Daniel travels to the Syndicate Union's New Atlantis branch with Loki. At first glance, the branch appears to be a standard hotel establishnt. However, hidden beneath its surface is a secret basent that serves as a hub of illicit activities.
This underground space houses all sorts of entertainnt, including a bar, a brothel, a gun shop, and even a bounty board. The bounty board operates 24/7, displaying the most wanted individuals for bounty hunters and assassins to assess. It allows them to determine which target carries the highest price and organize teams to claim the reward.
The bounty board has a variety of individuals on it, including mages, businessn, so middle managers deed too troubleso to be left alive, and those who know too much for their own good. These kinds of targets are displayed prominently on screens throughout the room.
The lively atmosphere starts as bounty hunters and assassins cheering when lucrative bounties appear, jobs promising payouts that's enough to last them for months after their successful completion.
"Welco to Syndicate Union, This must be the first ti you've arrived here, Lord Emberweave. This is the core business of the Syndicate union." Loki introduces the secret section of the Syndicate Union that only the high level mbers, Assassins, and bounty hunters under the Syndicate Union would have access to.
"Tell the truth, Mr. Loki. Does my bounty appear here at all?" Daniel asked. This was the only question that mattered to him. He didn't care what Loki did for a living, he could be a junk collector or a pimp, for all Daniel cared. He wouldn't judge.
"Oh, if you an whether there's a bounty on you posted, the answer is no," Loki replied with his trademark suave smile. "But as for requests to put you on the bounty board and the monetary reward involved, I must say… your head is the hottest commodity. Especially considering recent events."
"The conflict between you and those from the old energy giants, as well as the Hightower. The price for your head already exceeds a hundred million Origold. Yes, you heard right, Origold! the mage currency, not dollars."
Daniel nodded in acknowledgnt and then asked, "Why didn't you post it? Isn't that a lot of money?"
"It is a lot of money," Loki admitted, leaning back with a aningful glance. "But what would happen if I posted it? Hmm?"
He paused, then continued, "I'd have you coming after . Several Syndicate Union branches would be destroyed, and we might find ourselves in a state of regression, much like the Hightower right now. I may be the god of mischief, but I don't think stupidity is one of my divine domains, Mr. Emberweave. Your next read is at empire
"When the odds are stacked against , I know better than to push it. And besides, it's not necessary, you and I are not enemies." Loki explained.
Daniel nodded in understanding then followed Loki deeper into the secret section of the Syndicate Union.
Loki led Daniel deeper into the facility via another elevator. Finally, they arrived in a moderately sized room filled with various artifacts and dical devices designed to prolong life. The object that caught Daniel's attention the most was the large transparent tank in the middle of the room.
Inside the tank floated the body of a gray wolf. In front of it sat an obese man in a wheelchair. Despite his size, his muscular arms and chest suggested frequent use, and his rough palms hinted at years of wielding a hamr, clearly, this man was a master blacksmith.
Loki approached the middle-aged man in the wheelchair and then turned to Daniel. "Let introduce you to my friend and the one who has done the most to help sustain my son's life, Lord Emberweave," he said, gesturing toward the man.
"This is Hephaestus, the god of smithing. You've probably already heard of him. He's also the founder of the Hephaestus Institute," Loki added.
"Nice to et you, lad," Hephaestus said, extending a hand toward Daniel.
"Likewise, Mr. Hephaestus," Daniel replied, reciprocating the handshake firmly.
Daniel glanced at Hephaestus's wheelchair, wondering why a god would need one. He rembered myths of Zeus often changing his form, such as when wooing mortal won. Yet Hephaestus seed different. Was his disability the result of a curse or sothing else?
Hephaestus noticed Daniel's eyes lingering on his clubbed feet and wheelchair. It wasn't the first ti soone had stared at his apparent flaw. Smiling faintly, he spoke.
"Are you curious why, as a god, I still have this… imperfection?" Hephaestus asked with a knowing smile.
Daniel was startled and quickly averted his gaze. "Oh, how rude of . I apologize, Mr. Hephaestus."
"No offense, Mr. Emberweave," Hephaestus replied warmly. "I know anyone with even a shred of knowledge about gods and magic would wonder why I still carry this flaw. Since it's you who's curious, I'll tell you." Hephaestus lifted his clubbed foot slightly, drawing Daniel's attention.
"This disability isn't the result of a curse," Hephaestus explained with a calm smile. "It's the consequence of a sacrifice I made to an entity within the Akashic Records, in exchange for vast knowledge of smithing."
Hearing the word, Akashic Records Daniel was startled. It's the place where he gets his power, the place he seems to be connected to. Does this entity that Hephaestus said have sothing to do with the Keeper?
"What did you sacrifice?" Daniel asked. He noted that Hephaestus's feet, though flawed, were still intact. If Hephaestus had sacrificed his legs, wouldn't they have disappeared entirely?
"What I sacrificed was my divinity… a portion of it," Hephaestus said, gesturing to his upper leg and moving his hand downward. "From my upper leg to my feet, these parts of are considered mortal. And, as such, they carry the flaws of mortality. You know who my parents are, don't you?" Hephaestus asked, not elaborating further.
"Zeus and Hera," Daniel muttered, then froze as realization dawned on him. Both Zeus and Hera were siblings, born of the sa parents, and their incestuous union had borne Hephaestus. If parts of Hephaestus were mortal, they would reflect the genetic imperfections of his divine parents' union.
Noticing Daniel's expression shift as the realization struck, Hephaestus nodded with a smile. "It seems you've figured it out. Good. That saves the trouble of explaining further," he said. "Divinity serves many purposes, one of which is to nullify the flaws of mortality."
"Which brings us to the current situation with Lord Loki's son," Hephaestus said, turning toward the Graywolf floating within the tank.
"He was afflicted by a curse that reacts to his divinity, preventing him from recovering from his injury. As a result, he will be in this state, neither truly alive nor dead, until the end of ti." Hephaestus paused, allowing the information to sink in before continuing.
"On the other hand, if we were to remove all the divinity from his body, his injury and mortality would imdiately kill him," Hephaestus explained.
Loki nodded, his gaze shifting to Daniel. "Can you heal him? Or could we remove his divinity and have you resurrect him?" Loki asked, his eyes filled with a flicker of hope.
"I won't promise anything, but… let see first." Daniel stepped toward the tank, closing his eyes as he sank his consciousness into the mindscape to assess Fenrir's condition.
Within the mindscape, Daniel saw Fenrir bound by countless cursed enchantnts. The curses had multiplied over ti, clinging to Fenrir's body like parasitic vines. There were millions of them. While Daniel could destroy the curses, doing so would take an imnse amount of ti… years, perhaps even decades.
From what he glead in the mindscape. The curse was self-replicating, multiplying once each day. After thousands of years of unchecked multiplication, the sheer number of curses had grown far beyond what Daniel could handle individually.
Daniel furrowed his brows in thought, weighing his options. Then his gaze fell on a simple spell card in his mindscape: the Planar Shift Spell.
—
Card: Planar Shift
Picture: Image of a man silhouette shifting through a dinsional rift, then returning to reality with lingering power from the dinsional void.
Rarity: Common
Type: Quick Spell
Mana Cost: 1 Water, 1 Non-Elent
Description: Exile target creature, then put target creature back onto the battlefield at the end of the turn. Then put a strengthened counter onto the target creature.
Flavor text: "Between dinsions, power grows. What was lost returns, but forever changed."
—
"I'll dispel all the curses from him. Make sure to bring him to an abandoned island far away from civilization," Daniel said firmly.
Loki's hope intensifies as this is the real chance his son gets. He nodded. "Of course, I'll arrange it right away!"
After that, with just a phone call, people ca in and moved Fenrir's tank out of the basent, and Daniel also called the VTOL here for transport; there is an abandoned island not too far from New Atlantis; if it's that place, he could quickly quarantine the place.
Reviews
All reviews (0)