Chapter 122 - Earning Their Respect
The moment that the two fists collided, the air around the two swiveled. It started creating a vortex around them, slowly masking what was happening between the two. They created a shroud around them unknowingly, just with the sheer power of the fists.
Immediately after the interaction, it was not apparent who won the exchange. No one came flying out, and that could only mean that both of them held their ground against each other.
"Impossible. How is a mortal like you able to match my strength? You intrigue me, human." Gormundeir's voice came from inside the make-shift shroud.
The dust cleared, and it was finally visible as to what had happened. The two were in a standstill, and they were only a few feet from each other. There was not an injury in sight, and they were both looking at each other intensely.
Lucas was about to jump in to attack once more when the leader giant suddenly spoke.
"That is enough, Gormundeir. Come back. He has shown us what he needed to. He has shown us that he has enough power to warrant him coming with us. You have my respect, mortal. For you to match Gormundeir himself in strength. But if you dare let your mouth run where we are about to take you, then not even the gods will be able to save you. Loki, you have brought a promising candidate. But where is the actual person that you promised? I have come all the way here not to welcome you and the human. I have come here to welcome the harbinger of Destruction."
"He is right here. Can you not see?" Loki smiled.
"If this man is truly Fenrir, then I will kill you right now. The promises that you have made are immense, and this man cannot fulfill any of them." the giant said.
"It is not him. It is what is within him. Look within him. Locked up in chains until someone breaks them, he will rest until the time comes." Loki said.
The giant glared at Lucas, but Lucas knew that he was trying to pry within him.
"Fenrir is a very reserved person. He would prefer that you do not try to disturb his peace." Lucas said.
"I see that there is a great power within him. I shall trust you. But only my king will be able to tell. And if he knows that you are lying to him once more, then you shall be hanged for everyone to see. And I know that you value your life, Loki son of Odin." the giant said.
Loki nodded.
"When can we go? I can't wait till the feast." he smiled.
"Follow us. Do not go anywhere else. The giants do not like it when they see uninvited guests roaming around without permission. Especially when that person is a mere mortal." the giant looked at Lucas.
"I am not that out of my mind. Just lead the way." Lucas said.
The giant turned around, and the huge group started walking towards where they had just come from.
"That is a lot of giants just to receive Fenrir," Lucas commented.
"They know that Fenrir is a little, well, proactive. If he goes out of control, even this many giants will be too few." Loki said.
"You were ready to kill me just to bring him out, weren't you?" Lucas chuckled.
"I don't care about you. My son, I care about." Loki said without beating around the bush.
The group of giants along with Lucas and Loki started moving. Although it appeared as though they were walking, it was anything but. The giants had much, much bigger legs than normal humans, and every step that they took was the equivalent of about ten meters. But Loki and Lucas did not even have any effort catching up to them. Even they were only walking, but with every step, they disappeared and appeared a few meters away. Seeing this, even the giants were impressed.
"You are very quick, mortal. With such incredible speed and such incredible power, it looks like you have been endowed with some immense gifts. I would love to fight with you sometime later." a giant in the back commented.
"We can arrange for that later. After all, I am going to have to stay here indefinitely until this trickster here tells me what I will have to do next." Lucas nodded.
By now, what was a desert started changing landscapes. There were more rocks on the terrain. It was still very, very cold, and Lucas gripped his fury jacket even more.
"I need some exercise to heat up my body a little. Walking isn't going to cut it. I need to have a sustainable way to keep my body weight up for the rest of the time that I will stay here." Lucas commented.
"We aren't going to stay here for long. This is just to make sure that your allegiances are with us. We just need you to go to the castle over on the edge. After we figure out what Fenrir is going to do, you will have certain things that you need to do. All of us aren't just standing around doing nothing. We have to prepare for the war, and that means that we have to get more people in, and we have to get some other gods into our plan as well." Loki said.
"So you need some help with marketing. We will talk about all of that when we get there. But till then, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE INCREASE THE PACE? This is so slow, and I am freezing my ass out here." Lucas said.
Right now, he was not in his werewolf form, and he looked like a normal human. With just a fur coat around him, he looked like one of those rich brats moving with his bodyguards.
The giants looked at him and frowned. But Lucas found that they had indeed increased the pace by brisk walking. Lucas could see that ahead of him, there were a few torn down buildings, and signs of a civilization of old.
"These guys could really use a lesson from humans. To think that they mismanage space so much." Lucas commented.
"Don't mess with them. They will think that I am taunting them as well. If you want to die, then go ahead and die. I am all for it. Don't drag me with you." Loki snarled.
Lucas was able to see that they were approaching what appeared to be a settlement of sorts. There were camps and houses everywhere, and people moving around. But there was not a look of joy in any of the faces. The smaller giants, probably the kids, were still bigger than Lucas, and they were just walking around with their heads down, minding their own work. It was like this was a place where laughter itself was banned. No one wanted anything to do with what was happening around them.
Lucas could also see where they were actually headed to. There was a huge castle ahead of them, but it was by no means glamorous.
It was made of stone, and it had a dull grey color. It perfectly matched the cold and gloomy atmosphere of the rest of the area around it. There was a wooden door out front, but Lucas could not see the actual details as there were many giants in front of him blocking his view. The only thing that Lucas could see was that this castle extended far above, and it was clear that this was the biggest castle for a mile.
Lucas presumed that the king inside was a very powerful one. For him to actually threaten to kill a god was a big deal, because Loki was no joke. Even though he was not a god who fought a lot, he was a god nonetheless and had powers that no one truly understood.
Lucas saw a sign at the edge of his eye.
'Utgaror'
Lucas' face changed. His eyes widened with shock and he glared at Loki.
"What?" Loki asked, a bit disgusted.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You couldn't have told me that you were taking me to Utgard Loki's place? Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Lucas shouted at him.
The giants in front of them glanced at him but did not care enough to see what was happening.
"Yup. We are going to Utgard Loki's place. But why do you even care? It is not like he will even notice you. All that he will want to do is see what Fenrir is doing and if Fenrir is willing to take up the tasks that he has prepared. That is all." Loki said.
"You idiot. Don't you know that Fenrir and Utgard Loki have a history? And it ain't pretty." Lucas said.
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