Chapter 20

The assurance that there was civilisation somewhere outside this forest was the greatest news he had ever received since he woke up in the cabin seven years ago!

Oh, how he longed to return to civilization and leave this horrid forest behind. No more staying up late at night fighting with the irritating undead. No more struggling to keep their bellies full each day. His children deserved better than living in an undead-infested forest for their entire lives; they deserved a better life than this.

He thanked Rosseweisses for this, the girl who possessed both intellect and beauty with wisdom beyond her years.

He took time to check his armor in case it needed any improvements. "Hmm...I have no more ideas on how to improve it." He said. "I could add more plates to the chest and legs, but it would create too much weight and restrict my movements." His armor had protected his brown hide for the past years of constant conflict with the undead; sure it was the best armor he had at the moment, but he knew he needed a stronger one.

His armor was effective against melee weapons and attacks, but when magic came into play, it offered absolutely no protection whatsoever; the sparring session with Roseweisse proved that. "Maybe I could ask Roseweisse for some advice," he thought. "She did say that Asgardians had one of the best craftsmen in the supernatural world."

Asgard, the realm of the Nordic Pantheon, where Rosseweisse came from. The realm of many warriors and powerful gods. She had shared amazing stories of her pantheon that had awed the Volkov family throughout the night. The stories ranged from the Allfather Odin, the trickster Loki, the berserker Thor, and many other interesting gods, goddesses, and legendary warriors of old. Then were the Valkyries, the warrior maidens of Asgard, the first line of defense in case there be any danger that dares threaten the realm of the gods.

Also they had a very illuminating talk about the black mist that was bound to him.

" Sacred Gears ", are artifacts with strong and powerful abilities bestowed upon humans by the Biblical God. ' So that is that huh. Well, thank you Biblical God for bestowing me this boon that has helped me and my kids survive and thrive for the past seven years in this forest. '

Apparently his "Sacred Gear", is a creation-type one with the ability to absorb weapons, armour and the abilities and powers of foes and using them for one self and others. He wanted to ask more about these "Sacred Gear" thingy from Rosseweisse but she could not help much as the topic of these artefacts was vast and she had not much information on them. It did not help much that The Nordic Pantheon had only a few Sacred Gear bearers of their own.

"Oh this place," Nikolai said as he stopped at the clearing where he had saved the silver-haired Valkyrie from imminent death. The undead that he had slain were still there, rotting away with maggots wriggling and feasting on its flesh.

" Fuck, that's disgusting. " He muttered as he covered his mouth to prevent his breakfast from exciting his stomach.

He moved ahead from that spot and advanced towards the direction Rosseweisse said human civilization was located. He had traversed farther than the usual hunting grounds he had used in the past years, hoping to at least find the village. But it seemed that it was little too far, and it was already mid-day.

He took his lunch, which consisted of the usual smoked meat and a mouthful of water.

Deciding that he had to bring back something for dinner, he settled for a small game or two maybe a rabbit if possible.

" UNDEAD VISION. " Everything in his sight turned monochrome, flames of various sizes greeted him. The ability of seeing these flames or "souls," as they were called, had helped him catch his prey during hunting, for he needed not spend too much time searching for them. He casted his gaze to the ground and saw something truly bizarre.

What the blyat is that? he muttered as he saw, what seemed like a blazing flame that was buried underground; it did not seem to be of an animal... It looked like it belonged to a human.

CRUNCH!

Nikolai immediately summoned his armor and turned toward the direction of the sound just in time for a giant wooden club to strike him, sending him flying. He quickly repositioned himself in the air and landed in a kneeling position.

He glared at his attackers who greeted him with an emotionless rotten face crawling with maggots.

His attackers were three giant humanoid creatures with moss covering their backs like a natural cape, big muscular arms each holding a giant log as a club. The one thing that stood out the most was their ugly faces; they were so ugly that he said, "You're one ugly motherfucker."

Taking offense to his insult, they roared at him. Nikolai was not a bit intimidated; to him, these giant undead were nothing more than an opportunity for him to gain another ability. "It's been a whole month since I last gained a new ability," he said, grinning, his face contorting into a psychotic look of a deranged man. "This is going to be fun."

Summoning his sledge hammer he spread out his arms and screamed, " Prikhodi ko mne! ( COME AT ME! ) "

The three giants made a dash towards him and so did Nikolai.

One of the giants swung his giant log for a club at him; he rolled low between its legs and arrived behind it. He was about to swing his hammer at its legs, but a descending club was arriving quickly to his head, making him jump to the side.

He lost focus of the third giant, who took the opportunity to smack him with it's club sending him flying to a tree with a thud.

" Ohh, that hurts. " He groaned as he got up to his feet, ' Fighting these bastards is gonna be a chore, they seem to be well-coordinated with each other, I cannot fight one without having the risk of getting smacked by a log. I need a new plan.'

" New plan! "

He declared and with a sharp turn, he ran away.

.

.

.

.

Even the giants were perplexed with this strange human's action but regardless, they chased him.

Nikolai ran as if his life depends on it, but one must not confuse his current action for cowardice, as a matter of fact, this is called " tactical retreat "

The three giants were still stubbornly chasing him, not knowing that he was leading them to a trap.

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[AUTHOR'S NOTES]

Well hello everyone, it's glad to see still reading my story. I apologize for the late release of the latest chapter, things have not been looking good for my family for the past weeks, but things have seemed to become better these days.

Any ways thank you for your continued support and see you in the next chapter.