Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 482: CDLXXXII. Terror

The young warrior's companions embraced him and screamed with joy at him, celebrating his kind of 'promotion', while the young Kane was astonished to watch Dag, not believing he was receiving an award after shouting at him. 

Just then, as if he could read the thought, Dag came up to him and said: "I wouldn't like a stranger who enters my Clan's arena and thinks he can do the blowhard. I don't care what you think of me, any way you proved your worth in combat and you didn't back down... that's why you deserve to be rewarded."

A hand on his shoulder followed those words, after which Dag returned close to Kranus and the Shield Master and with them left the arena, while Kane smiled looking at him from afar, happy to have impressed such a young and wise warrior.

"What kind of skill did Gunnar use against me?" Dag asked, walking next to the two Giants Of Ymir members towards the palace.

"It's called 'Terror'. It's his personal skill, Gunnar's workhorse. Thanks to it, he never lost a 1 vs 1 fight, this was his first time. I hope he won't have a problem with that! Hahaha!" Wrage replied, preceding Kranus, who couldn't remember all those details, not having to deal with Gunnar every day.

"Fuck, I really believed he would knock me out for good. How exactly does it work? I have no bad intentions, I just want to understand how to exploit it in battle" the young Master continued, asking peacefully to his interlocutors, who now trusted him.

"To activate it, you must be in the form of Jotunn, you can not do it as a human. Once activated, his body begins to give off a greenish gas that once it enters the opponent's lungs, paralyzes his muscles and weakens his bones, as a kind of poison. I don't know exactly how it works, but I know it has to do with the strong acidic smell of his giant skin. In battle no one has ever been able to resist him, which is why, over time, Gunnar has focused much more on offensive techniques than defensive ones, trying to apply the effect of gas to even multiple targets at the same time" Wrage continued, trying to remember as much as possible, but not telling Dag anything more than he had already understood with his intuition.

"When he'll be back on his feet, Gunnar will have to teach that skill to the leaders of the four troops. I have in mind an attack configuration that cannot fail" Dag exclaimed, who was already thinking of a war strategy that would lead them to a quick victory, after which he could focus on prophecy.

"Mmmh... I don't think it's ever going to happen. You saw how proud and full of himself Gunnar is. He's the only one who's mastering Terror, I think he's never going to agree to teach it to someone else. And I'm pretty sure it's impossible to do that... those who develop a personal skill cannot pass it on to someone else, this goes against everything I have studied over the years" Kranus said, intruding into the conversation between him and Wrage. 

"Still, I learned the unique skill of my first Master. He taught me and I learned it with a hard workout, during my exile" Dag continued, explaining to Kranus that evidently, the texts from which he had learned that information were archaic and inaccurate.

"Exile? What kind of exile? Now that we're in confidence, I can ask you... ever since I learned that your nickname is 'the Exiled', I've wondered what it was referring to... I thought it was about your trip to Krypstorm" Wrage asked again, who from the moment Dag had shown him to be a respectful and honorable ally, had opened up to him, starting to talk and ask him questions even more than others. 

On the way from the arena district leading in front of the palace, Dag explained to Wrage and Kranus the origin of that nickname, which had been given to him for obvious reasons, confusing them for the fact that, an exiled warrior, usually does not enjoy good fame and is unable to create an Alliance so important and powerful that he undertakes a journey to another unknown continent.

When they finished discussing the subject, standing at the foot of the staircase leading the palace, Kranus interrupted, saying: "Dag, Freydis... follow me, I will personally escort you to your accommodation, so we can continue this interesting conversation a little longer... there are so many things I don't know about you and your homeland!" 

Freydis smiled, after having been called for the first time by the leader of that Clan, but kept an air detached, still not blindly trusting him and believing that he was plotting something.

Once away from the palace, the warriors turned right and continued along a road consisting only of small dwellings, slightly more modest than the other backstory, looking decidedly richer and majestic.

"Here, we have arrived. That's the key... inside you will find everything you need to clean yourself up and rest tonight. There should also be a hot meal somewhere, I explicitly asked my slaves. Tomorrow morning we will see each other inside the arena as soon as the Sun is higher than the bell tower of the Colossus Palace" Kranus said, handing a large metal key to Dag and saying goodbye politely, followed by Wrage, who smiled at the young Master and his woman.

"Thank you, Kranus. Thank you for your fairness, Wrage. See you tomorrow" Dag answered, who along with Freydis bowed his head slightly out of respect.

When the two Giants Of Ymir walked away, he put the key in the lock and had Freydis and Thalos placed behind him.

Placing his hand on the door, he pushed it back slightly, opening it cautiously and looking inside.

"Wait here, don't come in until I give you the green light" he said, entering the house and leaving his woman and wolf outside the door to wait.