Deep within the mountain of the Eastern Alps sleeps a giant of no regard. A metaphorical one, at that.
Hidden behind hundreds, if not thousands, of warding sigils that could defend against a single blow from an archangel was the headquarters of the Grand Coven.
An organisation established to nourish and impart knowledge upon the very special human subset known as witches. If the Men of Letters' bunker were the last bastion of all supernatural knowledge, then the Grand Coven was the bulwark of human witchcraft and alchemical potioneering.
Although the current administration had forced the organisation to become a force that drives the wedge between normal humans and magical witches, the intent behind this coven was, first and foremost, the safety of the magical world. It was within this safety that the witches could search for the improbable and break the impossible.
Such was the Grand Coven, the most powerful human-driven witch organisation in the whole world.
In one of the five regions within the domain of the Grand Coven, located atop Karwendel range, lay the Castle Of Endless Agony. Like the other four castles in the other four regions, Endless Agony was created as a focal point for a large-scale defensive warding that encompassed the domain of the Grand Coven.
It had also been the home of one of the Castle Warlocks, a witch specialising in maintaining the wards and sigils operating within the bounds of the coven's domain.
And that Warlock was now bent on one knee, his mousy brown hair tousling from the sheer magical energy pulsing from the woman in front of him.
"I greet the Grand Witches, Ferula and Katja, and the High Priestess, Olivette! Welcome to the castle."
"Aeneas, how good of you to meet us," Ferula greeted him back with a venomous tongue. Her delicate form lay contrast to the fiery red hair that floated in the air, as if it was submerged in water.
"Hush, Ferula." With a cold admonishment, Olivette fixed her head at a 45-degree angle, as if looking down on the world and everyone living upon it. "Why have you called upon us, young Warlock?"
Aeneas dare not look the High Priestess in the eye as he reported back. "A witch on Pagan Duty reported that Brunhilde 'accidentally' pressed her emergency trigger and, when they investigated, found a visitor dwelling upon the home of Hephaestus. The witch in question did not make further inquiries as to the identity of the visitor, for Thrudgelmir intervened on the trio's behalf."
There was a bout of brief silence as he awaited their response. The three visitors shared a look that, if Aeneas had seen, would have disturbed him.
It was rare for even one of the three exiles to have a visitor from the outside, more so when the three of them were to be seen together with said visitor. Such an act could have complications that could lead the Coven to make decisions that could affect the balance of the whole domain.
After all, even one of them would be a touch match against the Coven, more so if the three of them decided to rebel.
Olivette, speaking for the other two witches, ordered the Castle Warlock. "Personally invite the four of them to a meal at the castle. Tell them that we will be dining with them as a courtesy call for their decades of service."
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"It's two thousand and fucking six! How do you still not have cell phones?" Irwin was flabbergasted at the absurdity of his situation.
It had been a day since he had recovered from his mortal injury and, frankly, he was already sick of being in this mountain. From the swamp-like heat to the ever-present clanging of Hephaestus' forge, everything had been annoying him.
The only thing keeping him from teleporting out of here was that he was basically out of credits and that he cannot physically do so. It appears that dozens of wardings and sigils have been implanted within the very space of the mountain that prevented unauthorised teleportation, barring, of course, the more powerful creatures that negate such weak sigils.
Unfortunately for him, he was currently not one of those powerful creatures.
"Shut yar trap, kid." The pagan god admonished, irate about the whole scenario as he had been forced to don his most fancy and, to his remarks, itchy ensemble. "Once we get to the castle, I'm sure the witches have this… 'sell fon' that you are talking about."
"Yeah, and it's not like you can do anything with it," Hilde remarked, showing a remarkable knowledge regarding technology. She pointed towards the towering trees and thick foliages. "No towers."
"Bested by Hilde. This must be what Thrudgelmir feels like every day." Irwin muttered.
"It does." She replied.
It had been the morning after breakfast when the same set of witches from yesterday came down the mountain and informed them of an impromptu dinner with the witches of the Grand Coven. And, from the nervousness of their party members, not just any witches.
Irwin already had many guesses as to who and why they were being invited to dinner. In fact, because of this guess, if he was not coming with all three of the exiled pagans, then he would not have come at all.
He was vulnerable, magically, of course. If anything, his physical prowess and vitality had increased leaps and bounds from what he had when he was on the island. He reckoned that he could go twice as long if he were to repeat the scenario from before, save, of course, for the altercation with Barchiel.
There was no way in heaven or hell that anything would change from their fight. In fact, he could not even call it a fight. More like a one-sided brawl.
"Is it not too early to go there? We just had lunch and I was gonna eat some dessert pear." Thrudgelmir complained, grumbling as he placed his basket of pears inside of his haversack.
"The trek to the castle alone takes a few hours." Hephaestus said.
Irwin and Thrudgelmir groaned at the same time.
Hilde smirked. "What a bunch of weaklings!"
With that, Hilde ran as fast as her powerful and large thighs could take her. It was as if her body had been taken over by a ferocious jungle cat as she leaped from tree to tree, making headway ahead of the tree of them.
Although he did not want to attend the dinner, the fact that Hilde called him a weakling awoke something within him. Anger evident in his bristling veins as his form enlarged close to the height of the trees. On his shoulders were mushroom-like stumps, reminding Irwin that the gigantic man was considered being in diminutive form.
The giant did not run. He merely sauntered forward, bending the trees that got in his way as he matched Brunhilde's athletic display of agility and coordination. Every step shook the mountainside, letting loose a few rocks and driving an unnatural wedge against the baste trunks of the trees that his ankles had ground on.
Hephaestus gazed at Irwin, who was watching with awe and glee as the two raced to the castle.
"You joining them?" He asked.
"Nah, got bad knees." Irwin replied with a toothy smile. "Besides, much more fun hiking with you."
"Fuck off. Ain't creating a weapon for you!" Hephaestus instantly knew of Irwin's ulterior motive as he, too, hastened his steps.
Irwin could not help but laugh as he watched the trio ascend the mountain, knowing full well what danger was waiting for them at the entrance of the castle.
To his surprise, there was something in the air of this mountain range that seemed to make hiking through its steep curves and thick forest more enjoyable.
Even though sweat had crept down the small of his back and his bland tunic had been damped for more than an hour, the sheer rush of trekking through a dangerous set of rocks or evading an incline to a steep curve had him going on for more.
In fact, halfway through the journey, he was already matching the trio step by step. Even had a small bet going with Thrudgelmir as to how far the both of them could go on without stopping.
"Hey, do you have monsters here?" Irwin ducked under an incoming tree branch and used it to swing over the top of the tree as he pushed past the limits of his underdeveloped physical prowess.
"If anything stronger than us gets here, then I've already killed it." Hilde responded as she jumped atop a branch whilst cutting off the same branch with her bronze axe, throwing it up in the air and using it as a moving platform to once again jump into the air.
Such a masterful display of agility and quick thinking earned her Irwin's respect and arousal. Which was weird, because she was definitely not his type.
It was then that he had a look of exasperated understanding. "Looks like I found the Enhanced Physiques kryptonite. Stronger I get, the more my libido I need to keep in check."
"Did you say something?" Asked Hilde, noticing the weird look Irwin was giving her.
"Uh, yeah. How far are we?" He hid his nervousness with a long jump, breaking through the canopy in one go and reaching heights he never thought possible.
As soon as his head went past the canopy, the sight of a large magnificent castle entered his view. Standing atop a precarious cliff, the castle's obsidian walls remained a glorious visage of the lost glory of the Grand Coven.
"God damn."
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