Chapter 46 - Awakening (1)

Belphegor continued explaining, "The point is that in terms of quality, all these bloodlines are at the same level. After all, a snow demon is not much different from an average human with a particular affinity for the ice element.

All your bloodlines originate from sixth-revolution beings, but each has its own strengths; your human ancestor had the strongest element, blood. Fenrir had a weaker element, but his origins as a beast made his bloodline stronger by nature. 

Meanwhile, my ice element is equal to Fenrir's lightning, while my being a royal snow demon compensates for the fact that I am not a beast."

Hati nodded, "So the only difference is quantity then?"

Belphegor smiled, "Exactly. When someone is born with multiple bloodlines, they always have a single dominant one, which is usually the one with the highest concentration.

Pure half-bloods are the exception to this rule, as they have two bloodlines that exist in a combined state, not much different from a single bloodline.

This brings us to you, who was initially supposed to be a half-demon, while the other half would be made up of primarily human and part calamity wolf, making your snow demon half the dominant one.

But therein lies the problem, as demons don't currently exist in Asgard, and knowledge about the other six worlds and their races was mostly wiped out by the Norns; no one would recognise you as a half-demon.

Your blue skin could have still been explained by saying your father was a Jotnar, but there are no humanoid races in Asgard that have horns, so, in their mind, I, your father, could then only be a sixth-revolution beast with horns and blue skin, which would bring a lot of questions and problems.

Now, later in life, after having gone through the awakening, there would have been plenty of excuses for the way you look, but that would mean we would have had to keep you here in this grey, damp, underground fortress of misery with only the two of us to keep you company, for at least the first ten years of your life."

He started shaking his head, "We decided that was no way for a child to live, so we had to make some drastic decisions. In order for you to be accepted by the Fenrir clan, we had to make sure that your human bloodline became the dominant one."

He shrugged his shoulders, "So we removed part of my bloodline and added some more of the human part by taking from your mother until the human part once again had the highest percentage and became the dominant one."

He waved his right hand dismissively, "I won't bore you with the details of how we changed your bloodline. Suffice it to say that it was only possible because of several advantages, including my cultivation, your mother's blood element and our shared sloth shard.

Regardless, you didn't exactly lose anything in this transaction since these two bloodlines are equally powerful.

Although knowing what we know now, both about your reincarnation and how the Fenrir elders would put you in house arrest, we probably could have just kept you here for those ten years."

Hati smiled wryly, "Maybe so, but I'm still happy you did what you did. I may have been under house arrest, but interacting with Erik, Leif and especially Astrid was a large part of how I could stave off real depression.

Not to mention that I might not have met Luna then." He looked around the dreary, grey hall, "Had I been locked in this fortress instead, I'm not sure I would have been able to survive."

Hati smiled brightly, "So, thank you both."

Not wanting to get caught by any mushy feelings, Belphegor suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Anyway, enough about all that! I think it's about time we get started on the reason you are here in the first place. "

Hearing his father's words, Hati felt the desire for strength well up in him again as he turned to his father with a serious expression, "Yes, let's do that. I can't wait to leave my mortal self behind and start having a real say in my fate. 

Too many strange forces have been jerking me around, or perhaps it is a single force responsible for all the weird things that have happened to me, but regardless, I will find out the truth, determine my own fate and create a future for Luna and myself. And Astrid aswell."

Suddenly, Belphegor started grinning, "Oh right, that little maid of yours. She never stood a chance, did she?" Belphegor laughed a little before beckoning Hati to the middle of his furniture circle, where a few mats and pillows created a sort of meditation area.

He sat down on one of the mats with another in front of him and motioned for Hati to sit down on it while saying, "That was a nice speech, by the way. Keep that in your heart; determination, goals and drive are the cornerstones of every successful Einherjar."

Sif sat down at the edge of the meditation circle, intent on watching over the two of them, while Hati sat down where his father had indicated and asked, "So what drives you, father? Well, I suppose freedom right now, but what about before?"

Belphegor shrugged and said, "Also freedom, just from different things like the effects of the sloth shard, though not only that. But that's enough about me; this is about you now.

In a moment, you will start your awakening as you always have, but this time, I will help solve your elemental dissonance with a technique I learned a long time ago. 

Before we start, though, you should know that I will be dispersing one of the two elements, vying for the position of your physical element. The fate of the dispersed element is uncertain; it could become a part of your spirit core, giving you use of another spiritual element, or it could simply disappear. 

Usually, there would also be a chance of an explosion, but that won't happen with me here. 

So, I'll need you to decide which element you want for your physical element: the blood element or the unknown second element? 

I haven't been able to take a look at this element myself, though, so maybe I'd recognise it. But for the moment, it is an unknown. I won't be able to see it until you start your awakening, and at that point, it will be too late.

Personally, I suggest taking the blood element. The other element is too much of an unknown. We cannot even be sure you'd be able to find a teacher for it, let alone any techniques. Plus, I have prepared some interesting things for you, but some of them would be useless if you didn't have the blood element."

Hati nodded and said, "Since you have already said so much, let it be the blood element then. I will just have to hope the other element ends up in my spirit core."

Belphegor nodded back and said, "Good, let's get started then!"

At those words, Hati closed his eyes and once again started the process as he had done many times in the last six years. Using the method described in the sanguine wolf arts Erik had given him; he began absorbing the spirit energy in the air.

He opened his pores and let the energy in. It flowed into his body, through his veins, and onto his heart, and with it, the heart focal. 

As the energy flowed into his heart focal, Hati could feel the familiar feeling of stirring elements, getting ready for another rumble. But this time, he suddenly felt a finger pressed against his sternum as an unfamiliar energy joined the fray.

Belphegor nodded happily when his energy found its way into his son's heart focal. He thought, 'The benefits from the elemental dissonance are clear; his heart focal has become extremely durable.'

The inside of the heart focal looked like an infinite white space, but it was not an empty one. Nearby, two gem-like objects floated; these were the embryos of the spirit and soul core that would finish their transformation once Hati reached rank nine in his heart focal.

Meanwhile, two energy clouds seemed to be gathering: a blood-red cloud and a pale-white cloud.

However, when Belphegor noticed the unknown element that was in conflict with Hati's blood element, he frowned, 'I can feel its power, but I have no more idea about exactly what it is than Sif or her family did. In fact, is it even an element?'

Every revolution an Einherjar went through allowed them to become more in tune with the elements around them, and the difference between the sixth- and fifth-revolution Einherjar was especially glaring. 

Because of this, Belphegor could see much more than the fifth-revolution Einherjar from the Fenrir clan and quickly realised that he was not looking at an element but something else entirely. 

He could not be sure exactly what it was, but he got a familiar feeling from it. As if it was something he felt regularly. And yet, he still couldn't put his finger on precisely what it was.