Chapter 22

Today had been a hectic day for Nikolai, though he had not managed to bring any meat from his hunt, he had managed to defeat three ugly-looking giants, and with a week's time, he would gain a new ability. The gains easily surpassed the losses.

' That ability to enlarge its muscles, increased strength and that Greyish aura looked cool.' Nikolai vividly remembered that ability of that giant.

As he arrived near the cabin, his nose picked up the scent of something aromatic, ' Something smells delicious.'

" Everyone! Nikolai the Great is home!" he declared as he opened the door, the heavenly aroma of meat pulling him to the kitchen where he saw that the table was being set by Rosseweisse and his sons.

" Looks like I'm just on time. "

Rosseweisse and his sons turned to him, with his kids quickly latching onto him, " PAPA IS BACK! "

He laughed at their antics, seeing them smiling like this warmed his heart; coming back to a place to call home with bundles of joy like them was worth all the fighting he had done during the day.

Rosseweisse smiled at the warmth this family produced; it reminded her of the times when she was just a little girl, eagerly awaiting her parents' return. These days, they were hardly present due to their jobs in Niðavellir. Sure, they still talked through online means, but it couldn't compare to talking to them in person.

" Oi, Rosseweisse. " Her name was called by Nikolai's voice. He was looking at her with a concerned expression. "You alright?"

" I'm fine, just remembered something. "

He placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jolt in surprise; he said, "If you have anything to share, please don't hesitate to do so with me. Who knows, maybe I could help."

' Such a nice man. '

" If I couldn't do that, what kind of husband would I be in the future, right, my beautiful wife? " He laughed at the expense of the blushing Valkyrie, who protested with a cute pout.

" W-what nonsense are you spouting?!" she protested, wanting to be angry at him, but unable to after seeing his beaming smile and confident demeanor.

' How can you say such things with a straight face? I'm just a bookworm and a nerd - two things that don't have any attractive value for women.'

She muttered, "I'm not that beautiful." hoping that he could not hear it, but he heard it anyway.

" Hahaha, you sure are a good comedian; you are the most beautiful person I have ever met in my life. And not just that, you are kind, smart, intelligent, wise, and you're even good with magic! " With a smile, Nikolai continued, "Like I said before, only a blind idiot wouldn't recognize your beauty. I'm even surprised you don't have any admirers."

There wasn't a shred of doubt in Nikolai's mind; everything he said was his honest opinion of her, though they had met only for a few days. He thought himself as a good judge of character, and all the things she had shown him were enough to solidify his claims.

' You think too little of yourself. '

" Well, I better wash myself first. " He turned back and walked outside. " I can't wait to taste your cooking. "

He left the young woman in the room staring at the Slavic man, his words still resonating in her mind. "No one except Sigrun had ever said those kinds of words to me."

At the start of her Valkyrie training, she had put all her attention on her studies and training, pushing everyone away from her. Everyone who saw her commitment was too intimidated to even approach her; it was for this reason that she was left with no friends. That was until Sigrun entered her life; she was the elder sister figure who had helped her a lot. She was the one who taught her that there was more to life than just studies and training.

She was also a bright student, whose specialty lay in combat, unlike her, whose specialty lay in Nordic magic. They were also polar opposites; Sigrun was a social butterfly, while Rosseweisse wasn't.

Then, just like in her romance novels, that she secretly loves to read, there came a man like Nikolai.

"Mama?" She was immediately brought out of her daze as she felt a tug on her hand. It was Artom. "Can you tell us more stories about the god Thor?"

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After the most delicious meal the Volkov family had ever eaten in the past seven years, they showered praise on the young Valkyrie despite her protests. Hours later, they stood outside the house, eagerly awaiting the daily Undead extermination. The task was completed very quickly, especially with Rosseweisse joining them.

While contemplating the events of the day, from the time he woke up until the present moment, Nikolai recalled the most interesting event that occurred.

" Hey Roseweisse, can I ask you something?" Nikolai asked out of the blue, gaining the attention of the silver-haired woman.

" Yes. "

" Today, while on my hunt I found something strange. "

" What is it? "

" Well, I found a human soul underground. "

" Huh? "

" And guess what, it was surrounded by those symbols you use when you do your magic. Then I was attacked by three ugly undead giants. "

" What?! " Rosseweisse was appalled on hearing such news, ' Could this be? '

" Do you remember any of those symbols, Nikolai? "

" Yeah, kinda. " He then proceeded to draw two Nordic runes on the ground with his fingertips. " This is all that I could remember. Sorry, I couldn't remember much; I hope you would know about these things, you're kind of the expert here… ummmm, Rosseweisse? "

Roseweisse's face had an appalled look on it, as if she had seen a ghost. "These Runes...I recognise them." She said, pointing at the ones in front of her. "Summoning" and "Undead".

" I must report this to Lady Eir. "

" Is everything alright?" Nikolai asked, concerned, his gut telling him that something wasn't right; just looking at her expression was enough for him to understand that whatever he had discovered today was a very big deal.

" Nikolai, I must go back to the village. I should report this to my Supervisor. Can you lead me to the location where you found those Runes, I need to verify them. "

" Sure. " he then whistle to get his Sons attention, " Kids were heading to the village, let's go. "

" We're going to that Village? YAY! "

It was finally time for them to venture outside this forest; it had been seven long years since either of them had seen another human being. He was both excited and nervous at the same time.

Unbeknownst to them, things after that was going to get dark really quick especially for Nikolai.

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It took them three hours to reach the location where Nikolai had discovered the underground soul with the Nordic Runes. Nikolai stood in his full armor, just in case there was an ambush or a stray arrow that could pierce his brown hide. Not wanting to risk any attacks from the undead, he turned to his children.

" Artom and Igor, I want you to check around this area in case there are any enemies that might attack us. Don't engage them; just report back if you find anything suspicious, okay? "

" Yes, Papa! " They nodded and immediately transformed into their monster forms and flew off.

Nikolai activated his skill, " UNDEAD VISION. " his eyes glowed red and everything in his sight became monochrome; he cast his gaze on the ground and saw the soul flame. It was shrouded with many Nordic runes and magical sources that were unknown to him.

Nikolai pointed to the particular direction and said, "It's there."

" What do you see down there ? " Rosseweisse asked.

" It's kinda big, and there are too many of those Nordic runes for me to remember. It's like...uhhh...

How can I explain this? " Nikolai had a hard time explaining to her how this... thing looked like, as he wasn't that good at expressing it in words. 'If there was only a way for her to see what I see... Wait, that's it!'

To Rosseweisse's confusion, he frantically turned around and searched for any living creatures he could find; moments later, he found a small rodent.

" What's going on?" Rosseweisse asked, not understanding his sudden action as he handed her the rodent and told her to hold it tight.

" You remember when I said that my Sacred Gear allows me to take the abilities of any magical creature it devours? It can also give those abilities to others as well. I just need a soul in exchange. "

The black mist immediately enveloped the rodent and took its soul, leaving the small creature dead.

Rosseweisse was both intrigued and horrified by this ability. Sure, the ability of the mist to give any of the abilities it had devoured to anyone was interesting, but the price for such power was an expensive currency.

' This is a very scary Sacred Gear. '

[ THE SKILL UNDEAD VISION WILL BE GIVEN ]

[ PRICE OF THE ABILITY HAS BEEN PAID ]

[ THE SKILL UNDEAD VISION HAS BEEN GIVEN ]

Suddenly, Rosseweisse felt a massive headache assaulting her head; it was as if a hot iron nail had been driven into her skull. A torrent of information was being pounded into her brain, and it wouldn't stop. The pain was so intense that her legs gave out, causing her to collapse to the ground. However, Nikolai was quicker and caught her before she hit the ground.

As the pain slowly subsided, she opened her eyes to see the concerned look on Nikolai's face. "Oi, are you alright? I'm sorry for doing that without explaining it to you or asking for your consent."

" I-it's okay, just let me know if you ever do anything like that again." She tried to get up, though her feet felt like jelly; she persisted. "It's amazing! I understand how to do it now." It was such a weird experience; even though she didn't know about this ability a few seconds ago, in that moment she understood how it worked.

" UNDEAD VISION. " Immediately, everything around her turned monochrome, as if she was watching an old black-and-white video. Then her gaze turned to the ground, where she saw what Nikolai had seen before. She saw a flame…Nikolai had explained to her this ability before, and that flame represented a soul, which was powering a massive amount of runes and foreign magic.

' That's definitely a summoning Array, and if I'm not wrong it is summoning all those Undead that have been terrorizing the village for the past years. I must report this to Lady Eir. '

" Nikolai this is a sum- " She turned to him, with UNDEAD VISION still active and saw his soul.

It was calm, like a steady flame of a candle. It was bright, like a torch that could lighten a dark room. And it was warm, like that of a hearth that could warm the bodies in the coldest winters.

" Um... Rosseweisse? You're spacing out again." The voice of the owner of the flame sounded concerned.

" Oh! I just saw your soul. She gave her reason for her actions, "Your soul is very intrig- "

" What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost or something. " Nikolai's attempt at a joke fell on deaf ears as Roseweisse, in horror at the sight before her, remained silent.

There something latched onto him, something dark, demonic and horrifying. It wrapped it's legs around his waist and its arm round his neck.

It had a beardless face with three mouths and three eyes that were twitching and moving in a creepy way. That thing suddenly stared at her intently.

" Rossewiese? Rossewiese! " Again, Nikolai's words fell on deaf ears.

"ROSSE-WEISS? ROSSEWEISS!" all three of the mouths said in unison before they smiled at her.

She had to take a step back; her foot landed on a rock, causing her to stumble and fall on her bottom.

" Rosseweisse! Are you alright?" Nikolai immediately went to help her, offering his hand to lift her up.

WOOOSH!!!

He instinctively jumped pulled back his hand and jumped a few feet back.

THUD!

At the exact spot where he had previously stood was a spear that was deeply embedded in the ground.

" GET AWAY FROM HER!!!" From the sky, there came a loud voice that Rosseweisse recognized all too well as it belonged to her friend.

" Sigrun? "

The brown-haired Valkyrie descended from the sky at an impressive speed and headed straight for Nikolai.

"Die you undead bastard!" Unfortunately for Nikolai, he was still wearing his armor that was too similar to that of the undead that had attacked the village.

' Ai Blyat! "