which path do you think our ship can take?”

“Captain, with the help of Debra, we can accelerate the fastest on the Bifrost Bridge.”

“Is Debra awake?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Take me to her.”

Jobs nodded with glee. Debra was his prized research. She was his magnum opus.

When we reached the giant steam engine installed on the rear of the ship, I saw her.

Only her front torso stuck out of the giant engine. Everything from her waist down was part of the engine itself.

“Hey, Debra. How’s your day?”

“Good, Captain.”

“We got a difficult journey ahead and we require your help,” Jobs said.

“Anything for my dear Jacob,” Debra replied.

Those two have a strange relationship.

Jobs think of Debra as his masterpiece. Debra thinks of Jobs as her lover. It saddens me at times when I see the different look they give each other. But the two were as stubborn as boulders. Perhaps Jacob will never realize Debra’s feelings for him. It seemed at times he didn’t even realize she had any feelings at all.

Debra realizes that Jacob doesn’t share her love but she’s relentless. That stubborn personality came from her will to live. In the past, she was battered and maimed by a noble’s vessel. They left her to die on the road. Her tenacity led her to crawl to the nearest village with a shattered hip, broken legs, and one arm was broken. It was a miracle she survived at all. Thankfully, Jacob was hiding out at the village at the time. He saw an opportunity to expand his research. He needed someone with a strong mind, someone who can remain sane after all his experiments. Debra was his ticket.

Either way, she was one of the more important members of my crew. As an android, her body is mostly augmented with weaponry. Her upper torso remains mostly human though although her arms were detachable and can be replaced with various murderous attachments.

Her lower body was completely removed and have various different attachments as well. Most of the time, she’s connected to our steam engine. It charges her battery while she manages the filtration of salt from the sea water added to the steam engine.

Honestly, she manages most of the autonomous actions performed on our ship. Without her, the Sinclair Jr. would rapidly deteriorate. She’s an incredibly valuable member of my crew.

“Debra, we will be running on the steam engine for most of the journey. The path will be uphill so the strain will be great.”

“Yes Jacob, I will perform hourly maintenance and maintain a steady pace.”

“Good girl,” Jacob patted her head.

Debra smiled brilliantly. I couldn’t help but sigh. Did she rank up from a piece of work to a pet in Jacob’s mind? Just what happened while we were out?

“Hey, Egg! Bring us to land!” I yelled into the tube next to Debra. The tube system allows voices to travel through the entire ship, although you have to yell really loud sometimes.

“Got it Capt.,” A faint voice replied.

The anchors were brought up and the boat slowly turned toward the bay. The sails were brought down and we slowly drifted toward the sands.

“Debra, prepare to convert the ship to land-vehicle.”

“Got it Capt.!” She replied enthusiastically.

Once the boat hit a more shallow area, the bottom hull scrapped against the sandy bottom. The sides open up and two large wheels unfolded. The two enormous wheels manage to raise the boat up 5 meters above the ground. Debra started the steam engine and a loud whistle rang through the Sinclair Jr.

“Full steam ahead!” I smiled.

“Yes, Captain!”

The Sinclair rumbled as the wheels started to turn. Slowly, we rolled out of the shallow waters and onto the beach. Several onlookers were shocked and awed.

“To the Bifrost Bridge!”

______

We rolled by many interesting scenes. A foggy cemetery, a giant monolith surrounded by blue flames, and even saw a scene of someone stupid enough to fight the serpent. When we were climbing the root to get to the entrance to the Bifrost, we saw below, the one-sided fight taking place at the shores. The giant serpent was breathing a corrosive liquid that dissolved people and plants alike. It was a massacre.

“It’s a good thing we left early,” I said. “We might have been considered as collateral damage.”

“You don’t see monsters like that back at home,” Egg replied. “I heard most of them were wiped out from the hero generation.”

“That’s just a myth.”

“Gods used to be myths as well, aren’t we now racing to become one?”

I just nodded at Egg’s statement.

The fight was over very quickly. The serpent was just too powerful. The locals who were taking cover far away started to clean up the mess. It seemed they were used to such destruction.

Soon we reached the start of the bridge. It looked ephemeral. Like a rainbow made of nothing but light. Can the Sinclair Jr. really travel on the light?

“What’s our status?” I asked Debra with the tube.

“All green, Captain.”

“Then bring us up slowly,” I had to check with my own eyes whether the bridge will hold us or not.

To my disappointment, it didn’t.

Our wheel just passed right through the rainbow.

“Damn it!” I frowned. “Looks like we have to climb Yggdrasil.”

My crew was all disappointed as well, especially Debra.

“How will we climb such a huge tree?” I asked myself while staring at the daunting plant in front of us.

I didn’t have an answer. No one did. Thus we just shut things down and set the Sinclair Jr. up for the night.

“Good job Debra, sorry the plan didn’t work.”

“It’s Ok, Captain.” She said with her innocent smile.

I didn’t know what to say then. Night came, stars appeared, and the mist enveloped us.

I was up in the crow’s nest taking in the sights.

Suddenly, something hit me in the back of my head.

“Catch.”

“You could have said that before you threw it at me,” I complained to Egg.

“Thought you could use a cold beverage,” He replied while taking a chug of his brew. “Nothing like a fresh ale to clear the mind.”

“The ale you brew really are one of a kind.” I reached down and picked up the bottle he threw at me. “You ever thought of starting a business?”

“And settle down?” Egg’s eyebrows rose then said with a smile. “Capt., you know me. I ain’t a stationary man.”

“Hmm, guess our crew can enjoy the monopoly on your ale a little longer,” I smiled back.

Egg had a greenhouse in the lower storage area. He grows his own plants to brew an ale with. No one was allowed in, not even me. I respected his privacy so I made it one of the ship’s laws.

Apparently, brewing was a craft he learned from his father, who learned from his father before him and so on. Basically, it’s a family secret.

“Got any ideas how are we going to get up that tree?” I asked.

“No clue, Capt.”

“You’re our best strategist, though.”

“I ain’t omnipotent. Not yet, that is.”

“Haha, soon my friend, soon.”

An awkward silence soon followed.

“Hey Egg, ever wonder what happens if we die in another domain?”

“I guess we follow the laws of the dead of that domain.”

“What if we already are in the land of the dead?”

“I don’t know.”

We both just stood there on the crow’s nest, drinking.

It was at that moment when we saw it. A faint glow that traveled up the roots of Yggdrasil. It flowed smoothly like water, all the way up to the top.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that all you can say?”

“Captain, we are in a completely different world,” Egg frowned. “I may be knowledgeable on many things, but this shit is all new to me.”

If only we can take the same path as that glow.

“Hey, Charles,” A voice came from below.

Ah, that person. The only member of my crew who calls me by my first name.

“Hey, Beatrix,” I looked down from the crow’s nest.

“What are you and Egg doing up there?” She asked slyly.

“N-nothing.”

“Oh come on Charles, you can’t fool my nose,” Her nose twitched. “You two are drinking aren’t you?”

“Please have mercy Beatrix, you nearly depleted my entire supply last time.”

It was one of the few times I could hear such hopelessness in Egg’s voice.

“It was just a few bottles Eggy, nothing much,” She grinned.

“A few? You had nearly four dozen of them!”

“When you get to my age, such small numbers doesn’t matter!” She laughed.

Ah, that’s right, Beatrix the undying, a mighty warrior from the Hero’s era. Her skills with her ax could cleave the clouds. Now she’s retired and joined my crew for some reason. I honestly think she’s just here to mooch off Egg’s ale.

Although she is incredibly lazy nowadays, her knowledge and ability put her in the top rankings in strength among my crew.

“I’ll tell you something good if you give me a couple bottles,” She chuckled.

“A few?! How’s about just two?” Egg shouted back.

She liked to bargain. It was one of her bad habits.

“Make it four.”

“Three and that’s final!”

“Fine!”

Egg opened the box he brought up with him and threw down three bottles. With amazing dexterity, Beatrix caught all 3 with ease and immediately downed an entire bottle.

“Eggy, I love your ale!” She shouted.

I tried to forget that scene but I couldn’t. A bald muscular man like Egg, blushing.

“About our deal?”

“Ah yes, I can feel a pulse of magic travel through the ground under us just now.”

“Was it that glowing thing?”

“Perhaps. All I know is underneath us, there is a stream.”

“A stream of what?”

“I don’t know, magic I guess?”

I looked towards Egg.

“You think will work?”

“Who knows, it’s a tree,” Egg shrugged. “The roots draw in moisture from the ground. Perhaps it’s a water channel.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try.”

“Can you open a path to it?” I yelled down at Beatrix.

“Can’t. The trees a god. Nothing we have can cut into it.”

“Then how can we get in?”

“Ask the locals.”

Beatrix waved and left to her room with the bottles.

I sighed.

“Looks like we have to bring the ship around and go back to town.”

“With that serpent around? I don’t suggest it.”

“Shall we just head back on foot? A quick trip?”

“Only if you bring everyone with you. We should have enough firepower to at least run.”

“Fine, tomorrow we head out at sunrise,” I smiled.

Adventure calls, and I am the man to answer it.