The Lord of Ragnarok

The Lord of Ragnarok

Chapter 9: House Guests and old Friends

Flumen Subjicite - Ferocactus’ Inn - The following Day - Mannulus’ P.O.V.

Tired didn’t even begin to touch how I felt. After using so much magic in the enslavement ritual, and the raising of the army that I had raised to face Virth, I was lucky to be able to sit up. My entire body felt worn out. Luckily both Rainbow and Twilight were making sure that I was eating, and Rainbow, in her guise as Windy Whispers the Adventurer, had managed to purchase a few low grade magic replenishment potions. They smelled of sulfur, and tasted of ass. It wasn’t the ass of my lovely brides, but something horrid and nasty. An Ogre I suppose would be the closest guess, but regardless the potion was working.

Twilight believed that I had nearly suffered a magical burnout. There were bits and pieces of that information in the lore for Ragnarok, but no player actually ever suffered it. From what I could remember though magical burnout was the moment that all MP reached zero. At that point any use of magic would start deducting from HP, and each cast of a spell would double each time it was cast. It was exceptionally easy for beginning players to kill off their characters by relying directly on their magic. From what I could guess I had nearly done the same thing.

Still, I needed to get up. The potions had restored me enough that I could open a portal back to the Temple, and once there I could use the restorative springs on the Fifth Floor to fully regain my power. I stood, and felt my vision swam. A small laugh escaped me as I stood there. Like the rest of my guild I had been a brony. And one of the things I had done before coming here was read. At the moment I wondered if this was how Littlepip felt after dropping a boxcar on the goddess. It was dumb, and I knew it. But it was the closest thing to a reference I had. Unfortunately I didn’t have any statues that would gift extra abilities, and that meant doing things the hard way.

I walked with Twilight and Rainbow, both staying close to me, outside and into the street. Ferocactus was good enough to agree to hold the room for us whenever we were in need, and the cost was a single gold a month. Expensive I was certain, but it ensured that we had a home here in Flumen Subjicite. Having such a thing would only be a benefit. As we walked I looked among the merchant stands. The last few times I had been to Flumen Subjicite it had been only as an Adventurer, and never as anyone else. The idea came to me to come, at least once, as Mannulus. When I did I would need to bring my brides. I was certain that Twilight, Luna, and Solar would enjoy shopping, and I had no doubts that Rainbow would enjoy it as well.

Still, as I looked the stands and shops over I caught sight of Wainwright the Weary and his Lamina companion. Although, from her actions, I would dare say bride, as they shopped at a small stand that offered materials needed to produce various potions. I began to walk past them when I noticed a familiar aura. Then another joined it. The last time I had seen either had been back in Ragnarok. We had been on a quest together, and we had managed to save a small village which awarded the three of us with three magic rings.

The rings alone were barely worth having. Separate their powers were fairly mundane. My ring, on its own, was able to block all scrying spells for three seconds. Useful if you were trying to hide, but three seconds wasn’t really enough time for anyone that was higher than a level seventy. Anyone higher than that could continue a scrying spell for up to ten seconds with no extra cost to MP.

But if it was coupled together with the other two it gave indefinite ability to block all scrying spells, and it gifted invisibility. L0rd0f7hunder’s ring alone could temporarily give two HP for every three HP lost for up to five seconds. Nice, and helpful, but against ultra powerful bosses it was barely worth having. But coupled with the other two it could give two thirds of all HP lost, for as long as it was in range of the two other rings. And finally Lightingsword’s ring granted its wearer plus one to charisma for up to one minute. By itself it was the most useful, but with all three it completely maxed out charisma.

His character could actually talk a super powerful enemy into just giving up, or talk any unaffiliated NPC into doing pretty much any action. Of course if the NPC was taken, either companion, married, or bonded to another player, then he could get the just a friend perk which would grant him a temporary ability to use that character’s special ability while he, or she, was in his party.

The last time I saw them there was an argument about using Lightingsword’s ring on Fluttershy. L0rd0f7hunder had said the ring was cheating, and besides we had all taken the same vow about relationships with the NPCs. Lightingsword had remarked that he was upset because he chose the wrong damned ring, and if he had gotten this one then he would be doing the same damned thing right now. I ended up stepping in and reminding Lightingsword that the vow was part of our being in the guild. That we had to either have the okay of the creator, or if the NPCs became sapient then their own consent had to be given.

To stop the argument we had agreed to lock the rings up in the Vault, and Umbra was instructed not to allow any one of us alone to take them out. We could only remove them if we agreed to do so together. For that reason I had left the rings in the Vault. Sure, I most likely could have convinced Umbra to let me have them, but I had given my word. I walked toward the two Auras, both conversing with Wainwright, and I waved at them.

“Good Evening gentlemen, what brings such as yourselves to this place? I regret to inform you that Miracle Max is no longer employed by Prince Humperdinck. As such, I fear his potions will only work for the Mostly dead, and not dead dead.”

One of their eyes widened, “Truly? But we have just enough for a minor miracle, and our reason for life is true love, surely there is no nobler cause.”

“True, but is it true love, or to blave, which is to bluff?”

With that both of them looked at me, their eyes widening, and I saw them look at my brides, “Perhaps we should speak somewhere private,” the more quiet one suggested. I motioned toward them, and together we walked back to Ferocactus’ Inn. We entered the room, and Twilight removed the illusion of her disguise. I removed the coat, goggles, and scarf, and Rainbow removed her helmet. Both of them shimmered for a moment, and there I saw a Pegasus I would have never believed I would see again. His Platinum coat and copper mane, added with the light and dark mottling around his muzzle was a dead give away. I took in his stocky build, and then I looked at the dark blue Pegasus, with an orange and gray striped mane. Both of them took a moment to study me, and then they rushed forward and pulled me into a hug.

“Holy Shit! Mannulus, is that you?!” L0rd0f7hunder asked.

I smiled, “it is, old friend. Welcome to the Barbarus Empire, specifically the the City of Flumen Subjicite.”

“L...Lord Lightingsword, Lord L0rd0f7hunder? But… I, we had believed only Lord Mannulus had remained behind with us,” Twilight said.

Rainbow looked at both of them, snorted, and gave a slight bow, “Lord Mannulus is the only one that stayed behind,” she said looking at both of them, “But you are both surpreme beings, and as such worthy of being lords of the Temple, but know my allegiance begins and ends with Lord Mannulus and my father, Sombra the Magnificent.”

I watched as L0rd0f7hunder studied her for a moment before laughing, “Well, Sombra really did make her like Rainbow Dash didn’t he? Loyal to a fault,” and he grinned at her, “And I bet every bit of a hot head like Sombra was.”.

She growled and I held my hand to her arm, “Rainbow, love, calm yourself. Remember, these are my friends, and they are members of the guild.”

She gave a nod, “Fine, but I won’t blindly follow orders,” she replied.

Lightingsword studied her, “Any reason she’s wanting to give us a hard time?”

I looked at him, “She is exactly who she was made to be. As such, do you think someone that embodies Loyalty would take kindly to feeling abandoned?” I shook my head, “I understand, Real life came into play, and it caused people to leave. But I couldn’t abandon what we had made together.”

Lightingsword gave a nod, “So, how’s Fluttershy?”

L0rd0f7hunder rolled his eyes, “Not even five minutes… Seriously? You couldn’t go five minutes before asking about her?”

Lightingsword looked at his huskier friend, “Seriously, I know that you’re just as worried about her. She’s actually alive, and you’re going to tell me that you don’t want to know how she’s doing?”

I smiled, it was the same arguments as before, and that feeling of having my friends nearby actually filled my heart with gladness, “She’s fine. She is still the guardian of the Fifth Floor, and Angel is still her protector. In truth she is helping me with a new addition to the Temple. Both Solar and Luna are standing by should she need them, but I have faith that she can handle our new guest on her own.”

Lightingsword looked at me, “Mannulus, seriously, are you trying to pull a Celestia?”

I shook my head, “No, because I know her stats, and I know what she can, and can’t, do. Besides, push comes to shove you both know that she defend herself. Plus there is the fact that Pinkie’s Floor is just one above hers. If she needs the help, I’m sure Pinkie can let Discord out to assist.”

Lightingsword closed his eyes, “Clopmaniac really had to include him didn’t he?” he asked, “Let’s put a chaos spirit into Pinkie he said, It’ll be fun he said, and now here we are. Discord is real, and he’s inside of that hyperactive mare.”

I looked at him, “Discord may be unpredictable, but he did help more times than not back on Ragnarok. I think that his being here isn’t a terrible thing, besides, he’s tied to Pinkie Pie. He can’t even have a regular body for very long before he has to go back. So, it’s not like he’s going to be running loose.”

L0rd0f7hunder grinned, “And that is why we elected you as guild leader. You were willing to put everyone’s interest forward, and you helped to make the compromises that we could all live with,” he looked at Twilight and Rainbow, “So, I’m going to guess that you’ve been busy.”

I nodded, “Yeah, you could say that. But as per the rules of the guild, they became sapient, and they sought my consent.”

“Does- does that mean I have a chance?” LightningSword asked.

“Damn it, bro, keep it in your pants,” L0rd0f7hund3r chided, “but, yeah, that’s a development. Uh, by the way, what is this new acquisition you mentioned?”

“An elder dragon, methinks,” I answered, “we only just got back from ‘taming’ her; Fluttershy is going to ensure she stays true to the temple.”

“The fuck?!” LightningSword shouts, “You tamed a dragon?! And left her with Fluttershy?!?!”

“Dude, chill,” L0rd0f7hund3r said, “but damn, Mannalus, mad props. Fuck, we wasted all that time rooting around in Odin’s Reach and turned up bupkis, while you were riding herd and capturing a dragon. Seriously, if we had known that was ongoing, we would fast traveled to where you were and gotten a piece of that action.”

“You found Odin's Reach?” I asked.

“Yeah, we did, for all the good it did us,” LightningSword said.

“We were there hoping to loot the treasure room before the servers were shut down,” L0rd0f7hund3r explained, “when we finally got there, all the chests had been raided, all the mobs were wasted, and the Raid Boss was down for the count. We found it's moldering corpse before we explored the treasure room.”

“At first, I thought that Steve had killed it,” LightningSword said, “lots of carbon scoring, like it got hit by lightning. Then we saw what looked like snake tracks in the dust. None of us has a Lamina companion, so…”

“Somebody beat us to the punch,” L0rd0f7hund3r said, “James suggested we double check the chests in the Treasure Room, but all we found was a big bag of nothing. Whomever raided the place left no stone unturned in looting it clean. By the time we discovered this, we had thirty seconds to log out.”

“We tried.”

“And tried.”

“But when the count down went to zero and we hadn’t logged out yet, we knew something was wrong.”

“And the whole cavern system got colder.”

“Turned out we were now miles and miles away from the southern plains where we found Odin’s Reach. We had to trek down the mountain in a blizzard.”

“No loot.”

“No XP, like we needed it.”

“And stranded in who knows where.”

“The next town we ended up in practically chased us out. Something about ‘purity of the human race.’”

“Those banners kinda looked familiar, though…”

Listening to their harrowing tale, I then asked, “Were the banners royal blue with a lily white sigil?”

L0rd0f7hund3r stared at me, and asked, “How in the fuck did you know that?!”

“The Temple has had a few encounters with those- zealots,” I answered, “they were attempting to exterminate the citizens of a nearby village. I have proclaimed the village as a Celestia Temple protectorate.”

“What is with those idiots?” LightningSword said, “we’ve had a few encounters with them. Violent encounters. It’s like they’ve never encountered an Equis before.”

“Probably haven’t without running them through, Jimmy,” L0rd0f7hund3r said, “we had to go pretty far to get away from those assholes.”

I rolled my good eye, and said, “I knew it: I’m surrounded by assholes.”

And, in tandem, both Pegasi said, “KEEP FIRING ASSHOLES!”

“Gods, that never gets old.”

“Lord Mannulus?” Twilight asked as she looked at both L0rd0f7hunder and Lightingsword, “Are they under a compulsion or some other foul magic? They’ve referred to themselves in different names.”

I smiled, took her hand and squeezed it, and then shook my head, “No love, it is nicknames they have given each other. The names refer to individuals that come from the other world we were a part of.”

She gave a nod, “Ah, that makes sense.”

Rainbow gave a snort of indifference, “I suppose,” she groused, “But I never really understood either of them.”

I looked at her, “Rainbow, love, do you understand me?”

She looked as if I had floored her, “Y...YES!” She stammered, “I, well I mean, I understand that you’re good and kind. And you want the best for the temple, and for all of us,” she tried to get everything out far too fast, “And that means that you’re worthy of being the head of the temple!”

I touched her cheek, “And yet that is just part of who I am. Both of my friends are as complex as I am, and both of them have the good of the temple in mind,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said lowering her head.

I touched her cheek again, and slowly I had her move her head until she was facing me.

“Never lower your head to me in shame again. You, Twilight, Luna, and Solar are perfect to me how you are. I don’t want to see you acting contrite again. It doesn’t suit you,” I looked at my friends, “What do the two of you say to going to the temple?”

I got two nods, and we left the room again. Heading outside we moved down the street, stopping only briefly so that both L0rd0f7hunder, and Lightingsword, who were once again back in their disguises, along with the rest of us, were able to purchase a few new sets of clothes. Coats, some basic chainmail, a few pairs of boots especially designed for our kind, and finally a small tub of a nut butter.

L0rd0f7hunder opened the wooden tub, sniffing, and his eyes widened.

“It’s peanut butter!”

Lightingsword looked at him, “Bro, this is a medieval world, filled with magic, swords, and all kinds of beast folk. Do you really believe that’s peanut butter?”

Without missing a beat he ran a finger through it, lifted it to his lips, and tasted it.

“Nope,” he said.

Lightingsword looked smug as he smiled, “See.”

L0rd0f7hunder grinned, “It’s hazelnut butter, that’s way better.”

“What the f… How in the hell do they have hazelnut butter?!”

L0rd0f7hunder grinned, “Magic.”

Lightingsword looked at the tub, “Let me have a little bit.”

“Ah, nope. I plan on giving it to Flutters. As I remember we included that she was a vegetarian, and that she liked nut butters.”

Listening I heard the argument start anew. Who was going to give Fluttershy the tub, who paid for it, who decided to get it in the first place, was it even really a nut butter or some kind of sweet poison for pests, and then it began to build again. Rainbow growled, walked forward, and wrenched the tub from them. I watched, knowing that this was who she was, and waited for it.

“Do you really think that giving Fluttershy some sweets is going to get you anywhere?! Luna’s sweet snatch, we’ve got an entire kitchen filled with fifty different varieties of nut butters. If Fluttershy wants some she can go down to the Kitchen, or call Stephine, and get an entire container brought to her,” she groaned, “You’re both like listening to Solar and Luna argue about who’s going to go first at being rutted!”

Both of them looked at me, “Solar Flare and Luna? What, did your dick turn magic too or something?” L0rd0f7hunder asked.

I rolled my good eye, “No, not that I’m aware of anyway.”

Twilight giggled, “Well, it might not be, but I believe that you can use it like it was.”

Rainbow let out a bark of laughter, and since we were talking none of us realized how far out of the city we had traveled. I judged my MP, found it to be high enough, and I opened a portal to the temple itself. We stepped through, and the first thing that L0rd0f7hunder and Lightingsword found was a host of guards. Among them was Oriaos. The Equis mare stood her ground, and I could see that Hephaestus had forged her new armor, a new sword, and he had taken her crossbow and turned it into something powerful regardless of who wielded it.

“Lord Mannulus, who are these with you?” she asked.

It was Stephine who bowed first, “Lord Lightingsword, Lord L0rd0f7hunder, we welcome you back to the temple. Shall the rule of the supreme beings never be ended.”

Oriaos refused to lower her weapon, “Sorry, I don’t know them, and it was Lord Mannulus that saved me. So, unless he gives me his blessing I’m going to deliver a world of hurt.”

I shook my head, “Oriaos, they are my friends, and they are two of the ones that helped to build the great temple of Celestia Sol. As such they are equal to my station,” I replied, “But your loyalty has been seen, and it has been welcomed. You truly have a place here.”

She gave me a smile, “Thank you, and to be honest I want to keep it safe for Hephaestus as well. He’s been very kind to me.”

L0rdof7hunder looked at me, “So, you’ve been playing matchmaker? I didn’t think that you would try your hand at being Cadence.”

I laughed, “Nothing like that, but I feel they are good for one another,” I replied, “Come, let us get you both situated.”

Temple of Celestia Sol - L0rd0f7hunder’s Room - L0rd0f7hunder’s P.O.V.

I looked at the door before me, and I held out my hand. Unlike Mannulus I didn’t have runes burned into my hide. I know that he originally did it because it looked cool, and apparently it gave him the ease of basically being able to access every door, every room, and every level in the Temple. When he designed his character I doubted that he planned on actually living in that skin. Watching him walk I could see the pain he was in. Instead I had settled on a simple magical mark that operated my room, the main levels of each floor, and the entry to the Vault, or at least the main lobby of it. I presented my arm to the door, and for a moment nothing happened, and then I felt a burning sensation. A glowing mark of a crown of lighting bolts lit up on my wrist, and I felt the same pattern burning on my rump. A moment later the door popped open.

A second door lay beyond the first, an additional measure of security against one of the more curious souls living in the temple, proceeded by a small foyer. The door looked deceptively simple, save for the twin locks set in the median of the doors surface. My wings unfurled at the sight of them. I rushed forward, pressing the primary feathers against the locks; said locks were enchanted to open only by the touch of my wings and my wings alone. Once pressed, the locks clicked, the door split in twain, vertically and horizontally, opening not unlike a flower.

When the door fully retracted, I stepped into the organized chaos that was my room. Shelves upon shelves of books lined the walls. I smiled as a perfect replica of Maya's Legendary Siren class mod sat at the place of honor on the bookshelf above my bed. I neared them, and I realized that the magical books I collected in Ragnarok were actually real. There were ingredients laying haphazardly on a table, notes from various arcane experiments littered the floor, and nearby were the dried out husks of various creatures that would be used for potions ranging from Magical Power restorative potions down to bottled lighting.

A small collection of armors, a few daggers I had searched for when I first started the very beginning quests, and the jeweled crown belonging to Mortuus Regem the Lich King from my first quest with the entire guild. I could feel the dark power flowing off of the crown. It felt cold, and the sound of a rough old voice, which reminded me of dried out leather, echoed when I was near it. I shivered, looking at the thing, and instantly thought of the Vault. In the game it had been a pretty cool keepsake. Just a simple reminder of the excellent quest we had done together. But here that thing was freaking me the fuck out. I gave it a wide berth, and I neared something else I had gotten from Ragnarok. The stone tablet was polished, completely bare, but if I was to write a location on it that I had just seen, once, all of the information about the area I’d seen would become etched onto the tablet for an hour.

The tablet had been a lucky junk item that someone could get from a merchant only under certain conditions. You had to be at least a level one hundred, you had to visit the very first town in the game, and you had to have at least thirty silver dinarians. The coins were super rare, only found in dungeons where purely evil creatures lived. And in order to get the coin in the dungeon the boss enemy had to be killed with a melee strike. It had taken a year and a half to get the coins together, and honestly I was never really sure if the tablet was worth the trouble. Taking a look at it, at the rest of the room, I let out a soft whistle.

“Finally! Home, sweet fucking home.”

Temple of Celestia Sol - Lightingsword’s Room - Lightingsword’s P.O.V.

Lighting bolt enclosed sword on my wrist and ass cheek still burned from the magical lock opening. I looked at the room I had left before leaving the game, for what I thought was the last time, and I walked toward the unused candelabra. A thin layer of dust covered it, and I could only believe that Mannulus had requested that our rooms be left alone from Lala and the maids. Relaxing would be the first thing to do. The entire ordeal of ending up in another world, dealing with the massive assholes that tried to kill us as we escaped, and then trudging through the cold and wet had made the entire thing miserable.

Mannulus had managed to get here with the Temple, and I suppose it was because he had stayed behind to keep it from falling into disrepair. In a way I was thankful. I had a decent room, and the world I had once escaped into in order to get away from my problems was now real. Still, after everything I wanted to face down some monster, or a lich, or anything that was super powerful and destroy it. I wanted to beat it into submission, and I understood that part of me was still fuming that I had to run from those assholes.

I Looked to my bookshelves I walked over, found one, and picked it up. The book was something I had spent hours making. The paper had to be made from specialty parchment only able to be created by harvesting the Lunar Trees found on the southern most island on the Ragnarok map, the leather cover was made from killing wild boars, which it always seemed far fetched that you would have to kill six wild boar for one book cover, and finally you had to buy the twine from a single book maker in the beginning town.

Still, the end result was worth it. I picked up the book, Pokemon: Criminal investigations, and I felt the heavy leather cover and binding. Opening it I looked at my favorite fanfiction when I played Ragnarok religiously.

“Huh, guess I’ll read.”

Walking over to the bed I sat down to discover it was softer than any bed I had ever sat, or laid, on. Instantly I realized how incredible, and insane, that was.

Temple of Celestia Sol - Fifth Floor - Three hours later - Rejuvenative Springs - Mannulus’ P.O.V.

I groaned as the springs performed their inherent magic. The feeling of my MP and HP being restored was positively delightful, and seeing all four of my wives bathing nude near me was a bonus. I heard a sound and looked to see Virth. The dragoness was angry, but she held her tongue. She neared us, holding a few towels, and she managed to keep from looking directly at me.

“Does my master desire a towel?”

Unlike the first time I saw her she was dressed in a Maid’s outfit. Her dress was long cut, flaring out at the bottom to accommodate her tail. A simple scrunchie tied up her crimson locks, and if looks could kill I would be dead. I heard the doors open, and I heard two voices calling out.

“Virth, that would be my two friends. They helped to build the temple, and as such they are granted the same station I am.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, “I will not be some toy to be passed around.”

I shook my head, “I never said you would be. I only want you to greet them. Once you do, go inform Fluttershy that they are here. She will want to see them.”