Chapter 155
Grukk, grrrrr-.
Krrrrr-.
It was akin to a beast.
Lee Suhyuk was taken aback as he stared at the cutscene unfolding before his eyes.
“Thor? Odin?”
The faces were clear.
There were other familiar faces besides the two.
“Brynhild.”
The fierce female warrior and leader of the Valkyries, Brynhild, stood before him.
Her face bore scars and wounds that he had never seen before, and she had Thor bound in thick ropes.
“What is this?”
“Should we be grateful that he’s returned alive…?”
Brynhild struggled to speak, unable to finish her sentence. Thor, growling like an animal, glared at Odin. Soon, one of the ropes binding him snapped with a loud thud.
Ka-boom-!
Dark blue lightning shot from his fingertips towards Odin. Brynhild wasn’t flustered. She believed Odin wouldn’t budge at such a minor attack.
Sure enough, Odin remained unscathed, even after the thunder had passed.
“It must have been difficult to subdue him.”
“Fortunately, he was quite exhausted.”
“Did he fight Surtr?”
“That appears to be the case.”
Understanding the situation with just a brief exchange, Odin nodded.
“You did well.”
“It’s nothing. But what should we do about the Prince…?”
“Sadly, there is neither a rope in Asgard that can bind him nor a prison cell that can hold him.”
Thor was Odin’s blood. Since childhood, he had been an exceptional fighter. With the power of lightning, he had become an even more formidable warrior.
“Then, what should we do?”
Snap, crackle-.
Even in the midst of this, one by one, Thor’s ropes were breaking.
“There are two options. Either I keep him restrained, or we kill him.”
That statement shattered Brynhild’s icy composure.
“Absolutely not!”
“Absolutely not, which side are you on?”
“We can’t let the Prince die. Isn’t there another way…?”
“The other way is for me to keep him restrained. But that won’t be here in Valhalla.”
Only then did Brynhild seem to grasp the gravity of the situation, her lips trembling.
“If I leave this place, Surtr will certainly aim for it. The longer I’m gone, the more likely it becomes, and Asgard will be in danger.”
“…Yes.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Unlike the agitated Brynhild, Odin stared at Thor with cold, emotionless eyes.
“So, the best option is to kill him.”
* * *
After the cutscene ended, Odin reappeared before Suhyuk’s eyes.
He was confused.
Odin, who was now bowing and begging a human like himself to save his son.
Could this truly be the same person from the cutscene?
‘Is this his true intention?’
The choices were starkly different.
It was unclear whether this was a sudden change of heart or if his words didn’t match his true feelings.
Anyway, he hoped Thor wouldn’t die.
“…… Yes.”
And at Odin’s request, Suhyuk nodded.
“I will do my best.”
Not just thinking of it as a trial.
But thinking of it as helping a father save his son from now on.
* * *
After that, Suhyuk ran on the green path.
『Beginning ‘The Endless Path’.』
『Run with all your might.』
A path with no defined end point. As the name suggested, it was an infinitely extending path.
Suhyuk ran at full speed. It had been a while since he ran his hardest without using lightning.
Running, and running again. As his breath reached its limit, Suhyuk finally sensed that the path had begun.
‘I need to find a method.’
While exhaling steadily, he thought of Thor.
‘Separating Mjolnir from his hand… He must have tried that already. Destroy it? That’s the same. Then…’
No matter how much he thought, it seemed like Odin had already tried every feasible method.
There was one method worth attempting.
‘The Heart of Thunder must be united as one.’
The Heart of Thunder was originally one. It had been divided into two pieces, which was its current state.
Separating them was pointless. Destroying them was equally futile or impossible.
Therefore, the only remaining method was.
To unite the divided pieces into one.
‘Is it possible?’
He pondered over it.
He was not a blacksmith like Kindre. However, he didn’t think the purpose of this trial lay in blacksmithing skills.
『Stamina increased by 1.』
Unlike other stats, the increase in stamina was slower.
After gaining a few more stats, Suhyuk finally stopped his trembling legs.
No, he fell down.
Thud-
He stopped running only when his legs were too ragged to run anymore.
He had no idea how long he had run.
There was no time to calculate that, as his mind was filled with other thoughts.
“Huff, huff-.”
‘There’s no need to think too hard.’
He felt he would know intuitively what to do.
Having finished his thoughts, Suhyuk raised his head.
And in that moment.
“Uweeek-!”
Having run so much, his stomach turned upside down.
* * *
Odin’s third arrangement was a small piece of leaf.
The moment he wondered what this tiny leaf was, a message appeared.
『You have obtained a fragment of Yggdrasil’s Leaf.』
The moment he checked the name of the item, Lee Suhyuk doubted his own eyes.
Yggdrasil.
Also known as the World Tree, it was a massive tree that was said to support several worlds, including Asgard.
‘This tiny thing?’
How on Earth had they managed to shrink down the leaves of such a colossal tree to this size? Once again, he marveled at Odin’s abilities.
Crunch.
He put the leaf in his mouth and chewed.
It was astringent, and extremely bitter. It was so bitter that he almost vomited again.
But as the bitter taste faded, an incredibly clear and radiant sensation enveloped his entire body.
Stamina surged.
It was as if all the blood in his body had been drained and replaced with new blood.
『Stamina increased by 1.』
『Stamina increased by 1.』
『Stamina…』
As evidence, several stamina points were additionally increased.
And that wasn’t the end.
『You have received the Blessing of Yggdrasil.』
『You gain strong resistance to all status effects.』
『You gain strong resistance to all curses.』
『You gain strong resistance to all elemental damage.』
This was an alarm with value beyond mere stats.
Resistance to all elements, curses, and status effects.
This would undoubtedly become an immense power when fighting magical enemies or other adversaries.
“…… This is too generous.”
His depleted stamina had completely recovered as if it had never been drained.
Fatigue: 0%.
His condition was the best it had been since entering the tower.
“And lastly… this must be it.”
Trickling-
At the end of the path where he had staggered to arrive, there was a small underground spring.
『Drink as much as you want from ‘Mimir’s Spring’.』
The name was unfamiliar. Suhyuk approached the spring.
The water was so clear that it mirrored his face. What kind of efficacy did this water have that he was told to drink it? Suhyuk reached out and hesitated for a moment.
‘As much as you want, huh…’
Under usual circumstances, he would have gulped it down greedily.
He might have even plunged into the spring and swum around.
The more you desire, the greater the gains. The riskier the task, the bigger the reward of the trial.
But this time.
Drip-
He acted contrary to his usual instincts.
Suhyuk put just a single drop into his mouth. It was tasteless and he only had one chance.
Like a sudden drought, the spring dried up instantly. Even if he wanted to indulge more, he couldn’t.
And in the next moment, another change occurred within Suhyuk’s body.
Hissss—
Just one drop.
That single drop deeply permeated into his body.
It felt like he had swallowed a strong liquor; his insides burned. In an instant, his mind sank into a cozy, profound sleep.
Who knew how much time had passed?
When Suhyuk opened his eyes again, there were foul-smelling and rancid liquids flowing around him.
‘Did this come out of my body?’
The sensation felt as brief as closing and opening one’s eyes.
However, Lee Suhyuk felt certain that he had lost consciousness for a significant amount of time.
Evidence for this was the different energy flowing through his entire body.
『Status Window』
『Name: Lee Suhyuk』
『Affiliation: Earth』
『Level: 59』
『Strength: 83』+2
『Agility: 76』+8
『Stamina: 98』+9
『Focus: 74』
『Magic: 80』
He had opened his stat window to confirm what he was feeling through his body.
Indeed, his magic and focus had significantly increased compared to before he had blacked out. Although his level was still low, his overall stats were by no means lacking.
Especially his stamina, which had the most exceptional value, likely thanks to Jinwoon’s procedure.
‘I never thought I’d solve my concerns this quickly.’
Lately, Suhyuk’s concern had been his reliance on lightning due to his low level and lacking stats.
In the past, Lee Suhyuk had used the skill “lightning” primarily, but it wasn’t his only asset.
Now, things were different.
His exceptionally high stamina stat and Selfless Sacrifice. Utilizing these two aspects with his lightning skill.
His dependence on this skill was due to his relatively low other stats.
‘It’s not completely resolved yet…’
Perhaps he would be able to solve it once his level increased further.
In truth, even at this stage, he’d solved half of the problem. The dissatisfaction was just because of his high standards.
“I’ve received too much advance payment.”
Upon seeing his increased stats, Suhyuk realized how precious and valuable Odin’s arrangements were.
Mimir’s well water. Yggdrasil’s leaf. Clothes made from Asgard’s holy water and the primordial wind.
Odin had “invested” all these things in him.
To reclaim his son.
Boom-!
A rumble was heard from afar. Though faint, the impact reverberated through the ground.
The underground of Asgard shook. This was the signal that Thor, who had been barely maintaining his consciousness, had begun to rampage.
‘Can I do it?’
It was the same question, but the answer was different from before.
Until then, the mere thought of approaching Thor had seemed impossible, but now it felt slightly more achievable.
‘Let’s do this.’
No, it needed to be done.
These gifts were not given out of affection.
All of it was an extremely expensive investment to increase the likelihood of rescuing Thor, even by a fraction.
Therefore, he had to prove that this investment was not made in vain.
Rumble-.
Thunder roared once again from Thor’s Mjolnir, shooting up to the sky.
And responding to Thor’s thunder,
Crackle-.
Blue electricity formed in Suhyuk’s hand.
“I’m ready.”
The blue spear formed in his hand.
Suhyuk threw it with all his might towards the sky.
Boom-!
A thunderous roar filled the underground as if Mjolnir had been swung.
Creating a towering blue pillar in the sky, Suhyuk moved his lips and spoke towards the distant, deranged figure who had lost his way.
“I’m here.”