Reaping the rewards

They had reached the other Valkyries; where most of the women were looking at him with wide eyes, some whispering among themselves about how it was possible that he still was alive. The matriarch and grandmother of Brun looked John over before speaking with an amused tone.

"It looks like neither Freya nor Odin wants you in their halls. This either means that you have a great task you still have to fulfill, or your bond to this earth is still too strong to die yet. Tell me your story, young warrior. Maybe we can help each other in the future... as I am sure this is not the last time we will see each other," and her eyes wandered to Brunhilde, who was standing maybe a bit too close to John, not that either of them would have a problem with it. At this point, John noticed how beautiful all of the women here were. Not only were they all fit and slender like sports models, but their faces also just seemed to glow with a certain grace. Even the old matriarch who had to be at least 60, still looked like horny men would haunt her... was that a trait of their magic or was it just reeeeaaally good genetics?

John felt slightly uncomfortable in the spotlight between these warriors, but at this point, he would be in bigger problems if he said nothing... "W-well... my name is John Newman; up until today, I was a regular high school student, but this morning I woke up with new weird powers. My life seems to be like a video game now with stats, levels, and seemingly equipment... so yeah... that's basically my story, as short as it is now. Could I ask you some questions while we're at it?"

With a melodic laugh, the older Valkyrie acknowledged his story "For now your story is short indeed, but when I look at what you did here today I'm sure you'll have a lot more to say in a short span of time though. However, this is not the time for stories or questions; sadly I have to shorten this lucky meeting as we should probably return to our homes, for now, to be ready once we are needed again. There is one matter to discuss though still: Since we were not able to carry you to Valhalla due to your miraculous regeneration, we are still indebted to you for protecting one of ours. Firstly, we shall see to it that your uniform will be repaired, and, secondly, we shall grant you something in our power that you desire. Choose wisely."

He was a bit stunned at that... he still had an open favor from them? With a questioning expression, he just looked at Brun who just grinned and nodded as to assure him that he indeed still could get something. Now John felt self-conscious about what he should pick... he could always go with the 'obvious' choice of either a night with one of the Valkyries or with money. But if Bruns implications were anything to go by, the night with her was more a matter of 'when' than 'if', and money seemed uninteresting for now, with all the money he got from Vanessa... so he tried to look for something that would be of more use to him. Right now, he had the feeling that he was too weak and that he had to improve his abilities to defend himself. So it might be smart to get some gear for himself... seeing as how they did not wear armor that would fit him, the choice was rather obvious...

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to have some kind of weapon from you. If that battle was anything to go by it showed me that should I ever get into one of these situations again, I need to be able to defend myself. If the choice was up to me, could I get one of your spears? I always had a thing for pole weapons. Would that be alright or is it too much to ask for something like that?"

The smile on the face of the older woman took a sad turn "Sadly it is true that one needs to be able to defend oneself in a world such as this where everyone is out to take what they desire... And no, your demand is not uncalled for, it is rather wise actually... However, your wish comes with a price, so to speak: to get one of our weapons you need some way to store it in a way that it can get some of your mana. We valkyries use a special tattoo to do this. So either you need a similar ability to store it, or we will have to postpone this favor, and one of our Runesmiths will have to apply one of these runes upon your body..."

At that John had to smile broadly, "I think I have the fitting ability for it. Through my gaming power, I have a sort of Inventory system that I can store and take items from. Since I think only I can access it, it should meet the requirements for the weapon. Or we can at least try it out..." The matriarch joined John in his broad smile, "Excellent we shall try it immediately to see if it suffices. Anja, if you would."

From the sidelines, one of the Valkyries that looked a bit more bruised from the fight came up to John and handed him a spear that just materialized out of thin air. The spear itself was looking somewhat antique but in a mostly good shape. The shaft of the spear was made from some kind of red wood reinforced with rings of iron, but it looked well polished and cared for. One side of the shaft had a small, round spike protruding from it while the other side had a proper head with a guard built to it; the edge looked old and slightly dull, but when John ran his finger cautiously along it, he felt that it was very sharp, sharp enough to cut his skin with practically no sharpness behind it. That sharpness was only there for a second though, as John could feel the spear change, for the lack of a better term, and grow heavier and less fit for battling, even if it was cumbersome anyway. The blade immediately looked a lot duller and shabbier than just a second ago, giving John the assumption that the weapon was in some way magical.

"That is how the spear feels once the magic binding it to you has depleted, nothing like the weapon it is in the proper hands. Now, put it into your inventory and see if it works," the younger bruised valkyrie told him "Oh and please, treat it with dignity. These weapons are not just some things lying around or some tools, they are symbols of status and should be treated with dignity." While she was talking to him, the Valkyrie called Anja also put her hand onto his chest and seemingly made his uniform grow together again.

With a nod and a slight bow, John took the weapon into both hands and thought about putting it into his inventory. The weapon was way too heavy for him right now; he couldn't even properly lift it. In the blink of an eye, the weapon vanished without much of a trace of it ever existing. 'Maybe I could put some effects on the appearance of my inventory, so it'll look cool when I put something in it or take something out... oh well question for another time,' he thought and looked at the spear in his inventory, also noting the new ring sitting in his inventory out of the corner of his eye.

Whoa, this spear was amazing! So basically he not only had a pretty damn good weapon in itself, but it also was a Set Item that would just get more ridiculous should he be able to get his hands on the shield... Sadly he would not be able to use it for some time because of the absurd Strength requirement...

With excitingly shaking voice, he said to the valkyries around him, "It says that the thing has one charge of 45 now, so I guess that means that it works? Also, you don't happen to have a shield that goes with that weapon?" he asked hopefully. The faces around him told him that they did in fact not have the shield "No... sadly the shield that usually accompanies this spear has been... stolen from us, by some followers of a dark god... If we had the shield, we would not have given you this weapon, to be honest, but without it and no real hope of regaining the shield, we hope that you can either find the shield and bring both back to glory or create a new story with this spear alone. We see great things in your future, John Newman. Let's see what part the Valkyries will play in it. For now, we will take our leave. We shall see each other again at some point, I hope," the matriarch spoke with a voice that was filled with pride, interest, and hope.

And with that the Valkyries, one by one started to disappear into nothingness, beginning with the oldest. While they were disappearing, another Valkyrie put her hands on John's shoulder. When he looked at her, he pretty much saw an older version of Brunhilde, probably her mother looking at him with a stern face. "I will only warn you once, young man. Hurt my daughter, and every goodwill you had with us will be gone. Our blood is thicker than most, and we will hunt those who hurt us to the ends of the earth. Got it?" Not wanting to earn the ire of this fierce warrior woman, he just nodded vehemently and tried to look away.

Satisfied with his answer, she too vanished, leaving only Brun and John here. "Where did they all go?" John asked Brunhilde. "Back to the real world? Oh man, you really are a noob. I should probably give you a crash course on how the world around you works but now is kinda bad... Maybe we'll see each other again soon so I can... teach you about everything going on here and some skills you might need?" she asked with a coy smile. Still kind of in shock John just nodded dumbfounded and looked at Brun who got closer again, only to put a piece of paper on the inside of his jacket, using that closeness to blow a hot breath onto his neck and letting her hand glide along his chest. "Great, see you around," she said and disappeared.