767 Niffleheim
A/N: This is the start of a new volume for the same arc— All-Daddy of Assgard (No matter what you guys say, I consider this a good name!)
Shout out to Poke.
Read advance chapters @
Patre on.com/fanharem
***
"Nngh, Stahp! I'm already tired!" Nik moaned in distress as he continued to lie on the icy surface, cold winds blowing about while the sound of a rough tongue licking against his surface did not stop until—
*Thwack*
Something akin to a whip hit the cause of such sounds, making it yelp and mewl in surprise before a strong hissing sound filled the area.
*Hiss*
"Who knew... Nik sounds so lewd while resting," Loki whispered just loud enough to overcome the resounding gales as Jennifer and Janet continued to have their teeth clatter against themselves in the sheer coldness of the surrounding.
*Meaow*
Offended by the contents of the hissing sound, a ball of silver fur energetically skipped towards a lone figure. She did not wear any heavy clothing and even in such a cold atmosphere, the woman wore a skintight black dress that displayed her ample cleavage, her skin still flushed without a hint of dryness as her dusky figure elicited envy from every other girl around her.
"What is it?" Morgan looked down and gazed into the piercing blue vertical pupils of the furred oddball.
*Purr*
The cat-sized kitten rubbed its warm body against the frilly end of Morgan's dress, her torso scratching against her legs while she coiled her twin tails in an adorable manner.
Her heart thumping for a moment, Morgan steeled her expression. Unwilling to let this devious kitten take any more advantage of her.
"No... no more 'huggies.' Rest. We all are tired."
*Meow*
The kitten tilted her head sideways.
"I am certainly weakened. However, unlike those three, I like my image unblemished," Morgan smiled with a narrowed gaze. Her words making Loki snort but she hurriedly covered herself with a blanket. Right now, her magical powers are at an all-time low. Not to mention the natural drain of the vitality of the realm they entered.
However, once the kitten was pushed aside from Nik, he had to bear the attacks of yet another demon.
*Flick*
"Go... away," Nik mumbled, turning around with his back already covered in snow.
*Flick*
A longer tongue flicked against Nik's cheek once again.
"... fine... get in quickly," he mumbled, raising his arm as a large salamander quickly lowered itself and lied on its stomach before Nik's hand fell on its scaly sides. Still, the slightest bit of contact was already extremely comforting to the large salamander.
"Attention-seeking wastrels," Loki commented, noting the behavior of the two pets that now frolicked around Nik. A rune of 'heat' marked over their bodies to keep their body temperature to an optimum level, a boon that the girls rejected once they felt that the acceptance of such a rune would only make them equivalent of a pet.
An unneeded thought in Nik's mind but he didn't force it on them.
While he slept to recover from the natural drain of the realm, really, the drain just being an excuse to rest after walking for more than 3 hours, Nik also continued to get stronger by every single moment within the Dream Core.
Inside the realm covered by Dream Clouds and verdant plains, a total of six 'Niks' could be seen in a close range.
Out of these copies, three of them had three different gems floating in front of them.
A green stone, a glimmering gold stone, and a sea-like blue stone.
From these gems, formless waves of energy appeared and entered the body of the three copies simultaneously.
Meanwhile, two of the copies sparred against each other. Not with the intention of hurting but to form tactics and efficient use of their abilities and understanding.
Finally, the sixth copy held a wooden stick and practiced a strange motion that befits swords more than a stick.
This was Nik's earlier martial romance given life.
In his second adventure, Nik had the fortune of learning a lot of sword stances that refines Hamon and give birth to elements from the life energy within the body. Breath of Elements series of sword arts, that is.
Out of all these, Nik excelled in Breath of Water, and War. However, Nik wanted to create another set of stances for a completely new element.
Gravity, Space, and Time... and Eternal Ice, after Pure's constant pestering.
Out of the four concepts, Nik chose Eternal Ice. It was closer to water, and Nik's understanding of this element was quite considerable. Not to mention, every advancement in this element meant that he would get closer to awakening Pure's true form and learn her first name. This was an incentive too great to be left alone.
However, already experienced in the art of creating martial paths, Nik didn't rush the other concepts by cloning himself further. Understanding should kiss someone's consciousness at its own pace instead of coming at the speed of a train plunging into a slightly smaller cave. As Nik get to familiarize himself with the ways of bladed weapons, he felt, he might even get closer to awakening Lilith's true form.
His percentage understanding of space, time, and the depths of wisdom had increased from 11, 24, 19, to 13, 25, and 20.
Needless to say, these jewels were treasures. Such rise in a matter of days was considered an extreme benefit in Nik's eyes.
"Hruagggh!" The Netherion Nik instantly had its physique bulked up with red flames (only pickle get its purple) still keeping his form as a plasma human. An absolute sense of power emanated from Nik as he charged at Bonestar using an enchanted staff made of connected bones.
"Fuck! Hulk form is really awesome!" Netherion shouted loudly as she was still pinned into the ground with a stab of the bony staff.
"Hmm... Hellfire... is kind of op. Hey, I think, if we really spar against someone else, we won't even need to change our forms. Just with Pickle, we can rain hell."
"Literally," the cackling Netherion stood up.
"Alright, we have tried the strongest methods. Aside from elemental advantages and physical boosts, it will all come down to how we use our advantages to play down the opponent's advantage. Thinking for a moment, if we didn't have the slightest bit of expertise in the concept of Time, how could we have countered Brian?"
"Not to mention that the man also has spatial affinity," Bonestar remarked, "He can attack like us, probably, through portals. So... should we try and burn the portals?" Bonestar mumbled.
"Elements don't work like that!" Netherion snorted. If it was this easy, everybody would be able to do this.
"Spells. Till now... we have used the Magic and Spiritual system separately. However, if we can combine it, it will bolster our methods and may affect concepts like Time. For instance, a spell made of fire element just to attract the influx of the passage of time. As if being a flame that attracts moths."
"Sounds good. Let's get it started then," Netherion shrugged.
---
"Aaand! I'm up!" Nik sat up with a loud shout, his voice echoing a few times before falling under the might of cold gales as he looked at the other girls resting. Ignit was rightfully sleeping and although Moon felt wronged by her, she still slept close to Ignit.
[Idle Summoner
Host: Nik Faran
Total Points: 135
Summons:
1) Ignit
Bloodline: Forest Salamander
Rank: G
Points: 5/day
2) Moon
Bloodline: Celestial Feline
Rank: F
Points: 100/day
Store—
Summon Portal— 1000 Points
Friendly Tranquilizer— 300 Points]
While Ignit was still stuck at the battle power of a rank 2 host, Moon was already a kitten with the strength of a Rank 3 host.
"Only Pentacle and Venom left to contract... although, Venom is too timid. Even in the castle within the core, it doesn't usually show its face too often," Nik sighed.
"Finally, you're up! This is Niffleheim! The lands of honored and dishonored deads. A riveting beauty of desolate mist and what do you do? Sleep!" Loki grumbled, standing up once she felt Nik waking up.
"Understood," Nik replied without care. This realm was certainly a novelty but a place with an unending scape of ice and snow, vision blocked by magical mist, was certainly not to Nik's liking.
"Why did we come here, state clearly so that we can quickly reach Heven!" Angela stated coldly, not truly affected by the cold but definitely affected by the draining ability of the realm.
"Fine," Loki sighed. "Since our objective is making alliances, of course, the prime target will be the ruler of the realm. However, to get enough chips to even negotiate with her, we need to meet someone. Its name is Fafnir, a dragon of sorts. However, my explanations will not make any difference until we experience the wonder of the realm so," taking off the blanket as it disappeared with a gold light, Loki bowed elegantly, a wicked smile on her lips.
"Let me be the guide of Asgard's revolution. I will make sure that this adventure is full of amazing sceneries, and enjoyment that only our group is fortunate to receive!"
Her dark pupils gazing into every one of her 'soldiers.'
"I actually know a little about this realm. One of the greatest chips of negotiations would have been Nidhogg, sadly, it is no longer in the realm, or even alive for that matter," Morgan interjected.
"Sorceress, you sound like a Vanir bumpkin. Hush, now. This goddess is much more aware of the matters of nine realms," Loki smiled and stood straight.
Not replying to the provocative statement, Morgan looked in a certain direction.
"The highest concentration of souls and spirits... that should be Hel."
Her words allowing everyone to understand that despite Loki's charm and methods, she wasn't going to be beguiled at all.
'If it wasn't this tiring, or cold... I could have enjoyed their fighting while making them blow me together,' Nik sighed with a pitiful expression.
Now that he was keeping up with training, he also needed to keep up with his sessions!
"Where to, Loki?" Nik inquired while Janet meanwhile turned into her pixie form. She flew over to Nik's shoulder and perched over his head, "Brr... even in this condensed form, I can feel the chill to my bones!" She grumbled.
"And I can feel your ass on me!" Poole growled as Janet sat over her and phased through. Grumbling, Poole stepped down on Nik's shoulder and sat beside the silent Spider who enjoyed the change in scenery and situation much more than she realized she would have.
"Come on, let's go. Niffleheim is not really populated so our journey won't have too many stops," Loki smiled and began walking eastwards, "Our first stop will be the banks of Gjoll," Loki remarked.
