The peak hadn't changed—but I had.
Last time I stood here, the sky itself looked down on me and sent a god to crush me into the stone. This time, the air was just as cold, just as thin, but I wasn't the same boy who fell. I wasn't limping. I wasn't afraid.
Snow whipped across the summit in howling flurries, the sky overcast with thin sheets of gold sunlight breaking through cracks in the clouds. For a moment, it felt… sacred. Like I was standing in a place no man had a right to.
And then the wind shifted.
I heard it before I saw it—the deep crunch of armored steps in the snow. I turned.
It wasn't the same giant as before. This one was slightly smaller, leaner, but no less monstrous. 5 meters tall at least, broad as a gatehouse, with pale, stone-colored skin glowing faintly blue. It wore no real armor—just furs and jagged bone plating—but in its hand it held a massive sword, shaped like a broken glacier.
My breath clouded the air as I lowered into a stance. The daggers pulsed in my grip.
The Ice Giant didn't roar. It just pointed its sword at me, eyes narrowed. It remembered what I was.
And I remembered what it was.
Then we both moved.
It swung first—an overhead cleave that howled with the wind. I stepped aside, snow spraying from the shockwave as the blade hit the ground. The impact shook my teeth.
Too slow, I thought—until it followed up with a sweeping backhand.
I ducked just in time, the blade missing my nose by an inch. I retaliated with a downward slash, both daggers short, aiming for the giant's wrist.
They connected—lightly.
Its skin was thick, even without armor. My blades cut in shallow.
The giant responded with a kick that launched me ten feet through the air.
I hit the ground rolling and popped up, gritting my teeth. That one hurt.
"Alright…" I muttered. "You want a real fight? Let's go."
I rushed forward.
The giant's sword came in a diagonal sweep—I dropped to my knees, sliding under it, then with a flick of my wrists extended both daggers into long form. I spun as I passed beneath it, slashing its thigh. The steel bit deeper this time. A real cut.
It stumbled. I used that momentum to dash up behind it and leap—one dagger shrank for better control, the other lengthened, stabbing down toward its back.
The giant twisted, just barely catching my shoulder with its elbow. I was thrown off balance, hit the ground again, and scrambled back before the sword buried itself where my head had just been.
That one was close.
The giant growled now. I'd made it bleed.
Good.
I moved again, darting around its left side, feinting right—then stopping short. Its sword came screaming down into the spot I would've been. I lunged inward, got under its guard, and drove my long dagger into its side, twisting.
It roared and slammed its forearm down. I barely blocked it, my arms screaming from the impact as I skidded backward.
I panted, chest heaving. My vision pulsed, just for a second—then locked.
The world slowed.
The sword moved before it moved. Its foot shifted. Its weight leaned in.
I saw it.
I dodged left, ducked the sword slash, then threw one dagger—one long, extended dagger drove into its thigh.
The giant roared in pain. I sprinted forward and yanked the weapon free as I passed it, using the momentum to leap onto its back. It thrashed, but too late—I wrapped my legs around its neck and stabbed downward, driving a dagger into the base of its skull.
It didn't fall.
It just slammed backward.
I grunted as its body crushed me against the snowy ground, knocking the wind from my lungs. I barely rolled aside as its sword stabbed down again. My body screamed, but I forced myself to move—back to my feet, blades in hand.
It turned, breathing ragged. Its eyes burned with hate. Blood stained its torso and limbs in wide patches now.
It charged.
I didn't back down.
The sword swung.
I ran up the blade.
In one motion, I dashed forward, let my foot hit the flat of the sword mid-swing, and vaulted myself into the air. My vision lit up with future movements—the giant raising its arm to grab me, the open space beneath its chin.
I twisted midair, both daggers short now, and drove them into its throat as I passed. Blood burst out in a violent spray.
It staggered.
I hit the ground on both feet, breathing hard, already moving again. I slashed the back of its knee, then spun to the side as it collapsed to one leg. It tried to lift its sword for a final strike.
I didn't let it.
I shifted both blades to long form and crossed them like scissors—then dashed past its neck, cutting clean through.
Its head rolled into the snow, steaming.
The body fell forward with a thunderous crash.
Silence.
My breath came in gasps. My clothes were torn, stained with blood—mine and not mine. My ribs ached. My shoulder felt dislocated. But I was alive.
And the mountain was quiet.
I looked down at the daggers in my hands. They pulsed once—like they'd awakened with me. Flexible. Sharp. Bound to me in a way I didn't yet understand.
I didn't say anything.
I just looked toward the peak.
A few feet away, I pulled the cloth-wrapped heart of the first Vetrbjorn from my pack. Still frozen, preserved.
I placed it in the snow.
"Tribute to Odin," I whispered, kneeling beside it. My voice shook—not from fear. From something deeper. Reverence, maybe. Or exhaustion.
And then… it hit.
Like a thunderclap inside my chest.
My eyes widened as my heart surged—no, not my heart. Something deeper than that. The mountain accepted me.
Æther poured through my limbs like molten light. My skin prickled with heat and cold at once. My breath turned to mist as the air thickened, heavy with divine pressure.
I screamed—not in pain, but in power.
It wasn't just physical.
I felt it. The pull of the Fifth Realm.
My feet dug into the snow as I clenched my fists, veins glowing faintly beneath the skin, runes pulsing along my arms and neck like they were part of me.
My eyes stung as the cold air met my tears.
"I did it…" I breathed.
I'd climbed the mountain. Slain its monsters. Earned my place.
I stood tall, muscles tense, bones humming, heart loud in my ears.
The Fifth Realm.
I felt like I could crush stone with my bare hands.
But more than that—I felt seen.
I looked up at the sky, and for a heartbeat… I thought I saw something staring back.