25 Knoweldge Gained At A Cost?

(Cao Cao POV)

-Well Of Mimir At The Base Of Yggdrasil-

"So I assume it was that lass Scathach that sent you here? I still remember the small and scared girl that came here hundreds of years ago. Now she sends you a boy that looks like he hasn't even seen a woman bare yet." The head says as I stare into the well, to which I sigh, remove my hands, and stare at him.

"Cao Cao, my name is Cao Cao, and I am here for knowledge and guidance." My answer seems to make the head observe me more carefully. The head's eyes that glow with a piercing yellow light analyze me from head to toe over and over again.

After a minute of him staring at me, he says, "You are not here for power, are you? When Odin came to this place, he did so because he sought the power to avert Ragnarok, but you seem lost, young lad. So I must ask if you desire knowledge to serve yourself or your future?"

An answer in the form of another question, yet as I stared into the seemingly calm waters, I saw murky visions of the past, the present, and a possible future with myself standing upon a stone floor and looking up to a mountain on fire as my eyes glow in a blue light. 

I backed away from the well slightly as I observed the area around me. The area I was in looked similar to an endless cave with no light behind me.

The only light available was the light from the glow of the waters of the well, but it didn't matter. As I turned to the well again, the waters seemed to shift endlessly as the head said, "A choice must be made, young lad. What are you willing to sacrifice and suffer forever more?" His eyes seemed to grow brighter with power as the room began to shake.

Looking back into the waters, I stared into my eyes and slowly reached my hands up to both of them and gripping them, I pulled.

The pain was fleeting but excruciating as I dropped the eyes into the well, and the water seemed to come alive and attach itself to me as it did so. It hoisted me into the air. As the roots grasped me, I found that I could not escape as the pain in my empty eyes ached and added in equal measure.

Then the water entered my mouth, and I saw what I came to see as reality itself seemed to crack open as words began to attach themselves to my mind as the information of the runes that transcribed creation were slammed into my head.

The process left me dazed but focused, in agony, yet lucid, but it never seemed to end as the visions I saw began to show themselves again and again. From apocalypses to paradises, I saw so much and so little amongst the infinite possibilities. The runes inscribed in my mind became clearer as the world, even with haki, became open to me, and with haki, it became clearer even without my eyes.

I could still feel the blood flowing from my eyes as my injury healed, but my eyes did not return, and I was left in endless darkness and endless roots, with the roots forming a kind of cocoon around me. Upon realizing I was stuck in there, I questioned why, but using haki, I realized the answer as outside of this cocoon lay the primordial energies of Ymir, and I was not ready to be exposed to it yet as it would tear me apart.

So, within the Ginnungagap, I lay there for a time. I could not tell between life and death as I felt the fires of Muspelheim and the cold of Nifelheim. 

As my body was burned and froze, I grew stronger, and while I realized they were not the hottest or coldest, I was humbled as the flames that burned me were the lowest, and the colds that froze me to the soul were not the coldest from that realm.

The silence was deafening, and the void offered no comfort.

For in this moment, there were no dreams nor an infinite, just nothing, knowledge, and pain. The delirium began to set in within a day as the roots crawled over me, and the fires and cold became more extreme, or at least it felt like it. 

I could no longer steam as I lost my voice due to the strain. The blood had long dried on my face as the cocoon remained sturdy.

At this moment, I questioned if I should have done that. It was impulsive as I could have simply learned it from Scathach, but I decided to do this. 

And I know why as my dark eyes somehow grew dimmer as I found myself back in my old home reading a newspaper with nothing in sight but the burning fire and a cup of coffee in front of me.

I simply sat there in silence as I recalled this day, and as the phone began to ring and as I shakily picked it up, I heard from the other end, "Is this Mr. !%!#!$?" I remained silent, but as he knew I picked up the phone, he continued.

"I know you may be busy, but we have bad news. She is dead, a shootout happened outside the hospital, and she was hit. We couldn't save her as a stray bullet hit her heart and one through her right lung." My eyes weren't even able to cry as he began to talk about a funeral and an appointment for her will reading, yet I remained silent."

I put the phone down and stood there saying nothing with my ears ringing and my mind in turmoil and then the room I was in shattered, and I was in the cocoon again, and yet a person formed in front of me and placed her hand on my face and after a minute of trying to speak all I can utter is two words.

"I'm Sorry." The figure then smiled and faded away as the cocoon began to disperse, and I found myself lying on the ground in the cave with the well in front of me. The head then asked, "Did you find what you sought, lad?"

The tone was almost empathetic as I answered, "Yes… I did." 

Adding a small statement, he said, "You manage to survive. I applaud you for that, lad. Not many can be exposed to the primordial energies and survive with their body and mind intact. I would know, after all, as I lost the beautiful Temple that was my body when I tried. It was such a loss for the ladies of the world."

The joke almost made me smile as he said, "You are able to gain access to the knowledge, but your journey is not complete. We will meet again, lad, and I hope you find what you're looking for. Now, return to your teacher. She has been worrying about you." 

Before going through the portal, he opened it. I asked, "Is there any way to fix it?" The head then smiled as he said, "You have the answer now, and I am just a messenger but do try to get back here quickly as it gets lonely talking to bloody water and that damn squirrel and his emotions all the time."

I nodded and walked through the portal, but before doing so, I grabbed a root from the ground, which formed a headband from a certain Chinese emperor, and as I cleaned my face, I placed it on and walked through.

Almost immediately after walking through, I was assaulted by a hug from my master, to which I returned. As she let go just as quickly, she looked at my face and saw the blindfold, and as she grazed it with her fingers, she said, "You are a fool. Even Odin only gave up one eye for a small portion of the knowledge. Why go so far?"

With a smile on my face, I simply respond, "It seems you really lack trust in me, teacher. Let me show you." Focusing on my LP, which was up to 44,880,600, I bought a new skill for five million, and with that, I felt my eyes begin to bleed again as I felt the world open once more and show me its secrets. 

After a few minutes of groaning in pain, I removed the blindfold and opened my eyes.

Scathach then looked at me with surprise on her face as my now azure eyes stared back at her, to which she laughed. It was one of triumph and relief but also pride as she looked at me with both anger and utter pride in me.

"You managed to hoodwink Yggdrasil, the tree of life. My students truly do manage to do ridiculous things, but now I need to punish you for doing something stupid, disciple." She then proceeds to summon Gae Bulg and brandish it with malicious intent. The look in her eyes was absolutely voracious, so I decided to use the patented Joestar technique.

I immediately entered a portal outside the castle to which she was already there, and as I tried to open a portal to the mirror dimension, she managed to grab me and proceed to stare into my eyes and say, "For your punishment, you have to keep the blindfold on all the time. Only I am allowed to see those eyes, do you understand, disciple?"

As I tried to retort, she put the spear to my neck with a smile on her face. "Teacher, I just completed a momentous task of almost impossible odds, and you seek to punish me. Truly, my teacher is an abuser."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, disciple. I am simply enforcing discipline so that you don't keep making stupid mistakes. You could have simply sacrificed an arm or a sense, but you went with the eyes. Do you know how many things that could have gone wrong by removing your eyes?" 

The answer to that was left a mystery as she threw me back into my room and used runes to keep me on the bed.

Looking at our current position, I said to her with a flat tone, "Well, if we are doing this, teacher, I have to let you know that my safe word is mango." This comment made her eyebrows raise slightly as she then got off the bed.

"You are a couple of hundred years too young for me. Disciple, now rest, or I will make you use that safe word and not in a fun way." The look in her eyes spoke of genuine concern, so I nodded and fell asleep with a smile on my face and a definite case of possible PTSD in the future.

My teacher then makes sure I am asleep before she places a hand on my face and says, "You are a fool, but you are my fool. Maybe with you, it can be possible, but that would be a selfish wish after what you just did. So rest, my disciple, as tomorrow is another day." She then walked out after shutting the door.

(Odin POV)

Sensing an intrusion in the well of Mimir, I teleported there and found the bastard sitting there observing the ever-shifting water as I yelled out, "Mimir, what have you done?!" 

The head had the gall to turn to me with a smile as she said, "I was simply trying to answer a question, Odin. But to see what would become of his choice is truly fascinating as the waters show nothing, and I feel excited by it."

"Excited?! Mimir, the sister's strings, are being changed and intertwined without an outside force. This experiment may threaten the nine realms! I may not be able to destroy this damn well, but I can punish you."

Mimir scoffed as he said, "You punish me? Wasn't it you who forced my body into the well in the first place to test its validity? I am connected to the well because of you, so now I make my own choices. So take your questions, take your threats, and take your worthless self and piss off!"

I take a breath and return to Asgard to inform the others that a threat to the realms may be running around thanks to a useless advisor.

(So, if you guys are worried about him not being able to gain the abilities of other ocular-based skills, don't worry. He can simply add them to the eyes he has.)