Chapter 61
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A man in a suit, with a haggard expression, sat at the head of a long conference table. Before him, lay documents, photographs, and several full reports barely contained by their thin folders.
"...How's the situation in Boise?"
A middle-aged man, in full uniform, sat in the chair next to him. Decorated on his shoulders were five silver stars in a circular formation. "Mr. President, they are keeping to themselves for now. We've held the border along the 95, at McDermitt."
"How goes the consolidation efforts? What's our standing force look like? I've read the reports, just give me the general idea."
"It's not good, sir. The majority of our air force is still completely out of commission, we don't have any naval vessels fit to speak of any longer, guided-missile deployment is out entirely... The only thing we really have left is the Army. We're still repairing and salvaging hardware, but the majority of our forces left are still busy with rescue efforts. Even if we consolidate all of our armed forces... Maybe a hundred and fifty thousand strong— tops. We've no word from our bases overseas. Our priorities now are in the report, much of our hardware was shielded, but it did almost nothing against the storms. We're gutting and refitting tanks and fighters with older systems or removing them entirely if they're not needed."
"What of our allies? We have basic telecom systems running again, correct? Any word from Canada?"
"None, sir. We've tried to reach them on every frequency we can, but there's been no response. They may be in deeper than we are."
"What about Mexico?"
"The situation there is uncertain, everywhere as far as a hundred miles inland from the gulf was all but wiped out."
"Three cities... We're really this far back onto our heels... Continue as you are, but I'm not authorizing any attacks on Boise. We don't know who these people are or where they came from, and we've got little over a million lives between here and Boston. I've read the report— but now is not the time to be escalating a war. Right now, it looks like waiting is better for us than for them, we can afford to give some ground if they expand their aggression."
"Contrary to the Department of Defense's opinion, I agree with you. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but we can afford to give ground if it means preserving our forces. We'll hold McDermitt as long as we can without significant loss, then we're pulling out immediately. We've already evacuated all the civilians we could, from here to the West Coast."
"Hmm? What of the team that was sent just west to San Rafael?"
"We've had no contact with them, and they haven't returned. They've already been listed MIA. Likely they got caught up in one of the raids, but we've had no resources available to check."
"Have we gotten any answers from the soldiers that were captured?"
"Every three-letter agency, or what's left of them, is working on it. Some linguists were tasked with translating the recordings... But they're not giving us anything credible. Their language is apparently very similar to Latin but the nonsense they're spewing... Here, this is an incomplete copy of the report to follow, either we've got the wrong linguists or these people are completely crazy."
The President took the offered folder, it was thin, with a few pages of scanned handwriting. He frowned as he read the contents. It described the Americans as the trespassers, nearly the entire top half of the United States was described as belonging to their emperor. Much of it was curses and insults aimed at the American soldiers and their leadership, describing them as lacking honor and hiding behind their 'magical technology.'
"Hold on, this report's contents is corroborated by nearly all of them."
"Sure, but none of it makes any sense. Whoever they are, their soldiers are well-trained, I saw some of them myself, these people are all military, in a sense. But we have no idea which country is backing them. Have to say it's the first time in my career I've heard such well-put-together bullshit during an interrogation."
"I want to see more, move this up on your priorities."
The general looked at him curiously. "I can relay the message... What do you want to ask them?"
"I'm not sure, anything, try... Common questions, everyday topics too."
. . .
The morning before the day everyone was to pile into the trucks and head south, Val was practicing his sword. He was committing to his exercise with less vigor on account of his recovering condition but was nonetheless keeping up with his practice.
Asha had trained with him the day before, though it had devolved almost entirely into her venting discomfort on him through her shortswords. She had shamelessly committed to an hour of bullying him by showing off her incredible flexibility and agility, targeting far extremities like his feet and forcing him to move constantly. Her ability to twist out of gravity-defying positions to strike at him when he was not expecting it, in addition to the way she wielded her swords, gave him much to reflect on. To her credit, the hour was well spent. Val could not hope to gain any impressive skill with his own daggers in a short time, but the way her twin blades shifted between independent strikes and focused, combined slashes was eye-opening. At the very least, he had more imagery to practice and imitate, even if there was hardly a word of actual instruction.
The ward Val had constructed to shield the base seemed to have served its purpose. As far as he heard, there was no strange behavior or fitful sleepers during the night. Asha, however, had taken to spending most of her waking hours outside of the formation. Val tried to sympathize at first, but considering the stakes and her growing sour mood, he could not help but take a few potshots at her almost childish behavior.
Kainoa walked over as Val was concluding his practice. The marine was chuckling to himself."Trouble with the missus?"
Val smirked. "Old enough to be our grandmother a few times over, bud. She's just pissy because I took away her spying magic."
"Who cares how old she is, man. Even if she was a thousand... Look like that, at her age, I'm sold."
"Sorry, I forgot to mention, also a trained killer who will drink your wallet dry, and she is quick to dump trouble on you."
"Sounds like you had fun. Oh my god wait, I get it, this is that dumb rule you have about not considering anyone more than a year or two apart from your age. Can't believe you still have that, you told me you had that rule in High School." Kainoa returned to chuckling, recounting a few past relationships of Val's during college.
Val rolled his eyes as he took a bottle of water sitting on the ground. "First, it's not a rule, just a preference. Second, I don't think it's that unreasonable to prefer women from my generation. With the internet, it feels like I can barely speak to anyone more than a couple years apart."
"Judy's four years older than Chris, happiest couple I know."
"Meh, what's your point. Don't have to get it to be happy for them. And you get out of here! Harassing me about my failed relationships is Kyle's job, what're you doing, filling in for him? You fancy Asha so much, why don't you go strike up a conversation."
Kainoa grinned. "Nah, I have a rule against getting involved with trained killers."
Val raised a brow. "You *are* a trained killer."
Kainoa shrugged as he started returning toward the barracks. "Exactly why."
Val finished his water and flipped open his book, still eager to continue practicing with the runes. Success with Peorth drove him to inspect others with renewed motivation. Of the few runewords that he had grown comfortable with, they were all primarily oriented towards offense. Durnham had boasted about the strength of Odal and being able to withstand direct cannon fire under its protection. Val held doubts about it but was nonetheless interested, after the blow he received from the Draug brute.
The most curious runeword still remained the one on his chest, if it was a runeword at all. He had noticed after a time that certain runes were brighter than others, though when his magic surged fully, they were all bright enough to make it difficult to discern the differences.
Val focused on the rune depicting Odal, on his chest. Invoking it proved somewhat disappointing. He did not feel very different. A moment later, he realized what had occurred. An almost second-skin-like magic took root around him, identified only by a faint shimmer of orange light coursing along the surface of his arm. The barrier was tough to identify in the light of the day. He had assumed by the way Durnham had boasted that the rune as a self-augmentation would make his body tough and hard like steel. It was, in fact, the base for a barrier, which fit better into the context of a passage he had read, likening the effects of the rune to an 'enclosing wall.'
He considered testing the rune against impact before dismissing the idea. Waiting till he had recovered fully would be the safer option, and there was no time to risk any further injuries. Instead, to ascertain its strengths, he carved a circular formation on the ground, a meter in diameter. Finishing the ward with Odal caused a hemispherical dome to rise and close up the inside of the formation. Finding a brick nearby, Val ensured no one was around and hurled the brick at the barrier with most of his strength. The brick crashed into the barrier as if striking metal, before rebounding in several pieces, causing debris to fly in Val's direction. Satisfaction turned quickly to dismay however, when the barrier fizzled out and faded away, the formation dying in moments.
*It wasn't a lot of mana... But that's not... Impressive.* Val sat on the ground before the faded ward and tried to size up the durability he had witnessed. If it was any indication of the barrier's strength as an enchantment on his body, the result with the Draug would have been the same. At the very least, however, it might deflect blows from smaller arms.
"Playing with runes again?" Muninn landed before the extinguished formation, eying Val's carving.
"Mmm. Trying to figure out something useful that would have helped against the Draug."
"I think you did rather well for yourself, considering the circumstances."
Val cast her a puzzled look. "Thanks, I guess. I nearly died."
"Perhaps, but few can claim the head of a Draug brute by themselves."
Val chuckled. "Give Kainoa an anti-tank rifle and trust me, he'll claim one by himself. The guy can nail a bottle with a sighted rifle at a kilometer four out of five times. The fifth time will be because he missed and blew out the stand that the bottle was sitting on. Plus, with his size, he all but shrugs off the recoil, why he ever joined the EOD corps is beyond me. Guess he loves bombs more than the shooting range."
"Concerned?"
"...Yeah. If that was really just an advance party meant to build out those towers of theirs... I don't know how we're going to stand a chance unless we can get the Army on our side. I'm not that confident we can get the Dwarves to join us. Even if by some miracle we get the number we need to stand a chance, the first time around, your warriors had some idea of what they were fighting. Other than to a few of us, this enemy is entirely unknown, and I've personally paid the price for not knowing my enemy." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"Try not to put so much on your shoulders alone. Wars are not decided by a single individual, and having now seen them in the flesh, this will be another real war."
Val's thoughts drifted to what Valor had told him. "What do you think of Fenrir?"
"He was a powerful ally once, caught in schemes and ploys between the Aesir and Vanir hosts, after the war against the Draug. He eventually filled with so much bitterness and hatred that there was no room for apologies and forgiveness."
"Hmm... So you don't think he is evil."
Muninn spoke carefully. "Evil, no, but it remains that he is a powerful and destructive force. Frankly speaking, I would love to have him as an ally again in this upcoming conflict, but I am equally afraid of him regaining his strength, now being free of the chains that held him. Do not trifle with him, and be careful of his power. Though you should use it without hesitation if you see it as the only means of survival. His is a path you cannot easily walk back from once you take but a single step too far."
Val stared up at the cloudy sky. "I see... That's closer to what Valor said than Huginn's thoughts."
Muninn's head twisted almost backward suddenly, her eyes scanning the distant sky. "Huginn has returned, I will retrieve Asha."
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A man in a suit, with a haggard expression, sat at the head of a long conference table. Before him, lay documents, photographs, and several full reports barely contained by their thin folders.
"...How's the situation in Boise?"
A middle-aged man, in full uniform, sat in the chair next to him. Decorated on his shoulders were five silver stars in a circular formation. "Mr. President, they are keeping to themselves for now. We've held the border along the 95, at McDermitt."
"How goes the consolidation efforts? What's our standing force look like? I've read the reports, just give me the general idea."
"It's not good, sir. The majority of our air force is still completely out of commission, we don't have any naval vessels fit to speak of any longer, guided-missile deployment is out entirely... The only thing we really have left is the Army. We're still repairing and salvaging hardware, but the majority of our forces left are still busy with rescue efforts. Even if we consolidate all of our armed forces... Maybe a hundred and fifty thousand strong— tops. We've no word from our bases overseas. Our priorities now are in the report, much of our hardware was shielded, but it did almost nothing against the storms. We're gutting and refitting tanks and fighters with older systems or removing them entirely if they're not needed."
"What of our allies? We have basic telecom systems running again, correct? Any word from Canada?"
"None, sir. We've tried to reach them on every frequency we can, but there's been no response. They may be in deeper than we are."
"What about Mexico?"
"The situation there is uncertain, everywhere as far as a hundred miles inland from the gulf was all but wiped out."
"Three cities... We're really this far back onto our heels... Continue as you are, but I'm not authorizing any attacks on Boise. We don't know who these people are or where they came from, and we've got little over a million lives between here and Boston. I've read the report— but now is not the time to be escalating a war. Right now, it looks like waiting is better for us than for them, we can afford to give some ground if they expand their aggression."
"Contrary to the Department of Defense's opinion, I agree with you. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but we can afford to give ground if it means preserving our forces. We'll hold McDermitt as long as we can without significant loss, then we're pulling out immediately. We've already evacuated all the civilians we could, from here to the West Coast."
"Hmm? What of the team that was sent just west to San Rafael?"
"We've had no contact with them, and they haven't returned. They've already been listed MIA. Likely they got caught up in one of the raids, but we've had no resources available to check."
"Have we gotten any answers from the soldiers that were captured?"
"Every three-letter agency, or what's left of them, is working on it. Some linguists were tasked with translating the recordings... But they're not giving us anything credible. Their language is apparently very similar to Latin but the nonsense they're spewing... Here, this is an incomplete copy of the report to follow, either we've got the wrong linguists or these people are completely crazy."
The President took the offered folder, it was thin, with a few pages of scanned handwriting. He frowned as he read the contents. It described the Americans as the trespassers, nearly the entire top half of the United States was described as belonging to their emperor. Much of it was curses and insults aimed at the American soldiers and their leadership, describing them as lacking honor and hiding behind their 'magical technology.'
"Hold on, this report's contents is corroborated by nearly all of them."
"Sure, but none of it makes any sense. Whoever they are, their soldiers are well-trained, I saw some of them myself, these people are all military, in a sense. But we have no idea which country is backing them. Have to say it's the first time in my career I've heard such well-put-together bullshit during an interrogation."
"I want to see more, move this up on your priorities."
The general looked at him curiously. "I can relay the message... What do you want to ask them?"
"I'm not sure, anything, try... Common questions, everyday topics too."
. . .
The morning before the day everyone was to pile into the trucks and head south, Val was practicing his sword. He was committing to his exercise with less vigor on account of his recovering condition but was nonetheless keeping up with his practice.
Asha had trained with him the day before, though it had devolved almost entirely into her venting discomfort on him through her shortswords. She had shamelessly committed to an hour of bullying him by showing off her incredible flexibility and agility, targeting far extremities like his feet and forcing him to move constantly. Her ability to twist out of gravity-defying positions to strike at him when he was not expecting it, in addition to the way she wielded her swords, gave him much to reflect on. To her credit, the hour was well spent. Val could not hope to gain any impressive skill with his own daggers in a short time, but the way her twin blades shifted between independent strikes and focused, combined slashes was eye-opening. At the very least, he had more imagery to practice and imitate, even if there was hardly a word of actual instruction.
The ward Val had constructed to shield the base seemed to have served its purpose. As far as he heard, there was no strange behavior or fitful sleepers during the night. Asha, however, had taken to spending most of her waking hours outside of the formation. Val tried to sympathize at first, but considering the stakes and her growing sour mood, he could not help but take a few potshots at her almost childish behavior.
Kainoa walked over as Val was concluding his practice. The marine was chuckling to himself."Trouble with the missus?"
Val smirked. "Old enough to be our grandmother a few times over, bud. She's just pissy because I took away her spying magic."
"Who cares how old she is, man. Even if she was a thousand... Look like that, at her age, I'm sold."
"Sorry, I forgot to mention, also a trained killer who will drink your wallet dry, and she is quick to dump trouble on you."
"Sounds like you had fun. Oh my god wait, I get it, this is that dumb rule you have about not considering anyone more than a year or two apart from your age. Can't believe you still have that, you told me you had that rule in High School." Kainoa returned to chuckling, recounting a few past relationships of Val's during college.
Val rolled his eyes as he took a bottle of water sitting on the ground. "First, it's not a rule, just a preference. Second, I don't think it's that unreasonable to prefer women from my generation. With the internet, it feels like I can barely speak to anyone more than a couple years apart."
"Judy's four years older than Chris, happiest couple I know."
"Meh, what's your point. Don't have to get it to be happy for them. And you get out of here! Harassing me about my failed relationships is Kyle's job, what're you doing, filling in for him? You fancy Asha so much, why don't you go strike up a conversation."
Kainoa grinned. "Nah, I have a rule against getting involved with trained killers."
Val raised a brow. "You *are* a trained killer."
Kainoa shrugged as he started returning toward the barracks. "Exactly why."
Val finished his water and flipped open his book, still eager to continue practicing with the runes. Success with Peorth drove him to inspect others with renewed motivation. Of the few runewords that he had grown comfortable with, they were all primarily oriented towards offense. Durnham had boasted about the strength of Odal and being able to withstand direct cannon fire under its protection. Val held doubts about it but was nonetheless interested, after the blow he received from the Draug brute.
The most curious runeword still remained the one on his chest, if it was a runeword at all. He had noticed after a time that certain runes were brighter than others, though when his magic surged fully, they were all bright enough to make it difficult to discern the differences.
Val focused on the rune depicting Odal, on his chest. Invoking it proved somewhat disappointing. He did not feel very different. A moment later, he realized what had occurred. An almost second-skin-like magic took root around him, identified only by a faint shimmer of orange light coursing along the surface of his arm. The barrier was tough to identify in the light of the day. He had assumed by the way Durnham had boasted that the rune as a self-augmentation would make his body tough and hard like steel. It was, in fact, the base for a barrier, which fit better into the context of a passage he had read, likening the effects of the rune to an 'enclosing wall.'
He considered testing the rune against impact before dismissing the idea. Waiting till he had recovered fully would be the safer option, and there was no time to risk any further injuries. Instead, to ascertain its strengths, he carved a circular formation on the ground, a meter in diameter. Finishing the ward with Odal caused a hemispherical dome to rise and close up the inside of the formation. Finding a brick nearby, Val ensured no one was around and hurled the brick at the barrier with most of his strength. The brick crashed into the barrier as if striking metal, before rebounding in several pieces, causing debris to fly in Val's direction. Satisfaction turned quickly to dismay however, when the barrier fizzled out and faded away, the formation dying in moments.
*It wasn't a lot of mana... But that's not... Impressive.* Val sat on the ground before the faded ward and tried to size up the durability he had witnessed. If it was any indication of the barrier's strength as an enchantment on his body, the result with the Draug would have been the same. At the very least, however, it might deflect blows from smaller arms.
"Playing with runes again?" Muninn landed before the extinguished formation, eying Val's carving.
"Mmm. Trying to figure out something useful that would have helped against the Draug."
"I think you did rather well for yourself, considering the circumstances."
Val cast her a puzzled look. "Thanks, I guess. I nearly died."
"Perhaps, but few can claim the head of a Draug brute by themselves."
Val chuckled. "Give Kainoa an anti-tank rifle and trust me, he'll claim one by himself. The guy can nail a bottle with a sighted rifle at a kilometer four out of five times. The fifth time will be because he missed and blew out the stand that the bottle was sitting on. Plus, with his size, he all but shrugs off the recoil, why he ever joined the EOD corps is beyond me. Guess he loves bombs more than the shooting range."
"Concerned?"
"...Yeah. If that was really just an advance party meant to build out those towers of theirs... I don't know how we're going to stand a chance unless we can get the Army on our side. I'm not that confident we can get the Dwarves to join us. Even if by some miracle we get the number we need to stand a chance, the first time around, your warriors had some idea of what they were fighting. Other than to a few of us, this enemy is entirely unknown, and I've personally paid the price for not knowing my enemy." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"Try not to put so much on your shoulders alone. Wars are not decided by a single individual, and having now seen them in the flesh, this will be another real war."
Val's thoughts drifted to what Valor had told him. "What do you think of Fenrir?"
"He was a powerful ally once, caught in schemes and ploys between the Aesir and Vanir hosts, after the war against the Draug. He eventually filled with so much bitterness and hatred that there was no room for apologies and forgiveness."
"Hmm... So you don't think he is evil."
Muninn spoke carefully. "Evil, no, but it remains that he is a powerful and destructive force. Frankly speaking, I would love to have him as an ally again in this upcoming conflict, but I am equally afraid of him regaining his strength, now being free of the chains that held him. Do not trifle with him, and be careful of his power. Though you should use it without hesitation if you see it as the only means of survival. His is a path you cannot easily walk back from once you take but a single step too far."
Val stared up at the cloudy sky. "I see... That's closer to what Valor said than Huginn's thoughts."
Muninn's head twisted almost backward suddenly, her eyes scanning the distant sky. "Huginn has returned, I will retrieve Asha."
A man in a suit,with a haggard expression, sat at the head of a long conference table. Before him, lay documents, photographs, and several full reports barely contained by their thin folders. "...How's the situation in Boise?" A middle-aged man, in full uniform, sat in the chair next to him. Decorated on his shoulders were five silver stars in a circular formation."Mr.President, they are keeping to themselves for now. We've held the border along the 95, at McDermitt." "How goes the consolidation efforts? What's our standing force look like? I've read the reports, just give me the general idea." "It's not good, sir. The majority of our air force is still completely out of commission, we don't have any naval vessels fit to speak of any longer, guided-missile deployment is out entirely... The only thing we really have left is the Army. We're still repairing and salvaging hardware, but the majority of our forces left are still busy with rescue efforts. Even if we consolidate all of our armed forces... Maybe a hundred and fifty thousand strong tops. We've no word from our bases overseas.Our priorities now are in the report, much of our hardware was shielded, but it did almost nothing against the storms. We're gutting and refitting tanks and fighters with older systems or removing them entirely if they're not needed." "What of our allies? We have basic telecom systems running again, correct?Any word from Canada?" "None, sir. We've tried to reach them on every frequency we can, but there's been no response. They may be in deeper than we are." "What about Mexico?" "The situation there is uncertain, everywhere as far as a hundred miles inland from the gulf was all but wiped out." "Three cities... We're really this far back onto our heels... Continue as you are, but I'm not authorizing any attacks on Boise. We don't know who these people are or where they came from, and we've got little over a million lives between here and Boston. I've read the reportbut now is not the time to be escalating a war. Right now, it looks like waiting is better for us than for them, we can afford to give some ground if they expand their aggression." "Contrary to the Department of Defense's opinion, Iagree with you. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but we can afford to give ground if it means preserving our forces. We'll hold McDermitt as long as we can without significant loss, then we're pulling out immediately. We've already evacuated all the civilians we could, from here to the West Coast." "Hmm?What of the team that was sent just west to San Rafael?" "We've had no contact with them, and they haven't returned. They've already been listed MIA. Likely they got caught up in one of the raids, but we've had no resources available to check." "Have we gotten any answers from the soldiers that were captured?" "Every three-letter agency, or what's left of them, is working on it. Some linguists were tasked with translating the recordings... But they're not giving us anything credible. Their language is apparently very similar to Latin but the nonsense they're spewing... Here, this is an incomplete copy of the report to follow, either we've got the wrong linguists or these people are completely crazy." The President took the offered folder, it was thin, with a few pages of scanned handwriting. He frowned as he read the contents. It described the Americans as the trespassers, nearly the entire top half of the United States was described as belonging to their emperor. Much of it was curses and insults aimed at the American soldiers and their leadership, describing them as lacking honor and hiding behind their 'magical technology.' "Hold on, this report's contents is corroborated by nearly all of them." "Sure, but none of it makes any sense. Whoever they are, their soldiers are well-trained, Isaw some of them myself, these people are all military, in a sense. But we have no idea which country is backing them. Have to say it's the first time in my career I've heard such well-put-together bullshit during an interrogation." "I want to see more, move this up on your priorities." The general looked at him curiously."Ican relay the message...What do you want to ask them?" "I'm not sure, anything, try... Common questions, everyday topics too." . . . The morning before the day everyone was to pile into the trucks and head south, Val was practicing his sword. He was committing to his exercise with less vigor on account of his recovering condition but was nonetheless keeping up with his practice. Asha had trained with him the day before, though it had devolved almost entirely into her venting discomfort on him through her shortswords.She had shamelessly committed to an hour of bullying him by showing off her incredible flexibility and agility, targeting far extremities like his feet and forcing him to move constantly. Her ability to twist out of gravity-defying positions to strike at him when he was not expecting it, in addition to the way she wielded her swords, gave him much to reflect on. To her credit, the hour was well spent. Valcould not hope to gain any impressive skill with his own daggersin a short time, but the way her twin bladesshifted between independent strikes and focused, combined slashes was eye-opening. At the very least, he had more imagery to practice and imitate, even if there was hardly a word of actual instruction. The ward Val had constructed to shield the base seemed to have served its purpose. As far as he heard, there was no strange behavior or fitful sleepers during the night. Asha, however, had taken to spending most of her waking hours outside of the formation. Val tried to sympathize at first, but considering the stakes and her growing sour mood, he could not help but take a few potshots at her almost childish behavior. Kainoa walked over as Val was concluding his practice.The marine waschuckling to himself."Trouble with the missus?" Val smirked."Old enough to be our grandmother a few times over, bud. She's just pissy because Itook away her spying magic." "Who cares how old she is, man. Even if she was a thousand... Look like that, at her age, I'm sold." "Sorry, I forgot to mention, also a trained killer who will drink your wallet dry, and she is quick to dump trouble on you." "Sounds like you had fun. Oh my god wait, Iget it, this is that dumb rule you have about not considering anyone more than a year or two apart from your age. Can't believe you still have that, you told me you had that rule in High School." Kainoa returned to chuckling, recounting a few past relationships of Val's during college. Val rolled his eyes as he took a bottle of water sitting on the ground. "First, it's not a rule, just a preference. Second, Idon't think it's that unreasonable to prefer women from my generation. With the internet, it feels like I can barely speak to anyone more than a couple years apart." "Judy's four years older than Chris, happiest couple I know." "Meh, what's your point.Don't have to get it to be happy for them. And you get out of here! Harassing me about my failed relationships is Kyle's job, what're you doing, filling in for him? You fancy Asha so much, why don't you go strike up a conversation." Kainoa grinned."Nah, Ihave a rule against getting involved with trained killers." Val raised a brow. "You *are*a trained killer." Kainoa shrugged as he started returning toward the barracks. "Exactly why." Val finished his water and flipped open his book, still eager to continue practicing with the runes. Success with Peorth drove him to inspect others with renewed motivation. Of the few runewords that he had grown comfortable with, they were all primarily oriented towards offense. Durnham had boasted about the strength of Odal and being able to withstand direct cannon fire under its protection. Val held doubts about it but was nonetheless interested, after the blow he received from the Draug brute. The most curious runeword still remained the one on his chest, if it was a runeword at all. He had noticed after a time that certain runes were brighter than others, though when his magic surged fully, they were all bright enough to make it difficult to discern the differences. Val focused on the rune depicting Odal, on his chest. Invoking it proved somewhat disappointing. He did not feel very different. A moment later, he realized what had occurred. An almost second-skin-like magic took root around him, identified only by a faintshimmer of orange light coursing along the surface of his arm. The barrier was tough to identify in the light of the day.He had assumed by the way Durnham had boasted that the rune as a self-augmentation would make his body tough and hard like steel. It was, in fact, the base for a barrier, which fit better into the context of a passage he had read, likening the effects of the rune to an 'enclosing wall.' He considered testing the rune against impact before dismissing the idea. Waiting till he had recovered fully would be the safer option, and there was no time to risk any further injuries. Instead, to ascertain its strengths, he carved a circular formation on the ground, a meter in diameter. Finishing the ward with Odal caused a hemispherical dome to rise and close up the inside of the formation. Finding a brick nearby, Val ensured no one was around and hurled the brick at the barrier with most of his strength. The brick crashed into the barrier as if striking metal, before rebounding in several pieces, causing debris to fly in Val's direction. Satisfaction turned quickly to dismay however, when the barrier fizzled out and faded away, the formation dying in moments. *It wasn't a lot of mana... But that's not... Impressive.* Val sat on the ground before the faded ward and tried to size up the durability he had witnessed. If it was any indication of the barrier's strength as an enchantment on his body, the result with the Draug would have been the same. At the very least, however, it might deflect blows from smaller arms. "Playing with runes again?" Muninn landed before the extinguished formation, eying Val's carving. "Mmm. Trying to figure out something useful that would have helped against the Draug." "Ithink you did rather well for yourself, considering the circumstances." Val cast her a puzzled look."Thanks, Iguess.I nearly died." "Perhaps, but few can claim the head of a Draug brute by themselves." Val chuckled."Give Kainoa an anti-tank rifle and trust me, he'll claim one by himself. The guy can nail a bottle with a sighted rifleat a kilometer four out of five times. The fifth time will be because he missed and blew out the stand that the bottle was sitting on. Plus, with his size, he all but shrugs off the recoil, why he ever joined the EOD corps is beyond me. Guess he loves bombs more than the shooting range." "Concerned?" "...Yeah. If that was really just an advance party meant to build out those towers of theirs... Idon't know how we're going to stand a chance unless we can get the Army on our side. I'm not that confident we can get the Dwarves to join us. Even if by some miracle we get the number we need to stand a chance, the first time around, your warriors had some idea of what they were fighting. Other than toa few of us, this enemy is entirely unknown, and I've personally paid the price for not knowing my enemy." Find authorized novels in Webnovelfaster updates, better experiencePlease click www.webnovel.com for visiting. "Try not to put so much on your shoulders alone. Wars are not decided by a single individual,and having now seen them in the flesh, this will be another real war." Val's thoughts drifted to what Valor had told him."What do you think of Fenrir?" "He was a powerful ally once, caught in schemes and ploys between the Aesir and Vanir hosts, after the war against the Draug. He eventually filled with so much bitterness and hatred that there was no room for apologies and forgiveness." "Hmm... So you don't think he is evil." Muninn spoke carefully."Evil, no, but it remains that he is a powerful and destructive force. Frankly speaking, Iwould love to have him as an ally again in this upcoming conflict, but I am equally afraid of him regaining his strength, now being free of the chains that held him.Do not trifle with him, and be careful of his power. Though you should use it without hesitation if you see it as the only means of survival. His is a path you cannot easily walk back from once you take but a single step too far." Val stared up at the cloudy sky."Isee... That's closer to what Valor said than Huginn's thoughts." Muninn's head twisted almost backward suddenly, her eyes scanning the distant sky. "Huginn has returned, I will retrieve Asha."
