Midgar and the Temple of Tyr 2.276

The hill in the center of the labyrinth was a large underground complex that hid every kind of room, whether for resting, storing, or working. There were crevices, grates, and windows, but for some reason the deadly fog did not enter this place. Surely it must have been Ivaldi's center of operations.

As Brok promised, inside Ivaldi's workshop he had all kinds of blacksmithing manuals from those owned by Viggo, a gift from Rosewisse, to new ones. The only downside is that they were very old and in dwarf language, but they were readable. They detailed all kinds of blacksmithing, magical, and chemical processes to create all kinds of weapons, talismans, armor, and other artifacts.

Arriving at the treasure vault, in the deepest part of Ivaldi's workshop, Viggo realized something. Ivaldi had gone up in the fumes to his head, whether for power, prestige, skill, or knowledge. The hammer of Ivaldi, a master blacksmith, was made of gold, inlaid with precious stones and the head was a transparent turquoise mineral. Too beautiful for someone who should spend all day among the coal, smoke, grease, and soot.

Viggo looked at his side and saw Rosewisse looking at the vault with a huge smile.

—Now I understand why Semiramis likes gold so much— said Rosewisse, fascinated by all the riches that had been scattered on the floor. Gold was stacked in front of them and reached a meter high along the huge vault. Unless there was a pedestal or a piece of furniture, the entire floor was covered with gold, precious stones, and other kinds of treasures.

—Check the space in the bag of plenty— said Viggo —you may not be able to take it all—

Rosewisse looked at him, frowned, and said —hateful, if I take it, I want to choose things for myself—

—You don't need to give it to me or give it to Semiramis, she already has hers— replied Viggo —if she tells you something, I'll talk to her—

—No, well, I don't want everything, I have no use for gold coins and ingots. You're going to keep the blacksmith stuff, right?—

—Yes, that's my intention, do you want to learn blacksmithing?—

—No, not at all— Rosewisse said with a shy look —it's just that we should prioritize usefulness rather than luxuries—

—Come on, relax, rest first, see the cracks and see if there is any manuscript about the deadly fog— said Viggo —we get nothing out of haste—

—Well, that's true too. Down here the air seems clean, even cleaner than that of a forest—

—Surely it must be because of the dwarf smithy, there must be some artifact or magic that protects the interior of Ivaldi's workshop—

Viggo and Rosewisse turned around and walked down a long hallway to a large bedroom full of luxuries. Even though everything outside was dirty and dilapidated, this place seemed to be intact. A huge bed like for Rosewisse and Viggo. Furniture with fine finishes, a gold-plated vanity with a large mirror. An ideal place to rest. For this and the hammer Viggo thought that Ivaldi had risen his prestige to his head What does a dwarf with a little more than one-meter-tall do with a bed for a human two meters high? What does a master blacksmith do with a hammer made of gold and inlaid with precious stones? Vanity, just feeding his vanity.

The next day Viggo and Rosewisse, already in better condition, left Ivaldi's workshop. Niflheim remained cloudy, with deadly fog covering much of the maze. The top of the hill, above Ivaldi's workshop, was still as uninhabited as yesterday. There was a thin layer of green grass on the surface and the undergrowth of red leaves in the shape of a star. The three-dimensional cracks separated by ten meters apart were intact.

Viggo and Rosewisse walked towards the dimensional cracks.

—Are you ready?— asked Viggo as they moved forward.

—Yes— Rosewisse replied, quickly darting into the sky and fluttering keeping ten meters high above the level of the dimensional cracks.

Viggo materialized the leviathan axe and channeled soul force to the head so that it would be filled with a layer of ice. Just by passing the axe near the undergrowth the star-shaped red leaves froze. Viggo arrived in front of the dimensional crack in the center of the other three. It looked like a fist-sized sphere of dark water that was looking to expand, but something wouldn't let it. Viggo reached his left hand, touched the dimensional crack, and the latter expanded several meters high and wide.

Viggo heard a heavy and powerful running. The next instant he jumped back, and a huge red ogre came out of the inside of the crack. This creature had a body strengthened by the years and gave the impression of having scales all over the body. His gaze was animalistic, rabid, and crazed with a physical construction like that of a gorilla. Behind him came two other ogres who ran with open arms to catch Viggo, but the latter threw the leviathan axe into his eyes. One ogre stopped and the other screamed. He put his huge hand to his face and took two steps back, but his partner continued to run and try to catch Viggo. The latter stepped back from under the huge hands, straightened his back, and raised his hand so that the axe would return to his hand. Catching the axe, Viggo threw it again and hit the ogre, causing it to back away just like his partner.

On the other hand, the first red ogre looked at the sky, noticing Rosewisse flying with the help of her wings covered by golden armor. The red ogre jumped while bending his right hand and when he was about to reach it, he threw a slap. Rosewisse fluttered and rose high enough to avoid the attack. The ogre felt heavy and forceful on the earth producing a tremor. He looked at the sky and gave a powerful roar that was heard all over the top of the hill. However, at that moment Viggo ran away, threw his axe, and hit him in the back of the head. The axe bounced, flew into Viggo's hand and the latter caught it. The ogre turned around, watched Viggo come running in his direction, but behind him exploded a ball of fire that made him roar in pain. The ogre carried his huge hands behind his back, wanted to touch himself and his forehead was unprotected. Viggo increased the speed of his movement, jumped five meters high and stayed at the height of the ogre's head. He took the axe with both hands, let out a war cry, and unloaded the axe on the ogre's forehead. Viggo was going so hard that he pushed the ogre back and the latter fell on his back. Viggo stayed on the ogre's chest, took out the axe and unloaded it again with all his strength, opening his head in half.

—Viggo— Rosewisse shouted from the sky as she saw the other two ogres running in his direction. She created several magic circles around her, and the next instant threw ten ice spears that hit the ogres on the body. The ice spears broke, but they were annoying enough to push back the ogres and force them to cover themselves with their arms.

—Once again— Viggo shouted and ran with all his might with the axe levitate in his right hand. From the sky Rosewisse gave him cover and launched two large fireballs that flew and hit the ogres. They were pushed back and in the middle of the explosion, Viggo jumped, took the axe with both hands, and released it against the head of the ogre on the left. At the same time, Rosewisse continued to attack the ogre on the right with ice spears keeping him busy. Viggo quickly broomed the ogre on the left, ran to the last ogre standing, and struck him with the axe behind the knee. The ogre felt pain, turned, and threw a punch, but Viggo stepped back and dodged by the slightest margin. Rosewisse from the sky took advantage of throwing an ice spear and hitting the ogre in the back of the head. The ogre screamed in pain, brought his hands to the back of his neck and Viggo came over to attack him once again from behind the knee. This time the blow was so hard that he tore off the ogre's leg, the latter fell on his face, put his hands in front and was at an optimal height for Viggo to take the axe with both hands and unload it with all his strength. The ogre was pure muscle and scales, so it took two powerful blows to decapitate him and still the head was hanging from a large piece of meat.

Rosewisse descended to Viggo's side and saw him covered in blood. She checks it everywhere while the latter was breathing heavily, but she couldn't see any wounds.

Viggo looked into her eyes, nodded, and took his axe with both hands. After walking to the crack on the left, he would worry about removing the treasures from the inside. Now he had to beat them all without using touki, just depending on his clairvoyance and physical strength. This was his training to develop his divinity and become a god.

Each crack had its own challenge: that of the center three elite ogres brutalized by the Niflheim fog. The one on the left a hundred draugrs, two wulver and seidr witches specialized in ice magic. Finally, the dimensional crack on the right had two travelers. It can only be said that his great sword joined the collection that Viggo had.

With the challenges over, Viggo rests both hands on his knees and breathes heavily. With his touki this would be totally easy, but that was not the idea. His intention was to develop his divinity and increase his physical strength. That would increase his strength and when he was forced to occupy touki the increase in strength would be exponential.

Rosewisse came down from the sky and stopped beside him —Are you okay?— she asked.

—Just a little tired— replied Viggo between gasps —but nothing that doesn't take away a good nap—

—You were careless with travelers— said Rosewisse when she saw that Viggo had a large cut that started from the right pectoral and crossed to the waist. It was one of the many times those guys lifted their great sword and dropped it like a terrifying guillotine. Viggo dodged it by the slightest margin. The wound looked large, but it was superficial.

—Okay, it's the price for carelessness—

—Drink some estus and let's see what was in the dimensional cracks—

Viggo smiled slyly and asked —Are you so curious to see what Ivaldi was hiding?—

—Yes, that was hard, specific, and well planned— Rosewisse said seriously —there must be something important in there—

—Okay, let's go together—

Viggo walked and Rosewisse walked beside him as his eyes were focused on the three cracks of the Realms that held the shape of a fist-sized sphere of dark water trying to stretch out. The sound of footsteps filled everything, the sky was cloudy, and a faint breeze brought the corpse-scent of the deadly mist.