Leaving the Barrow

Hey all, Science here. This happens to be the 50th chapter in my branch, and wanted to put out a small message to you all.

First of all, thank you all so much for all the likes, comments, and bookmarks. I’ve had a blast writing all that I have so far, and you guys’ support makes it all better. I have to admit, nothing lifts my spirits more than seeing you guys talk about the chapter in the Gamer Discord, or swapping theories and opinions on the comments of each chapter. I hope you all are as excited to read each chapter as I am to bring them to you, and hope you all are looking forward to seeing where this story is going.

Speaking of, we are getting pretty close to the end of the first arc. I do hope to be done within 10 chapters or so, but the barrow was supposed to only last half as many chapters as it did, so who knows. However, once the arc ends I will be taking a small break from the main arc with some small side stories, and working on getting a good buildup on chapters for the next arc ready.

But at the end of the arc, I have planned that I will be doing a Q&A! Patrons will get a question answered (as long as it does not spoil too much), but I will also take questions from the comments as well. These can be questions to me specifically or to our cast of characters, who will be glad to (or in Mavis’ case, tolerate) answer your various questions. I do feel the need to plug my patreon, (‘cause I am a shameless whore like that), but also ask that you guys support the other authors too! Be sure to read the branch of Razorswift, as he was the one who saw potential in my branch and set me on this path to begin with. Also, check out Izix, who shares my love of mythology, and Gunslinger and Little Dragon who have offered me a lot of great feedback on my chapters. And, of course, one cannot forget to give thanks to DraMr, the infamous slayer of typos for proofreading. Please help them out if you can by reading and/or patreon. This wouldn’t be possible without the help from people like them, and my various viewers who have offered me feedback and given me ideas that were better than the things I came up with initially. I wish I could thank all of you individually, but this little message is already really long and we have a barrow to escape. So enjoy, and I’ll see you again at the end of the arc!

The reunion with Frida was rather brief once John had managed to remove his face from Mavis’ bosom. It was rather awkward, considering that Talia did not know how to act around Frida yet, and for some reason Mavis and Frida seemed just as awkward when talking to one another. ‘Perhaps they met when Frida was in the rebellion?’ John speculated. ‘I mean, it would be more than likely that the rebellion would have explored every nook and cranny of this place, and that they would have found Mavis at some point. But if so, why act so awkward about talking to her?’ John continued to speculate reasons why, but was broken out of his thought process by the sounds of angry skaven below them.

John turned to Mavis and Frida. “Is there any way for them to find a way back up?”

Mavis shrugged. “Skaven are too much like rats not to. I don’t know how, but I have little doubt that they would find some strange way to climb up here. Might just tunnel their way up.”

“In that case,” Talia said, gesturing to the door behind them, “We should probably get the hell out of here.”

“Quite right,” Frida said. “I don’t doubt that we could take on a skaven patrol or two, but it looked like the entire army was coming after us.” She chuckled and looked at the three of them. “What did you do to piss them off so much?”

“Killed their king,” John said. “Well, Mavis did, but we were active watchers of the killing.”

Frida raised an eyebrow before turning to Mavis. “Sounds about right. We should probably inform the council of the Skaven infestation here. Should we ignore it, we may see a second skaven war, and I highly doubt Yggdrasil could survive that.”

“Well, thankfully we have a skaven on the inside who has played it so that he is now in charge,” Talia interjected. “He promised us that he is too worried that a war with the elves would end up killing his people rather than seeing any victory, and is going to focus on aiding his people.”

Frida tapped her foot, looking back to the trapdoor. “I’m not sure how ready I am to accept the words of a skaven… I’ll still inform the council, and if they want to take action, they shall.”

John thought about objecting at this point. After all, Skriskrueel was trusting that they would leave him alone in exchange for leaving the elves alone. However, he figured he could just bring this up to the council when he talked with them. That’s when he remembered about his lack of a final rune.

“Frida… I… I couldn’t find all the runes I needed,” he said, the downtrodden look on his face rather obvious.

Frida slowly walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking to him like a mother to her child, “John, you did all you could and I am sure the council will understand. Plus, the day is not lost. The gods may smile upon you and give you aid.”

‘Not when a few of them are hoping I die soon,’ he thought, but he smiled and nodded. No need to fill her in on what the gods thought of him, at least not yet. He slowly rose to his feet, dusting off his pants and turning towards the door. “Well, let’s get going. We have a council to convince, and a barrow to escape. Not in that order, of course.”

John took his glasses off, wiping them with his shirt as he stood outside in the bright Alfheim sun. The escape from the barrow was a rather uneventful one, as they had managed to leave before the skaven could find a new way to pursue them. When they got out, Frida sent word to Lifthrasir that John had completed his quest to the best of his ability and was ready to discuss his innocence with the council. She told John that it was best to work as quickly as they could before the other members had time to rethink their original decision or be convinced by the other members of the council to vote him guilty of conspiring with jotuns. They did plan to rest at Talia’s house until they returned to the council chambers; however, John decided to go for a short walk instead. He knew that Talia and her father would need to talk and wanted to give them space while they had that discussion. So he decided to head out, maybe pick up a bite to eat or two, and hang out with Mavis.

At least, that WAS the plan. However, upon leaving the company of Frida and Talia, Mavis decided that she would rather remain in sword form at John’s side than walk with him.

“I’m tired, John, and really just need a nap.”

“You’re a mythical sword forged to be as strong as the gods. How do YOU need a nap?”

“Simple. I’ve been lazing around in a chamber for the past hundred years. I exerted myself a lot today killing that king and saving your ass, so therefore, I need a nap.” And with that, she retreated to her blade form and refused to answer John after that.

‘Fine. Guess John Newman will be flying solo.’ He slipped his glasses back onto his face, looking around at the various buildings that surrounded him. He had been walking for a few minutes and seemed to have found himself inside some sort of shopping district. Various stores sported mannequins wearing what was the latest in elven fashion, businesses advertised their low prices and quality products, and various food shops expelled the most delicious of smells in hopes of enticing hungry Ljósálfr to stop in and have a bite or two.

‘Well, hopefully the Ljósálfr don’t eat anything too weird,’ John thought as he stepped into a small diner-looking establishment at a roadside corner. Honestly, it reminded John of a diner straight out of the 80’s just with more of a nature theme. The building was carved into a tree, one that it shared with a clothing store and what appeared to be a jeweler. The tiles were clearly made from stone rather than linoleum, and the light came from magical sources, but all in all it reminded John very much of Sally’s Diner back in Springfield, right down to the waitress with a rack that threatened to destroy the too small shirt she was wearing.

Said waitress gave John a wide smile and leaned forward, clearly understanding that her assets distracted the young man. “Hungry, sugah?”

“And thirsty, but yeah,” John said, trying oh so very desperately to maintain eye contact.

“I can tell,” she said with a giggle. “Sadly, if you are gonna eat here, I am gonna have to ask that ya share a booth with another customer.” She gestured over to the left side of the restaurant, which John noticed looked a little burnt. “A few rowdy mage students decided to have a dick measuring contest to see who could make the biggest fireball and control it. Needless to say, someone made one too… big for them to handle.”

“I… see,” John said, figuring the dick measuring contest began as some sort of ploy to impress the seductive waitress. “Yeah, I can eat alongside someone else.”

“Wonderful.” She motioned for him to follow her, which John did. A few steps along she slapped her forehead and turned around, muttering, “Forgot the damn menus.” However, as she bent over John noted that she seemed to have forgotten to wear panties as well. ‘Either that or it’s a thong.’

She smiled at John, clearly knowing what view she just gave him, before walking ahead of him and leading him to a small booth with an older gentleman sitting in.

“Now, if any of y’all need me, or just get lonely, just ask for Savannah,” she said with a wink, flipping her blonde hair out of her face before walking away. John watched her go, and watched her assets bounce, for a few moments before sitting down with the older gentleman.

“Afternoon, kid,” he said as John got a good look at him. He was dressed in a ratty old coat, one that reminded John of old soldier jackets from back home. It had clearly been through a lot, as the cameo patterns on it were quite worn and the various edges of the coat were frayed in several locations. Beneath that John could see an equally ratty and old t-shirt, with words that had long since faded to obscurity. The man had a long white beard, one that nearly reached to his belly, and hair that was almost as long as his beard. Atop his head he wore an old army cap, as well as an eyepatch over his left eye. John saw that next to the man was a large daypack and a walking staff, both of which were covered in various knick knacks.

“Didn’t know the Ljósálfr had an army,” John said without meaning to.

The old man barked out a laugh. “No no, I ain’t no elf. Just a traveler through this land.” He reached down, pulled a flask from his belt and took a quick swing. “I got this jacket and hat in Midgard. Traded the homeless guy a few gold pieces for it.”

“Lucky him,” John said, grabbing a menu and browsing it for a moment or two.

The man cocked his head to the side and lowered John’s menu. “Hey kid, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry.” John raised the menu, despite knowing full well that the lack of food was not the only thing that was bothering him.

“Now, kid, I may have only one eye left, but I can see bullshit pretty well.” He lowered John’s menu again, a look of concern across his face. “Tell you what. I’ll order you some fries, and you humor an old man and tell him what’s wrong.”

“No offence, sir, but I don’t know you. I’m not gonna unload my problems onto some random stranger.”

“Fair, but I can tell you are a kid who has a lot of people who care about him, and clearly you haven’t unloaded your problems onto them.”

“Well… no. I don’t wanna worry them.”

“Well, you’re in luck. This random stranger won’t judge you for your problems, and won’t be worried.” He smiled and pointed at the menu. “Plus, the fries here are the best on Yggdrasil. Trust me.”

John sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was starting to feel more and more tired, and knew the **** was beginning to wear off again. And maybe it was because he was so tired and so worried, but the old man did make some sort of sense. Maybe he just needed to get these problems out there and he would feel a bit better.

Plus, he did really want some fries.

And so John began to talk. And talk. And talk. He told the old man his whole story, about learning about magic, about learning how to cast runes, killing Brett, meeting Surtr, going to Alfheim, meeting Talia and her family, the deal with the council, exploring the barrow, the skaven, nearly dying several times, and the fact that after all that he was still short a rune. Without meaning to, he also divulged the fact that he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while due to the nightmares he was having, and to supplement he had been taking energy **** to stay awake.

“I just… Every time I close my eyes, I see either Brett’s face or strange visions. Even when I tried to take short naps earlier, I got the same stuff.” He grumbled and put his head down on the table. “I know I shouldn’t be taking those, but I need to stay awake somehow.”

The old man had stayed silent through most of the story, just asking the odd question or for clarification here or there. He gave a thoughtful hum and tapped the table. “That’s fair, and I can see where you are coming from. But still, such habits are really unhealthy.” He looked out to the street and gave a smile. “Have you tried asking the gods for help?”

“...What?”

“The gods. You know, the ones whose power you are using?” The old man gave him a smile. “Don’t tell me you didn’t think to pray to them for a bit of help.”

John reddened in the face and looked away. “To be honest, no. I… I guess I didn’t think they would.”

“Why not?”

“Well… I… I’m just one kid. One kid who managed to get caught up in a strange story. I don’t think some immortal gods would really give a shit. Plus that instance with Hel kinda makes me think some of the gods would rather see me put in an early grave.”

The old man shrugged. “It’s always worth a shot.” He pulled a napkin out of the dispenser and a pen from his daypack, quickly writing down an address. “Here, there’s an old shrine to Odin at this address. I would recommend going there. Could be useful to ask the god of runes for help in obtaining your runes. Plus, the guy might know a thing or two about how to deal with bad times coming back to haunt you. He has seen that he is going to die at Ragnarok and hung himself from a tree. Guy knows what it is like to have a bad time.”

John pulled the napkin closer and looked out to the street. Apparently the shrine was on the street that this diner was on, and seemed to be just a few blocks away. “I… I guess I could try.”

“Wonderful.” The guy looked over John’s shoulder. “Oh, and would you look at that. The fries are here.” Just as he said that, a huge heaping plate of fries was placed on their table, emitting the most delicious of smells that John had ever had the pleasure of smelling. “Dig in, sweet things,” Savannah said before walking away with a sexy sway.

Neither John nor the old man wasted any time, quickly diving in and gorging themselves on the best fries that John had ever had. Perfectly crispy, just the right amount of salt, with a strange spice that reminded John of all the best parts of chili fries… John was in french fried heaven and never wanted to leave.

“You were right. These are the best fries I-” John looked up from his potato perfection only to see… no one. The man had left, and based on the plate, took his half of the fries with him. John did see that he left some money on the table, enough to cover the fries and both of the drinks they got while John was talking.

John shrugged, figuring the guy just wanted to move on. He took the next few minutes to eat his portion of the fries, another few minutes to sigh happily from such a tasty meal, and then walked out to head down to the shrine.

(He did stay long enough to get another good view of Savannah, this time of her dropping her pen into her cleavage and digging in to grab it. When she was unable to do that, she just started shaking her body side to side until the pen eventually fell to the ground, giving John another view of her perfect heart shaped ass.)

John took out the napkin, looking at the address a few times before heading down the lane. The shrine was clearly in an older section of town as the buildings became more residential and the trees that supported them became taller and taller with each step. He also began to notice small shrines built down side streets, some maintained better than others, with various Ljósálfr praying at each one.

Finally, after another two blocks of walking, John managed to find the shrine to Odin. Much like the others it was carved from stone, shaped like a tombstone with a hollowed out inside. On the ground was a plaque stating various things about the god, and on the inside was a small carving of the god in question along with various runes. This statue, being of Odin, showed aforementioned god sitting upon a throne, holding his spear in one hand and with the other clasped onto the armrest of his throne. On his shoulders sat his ravens, and at his feet were his wolves.

‘Well, here goes nothing,’ John thought, taking a knee and clasping his knees.

“Uh… hey Odin. M... My name is John Newman and… Look, I need help. I needed to find one of your runes so that I wouldn’t die, and I know you made runic magic illegal and probably don’t wanna go back on your edict, but… I’ll be frank, I am ****. I’m low on sleep, worried about my future, worried that the gods would rather have me dead than alive, and frankly am scared I am going to fail so badly. I mean… everyone wants me to bring back a whole branch of magic. And I am the only one that can do so.” John took in a deep breath, and he swore he could feel tears at the corners of his eyes. “I… I’m just so scared of failing. I… I can’t afford to fail, but I need help. So please, Odin,” he looked up, a tear rolling down his cheek, “help me.”

He sighed, took in a deep breath, said a quick thank you, and slowly rose to his feet. ‘There. Hopefully the guy was liste- Why is my pocket so heavy?’ John quickly reached into his pocket, having only the directions in there a second ago. He pulled out said napkin, except this time it was wrapped around a small stone, almost like a truffle. He quickly tore off the napkin, and revealed…

“Oh… Oh my gods…” John looked up to the sky and cried softly. “Thank you, Odin”

Runic Observe

Odin: The Raven God
60 Mp to cast
"Two ravens sit on Odin's shoulders, and bring to his ears all that they hear and see. Their names are Hugin and Munin. At dawn he sends them out to fly over the whole world, and they come back at breakfast time. Thus he gets information about many things, and hence he is called Rafnagud"

Upon casting, it creates a Raven familiar for the caster. This familiar has 1/10 of the caster's hitpoints and he can see through the eyes of the familiar. The familiar lasts 1+Level hours