99 Reconstruction

"Brrr! Why did we have to go here?! Wasn't there a better place to warp to?!"

"Get used to it. After all, you will spend a lot of time here."

Although the suit I was now wearing was quite warm, it was nowhere enough for me to endure the cold winds of Kurat. With endless lands of snow, snow, and some more snow, it felt like an impossibility for anyone to live here. Yet, somehow, there were a lot of varied races inhabiting the mountain ranges, albeit low in numbers.

Thankfully, Mr. Laufeyson at least had the decency to teleport us right outside of a very shitty cabin, that could shield us from the wind, although to an incredibly minor extent. With the help of the small fireplace, which I sat cross-legged in front of, I could somewhat endure it.

The god was still with me, although now in a different form than before.

Instead of the tall, sleek form he had shown before, he was now in the form of what looked like a little kid. Though he still had the exact same attire, he didn't look nearly as impressive, sitting on a chair with his feet not touching the floor.

"Fine..."

Sitting in front of the small fireplace, my mind began to wander and remember all of the crazy things he had done while possessing my body.

"So, am I not human anymore?"

To save my life, he had completely restructured my body. Although my physique hadn't changed much, everything felt weirdly different. Turning his head from the fireplace, he finally began to tell me what he had done to me.

"You are still human, although one might say that you are kind of a mutant. Although most gods only give their apostles a blessing which raises their limits, I directly infused you with my divinity."

"Excuse me?"

His answer still didn't make any sense to me, even if he acted as if I should now, somehow, understand what he meant.

"Haaa... Guess I'll have to go through it all...

You are no longer bound by the limits of your body, and I guess you could view it as you having fused with your mana, which in this case would be in the form of your element. So, for example, you won't die just because your heart gets pierced, but you will die instantly if you run out of mana. So, do be careful about that."

"Huh?! What do you mean, I will die instantly?! Will I just disintegrate if I somehow accidentally use too much mana?!"

"Well, yes. Although it will probably be extremely excruciating as well. Also, this also means that a portion of your mana will be lost every time you get injured."

Although it might have sounded amazing, that I might not instantly die to critical blows, the limitation was incredibly severe.

However...

"So, what happens if my clone runs out of mana?"

"It will perish, but you won't die."

Having gotten an answer to the first question I had, which was what happened to my body, it was time for the next.

"So, the divine artifact you gifted me, where did it go? This suit feels like it's somehow a part of me, but I have no idea how to bring out that scythe."

Thankfully, even though all of my belongings had been taken away, Loki had gifted me with some personal artifacts during my evolution.

First was the gray suit I was wearing.

From his explanation, it could be changed to look however I wanted, and it could be equipped with items and armor to gain their effects.

So, for example, if I put on the Boots of Safety, they would get absorbed by the dress shoes I was wearing, and I would still be able to use [Retreat].

Sadly, he quickly dismissed my power trip when I thought about its potential, by telling me that it would be impossible to equip several pieces of the same kind of clothes.

So, it was impossible to stack several boots or anything along those lines.

"The scythe is in your personal spatial inventory. Just imagine it coming out from your mist to your hand."

Closing my eyes, I did as he told me, trying to imagine the black and purple scythe bring inside of me.

Before long, I found it, almost screaming at me to bring it out to the outside world.

Suddenly, I could feel my hands filling up with something long and hard, notifying me of my success.

Letting my vision open up, I saw a much lamer version of the giant scythe that Loki had used before.

A sleek black, with only a couple of runes on the blade, it still looked pretty cool, but it was far from the giant weapon the god had shown me at the square.

Suddenly, a swarm of information emerged in my head, telling me exactly what I was looking at.

[Scythe of a Trickster]

Description: The divine artifact gifted from Loki to his undeserving apostle, who has no idea of the value that the weapon carries. Loki can only hope that he somehow realizes its greatness in time.

Grows together with the apostle and is bound to his soul.

Active abilities: ???, ???, ???

"Loki... Did you write this description?"

I didn't even question the fact that my brain had inspected the weapon on its own, without the help of a smartwatch to scan it."

Sadly, he didn't care at all. Thought it might be expected as I was a mere mortal in his eyes.

"Now, make sure that you stop underestimating how flexible your element is when combined with [Materialize]. Let's start by you visualizing yourself becoming another person."

It didn't take long until I understood what he insinuated that I was now able to do.

'So, if I think of him, I would be able to change my appearance into his?'

As misty mana started to dance around my body, my physical form started to change.

My gray suit quickly darkened, taking the form of the very familiar black uniform with golden decorations.

At the same time, my limbs stretched out, and my long, white hair shortened and started to change colors.

Rubbing his chin, Mr. Laufeyson seemed pretty pleased with my transformation, a feeling that got transmitted to me when he suddenly materialized a mirror for me to see how I looked.

When speaking, even my voice had changed, now being a bit lower and heavier in tone.

"That's pretty good. I look exactly like Arthur now..."

Yes, the man I saw in the mirror wasn't me, it was an exact replica of Arthur, mirroring even his disgustingly bright smile.

*Clap!*

"Now, that's, unfortunately, all I have time for. My divine energy has already begun to run dry after giving you all my gifts. So, I wish best of luck in your future endeavors."

Jumping to my feet, I felt a surge of stress attack my mind as he suddenly said something crazy.

"What? Weren't you supposed to guide me and help me to do whatever you wanted me to? Isn't that the reason you are still here?"

However, Loki just waved his hand, as if telling me that I was just stupid. "No way. I just stayed for a bit cause I had nothing better to do. Oh right before I go, do know that now that transforming your body into another human will slowly drain your mana. So if you're not careful you might die. Bye!"

Not giving me the time to say anything, his small body blurred, and he was gone.

"Shit!"

I hurriedly turned my appearance back to its new, original form, shrinking down and feeling my white hair grow out again. My clothes, however, were still the uniform of Ainu, as I hadn't consciously changed them yet.

'What am I supposed to do now?'

I did have some aspirations and goals that I wanted to attain, but those would all be in the far future.

What I needed to do right now, I had no idea. What I did know was that being alone in an unfamiliar land without food, the odds were pretty highly stacked against me.

"This might be fun...!"

It was exciting, almost as if I had gotten a super difficult quest in the game, which most people would instantly give up on.

Still, I knew that there had to be another reason that I got dropped off in Kurat, more than just hiding from the eyes of my enemies.

There was something here that he wanted me to do, and thinking about the timing, it probably had something to do with the demons that should have invaded the lands by now.

The question was what kind of role I would play. Should I be a supporter of the demons in the beginning, helping them foster their strength, or should I try and stall their advances to make sure the humans didn't get wiped out?

Scratching my head, I ignored the influx of thoughts that invaded my mind and decided that I had to start with the essentials.

"Well, first things first... I need to see what state my body is in after getting reconstructed."

'Status!'

===Status===

Name: James Jackson - Apostle of Loki

Rank: C

Strength: F+

Agility: D

Stamina: ?

Intelligence: C

Mana Capacity: B-

--> Main Manual:

[Misty Trickster - Ungraded] - Major Understanding.

-Core Skill: [Double Trouble]

-1st Skill: [Swap]

-2nd Skill: [Materialize]

-3rd Skill: [Detonation]

--> Elemental Affinity: Mist

->Elemental Skills (Affected by [Misty Trickster] Manual): [Dome of Mist], [Orb of mist], [Misty Vessel]

==========