"That doesn't sound creepy at all," Alex spoke to his attacker. The attacker, who had identified himself as Skrynir, responded by dashing towards Alex in a flash of light and sound, trying to grab him again. Alex was able to swiftly dodge him.
Immediately without a second thought, Skyrnir wielded the shotgun on his back and started firing continuous rounds at Alex. Alex was able to evade every single round, but those rounds hit several customers in the tavern, killing all of them on the spot, as their organs burst open except for one Jotun whose arm had been blasted off. He crawled on the floor while losing blood. Skyrmir shot him again, ending his life.
"Why'd you do that, man? He was just chilling," Alex questioned. "Mercy," Skyrnir replied simply. "I am quite the compassionate soul."
"That makes sense," Alex replied as he pulled out Billy and Valerie and proceeded to run on the wall to his right, then jumped and started blasting at Skyrnir. But the Jotun was fast, and he quickly avoided them. Then he jumped on top of the counter, grabbed the tavern keeper by the throat, and put a cooked core-powered grenade in his mouth, then threw him at Alex.
Alex shot the man in the air using an explosive round, targeting his head, which led to his head, as well as the rest of his body, exploding mid-air, making it rain blood inside the tavern. The remaining customers in the tavern started screaming and frantically running towards the door, falling over each other in the process.
"What the fuck had you people been doing all this time?" Alex yelled as he reloaded his pistols and fired a barrage of rounds at Skrymir. To his surprise, Skyrnir didn't even bother to dodge them this time. Each of the rounds hit him, but he seemed to be unaffected.
"That is so unfair, and why the hell were you even dodging earlier?" Alex asked. "I was being generous," Skyrnir replied in a humble manner. "Your ideas of mercy and generosity are very interesting, to say the least. Wait, why the fuck are you even trying to kill me? You literally just said I'm 'too precious to die in a place like this', and also how the hell can i understand you?"
"Yes, my orders are, in fact, to capture you alive, but it's simply too fun watching humans suffer," Skyrnir responded. "As for your second question, my mask has a translation device in it."
"Good to know," Alex said before throwing a grenade towards him and running out of the door. A loud explosion was heard as Alex stepped onto the streets. But just as the smoke cleared away, Skrynir emerged and lunged at him with the butt of his shotgun raised high in the air. Alex was too slow to move and was hit in the face, or rather the mask, with a blow. He fell to the ground but swiftly rolled over and got up.
"You are being saved. Do not resist," Skyrnir commanded.
"Don't mind if I do," Alex replied as he threw a flash bang, followed by a smoke grenade with the other hand. Then he used his newfound secret technique, running away. One thing in him had definitely changed after the Antarctica incident; he had become less reckless, and more cautious.
"Holy shit, he's definitely gonna come after me," Alex thought to himself as he continued running on the streets away from the Jotun. Very soon, he could see the sea in front of him.
"Stop! Why would you run away? Don't be scared," Alex heard, which made him immediately jump in the air. Alex did have a new addition to his arsenal; his mechanical limbs weren't mere prosthetics. His mechanical leg, for one, contained a core-powered boost. He used it to dash towards the sea mid-air. The boost helped him cover a significant amount of distance. He turned his head to see Skyrnir running towards him like a madman.
Alex had already arrived on the port at this point and used Billy to fire a grappling hook round on the nearest ship and pulled himself on top of it. He released a sigh of relief as he realized that the ship had already set sail and was moving. Skyrnir was, however, relentless. He pulled out his shotgun again and started firing at Alex. Alex ducked and evaded the incoming fire.
Alex knew for sure that Skyrnir could have jumped on the ship if he wanted, but for some reason, he didn't. Alex saw that Skyrnir simply stood on the coast motionless and stared at him as the ship drifted away, carrying him on top of it. Alex looked away, feeling incredibly uncomfortable at this point. As he did so, he realized that the entire ship was empty. It was a metallic vessel, and it seemed to use some sort of advanced technology. It looked very different from ships back on Earth.
Alex collapsed on the metallic floor from both tiredness and hunger.
"I did not realise i had visitors."
Alex looked up to see an elderly Jotun man looking at him. "Who are you?" Alex asked.
"I believe I'm the one that should be asking that question. You're the one on my ship after all."
"Your ship?" Alex inquired. "Yes, my ship," the man confirmed. "Don't you have a crew?" Alex wondered. "I don't. You still haven't answered my question," the man replied.
"I'm a hunter, I guess," Alex responded. "Hunter? What do you hunt?" the man asked curiously. "For now, your kind, I guess," Alex admitted. "That's an interesting statement to make for sure. Well, I'm something of a hunter myself," the man chuckled.
"Don't you mean fisherman?" Alex asked. "Same difference. You hunt on land, I hunt at sea. There used to be a very big prey in these waters, to say the least, but it disappeared a while ago. I had been looking for it for a while, but recently, I heard rumors that it somehow traveled to the waters of Midgard. Poor thing, caught in an intergalactic conflict," the man explained.
"What are you talking about?" Alex questioned. "Well, it doesn't really matter. Today I'm here just to catch ordinary fish," the man said.
Alex heard a loud beeping noise, followed by the man saying, "we have arrived."
"Where exactly?" Alex asked. "The perfect part of the ocean for hunting. You say you're a hunter. Let's find out who's the better hunter," the man challenged.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks for the offer, man, but I'm way too tired right now," Alex declined. "Hm, is that so? I guess I heard right. Humans are weaklings after all," the man teased.
"Bring it on, motherfucker. I've been trying to be humble, okay? I don't even know why I'm offended by your statement, but whatever. Let's go. Let's catch some fucking fix!" Alex retorted confidently.
"I like that energy. What did you say your name was?" the man inquired. "I didn't. I am the Core Crusader," Alex introduced himself. "Strange name, even for a human," the man remarked. Alex was about to ask him how he knew he was a human, but he remembered that Gullveig knew too. So he thought to himself, "maybe that's just a Jotun thing."
"You still haven't told me who you are," Alex pointed out. "I'm just an ordinary hunter, but you can call me Hymir if you want."