Starting the expedition north

In the early morning, Sven went up the hill where Kassia's house was because he was somewhat worried that Einar had not come down.

When he reached the Einar palace wall's construction area, he could see some slaves working, illuminated only by the light of some small torches.

He was a bit surprised that despite the short time the work had taken, the hole in the wall's foundations was already well advanced.

Another thing that surprised him was that there was a beautiful stone path at a certain point near Kassia's house, for it reminded him of the beautiful streets of Constantinople.

When he got to the house's door, he realized that there was no light on, so he could only assume that his son was still asleep.

Which was kind of weird, so he decided to knock on the door.

"Einar, you have to wake up as we cannot delay the expedition."

Max, who was sleeping, could hear his father's voice, so he opened his eyes and was glad to see his two wives resting on his chest.

Using his hands, he caressed the two's foreheads and arranged them so that he could get up without problems.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was naked, he put on his wooden flip-flops and his robe and then took a small bottle with soap.

When he opened the door, he could see his father, so he said seriously, "I will be ready in less than ten minutes since I want to take a quick bath."

Sven, who could smell the characteristic scent of sex and sweat, put his hand proudly on Einar's shoulder. "Take as long as you think is necessary as you are waiting out here while I watch the slaves work."

When he could see his son walking away, Sven put his hands on his hips and began to laugh due to the joy. "Soon, I will be a grandfather, and with Einar's enthusiasm, I may be able to more than enough grandchildren to pass on all my knowledge.

Maybe the next time I drink with those old men, I'll bet on how many grandchildren I'm going to have. "

After finishing bathing and changing, Max woke up his two wives; once they were both awake, they hugged him.

"I'll be back in a few days or maybe two weeks, but you two can be sure I'll be back alive."

Kassia and Helmi clung to Max for a few minutes before letting him go; when the door of the house closed, the two women prayed to Odin that Einar's journey would be safe.

After walking for some time, Einar reached the town's small port, where he could see a large number of small boats.

But they all pale in size, unlike the great ship that was being boarded by the warriors.

With his hand on his son's shoulder, Sven pointed to the ship. "That Knarr was built by your grandfather using the knowledge he learned at Miklagard.

It is much more comfortable than the Drakkar or the traditional Knarr as it uses a sail to move and does not have oars.

Because of this, we will have no problem going north to hunt bears. "

Max looked at his father with some doubt. "I had the doubt before, but it is not the first time that you hunt white bears, father?"

Sven patted Einar on the back and started walking to the ship. "Every one or two years, we organize groups to hunt bears in the northern part of the island.

Unlike the bears in our ancestral land, these white bears winter in December and wake up until March or April.

So the best time to hunt them is this month; it's just that hunting bears are always dangerous for us. "

Sven, who was on top of the ship, looked at his son with some melancholy. "They are beasts that kill three or even ten warriors in all expeditions."

Sven's gaze changed to one of hope as he held a crossbow. "But with this weapon, I am sure we will bring enough furs and glory to our tribe."

Max, who was leaning on the ship's railing, looked at the immense Atlantic sea that was only being illuminated by the light of the moon and the stars.

"Being able to smell and enjoy this calm is a very rare opportunity in this day and age."

Max gave his father a smile, "You may not believe me, but our journey is protected by the gods because unless someone seeks death, no one will die on this expedition."

Sven laughed and gave the order for the boat to be released.

"If you had gotten up earlier, you would have been able to see the ceremony that your father-in-law Asgot did; he also said that the gods were taking care of our trip.

The only difference is that he read the intestines of a seal. "

Max, who had already sat on a table, only sighed. "The way to know the favor of the gods is different between each person.

But since we are talking about gods, what do you think if I tell you a little about the beginning of this world. "

All the warriors who were listening to Einar and Sven's conversation, with enough curiosity, walked over to where Einar was because they wanted to hear the conversation.

Max, who noticed everyone's curiosity, began to speak loudly so that they could hear him "At the beginning of time there were only two places, one cold and dark in the north called Niflheim.

While in the south, Muspelheim was a land of fire where only those who were born in that place could survive.

In the middle of those two places was Ginnungagap, a place that was empty of any and where there was no time. "

Max, who was looking at the starry sky, took out his leather canteen and drank some green liquor to warm his body. "But after a while, something fantastic happened in Niflheim a river started to rise until it went so far that it reached Ginnungagap.

In that place, it froze due to the immense cold that existed in that place; this, in turn, made a giant begin to be created within that ice.

As time passed, the ice began to grow until it was large enough to approach Niflheim.

It was at that moment that the giant freed himself from the ice where he was imprisoned; that giant was called Ymir. "

Sven, who was sitting on the prow of the ship, stroked his beard. "So that is the origin of the giant Ymir from which our world was formed."

Max nodded, "It is the beginning of the genesis of our world according to Odin's knowledge; of course, there are two versions of the story."

Sven raised his face and, with a smile, looked at his son. "What is the other version."

"In the beginning, there was only darkness, there was no time or reality was absolutely nothing.

Until in that darkness, a great explosion occurred; this explosion was called the Big Bang.

As the explosion progressed, so did our universe; all the energy released by that explosion began to compress and formed the first particles in our universe.

These particles came together and formed some larger particles, which in turn created the so-called antiparticles.

When these two types of particles collided with each other, they destroyed themselves; eventually, some of them managed to survive, which became the basis of our universe.

When the universe began to cool, these particles clumped together and formed Neutrons and Protons.

These started to come together and created some simple kernels, you may not believe it, but this happened in the first ... "

Max using his hand, raised three fingers. "In just three minutes."

Everyone on the ship only gulped a bit of saliva as they had not understood much of what Einar said, but still, without understanding, they were waiting for him to continue telling his story.

"As thousands of years passed, the universe began to cool down, and it is thanks to this that the electrons were able to join the small nuclei formed by Protons and Neutrons.

This resulted in the first atoms of our universe and the birth of light, because before everything was darkness.

With the first atoms, the first elements of the universe were also born, which were Helium and hydrogen. "

Max pointed to the starry sky in the early morning. "After a few thousand years passed, the Helium and Hydrogen clouds influenced by gravity began to compress."

From his leather bag Max took out a sheet of paper and began to make it into a ball, which he showed everyone on the boat "By compressing those clouds, stars were created, our sun, for example, is a star.

Many of those stars exploded and formed other elements; as time passed, those elements created stardust with which the planets were created. "

Using nine paper balls of different sizes, Max put them on the ground around the first paper ball he made.

"A few million years ago, our solar system was created in our galaxy, in which there are 9 planets and our sun.

Those planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. "

Max pointed to the third ball of paper on the ground. "This is our planet Earth; it was in this place that the life we ​​know was born.

As for if there is life on other planets, it is a paradox because we can be the only ones, or there would be more civilizations on other planets.

Either way, the answer to that paradox will have to be discovered by our descendants. "

Sven just exhaled and looked at his son with a melancholy "Your second explanation of the origin gives me a bit of discomfort as it caused me more questions than answers."

All the warriors nodded at Sven's comment.

Max just put his head in his hands. "It is normal for you to feel that way because ignorance is a blessing because the more you know, the smaller you will feel.

We are only a little sigh in the vastness of the universe, but I want you to know that why our life is small compared to the life of a star does not mean that our passage through life is insignificant.

Everything we do or what we do will affect the people around us or our descendants.

That is why we must enjoy our life to the fullest and remember that everything we do will depend on ourselves. "

These words made the ship remain silent throughout the morning.