Full Body

12/8/975 AD

"Asger, are you just going to watch?" I asked, spotting Asger leaning against a tree, watching me.

"You immortals... You really grow fast," Asger muttered, his eyes staring up as though remembering something.

"That's true, isn't it?" I chuckled awkwardly before activating my deep breathing. 'Actually, couldn't I just focus on my breathing separately? It doesn't necessarily have to become a habit if I can focus on it separately,' I thought to myself smartly. Then, I tried it. I tried focusing on my breathing while also focusing on trying to create skin bubbles along my arm. But, it wasn't working. Whenever I tried doing both at once, it always ended up with one of them faltering, either my breathing would stagnate or my skin would barely show signs of my control. "I did this just before though," I scratched my head out of confusion, trying to remember what I did. "Wait. No, I did it a bit differently," my eyes lit up as a great realisation occurred. "I did the breathing first, then I moved my focus to my arm," I muttered my thoughts aloud. "But, how do I do both at the same time?!" my fingers scraped frustratedly into the dirt. 'No, stop. No point getting frustrated. Breathe, Aslerta. Breathe and give yourself time to think,' I thought reassuringly to myself. My mind slowly began to clear as I sat still, allowing my lungs to overflow with oxygen. I took a deep breath in and felt the oxygen travel down my throat and into my lungs; I felt the oxygen move into my heart then spread throughout my body. 'I'm just realising this now, but it is a bit hard to think when I have to breathe deeply,' it took me two times as long as it normally did to form that thought in my mind. 'Ok, ok. I'll just picture the bubbles forming on my arms,' As I thought this, my breathing faltered and returned to the normal subconscious breathing. However, I was still imagining my arm covered in many little bubbles of skin. As I imagined it, my arm seared with a prickly sort of pain as I felt my skin push itself upwards, forming many different, little lumps of skin along my arm. "That works, but my breathing failed while doing that!" I hissed beneath my breath, my hands clutching frustratedly at my head. "I need to figure this out soon if I want to even hope of killing Guttorm and saving Irene," I muttered my thoughts aloud again.

"Are you struggling over there, Aslerta?" Asger asked coolly, watching from within the trees.

"What does it look like?!" I spat rudely.

"Woah there. There's that anger of yours again," Asger shook his head as he walked out of the trees, towards me.

"What are you doing? You can't teach me any of this! Your little mortal brain could never!" I continued on, rudely, glaring at him.

"Well, that's no way to talk to your elders," Asger stated calmly, dashing towards me, his sword already unsheathed.

"W-what?" my eyes opened wide as his blade appeared right in front of me.

"You didn't even notice me unsheathe it, did you? You see, that's what anger does to the mind; it clouds our thought and vision," he tapped me on the head lightly with his sword.

"You've already taught me this," I murmured, still glaring at him. 

"Indeed, I have. I'm just trying to remind you to breathe deep," Asger grinned as he sheathed his sword once more.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" I yelled, my fingers sliding down the sides of my head.

"No, it isn't," Asger stated, shaking his head.

"W-what do you mean?" I looked at him dumbfounded.

"You already know how to breathe deeply. What you're doing now, is trying to breathe deeply and do that arm thing at the same exact time. Or, in other words, you are trying to figure out some multi-focus ability your kind has," Asger explained wisely, exuding a powerful sense of calm.

"Yes? Why are you explaining this to me? I already know what I'm trying to do,"

"Really?" Asger asked bluntly.

"What do you mean 'really'? Of course I know what I'm trying to do!" I countered aggressively.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is, if this multi-focus thing is a natural thought process of an immortal, then shouldn't you be able to do it naturally? So, rather than trying to force your mind to do it, shouldn't you just do it?" Asger gave a confusing answer, his expression never faltering.

"Just do it?" I repeated in confusion.

"That's right. Just do it," Asger nodded in approval.

"How am I supposed to 'just do it'?!" I queried again. But, the only response I got was a shrug from Asger before he disappeared back into the trees. "Fine then. I'll just give up on it," I spoke under my breath, relaxing myself into a seated position again. I slowly began to breathe, gradually feeling my lungs fill up with oxygen. I felt them expanding as they struggled to contain all the oxygen. Then, they began contracting, as the oxygen flowed out, through my heart and into my bloodstream. As I breathed, I felt my mind focusing on each individual stream of blood the oxygen flowed through. The blood, accompanied by the oxygen filled up each individual vein in my body, filling me with sensations from all over my body. I slowly tuned out the rest of my thoughts and pictured, once again, my arm covered in little lumps of skin. Then, just as before, I felt my arms sear with a pricking pain, spreading up each arm. Soon, after not too long, the pricks subsided and I was left with the sensation of having a heavier arm. I looked down and, indeed, the arm was covered in little fleshy attachments. "Hm, if there's a way to inflate them, then surely I can deflate them too," I muttered to myself, realising both my arms were covered with protrusions of flesh. Closing my eyes, I began picturing my right arm, just as it was before, completely normal. As I imagined it, my arm felt as though it turned into a vacuum as it began to become lighter, sucking all the excess flesh back into place. "Woah! It worked!" I exclaimed, looking down at my now normal looking arm.

20/8/975 AD

I've been practising the same thing each day for the past week or so. Manipulating the skin on my arms, then deflating it. Then, I repeated. It's become quite the fast process now; it only takes a second or so to cover my entire arm.

We've left the previous village recently and are currently on our way to another village, which we should be arriving to within a few days. So, I have to train on the boats, which is near impossible because I'm always told to do something or my focus is stolen by bored Viking men. "Come on, Asger. Could you give me a 0 work pass? You ought to be able to do that!" I begged Asger as I adjusted the sail to match the breeze.

"No. Go ask Guttorm yourself," Asger responded from his perch, near the edge of the ship, looking out across the ocean, towards the coast.

"You want to go to land? So do I. Nights are the only time I can concentrate," I sighed as I finished up the fiddly job of adjusting sails. "Hey, Asger. I don't believe you've ever told me this, but, why did you become a Viking?" I asked, absently, controlled by my insatiable boredom.

"Why are you interested in that?" Asger's eye flicked to the side curiously.

"I'm just bored," I answered.

"Boredom, ay? Well, I could, but why?" Asger turned his head fully, his eyes staring expressionlessly into mine.

"Well, I've always wondered how you turned out like this," I gestured to him, "Like a calm, strategic battle genius. Normal Vikings turn out like bloodthirsty psychopaths,"

"I'm not sure either. I suppose I could've become a bloodthirsty psychopath," Asger chuckled slightly. "But, no. I've always been calm like this. I learnt from a young age to control my breathing. That's why I didn't react much when my family, my village, were slaughtered. It gave me time to think over what I wanted to become; did I want to become a bloodthirsty psychopath? Or, perhaps, did I want to be more than that? Did I want to become a greater man, a strategic battle genius?" Asger explained. "Clearly, I chose the latter," Asger added on.

"I see. So, you've never felt anything for the loss of your family? Nothing at all?" I asked.

"No, I have. But, I always managed to drown it out. Just breathe. Remember that," Asger reinforced his deep breathing technique.

"What are you guys talking about?" a curious voice spoke, followed by the feeling of a small hand gripping my shoulder.

"Eira!" I turned around, my eyes lighting up. "Been a while," I gave her a smile, which sent her face into a strong outbreak of fiery cheek syndrome.

"So, this is the girl. The one who knows Silotona, correct?" Asger asked, eyeing her observantly. "Shouldn't you be with Guttorm?"

Eira's cheeks paled instantly upon hearing the name, "He had to go over to the other boat. They were messing around. So, it gave me some free time,"

"I see," Asger nodded slowly.

"Well, any progress?" she turned her head to me, her golden eyes bright with hope.

"I'm sorry, Eira. But, you'll have to wait a little longer," I looked down at the ground shamefully.

"Oh... I see," she murmured. "Don't worry, Aslerta. I'll wait as long as it takes! Just, try your best!" she spoke encouragingly.

"I will!" her positivity infected me as I looked up at her golden eyes again.

"Ahem, Eira. I think you should go," Asger stepped in, pointing away from us.

"Why, Asger? Guttorm isn't even coming back," I whispered to the man beside me. Asger, unmoving, continued to point away. Eira looked at him with with an annoyed sort of look before giving in. She slowly walked away, giving backward glances every now and then. "I don't trust her," Asger muttered once she'd gone far enough away. "She's probably already told Guttorm everything," he said.

"W-what? Why don't you trust her?" I asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. But, she's a woman who spends almost all her time with Guttorm. That alone makes it much harder to trust her," Asger answered.

"What if she ends up not being a spy for Guttorm? What then?" I countered with more questions.

"Then, great. But, until that's confirmed, I don't trust her," Asger reinforced his rock-solid opinion.

"Right..." I decided to agree with him, after all, he was quite the genius.

***

Night had already fallen and the camp was set up in a small lot of land along the coast, somewhere in Denmark, I believe. The camp was silent, save for the few left on night watch who were chatting amongst themselves. Apart from that, everyone was asleep; in other words, it was the perfect opportunity for me to train. And, I needed to train fast, just in case worst came to worst and Eira really was a spy for Guttorm. I walked away from the main camp area, towards the outskirts of the encampment. It was a short walk, so I quickly reached the forest area.

I looked around in the forest and found the perfect spot to train. It was a small bit of land, clear of trees, beside a small creek. I sat down on the river bed, my legs crossed. I'd already perfected the one arm version of the technique, so I was keen on trying it with multiple arms. Just as I was about to begin, I thought of Eira, "There's no way she'd betray us, right? Doesn't she want to escape Guttorm?" My mind filled with many different thoughts, all surrounding Eira. 'Is she a traitor? No, there's no way! But, how do you know for certain?', thoughts like that. It continued on for a while, distracting me from my true purpose. "No," I declared. "Breathe, and show the thoughts out," I muttered as I slowly began to breathe. I breathed slowly and with purpose, allowing the oxygen to fill my lungs entirely. Within a few seconds, I felt like I couldn't breathe in anymore, and so, I exhaled. Long, and slow. My lungs slowly deflated as its contents spread throughout my bloodstream. My mind had settled. "Good," I murmured. "Okay, now let's try," I said, picturing both my arms covered in small fleshy protrusions. Almost the moment the picture appeared in my mind, I could feel my arms trying to replicate it. Both my arms burnt with pain as the skin morphed and twisted, reaching up out of my arm. I groaned in pain as my skin continued to change itself. The pain drew on for 20 or so seconds, until finally, it ceased. I sighed in relief as the pain subdued, falling onto my back, exhausted. "W-woah, I did it!" I exclaimed in exhaustion, looking down at my arms carefully. And, sure enough, I saw many little lumps of skin all over each arm.

My arms trembled slightly as they moved for my sword. I needed to kill myself, so my body would return to normal; all my hunger, thirst and exhaustion restored to optimal levels. I felt my hands grip the handle as they slowly pulled it out of its sheathe. The sword shook in my grip as my arms trembled in pain. "Why do my arms hurt so much! I did the same thing as usual, just with two!" I complained as my arms seared with unbearable pain. My teeth dug into my lips as I struggled to bear the pain. I felt the taste of blood in my mouth as my teeth tore apart my lower lip, my arms slowly bringing my sword closer and closer to my heart. My teeth pressed down with a sudden burst of force as a wave of pain surged through my arms, which slowly continued to bring the sword closer and closer to my heart. I exhaled loudly as I felt the tip of my blade pierce my chest. Then, with all the strength left in my arms, I pushed my sword deep down into my chest, piercing my heart. The world around me spun like a tornado as it was torn up and blasted away, into the abyss of death. Opening my eyes, I looked around and was met with the unsettling sight of infinite darkness. "Ah, much better," I muttered, my insignificant form floating around in the infinite void. I moved my ghostly arms freely, rejoicing in the painless sensation. My eyes danced around the darkness, seeing everything, once again falling upon two shining white dots, far, far in the distance. "I will reach you one day," I murmured, my hand reaching out for them, my body going gold. The holy light of revival spilled from the ceiling, washing away all the darkness, replacing it with gold. 

After not too long, the gold was replaced with more colours as my mind was placed back in its rightful place, my body. "Ahh, my arms feel much better," I sighed in relief, lying like a starfish on the floor. "Why did it hurt so much that time?" I asked myself quietly, gazing absently up into the calm night sky. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard rustling in one of the bushes. "Are you spying on me again Eira?" I asked in a voice loud enough that whoever was there could hear. Receiving no response, I slowly got up from the floor. "Answer me. I know you're there," I ordered this time. Then, I heard even more rustling, followed by a loud thud as though someone had fallen. "Hm?" I dashed through the bushes, to where the sound came from. There, on the floor, I found Eira, her pale skin red with embarrassment, Asger holding her down. "Were you both watching me?" I asked, looking between their eyes. From Eira's beautiful golden eyes full of fear and embarrassment, to Asger's dark green, expressionless, eyes. "Indeed," Asger gave a nod. "And, so was she," Asger pointed down at the woman beneath him.

"I see," I answered, crouching down beside Eira. "Eira, let me just ask you this. Are you a spy?" I whispered in her ear with a scary voice. "You're beauty and innocent face may have tricked me, but they didn't trick Asger," I added.

"N-no! I-I'm not a spy! How could you ever accuse me of such a thing?!" she was quick to defend herself, her face going redder and redder with each word.

"Sure. How can we be so sure when you're with Guttorm all day? You probably tell him everything," my hand grabbed her face roughly and made her face me. Her golden eyes stared into mine with great admiration, her face going completely red. Then, as if she'd only just heard what I'd said, her face went pale and her brows furrowed, "No! I would never tell Guttorm a thing! Never!"

"Really?" I spoke in a soothing voice, trying to sound as trustworthy as possible.

"Yes really. My lips are sealed," she pressed her lips together to form a thin line, her eyes stared into mine with determination.

"What do you think Asger? I'm not the best lie detector," I looked to Asger, who was still holding Eira down.

"I wouldn't say she's lying," Asger nodded slowly, his eyes watching Eira's face thoughtfully.

"So, does that mean we can trust her again!" I beamed, excited to get on good terms with Eira again. Eira looked between Asger and I, her eyes full of hope. "Perhaps, but we can't go telling her anything else," Asger looked at me before saying something else, "Got that?"

"Yes, I got that," I gave a small nod, my eyes drifting back to Eira's. Asger finally got off Eira, letting her go free. She wiggled her fingers and moved her arms, happy to get her mobility back. She bounced up off the floor, and ran right straight at me. My eyes widened as I felt her arms wrap around me. "Thank you for trusting me," she murmured.

"Y-you're welcome," I answered, my arms closing around her as well. I could feel her chest rising and falling as she breathed; I could feel her chin resting on my shoulder, could hear her breathing in my ear. I awkwardly moved my arms away, but her arms didn't budge. "Um, Eira? You don't need to hug me for so long," I whispered, my gaze flicking from Eira to Asger who was watching with slight amusement. "N-no!" she answered stubbornly, her arms wrapping around me tighter, her head burrowing into my shoulder.

"I don't know if I should be doing this. I can't be hugging another woman like this," I declared, my thoughts drifting back to that time I kissed Irene. 'I want to kiss her again,' I thought with slight lust mixed in with regret. 'If only I'd been stronger at that time,' I thought again, a tear falling from my eye, making it's way down my cheek.

"W-what do you mean another woman?! D-do you have a wife?!" Eira exclaimed, her face twisting to look at me, her cheeks a bright red.

"Future wife... Hopefully," I murmured, my eyes gazing blankly at the ground.

"I-I see," she whispered in defeat, her arms falling to her sides, setting me free.

"I don't know if you're stupid or something, Aslerta. But she clearly likes you," Asger pointed out, bored of the scene playing out in front of him.

"W-what?!" my eyes went wide, my mind clearing of any sad thoughts I was thinking. "Is this true?" I searched Eira's beautiful golden eyes for answers. Eira's small head gave a little nod as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know..." I gently stroked her soft black hair, in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't be. I'll just try even harder to steal your heart from that other woman!" her tears ceased as she looked at me with a determined look.

"I see. Good luck, I suppose," I answered awkwardly, giving her a firm pat on the shoulder. "Well, then. Time to get back to training. I've lost enough time as it is," I declared, facing away from Eira. My mind was still whirling with confusion about how I should feel about Eira. "You two going to watch some more?" I asked over my shoulder.

"N-no. I can't..." Eira answered nervously.

"Guttorm, I guess?" I guessed, receiving a nod from Eira.

"I'll stay. I have something to talk to you about," Asger answered, following briskly after me.

"Well then. Um, goodnight Eira," I gave her an awkward wave, before walking back to where I was training earlier.

"Good night," Eira responded with rosy cheeks.

Sitting down on the grass of the small forest clearing I was training in, I looked to Asger. I had been breathing deeply for quite some time now and my thoughts of Eira had just about cleared, restoring focus to my mind. "So, Asger. What is it?" I asked curiously.

"I saw how much pain you were in earlier," Asger responded bluntly. "I saw how you struggled to even lift a sword," he continued, taking a seat beside me. "What was that? I've never seen you in so much pain,"

"Oh, that... I was trying to manipulate two arms at once. But, for some reason, it hurt much more than doing just one. And, I'm really not sure why," I said.

"Hm. So, you have no clue why that happens?" Asger asked.

"No, I don't," I shook my head hesitantly, checking for a reason one last time.

"I see... Well, I don't think searching for the reason why would be very beneficial. That'll take too long," Asger spoke slowly as his strategic mind ticked away.

"So, what do you suggest I do?" I asked.

"What you've always done. Just do that same painful thing over and over until you're completely used to it," Asger nodded in approval at his plan.

"But that's slow. Do you see how long it took just for me to reset my body," I countered.

"That's why I'm here. As soon as you do it and start going through that pain, I'll kill you," Asger answered with a tone that said 'Wasn't that obvious?'.

"That's actually a good idea! But, um, I train through the night... So, you won't get any sleep," I spoke concernedly.

"Don't worry about that. I'm second in command, I can get some leniency around sleeping throughout the day if I wish," Asger responded reassuringly.

"Okay then," I answered slowly.

I sat still, my eyes shut tight. I inhaled loudly, pulling in all the air around me. I let it flow through my nose and down, through my throat, headed towards my lungs. My lungs expanded as the air filled them. Then, once my lungs were full, I exhaled, allowing the air in my lungs to spread into my bloodstream. I had entered the state of complete calm. "Now," I muttered as I began to imagine both my arms covered in tiny lumps of skin. As the picture became clearer in my mind, I felt my arms sear with pain. I bit down on my lower lip hard as the pain grew. I could feel the skin on my arms twisting and growing as it lifted up to form small bumps along my arms. Blood dripped down from my lips as my teeth sank deeper, trying to deal with the pain. Small groans of pain slipped from between my teeth as the pain became unbearable. "Did it," I muttered in relief, falling on my back.

"Got it," Asger responded, accompanied by a painful feeling in my chest. Asger had pierced my heart. I died. Then, after a few seconds, I revived, returning to the real world. "Again," I declared the moment my body was restored.

13/10/975 AD

We trained the same way, every single night. We had regular chats with Eira who always came to check up on my training; it seemed she was still trying hard to steal my heart. I'd become completely accustomed to the pain now. It didn't bother me in the slightest. Thanks to that fact, I've moved onto all my limbs. It hurt a bit at first but after repeating it a few times, I got used to it.

"So, you're ready to full body now?" Asger asked.

"Yes, I'm ready," I answered with a confident expression. "This shouldn't hurt, but in the case that it does-"

"Yes, I know. I'll kill you," Asger nodded in understanding.

"Good," I smiled before taking a seat on the grass. I sat cross-legged, my eyes fluttering shut, plunging my vision into pure darkness. I began to breathe through my nose, inhaling as much oxygen as possible. My nose stung with cold as the icy air reached my nostrils. Ignoring it, I let the air flow up through my nose and down into my lungs. My lungs expanded to store it all before quickly contracting as it pumped the oxygen into my bloodstream. I felt my full body awareness soar; I could sense everything happening to my body. As I calmed, my mind cleared, providing me with a blank canvas. I painted the canvas with my thoughts, turning it into a beautiful art piece that depicted me, sitting in the forest, with small lumps protruding from every part of my skin. As my mind filled with colours, I could feel pain burn through my entire body. From my head, to my arms, stomach, to my legs. Every single part of my body stung with excruciating pain. But, I was used to it; I had already recognised this pain as nothing out of the ordinary. I sat there, maintaining my calm as I felt my skin bubble and pop, pushing itself up into unnatural protrusions that covered me from head to toe. "I-I did it," I sighed, exhausted as I felt the pain begin to subside. I stood up shakily, my legs on fire with pain, but I pushed through it. I lifted my hands to my face. As I rubbed my cheeks, I could feel my hands gliding over little bumps. Then I touched my torso and back; and sure enough, they too bore many little protrusions of skin. I had succeeded. "Finally! My first full body!" I exclaimed, falling to my knees in exhaustion.

"Congratulations. You did it," Asger congratulated, giving me a respectful pat on the shoulder.

"What next?" I asked.

"You need to find a practical use for this," Asger responded.

"A practical us-" I was cut off as I felt someone's body land on mine. I coughed as I felt my lungs get impacted by the small body.

"You did it, Aslerta!" Eira exclaimed, a bright smile stretching from one side of her beautiful face to the other.

"Uh-huh. I did. Now, uh, where did you come from?" I asked, looking down at her lying on top of me, my eyes meeting hers.

"Oh, uh. Well, I've been watching you... Sorry?" she scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"Ah, whatever. As long as you aren't telling anyone else about what you see, got it?" I placed my hand firmly on top of her head.

"Got it," she smiled in understanding, her little head squirming beneath my hand. "Anyway. Not to be rude or anything, but you look rather disgusting like that," opening her eyes, Eira pointed out my looks.

"Right..." I answered slowly, looking down at myself. I could hear Asger walking towards me, along with the sound of a sword being unsheathed. "Not while Eira's around Asger. I don't want her to see you killing me," I shook my head at Asger.

"What?! Asger! You would dare try to kill my future husband?! I'll have to kill you for that!" Eira roared, leaping off of me. Sighing, I sat up a bit to look at what was going to happen. Who would win? Eira dashed blindly at Asger who easily dodged by taking a single step to the right. Eira punched at nothing, which made her lose her balance; almost falling over. Asger saw this and appeared behind her, lifting her easily into his arms. "I win," Asger spoke, looking down at the defeated Eira he was holding.

"What?! That's not fair!" Eira complained, her cheeks puffing up in defiance.

"Quite the sore loser, aren't ya?" Asger observed, placing her gently on the ground again.

"I am no sore loser!" Eira retorted, her face going bright red.

"Pfft!" I broke into laughter as I watched the two arguing like children. Asger's eyes widened as he looked away from Eira, at me. They softened as they saw me laughing. "You're laughing," Asger noted.

"I guess I am," I spoke in between laughs as my laughter slowly subsidised. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time," my face relaxed into a small smile as my mind flicked back to the last time I'd laughed like this. Only a few months ago, when I still had my family and Irene... My face became more solemn as I remembered it; laughing with my mother and father at the dinner table as we spoke about our days. Laughing with Irene when we'd sneak off together at lunch. "Those were the good times," I muttered quietly. I could feel my eyes starting to water, which told me that it was time to stop remembering the past. I allowed myself to calm down, taking long and slow breaths, making sure this sadness didn't grow into rage again. I could feel my thoughts slowly drifting away as I calmed myself down with my breathing. As my mind cleared, I remembered that I had to restore my skin to normal. Doing this would easily take my mind off my memories. I hadn't practised it in a while, but I remembered how to do it. With a clear mind, I began to imagine my whole body returning to normal, all the bumps on my skin being pulled back down to restore my smooth skin. As the picture appeared in my mind, I began to feel my whole body tighten. All my muscles contracted as the skin began to be pulled back down to form a smooth layer of skin. I could feel the skin the popping as it locked back into place amongst the surface level of my flesh. It wasn't long before I felt popping all over my body as the skin settled down. I reached my hand out and touched my left arm. As my hand ran along my forearm, it felt smooth. My skin was back to normal.

Opening my eyes, I looked down at myself, touching the places I couldn't see. I had succeeded at deflating my skin again. "Perfect, I'm back to normal," I sighed, leaning back on my arms.

"There you go! You look much better now! You look much more worthy of being my husband," Eira nodded as she looked me up and down.

"Sure," I replied.

"Good job, Aslerta," Asger looked at me respectfully. "I was just about to kill you,"

"That's always good to hear," I spoke sarcastically.

"Anyway, Aslerta. Let's get down to business," I could hear Eira speak from beside me. I turned to look at her, my eyes showing clear confusion. "Will you marry me?" she asked, her golden eyes sparkling with hope.

"No," I answered bluntly. "Like I said, there's no beating Irene," I shrugged as I stood up.

"I'm really gonna have to have a stern talking to with this Irene! Stealing my husband like that! How outrageous!" Eira's face frowned with anger, her small hands clenching into fists at her side.

"You do that," I spoke over my shoulder, walking towards Asger. "I believe we've wasted enough time, now. Time for some more training,"

"No. We sleep," Asger replied, staring blankly at me, his green eyes unmoving.

"Sleep? I don't need sleep!" I argued.

"Perhaps your body doesn't. But your mind has been awake for a very, very long time," Asger pointed at my head.

"My mind needs sleep?" I asked.

"Your mind thinks continuously, even in death, doesn't it? Therefore, your mind has not slept since the last time you slept," Asger answered almost immediately.

"Uh. I'm not sure... A few months ago I think?" I replied.

"See, your mind needs sleep," Asger proved his point.

14/10/975 AD

I ended up sleeping last night. It was actually rather refreshing. My mind feels so clear and perfect now. 

Author Note: MAKE SURE TO SLEEP 8 HOURS A NIGHT KIDS! IT WORKS WONDERS FOR YOUR MIND!

"How about now? Can I train?" I asked eagerly from just outside Asger's tent.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked groggily as he got out of his tent.

"Yes," I responded quickly.

"Ok, don't worry. I have something planned for your training. This will force you to figure out some practical use for your powers," Asger spoke, getting straight to the point.

***

A few hours later and here I was, standing before ten scary Viking men. They all stared at me darkly, with intent to kill. "Oh, how lucky we are. We get to kill you as much as we want," one of them licked their lips hungrily.

"Well, don't forget. I can kill you too!" I grinned at them, my eyes set in determination.

"You wish!" they all roared in unison.

"Fight!" Asger's voice exploded from the side lines, filling all our ears. The moment the words entered my ears, my body instinctively exploded forwards. As I moved, I drew my sword from my sheath. It was completely unsheathed when I'd reached the ten men who had barely even moved. I slashed in an upwards arc at one of them, who barely managed to dodge it. He tumbled back, losing his balance. "Come on Njal! You can do better that that!" one of the other men yelled before taking a step towards me. As he swung his sword out at me, I stepped to the side, missing his blade but failing to dodge another. My eyes widened as I moved into the path of another man's sword. My neck went cold as the freezing steel of his sword dug through my throat. My head flew off my shoulders, landing disgustingly on the floor. I died. This battle was going to be harder than I thought.