Peter is a great guy, friendly and attentive to his subordinates, he has a certain charisma that makes people follow him, without a doubt a good politician, although it was a greater surprise to discover that is his real personality, there is no doubt that the Kingdom will be in good hands... or at least that's what I thought until I found out that there are 7 other crown princes.
Apparently the government is something like the Holy Roman Empire, with 7 Archdukes electors, so when the king dies they do a ritual and choose who will be the next ruler. The method of election is strange, apparently the ritual is who chooses who will govern, not who is the most appropriate for the situation, so in history they have ended up with inept rulers in times of war
This was implemented after the rise to power of Schmitz Von Walter, who despite a ruler who maximized the military power of Rune Midgarts, became the enemy of the whole world thanks to his famous madness and tyranny in ruling, and in the end the gods themselves came down to punish him. Of course the fact that during his time the Normans increased their power to the point where they could rival the gods has nothing to do with it.
Anyway, they discovered a passage in the Tree of Umbala which nobody knows where it goes... of course I didn't say anything, and I just limited myself to continue guiding them, we quickly entered the Luluka Forest and guiding them through the best possible path we arrived at Hoomga Jungle, having us to face the Wootan a race of sentient apes.
On the way I left everyone speechless, guiding them expertly through the forest, even more so when I was able to guide them through the Hoomga Jungle, and the trip that the expedition had predicted would last 2 weeks to arrive to Umbala, was completed in 3 days. We were already the vanguard of all the scouting groups. Something that Peter was very happy about.
Once again I surprised everyone, including me, when I could understand the natives of Umbala, In the game I remember that you had to do a quest... does my system come with an automatic translator? But the information they provided me was bad, apparently on several occasions they were attacked by Dullahan and Gibbets or at least that's what I can deduce from the descriptions they give, a monster with armor and a tree with a face, I hope this is not the prelude to another invasion. The next day I led everyone through Hvergelmir's Fountain or the Trunk of Yggdrasil.
To tell the truth, the game is nothing like being here in person the beauty of the place, It is practically a forest inside the tree, with cascades of water falling from the sky reflecting lights of multiple colors that look like fireflies around us, I can clearly see the roots and the body of the trunk on the roof, but it still illuminates the place as if it were the sun, hundreds of healing herbs are found everywhere, I was even able to collect various Yggdrasil berries, seeds and leafs, which strangely no one knows what they work for.
The group set out to explore and get samples of the place, so it took us almost 3 days to cross the place, of course, as a good gamer, I looted the entire place when nobody saw me, so I am increasing my reserves of Yggdrasil objects on a large scale, in addition to the fact that I also collect large amounts of water, bark and roots, they must be useful for something.
Little by little we continue advancing, I am sure that there is something else here, since from time to time I see movement in the distance, but so far nothing attacks us yet, but as we got closer to our goal the environment changed, getting colder and dreary, from time to time the air carries a fetid smell of death, clearly the members of this group aren't ready for this, but Peter doesn't want to back down...
As I said before Peter is a good guy, kind and attentive to others, but an adventurer at heart, when everyone else comes on this expedition for the king's riches and promises, he simply comes to explore, to discover the hidden secrets of the world, somewhat stubborn but understanding enough to accept the opinions of others. So he didn't want to give up now that he was so close to his goal. And the rest of the group don't want to disappoint him either.
In the end I led them to end an opening in the Tree, where we leave behind the beautiful forests and enter a dry and desolate land, where the light of the sun is not seen, the hard and rough earth, with a gray and wine color, with dry trees deformed by the aura of death of the place, graves in various places, bones and corpses rotting in the open, we clearly entered the domain of death.
A little away from where we are, there is a small destroyed house, and following a path that approaches a precipice where mysteriously it can be seen clearly as if there was some kind of light, I make a sign for everyone to be quiet and pay attention to our surroundings, I start walking towards the small house and go around it, looking at it on all sides, until I decide to go closer and try to look through one of the windows. I make another signal and the group begins to advance to where I am.
"Leonhard did you find anything?" Peter whispers to me once he approaches me, everyone else continues to be alert.
"Not so far, but no matter how I do it, I can't see inside the house, cover me, I'll try to get in." In reality, it is not necessary that much care, but I was always curious what the houses of Niflheim would be like inside, so I take the opportunity when I have it. In the end it's disappointing, everything is destroyed inside, although it's not like there's a lot of stuff in the first place.
I guide the group along the path, approaching the first place where the path is illuminated, no matter where I look I can't find any light in the place, there are no lamps, candles, something in the sky, this place simply lights up by itself, very interesting and mysterious, it's probably some kind of magic, it could even be surveillance magic or something, it could also just be a natural phenomenon of the place, no doubt Epianne would love to study this.
Finally we reached the cliff and in the distance you can see a small village, I see many monsters in the place, so I better make the others leave, I don't think I can defend them all if I have to hide my power, so I advance a little more and turn to see them, smiling a little I proceed to speak.
"Welcome to Skellington, the Solitary Village in Niflheim." Once they heard me say the name of the place everyone was petrified, including Peter, asking me how I knew about that, so I just smiled and didn't answer, to tell the truth this place looks great, a town in eternal Halloween something like Thriller Bark of One Piece.
At that moment a group of Dullahan, Disguise and Quve attacked us, almost managing to kill several members of the expedition, if it were not for my timely meddling, after defeating them I convinced them to go back now, this time to my surprise, Peter accepted it easily, but he said that they would wait for me in Umbala, and he gave me a strange stone, apparently it is the closest thing to a camera in this world, I just have to inject magic into it and it can record until the magic supply is cut off.
Peter deeply thanked me for the opportunity he had, lamenting his lack of strength to continue exploring this place, promising that next time he would accompany me to the end. He clearly knows the difference between an unfavorable adventure and a sure suicide, not for nothing is he one of the best explorers in the Kingdom. After that they left the way they came.
Actually the monsters here are not as horrible as I thought they were, In addition to not being so numerous, in fact I can safely say that this is one of the places with the least number of monsters that I have been able to visit. From time to time bats also appear among the trees and crypts, although they are clearly the same and they are watching me, let's see what surprises they hold for me.
The monster here are intimidating for those who see them for the first time, the first ones, the Disguise small shadows-ghosts with a red scarf around their neck and chains in their hands, for a moment I thought they used them as weapons, but actually they prefer to use their claws to attack. Plus they are extremely silent.
[Disguise LVL: 55 HP: 7,543 / 7,543 MP: 128/128 Race: Demon Element: Earth 4
These demons were abandoned children who died in poverty and filth, after their bodies were claimed by the earth they returned to punish those who mistreated them. ]
Well I didn't expect that explanation, shit does that make me the bad guy here? Although that would explain a bit why they don't attack me unless I get close to them. The next ones are the Quve, a Shadow witch monster? Well at least they are little shadow ghosts with little witch hats that are just laughing some attack me some don't.
[Quve LVL: 40 HP: 4,559/4,559 MP: 75/75 Race: Undead Element: Undead 1
These cunning little fellows are the most notorious tricksters in Niflheim. They never stop pranking. As the saying goes, if a Quve isn't playing a prank, it's on its way to playing on.]
Hmmm, I don't remember that Element thing has appeared before.... Now the last monster I see in the area, the Dullahan, he would be the classic knight in heavy armor if it weren't for the fact that from time to time his visor opens like a mouth, showing only a pair of eyes surrounded by darkness. In addition to making a very disturbing sound when moving, mysteriously I don't see that his head is separated from the body?
[Dullahan LVL: 62 HP: 12,437/12,437 MP: 284/284 Race: Undead Element: Undead 2
The Dullahan is depicted as a headless rider, usually on a black horse, who carries their own head in their arm. Usually, the Dullahan is male, but there are some female versions. It is said to be the embodiment of the Celtic God Crom Dubh.]
To tell the truth , many things that I learned in the game it's a big lie, very few monsters attack you here, the Dullahan is the only one that attack you in sight, the others attack me only if I get too close to them, with the Quve at least I was able to avoid many confrontations just by being nice to them and sometimes playing a little with them, so I managed to quickly cross the Halloween village and reach my next destination, the Valley of Gjoll.
Here I can feel how the temperature is dropping and I can even feel my body freeze, In the Nordic mythology, Gjöll is the river that flows closest to the gate of the underworld and is spanned by the bridge Gjallarbrú, which was crossed by Hermód during his quest to retrieve Baldr from the land of the dead. To get to Niflheim I will have to cross that narrow and nothing suspicious valley...
While I was walking the path, I ran into a very large monster, more than 2 meters high and hunched over, wearing a Jason mask and a huge kitchen axe, besides being covered in blood... it attacks me as soon as it sees me but I manage to finish it, however, I had to get very close to some trees and they also attacked me, the good thing is that these trees have a lot of problems moving fast.
[Bloody Murderer LVL: 72 HP: 27,521 /27,521 MP: 175/175 Race: Demi-Human Element: Shadow 2
The Bloody Murderer was the ruthless killer of Skellington in life. After death, he became cursed and turned into an undying Wraith. Demons are not created by magic and witchcraft, but by loneliness and humanity.]
Wow now my system is inspired, first abandoned children, then beheaded Celtic warriors and now it gives me a moral lesson, What about the tree, some kind of legendary item? By the way, how the hell can someone think that it is only a tree if it clearly has a face and two dolls with ropes around their necks hanging from its branches?
[Gibbet LVL: 58 HP: 6,841 /6,841 MP: 75/75 Race: Demon Element: Shadow 1
Gibbets were originally ordinary tree spirits that were transformed into monsters by the influence of Niflheim. The seeds of the Gibbets are not self-conscious until after they grow up and sprout from the earth. As they age, they once again lose their consciousness and become trees once again.]
Wait a second... are those hands there? Shit he use the dolls to attack, huh? Are the dolls alive too? they changed her expression while we were fighting, thanks to my level and status not much happens, but unfortunately my little fight caught the attention of several more monsters, luckily for me they seem to be more entertained just watching me.
Although apparently one of them decides to approach, a girl with blonde hair with pointy ears, in a white shirt and brown shorts, has a black cat on her head and accompanied by some bats, Is she the one who was watching me earlier? The most striking thing is that she is sitting on a moon... although it looks more like a crescent moon made of some wood material.
[Loli Ruri LVL: 40 HP: 4,559/4,559 MP: 75/75 Race: Undead Element: Undead 1
The mighty witch of the legendary Moon's Charm. Countless people pray before the moonlight, hoping to see her face. As the moon goes through its cycle, so Loli Ruri changes. Do not try to approach her on the night of the full moon.]
"Hello stranger, may I know who you are? It's my first time seeing someone... with such weird features?" The girl approaches me, clearly more intrigued than concerned, and begins to inspect my armor, even picking up and examining my cloak. Apparently she's friendly so I better continue being nice to her too.
"Good evening, I am Leonhard, I am an explorer from a very far away land, I heard the rumors of the city of primordial ice and I came to verify the rumors, may I know your name, beautiful lady?" I try to be as respectful as possible, even sheathing the sword so as not to show any signs of hostility, although with my inventory I can draw any weapon i want immediately.
"Then you come on the right path! I am Loli Rury the witch of the Moon Charm! Nice to meet you traveler! If you want to see the city, get on my moon, I'll help you get there, in exchange, tell me about the places you've explored!" With a smile she moves on her moon to make room for me to climb... I prepare a butterfly wing just in case she wants to throw me in the air and I climb next to her.
On the way we talked and I started to describe some places I've been to, to tell the truth I'm really surprised by the way she acts, she clearly doesn't act like an NPC, besides she blushed and looked away when I had to hug her to keep from falling off her moon, I also give her some sweets that I had and she shared her favorite dish with me, a Pumpkin Pie.
One more thing to consider is that unlike the monsters in Midgard, here all the monsters have different faces, only the Dullalhad abd Gibbet are the same, so far I have not seen another Loli Ruri on the road, she even presents me with some monsters that are known to her , also taking into account that almost none them actually acts as an NPC, something I'll have to investigate later.
We just crossed the valley and reached the outskirts of town, where a small stuffed animal approaches us, trying to attack me, but Ruri immediately stops it and throws it off the cliff... And before long little cirular ghosts with a triangle ring on their heads, they are very similar to the souls in some animes, the only difference is that they carry a jack-o'-lantern with a stick in their hands.
[Heirozoist LVL: 40 HP: 4,559/4,559 MP: 75/75 Race: Undead Element: Undead 1
These sad souls live within abandoned puppets. Loneliness turned the Hylozoists mad. Be careful with them.]
[Lude LVL: 40 HP: 4,559/4,559 MP: 75/75 Race: Undead Element: Undead 1
The mantra of the Lude is: pumpkins are the only good thing in the world! These wandering little guys will fight to the death with you over a pumpkin. When you have a burning passion for something, perhaps you'll become some sort of ghost as well.]
Although the difference with this little guys is that they do not attack us, but they do not separate from us and they accompany us, lighting the way before entering the city, and when I see them I am speechless, a big city, nothing like the game, the city is very beautiful with some ice sculptures in various places, of course it has a gloomy and scary atmosphere but without a doubt it attracts you to enter and explore it.
[Archbishops are capable of Healing and buffing an entire party using their skills. These Holy servants are the Priests who went on pilgrimages to Odin's Shrine seeking more power to maintain the peace on Rune-Midgarts. A formidable profession, the Archbishop is more aggressive than the existing Priest classes. Archbishop is a profession that uses holy attack magic as well as the existing recovery-oriented skills, and takes off the limit of the Priest classess which used only the attack magic of the existing magic system. Also uses extensive secondary magic and power-up recovery magic. Level Up Bonuses: +10 INT +8 DEX +6 VIT +5 LUK +5 STR +6 AGI every level up.]