I'm alive! This is the first thought that hits me as my consciousness returns. Quickly taking stock of myself, I realize that I am currently wrapped in the warm embrace of this knuckleheaded madman I married. In the two-hundred and fifteen years of my life, never have I felt this much warmth in my heart.
I, Lija, shield maiden of the Bear Clan, having fought in the Great Clan Wars, and toasted the finest mead just outside the burning sanctuaries of the South, have felt invincible. I have gone toe to toe with the Sages of the East and nearly died countless times in the Western Elemental Harvest by the Honorable Beast Kin Warriors. Yet, never was I afraid nor weak, even in the face of death.
It wasn't till that day that I had lost the will to live. For six months, I carried our child and that damn Eastern qi cultivating outsider, I think as untold rage flashes through my mind. The greed of men causes all disaster, and my son was the cost of his desire.
This burley crybaby knuckleheaded fool saved me. Who knows how long I've been unconscious in a state of near death. Not only is he still here, but he has also blessed me with a chance to try again.
"Lija! Thank Frigga. I thought I'd lose you forever." Still crying like a wee lass soaking me cloak.
"Crybaby!" I shout affectionately, rapping his bald head with my knuckles. I then yank him close, hugging him as I breathe the burnt, smoky scent wafting around me. So sue me, I fell in love with a smith, but not just any ole smith, only the best damn smith of the clan.
After a moment of catching up, it is time. A can feel the future little one's spirit searching for a place to settle, and it's best not to let it roam too long.
"Fannar honey, it's time," I say gently.
I let out a small yelp as His massive Beefy figure scoops me up princess style. Show off! I curse in my head, a little heat rising into my cheeks. Over a century together, and he still makes me feel like a teen with a crush.
The priests lead us to a private area where we begin the ritual process. The fertility rite is pretty straightforward. First, we disrobe and bathe in a medicated bath separately. Followed by the priests marking his body in the language of the gods, with the priestess doing the same for me. Finally, after sanctifying the altar, we are left alone.
Proceeding forward, we climb the altar and conceive a child. Ohhh, I bet you thought there would be details, right. Hahaha not happening. Ok, ok, he has a really nice ass, lol. But, on a serious note, mine is better.
After cleaning up from the great *Ahem* fertility ritual. The temple confirms the blessing is active, and I will be pregnant by the rising of the next moon.
Seeing my husband foolishly thanking the priest by putting him in a bear hug, I pull on his shirt, reminding him it's time to go home.
Walking home in the quiet night is really peaceful. Well, if a particular overprotective ogre would put me down, that is. But, smiling wryly while looking at the smug look on his face, I'd be squirming to get down if I wasn't feeling so affectionate right now.
"You broke me, Irons bane," I say while pouting
When he freezes and looks startled at what I said, I can't help but burst into laughter like a lune.
"The Great Shield maiden Lija is all yours now," I say, Smiling back at him. It's the simple things blood, mead, and Blacksmiths.
"Foolish Beauty, you've always been my little raven." He says, teasing back, regaining a bit of the confident demeanor he used to have.
We get back home and rest, knowing I got a long 9 months ahead.
Our home lies not far from the clan hall. And, like the clan hall, we have a longhouse. Being 7th-stage cultivators, we have thralls to handle the daily necessities occupying a room near the front and a complete smithy in the back of the place for my husband to work.
I myself am a hunter of our clan and raid leader for the other realms. Seeing as I won't be doing much for the next while, I'll spend much of it on the wretched household duties. For cultivators like us, a year passes faster than you would think, and like the wind, time flies by.
5 months passed, and I have been spending my time cooking and repairing my soul with the Valkyrie soul-forging arts. With my soul back to 80 percent strength, a part of the seals on my body release. My soul-forging was only a Third Rank To begin with, it was necessary to look for an excellent soul-forging method to reach the peak. Having been so weak till now, it feels very satisfying to feel Ki again. As the Ki starts to flow through my body, it feels like stretching after a long nap next to the hearth.
Suddenly the energy in my body moves against my will. Scared out of my mind, I scream out from the bedroom. Ki deviations can kill and severely injure a person. Fannar, literally busting through the wall in his panic, rushes to me. While concentrating, I feel like the energy is being greedily devoured by our daughter.
"What's wrong? Is our daughter ok? Are you ok? What should I do?" with the pacing and the barrage of questions, my nervousness increases.
Feeling weak, I tell him to call the priestess and midwife to check our precious ball of life. Trying to calm down, I focus my soul sense and try to feel what's happing. Each cultivation method has a sensory skill at rank 3. Ki-sense for body cultivation, qi-sense for spirit cultivation, soul sense for soul cultivation, and divine sense for those who cultivate all three. Without circulating my Ki at all, I feel a new source of energy taking shape within me.
Tracking it to the source, I find it emanating from our daughter. Now really concerned, I stop thinking and just wait for the priestess.
Moments later, the priestess and midwife arrive together, rushing in to take a look. The midwife doesn't see any blood or immediate signs of complications, while the priestess sends her divine sense within me. Watching her face change back and forth from uncertainty to surprise, to concern, back to surprise, I feel even more wiped.
"Just tell me I can take it!" I shout, startling the room.
"Calm down, Lija, honey, it's going to be ok," Fannar says. But with the panic on his face, he would probably be better served getting something to drink.
The Priestess claps, getting everyone's attention. Then, casting a silencing rune on our surroundings to keep prying ears out, she begins to explain while wearing a gentle motherly smile.
"Your child, my dear, is wonderful. It looks like your cultivation seal released, did it not," she asks.
"Yes, it did," I answered calmly.
"It appears your child absorbed your Ki and awoke an innate divine grade bloodline while simultaneously breaking through to the rank 1 stone master level," she says.
Placing her hand on my stomach, glowing runes appear on my skin and burn into my flesh, causing me to wince. For a body cultivator at the seventh rank to even flinch is an unimaginable pain to an ordinary person.
"This will keep her from cultivating till she is born," the priestess says.
"If she were to continue, she may outgrow your body and ruin any chance to build a better foundation. Therefore, we will seal her immediately when she is born to protect her until she comes of age."
"Thank you!" we say with tears coming out from both of us simultaneously. Glad it's nothing terrible. Sealing a child's ability to cultivate after birth in our clans is common. We wish each to have some level of childhood before they seek power. We also have a rather barbaric hazing rite a child must pass to prove they have the will to cultivate.
"It may be presumptuous of me to ask, but have you thought of a name yet." The priestess asks a touch of mischief in her eyes.
"No, I haven't. This oaf keeps picking boys' names knowing she's a girl." I speak
The man in question has a sheepish grin while puffing out his chest like it was to be expected. Unfortunately, I have to have the midwife inspect the child due to all the seals on my cultivation since I had been unable to use soul or ki sense until today.
"I having felt her soul have a recommendation if you would like," the priestess suggests.
"What suggestion does the priestess have," I ask while glaring at Fannar to keep his mouth shut.
"Ylfa. I promise you will agree the day she comes into this world," she says.
Just like that, the priestess and midwife take their leave from our home without another word. While I thank the women for coming to my aid, I try settling down to rest. The big goofball looks at the massive hole in the wall in shock, realizing just now that he had put it there. So he rushed off to fix things, and I began resting once more.
"Ylfa huh" is not bad. It is officially top of the list.