Rise Of Myth: Heir To Valor 23 Meeting Valor Again

Groaning, Val sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. After receiving more or less the same story from Richard about the people from the National Guard, he opted to get some sleep after again finding the study of runes to be not terribly instructive. He learned faster by doing, the text offered knowledge that made sense but did not often have obvious practical applications. Still, he was making progress, memorizing and theorizing how some runes might fit together.

*Stupid Old Man, write a how-to guide next time instead. Ugh, feels like I've barely slept at all.*

Sitting up, Val froze and was suddenly wide awake. All around was the frightfully familiar darkness, the oddly smooth, dark floor, cloudy translucent white fog that defied the lack of light as it remained perfectly visible.

*You have got to be kidding me… Not this s.h.i.t again.*

"Well, at least I know one way to get out of this nightmare." Val grumbled as he stood up, setting off in the direction he was already facing.

Sure enough, after walking for little over twenty minutes, he came across the familiar wrought iron brazier, still burning. The logs and coals certainly looked to be burning to ash in real time, somehow when he was not looking, he could swear they were replaced with fresh kindling. What came as a surprise however, was the one-armed man casually sitting next to the fire, dressed only in faded linen pants.

The very same figure Val dueled with repeatedly, incurring only a single barely pa.s.sable victory after over a hundred brutal losses. Upon closer inspection, while the man did seem very similar in features to Val, he was taller, his hair was of a lighter brown color, and his eyes were a pale blue. Upon confirming it was the same person, Val's eyes began to glow with fire, he felt his body heating up, his fight or flight instincts surged and took over.

The man noticed Val's demeanor and eyes like coal, but all he did was smile warmly.

"Easy, friend. Have a seat, I'm simply sitting here." He casually remarked.

"Every last time I've run into you it's been blood and broken bones, death in a hundred ways, why should I trust your word?" Val's burning gaze flared even brighter as he began to circulate his magic through his body, killing intent pouring out from his eyes.

"Hmm, a fair question, it seems a little much to suggest I have really tried to kill you, considering neither of us can truly die in here. Well, since you're so 'fired up' already, how about a friendly spar?" The man, still smiling, pulled two longswords out of the ground, courteously handing one to Val this time, as opposed to simply tossing it at his feet.

"I believe you have grown quite familiar with blades of this length, no?" The man stood and readied a sword with his single arm, again not having any issue with a weapon designed for two hands.

Val noted that the weapon, compared to the longsword he was gifted, lacked any embellishment, seeming as if it were freshly forged and never used. He took a few steps away from the brazier, to place himself before the man with no obstacles in the way, and took a stance with both hands on the grip.

"Would you like to start, or shall I? I suppose it has always been me taking the first strike." The man asked in a polite tone.

Val's anger and magic surged, recalling the endless torture of dying over and over again. Not bothering to reply he lunged forward, his blade splitting the air with every intention to kill the man. For the first time the one-armed man was on the defensive, guarding the blow as the loud clanging ring of steel on steel echoed in the darkness. Val was significantly stronger and faster than the last time they had fought, managing to force the man a step back. He focused his sight and hearing as he left no time for an offensive to be returned against him. Unleashing a flurry of steel against the man's guard, despite this, every blow was parried or blocked skillfully, though clearly not completely, as the pair began to circle around the brazier as if in a strange, lethal dance.
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After a few dozen strikes the one-armed man suddenly sidestepped an overhead strike, and seized the initiative. An equally deadly series of blows were released upon Val's guard, forcing the fight to return counter clockwise around the brazier as if to rewind the sequence of their duel.

"You have grown considerably in strength, but I feel you are sloppier now than you were when we last crossed blades, have you not been practicing?" The man remarked with some amus.e.m.e.nt, further incensing Val.

"You're a lot more talkative now than you were before, and your attacks are not nearly as terrifying." Val snapped back.

"I believe this was to be a friendly exchange, was it not? Are you angry about something?" The man seemed genuinely perplexed, revealing an opening for just a moment that Val readily exploited to return the tide to his favor.

"You. Can't. Be. Serious!" Val barked each word as his blade came down against the man's blade, on the last strike in the sequence Val poured all of his strength into his arms and shoulders as he delivered a herculean strike at an upward angle. The man stumbled backwards several steps, his guard blown wide open, nearly losing his grip on his blade.

Val's eyes flashed with fire, immediately leaping forward with his sword poised to skewer the man through his chest.

The man sighed, simply dropping his stance, sword hanging at his left side. Val's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but the action did not cause him to relent, driving his blade through the man, the tapered end protruding out his back.

To Val's surprise, the man simply took the blow and stood there, a meter of sharp steel buried where his heart ought to be. The bright red blood flowing from the wound told Val he had struck his mark, but the man simply held a stoic, if almost bored expression.

"What could you possibly be angered about?" The man raised his brows with a questioning expression.

"How about the part where you killed me repeatedly for nine days?!" Val barked, releasing the blade and taking a few steps back, unsure of what to make of the situation.

The man just rolled his eyes, still ignoring the steel protruding from his chest. "I already told you, we cannot actually die here."

"Even if that's true, the pain and sensations here are very real, I can still remember the feeling of steel through my throat, and I'm sure there's no one still alive who has witnessed their own head leaving their body."

"You might be surprised." Chuckling, the man remarked in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Even if I didn't die, it's still true you tortured me here for over a week."

"Okay, fine, you are haunted by lost limbs and may have lost your head a few times."

Then, to Val's complete exasperation, he lifted his sword and tapped the blade protruding from his chest. "This is the second time you have removed me of my heart, even now, yes?"

"f.u.c.k you! The h.e.l.l that makes us even!"

"You know… You could be just a little bit grateful, I did after all teach you how to fight." The man dropped his sword and grit his teeth, as he slowly drew Val's sword from his chest.

"There are better ways to teach someone how to fight."

"Prove it to me and I will apologize, but without life and death as the stakes, practice is only practice." The man took each blade in turn, thrusting them into the ground. Val eyed them warily as they continued to sink and disappear into the dark floor on their own, as if expecting something else to happen. To Val's continued surprise, the wound on the man's chest closed up, and the blood began to lift from his body, transforming and scattering into fine dust.

"Now, if I have proved to you a modic.u.m of good faith, have a seat by the fire, you must have questions." The man snapped his fingers and two wooden stools rose out of the ground next to the brazier. He walked over and took a seat for himself, gesturing to the stool opposite him as to offer it to Val.

Val took a few steps towards the fire, but did not take the offered seat. "Who are you exactly? And why do I wake up in this nightmare only to find you here anyway?"

The man grinned. "A nightmare implies you are dreaming, which while a close approximation, is not entirely true. As for who I am, let's see… What was that t.i.tle you so fondly gave my brother? 'Mr. Wednesday'? By your parlance, I would be 'Mr. Tuesday'."

Val's eyes widened in shock. "You're… Tyr?"

"I am, or was, I'm afraid I have gone and all but gotten myself killed, but that was very long ago. My brother saw fit to keep me barely alive instead of letting me earn my heroic death. I have had a number of t.i.tles and names, but I suppose considering I can hardly live up to my old name, it would be apt for me to go by what I embodied. I am Valor."

"Why are you here?"

"Odin put me here, gave you my mark, why, I myself am not sure. I would love to ask him, perhaps relieve him of his remaining eye for keeping me alive with the remains of a wretched dog, but alas, I am stuck here."

"You say 'here' like it is a place, and not a dream."

"Oh, it is though. It is as much a place as any other place anyway, though it is a bit desolate."

"What is this place?"

"Hmm… For lack of better words this is a kind of realm created by that brand on your chest." Valor pointed to the glowing set of runes beneath Val's shirt.

"And what is the point of that?"

"Well, this realm can house souls, here they can manifest themselves without a physical body fueled by anima. For example, yours and mine, here we exist primarily as a structure bound only by magic and mana."

"So your soul is housed within my body."

"Indeed."

"How do I remove a soul from my body?"

Valor looked offended, but it seemed little more than pretense, considering the comically hurt expression he held.

"You would not want to remove me from your body, though I doubt you can, to be honest I cannot leave either, and yes, I have tried."

"So I have to support two souls in my own body? That seems like a disadvantage."

"On the contrary, it is through the soul that magic is channeled, if you can house more souls who are willing to serve, or if you can bind their soul to your own, it can make you much stronger."

"How so?"

"It is easier to show you." As he said that, the air around Valor seemed to change, the air grew still, his blue eyes seemed to ignite and kindle like hot coals, on his chest, a blazing rune depicting 'Tyr' appeared, identical to the one in the center of Val's own brand. He stared into Val's shocked eyes with a smirk.

"You're the source of my power…?" Val asked incredulously.

"I believe I told you when first we met. 'You seek valor as your blade.' It is my own strength you wield. Surely you have questioned why your runes blaze like fire where Odin's glow with the color of the sky. The very rune you have been using to fuel and imbue your strength is my own, that is my power you are invoking." Valor explained, pointing to the glowing rune in the center of the brand.

Val finally took the offered seat, his mind racing as he processed this new information.

After some time, Val finally asked. "What do you want from me? Why do you freely lend me your power?"

Valor shrugged. "I do not want anything in particular, you proved yourself worthy, so I decided to help you. I am stuck here, it can be incredibly boring, though do try not to die. I do not know why my brother placed me within you, but his wife is something of an oracle, though she does not speak of her visions. Perhaps there is a good reason for doing this, as much as I despise being manipulated against my will, I have never known her to be wrong."

"Then, if you have nothing to do, can you teach me? I have learned the runes but many of them don't seem too useful."

Valor made a wry smile. "They are all powerful in their own right, how to use them is the trick, but sadly I am not much of an expert in their use myself. That is the domain of my brother. However, if it is the blade you wish to learn, there is much I can teach you, even without my right arm.

Val's face lit up, to learn the martial arts of a war G.o.d would be a tremendous boon. "That would be even better."