Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 208: CCVIII. The Woman Power

He threw them in front of Dag, who began to read the titles, to understand what were they about.

"Then... you learned 11 skills, one of which is a unique skill, namely Magni's 'Adamant Mountain'. In addition, some of them have been mastered, increasing their effects: Earth Stomp, Call Of The Berserkr and Lightning Strike have modified their runes, evidently they are the ones you use the most. Considering that your level of strength has grown so much, I think you won't have a hard time learning these skills. Some of them are level 7 and 8, one is level 9" Egill continued, looking intently at Dag's arm, which showed runes incised on the deltoid.

"And the level 10 ones?" asked Dag, self-confident.

"To learn level 10 skills, you need to know many other lower rank ones. For this reason, very few warriors in the past have been able to learn them. For example, Dargeon and I have never been able to master such a high level... in this case, physical strength alone is not enough, you need an incredibly strong and stable spirit, otherwise, these skills could turn out to be real calamities, capable of wiping out entire cities, if activated disproportionately".

To these words, Dag looked down: "Master Egill is perpetually calm and focused... if his spirit hasn't been firm enough to allow him to learn a level 10 skill, I doubt mine is. Despite my powers, I still have a lot to learn... I need more time" he thought.

"What about you, Gridd? I was forced to drop out of school for a while and I only know these skills, you saw my runes... but you what about yours?" asked Dag, as he read a scroll titled 'Champion Aura'.

Gridd turned her back on her brother, marrying her long blonde hair forward and unbuttoning the top of the back of the armor, from which runes could be seen.

"Help me untie it" she said, plunging Dag into a sudden embarrassment, even though she was his sister.

Dag obeyed without a word and one after the other, he slid out the laces on the back of Gridd's leather jacket, which opened slowly, showing her back in full.

"Oh, fuck! Wow!" exclaimed Dag, still red with embarrassment.

Gridd's back was completely covered with runes, from her nape to the lower back. 

"Here, these are my runes" she exclaimed, looking back at Dag, holding her hair with one hand and the front of her jacket with the other, to avoid denuding.

Despite being her sister, Dag had never seen her back uncovered: her curves were perfect, as were her hair and neck. 

After a few seconds, enchanted to look at her back, he immediately began to fasten the armor, striving not to fall into mischievous thoughts towards his sister, shaking his head.

"Gridd... your runes... there will be more than 50! It's amazing! I knew you spent a lot of time studying, but I didn't think so much! Now I understand why you became Master so soon" Dag said, breaking the awkward silence.

"They are 62, to be precise" she smiled, confirming his curiosity.

They continued to talk about her studies at the Fort Skjonnet library, of which Egill was also very curious, having never visited it in person.

Then, the library doors opened.

"Hey! Do you organize secret meetings now? Hahaha!" exclaimed Dargeon, heading decisively towards their table.

Dag initially looked away, not knowing what to say.

"Don't worry, boy! My Spiked Bulwark is safe and sound, it has only suffered a little damage" the Master Of Defense continued, reassuring his new colleague.

"I'm sorry, Master Dargeon, I didn't think I could break it so easily..." answered Dag, noting that the expression of constant cheerfulness had returned to his face.

"You can call me Dargeon if you like. We are of the same social rank now, I remind you that you too are a Master!" 

"Yes, yes, you're right!" confirmed Dag. 

"Champion Aura! I know this skill too! It allows you to temporarily boost the stamina of all your team members, as long as they're close to you, when activated" Dargeon continued, looking at the parchment in Dag's hands. 

"I was just reading its effects! I think it's very useful, I'm going to try to learn it... ouch!" he exclaimed, stopping talking, after feeling a pain coming from his arm.

"Uhm... I don't think there's any need for it anymore! Hahaha!" laughed Gridd, to mention to all of them that the 'Champion Aura' rune had just appeared on his arm next to the others.

Dargeon grabbed Dag's arm, bullying him, forcing him to hold on to the table so as not to fall to the ground on his back.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Dag?! Now you can also learn level 8 skills just by reading them summarily?!" he asked, verifying that the rune that had just been engraved on Dag's skin was authentic.

Dag looked at Egill.

He was still with his elbows resting on the table. One hand touched his long white beard, while the other slammed his fingers on the surface of the wood.

He reciprocated Dag's gaze, looking at him thoughtfully, after witnessing the scene.

"Magni always knew it" he said.

Dargeon, after hearing that name, left Dag's arm, looking at Egill.

"Since you came here to the Temple... he saw something in you and tried several times to communicate it to us. But we were too stupid to understand, and we believed that your indefinite and unknown power could endanger our students. Dag, he would be proud to meet the man you have become" Egill replied.

"I thank you, hearing these words makes me happy... I think of him very often. He was more than a Master to me, he was my mentor! But now, stop talking about me, I don't like to be the center of attention. Let's go back to us, now that we're all here, we can put the Clan's official seal on the Iron Alliance contract" Dag replied, trying not to think too much about Magni, avoiding suffering his lack.