Chereads / The Corrupted Shroud / Chapter 8 - Chapter 6: The Einherjar

Chapter 8 - Chapter 6: The Einherjar

Tor was busy studying the newest text given to him by his grandfather. The two had been quite close since his birth, or more precisely, his rebirth. Tor had recently celebrated his sixth name day and he had asked for Folkvar to train him to heal rather than kill.

His family had taken it better than he thought they would, considering his new people were a warring race. However, he had been forced to compromise.

He had learned over the years that his people were a persecuted race that lived in isolation. The Einherjar as they were called were once the rulers of the entire continent of Eingard. They were proud warriors who sought to rule the entire world.

They had conquered and enslaved every army they came across. Their reputation built on fear and death. His people felt they owed everything to their gods and worshipped them fervently.

To Tor's surprise these gods werent invisible beings that they worshipped. They were flesh and blood warriors that had unimaginable strength and abilities. They fought side by side with their gods.

Then all of a sudden, during their fiercest battle, their gods disappeared from the world. A bright flash of light spread across the battlefield blinding everyone. When the light faded they were gone.

Abandoned by their gods they put up a strong fight but were eventually defeated. The once proud conquerors were now conquered and almost exterminated.

These events were recorded and said to have occurred over 600 years ago. To this day Tor's people lived secluded lives. There had been an uneasy peace between the Einherjar and the other civilizations for many years now. As long as they didn't stray far from their villages.

The ruling kingdom of the continent now were the people of the Empire of Light. Though the name sounded welcoming enough the people of the Imperium were anything but.

These are the same people who eventually won the battle over the Einherjar all those years ago and almost completely erased Tor's people from the planet. Even now if they caught the Einherjar more than a few miles from their village they would be either imprisoned or killed on sight.

Upon learning this about his village and people, Tor reluctantly agreed to learn combat skills as well as healing. He already had a host of abilities from his former life so adding to them was really just a kind of bonus he thought. In fact, his assumptions were a little further from the truth than he realized.

Almost every ability used by the Einjerjar involved seidr. This was the name given to what Tor called magic. To use it effectively multiple techniques were created to channel and circulate this energy throughout the body. The energy then needed to be routed to the proper points inside the body and condensed.

There were cores or realms inside their bodies that corresponded to the different elements of seidr they had an affinity to. Though people could use basic seidr in all its forms it was much more effective if they possessed the corresponding realm.

Though some people possessed more than one realm, they never had more than two. Most had only one and specialized in the use of it. Some had no realms at all and could do little past basic seidr use.

Tor found himself struggling to use even basic seidr. Though his realm or realms wouldn't develope until he was older, he still was incapable of the most basic of seidr use. Part of him believed this was do to his mentality. He still found it hard to believe real magic existed and was having trouble coming to terms with it. Coming from his old world, there was a part of him that still believed that all of this was a dream or an hallucination.

He was smart enough to feel the mental block that was keeping him from using seidr. He knew that he had to believe it was possible before it would ever become real. Tor had seen it used countless times but still couldn't completely accept it.

The issue was making it all but impossible for his training to progress. He couldn't even feel the seidr around him like he was supposed to. He was currently studying different techniques to draw the seidr into his body and circulate it. The irritation he was feeling was reaching a boiling point.

"Goddamnit!" he said to himself, "I'm never going to figure this out. All of these techniques are basically the same and I don't understand any of them."

He growled in frustration as he slammed the book closed.

"I've got to calm down." he thought. Recently he had realized that the rage and darkness that had existed in him was still there. It was yearning to come to the surface, almost like there was a constant itch he couldn't quite scratch.

He willed himself to let his aggravation go and started taking deep breaths. He kept reminding himself that his body was only six years old and that maybe, aside from his mental block, there was also a physiological reason for his failings.

The major concern he was having was that it was getting more and more difficult to calm himself. At the same time, he was losing his temper more frequently. It wasn't to the extent that he was going to lose control and "black out" but he was definitely more short tempered than he thought he should be.

Tor cracked the book back open and began reading again and trying to put the methods in action. He knew that for him to have any kind of future in this world he would have to master the use of seidr. Whether he wanted to heal or defend himself he needed it in this world.

Just as his frustration started to build again, he slammed the book cover a second time. He turned to find his grandfather staring at him. Embarrassed he lowered his head and sighed.

Tor began to speak and Folkvar stopped him. He reach over and lifted his head. "You're trying too hard Torbjorn." he said firmly. " You are too young to place these unrealistic standards on yourself." He looked right at Tor and continued " I have been studying and wielding seidr for close to a hundred years and there are still many things I do not know." His tone grew kinder as he finished by saying " One thing I do know is that you have to make a natural, organic connection. It cannot be forced. Everyone has their own way. Though there are many techniques, they are more a starting point rather than firm instructions."

He handed Tor another book that appeared twice as old as the one he had been reading." I want to tell you to take a break and be a kid, but I know better." said Folkvar. " This is one of the oldest techniques ever written down, no one has used this method in a very long time. I thought maybe it would give you some insights when combined with everything you've read."

Tor thanked his grandfather and then began devouring the book. The technique described inside was quite different from the others he had obsessed over. As he continued reading his eyes widened as a realization dawned on him.