Continuation of training 1.136

-Master, can you look a little to the left?- asked Viggo as he held his sketchbook and sketched Kratos' face.

Kratos, in the middle of the night and only illuminated by the light of the bonfire, frowned and grumpy, but he looked to the left anyway -I don't understand why you do this- he said in an annoying tone.

-My family always asks me- replied Viggo as he sketched his eyes -Who is your teacher and I always tell them he's a bald guy?-

Kratos turned his face facing Viggo, sitting on the other side of the bonfire and glared at him.

Viggo stopped the movement of the charcoal and raised his face -What? It's the truth Why are you worried? The important thing is that I've always told everyone that you're strong-

-Don't be insolent- Kratos said in a slow, menacing tone.

-Ok, whatever you say- replied Viggo without taking it seriously and kept drawing -I'm making a sketch of your ugly face because in the future I want to make a painting. My mom likes to send paintings to make, always of her, my father and me. The only downside is that, instead of making a sketch like I'm doing, she asks my father and me to dress up as aristocrats and spend hours posing. It's torture- Viggo said with a small smile on his lips, stopped his hand and continued in a soft voice -but that makes her happy-

-I don't know, boy- Kratos said in a low voice, bent his gaze and watched the wood crackle and throw small sparks -I, I don't know-

-Well, in that case it's decided- said Viggo, returning to his sketch, trying to mark the shadows and give depth to the features -Dad taught me that when you don't decide, someone else will do it for you-

-Do what you want, has me careless-

-Well, I'll do what I want-

After finishing the sketch, Kratos and Viggo ate some deer and fell asleep. The night passed calmly, there was only the noise of the wind and the rustling of the branches of the trees. Viggo fell asleep quickly, the sky was cloudy, so there was nothing special to see. Tomorrow he would start his own adventure and start calculating his destiny. As his father said:

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Viggo woke up early in the morning, almost with the sunrise. The sun was barely visible among the clouds, maintaining an atmosphere full of shadows within the grove. Viggo looked at the long trunks of the pine trees that almost reached the sky as small snowflakes fell. It was mid-summer, but it was quite cold. After waking up completely, he hears his master's snoring sounding like a saw cutting down a tree. Viggo looked to his right and saw the bonfire extinguished. He sat down and the thick animal skin with which he covered himself from the cold, fell. Then he saw his master on the other side of the bonfire, covered with an animal skin.

Viggo got up, looked for a couple of firewood and placed them in the hole where they should light the bonfire. Then he looks for a stone and scrape it with the blade of his axe until it throws sparks and ignites. The firewood began to emit smoke, Kratos growled on the other side and turned his back on the bonfire. Viggo watched as the fire lit the wood until ten minutes later, it turned into a bonfire. Viggo threw more firewood to increase the temperature and looked for what was left of yesterday's deer. He cooked a few pieces of meat on wooden skewers and an hour later, Kratos woke up for breakfast.

There was no talk, no wise words, no expression of concern or scolding. They both ate quietly, worried about the taste of meat and the lack of good wine. That was the only detriment, which was their only concern.

-You know, next time, I'm going to attract some good things to eat. I was wrong to only bring toys and sweets to Atreus-

-Did you bring him toys?- asked Kratos as he ate

-Yes, I already delivered them to him months ago when I first arrived. The first thing he ate was sweets and thanks to that he got sick to his stomach. Well, it must have been great for him-

-Thank you- Kratos said quietly.

Viggo froze for a moment, but then smiled and replied -you're welcome, it's no effort-

-Where are you going to go now?- asked Kratos trying to change the subject.

-I want to go check that cave we found years ago, at the bottom of the hillside, where there were a lot of goats-

Kratos looked to the side remembering and then nodded.

Viggo continuous -the door of that cave through which the ogres came out was carved by the hands of someone intelligent. The frame formed a perfect rectangular arch, so I think it must have been made by the dwarves. If so and I have some luck, there will be material about the god King Odin, maybe some writings where there is something useful, such as his weakness, some sworn enemy or some weapon that can damage him-

-Knowing your enemy is a good step, but do not get on your head. So far you know nothing about him, nothing about his generals, nothing about his strength. Be vigilant and see things for what they are, don't get your hopes up; You could be killed-

-I will keep it in mind. If I'm honest, I think this will be a long-term run. I already have the name of some enemies of the god king, but I don't even know if you can count on it. I must investigate, I must strengthen myself and recover my divine strength. I also need to find a way to heal myself in the short term. The concoctions my father's books taught me are good, but they need time to take effect. Not to mention, I can't count on my maximum strength until I've recovered. There are so many things-

Viggo let out a sigh and Kratos let out a chuckle as he saw him suffer.

After breakfast, Viggo and Kratos walked to the edge of the plateau, where a long hillside covered with snow and pine trees occurred. From here you could see several roads, but, above all, you could see Kratos' house much further down, in the middle of the mountains.

Viggo stared into the distance, between the gray sky, the high mountains, and the snow-covered earth -still won't you tell me why you are away from your family?-

Kratos next to him, looking at the horizon, instead of answering the question, he said -once you take the first step, you won't see my family again until you've fulfilled your mission-

-Not even to bring them food and other utilities?-

-No-

-What if I ask Grandpa to bring them food?-

-Atreus must become strong. If you become too conscious, he will become weak-

-At least once a month-

Kratos grumpy but nodded. Viggo smiled and turned to look into his eyes.

-Thank you very much for everything, master- said Viggo with a big smile -one day I will come back and give you your family's painting. I swear to you, it will be a picture worthy of the God of War-

Kratos looked at him seriously and nodded. Viggo smiled one last time and went down the snow-covered hillside. The wind howled and the snow under his feet creaked. He didn't turn around to look at Kratos because he knew he would be reprimanded. If you make a determination, you are forbidden to look back. You only must move forward.

Viggo continued down the hillside and came a thousand meters away from Faye's house. From the top of a hill, covered by thick forest, he looked up at the snow-covered plain where Faye's house stood. He waited for an hour to see if he could see Atreus one last time and the little guy didn't let him down. Just as he was about to leave, Atreus left the house carrying a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back. Walking at a slow pace, kicking the surface of the snow as if he were playing, he seemed lively. Viggo smiled and walked in the other direction.

Like that time, he went with his master, Viggo skirted one of the mountains in a northerly direction and advanced along the shore of a deep precipice. He kept walking for hours as the strong blizzards carried the cold of the mountains. Viggo had no problems with the cold, his body emitted without any reinforcement a great temperature. The fact is that he could walk around with his torso bare just like his master. On the other hand, seeing his master, he remembered the theme of the hook on the shoulder pad and took note of asking for one next time. It was a super useful thing, especially when you needed to climb and needed to have your hands unoccupied.

After noon, Viggo took to the place he was looking for, it was a hillside that descended on a steep slope and in the background, there were extensive pastures as if it were a small paradise for goats. Just like years ago, the bottom was full of goats, some had even perched on the stone walls of the depth. It was a pretty nice show, Viggo thought. However, his smile hard little and he became serious. Once he goes down, there is no going back. It doesn't matter if ten or twenty ogres come out. Their only option is to move forward. So, he reasserted the grip on his axe and began to descend the slope at a slow pace to avoid any accidents.

Once Viggo reached the deepest part of the hillside, he felt less cold and marveled at how high the grass had believed. At the same time, the goats scattered along the pastures numbered in the dozens. They ate quietly, looked at Viggo and those closest to him walked away by pure instinct.

Viggo advanced along the road, producing a brush with the high grasslands and looking at the end of the road, where a great wall of solid rock stood. At the base of the wall was an entrance in the shape of a lying rectangle. Inwardly everything looked dark, like the mouth of a monster.

Viggo advanced until he reached the big gate, looked at the frame, and corroborated what he had thought. The marks of the chisels were still visible. This door had been the creation of creatures with intellect. Because of the fine markings and the perfect flat finish, they could be dwarfs, he thought.

Then Viggo took the first step to enter the cave and the first thing he saw was a ramp attached to a dark stone wall that went down forming a curve to the bottom of the cave. On the ceiling were stalactites while the walls were perfectly carved, with some chiseled ornaments. Right at the entrance, written with runes vertically, it said "Dwarf Outpost."

Viggo frowned at seeing such a thing and investigated the depths of the cave. The only thing that sounded was the wind and the pounding of the droplets produced by the humidity. Viggo squeezed his grip on his axe and continued down the ramp, hoping to find more than just a pile of bones chewed by the ogres.