CH60: Grif, Fen and the {Vault of Knowledge}

***

[A.N: This is a 2-in-1 chapter to wrap up the book. Hope you enjoy it.😏]

[Confirm: You want Unknown creature to become the Host for the Blessing, {Trusty Steed}?]

[Y/N]

I made the decision to use the beast within the egg Zora gave me as the host of my last unlocked blessing.

I weighed this decision strongly before making it, with a few points finally convincing me to take the plunge.

First, I was likely not going to find a better pet than this, considering that the Astra of the {Fool's Sanctuary} plus the care from the Grand Tree had caused it to evolve into some sort of a super beast.

Second, it was the beast/pet Zora got for me and I promised to take care of it. The egg was symbolic of my relationship (whatever it was) with Zora and I felt I owed it to her... and to myself to do something significant with it. What better way than this? Also, making it host the incarnation of a Spirit, a higher being, would almost guarantee its unlimited potential.

Finally, with or without my help, as it stood, the beast could potentially grow to become a strong beast. Strong enough to threaten humanity. It's cynical, perhaps pessimistic of me, but it would be irresponsible for me to unleash such a creature onto the world without having a strong leash on it. By making it my {Trusty Steed}, I would have a strong control over it, like I feel I have with Gandr and Fen.

With these considered, I affirmed my decision and clicked on 'yes'.

[Notice: Sleipnir understands your decision.]

[Notice: Incarnation {Trusty Steed} will be bestowed on chosen subject.]

Suddenly, a golden light shined around the egg. The golden markings on it increased.

[Notice: Unknown Creature can no longer contain itself within the egg. Hatching must occur immediately!]

[Notice: Host's blood is required for Hatching.]

Actually, I didn't need the Interface to tell me that. The egg was shaking erratically. It was either going to crack or explode.

I cut my thumb with my pocket knife and dripped the blood on the egg.

Suddenly, the number of red markings on the egg also increased. It matched up with the number of golden markings.

Then, the two different coloured markings combined together to form white markings.

The egg cracked along the white markings.

Oddly enough, there was no spectacle. It was just a simple hatching like any other bird hatching.

Yes, after all the funfair, the beast was a bird... an eagle to be exact.

It was unlike any eagle I've ever seen. My closest guess was that it was a golden eagle.

Nah... scratch that. It IS a Golden Eagle.

I mean that literally.

All its feathers were golden with some red and purple tints. Its feet were scaly white but its talons were red with a purple tint.

The eagle that came out of the egg looked adolescent and it was easy to tell it was a predator. Its body posed power, the ends of its feathers looked menacingly sharp, its talons looked like they could tear through metal while its beak looked like it could tear flesh from the toughest hide.

A predator indeed it was.

Yet, strangely enough, there was a beauty to be found in the savagery.

It was like looking at a lion or a tiger. You knew this was a mean, dangerous creature, yet there was something about them that was oddly captivating... the majesty of it all.

The eagle was like that.

The eagle soon made short work of its egg's shell.

It's golden feathers shined in a subtle purple shape.

It suddenly retracted its sharp beak and cruel talons. Even the sharpness of its feathers dulled like an illusion.

The savagery I saw before was nowhere to be seen, only a... cute(?) eagle was left in its place.

The bird opened its wings for the first time and flew up. It perched on my shoulder and rubbed its face against my cheek affectionately.

I had a weird thought at this moment.

I remembered reading a fictional story about an order of assassins spanning many generations. Each of the major members of each generation had an eagle partner/pet.

I was an assassin and I now had an eagle partner. The only things I was missing were their iconic hoods and wrist blades.

Especially the wrist blades.

[Notice: Inheritance complete. Unknown Creature is now the host of Blessing, {Trusty Steed}.]

[Trusty Steed]

Type: Beast Incarnation-type

Remark: The world of Arun is filled with danger. Having a trusted mount can help protect your life. The Incarnation is now one with Host's chosen creature. The host creature's form will be tailored to the Host's preference with some other benefits.

Effect 1: Host gains perfect riding skills. (Man-mount unity).

Effect 2: Host creature can transform into a more combat oriented form.

Effect 3: Host creature can transform into any mount of the Host's choice.

(Unavailable until Host reaches Tier III.)

I held my chin as I read through the information.

My gaze turned to the innocent looking predator.

'Battle Form.'

I ordered the bird of prey telepathically like I do Gandr and could do with Fen.

The bird released a whistle before jumping off my shoulder. It flew out of the tree cavity. I followed it outside where it had landed on the floor.

Then, it grew bigger.

Till above human size.

It was big enough for me to stand on its back. And somehow, I knew I could ride on its back while it flew.

'Must be the so-called "Man-mount Unity".' I mused.

However, the show my latest pet had in store for me wasn't over.

Suddenly, it released a purple-gold light so bright that I had to look away. When I looked back, the eagle was gone.

In front of me was a creature I had heard about only in myths in my previous life.

A Griffon.

A mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle on the body of a lion.

My eyes went back to the remark.

'The host creature's form will be tailored to the Host's preference'. I guess Sleipnir figured I had a preference for lions. Well, I couldn't blame him, considering I reference lions a lot. Heck, my name is Leo.

Sleipnir used its incarnation to combine a lion with an eagle thus giving me the two-metre tall griffon before me.

To be honest, this griffon form seemed like a more natural 'mount' than an eagle. Plus, it could fight with me on its back. All I needed was a saddle.

The griffon pulled off another trick and shrank.

It shrank to about my knee height. It looked small and cute... if you can looked beyond the weirdness of fusing two apex predators together.

It walked over and paced around me like it was looking for praise.

I rubbed its head and under its chin(?) while I thought up a name.

I eventually went with Grif.

Grif from 'Griffon' since that's what it was, and 'Grifter' since it could change its form.

I believe it's a good name.

At least it felt better than Griffith which was the alternative I came up with. I don't know, but it just didn't feel right to name a bird that

[Notice: Host has named Unknown Creature. Contract is now complete]

As it turns out, Fen didn't want to be left out of the excitement. It decided to pull out its own surprise show.

The wolf cub jogged to Grif's previous position.

The wolf cub suddenly grew to the size of an adult wolf. Its snow white fur looked even more fabulous and fluffy. I could imagine many women going crazy for it with how soft it looked.

Then, it did something I wasn't expecting.

It opened its mouth and conjured an ice bolt, which turned into an ice spear, then an ice ball, then a crystal. The ice form changed over and over again.

At some point I realised the damned wolf was just showing off it could use 'magic' or abilities. I won't lie, I was a little jealous.

Finally, it let go of its control over the ice and it dissipated into the surrounding in a chilling air.

I saw its wagging tail and was about to praise it when it suddenly transformed again. It now towered over me. It was now more of a Direwolf than a wolf.

Not only that.

Its face... the menacing look, the razor sharp canines and the fact that it conjured fire reminded me of one person.

Fenrir.

This was Fenrir's form after it was betray by the Asgardian Spirits.

That said, it was still the same Fen.

It conjured a ball of flames from his mouth and changed its shape like it did with the ice from before.

Once it was done with that, it pulled off a third transformation.

It turned into a big ass fire-breathing three-headed wolf about four metres tall. The head on the left released a bluish flame breath, the right head gave off yellow flames while the centre head had red-black flame breaths.

If I had to guess, the left head was from Hati who chased the moon, the right head was from Skoll who chased the sun while the central head was Fenrir.

Then, a thought hit me.

It was after Fenrir became the Wolf of Destruction that he turned blackish-furred and gained control of the Flames of Muspelheim. However, before that it had snow white fur. Now, Fen can suddenly control ice in its white-fur form.

I doubt it was a coincidence.

When its black, it can shoot flames of Muspelheim. In that case, it must be the opposite for when its white. The opposite realm of Muspelheim is Niflhelm which is the realm of... frost.

Makes sense.

If it shoots flames of Muspelheim (i.e. Flames of Destruction) in one form, it must be controlling the Frost of Niflhelm in the other form.

I have questions but I doubt I'll get any answers.

In the meantime, I gave the two shapeshifters some instructions.

Grif's two mode will be called Eagle form and Griffon form with either one having a battle/mount mode and the rest (cute) mode.

For Fen, I went with White and Black Forms with a Rest and Battle mode for the White Form and a Battle and Super Battle modes for the Black Form.

The point of this is to have one consistent form for my Leo and Alex (the Fool) personas. I can't afford anyone making the connection between the two.

For Leo, I chose Fen's White Mode and Grif's Griffon mode. This way, I get to have a cute pet wolf which can turn into a somewhat competent battle pet, plus its Ice control had a cooler visual effect (pun intended) as well as having a 'normal' looking, all-round mount.

For Alex, I went with Fen's Black Mode and Grif's Eagle Mode. I couldn't resist the Eagle and the Assassin thing. Also, Fen's terrifying Black Mode adds to the whole messenger of death image I was building with The Fool.

I decided not to think much about Gandr. Whether as Leo or Alex, I intended to keep the knowledge of its snake form to a minimal. Perhaps only the three ladies, Navia, Zora and Anastasia will ever know of its existence.

[Notice: Congratulations to Host for gaining the acknowledgement of all your Patrons.]

[Vault of Knowledge.]

Remark: The Vault of Knowledge is the other half of the greatest gift given to the Host by Lord Loki. The Lord of Mischief requires that Host earns the recognition of his household before this final most precious Blessing is given to you.

Condition: Acquire the recognition of the Household of Loki. (6/6)

Lord Loki (Acknowledged)

Lady Sigyn (Acknowledged)

Queen Hel (Acknowledged)

Lord Fenrir (Acknowledged)

Lord Jormungandr (Acknowledged)

Sleipnir (Acknowledged)

[Notice: Conditions satisfied. {Vault of Knowledge} unlocked]

[Vault of Knowledge]

Type: Interface add-on Blessing.

Remark: A store containing the knowledge made available to the host... for a price.

Effect 1: Grants the Host Mischief Points.

Effect 2: Allows Host to purchase knowledge acquired by Host from previous life and from memories of targets killed by Host (restrictions apply).

Finally, the last and major Blessing is finally unlocked. It seems like a long time coming.

I just knew it couldn't disappoint with how much effort I put in.

I left the three Incarnates to themselves and returned to the Cottage's study.

'Open {Vault of Knowledge}.'

[Notice: Host has requested to open the {Vault of Knowledge} for the first time. You have a message from Lord Loki.]

[Message: Good work in your efforts in your second life so far. Hope you've enjoyed it. Congratulations on unlocking my final gift to you. But before you open the blessing, I want you to answer some questions.]

[Message: To unlock this Blessing, you've had to earn the acknowledgement of those of my house. That means you had to know them and figure out what they want from you. In that case you should have a basic understanding of each of us. So, the question is, what is the law common to the members of the Loki Lineage.]

As usual, Loki never fails to pull one over me.

I recalled what I knew of every member of the household from the head, Loki, to his wife, Sigyn, and the others, Hel, Jormungandr, Fenrir and Sleipnir.

They each looked like vastly different people, having vastly different abilities.

But then, I noticed something at the core which seemed to connect them all.

"Transformation." I answered.

[Message: In that case, what kind of 'Transformation' do I have?]

Annoying fellow didn't tell me if I was right or wrong. He just continued the question along the line of my answer. Did my answer even matter?

I turned my focus to the second question.

Come to think of it, I had the smallest knowledge about Loki himself out of all my Patrons. The question seemed difficult. I thought I was going to have to crack my head for an answer, but then I realised.

Mischief... Deception... Transformation.

"Your form of transformation is Imitation. You make mischiefs... you deceive... you make what is fake to seem... no, become real." I answered as if in a trance or state of enlightenment. "My presence is an example of that. You made my soul imitate those of this world... transformed it into something which can live in the world of Arun. I am your greatest mischief. After all, you succeeded in deceiving an entire world's Laws. However, I am still an imitation. That's why I don't have mana or a Pangea."

[Message: Interesting.]

[Message: As it stands, you are an Honorary member of the House of Loki. And by extension, you are privy to the Laws of Transformation. My last question is, what kind of Transformation do you want to have?]

Again, he didn't tell me if I was right or wrong, but this time, I could see his questions had a purpose.

I searched my heart to come up with an answer. An answer that would set my template going forward.

But then I realised. I didn't have to search too deeply, because I knew the answer in my heart.

I've known it since I drew my first breath in this world... since I recovered my memories of my previous life.

"In my previous life, I was a Fool. I gave up on someone who loved me because I was loyal to someone who had always betrayed me. I gave up everything I loved, for things I didn't care about and held no value to me."

In my previous life, I was a good soldier because of all the knowledge I acquired while I was younger. However, I didn't acquire those knowledge because I wanted to be a soldier. No, I got them because I wanted to write a story of the greatest soldier.

You could argue that I lived my story, in a manner of speaking, but it wasn't what I wanted.

My first life was one full of regrets and giving up on the things I wanted most.

I wanted to be a writer of the greatest military story ever told, but I gave it up to live as a soldier... an operative who did many things I wasn't proud of, believing it was for the greater good. But whose greater good?

I gave up someone I cared about, because I was blindly loyal. Because I believed I wasn't worthy. Because I believed she deserved better than me. But what came of it? She lived a life full of pain, only to eventually be killed by the man I thought was better... the man I was loyal to.

In all honesty, I'm not sure if I have anything in my previous life I was proud of, maybe the Taskforce 47 members I served with. It was a life of regrets.

I want that to change.

"In this life, I want to be 'the Fool'. A man with no regrets and achieves everything he wants. A man who reaches the Apex... be it as an Assassin, a Herbalist, an Alchemist, a Teacher, a Guildmaster, or even just a husband and a man. I want the fool of my first life to become such a 'Fool' in my new life."

I can't say I won't make the same mistakes. I can only say I'll try.

I will live for my goals. I'll fight for what I want and who I love. I will do my best to leave no regrets.

I must... will turn one life of regrets to another of no regrets.

This is my Transformation... this is my second chance.

[Message: You have chosen your path. I hope you never waiver. The {Vault of Knowledge} has been configured to your needs.

[Message: Remember, this is only an aid, you can only truly change with your own hands. We will be watching you. The stage is yours, put on a good show. Live a life of no-regrets.]

Then, a new screen opened before me with digital fireworks as if celebrating something.

However, my mind wasn't on that. As I thought, Loki's questions weren't for fun. It was to make me decide my path and configure the final blessing to that path.

Honestly, I have everything I need. If I don't live a good life with this second chance, I'll only have myself to blame.

With that in mind, I turned to the new transparent screen.

[Leo Xander.]

Race: Prime Human

Title: World Challenger

Life Path (Primary): Assassin.

Sub Path (Secondary): Herbology

Tier: Tier II (Basic Rank Privileges.)

Mischief Points: 55,000 MP

[Knowledge] [Blessings] [Weapons] [Customisations & Designs]

The tab looked almost similar to the homepage of my Interface but it was a little different.

For one, I had a Sub Path here which was registered as Herbology. According to the Interface, this was important because it narrowed down on related purchasable which made it easier to find stuffs I could buy with Mischief points which were related to my chosen Paths.

Also, I finally figure the point of Tiers.

Tiers determined the grade of things I could buy. Apparently some purchasable are divided into grades. The higher the grade, the higher the quality of the knowledge, hence their requirement. In a sense, my tier governed how strong I could be. So, if I wasn't in a particular tier, I wouldn't be able to properly use whatever I buy above my Tier.

The Vault was divided into four sections.

I clicked on [Knowledge]

[Knowledge]

Mischief Points: 55,000 MP

[Energy] [Physical] [Combat] [Life/Profession]

I looked through a few of the knowledge under each branch, in essence, [Knowledge] gave me information on some fields.

For example, under [Energy], I saw {Hypnosis} which had knowledge on how to use energy (i.e. Mana, Astra etc.) to Hypnotise someone. Under [Combat], I saw {Kickboxing} which was knowledge on kickboxing techniques. Under [Life/Profession], I saw {Anatomy}, {Botany} and some other familiar professions.

However, this was just 'knowledge'.

According to the Interface, all I'll be getting is knowledge. It's not like when I purchase {Anatomy}, I'll instantly become a PhD holder in Anatomy. I'll just have an extensive textbook downloaded into my head. I have to practise it to digest the knowledge.

It's a bit inefficient, but who am I to complain. A freebie is a freebie.

[Blessings] pretty much gave limited add-ons to my Blessings.

For example, {Joker's Trump card}, which I haven't used at this point had a limited number of time it could be used freely within a period. I could purchase more uses under the [Blessing Section].

There were some other ones we'll skip for now.

I overlooked [Weapons] and clicked on [Customization/Design].

Here, I could come up with new looks for my items. For example, I could design Gandr's silver Snakehead cane as a Pythonhead cane or a Lizardhead cane, even a Lionhead cane. I could also change Fen's look from a white/black wolf depending on forms to blue/red wolf.

Anything was possible.

However, the changes only applied for a limited time. Also, the more the changes deviated from the original, the greater the amount I had to pay.

I designed a naga (snakeman) form for Gandr, I was asked to pay 1 million MP for 1 year. Then, for fun, I turned it into an eagle, I was asked to pay 1 billion MP for 1 month.

So, the more insane the change, the more appalling the cost.

That said, I did make a change to Gandr's form which I thought was worth the money. That's a matter for later.

Anyway, with that settled, I turned to the last section, [Weapons]

According to the Interface, this originates from one of the {Instrument of Destruction}'s privileges.

[Fen]

Type: Incarnation-type Blessing.

Remark: An incarnation shouldering the wishes of Lord Fenrir. The Wolf of Destruction has created this incarnation for the Host to act as your companion through your journey in this life as well as the instrument to rid you of the enemies on your path to the Apex.

Blessing 1: Duplicity granting Fen the ability to grow into various forms and sizes.

Blessing 2: Lord Fenrir has used the sparks of Hati and Skoll to grant the host the ability to summon any weapon of your choosing.

The key detail is the second Blessing. The Sparks of Hati and Skoll granted me the ability to summon any weapon of my choosing.

To use the [Weapon] column, I had to decide which weapon-type I wanted to summon. And I could only do it once, as the weapon-type would be the only weapon-type I could purchase from the Vault.

If I went with Swords, I'll be able to buy Katana, Longswords, Greatswords, BastardSwords, Claymores, Khopesh and so on. Any type I wanted could be purchased at anything.

I could also go with Spears, Bows, Staffs, Tonfas... any weapon-type.

With the limited martial arts tradition of this world, I could become a 'master' of any weapon I chose.

However, as appealing as those options were, I was a modern soldier. Not only that, I was the leader of Taskforce 47, the most elite of Elite Operatives in my previous world.

There was only one weapon-type for me.

So much so that I've dreamt of holding a particular weapon under that type for as long as I could remember in this world.

With this opportunity, there was only one weapon I could choose. And I chose it without caring for the likely consequences or hiccups of using such a weapon in this world.

Of course, I chose...

Guns!

(The End...)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I think this was my longest chapter yet. I wanted to wrap everything up in this chapter. I'm glad I was able to finish the book in 60 chapters.

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

After much thought and consideration, I've decided to end it here.

The first volume was a fun work for me. I hope volume 2 will be better, fingers crossed.🤓

Stay tuned for Volume 2 and I'll see you in the next chapter.😉

Last Chapter Next Chapter