Earth 2XXX (parallel world)

In the far reaches of the north pole, inside an insulated cave; A man worked tirelessly writing down Norse runes while muttering to himself mathematical jargon that one would be hard-pressed to decipher the use of. The man himself was nothing impressive, average height, salt and pepper hair, seemed to be in his 40s while his body was well taken care of, for someone his age. His ethnicity was hard to figure out, due to his slight tan. He could be from the middle east, south America or simply a man with a tan.

This man (who shall temporarily remain unnamed) was working on an important project, a personal one. He was trying to travel to a different dimension. Why? Simply out of greed. Greed for power. This earth in the past was host to divinities and magical creatures. Why in the past and not present? Nobody knows, there has been research made to find out but they've only come up with hypotheses and no concrete answers. The most widely accepted one is simply that the universe itself was slowly but surely dying and could not sustain beings that require or live off high energy, like gods and other magical creatures; And as time passes, even the small ones are unable to last, hence this era of science with no more mysticism and occult. Of course, them being so significant (the divinities), they have left their marks on reality, marks that one could make use of if they have the appropriate knowledge and tools.

This is the reason a man of science such as him is currently engraving Nordic runes. He is trying to use Odin's concepts of wisdom, sorcery, and the runic alphabet to reach his goals. That alone will not be enough, but he is waiting for the rest of his tools to arrive.

A few hours later the man took a break. He sighs to himself " Almost done, just need to wait for my package; A.I give me the status of my delivery". A voice responds to him by sending specific electrical impulses to his brain through his neurons that he perceives as a robotic but soft voice " Yes sir, the package should be arriving within the next 2 hours, the delivery team sent a message an hour ago that they left Europe and are on their way". He speaks to himself " hmmm 2 hours should be enough to finish prepping my new body".

He walks deeper into the cave until he reaches a pod with a body currently standing inside. The pod and the floor around it are also engraved with runes. The body's face seems to be a perfect copy of the man's, only younger. The body itself is taller and more muscular. The man walks to a pad on this side of the pod and activates it. A few holographic displays appear, showing him the state of the body. He asks his assistant " A.I, what's the status of the nanomachines in the body?", the A.I responds to his master " They are currently on standby in the core sir, ready to be deployed and assist."

"Good, now I just need to wait for the delivery, I'll go take a nap, I won't be able to sleep for a while if everything works out." He says to himself. He goes to a small bed in a corner and lays down for a while. An hour later his A.I wakes him up and notifies him that his package is arriving.

He steps out of the cave and looks up just in time to see a shipping container slowly flying down from a dropship with the help of side thrusters. The container lands itself in front of the cave. The man opens the container and sees it filled with beds, approximately 30, with people of all ages laying unconscious on them. He orders his A.I to get the container in the cave using the thrusters, while he walks back in. Once inside, he readies himself, he starts drawing runes on himself. When he's done he walks to the containers and starts taking out some of the people inside, these people according to his research, are some of Odin's human descendants. He is trying to use their blood connection to hopefully succeed in his endeavors. He believes everything should work, but the mystic has long died in the world so he's not sure what to expect. He doesn't believe sacrificing them harms his chances given Odin has death as his domain as well, although that's just a guess. He places the people beside the pod on the ground. He grabs a knife and cuts himself as he spreads some of his blood on the runes on the pod while he slices the throats of the unconscious people. All the while muttering some indistinct nordic chants, dedicated to Odin himself.

He starts feeling woozy from the loss of blood, but he doesn't stop, after a certain amount of time, he feels something happening. He feels as if Odin himself is watching, or trying as if the God is unable to gather his focus. As the man continues his chanting and the blood of the people spread on the runes, the feeling grows clearer until his consciousness, or maybe his soul leaves his body and stands in front of a sitting giant. Sitting in the void, with his eye closed, wearing Viking garments.

"Mortal, why do you call for the Allfather. Has your race forgotten the rituals, to give US, our due respect? You should know that I should kill you for this transgression. Now speak and tell me what is it that you wish to do with such feeble magic." The giant thunders, with his eye, still closed. The man himself, when he arrived was shocked by the view, until he got out of his stupor when Odin spoke. He responded respectfully, but not subserviently "Allfather, I wish to leave my current body, and occupy the one targeted by the ritual". He spoke the truth, as he was unaware if he could lie to a God face to face, and there was no need to as it was fairly obvious. He was surprised that the God didn't mention his descendants, but he assumed, him being a God from a culture of warriors, didn't care much for the death of simple mortals, descendants or not.

"And why do wish to leave your current body, I can see the other ritual site, waiting to be used. From the runes, it seems that you wish to travel, or displace yourself. Where is it that you wish to go to Mortal." The man's eyes imperceptibly widened in surprise. He didn't think he would need to hide or that the God himself would awaken and see everything. But then again there was no need to lie, simply hide the reason. "I wish to leave this dimension, leave this planet, and travel the wide multiverse. If possible of course. I haven't tried it yet, I will be opening a tear in space, using technology, and use the ritual as a guide to my destination. Again, if possible."

The God snorted "Hmph if it wasn't for this universe dying, tearing space would be impossible. Mortal, I can see that both rituals have a slim chance of working, I shall use some of my remaining power, all I need from you is one favor. If you don't accept, you will die anyway, the ritual had a slim chance of working, and it seems luck was not on your side" Odin said, with a hint of schadenfreude. The man started thinking, he will accept as long as his will was not compromised. He was so close that he was willing to do almost anything to achieve his goal, without sacrificing his free will or freedom. He responds calmly "Allfather, may I know what favor you would require of me? I do not wish to be a pawn of yours in exchange for my life. If you require my allegiance then I would have to refuse."

The God laughs a bit "Mortal, even on my death bed you are not worthy of serving me. I shall give you a piece of myself, all I want from you is to plant that piece somewhere in the new world you will be heading to. Plant it in a place of power, a place that has significance. Make an Oath, on your soul and I shall ensure both rituals succeed. You will have no time limit, as I will return to slumber once again. If you succeed I shall appropriately reward you. Take heed, the place of the planting MUST be significant enough for a God such as myself. Or a portion of myself in this case. Once planted, the oath shall dissolve itself, you do not need to do anything else. Plant and leave. Do you agree?"

The man thinks to himself 'If there's no time limit, I could prepare myself for any fallback. Bringing in a foreign God would create issues, that is if there's no other version of Odin where I'm going. If there is, then it's not an issue as long as I can make sure no one knows I have the piece. And while I have to plant it, maybe I could use a proxy to do it as well. Keeping myself away from any potential issue. I just need to know if he can hide the oath and the piece well enough and if the oath itself has any repercussions on my soul.'. Once he finishes thinking he asks the God "Allfather, will the piece be hidden from prying eyes, and will the oath affect me in any kind of way. If, for example, I find a way to strengthen my soul in the new world, will this oath prevent or affect it in any kind of way? Can someone see the oath if they look at my soul? will your divinity leave any traces on me?''

The Allfather answers without pause "Mortal, you underestimate me, I am the Allfather, Godking of Asgard, what I wish to be hidden, few can find. This endeavor matters to you as much as it matters to me. I shall ensure no prying eyes see anything from you. All you need to do is stay away from any other divinities. Especially those from magic, fate, and others with esoteric domains. What I mean by staying away, is to not encounter them directly or have their sights on you. As long as you do that, everything shall be fine. Now, are you ready for the rituals? I shall send you back to your new body."

The man briefly ponders on the Godkings words. He hopes the new world he will travel to has no gods or dead ones at least. He nods to the God " I accept your favor Allfather, you can send me to my new body"

The Godking nods and slumps back into his chair as the man's sights shift suddenly. He opens his eyes and finds himself in the pod. The pod opens as soon as his eyes did, he steps out, stretches any kinks he can find, and speaks to his assistant " A.I confirm the state of the body."

"Sir, the body is functioning perfectly, the nanomachines are still on standby, shall I activate them?", the man shakes his head"No, we will do that in the new world. Let's keep this body as clean as possible. I might face rejection from the world, and the air and bacteria might not be compatible as well. We will activate them then.".

"Acknowledged.". The man begins to look himself over, his black hair was in an army cut, his height above 2 meters. He grabs a few clothes, he's unsure of what clothes to wear as he doesn't know what to expect from the new world. So he wears 2 layers, one for a more primitive age, good quality clothes made from wool, and under he wears clothes from his current era. Minimalistic but it keeps his temperature regulated and is resistant to energy blasts as well as wear and tear. If you provide them a source of power, like nanomachines, you can repair them as well as change their designs. For shoes, he went with leather boots lined with lightweight alloys designed to keep his feet stable and protected. The laces at the front serve only to tighten them, there are no actual openings aside from the top. Once ready he walks to his workstation, grabs a small metallic ball, the size of a fist, as well as a leather camping backpack full of supplies and small tools he can use. He didn't take anything more as he is not sure if the laws of physics in a different world will allow anything technological to work stably. His A.I chip and nanomachines are bio-organic, as long as his body adapts to the new world, so will they.

He walks to the ritual in the middle of the cave and starts setting down what's left of the unconscious people. Once everything is set, he starts the ritual, chanting, and slicing their throats. At the peak of his chanting, he feels Odin adding some of his power, causing the runes to light up. Once all the runes lit up, he activates the small metal ball in his hand and throws it in the middle of the ritual circle, where a pedestal was placed to hold it. Once the ball rolled around and then fit on the pedestal, it started humming. He could feel the air and light warping, as space bends but it is then stopped by the pedestal lighting up. A small black dot appears on top of the ball, it expanded slowly until it was the size of a door. Once at that size, it split inwards in the middle, as if pushed, into nothingness. The portal is ready, he finishes chanting and feels Odin willing him to go.

He takes a deep breath' Let's hope everything works. I can't do any more than this, having a God help me should at least raise the odds'. He holds his breath, steps in, and everything good dark.

Author: Hope you guys enjoyed the prologue. This is my first story, so I do expect some inconsistencies at some point, just point them out and I'll fix them if I can. The Mc is pragmatic and a man of science. That does not mean he sees science as a fix-all. No to him, science is everything explainable, if he can't explain something, he'll work on it until he can. It can be magic or sorcery or anything else, he'll try to figure it out if it interests him. Keep in mind, him being pragmatic does not mean he is devoid of emotions, he is human after all. Leave a comment on how you feel.