Chương 7: Asgardian magic

And make a deal we did.

Basically, she sold herself to me in exchange for whatever I would give her. I can't believe how dumb she was to choose that wording. She was lucky I genuinely wanted to help. But still, I made sure that she understood that the deal was really unfair in case I decided I didn't want to give her anything. Her response :

"But then I would be useless to you right ?" ... Right, but still.

In the end I explained to Celina the situation about the supernatural in general. And more specifically about Heaven, the Grigori faction and the underworld. It took some time but it was a necessity.

During my explanation we did learned a bit about one another. In the end I understood her problem. She was really clumsy, and an airhead. And that isn't without taking into account that she was bad at everything she did. She tried, really. She told me about the hours she undertook to get better at various things, but she just wasn't good enough.

That and the fact that she was ugly and an orphan, didn't really helped her find friend in life.

She was 15, and from what she knew, her parents were killed on the road during a cartel fight when she was 2. She did not really remember them. Has for why the work fixation ? The orphanage she lived in closed last year and the orphans were simply "let go". So basically, to survive.

In the end it was a bit therapeutic for her I think to open up to me like that about her life, knowing things would change. She was a bit weirded out by the fact I was so mature while I was only 8, but she just decided it was a devil thing.

Since she told me a lot about her, I told her about my life. How my father viewed the family power above all else. And about the attitude of the rest of my family toward me. Honestly, it was nice to see her getting riled up for me while I honestly wasn't that much bothered.

As time passed we talked a lot and ended up sleeping in the workshop, after I st...*cough* scavenged another bed. The next day I decided to get to know Celina a bit more, so no travel, just talking. It was nice and I told her about my reason for wanting a maid. She was a bit speechless that the entire reason for her life changing so drastically was because I was too lazy to organize my travels anymore.

But like she told me afterward :

"I work for you now, so wherever you want is wherever I'll go, and whatever you want is whatever I'll do."

Now, all I needed, was to implement my plan. For that, I intended to use magical contract to trade "Service" for whatever I needed from various individuals. If possible, desperate individuals. Always easier to make deal with these guys.

The problem ? Demonic magic wasn't enough. You need to understand that my crafting intuition was not omnipotent. It was incredibly great, but not godly. My problem ? I needed to understand the basic.

To give an example, if you ask me to create a wood table, no problem, I learned how to work wood. But if you ask me to create an adamantium table ?

No fucking idea how. The reason is simple, I don't know how to work adamantium. Sure my gift will give me the insight that I need to learn that, but if I don't know where ? endgame.

This is why I had no problem with my heart seeker. My devil magic study was enough. My compass IS based on greed, and conceptual magic. So I had the basics done.

For the contract I had in mind ? I needed RUNES magic. Well that and a special type of paper and ink, but that hardly mattered at this point. I couldn't use the standard devil contract. These things could only rip souls, and the souls were damaged afterward. The new one that "only take a bit of power" are a watered down version of ripping souls, only taking a little bit. In the end, if you require a devil help too many time you'll lose your soul all the same, worse, at some point you'll start feeling empty, making you more susceptible to others decisions. Well, you do need to summon the devil a great number of times, but still, it's not something the devils tend to broadcast.

Anyway, the problem is that runes magic, is Asgardian magic. And THAT put a stop to my plan. From what I knew, Asgard tended to keep that knowledge to themselves. Sure, during the century of Asgard existence, the secret of runes craft did get transmitted to individuals in other factions with the okay from Odin. But it stayed something pretty guarded. And said individuals did NOT broadcast the knowledge themselves. After all, no one want an entire angry pantheon going for your head.

So I had three choices :

1) Go to Asgard and ask nicely to be taught Rune crafting ;

2) Go to Asgard and steal nicely the Rune crafting knowledge under the Norse pantheon ;

3) Find someone with said knowledge and steal/blackmail/coerce/buy/ask it from him.

Option 2, while possible, seemed dangerous for the future. I mean, secret always get out. And while I'm sure the trickster god would find it funny, he would not defend me against the rest of the Asgardians. And I really don't want ANY faction against me.

Option 3 was a good one honestly in term of risk/gain, but once again, secrets never stay secret. And while I could argue and say the guy shared the knowledge only with me. It would strain my relation with the Norse. Worse, it would have been biased knowledge. I have no doubt these individuals only have a watered down version.

So option 1 it was.

But at that point I realized one thing. What on earth does Odin the all-father, the king of Asgard, the leader of the Norse pantheon, one of the most influential and connected god in the world could need ? Worse, I would have to have that ! And my answer was immediate.

I had no fucking clue.