In Loki's Honor

"If you don't mind my curiosity, you don't seem like an ordinary kitsune," Ragnar said after a while.

I smiled and shook my head. "No, not at all. I'm not a full-blooded kitsune anyway. If that planet even had real kitsune. It seemed at times that the System Core was making things up as they went. You see... How should I put it? Haru's... My biological father was fox-kin that was more than three-quarters beast. And I was conceived out of wedlock."

I explained the circumstances of Haru's birth and her speedrun record for being exiled from home. I omitted the race of my biological mother and her people, though.

Ragnar thumped his fingers on the armrest for a few times. "Your birth mother was a dwarf, right?"

I froze for a moment when he said it. Loki had instructed me to not mention dwarves. But I couldn't help but nod.

Ragnar smiled and waved a hand to dismiss the tension. I relaxed a little.

"You'll soon rather than later meet an Álfar. In peaceful terms, I hope. You'll find that the elves of Yznarian are not one of the Álfar, just as the dwarves are not related to us. I see Loki has given you some good advice. So long you don't let any of my people think you are talking about us when you say dwarf, it will be fine."

He said it but I believed Ragnar was among the most level-headed Dvergar in this whole realm. I had no doubt they had their share of bigotry.

"I'll keep that in mind. Haru's ancestry is not very important and I'm not attached to it. I could use another form if being half-dwarf can become problematic."

"Your choice," Ragnar said firmly but his eyes told me I should stay as Haru.

"People already saw me like this," I shrugged. I earned a nod of agreement from the Loremaster.

We spent around twenty minutes talking about this and that and learning to read each other's body language.

*

*

Ragnar pondered about what we talked, the obsidian-colored giant rubbing his beard as his eyes unfocused. Finally, he reached a conclusion.

The Encyclopedia floated next to him, the book's magic reaching out to the books in his private office and leeching knowledge out of them. It didn't damage or erase what was written in the books, merely copied, though. But the impression my magical senses gave me was that it was draining something from the tomes.

"Ultimately, it doesn't matter what Loki wants. Trying to decipher that particular God's whims is an exercise in futility. Now that I understand the powers of this tome, I just need to keep it from reaching out to any restricted works I don't wish to fall into Loki's hands."

His gaze shifted from the Encyclopedia to me, a question hanging in the air. I just nodded.

"I didn't keep anything about the Encyclopedia or my motives from you," I said candidly.

Ragnar smiled, charcoal lips pulling apart to reveal his pearly white teeth. "Then, welcome, my apprentice. Though our meeting was forced, I can feel it is the hand of Fate that brought us together. You have Her scent all over you."

I nodded as a sigh escaped my lips and nostrils, the saudade of my paramour burning a hole in my heart. He would know how much I dabbled and traipsed around Fate magic really soon anyway so I didn't go on a tangent and kept my lips shut, even though I wanted to put that feeling out of my chest.

"I'm honored, Loremaster," I said after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry If I don't sound ecstatic."

"It's no problem. We Dvergar are regarded to be dour and taciturn," he paused, thinking about his next words. "When some of my associates spotted you heading this way with Loki, they feared the God would let loose a mischievous kitsune among our midst. They will be relieved to know you don't follow the proclivities of your kind."

I nodded along and then shrugged in the end. "Think of this form as a set of clothes I wear. This is not my final form, nor the one I was born as, not this time. Your associates have nothing to fear. At least not the mischief, pranks, and other tricks."

"Good, good. I'll make sure to relay that last part to them. Now, Haru, let me show you to your room."

*

*

We left the office and took the scenic route through the library. Dozens of aisles full of tomes and sometimes scrolls were meticulously lined up and organized. The shelves were made out of stone as wood this deep underground was a precious commodity. As I looked around, I noticed that not a single mote of dust floated in the air or rested upon the collection. The building was sturdy enough to withstand a bomb and functional enough that only a manga-level protagonist could get lost in here. The support pillars were sculpted with scenes of crafting and battle in equal measure.

I walked next to Ragnar and the Lost Sage's Encyclopedia floated next to us. Several Dvergar were at the library and they weren't averse to staring. I kept my tails from moving too much or knocking anything out of where it belonged. They seemed more than glad to kick me out of their city were I not being escorted by the Loremaster.

As the giant floating tome passed next the bookshelves, the Encyclopedia quickly seized the opportunity to absorb the knowledge of the books it came close to. I was surprised when it did so without even removing the books from their places in the shelves or even opening them. It reminded me that this book and my imprisonment inside it was all designed and executed by Loki for this very purpose. Something in this library mattered a lot to Loki but he couldn't let Ragnar or anyone else know what it was.

I had a way of knowing what it was but not in a timely manner. When Loki finally came around to get the morsel of knowledge he needed, the knowledge of what he read from the book would become evident to me though it might be too late to stop Loki by then. He could also feign enthusiasm and read several passages, hiding what he really wanted like a street conman playing three-card Monte.

So, I did as Ragnar suggested and pushed those concerns aside. The Loremaster made it clear it was his duty to keep the Encyclopedia from getting any sensitive data.

Subtle magic wove between the bookshelves, the walls, the pillars, and the tall arched roof and the wrought floor. It was a single massive enchantment covering the whole library, so complex it could be a living thing. Yes, the comparison was valid. If the enchantments [Enchanters] made in Yznarian were simple organic molecules, and my own enchanted items were bacteria, the enchantment in this library was a breathing animal. Perhaps it even had some sentience.

I tried not to gawk but the Loremaster noticed my surprise and smirked with a kind expression in his obsidian face. I knew I should ask for permission before I studied the enchantment more closely. But that led to another problem.

I felt lost. If this was a normal life, I would pick a Class, earn some Perks, get some levels, and find a direction to my current existence. But right now, I had no System guidance. No list of unlocked Classes. The problem was not that I had unlimited options, was that I had no paths laid out before me.

Could I become a librarian? Absolutely. Live a monastic life in here, read a lot of books, copy some like a medieval monk, and...

I gasped and gawked as we passed by a shelf with thin and colorful printed books neatly organized. I recognized the writing on the spines as Japanese characters.

Ragnar chuckled. "I see our Manga and Light Novel section caught your interest."

Words failed me. I looked to the books then back to the Dvergar. "You... Earth... Gah! You have Earth books in here?"

Ragnar nodded and smiled like a grandfather. He tilted his head.

I entered the aisle with a hand over my mouth, eyes wide. Tuisto displayed the translations over the spines as augmented reality. They had quite the selection here.

"How?" I mumbled.

"Some merchants cross the Bi-frost bridge every now and then. They visit Midgard and all the other realms and bring books to us. King Hrothgar is very generous with funding. We even have some books from... what's the term? Indie authors," he explained as he ushered me into the next aisle.

A plethora of paperback books in English in various genres from fantasy to xianxia and science fiction. I recognized some from my time back on Earth. The Encyclopedia copied all of them as it moved from one end of the manga aisle, around the back and through the independent author section. We moved on. I could check the titles available and read at my leisure now.

We went through a door with a sign in Futhark runes. Tuisto loosely translated it to "authorized people only." Beyond the door the corridors became more mundane and practical. I smelled a faint aroma of food cooking. I didn't feel hungry.

We moved around the living section of the library. Ragnar showed me the living quarters, lounge, reading room, and the book maintenance workshops. Everything was neat, tidy, and elegant.

The Dvergar had thousands of years to refine the building into a work of art. Their care and love for their house of knowledge was obvious and imprinted in every single detail. The doors moved without a hitch or a creak. All the furniture, from the chairs to the shelves was made to last, works of art in themselves. And everything was huge. Things were sized for the Dvergar but I could see they had furniture for guests of all sizes, from gnomes to humans and elves.

Finally, he showed me my room on the second floor. It was no five-star accommodation but I wouldn't expect or demand better. It had enough space for me and some decorations. The only thing it didn't have was a bathroom. Or a balcony. Or a four-poster bed.

"I'll leave you to get settled. You are free to walk around the library and to study the books. My acolytes and librarians are already informed you are a guest of honor. Just keep away from the restricted sections. You can recognize them because I placed my seal on them," he showed a round stone medallion he kept hidden in the folds of his clothing. It had a rune of significant power, which resonated with his own magical energy. I likened that to the Japanese hanko seals used in place of a signature.

"Understood, Loremaster," I said with a respectful bow. "I don't intend to leave this room for the day. I need to set my things and think about some issues."

"Fair enough. You can redecorate the room to your liking. If you need more space, we can find you a bigger room."

"No. It won't be necessary. This is ten times the space I need," I said and got a raised eyebrow. "I intend to use my fairy form while in my room. I have a whole palace sized for fairies in my storage space."

Ragnar let out a hearty chortle. "Good. Good. So long you keep in mind you are a honored guest of this library. Some of my brethren can be quite insular. If anyone gives you trouble, tell me immediately."

We talked a little more and Ragnar left me to my own devices.

*

*

I moved the furniture to my storage space and took one of the fairy houses from my storage, along with Kel'Caldor's Phylactery. The magical urn was a mana reservoir and I was curious to compare its reserves with my own. Since it held the equivalent of ten million MP back in the System days, I could measure how much magic I had in my own body compared to my strongest back then.

What I found was that the magic inside the urn was more than three orders of magnitude bigger than my internal reserves. I had less than ten thousand MP to work with unless I drew from the phylactery. Doing so and transferring magical power back and forth was effortless. Then I reminded myself that ten million MP was a lot even back in Percival or Haru's days, and that I was the equivalent of a level zero now.

Ten thousand MP at level zero was a fucking lot of magic. I splurged a bit and cast some harmless spells, illusions and glamours, Force barriers, and body strengthening charms. I was amazed at how little magic each spell used. Some of my worries disappeared. The ambient magic of this real was so thick that I could tap into that to help pay for the cost of my spells.

So long I didn't find anything like the Scavenger Gnome desert, I'd be fine.

Next, I tried formal casting. Using Marlowe's diagram theory, I drew some spell diagrams and held them in the air. Soon, the whole room was full of glowing disks of glyphs, runes, and geometric shapes, all ready to fire their effects at a moment's notice. I could feel the strain of keeping all these diagrams up but it was bearable.

The most important part was that it was a level of magical control comparable with Haru's post-expansion back in Windemere.

Perhaps I wasn't depowered at all. I felt an impulse to get out of the city, into some tunnels, and find something to fight. Yet, I didn't. I had time and I needed to know what I could do.

My next test was to go through each of my forms and check if Tuisto hadn't lied to me. He said that even the abilities I sacrificed or gave away would be available if I remembered how to use them.

My skin was covered in a nigh-impenetrable organic barrier. Cyst Hibernation, from my amoeba life. Then, I sliced solid metal rods with my vorpal rabbit teeth. Shapeshifted into my black jaguar lycanthrope form. Coiled my snake tail into an stalwart fortress of scales as Lakerta. Sang the magic of the oceans. Fueled my body with the rage of a berserker. Brought into being living creatures made of folded paper. And much more.

With each successful test, my confidence swelled. The only powers I didn't use were the disease-inducing amoeba ones. I lost them too early in my career. Not that I missed them. In my heart of hearts, I believed I was a force for good, despite whatever nefarious plans my patron had for me.

In hindsight, how mistaken and naive I was at that time.