Surpass Them All
1023 Words
"Sniff…sniff…"
A five-year-old boy was crying alone in his bed.
Creak!
The wooden door of the room slowly opened but the boy was not in the state to notice that.
"Sniff…"
"Soren."
A sweet voice rang out near the boy.
"Eh ?!"
The boy was surprised and removed his bedsheets.
Before him was an extremely beautiful woman who looked to be in her twenties.
She had long brown hair and her dark green eyes were looking lovingly at the five-year-old Soren.
"M-Mom ?"
Soren muttered before quickly wiping his tears away.
But he was a little too late.
"Were you crying, Soren ?"
She asked with a mischievous smile.
"N-No it's just that dust fell in my e-eyes …"
Soren explained stutteringly.
The woman couldn't help but find her son cute, so she stroked his head with a motherly smile.
"Mom… ?"
"I heard that you fought again with Aslaug's sons."
"!"
Soren lowered his head and clenched his bloodied fist.
Not only his fists but nearly all his body was bruised from the fight.
"They insulted mom and Runa! I will never forgive them!"
Soren said with an angry face, but it was just cute from his mother's perspective.
"And they beat you. That's why you are crying ?"
His Mother asked while treating his wounds at the same time.
"Ouch! Y-yes I lost…"
Seeing the wounds on her son's body, a terrific killing intent flashed in her eyes but she quickly shook her head.
"You lost but Runa was praising you, you know ?"
The Mother, Vanadis said with a teasing smile.
Soren was embarrassed and replied shyly.
"Mom and Runa are my only happiness here."
Vanadis smiled and put Soren's head on her lap.
Then she took out a black stick.
"What is this mom ?"
Soren asked curiously.
"It's a pledge, Soren."
Vanadis said as she gently wrote runes on the right side of Soren's face.
"Pledge ?"
"Yes. I will watch over you thanks to these runes."
Vanadis said, caressing Soren's face.
"Really?!"
Soren asked happily.
"Yes, but remember that one day you will have to walk on your own like a true viking."
"Yes mom!"
Kissing his forehead, she whispered.
"Soren, can you promise me one thing?"
"Of course!"
Putting down the black stick, she opened her mouth.
"Surpass them all."
"Eh ?"
"Surpass them all, Soren. Your father, Ragnar, your half-brothers and…"
Soren looked up at his mother.
She had a serious expression and a hint of sadness could be seen in her eyes.
"The Gods of Asgard."
"!"
Vanadis locked her dark green eyes on the same pair as Soren.
"Can you do this for me, my son ? Promise me, Soren, that one day you will be among the gods with Runa."
Soren didn't really understand, but he would never refuse his beloved Mother.
"I promise mother! I will reach the gods with Runa. Be it Valhalla or Asgard."
Vanadis smiled happily at her son's answer.
"Yes Soren. It's your destiny and not even Odin could stop your ascendance because you have a primordial bloodline…"
***
"Aita!"
"W-What?!"
Aita stood up hurriedly.
Looking around, he saw the others already up with a tensed expression.
"Aita, the assassins are there. Just a few hundreds of meters away."
Zack said as he gazed outside.
"I see."
Aita nodded and quickly prepared himself.
But as he was about to move, Selena came in front of him.
"What…?"
Aita frowned as she was standing in his way.
Selena ignored him and pointed to his face with a complicated expression.
"Hm?"
Aita touched his face and felt that his cheeks were wet.
There were tears flowing down from his eyes.
His black eyes were shifting regularly into dark green. His flow of mana also seemed to be in disarray.
"Hey! Luna, Aita, get ready now."
Zack shouted as they didn't move.
He also noticed the tears on Aita's face, but right now it wasn't the time to take a rest.
Aita nodded and bypassed Selena wordlessly.
The latter also moved, though she seemed to be perturbed.
She really thought of Aita as someone who would never cry, so obviously she was shocked when he woke up in tears.
"Sister ?"
Disrupting her thoughts was her little brother.
Selena sighed and put that matter in a corner of her mind for now.
"Narvi, are you ready ?"
"Yes! I put on leather armor!"
Narvi replied enthusiastically, which worried Selena.
"Narvi, you will not fight, you know…"
"B-But…"
"No Narvi, these people are too strong for you. You also saw when they killed our guards…"
Selena finished in a sad tone.
"Understood…"
Narvi relented, thinking about the people who had sacrificed their lives for him.
"Good."
Selena patted Narvi before going to prepare herself.
Though she was not as strong as her uncle and Aita, she was one of the strongest of her Empire.
Channeling mana on her ring, she took out a beautiful silver lance.
Whooosh!
The air was cut through by the lance's spike as she swirled it.
Putting on leather armor from her space ring, she took a deep breath.
Honestly, she was scared.
The assassins killed dozens of their guards and even seriously injured her uncle, who was one of the strongest on the continent.
Maybe she could barely defend herself, but what about Narvi ?
He wouldn't even hold a candle against them.
Moreover, they couldn't hide him somewhere by caution.
In the end, Narvi had to be with them during the fight.
They had already talked about how they would fight and it was pretty simple.
Selena and Zack would always be with Narvi.
Selena would be more like a support while Zack would take care of the offense.
As for Aita, he would be a little ahead of them and Zack would help him in need.
After preparing themselves, they all left the shelter as it was the last time here.
Aita soon concentrated as he held tightly one of the swords he picked up from the dead assassins.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Hearing the sound of movements, Aita narrowed his eyes.
"They are here."
- Writer
