Morgan's once tidy raising room was filled with clutter. Objects like an oversized vanity mirror, an entire wardrobe, and a great wolf skin rug were piled on the floor. In their summoning, they took things from a goddess until the only thing left to summon was the goddess herself. With her summoning frost blanketed the room, it even clung to the ceiling. The goddess herself glared at them with a demure gaze.
He quickly reviewed what he knew about the Nordic Goddess. Hel was beautiful, ruled over the dead, and was technically a giantess. Her domains were the honorless dead and the cold, which explained the frost-covered floor. Duality also played an essential part in her tales. Summoning her shouldn't be possible; proper deities can't be called without an avatar and many sacrifices.
She didn't look or feel divine. Though she dwarfed him with her 3m height, she didn't feel imposing. From her eyes, he saw lust and addiction. Something had been stripped from her. He saw it in her empty eyes. What once was divine had become merely powerful. His mind quickly put the pieces together and came up with a theory. Debauchery had filled that hole. He'd seen it disposed of noblewomen with the same look on the streets. He had a running approach, and that gave him a foundation to work from.
Lex could feel the power radiating from her, and Morgan was nervous. Hel didn't overwhelm his senses, and that felt off. A goddess should be exceedingly powerful.
He expected a divine visitation from the ruler of the dead to be awe-inspiring. They'd stolen from her, but she wasn't all the rage and curses. It was cold, and she was strong, but Hel hadn't left the circle yet. Cold bellowed out of the process and covered the ground with more frost, but that was it.
"Give it back," Hel said. Those weren't the words of a goddess but the demand of a junky.
The will of a fallen goddess crashed into them, and it was disappointing. Lex felt the suggestion but ignored it even as his muscles twitched to obey her. Morrigan shot towards the dildo, only for Lex to beat her to it. He held it in both hands. Even under the onslaught of Hel's cold, it remained warm. Indeed, it was a powerfully enchanted object.
Hel smiled and reached for it, only to stop just before she breached the circle. Maintaining the boundary circle was what he wanted to see. She couldn't leave the process; they had what she wanted, which gave them bargaining power. Leverage over a goddess wasn't a bad thing to have if used carefully.
"Not without something in return," Lex said.
The goddess narrowed her eyes. "Few men can survive laying with me, and none who dared were so weak as you." A smile twitched at her lips. "But, if you plan to use own mine toy upon me, don't be gentle," Hel said and gained a little composure.
Composure was the last thing he wanted her to have.
Lex was quick on the uptake. He'd already told her she'd get her toy back. Only the price mattered now, and she'd get it back.
"We need a ritual to convert anyone's qi into necromantic qi. Or if you have a technique, that would be even better." Lex said.
"Do you mean to bargain with a goddess using the property you stole from her?" Hel asked.
"Yes." Lex glanced down to see Morgan rubbing the dildo's massive balls. "It's an authentic piece. Though, I must know, why the flat head?" Lex asked.
Half of Hel's face turned scarlet, and she swallowed. In this state of hyper-focus, he saw her weakness. Even after falling as far as she had, she still held tightly to her dignity. He hadn't expected a blush or half of one in Hel's case. She quickly got ahold of herself.
"I'm unused to such questions. Are you that curious about my preferences? I find it hard to believe that rune craft that can rob me in my realm can't change mere qi typing." She had what they wanted, so bargaining for it was now possible. The only question was where to bargain from to get the most out of this deal. "Did my father threaten you into this foolhardy venture? There is nothing he enjoys more than embarrassing others." Hel grumbled.
"You know what we want, and we couldn't stop just because your dildo popped into our circle," Lex said.
"Two feet of anal beads normally stop even the most foolish. I'd written both items off as lost and prepared to enchant new ones until my bedsheet vanished. Then the rest of my furnishing followed. Must I bargain for each piece?" Hel asked. "I'll trade everything you took from me for the knowledge you seek."
Most smart men would agree immediately and take what they started the summoning for. But Lex had leverage on a goddess. All the junk around him might be useless to him, but it was sentimental to her. That made him think. What could he get from a goddess of the dead?
The Confederates were known for their sea travel, powerful bodies, and runic magic. Men of the confederate kingdoms could swim for days and hold their breath for hours. Their Nordic runes bolstered weapons enough to rival the guns of the Quicksilver sect. Confederate navigators were rumored to be the best in the world. Their people had resisted the Invictus conquest. Thor supposedly fought Julius Invictus to a standstill hundreds of years ago. He wanted all three of the Confederate's strengths, but he didn't think he'd get more than one more concession. Ask too much, and he'd anger even this exceptionally reasonable goddess.
"I want your patronage as well," Lex said. The goddess opened her mouth and closed it before sighing.
"Listen, I understand you want to be clever and get everything you can. I get it. That's why I'm telling you right now it's a bad deal. You'll lose qi and get almost nothing in return. For every breath you take and qi cycle, I'll take a tenth of the qi you produce. A few centuries ago, you'd get plenty of rewards in compensation. At one time, I granted the manipulation of ice and snow, greater control and augmentation of the dead, and a single resurrection per year. That's in the past. At most, you'd get a slight cold affinity, and some necromancy will get easier. You should patron under the new god Epsilon." Hel said.
Lex blanched at the thought. Those who held Epsilon in their heart lived brutal short lives in the servitude of the state. From what he heard, the Nordic gods didn't care if you took patronage with other gods from other pantheons. Epsilon was a jealous god and stingy with his miracles. For half of his qi, he'd get almost nothing. Hel had already set her term at 10%.
"You're right 10% is too much. 1% sounds like a better bargain that is a fixed rate, of course. 1% of my current output and not any future output." Lex said.
Hel sighed. "Ok, we're negotiating. That means my warning went in one ear and out the other. Listen, I'm a goddess in decline. My worshippers are dropping like flies, and Epsilon's Hell is mixing with my realm. Some bat-winged freaks keep sneaking into my room and stealing my toys. Listen very carefully; I need the qi, so anything less than 8% at a fluid rate is unacceptable. Most mortals don't increase their cultivation rate until they form a qi core. You're 14 and only in the qi condensation realm. Your chances of reaching the core realm are low." Hel said.
Lex saw the tiniest of sparks appear in Hel's eyes. He needed a static rate instead of a flat one. A flat percentage-based rate would increase with his cultivation. At the same time, a fixed rate would remain a constant. There was no way he was giving a flat rate.
"4% at a fixed rate. I can make it to the core, don't worry. But I won't have my rates changed when you offer so little. If you want a fluid rate, you'll have to sweeten the deal." Lex said.
She glared at him, and the temperature plummeted. Only the dildo hugged between Morgan, and himself kept them warm. Indeed, it was a powerfully enchanted device. Eventually, Hel eased up. "I have a counteroffer. 15% static, and I'll teach you necromancy personally if you reach the core realm within ten years." Hel said.
That was an exciting proposition. She was an older goddess of the dead. If he wanted to learn Nordic runes, she'd be the one to go to. It was a lot, but the higher his cultivation base, the faster he cultivated. 15% now might seem steep, but in a year, it might only be 5%. By the look in her eyes, she thought she was getting the better deal.
"Agreed, how do we finalize it?" Hel stepped out of the circle as if it had never existed. Lex's eyes widened, and she winked at him.
"Don't think too hard on it. My father is the trickster. If your circle had the power to stop me, my compulsion wouldn't have affected either of you. Breech, Enhancement types are rare; my uncle Thor would adore you. I'd suggest you look him up if you're ever in the higher realms. He rarely ventures to Midgard any longer. Ever since Epsilon's right hand stole his beloved hammer, he never recovered." He took a step back, Morgan in hand.
"Do we still have a deal?" Lex said.
"We do. I haven't lied since you summoned me. Your problem is easily solved." Hel scratched a series of runes on the copper table. "Any power fed into this application will produce the qi of undeath." She smiled at him almost sweetly. "I had many plans for this summon. If you had asked only for the runes, I'd have left you alone. A further boon from me paid with my furnishing would have earned you a terrible curse. But instead, you asked for my patronage." She placed a hand on his left shoulder, and the symbol of Hel burned coldly into his flesh. From the rune, he felt her take a percentage of his qi.
"Will you keep to the deal?" Lex asked.
Her eyes widened for a moment. "Once a deal is struck, a goddess always keeps her word." In a flash of blue light, all her stuff vanished. The goddess hiked back to the circle and stared back at him. "You're cruel. With your qi, I might last well after Epsilon devours the other realms. I suppose I'll kill the fireplace on my way out." Hel vanished, and her compulsion left with her.
Lex found a good spot and fell to the ground. Enduring the goddess's compulsion left him exhausted. Hel had taken almost everything back with her. The iron anal beads remained on the floor.
He managed to get a whole 18 minutes of sleep before his cultivation base woke him. In those few minutes, he'd refreshed himself. Over the last week, he'd grown used to his short sleeping cycle. Morgan wasn't stirring, leaving him to write down Hel's rune application and destroy the evidence. Hopefully, Morgan could swap out the ownership slates again and blame this room on someone else. It was nice having a partner like Morgan.
He studied Morgan's necromancy tome while she slept. It wasn't any easier to understand; Hel's patronage didn't help with understanding. Forming the tiet was more accessible, and he could do it within 3 minutes instead of 15. Practicing the symbol took time, and he busied himself with it.
After several hours Morgan woke up. She shot to her feet and looked around. "Did we get the ritual?" Morgan asked.
Lex tossed her the parchment he'd copied it on. Morgan looked it over before jumping up and down, shrieking.
"This is it. I don't have to worry about the inquisition anymore. Even if you die, I'll be ok." Morgan cheered. He didn't know how to feel about that. She didn't seem to notice his thoughts. Lex decided that worrying about Morgan was difficult.
But he couldn't stay forever. Being Morgan's ally wasn't the same as being her servant. He'd try to care and get more information about the world. Then, he'd leave. Lex wouldn't stay here forever; Morgan wasn't the only person he could care about. He didn't know what he wanted yet, but he was close; he knew it.