When I reappeared, I was no longer in the realm of fire, Muspelheim, but in the realm of the dead, Helheim. I was outside Tyr's temple that is in this realm. The eighth piece was in my hands. I fused it to the sword and inspected my surroundings.
This place was cold, but I only felt a tingle of that cold. However, if Tulip or Zi came with me, they would freeze and die instantly.
Now that I was here, the only thing I have to do is to look for the crow that is supposed to test me. I changed into my dragon form and flew away from the temple.
Before, in Muspelheim, I was unable to change into a dragon due to the very high temperature. But now, I can do it freely because the temperature here is already several dozen degrees below the zero level.
Below me, there were thousands of black figures that keeps shifting from real and unreal. They were the souls of the dishonorable dead, the ones that didn't get ab chance to enter Odin's Valhalla. They were entering through seven closed and gigantic gates, known as the gates of hell. Each gate tests something in the soul that allows Hel, the 'Goddess' of Death, to classify them either to torture or to peace.
That way, if the dead person didn't enter Valhalla, they would be able to have another chance in earning peace. But between you and me, Valhalla is no peaceful place, it's a mad house.
However, now is not the time to talk about Valhalla and the dead, for I soon found the crow.
It looked more like a Roc than a crow; it was a very big, scary, black, and crow monster. In front of it, I was nothing but an insignificant insect. Our sizes couldn't be compared.
In front of it was an arena, of course. There was a corpse of a troll in the center, which has long rotted and froze. I landed in the arena ad changed back to my human form, giving my opponent another advantage in size.
But suddenly, I dropped to my knees and bowed while saying uncontrollably in a language I didn't know that I knew it, "Mighty guardian, I, Orion Fistore, pledge to you... Hey! What are you doing to me! I am free to do my own choices thank you!"
The crow looked down on me, literally, and said in the same language, "You will pledge servitude to me."
"I told you I won't."
"You will pledge servitude to me."
"Haven't you been listening? I won't!"
"You will pledge servitude to me."
"Are you deaf? And why do you think you would make me pledge servitude to you? Are you a Jedi who is making mind tricks? Well let me tell you something, 'Jedi', mind tricks don't work on me, so let's get on with the test, shall we?"
Actually, this was the test... The crow will create some sort of desire in the victim that will let them want to serve it. By each second that passes, the desire grows stronger. And once the person chooses to serve the crow, they will instantly have there souls sucked by the big black animal, never to now the underworld.
But how could the crow expect someone like me to take the test? My mental powers are as powerful as my body, so this test is nothing. I have to admit that it caught me off guard at first, but not anymore.
Soon, the time was up, and the ninth piece of the blade of Pangu appeared in my hand. I returned to the Temple of Tyr and fused the piece into the sword.
"Only one more left!" and I returned to Midgard.