17 Chapter 17 – Skíðblaðnir? No thanks... I have 2 goats!

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- Timeskip: 10 minutes.

- Location: Niflheim / Next to the boiling spring lake (Hvergelmir).

Pov Thor.

Being sent on a new mission isn't so bad... Because these two goats kind piqued my interest.

After all... Not even Níðhöggr can kill them due to their speed.

Níðhöggr might not be the fastest thing in the Nordic pantheon, but it was decently fast. And according to Móðguðr's description, it made me suspect that these two goats might be as fast as Frey's ship, the Skidbladnir!

In the best case, I had a new 'study object'... In the worst case?

I would have food for the rest of the trip.

My train of thought was interrupted by my traveling companion.

"So…Any idea how we're going to capture or kill these two 'goats?" asked Sif.

I waved.

So I took out a necklace, which I created after I returned from my trip from Ethiopia, under my clothes.

It was a simple storage necklace, due to being forged with simple materials, it has a small storage space compared to Freyja's Brisingamen.

Only 50 m³.

But it was enough for me to keep the same 'fishing line' that caught Jörmundgander.

"I have a plan... I jump over them and tie them with this string... Simple and practical" I replied.

But Sif seemed to look at me in disbelief.

"... Only that? No bait, or a descending rope? Or even a more elaborate plan?!" she asked in disbelief.

If I were in someone else's body, obviously I would have a plan that would fit my situation.

But I was in the body of a god who had trained in the art of brazenly plagiarizing the anime techniques I've watched.

And one in particular... It would result in my victory.

"Hehe...Believe me Sif...There's no need for further elaboration, of that I guarantee" I said smiling.

That still didn't seem to convince Sif, but it would be easier to show her when the time came.

When we got to Hvergelmir we didn't see any sign of the creatures, so we waited.

During this waiting time, Sif seemed to have gotten bored and tried to strike up a conversation.

"So…I hear Princess Freyja was quite happy when they found the Brisingamen in Útgard's quarters…" said Sif.

"…Yes…But again, I was at that time looking for mead…I wasn't looking for the necklace…" I explained with a bit of embarrassment.

It wasn't a lie... I found the necklace by accident.

One of the few things I remember after my 'fight'/unilateral massacre at the castle of Útgard... I was looking for more mead, but I didn't find anything... Not a drop...

My drunk self was obviously pissed off…so pissed off as to demolish the west wing of the castle.

The good thing about it? At least I was still smart enough to take some of the castle's ice blocks.

The reason?... I wanted to discover the secrets of the corrupted ice of the winter castle.

I had to get more than a few stones of course, so the other day, after I got rid of the hangover and with Frey still in the healing chamber, I grabbed a chest, studded with runes of time and space, and took it to the castle rubble.

A chest, with a capacity of 1000 m³, filled with corrupted ice.

After I returned from my trip to Africa with Frey, I went to study more about the 'corrupted ice'.

There were things I discovered, like: The ice in the castle... It was different from the ice in Jotunheim. In fact, the ice that was most 'similar' to the castle ice was Niflheim's ice.

While I would like to further investigate the origin of ice. My goal at that time was to find out how he 'nullified' magic.

Interestingly, there was an 'angel' from the Yhwh/Big G pantheon, who did something similar...

Anyway... After taking notes and finding out a little bit about how it works.

I created a small prototype...

A ring.

Which, in theory, could nullify magic/divine energy. I chose to forge a ring as it would be cheaper to make and would save 'corrupted ice'.

Before I had any more ideas about the corrupted ice, Sif asked me another question.

"... Thor... Hmm... What do you think about Freyja?" asked Sif, curious.

... Huh?

"...What exactly do you want me to answer?" I asked uncertainly.

In a way, I was a little curious... Well, Sif has never been so expressive in these types of situations, and NEVER showed such interest in talking about this kind of thing.

"Ah... You know... All men seem to want to court her at the latest parties... They always comment about her beauty. I was just curious about... If everyone thinks the same thing about her..." asked Sif uncertainly.

So... Does this mean that Sif is feeling insecure compared to the Freyja beauty?

"…Well…I don't know about 'all' the gods…But I don't think the 'same way' of them…" I tried to answer.

That seemed to interest her

"Really?! Ahem... So not all men think about the same beautiful woman?" asked Sif, curious.

... This conversation is taking a turn I don't approve of.

"... Look... Not all men think about the same woman... We're just interested in certain 'characteristics' that some women have that catch our attention... While we can say that a woman is beautiful, it doesn't mean all men will drop everything to seek her 'affection'" I tried to answer as best I could.

Of course, there are certain... 'exceptions'... For some men, if a woman has big tits, it was enough to ask her to get married...

I didn't forget about you ISSEI! I WILL BURN YOU IN THE HOLY FIRE!

"…So… Out of curiosity Thor… What are the 'characteristics' that you –"

Before I could hear Sif's question, we were interrupted by the clatter of drums...or more accurately, 'hooves'.

We looked at the sky, and then we saw our 'targets'.

I could only smile.

"I've waited 50 years for this moment…" I whispered.

- Timeskip: 5 minutes.

Pov Thor.

On the shores of Lake Hvergelmir, two goats found themselves drinking from the water.

These two goats took turns to drink, while one drank water, the other was attentive to his surroundings.

That's why Sif and I were still watching from a distance.

"So… What now? They'll start running if we get too close…" asked Sif whispering to me.

"...Stay here and don't blink for 1 second... Or you'll miss it" I replied, smiling.

"... What do you mean?" asked Sif confused.

However, I didn't respond and just started running towards the goats.

I soon activated the Raiton no Yori from the Raikage to increase my speed... But it didn't seem to be enough.

No problem then... To think that I would finally use this movement just 50 years after learning it...

The goat that wasn't drinking the water seemed to have spotted me approaching quickly and warned its mate.

Their hooves soon glowed blue and they looked ready to run.

But I never would let that happen!

For my next technique I 'MUST' scream the name... Or else it will lose the magic!

I quickly accumulated my divine power of lightning nature into a single spot on my forehead, this spot has the size of the tip of a needle.

And as soon as I accumulated enough... I released it in an explosion.

"Beware... ZA WARUDO!" I screamed.

Pov. Third-person.

For Sif, everything happened very fast...

First, she saw Thor begin to run at high speed towards the goats... Soon an aura of lightning resembling 'armor' formed around Thor, and boosted Thor's speed to the point of disappearing from Sif's sight.

Then Sif looked towards the goats, and as soon as she realized they were ready to run, she quickly tried to warn Thor.

But then a blue-colored glow blinded Sif... And the next thing she saw when she opened her eyes... It was Thor on the banks of Hvergelmir with the two goats tied by their feet.

Sif soon got up and ran towards Thor.

As soon as she approached, she soon asked.

"By Odin! What was that?!" asked Sif in disbelief.

Thor just looked in her direction and smiled.

"…Let's just say…I may be known as a minor 'god of time'…" Thor replied.

"A minor 'god of time'?!" asked Sif in surprise.

"…Only for consideration Sif…Not really," said Thor.

"That still doesn't explain what you did..." muttered Sif.

Sif then looked at the two goats.

"So... what are we going to do with them?" asked Sif, curious.

"…You know… I'm a little hungry… And since I only need 1 to 'study it', we can kill the other one and eat it," Thor said with a shrug.

Sif then faced Thor impassively.

"…' Study them'? How are you going to do that?" asked Sif.

"Ah... You know... Simple things like knowing the maximum speed, where they get that energy to 'fly' in the sky... Maybe I need to open it to find out" said Thor, reflecting.

For some reason... As Sif and Thor talked, the goats seemed more agitated, it even seemed that they... understood the conversation.

This Sif quickly noticed.

"... Can they... understand us?" asked Sif uncertainly.

The goats began to wave quickly.

Thor, surprised by the goats' response, spoke.

"… Interesting… Let's keep it simple, one nod for 'yes' and two for 'no'… Got it?" Thor asked.

The goats waved once.

"And don't think about lying," said Thor, taking a small stone from his necklace.

The stone looked like a diamond.

"If someone malicious intent through deception, this stone will glow red. If one of you lies... I'll kill you right here... Am I clear?" Thor asked, his tone menacing.

The goats waved quickly, afraid. However... No one knows that Thor was lying, it was just an ordinary diamond stone that was left in the necklace storage.

"Let's start with something simple... Did you come to drink Hvergelmir's water on purpose?" Thor asked.

The goats waved once.

"...Did you have another place to drink?" Thor asked.

The goats waved once.

"... Did you... Did you know that Níðhöggr sometimes comes here to feed on the Yggdrasil root that is at the bottom of this lake?" Thor asked uncertainly.

The goats hesitated to respond... But they nodded once.

This confused Thor...

They knew that Níðhöggr was coming here, and they said they had other sources of water to drink...

"Are you... Afraid of Níðhöggr?" Thor asked.

The goats waved once.

This, for Thor, would rule out the theory that they are not afraid of Níðhöggr due to the superior speed of goats relative to Níðhöggr.

But then Thor was wondering... why the goats decided to drink from here.

It was then that Thor looked at the water of Hvergelmir.

"... Do you... find this water more... 'tasty'?" Thor asked uncertainly.

Incredibly... The goats waved once.

"Are you kidding?... They risked their lives... For water that tastes better?" asked Sif in disbelief.

It was then that Thor thought of the Yggdrasil root at the bottom of the lake.

"It's probably due to Yggdrasil... Look at Níðhöggr, for example, he leaves the land of the dead to feed on the root every day. Perhaps the root, being a little bit gnawed due to Níðhöggr, may have altered the taste of the Hvergelmir water and made it more... 'Addictive' for those who drink it?" Thor explained uncertainly.

Even Thor wasn't sure what he said.

"Anyway... Now that we're done here, we can continue with our journey... But what are you going to do with them Thor?" asked Sif, looking at the goats.

The goats looked nervous.

"...Honestly, they are too intriguing to be mere food... So I'm going to adopt them," Thor said, smiling.

Sif looked unsure.

"…Are you sure?… You weren't planning on adopting Fenrir as a 'pet'? Are you sure it's a good idea for a wolf and two goats to live on the same roof?" asked Sif.

"No, I won't let them live under the same roof…" Thor replied.

So Thor pulled out 2 collars from his storage collar.

"I'm glad I brought spare parts…" said Thor.

Sif was then curious.

"What are those?" asked Sif.

Thor then put the collars on the goats that were tethered.

"These are two of the first versions I made for Fenrir's collar… But they were a failure because they didn't have the effect I originally wanted, so I kept them in my necklace in case of emergency," Thor explained.

"...What effect did you want them to have?" asked Sif.

Thor then smiled when he answered.

"…User shrinkage" replied Thor.

Sif then understood... After all Fenrir, according to some sources, was already bigger than a house.

"... But then what do they do?" asked Sif looking at the collars now on the goats' necks.

Thor just smiled as he untied the goats.

"There's only one function... You better see for yourself," Thor said.

As soon as Thor untied the goats they soon shot into the sky and began to run quickly out of sight.

Thor didn't even look altered when he held the necklace.

"X (Gebo)," Thor whispered into the necklace.

The necklace then glowed a little and created a magic circle in front of Thor... From where the goats came again!

"... What?" said Sif in surprise.

The goats seemed to have been surprised to see the two humans again.

It was then that Thor's smile grew before he began to explain.

"These collars are connected to this necklace of mine with a convergence rune... And with the aid of a time and space rune, I can 'call' them to my side whenever I want... Don't be fooled by them yet they'll be 'free', but when I call they'll be by my side if I need it... And this necklace of mine is the 'key' to remove the collars so there's no danger if someone tries to remove the collars, I won't treat them like slaves... But they are very useful to pass up, that's why I'll leave them 'free'... If any of them are in danger, they will be transported to me immediately" explained Thor.

Thor then looked at the goats who were staring at him in fear.

"…Maybe one day…I will call them 'partners' too," Thor said, smiling.

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