บท 78: Occult Magic
"Well I'm not perfectly sure but I can tell you the inheritance you gain from me should be able to help you in that regard." He answer .
"So I should really try and succeed this trial to get your inheritance?" He nodded to that.
I guess changing something metaphysical like fate is gonna be hard so sitting through a Q&A session is the least harmful trial I could be given.
Continuing to ask questions, "So, besides being the father of magic and someone who loves indirect methods, why did you never take the direct methods?"
Loki senior thinks for a moment then explains, "It's not that I never used direct methods like defeating men in straight forward combat but, I just found it easier for me to use indirect methods. Killing with a borrowed knife is better than getting your hands dirty in my opinion. I'll leave the berserker smashing to my brother, which is the reason why I love having siblings and friends. Anything I can't handle, we can surely handle it together. In fact, part of the reason for my success as a general is due to my great task allocation skills. Knowing whose best for a job is a key skill for any great leader."
"Unfortunately, most people saw how I usually didn't handle things upfront and saw that as a personal challenge to the honor of my opponents. Just like your thinking right now, any opponent I face is a threat to my family and should be purged by any means necessary. We can give them honor on their death bed."
I got a little bit worried for myself at this moment. "Wow Giants really are blood thirsty."
He nodded, "For us death isn't really that important. We were born to be the apex predators of the universe. Blood and honor always go hand in hand. With that being said, Your human side is a little more adverse to these things but your Giant lineage should prevent any bad psychological effects. I feel it's a good thing that our descendants got this feature but i'm still saddened Valor is still one of the only things we passed on. Maybe something like adventurous or maybe inquisitive would have been nice. "
.....
"I can tell your trying hard not to deduce conclusions in your head so just spell it out."
I started sweating in how inquisitive this guy was. "There's a lot I want to say but I'll refrain from voicing them since you likely won't answer them anyway. I do want to know, out of curiosity, why didn't my father gain an understanding of all this. Wouldn't a king be more useful, especially someone with Odin's blessing, in stopping fate."
Loki senior laughed, "Have you heard of any stories about Odin? Besides being a great warrior and a pretty wise king, he was very paranoid. Do you think, if he were around, that he would share his knowledge in the hopes of preventing catastrophe? He's more liable to try and personally prevent it. Its the same reason he refuses to have an inheritor. He thinks he can handle everything himself when in fact he's just a self obsessed control freak. Also, besides a select few giants, not many know the cycle of fate repeats itself."
Whoa, daddy issues I sense.
Loki senior stopped laughing for a moment then sighed. "Odin is how do you say, a complicated person. He's not a bad father and for the most part is pretty good all the time. He just wants to prevent his own death is all and its driven him a little self obsessed."
"Wait, how do you know he will die?" I questioned. Some of Loki's phrasing have been off during his entire narrative. Sometimes some of his colleagues are dead as in past tense or sometimes their trying to prevent death. Its very weird to follow along.
"Quite the linguist aren't you? Its about time I explain to you the key to my power."
So you jumped over an explanation I see.
Loki senior clearly ignoring my thoughts waved his had slowly a river of gold mana flowed in the movement of his hand.
"I was born from two of the best Prophets in the universe and as such my attribute has been singular, Fate." He made the river appear ephemeral and vast one second but condensed at the same time like the river surrounding the door.
"My power over fate was so strong I could actively bend it. In essence I could switch where things were to appear and cause events to shift out of order. This is the core of my title as the Lord of trickery. Nothing was as it seemed when I was involved. I used fate like a weapon, Making real life like events happen only to me so that I can tamper with them after they had occurred making it seem like everything happened as I planned. Changing someone's fate slightly to make them feel a certain way and act out of character, according to my wishes was a trademark of mine. I understood Fate from the gaze of the flow of time and me mixing and matching the branches of the flow of time allowed me to do events that can be only amounted to a trick or insane impossibilities. Multiple versions of myself appearing at once was something I could do. Changing the timing of a volcanic explosion was within my preview. He raised his hand toward me with the river still in his hand.
As he spoke, the constellations in the sky organized into the word Loki.
"You have the same attribute as I do Loki junior or atleast part of it. If not you wouldn't be able to even see this River."
Im shocked that there's a fate attribute. That seems so complex.
"It's not that confusing when you get to my level. In fact, if I were to guess, those not born at rank 9 likely would never get this attribute. They would get a derivative from the four elements that would eventually evolve into fate if your training and studies into the element lead you to it."
I kinda guessed this was possible but I still asked, "Wait Elements can evolve?"
He looked at me, "of course they can. My brother was born with thunder but it's also a derivative of lighting. It's all about how you view your element, how you use it. Sometimes and I hope this is the case for you, attributes can merge."
I continued to press him, "so Is your attribute the reason you were able to create Magic?"
Loki flicked his hand and the River disappeared.
"Not exactly. You see attributes are great and all but sorry to tell someone like you who has multiple attributes, more doesn't necessarily mean better. In fact, You having so many attributes and so many techniques will be a great obstacle in the future."
Tell me about it. I have no idea what to focus on.
Loki continued, "exactly, there are certain requirements that can only be achieved in order to advance past rank 5. For starters, you need to be able to consolidate your abilities into a whole. This can be considered gearing yourself for whatever your heart desires. Most people do it unconsciously but most people don't have five attributes and studied three training arts."
So you can see my fifth attribute.
He smiled vaguely and nodded, "it'll reveal itself in time."
He then stated something interesting that gave me clues to his true nature. He said, "I'm reading your emotions and thoughts obviously and I can tell you see me as if I was a past version of you. A cautionary tale if you would. I am okay with that. You also understand where both our goals align in preventing something bad from happening to you and you understand the source of my power somewhat."
I am nodding at this point. Many people would have gotten lost in that but thankfully my mind automatically records conversations so I can go reread the important pieces of info.
"That's a nice feature to have where did you get it."
I interrupted quickly, "born with it."
He squinted but didn't say anything about it.
I interrupted, "I still have the same question, I know you won't answer it, but what does my well-being have to do with you. You aren't an altruist, I can tell."
He gave me that same mysterious look when I asked the first time. "Breaking the cycle is all I want. For one reason or another it matters that you break fate. I wouldn't harm you to do so,I can promise you that."
He raised his hand for a shake. "Do we have a deal. I gave you my support and you help break the cycle?"
Besides being shocked about the fact he raised his hand in the first place I instinctively shook his hand.
"You have a deal then senior Loki. I'll break fate for you or should I say us." I said smiling.
He looked at me and said, "I'd say you more than passed the trial since you figured that out."
I smiled cheekily, "I'm not completely 100% positive but I can tell we are bounded by more than a similar fate and name. Your appearance is uncanny as well."
"I hate hiding things from people as smart as me." Then he had a book magically appear in his spare hand. He passed it to me. "Go through this and some of the books you got from those bandits. Once you understand them, I'll help you consolidate everything you know into something more fit for my inheritor. Your soul is already struggling with the training your imposing on it. Let's help you so that from this point forward you won't have to take up a new technique like wizard training every time you want to learn something new."
(Certainly helped me in learning and Explaining everything in short form)
Looking at the book it was called the book of occult.
I then took out of my bag of loot, all the books until I found two books that were interesting titled book of the forest guardian: Ranger and the protector of the holy kingdom: the knight.
"No way!"
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