"Sis. Hey, hey Sis! Let's go play!" A childish voice of about 6 years old said loudly in a small house in the countryside of Asgard.
On the room that he was yelling to a girl with a serious face came out with a hard face, she had about 8 or so years and she looked angry despite her pretty white hair, blue eyes, and a flower hairpin her brother got to her on her last birthday.
"Erik, I already told you a hundred times! I need to prepare or I won't be able to inherit the family's crest! I can't go and play right now." The girl said.
"But, but, you never have the time. It is always family crest this, family crest that, I just want to be able to play with you a bit sis." Erik said.
"I know, I know, it is just not a good time right now." The girl said.
The boy looked down and left his sister to go study while he went outside. He was sad as it has been a full week since he got to spend any time with his sister and she was so focused on that stupid family crest to even pay attention to him.
As he exited the house he went to the training field, his grandmother told him once that whenever he was sad he should go and train a bit to clear his mind. It was either that, read books with a lot of words and too few images to his tastes, or help his grandmother with cleaning the house.
The answer? Swing the training spear around and play pretend by himself. It was actually quite fun for him, he liked to use a spear far more than using other weapons and he was quite good with it too for someone his age.
His grandmother, the only other person that lived in this place besides him and his sister, gave him some basic instructions about how to use a spear and he enjoyed it a whole lot. He was so engrossed with this that he lost himself in his practice, training for him was relaxing instead of tiring, he always had too much energy for his own good.
In the afternoon, after having been lost in his training with the spear, Erik heard someone speaking close to him.
"Hohoho, you are not bad for your age, brat."
Looking at the person who had just spoken Erik smiled brightly when he recognized the person in question.
"Odin-jisama! It is you!" Erik said excitedly while throwing himself at Odin's hands with a bright smile on his face. He loved this old man quite a lot, he was quite literally like his grandpa in his eyes as he was always quite good for the solitary young boy that spent most of his time by himself. But, most importantly. "Did you brought me anything new?"
"Hahaha, greedy as always I see. If I didn't know any better I would think you a devil." Odin said.
"Blergh, don't joke with that jisama. Devils are bad people who are no good at all and cause a whole lot of problems everywhere. It is because there are so many of them that papa and mama can't come home normally." Erik said, and it wasn't entirely wrong. The growing number of stray devils caused problems everywhere and it was because of that that his parents needed to stay on the borders of Asgard to protect them all from the threat that those monsters imposed.
All factions, actually, suffered under the same thing. There were just too many stray devils, so much so that most of the fights on the current world were against devils.
"Leave it be, leave it be, we can't do anything about that as of right now. Besides, it is not like I came here to talk about those annoying bats, I was just curious over how you three are doing."
"Oh, we are all fine! But, could you stay for a while this time jisama? We could even play some games or go explore the forest to see if the big bird's egg hatched or not! It will definitely be lots of fun, I will even take you to my new secret spot there, it is under a big tree that gives some really tasty fruits. I am sure you will like it!" Erik said excitedly.
"I will think about it, but shouldn't I first go and meet up with your grandmother? I am sure she knows I am here by now and if I don't go talk to her she might try and chew me out and not on the fun way." Odin said and when he looked up he saw one of the windows of the house open and the stern face of Göndul was looking down at him. Odin, however, was not worried in the slightest seeing one of the strongest Valkyries in existence looking at him with a scary face, instead, he waved at her with a smile before going into the house and leaving the young Erik to continue his training which he did. Erik was a constant ball of energy and one of the few things that could somewhat calm him down is training.
After Odin got on the upper floor where Göndul and Rossweise were he saw clear as day Göndul instructing Rossweise over magic. She was teaching extremely high-level stuff for a child so young but Göndul was never known as being exactly nice as an instructor and Rossweise was talented enough to make this not a problem as she absorbed the information just as fast as Göndul taught if not faster as she loved studying almost as much as she loved her little brother.
"Odin-sama!" Göndul said with a quick kneel to the ground, instantly accompained by Rossweise who did just the same. Both failed to see the eye roll that Odin gave at this, he never liked extreme formalities but these two were just too rigid.
"Hay, hay, hail me. Anyway, I wanted to come here to see how things are going." Odin said.
"Everything is fine, Rossweise here is learning everything I have to teach very fast and I am sure she will be able to take the family crest the next time. And as for Erik, he is quickly learning spearsmanship by using what I taught him last time and I am sure that in time he will be a great warrior for Asgard." Göndul said.
Rossweise nodded excitedly. She also wanted to go and play but she had a responsibility as the next head of the Family. She had the duty to be able to take the family crest and protect her little brother, the problem is that if she were to fail again then the next to try is her brother and she didn't want to force more responsibility into him.
She didn't quite understand what 'repopulate the clan' means but she was sure it was not easy. She also could see that he was too much of a free spirit, if he takes the position of next clan head he would need to learn all the mysteries of the magic that the family had developed as well as be the protector of the clan.
SHE was the big sister, if anyone was going to do the protecting here is her!
For some reason, Odin could see what the girl was likely thinking. He could only restraint a sigh as he knew perfectly well that if the last few tries were not enough for her to get the family crest than it was most likely impossible for her to get it now.
He also knew that the chance of Erik managing to obtain the crest was almost a certainty, Odin had discreetly tested him once and found him very compatible with the power of the crest. Honestly, he also didn't want to see this boy that considered him a granddad to be involved in the world of politics, he would be better suited swinging his spear around and running around with a happy smile.
Odin wanted to find a way to get these two out of this bind, but he just didn't know how to until he remembered what Göndul had just said.
"Wait, you mean that Erik doesn't have a teacher right now?" Odin said.
"No, he doesn't. As you are well aware I specialize in magic, my martial prowess is not that great and I have my hands full teaching Rossweise what she needs to know."
"Then, what if I teach the boy myself?" Odin said, he had some excitement in his voice as he said that. "I am sure I can make him extra strong, now that I think about it why not enroll Rossweise on the school in the capital? It will be close to the castle so the two can meet whenever they feel like it and she can learn more style of Norse magic this way and maybe even some stuff from other styles!"
Normal valkyries would jump in happiness hearing this, heck anyone who didn't know Odin that well would jump at this opportunity. But, Göndul was not like most. She knew perfectly well how Odin acted most of the time and she didn't want her cute grandchild that was so easy to please and that she could spoil so much when she wanted to become like this old man.
One super pervert in Asgard was enough.
"… How about we ask him first before we decide on anything?" Göndul said, she couldn't just say no so this was her solution.
"Fine by me, I had some gifts for him and little miss years without a boyfriend equals the years of life here." Odin said earning a glare from Göndul who was not too happy over Odin mocking her granddaughter.
However, the next words of said granddaughter broke Odin and Göndul's current mood.
"Humph, shame on you that little Erik said he would marry me when we are older so there is no need for me to get myself a boyfriend!" Rossweise said confidently and cheekily. She was dying to tell this to Odin since last week when she managed to extract this promise from him, not that it was hard as he always said he loved his big sis the most on the world and when she told him about how marriage is a contract that the two would love one another forever and ever Erik was just too happy to say those words.
Of course, neither really understood exactly what they were saying but it was also a fact that incest on their clan was actually very normal since many generations ago, sort of like how a family of platinum-haired and purple-eyed people from some program on tv involving thrones and dragons did things.
Besides, purity of blood was in fact a thing in this world. A family trait was not exclusive for devils and thus intra-relationships within the family were nothing new on this family and most others, if anything marrying outside was weirder. It also helped that those who had magic energy usually had any bad gene destroyed before being passed down to descendants, a way to ensure that only the best would prevail.
Anyway, moving their heads away from that awkward moment everyone decided to go and speak to Erik, but when they got out of the house-
"…"
"…"
"… Where is my brother!" a shriek from a young girl sounded across the training field.
In the forest Erik had a huge smile on his face as he felt something new on the forest. He always had accute senses so it was not hard for him to literally smell the newcomer on the forest.
'Maybe he can be a friend too!' that is what the innocent Erik thought. In the whole forest there were plenty of small and big animals and he had long since became friends with most of them, some times the friendship involved sparing and if either got hurt Erik would try his best to heal it. Healing magic was the one aspect of magic Erik somewhat enjoyed after he came to the realization that if he could heal himself he could train harder and play even more with his forest friends without fear of doing anything bad to them.
It also didn't take that long for him to learn, his grandmother wasn't that good when it came to telling sleep stories so she would simply ask what type of magic Erik would like to listen when going to sleep and when he chose one she would revise the basics with him of that type. She normally spent most time with Rossweise so this was not a problem, and it did help that most times Rossweise would have gone to sleep already by then, most times using Erik as a plushy to hug.
It was heartwarming.
Anyway, back to the point, Erik had jumped into the forest and was moving as well as a monkey through the forest. When he got closer to the place where the new smell appeared he suddenly felt an even stronger smell.
It was a foul and bad smell, something he never had smelled before.
When he approached enough he saw a small black lizard that had two heads and was currently running away from a weird being. It looked like a walking crocodile with a bone spear but instead of a typical tail it had a snake for a tail and an evil grin on his face.
"Kekeke, to think I would find such a meal here. I dunno how you opened a portal here but what matters is that I will definitely get something out of eating you." The crocodile said before lunging at the small black lizard with two heads.
Not thinking twice Erik jumped to intervene, he wanted to get as many friends as possible so him letting a possible friend die when some monster would keep roaming the forest where he and his friends habituated was unacceptable.
Moving his training spear Erik used the same move he trained with, a quick jab that was aimed right at the monster's heart from behind on a blind spot. The enemy failed to see what was going on until it was too late.
CRACK
The problem was that the spear was not made thinking of actual combat at all, the enemy was caught by surprise and the strike was perfect but the weapon could not pierce through the hide of this creature.
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKE, To think I would get an extra snack! And a child no less, your flesh will definitely feel good in my mouth." The monster said as he lunged at Erik with his spear. The spear was too fast for Erik's shocked mind and he failed to retaliate in time.
RIIIIPPPPP
The sound of flesh being torn and pierced and torned was heard as a body hit the ground. It was a terrible sound that made the monster laugh as Erik looked down at the small two headed lizard that was pierceed when it tried to save Erik. The lizard had jumped in front of Erik while it tried to do something but it too was too weak to do anything.
With eyes filled with tears he kneeled in front of the lizard, he could see the life of the lizard leaving his body and the sadness welling up on Eric's body was just too great. His magic energy went completely out of control just as the monster moved to pierce Erik.
CLANK
A sound resounded across the area as the bone spear was stopped in place by a gauntlet that appeared over the left hand of Erik. It had a deep yellow and white design and looked like concentrated starlight to the eyes, in front of it a shield of magic was opened that completely blocked the attack that tried to reach Erik as some light energy covered the shield and reinforcing it.
Looking at it with apprehension the monster used its tail to pierce a tunnel through the ground to try and catch Erik by surprise by piercing him from underneath. However, before it could reach two boots appeared under his feet. One had a piercing red like flame design and scales covered the construct while the other also had scales but instead of deep red it was a calm and quiet blue that looked like pure ice. As the two hit the ground one side turned into magma and the other froze completely, under the effect of two extremely different temperatures the result was as expected, the tail was decimated and the monster could only yell in absolute pain as he tried to run.
However, he could not go far as the right hand of Erik was now covered with a deep blue gauntlet with yellow traces and green details that made it look like a storm. With one movement the air was turned into a terrible storm that engulfed the monster and killed him instantly.
And so Erik won, but his victory costed him as his energy reserves were low by that point.
"My boy, we will really have a lot to talk about." Odin's voice said close to him and turning to the chief God Erik's eyes busted into tears again.
"Jisama, please save him." Erik said while looking at the nearly dead lizard. When Odin saw this he raised an eyebrow as if he recognized something about this creature but chose not to say anything and instead shake his head.
"Sorry, Erik, but this one is too far gone. His heart was pierced and he is only alive due to its abnormal vitality but even that has a limit." Odin said, but when he saw Erik's sad puppy dog eyes he blurted out. "But you can save him."
As soon as Odin said that he wanted to kick himself for speaking too much but he looked like a god in Erik's eyes right now.
... It is good that Odin didn't know that until now Erik never thought of him as a God as otherwise he might go and get depressed.
"How? If it is something I can do then I will do it!" Erik said with a serious face.
"Simple, you can share your life with him." Odin said. "It is a blood contract, a ritual where the master shares his life energy with the familiar. If you die he dies but if he dies you won't die, but there are risks as some of the energy of this creature will unite with yours and yours will unite with his, you two will be closer than anyone else could ever hope to be. There is also the fact that the energy to restore the wounds will be taken from you and you two will enter a sleeping period that can take weeks. Would you still accept doing such a thing?"
"Yes!" Came Erik's immediate answer, his grandmother had appeared a while ago and even if she wanted to intervene and stop this it was not something she could do as she could see the seriousness in her grandchild's eyes. She just felt sad that her Erik's mount would be that weak, all Asgardian warriors members of the Einherjar had mounts as an integral part of what makes them capable fighters and for her grandchild to enter a contract like that is the same as signing a mount contract already and with a weak creature at that was simply terrible for his growth. It did not help that this contract would make him and the creature share their 'bloodline' which was the same as sharing the potential they both had, if the mount was weak like this one than the Einherjar would also be restrained.
But, the decisiveness he did that was not something that could easily be dismissed.
Odin also agreed as he taught Erik the necessary steps for the contract to happen.
As Erik moved to do the contract he began chanting in some weird language that he couldn't really understand at all but it was irrelevant right now as, by the end of it, he could see a big magic circle circulating around him and the small lizard.
Now all he needed is some blood but those weird gauntlets were in the way. Just as Erik thought that the one in his left hand and legs disappeared and only the one in his right hand remained, finding it weird he used the gauntlet sharp edges to cut open the skin of his palm and began releasing blood into the magic circle. When it made contact Erik felt vertigo as blood escaped from his body at high speed together with his energy but he stood his ground. He would not fall so easily, he was a warrior of Asgard after all.
And so, just as he thought he would die the contract was sealed. Erik passed out then and there, falling to the ground with his head close to the lizard that approached his heads to him slightly before also falling asleep.
The two were quite peaceful as the two older people spoke to one another.
"Are you sure this was wise? It is just an earth lizard, mutated as it might be it is still a too low class of a beast to serve as a mount." Göndul said worriedly.
"It is fine, this might be destiny at play. After all, for someone to house the four dragons of chaos sacred gears at once and to be so close to a creature such as this, it might not be quite as simple as we are thinking." Odin said. "Also, about the offer to train him, it is now an order. This child will be trained by me and that is final."
"Understood, Odin-sama. But I must tell you that if he becomes a pervert under your care or if I were to see you give one of yours 'Opai speeches' close to him I will castrate you." Göndul said with a neutral tone.
... Odin believed her.