Chapter 51
Where it Began, Where it Begins (5)


The Scholar stood silent, his brow furrowed in confusion as he stared at the woman. Certainly, what little of her he had witnessed lent itself to this claim, as she was undoubtedly a being of significant power. But, at the same time, he had not heard of anything related to Yggdrasil having a guardian, let alone someone with a unique name like "Nidhoggr". Sure, it wasn't too outlandish, given the names of nations and adventurers he had witness in Rune-Midgard, but he was still surprised that absolutely no one had mentioned the World Tree's alleged guardian.

This discrepancy was especially worrying considering how prolific the World Tree's bounties were; After all, in his world, merchants freely sold the leaves of Yggdrasil without any worry for supply, while Adventurers traded large quantities of the seeds and fruit as needed. And just as the people were blessed by Yggdrasil's gifts, so too were the monsters themselves, as Hall had personally witnessed numerous creatures drop items related to the World Tree. So, given the prevalence of these items, why was the name of the draconic guardian so foreign to him?

... That question was soon followed by many more, as the words of that a certain ghostly guardsman echoed in the Scholar's mind. How did Rune-Midgard acquire these items of Yggdrasil? His knowledge told him that the World Tree was located in some place disjointed from Rune-Midgard, connected to it on more than a physical level, as it served as a proverbial bridge between worlds... So how come the items of Yggdrasil were so commonplace?

The Scholar was growing more and more concerned with the fact that no one mentioned this little discrepancy. No one questioned the mysterious supply, despite the knowledge available on the World Tree? Really, considering how accessible the information was, he was surprised that he was the only one to have learned it from...

Hall blinked. Where had he learned it from? Was it from a textbook in the Floating City of Sages? No... That's not right. Hall was all but certain that the City of Juno had nothing related to the World tree. In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember any-

"A-hem." A certain draconic guardian made her presence known, clearing her throat with mild annoyance as she directed a glare towards the scholar. The woman's—Nidhoggr's face darkened, lilac eyes narrowing as her voice grew colder. "I expected more from a child of Ymir; Reverence, curiosity, or perhaps hostility... but silent disbelief? Are you truly an Einherjar?"

With a curious question like that, the Scholar couldn't afford to stay dumbfounded. Quelling his confusion came easy to him, Hall quickly pushing aside his previous emotion as his face returned to a neutral stare, his eyes turning to the draconic woman's own tenuous stare. "... What's an Einherjar?"

There was a moment of silence.

"What do you mean 'What's an Einherjar'?!"

Nidhoggr's voice shot out as her composure slackened, the violet lady's eyes wide with surprise, shock replacing the previous irritation on her face. She seemed to struggle with herself, unsure of whether to lash out or deflate as the guardian locked her gaze with the Scholar's. The woman settled for a questioning glance, trying to read his expression with a furrowed brow. Yet, Hall could offer nothing more than a blank expression of ignorance, the corner of dragon's mouth curling downwards slightly before she finally spoke out.

"... You're serious, aren't you?"

All the Scholar could do was nod, unable to offer anything else as he turned his attention fully to the ancient guardian. This gesture only seemed to irritate the woman further, as she brought a hand up to her forehead with a sigh. "How is it possible that you haven't heard the term? It's a name given to all warriors who have died and earned the right to Valhalla. Given your... familiarity with Yggdrasil, as well as the power of Ymir that you hold in your possession, I'm all but convinced you're an Einherjar."

This revelation was met with silence from the Scholar, his mind trying to make sense of this. Warriors who died and earned the right to Valhalla...? What exactly did that mean? After all, his passage to Valhalla was completely unrelated to death. Of course, as an Adventurer, Hall had brushed with death numerous times, but the Scholar knew full well that his reincarnation was due to something else entirely.

"But... I entered Valhalla through the Heart of Ymir. Or, with it, I guess?" The Scholar paused at that statement. He wasn't quite sure what the process was, but it definitely involved the Book of Ymir, as well as the Ymir Heart fragment that was kept inside the Floating City of Juno.

Surprise flashed on the Dragon's face, present only for just a moment before the woman suppressed her expression. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, settling her sight on the Scholar. "... Is that so? And what did you do in this 'Valhalla'?"

Hall could sense a shift in tone from woman's voice, her mood shifting inextricably as she spoke the name 'Valhalla'. It was barely noticeable, but his interactions with the staff of Beacon was enough to hone his conversational skill to the point of picking it up.

Or maybe the Dragon was just bad at subtlety. Either way, the Scholar still had to respond to her question.

"Well... I approached the Valkyrie, where she stripped away the skills and memories of my previous life..."

Hall had to stop himself from questioning his own words; the fact that he could remember the process verbatim was obviously an indicator that his previous memories weren't discarded, even if his skills had been. Rather than question that, however, he merely continued, reciting the scene from his mind. "From there, she granted me the blessing of the three goddesses: Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld. With these blessing bestowed upon me, I was reincarnated and sent back to the world of Rune-Midgard."

Was his description too brief? The Scholar wasn't quite sure how much detail he should've given, as the event itself was relatively dull. Sure, it was Rebirth, and that in itself would've been cause for an existential crisis. But, to the Scholar, it had merely been a conversation and a... job change? It felt very much like the time when he had graduated from being a simple Mage, and had earned his title of Sage.

The Scholar's eyes bore into the ground. That can't be right. Can it?

"That's absurd." Nidhoggr's voice snapped Hall from his thoughts, as the draconic woman echoed out her disbelief. Her eyes fell on the Scholar, glowing with some indiscernible light as she stared into him, her face stuck in a complicated mixture of disbelief and... something else. "Yet, you are not lying. How is this possible?"

Hall was not quite sure what she meant, but before he could question further, the draconic guardian spoke first. Again, she brought forth a question, her eyes glowing as she stared at the young man. "... When did you experience this?"

That was an odd question, and one that the Scholar had to think on. It had been a while since he had reincarnated, but he had returned to Valhalla twice more after that: once to formally ascend from High Mage to Scholar, and once when he had used the Leaf of Yggdrasil on Ruby. Perhaps it'd be best to simply mention all three instances?

"I ascended... maybe a half year ago, I guess?" Was that right? He couldn't quite remember the passage of time, as many cities in Rune-Midgard seemed to be wreathed in perpetual day or night. On the other hand, Remnant was far more stable... But was it an adequate frame of reference? Well, he really didn't have any better alternatives, so why not? "Yeah, around that. And a month after my rebirth, I returned to Valhalla once again to earn the title of Scholar.

"And finally, three or so weeks ago, I arrived there one last time after I used the Leaf of Yggdrasil to restore an associate of mine... Though that last visit was odd, as the Valkyrie had stated it wasn't Valhalla." Hall wasn't quite sure what to make of that last bit of information, as the place he had ended up looked exactly like the Hall of Honour from his memories, so he had ignored it at the time. Now, however, the man could see Nidhoggr's face darken at his words.

He couldn't understand why. The Scholar was being as truthful as possible in regards to his recollection, and he was certain she could somehow verify that. So why was she so... tense?

The female dragon took in a deep breath, her eyes closing as she began processing the Scholar's words. Silence hung in the air for a few moments, the worlds completely still as Nidhoggr began picking her words. Just as it came, however, the silence passed, as the Dragon's eyes fell on Hall.

"I was wrong... You are not Einherjar. In fact, I know neither what you are, nor where you came from." That... didn't sound good. Hall listened to the dragon with growing concern, as her voice grew grave. "However, I do know this: Yggdrasil acts as the bridge between the nine worlds. Without her, none may visit another plane directly... and yet, you say you spoke with a Valkyrie who bequeathed to you the blessings of Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld?"

The way she asked that question worried the Scholar greatly, yet he could do little but nod.

"... The Valkyries serve only Freya or Odin. No Valkyrie would dare seek out the Norns of Fate for a blessing, least of all the three great Norns."

This was the first time Hall had heard of that rule. Wasn't Freya and Odin at odds with one another? He vaguely recalled the differences in religion between the Arunafeltz States and the rest of the world, but his thoughts were quickly silenced by dragon's next words.

"But, rather than that, something much more important needs to be addressed. It has been countless millennia since Yggdrasil had burned."

There was no hint of deception in Nidhoggr's voice, her eyes fixed with the Scholar as the dragon spoke out with a sense of finality.

"The bonds between worlds have long been severed by Ragnarok."


For a single moment, Ozpin paused.

He wasn't quite sure why, but he had felt an ache in some long-forgotten bone in his body. Was it a sign of old age? He gave out a sigh, his eyes falling to his desk as he observed his growing pile of paperwork.

Budget statements, tax reports, staff audits, and a whole host of other documents lay on the table, with varying degrees of verbosity and relevancy. He wasn't quite sure whether Beacon was even supposed to have shipping manifests, yet even they were flat on his desk. The headmaster let out a sigh, turning his attention to his mug once more as he took in another sip of coffee.

This work was usually handled by Glynda, and for good reason; the Headmaster had neither the attention nor the aptitude to focus on most of these things, and his ability to field them had dwindled drastically in light of recent developments. Was it any surprise that, instead of the important school-related forms, Ozpin's focus had turned to a certain napkin scrawled with translations?

Of course not.

Ozpin quickly pushed the paperwork aside, before reaching into one of the drawers of his desk. It took only a few moments for the man to find his target, as he pulled out a thick book from the cabinet, the cover scrawled with an illegible text... At least, it was illegible before the leader of Team RWBY had provided him with a translation tool. Now that he had the means, however, the aged man could finally begin deciphering some of the texts that he had confiscated from the missing Hall monitor.

After all, the young man was still on probation, so it was hardly surprising that Ozpin kept hold of his things.

The reason why Ozpin's focus fell on this book, however, was more than just simple curiosity. The headmaster had lived in this world for a long time, and with such extensive age came experience... which, in turn, tempered intuition. It was this intuition that had caused Ozpin to keep hold of certain items in the Hall Monitor's possession. Even now, he wasn't quite sure why the Scholar had kept these items, but since the moment he had laid eyes on them, Ozpin could tell that a few of the Scholar's artifacts had to be kept away.

Taking out the book proper, Ozpin once again felt an air of darkness hang around him, subtly leaking from the ancient tome. It was... similar to the sensation that grimm gave off, but still different enough to be its own aura of unease to it. Now that he had the translation napkin, however, Ozpin could finally see what sort of book would give off such an oppressive air.

It took less than a minute for the headmaster to translate the book.

Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he read the title. Part of him wanted to ask Miss Rose to confirm it, but he knew full well that such an event would be detrimental to a budding huntress-in-training. Especially one of her temperament.

Instead, he read over the words once again, using the translation tool a second, then third time. Each time, it returned the same response, the letters scrawled on the book utterly unmistakeable.

"... The Book of the Apocalypse. Is that so?"

The book itself seemed to respond to his question, an shadow on the book's elaborate cover shifting ever so slightly, before growing still as it melted back into the tome. This effect was not lost on the headmaster, and he merely put the book away once again, slipping it back into his desk where other, equally unnerving items lay.

It seems that the Scholar has a great many things to answer for.


"Hey Blake, whatcha reading?"

Her leader's voice came quicker than she had expected. Part of her wanted to be surprised that Weiss had finished her lecture early, but Blake Belladonna knew full well that something so trivial wouldn't take too much time... And she had been reading the book since they had returned to their dorms.

"Nothing much." Blake shrugged at Ruby's question, looking up at her leader's silver eyes for just a moment before turning back to book. The silence that followed was more than enough to tell her that neither Ruby nor the rest of the team believed that statement. Still, she chose to ignore them, her attention turning to the rough translation sheet that was required for reading the Scholar's books.

"Hey!" The red leader was the first to catch the book's title, eyes widening as she pointed an accusing finger at Blake "That's not nothing much! That's one of Hall's magic books!"

"Yes... And?" Blake's eyes remained focused on the book's pages, reading over the words with a frown. Translating word-by-word was tedious at best, and was more than enough to lessen any meaning derived from the book. Perhaps she should translate an entire passage first, then re-read it? With that thought in mind, the lady-in-black turned away from the book, reaching over her bookshelf to retrieve a notebook and pen.

It was then that she noticed her leader pouting at her, cheeks puffed up as the hooded leader mock-glared at Blake.

"Um...?"

"Why are you reading it by yourself? Didn't we all promise to study it together?"

Had they? Well, if so, then that certainly explained the childish expression that Ruby held on her face. Blake sent an inquisitive glance to the rest of her team, only to the remaining members staring back at her. The heiress's expression was one of tempered patience, but she could tell that Weiss wanted read the book just as much as Ruby did. Her partner, on the other hand, was sporting a huge grin for some odd reason...

"Don't worry about it, Rubes." Yang waved her hand dismissively, before pointing towards the notebook and pen that the lady-in-black had retrieved. "She's just going to write down easy-to-read notes for all of us. Isn't that right, Blakey?"

Blake rolled her eyes at that statement. Of course her partner would say that.

"Wouldn't it be better if you wrote your own notes on this?" The response was almost automatic, since Yang had asked similar questions for school-related stuff. Yet, the point still stood, and Blake shrugged at her partner. Then again... Writing it out in easy-to-read notes would probably help her with comprehension, so it wasn't like Yang's suggestion didn't have merit.

She'd just rather the blonde not profit from it.

"Aww, c'mon Blake. I'll buy you lunch for the next week?"

... That was certainly a tempting idea. Blake sent a quick glance towards her partner, and the look on the blonde's face was enough to tell the faunus that she wasn't joking. She began to seriously consider the idea, letting out a contemplative hum.

"Lunch, and you take notes for Port's class for the next week." It wasn't like she was trying to completely discourage Yang or anything... But the blonde brawler had taken to sleeping in that class. Given the fact that her partner always asked her for her notes, Blake wanted some way to get back at her.

"Sure thing!"

That surprised Blake, and she sent a hesitant glance towards her partner. And just as before, she saw no trace of deceit on the brawler's expression, her grin somehow assuring her that she would get the notes for next week. So, against her better judgement, Blake relented to the deal.

"... Alright. In that case, I'll write out my findings."

"Yes! Thanks." And with that little cheer out of the way, Yang immediately turned towards the little white heiress of Team RWBY. "Hey Weissy, you mind if I borrow your notes for the next week? I'll trade you some magic notes for it."

There were no words.

Blake simply let out a tired sigh, shooting a half-hearted glare at her partner before finally turning her attention back to the magic book. At least, that's what she had intended to do; instead, the book was missing entirely, as a certain hooded leader had decided to impose her tyrannical reign during the little exchange.

"Ruby. May I have that book back, please?"

"Nope." The little leader's voice was almost sing-song as she denied Blake's request, which only caused the woman to let out a tired sigh. Part of her couldn't blame the younger woman, as the prospect of learning magic was undoubtedly even more tantalizing to her than it was to Blake. But... that was only one part of her.

The other part? Well, she quickly made use of her technical skills to swipe the book back.

"Hey! No fair!" Once more, Ruby's voice rang out, almost childish in its tone as she waved her arms at the black-haired member of Team RWBY. "Give that back!... Please?"

Blake, for her part, ignored the red teenager's second pout entirely, her focus turning back to the book's pages as she began transcribing the words onto her notebook. It was still a tedious process, but now that she was writing with an audience in mind, she began taking her time with the passages, translating them in a rough draft before reading and re-reading it over, in an attempt to comprehend their meaning.

So, it was a pleasant surprise to find that, to some degree, she did.