Finally, Odin was back. It had been a long year, but he was back in Fiore, back home. His journey had taken him far, towards his homeland of Iceberg, as he had hunted down the men that had wronged him.

~~Past Year~~

In total, there had been seven of them, seven rookie holy knights that had decided to attack a known location frequented by a Lich, burning it to the ground in the hopes of trapping him within and ending his existence. As planned, they had killed someone in the fire, however he had been an innocent. The former owner and constant bartender Mac, a kind-hearted soul who had never once judged the choices Odin had made, regardless of whether or not he had agreed with them. The fire had taken his life, whlie Odin had been hiding his true face in the flower festival in Orchidia. His pub, the one place he could truly call home, and one of his oldest friends had been taken from him, and he only found out about it two days later, when a letter reached him, informing him of the destruction. Seven holy knights, now zero.

Odin had hunted them all down, across Fiore and beyond. The first three had been scattered around Fiore, not knowing they were being stalked, like prey. Odin had found each of them quickly due to their bragging, and ended their lives quickly. He snapped each of their necks to kill them, but he wasn't done there. He needed the others to know what had happened, who had done it, and what it meant. He peeled the skin away from the face of each of the three men, and placed their skulls on the corpses. A skeletal face, the symbol of the Lich that would find them.

As they discovered this, the other four fled the country, two of them banding together to find sanctuary in Seven, one fleeing to Bosco, and the final one in Iceberg. Each time, Odin found them, fought them, and killed them, but these deaths weren't quick. As Odin killed the three in Fiore, his rage built to a breaking point, and that culminated in the torture, mutilation, and finally murder of the two in Seven, and the man in Bosco. That simply left one more.

The journey to Iceberg was to be the first in Odin's life, despite his parents and his name originating from the land. He knew of the rough terrain, and rougher people, but he also knew there wouldn't be many places that a Fioran holy knight could hide. The tribes wouldn't accept him, and the rest of the land was ice. That only left sanctuaries, the temples within Iceberg, and it was Odin, the king of the god's, temple where the prey would hide.

Of course, the man knew Odin was coming, had known it for about eight months now, and that changed a person. When Odin found him, snivelling in the cold dirt, he was broken, a fragmented mind in a husk of a body. When he saw the Lich, the his fear turned into blind rage, and he ran at Odin, knife drawn despite no longer kowing how to use it. He was knocked down easily, at which point his tears began to pour. It was here that Odin saw a twinkle of light in the dark temple. In the statue of Odin, held by the hands of the great warrior god, was a spear. HIS spear, Gungnir. Odin bowed before the great statue, and picked up the spear, instantly driving into the man's skull. It was a clean cut, the blade was sharp. His mission complete, Odin had returned home to rest.

~~Present Day~~


Returning to Orchidia, Odin wished for nothing more than to see his friends, and finally relax. Oak was his home, but he no longer had anywhere to stay there. Instead, he had left for the Sokolov Manor, where two of his closest friends lived. Alice and Konstantin, a marriage which Odin had not only attended, but spoke at as the best man. There was no other man in this world who Odin could trust as much, and it had been too long since they had last seen each other.

722

Mind-shattered, thoughts and memories splintered and missing, the once renowned Holy Knight, Konstantin Sokolov was now a shell of his former self. His body was noticeably slimmer with his clothes only being held to his frame by a belt. His face was taut and lifeless, cheeks hallowed and his single eye draw-back heavy-set with dark-bags beneath. The muscles that supported his body were defined in a sickly manner lacking any fat and minimal fat enhancing the definition of his bone structure. His pale hair now darkened and matted with patches missing from shock and abuse.

Since having been rescued from the grasp of the Midnight Cult and their torturous ways, the once aloof yet confident man now struggled with tasks any other man could do. Walking was laborious, his words unfocused, even eating was difficult having had experienced significant trauma to his jaw. Had he not been saved from the Holy Knights any later no trace of the man would remain. Even now he had difficulty identifying who he was only a name to go off from and a location, his former residence, the Sokolov Manor.

The manor itself had been in a further state of decay with the left wing having collapsed already leaving only the center and right wing suitable for living in. Kon had been placed within the right wing with the support of the Holy Knights who had retrieved him. Select members of the Holy Knights meanwhile remained within the Orchidia region in the hopes to protect him. For now he had just been told to rest by his superior. “Rest?, How could I Rest?” He had thought to himself when he first received the order and something he believed even now.

He was a crippled man now, with little to live for, even revenge was something that felt futile reconsidering the great gap in power between him and his former captors. This lack of drive compounded with the great stresses that he had faced had left him in a terrible depression. It was not uncommon in the first few months of his return to be bedridden after being found attempting to take his life and cease the neverending torment. And so laying in bed with a nun by his side ensuring he doesn’t take a blade to his hand.

Instant Transmission: (707 + 384)1091/3000 (Carrying over from The Blessed Forest Topic)

The Sokolov manor looked much worse than the last time Odin had visited. The once bustling and vibrant location now seemed in complete disarray. Odin could only hope that its owner did not mirror the appearance of his home, but he instantly noticed that something was amiss. Ignoring the house itself, the staff seemed to have changed. The one's Odin recognised looked sullen, broken almost; the one's he didn't recognise eyed him suspiciously, their mouths breathing whispers as many ran to other rooms. The more it happened, the more concerned Odin became for his friend. Whlie he was used to such looks in the towns and cities, he didn't expect it in the manor. Had Kon not told anyone of their friendship? Perhaps it had slipped his mind, but the easiest answer had never been, in Odin's case, the correct answer.

With the situation having changed, Odin now needed a plan. Whatever was happening, this wasn't going to be the happy reunion the Lich had desired. His friend might need his help, or a multitude of other issues could have arisen. All Odin knew was that he had to find Kon, wherever he was. Despite who he approached, nobody seemed to wish to help the Lich. It wasn't difficult to realise that some of the people in the house were holy knights, much like the one's Odin had murdered. Whether they had heard about the killings and didn't wish to join their comrades, or they just sensed the magical abilities coming from the Lich, none attacked Odin, instead staying away and occasionally commenting on the 'scum' and 'abomination' that he was.

Odin ignored them and pressed on, trying every door he came across. During his search, an even more concerning thought became apparent. Even if Kon was here, neither his wife nor his children were anywhere to be found. Had something happened to them too? Was this what had brought on whatever was happening? Eventually, he went through the correct door, seeing his best friend and ally lying on a bed, a completely different man from the one Odin had known. A nun, instantly terrified by the sight of the Lich, backed away into the corner, fearing for her life. Odin simply looked at his friend, a broken man, a husk.

"Kon...what happened to you?"

1118

Kon’s vision brightened slowly as he opened his eye hearing his name being called out by an eerily familiar name. Unsure what was happening, he took a moment to collect himself and see his surroundings. Much to his surprise, a powerful presence stood in front of him, grotesque in appearance, naught but a skeleton wearing clothing. Shifting the surprise to concern, Kon threw up his hand towards the monster, hoping to protect himself and create some distance between them, sending out a burst of light which would push them apart. After creating the smallest of gaps, he motioned away from the room, even the entire wing through a rapid casting of small teleportation. Having just teleported from his bed, his attire was sparse wearing nothing but a pair of pajamas with the string of his pants being slightly too loose. Kon would be forced to hold up his pants with one of his hands or have them hang low on his skinny frame. Even so, he continued on with his task, acquiring his bow, the Stormcaller before he finally could attack the lich rather than retreat.

Still weak in constitution, He leant to a side of the wall as he slowly padded his way towards the Sokolov Manor’s main storeroom, where all the residence equipment was stored. It was strange for him when he entered the room with items that weren’t his being present clearly those of a woman. Just who was she, he didn’t know, but for now, it didn’t matter. Instead, Kon continued to the storeroom, pushing the heavy-set wooden door while siding down the knob with both hands revealing his lack of strength. Dust fell upon his head as he opened into the door, few ever entered the room especially with him having been absent for so long. As he changed from the hallway to the room a strong raising smell overpowered everything followed by a minor feminine scent, it was frustrating to have so many lingering effects but no memory of what their sources were. Ignoring the distracting undertones, Kon made his way past the crates of wine that were neatly stacked up, stumbling through other various stored goods, supporting his weight on the boxes.

His destination was a large chest with his equipment and a weapon stand where a bow of lightning lay sending sparks lazy across the ground. Kon hoped that the sheer size of the Manor would be enough to give him time to at least don armor and grab his bow. Rather than concerning himself with what if’s, The Holy Knight undressed his already loose clothing and worn the multi-layered leather garb along with his less impressive leather hood. Efficiently completely battle-ready, he left his clothes on the ground while he took up his bow and dragged his way from the store-room. Now he was ready to defend his home.

1579/3000

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A lich in his home was of the deepest concern, just how did he manage to get past all of the Holy Knights in and around the area. Scratching his chin with his free hand, he scanned his scattered mind, trying to find the scraps of memories that might share some light on who this person was. It was clear that he knew who Kon was, but how was the key question.However it was something he would not be able to address with him still being both physically and mentally vulnerable at the moment. This state of weakness left him wary to try and find t the lich even if with his immense mobility and the stormcaller. For now he would need to yield his ownership of his manor though knowing that his return would be swift. He could not allow such a being of evil to remain in his home, it would be a disgrace for a man of his position, a Grand Holy Knight scared away from a lich who presented as a fraction of his own power, even as he was in a weakened state. No for now, Kon would leave to the Orchidia Church were he could fortify his own constitution and acquire reinforcements should the Lich decide to remain.until his return.

Hoping to prevent such an outcome, Kon once within a room drew his bow leading it up as he pulled back before releasing and sending a bolt of lightning towards to the sky burning a hole through the roofing above him and leaving a scorching bolt revealing the darkening sky. Loud claps of thunder broke the silence while the area turned dim, heavy rain soon followed suit with lightning striking the ground violently as seen from the windows leading outside. That should provide enough to cause the lich to flee, being able to manipulate the very weather was something few could achieve with the true outcome for the lich remaining in the storm being a terrifying one if he were to know. Kon satisfied with the protection he had spread across the area left for Orchidia town in turn expanding the storm to the devastated town who would be unaffected from the storm outside of the fearsome thunder and heavy downpour.

1958/3000

[Exit]

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