[The Lady of the Revealing Wave has interacted with Taiga's Legacy.]
The outline of a woman, traced by prana, descended toward Izumi. Long hair flowed in the wind, even though only the bearer of Taiga's Legacy could see her.
A contagious smile formed on the lady's face.
[ᚨᚱᚢᛁᚾᚷᚱ ᛋᚨᛖᚹᚨᚱ... ᛖᚱᛏᚢ ᛋᛏᛟᛚᛏᛏᚱ ᚨᚠ ᛚᛁᚠᛁᚾᚢ ᛖᚱ ᚦᚢ ᛏᛟᚲᛏ]
"What?!" he exclaimed, startled, taking a small step back.
Between the lady and Izumi, a red screen shimmered with energy; runes formed themselves into a sentence.
"Huh?" Kimisu muttered, trying to understand.
"There are some strange runes in front of me…"
"Can you identify the tone?"
"Yeah…"
He thought for a moment, observing the runes and imagining how they would sound when spoken.
Then he reached a conclusion.
"Norse… Something like that."
"Maybe Old Futhark, or some external communication. That makes sense—shikigamis are exotic beings… They can be gods, bestial spirits, heroes of the past… What does the system say about this shikigami?"
Looking to the side, Izumi reread the message.
[The Lady of the Revealing Wave has interacted with Taiga's Legacy.]
"It says the Lady of the Revealing Wave is interacting with Grandpa's sword…" Izumi said, holding the blade delicately.
"Then accept it. There's no other option."
He took a deep breath.
Still trying to process that he was holding a family relic, Izumi also wondered how he should accept that act.
With minimal experience, he raised the sword toward the lady, who smiled faithfully.
Tilting his head, not understanding the meaning behind her laughter, Izumi frowned.
Lowering her hand gently, she touched the blade's edge. Reacting to the remnants of Izumi's energy, it bathed the family relic.
A breeze stirred, swaying black hair.
A dazzling light took over the area, consuming Taiga's Legacy like high beams cutting through the night.
Kimisu shielded his eyes, narrowing the passage of light. Izumi, however, saw an energy reaction exploding in his own hands.
The sword levitated a few centimeters from the young man's skin, almost offering itself to the lady.
Casually, the lady herself was enveloped by the same prana Izumi was generating. Briefly—just for an instant—she became part of the bearer…
Then, the energy reaction imploded.
Blue prana wrapped around the sword one last time before it condensed into a small sphere, disappearing alongside the appearance of a red screen.
[Himinglaeva, the Shining Lady, has fused with Taiga's Legacy.]
[The family relic has undergone a change at its base…]
The red screen framed a card whose outline Izumi could not see.
However, a blonde-haired lady wielded Taiga's Legacy amid the sea, sunlight reflecting off the waves.
[Himinglaeva, one of the nine daughters of Aegir, lends her name to the new stage…]
[Assimilation complete.]
[Congratulations! You have formed an agreement with Himinglaeva, one of the nine ladies—the nine waves of Aegir.]
[Contract]
Name: [Himinglaeva, the Shining Blade]
Rarity: [Mythic]
Unique Bearer: [Izumi Kairen]
Contract Description:
[ᚾᛁᚲᛖᚾ ᚨᛚᛏᛁᛉ ᛁᛉᚢᛗᛁ ᚲᚨᛁᚱᛖᚾ ᚾᛖ ᛗᚨᚦᚱ ᚾᛖ ᛞᛖᛗᛟᚾᚱ ᛋᚲᚨᛚ ᚺᚨᛚᛞᚨ ᚦᛁᛋᛋᚨ ᛋᚹᛖᚱᛞ ᛖᚲ ᚷᛖᚠ ᛗᚨᛏᛏ ᛗᛁᚾᚾ ᚦᚨ ᛁᛋ ᚺᚢᚾ ᛋᚹᚨᚱᚨᚱ ᚹᛁᚦ ᛗᚨᛁᛏᛏ ᚺᚨᚾᛞᚨ ᛋᚹᛖᚱᛞᛁᛏ ᛒᛚᛁᚾᛞᚨᚱ ᚠᛁᚨᚾᛞᚨ ᛟᚲ ᛋᛚᛁᛏᛁᚱ ᛋᛃᛟᚾ ᛋᚹᛁᚲᛁᚾ ᛁ ᛋᛏᚨᛞ ᛗᚨᛏᛏᚨᚱ ᛗᛁᚾᛋ ᛁᛉᚢᛗᛁ ᚲᚨᛁᚱᛖᚾ ᛋᚲᚨᛚ ᚺᛟᚾᛟᚱᚨ ᛋᛁᛋᛏᚱ ᛗᛁᚾᚨᚱ ᚠᛁᛚᛃᚨᚱ ᚨᛖᚷᛁᚱᛋ ᛟᚲ ᚢᚾᛁᚨᛋᚲ ᚹᛁᚦ ᚾᛁᚢ ᛞᚨᛗᚨᛋ ᚢᚾᛞᛁᚱ ᚹᛖᚷᛁ ᚺᚨᛚᛞᚨ ᚦᛁᛋᛋᚨ ᛒᚨᚾᛞ ᚢᚾᛏᛁᛚ ᚾᛁᚢᛏᚨ ᛒᚱᛁᛗᚨ]
[Do you wish to accept the contract?]
"These runes again…" he grumbled, trying to analyze the description. "What if this shikigami is asking for my life in exchange for a slice of pizza?!"
Crawling backward, Izumi shouted exaggeratedly.
His master, however, laughed at his innocence.
"Izami made several mistakes raising you…" Kimisu commented, laughing. "Shikigamis don't make that kind of contract—only demons do. Spirits, like the one you just assimilated, ask for missions in exchange for power."
Coming down from the house, Kimisu followed his apprentice.
Stopping half a meter in front of him, he extended his hand.
"As written in those runes, as you call them, your mission now is to learn that language until you can decipher the contract… And also understand what she says to you."
"What a pain…" Izumi muttered, leaning on his master to stand. "This is going to be stressful."
"You're only at the beginning of a Sefira's life…"
"Hm…" he grunted, clicking his tongue afterward.
"You need to learn Futhark from someone with those origins…" Kimisu thought aloud, stroking his chin.
Learning such a primitive language was the greatest challenge at that moment—of course, alongside his blindness.
He had little time, since the contract had to be accepted before the bearer entered Atziluth.
That meant… Izumi had only four days.
"I have an idea," Izumi said after thinking.
Entering the house, Izumi used his cane to avoid bumping into furniture and walked into the living room—where Erik was pulling a black boot off his foot.
"Finally, my feet can breathe…" he muttered in relief.
"Erik!" Izumi called, recognizing him by his prana aura.
Turning his head, the young Berta waited for his companion to explain the reason for the call.
"You're Scandinavian, right?" Izumi asked, catching Kimisu's interest.
'That's true… They're from the Berta family. Only now did I really think about it…' the master thought, following Izumi to the sofa.
"Do you know anything about Old Futhark?"
Erik's expression faltered slightly. His eyes widened as he leaned forward, making sure he had understood Izumi's question correctly.
"Izumi… What are you getting into?" he asked, surprised.
Sitting on the arm of the sofa, Izumi rested the cane between his legs and explained, "So… I've been performing some shikigami summoning, and it ended up resulting in a spirit…"
He shook his head with a twisted expression.
"What's the spirit's name? And why do you think it's Futhark?"
The same contract screen appeared before Izumi, confirming it.
"Himinglaeva…" he said, struggling with the pronunciation. "It really reminds me of Viking runes and stuff like that."
Skillfully unlocking his smartphone, Erik searched through family records for the name Himinglaeva.
Seeking Erik had been the best choice at that moment.
The Berta Family was among the first to monopolize spirits into cards: the Berta Sword Set—blades wielded by Viking heroes and bathed in Valhalla's mead.
Every child of the Berta family possesses a shikigami associated with Valhalla and Scandinavian heroes. For that reason, they study—besides their native language—Futhark, since all contracts are written in the spirit's original tongue.
Izumi had faithfully studied Japanese, but unfortunately for him, the shikigamis of his ancestors' lands had refused to communicate with him…
Searching through the oldest texts found and studied by his family, Erik finally found the connection to the familiar-sounding name.
"Ah… One of Aegir's nine ladies…" he commented, still reading.
"That's it!" Izumi interrupted excitedly. "That Aegir was mentioned too…"
Leaning back against the sofa, Erik took a deep breath.
"Great. So we know it really is Futhark… The problem is how we're going to translate it…"
Everyone understood perfectly.
Izumi's blindness was the greatest limitation: he could easily write on paper and Erik would translate. But being blind…
"Learning Futhark in just four days is impossible. Throw that option away," Kimisu said, still thinking.
Erik tilted his head back, trying to come up with a suitable alternative.
They thought in silence for a while, but reached no conclusion.
Except…
"We'll have to find a solution for that blindness, Izumi…" Kimisu said, patting his apprentice's shoulder. "Before that, get dressed formally. The captain of Zeta Squad should arrive in a few hours."
"Yes. That's why Erika ran off to take a shower…" Erik said distantly, lost in thought.
"Oh… Today is Christmas," Izumi said aloud, drifting for a moment…
He would have loved to spend Christmas with his family, like everyone else. Yet a sincere doubt filled his mind…
"Who is our captain?" he asked, staring into nothingness.
As he spoke, Erik noticed Kimisu move in the background—finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
Then, before Erik could let the information slip, the young Berta said:
"I still don't know…" in a suspicious tone.
The captain was a storm…
But a storm capable of making demons feel heat.
The captain of Zeta Squad was…