Midgar and the Temple of Tyr 2.278

Rosewisse was flying through the cloudy skies of Niflheim as she followed Viggo and watched him make his way through the different areas of Ivaldi's labyrinth. It was not a labyrinth in the sense that you could get lost, but it was a labyrinth where you could be killed. Whether it's the deadly fog, the huge traps like walls that crush or jagged closures that without the knowledge of their movement can cut you in half. In addition, there was the fact that all the creatures that had been trapped, be it draugrs, wulver, ogres, travelers or seidr witches had gone mad from overexposure to the deadly fog.

On the other hand, Viggo was wearing the mask that Ivaldi had made to explore through the deadly fog. The mask was of smooth construction, white and with two holes at eye level. The great function of filtering the air was only one of its functions, since at the same time information from the surroundings appeared in real time such as a small map of the space already traveled.

Viggo stopped in front of a trap that constituted a movable wall that retracted for a few seconds and then moved crushing everything that remained between it and the other wall. At the same time, the deadly fog was everywhere, barely letting see what was under Viggo's feet. The latter stared at the ground and quickly spread a kind of energy mesh that marked the state of the ground as the potholes and objects that were hidden, such as a piece of armor very close to the crushing trap. Surely it was some guy who didn't have the strength or speed and was crushed by the walls.

—This is getting better and better— murmured Viggo, looked at the death trap that had been collected and left a long corridor that led to a wider section of the maze. The deadly fog was thick, so silhouettes were barely elucidated, but as Viggo stared again for more than ten seconds, the energy mesh was extended again and showed the state of the corridor, distance, height and what was beyond. The silhouettes were still not visible but showed a clear structure: draugrs and wulvers.

Once again, the wall extended and closed the way crushing everything in its path. Viggo waited ten seconds, the wall was recollected leaving a corridor and ran with all his strength while carrying the bag crossed over his chest and the leviathan axe in his right hand. He was wearing the dwarf royal armor, so he wasn't afraid of being caught off guard.

Viggo managed to cross the corridor, took his axe with both hands, but from the sky fell a series of fireballs that massacred the Wulver and Draugrs in just a few moments. They were few, two wulver and five draugrs, but it seems that the deadly fog affected even the undead.

Viggo looked up at the sky and saw the Valkyrie Rosewisse flapping her wings and then gliding in the sky. Viggo smiled under the mask and looked at a corner of the space where there was a totem of an old dwarf with a staff. This statue functioned as a refiner of the deadly mist.

Viggo walked up to the totem pole, crouched down and thanks to the deadly fog could barely see ahead of him, but once again the mesh of energy spread over the vision of the mask and showed him the relief of the surroundings. The silhouette of a metal lid with a ring was clearly visible. Viggo stretched out his hand, pulled the ring and opened what appeared to be a drawer. Inside were a hundred nuggets of deadly mist that when refined under a strict process would be transformed into the Niflheim alloy. Viggo opened the bag and with his hands covered by the turquoise gauntlets and gold edges took the nuggets of deadly mist. He quickly emptied the drawer and closed it.

That way Viggo was collecting all the nuggets of deadly mist that the fog refining totems had harvested during all the years when there was no one to remove them. It was a great surprise to collect such quantities because according to Ivaldi's diary at most you could collect one kilo per year and that was considering all the totem refiners that were in Ivaldi's labyrinth.

At noon Viggo finished collecting all the nuggets of deadly fog and stored them inside the leather bag. Within dimensional space it would not affect anyone, and neither would the deadly fog spread.

Viggo climbed the hill that led him to the great portal that marked the beginning of the cursed land. Once he got under the portal, he took off his mask and frowned. Viggo looked at the white mask that seemed to be a thin piece of something a little harder than an eggshell. However, despite its simplicity, it was the difference between heaven and earth. To begin with, with the mask on you did not feel the terrible corpse smell of the deadly fog.

Viggo kept the mask inside the leather bag and heard someone flutter above his head. He looked up and saw Rosewisse gently descending to his side.

—All right?— asked Rosewisse.

—All right— Viggo replied with a big smile —it had been a great harvest. Now it only had the long process of training Ivaldi's blacksmithing methods—

Rosewisse stretched out both hands as if waiting for something, and Viggo stared at her with a sly smile. Viggo nodded, took out the mask and held it out. She had to take care of a matter with the Valkyrie imprisoned within the labyrinth. This was the last one and then they could summon the Valkyrie queen, Sigrun.

Rosewisse took the mask and put it on his face —wow— she said, her voice muffled —this is nicer than it sounds—

—Yes, you do not smell the plague of fog nor are you affected by its constant exposure, but be careful, every ten seconds spread a mesh of energy on the surface and targets. It reveals information, silhouettes and things hidden by the deadly fog, but if it finds yourself unprepared it can surprise you and cause you to freeze.

—That won't happen to me— Rosewisse said.

—I hope so, I only have one mask and you're going to occupy it. So be careful when you fight with the other Valkyrie, I won't be there to accompany you—

—Don't worry, I'll win as quickly as possible for us to go back to Midgar—

—Go, I'll be waiting for you—

Rosewisse nodded, jumped into the sky, and flew off to the left sector of Ivaldi's labyrinth, where there was a wide area and the Valkyrie had been imprisoned.

Viggo stared for a few seconds, took off his left gauntlet, put it inside his bag, and took out Ivaldi's blacksmith book. Here even came out as he creates Gungnir, the spear of Odin. Viggo began to walk toward the bridge toward the temple of Tyr as he read. According to Ivaldi's instructions, the spear was made to respond to Odin's will and enhance his power.

Viggo stood still in the middle of the bridge leading to the temple of Tyr. In the midst of the stillness, with the deadly fog that carried him to his ankles and the cloudy sky, he murmured —a great unknown, what is the divinity of that guy?—

—You finally appear— said someone from heaven, whose voice sounded soft, cold, and distant, with a hint of sadness.

Viggo looked up at the sky and saw another Valkyrie flying in his direction. Viggo recognized her immediately, she was Brunnhilde, the dragon, as Rosewisse called her. The Valkyrie had gray, wavy hair with two braids framing her face. She was wearing her golden armor, but her right arm was missing.

Brunnhilde descended three meters ahead of Viggo. She raised her small and stylized face with a frown. Apparently, not because of anger, but because of the loss of her limb and pain.

—Let me see— Viggo said immediately.

The Valkyrie stepped back, but that was all she did, and then looked down —it's none of your business, Rosewisse's husband—

Viggo let out a sigh and said –you can call me Viggo, it's not my business, but there is no harm in helping you– he reached in his leather bag and took out the bottle of estus –take– he said holding out the bottle –you liked it, Right? Try a little, it will make you feel better—

Brunnhilde looked into his eyes, waited for a few seconds, and approached slowly. She took the emerald bottle while looking at Viggo suspiciously as if he were going to scold her, but he never did that. He just stared at her and Brunnhilde put the bottle of estus to her lips. The delicious taste of the estus filled her mouth and she was quickly relieved.

Brunnhilde returned the bottle and said —Thank you—

Viggo received the bottle, noticed that she had a better countenance and put the bottle away —you're welcome— he said —now tell me why you lost your arm?—

Brunnhilde looked down and replied —it's normal to be punished when you don't do things right—

—A punishment is a punishment— Viggo said in a serious tone of voice —but having your arm cut off is something you only due to your enemies. It's not normal, don't talk like it's okay—

Brunnhilde stepped back and bowed her head as if she had made a mistake —I'm sorry— she said.

Viggo let out a sigh and stared at the young Valkyrie who should have been the same age as Rosewisse. He let out a sigh and asked —What did the AllFather say?—

Brunnhilde looked for a medal in her clothes and held it out. Viggo received the medal, looked at it and realized that it had a crow engraved on his face and a spear on the other side, like a coin. Viggo chuckled and occupied his clairvoyance on the medal. Then he could hear the thoughts and feel the feelings that the raven god possessed as he passed this medal to Brunnhilde. Just as Viggo first thought, Brunnhilde was sent on this mission with various intentions. The first was to kill them, but also to die in the process and even if she didn't die, Odin would look for an excuse to punish her and cut off her arm. It was not good for such a strong young girl of the Vanir race to walk around as if nothing had happened. Anyone could turn it against Odin and that would only mean problems in the future. Odin liked the strong and foolish, but mostly the ones he could easily manipulate. Brunnhilde seemed naïve, but if Odin told her to attack the Vanir, she would never do it.

—Ok, no problem— said Viggo, looked at Brunnhilde and concentrated on the blue eyes that stood out thanks to the gray hair. She looked down with a blush on her cheeks and nodded —but you're going to have to go with me—

—Why?— asked Brunnhilde, raised her face and looked into his eyes —that medal should create a portal to travel to where the AllFather lives—

—Well, it turns out that right now I don't want to see an upset old man— Viggo replied with a broad smile, leaving Brunnhilde even more confused.

Brunnhilde saw Viggo walk and pass by her. She turned and stared at him in that beautiful turquoise armor with engravings and gold edges —where?—

—To walk on the bridge, we will wait for Rosewisse and I would like to talk to someone—

—I can't, you don't understand, I must go back—

—Don't worry, your duty is to take me to the AllFather, isn't it?—

Brunnhilde frowned but followed anyway.