Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"I told you, Egill... it's not his time yet. Dag is too young, as he may already be able to access a level 9 skill... I've never been able to do it either, you're the only one who knows two" Dargeon whispered in Egill's ears, avoiding distracting Dag, who still had his eyes closed.

"Let's let him try..." he answered, but just then, Dag released the hold. 

"I can't! Did you see it? I already knew, it was just a waste of time!" he snorted, dropping the book on the table with a stinging gesture, annoyed that he had not even managed to move the cover.

He walked slightly off the table and looked at the two Masters, which tried to console him.

"You had to try, Dag. You'll see, one day you'll be able to open it and..."

*tzzz*

As Egill was speaking, a sudden sound interrupted him.

Dag looked down: Magni's hammer had inadvertently produced small sparks, without his command.

"What the hell..." 

*tzzz*slash*tzzz*

A lightning bolt hit the library floor, causing everyone present to jolt. 

"I don't know what's wrong with it! He never did that!" Dag exclaimed, to justify himself.

The hammer continued to charge with energy and release it in the form of small electric sparks until another thin lightning bolt hit one of the legs of the table.

They all remained silent.

A third sudden lightning bolt hit exactly the same spot, burning the wood and scaring everyone. 

Dag approached the table and seized the ancient tome again. 

"It's not possible..." he whispered, looking at the hammer, that after he had grasped the book continued to emit slight sparks, but in the opposite direction, towards Dag's arm. 

Egill squinted and stepped forward as his hand spontaneously stretched toward Dag.

"M... Magni..." he too whispered, leaving everyone open-mouthed.

Dargeon, Freydis, and Reidar were speechless and remained motionless without reacting.

Dag placed one hand under the book and another above: at that exact moment, the hammer unleashed even more energy, which electrified both of his arms.

"Master! Master is that you?! I... what... what should I do?! I'm not worthy to open the book, I can't!" Dag stuttered, his eyes shining.

Sparks spread down his arm, reaching his hands and the book, striking it without damaging it.

At that point, Dag figured out what he should do.

"As you wish, Master" he said, focusing on the book and slightly opening his legs.

After a few seconds, the black liquid began to gush from his shoulders, sliding on his arms and wrapping them entirely, while the electricity continued to hit them repeatedly.

"Oh, fuck!" Dargeon mumbled, who stepped back, frightened of what might happen.

Egill put a hand on his chest, ordering him to remain silent and not to distract Dag, who had somehow managed to establish contact with the late Magni, who was communicating with him through his weapon.

Emitting the usual noise similar to the flow of water, the black fluid was absorbed by Dag's skin, which suddenly swelled, following the increase in the volume of the muscles of the arms and veins, which pumped twice as much blood, strengthening the upper limbs.

The same veins extended under the armor to the neck, almost touching the chin. 

When the fluid also ceded to his hands and touched the book, the dust on the cover began to vibrate. 

"It's not possible..." Dargeon replied, who had personally witnessed Magni's attempt, almost a year earlier, without success.

Dag closed his eyes and everything turned dark.

...

He could feel his own breath, in that room without walls completely shrouded in total darkness.

He looked around, down, up. 

The emptiness, there was only a boundless emptiness.

At one point a light appeared, a small bright dot on the horizon, which became closer and closer, traveling at great speed towards him, which remained motionless.

"Master! Help me, please! You were right, I can use my power to do good, I have already shown it in the past! Make me worthy, oh wise Magni!" Dag stated, opening his arms and waiting for the light source to come.

It approached and when the distance between them was only a few meters, it revealed its true nature: two arms and two legs, the head without hair and the bare torso, partially covered with tattoos. 

In front of Dag, amid cosmic nothingness, the spirit of his late Master had taken shape.

Magni slowed down his advance, stopping right in front of his pupil, to whom his eyes began to tear.

"Master..." Dag said again, not believing in his eyes and no longer acknowledging the boundary between imagination and reality.

"I left this world, beginning a new life, within your body... I became blood, then flesh, then tears, then the same lymph that feeds your vital mechanisms... in this timeless box, I am allowed to take on any form and travel from one point to another in a blink of an eye" Magni said, his warm, majestic voice, as a blinding celestial aura enveloped his body, exactly the same as the last moments in life.

At those words, Dag knelt, continuing to look at the man in front of him, while his mind was filled with a river of unanswered questions.

"What should I do?! Please, Master, help me... I saw Stein die, then you left me too... finally I found out that Brann was not who I thought he was and that his teaching did not convey anything good... you and Stein... I... I had two fathers, but none of them is still on my side and the remorse of not having done enough kills me every night and every day, reminding me at the dawn of the greatness of those who taught me love and justice, making me the man I am..." Dag continued, trying to vent his sorrow towards Magni, who stood still listening to his words.

"My dear Dag... you were the son I never had. By absorbing my vital energy, you gave me the greatest gift I could receive: you made me eternal. Inside you, I discovered your roots, your origins... secret messages in the divine code of your soul, things invisible from the outside".