After browsing through his lesser elemental tome, Jon decided to meditate and let the energies that be pull him towards his next selection. Jon sat down and began to let his mind go blank. Just like when he was in his real body, he felt a tingling sensation, followed by a cool, relaxing feeling over his whole body, almost like a cool blanket was placed over him.
As Jon opened his eyes he found himself in front of an old, tattered tome, which was in fact falling apart, almost literally. The tome smelled of must and mildew, yet the inside was like new. It even smelled and looked like a new book, with trace amounts of fresh paper powder in between each page. Unlike his last choice, this tome had the knowledge of fighting with axes and a small chapter in the middle describing a few moves with a dagger, almost like an assassin would perform.
"Holy shit, these books are like nothing I've ever seen or heard of before! The knowledge contained within is something that I have yet to experience. Even this ragged tome has moves even master Gu had yet to learn in his seventy years of fighting!"
Jon was ecstatic over his newfound knowledge. Just as his thoughts were complete he heard the voice of Woden invade his mind. Even though it was surprising every time, he did not mind the invasion. Being chosen by the Allfather was something no one had heard of in a couple of millenia.
"The knowledge I have amassed here is a culmination of the information Huginn and Muninn, my prized pet ravens tell me of while circling Midgard, but also of the knowledge I gained after drinking the mead from three bottomless ale horns and plucking my right eye from my head! This is knowledge fought for and bled over. Do not take any tome lightly, even if it is just roasted boar, that shit is delicious." Woden said with a grin.
"As punishment, the last bit of knowledge will in fact be the cooking tome for the roasted boar, seeing as you disrespect my infinite wisdom. When you are alone in the woods and make the meal from this tome, just remember that I am with you, disrespectful as you may sometimes be my child." Woden chuckled as he disrupted the mind link.
Just as the mind like disappeared, Jon felt a disturbance in the air behind him, almost like a tingling sensation on the back of his neck that caused his hair to stand at attention. Upon turning around Jon gasped in surprise as a transparent figure in an elegant blue and orange robe approached him while holding onto the tome of Woden's choosing. Even though the figure wore a robe, Jon was still able to see the bookshelves through the mysterious figure.
It did not walk, it just glided over the beautifully stained alder wood floor. It was perfectly silent as Jon could not hear a breath, a step or any sign that the being in front of him was even there.
As soon as the transparent figure stopped in front of him, Jon realized he had no eyes. It's face was misshapen, almost like a giant hammer struck it's face and squished all of it's features together in the middle of the face. Jon could not identify if it was even human, because after blatantly staring for a few seconds too long, the figure opened it's mouth, revealing broken, jagged teeth and a long, slender silver tongue.
Almost as if it was enraged the figure darted suddenly at Jon, making him recoil in surprise. His hand instinctively went for his axe, only to look down in even greater surprise when it was not on his belt. The surprise lasted only for a split second, turning around Jon was trying to find the mysterious figure, however it was nowhere to be seen.
Once again the Allfather breached Jon's mind calling forcing him to recall the image of the figure that gave him the tome.
"Jon, you have much to learn of the worlds yet. What you have just seen is a draugr. The spirit of a king from the realm called Jotunheim. This was the first enemy my son Thor killed in battle, whom had managed to inflict a wound upon his body. I had my dwarfs forge a box to put the accursed bastard into. Now he keeps my library clean, and sometimes Thor likes to mock him by cleaning his Mjolnir in my library. It is truly a lesson in mortality, even for us Aesir." Woden said in Jon's mind.
"Wow, I never thought such a thing possible. Jotun from Jotunheim, dwarves who blacksmith, draugr... I felt a presence before I saw his face. Why could I feel him?" Jon thought in response to the Allfather.
"Like I said my child, much to learn. The realms are a large place, where most of the time surprise and awe are common. The beauty in some are enough to entrance you for a lifetime, whereas others are violent and cold enough to make you wish you never went. Jon, my champion, you could only feel the presence of the draugr because you are growing in power. I see all in Asgard as well as Valhalla... well, see is the wrong way to describe it to someone who doesn't understand yet. It is more of a feeling, young one. As you grow this talent will develop along with you." Woden replied.
"Well... if I may ask... why does he look like that?" Jon asked with a feeling of intrigue and slight embarrassment.
"While fighting the giants in Jotunheim, Thor killed all of the kingsguard single-handedly. When he challenged the king to a duel until one of them either died, or conceded. If we lost, we would leave in peace and pay reparations to the people of Jotunheim, if we won, the king was supposed to give us an artifact that would help to make a binding for Fenrir. When Thor beat him, he asked to be spared. When my son showed the bastard mercy, he grabbed his sword and lunged at my son, going for a weakness in his chainmail, dealt from a stab earlier in the duel. He ran my son through and as Thor was losing blood and his energy, he grabbed the draugr king by the wrist, crushing his wrist and locking him in place. He gave a short speech about mercy, and then he swung Mjolnir with such force that all of Jotunheim quaked under his wrath. The king's head was turned into a bloody, pulpous jelly at the center of a crater that runs so deeply they say it reaches the core of Jotunheim. My son chose this visage for the bastard king only to shame him, as well as keeping my library clean, tidy and organized is also a shame to him. Making him a lesser draugr that can only interact with what I choose, makes his endless suffering that much more sweet. His shame knows no bounds, so in death he must realize his mistake so that if the day comes where I wish him to leave, the next life he becomes will remember to never stab an opponent in the back after begging in the dirt for mercy." Woden was deathly serious with his tone, some of his words would have melted the floor from the tone being so poisonous. This memory always made him an unsavory character for a few hours.
As soon as Jon was about to ask another question, he felt Woden wave a finger and the world began to spin around him once again, this time it was so fast that Jon did not even have time to close his eyes before he woke with a start in his childhood home.