Valhalla Saga

ED: Ren

“Something is not right. Why are they all looking at us?”

Heda said in a whisper, her face flushed. The place they were standing at was behind the gates that had been designated as the meeting place. At Heda’s remark, Tae Ho glanced back at the gates. He felt as if he could feel the gazes of the warriors looking through the walls.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“Uh...”

As Tae Ho glared down at her with sharp eyes, Heda cleared her throat and then changed the subject.

“Anyway, are you fine? You aren’t hurt?”

Heda’s eyes moved over Tae Ho’s head. It was obvious for her to be worried because he had his head covered with bandages.

Tae Ho smiled bitterly and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Honestly, no. I’m alive because of Idun’s blessing.”

“Explain it in detail.”

Tae Ho told her about the battle he had faced today. Heda opened her eyes roundly at the part when he hit the wall and when they got to the point about how Tae Ho killed Red Eyes, Heda cut short his words and approached him.

“Let’s look at your wounds.”

“Ugh.”

As Heda started to touch his shoulders, arms, hips and other parts of his body, Tae Ho let out a groan. It was because nowhere on him was safe.. After Heda placed her hands on his chest and recited some runes, she shook her head.

“You really are a mess. Wait a moment.”

Heda stepped back and then took out some white things from the pocket ather waist. After she opened one, a clean white rolled cloth came out, and after she spread that, four small white pieces, each about the size of a small pill, appeared.

Heda extended her hand and said, “Eat one. You will feel much more comfortable.”

It was a request from none other than Heda. After eating the piece that was to the left, he felt that it was crispy and sweet.

‘Apple?’

He wasn’t certain. He felt as if it was an apple, but it was so much more delicious that it wasn’t comparable at all to the ones he had eaten up until now.

“How is it?”

Heda smiled playfully and asked. Expectation filled her eyes.

“Is it maybe...”

Tae Ho paused for a moment and then looked at himself. Energy started to fill his body. Reflexively, he started to touch his body, but he didn’t feel hurt at all. As Tae Ho opened his eyes widely, Heda smiled with satisfaction and then whispered in Tae Ho’s ear in a low voice.

“Right – that’s a piece of a golden apple.”

The golden apples that the Goddess of Youth administered – a treasure among treasures that gave eternal life to the Gods.

“Not anyone can eat this, so you have to keep it a secret. Understand?”

Heda’s expression and voice were more serious than playful. It seemed like he really had to keep it a secret.

“Is it fine?”

‘If you give me this?’

At Tae Ho’s question, Heda looked at their surroundings and then said in a low voice, “It’s a really small piece, and you are Idun’s warrior. It’s fine, you just have to don’t tell it to others. Idun also permitted it.”

None other than the one that administered the golden apples was the one that had permitted it.

‘But it will still have to be a secret.’

If the golden apples were things meant only for the Gods, then Idun having permitted it was secondary, but the fact that it was exposed could make a fuss. Just like Heda had said, it would be better to keep quiet about it.

‘Unexpectedly, Idun’s legion has more good points.’

Tae Ho nodded to himself and then looked at his body again. His body had been hurting until now, but now he was overflowing with strength.

“It’s really marvelous.”

“Well, it’s the essence of life. Although the effects are weak because it was merely a piece, it will still cure you of curses and heal you easily. It also has an outstanding ability for beauty.”

“Ah, so?”

“So what?”

As Heda tilted her head, Tae Ho just laughed it off.

“No, nothing. Anyway, thank you.”

Anyway, it certainly was a precious thing. He was thankful towards Heda that she wanted to take better care of him a little better than she could.

“Eat it only when you need it, nd take it with you at all times. This pocket has preserving magic in it, so you just have to put it in.”

Heda put back the folded white cloth in the pocket and then placed it on Tae Ho’s waist herself.

“Ah, you are keeping your saga a secret, right?”

“Yes, although no one asked me about it.”

It was something he had decided with Heda the day before.

He would keep the saga, Immortal Warrior, a secret.

The stories recorded in the Immortal Warrior were all too outstanding. With a saga like this, persons like Odin and Thor would certainly become interested in him.

The interest of Gods could become poison at times. And especially more so if Odin was the one interested.

What would happen if he placed Tae Ho on an unreasonable battlefield, saying that he would awaken his saga? The warriors of Valhalla had to always stand on the battlefield. There was nowhere that was not dangerous, but there was no need to bring danger to yourself.

And this was also something that Idun wanted.

“Right, be careful,” Heda warned him once again and then looked up at Tae Ho and said, “Well, today we should also continue with what we were doing.”

“You mean the classes?”

“Yeah. But as we are in the middle of the banquet and the night is deep, I will keep it short and concise,” Heda said as if asking what else was there to do and then looked Tae Ho up and down.

“You earned a lot of runes this time, right? And also received the reward. Did you already invest them?”

“Yes, I was in a hurry to strengthen myself.”

He had to become even a little bit faster and stronger to survive on the battlefield. There was no reason to keep them stored.

Heda nodded. “You did well. Can I see how you invested them?”

“As you wish.”

As Tae Ho agreed, Heda placed her palm on Tae Ho’s chest again. She closed her eyes and seemed to be reading the runes, and then smiled brightly and said,“You invested them in an equal manner?”

“It seemed like I needed all of them.”

“You thought well. What should I say; you are a warrior that’s more like an all-rounder, so it’s better to do what you did instead of focusing on one thing.”

In games, one would go with the Damage tree or the Tank tree, looking at the effectiveness, but this was the reality. In addition, Heda was thinking of a slow growth that implied raising all of your abilities equally instead of a dramatic growth.

“Actually, after what I faced yesterday I was thinking of doing an all-in in my health.”

Because if your health became stronger, it seemed as if your resistance towards shock also became stronger. However, Heda shook her head.

“That’s not too bad at the beginning, but don’t invest all of your runes in that. You always have to keep in mind that you will be fighting alone. If your attacks don’t even work on your opponent, it will be useless how much you can endure, right?”

She was right. And in the first place, that was the reason Tae Ho invested his runes equally. To go with the Extreme tree, he needed an ally to fill his weak points. He did fight with Rolph and the warriors of Ullr’s legion in the battlefield, but that wouldn’t always be the case. And the fights were rather more like repeated one on ones.

That meant that he needed all of the abilities. Strength, health, and agility influenced your battle strength directly, and concentration and magic power influenced your saga. Of course, this method was slower than investing all of your runes to one stat, but it still had a solution.

‘I just have to earn a lot of runes.’

It was the same as farming exp in games. He just had to earn a lot of runes and invest them.

In addition, Tae Ho had the Immortal Warrior. Every time the synchro rate increased, he became more like Kalsted. Saying it briefly, all of his abilities increased. Now, even Tae Ho was expecting it. He could already imagine himself becoming stronger than Kalsted someday.

As Tae Ho nodded with an excited face, Heda also nodded spiritedly.

“And this, this is a reward from Idun.”

“Idun’s?”

“Yeah. It increases your recovery rate. It’s a special thing.”

What Heda took out was a golden necklace. There was a golden apple at the end of the necklace.

Heda hung the necklace on Tae Ho and said, “Idun was really happy. It has been a while since the warriors of Valhalla shouted Idun’s name. She says she will be awaiting your performance.”

Looking at how he had spoken, it seemed as if Idun didn’t directly see how he fought. It seemed like there was a kind of system that could know when the warriors yelled their names.

‘Uh...mmm...Idun? Next time, I will certainly yell your name.’

Tae Ho, who yelled Idun’s name instead of Heda’s, cleared his throat and then placed his hands on his waist as if he remembered.

“But Heda, what do I use the money on?”

“You can donate it to the legion, and you can use it for yourself,” Heda answered. And it was his feeling but it felt as if she had emphasized the first part.

Tae Ho laughed in a low voice and kept asking, “Is there a place I can use it?”

“Of course there is. Starting from the inferior rank, you are able to go to the stores that are in Valhalla. There are people that order weapons and armors for themselves, and there are also people that spend it on gambling places or in the red light district. There are various kinds of people. And of course, there are people that just donate it to their legion.”

Heda shone at the last part.

Tae Ho asked instead, “Where will you use the donations?”

“Improvement of living conditions for the members?”

“Okay. I will think about it.”

Even if she said that Tae Ho was the only one.

As Tae Ho stepped back, Heda put on a regretful face but it was only for a moment.

“Wherever you use it, you just don’t have to waste it. It seems like you still haven’t received your reward; looking at the merits you have achieved today, you will also get rewarded tomorrow. I’m telling you that you are amazing.”

“Ah, well.”

Tae Ho shrugged his shoulders and smirked. He had heard it many times when he was a pro gamer, but it was always nice to hear compliments.

‘Anyways, the lowest ranked warriors really are treated as ordinary ones. You can’t even go to the store alone.’

He understood why the warriors of Ullr’s legion made that fuss with the inferior rank.

“I should be going back.”

Heda seemed to have a method to check the time when she looked up at the sky and approached Tae Ho.

“Lower your head for a moment, I will bless you.”

As Tae Ho lowered his head, Heda got on her toes and placed her lips on Tae Ho’s forehead.

“Let Idun’s blessing be with you.”

Heda stepped back after that and laughed and then waved her hand as she always did.

&

“So, did you have fun?”

“Bjorn, why do I feel murderous intent from your words?”

It wasn’t only in his words but also in the arm that was placed on Tae Ho’s neck.

“It’s just your feeling.”

Bjorn opened his eyes sharply and smirked and then the warriors in Siri’s troop put on the same smile.

Tae Ho got out of Bjorn’s arm for now and then said, “I just had some classes, classes.”

“A one on one class with a Valkyrie?!”

The warriors gulped some air. It seemed like they had completely misunderstood. It was also like this when he came to Valhalla, but the warriors here were professionals when assuming things.

“No, so...”

“Tae Ho, captain Siri is calling you.”

While everyone was focused on Tae Ho, Rolph stepped in and called him. His face was red because of the alcohol, but his expression was serious.

“I understand.”

There were warriors with familiar faces behind Rolph. It seemed like they were similarly called.

“Let’s hurry.”

As Rolph turned back and started to walk away, the warriors of Siri’s troop started to say words like ‘so what happened!’ but he could only leave.

“Over there.”

The place Rolph pointed at was near a burning Altar. And as they arrived there, there were a few more people beside Siri. And there was also someone even Tae Ho knew.

Valkyrie Rasgrid.

She, who was responsible for all of the warriors, looked at the gathered members and said, “I’m sorry to call you in the middle of the banquet, but I have something to tell you. It’s related to a special task.”

< Episode 5 – The night banquet (2) > End