Peace treaty

Sigurd's sudden fall had greatly astonished the humans. Only when I absorbed Sigurd's lifeless body did they realize what had just happened. The sky kingdom's representative had attacked the other party and had been killed without being able to resist.

Most of them were shocked. Sigurd had not seemed much weaker than me and his attribute should have been very effective against me.

Only Siegfried gasped in horror as the realization hit her. That girl was very perceptive and had even noticed the lightning seed hidden within her.

Not like she could do anything about it. The people of this world hadn't put much focus on the fine control of magic, they specialized in brute magic. Extracting this lightning seed would probably require a king magus to take action themselves.

While Siegfried was sinking deeper into the horror of what was inside her, Signy had stepped forward.

"Bold of you to just kill Sigmund's heir. Do you not fear him charging over and cutting you down?"

'Well, maybe that would be enough for him to actually have time to meet me. Also, the grudge between us needed to be settled since the muspel clan. This merely serves to make things move along more quickly.'

"Do you truly attach so little importance to the life you gave just taken?"

'He did not need to attack me. He did this of his own volition and reaped the consequences. Now, please leave, I'll be awaiting Sigmund's arrival.'

"We can't leave! This issue between us must end today. Sigmund can't leave the border in fear of the Aesir attacking once again. With Völsung gone he is the only one who can fight the enemy generals."

I was about to ruthlessly reject her once again but Völsung interjected.

"Eldar, isn't the main objective here to be recognized by other nations? Forcing the humans to sign a peace treaty after your first confrontation would definitely be impressive."

'Seems you still have some attachments to the human kingdom. However, you are correct, such an arrangement would indeed be beneficial to me. What do you say to this, Signy?'

"..."

"This is acceptable for us."

"Siegfried! How can you accept that?"

"Aunt Signy, you said it yourself, father can't leave the border and we can't defeat Eldar. It would be best if we laid this grudge to rest now rather than later. With brother's death, I'm the next in line for succession and can make such decisions."

"Sigh, I guess you are all grown up now. I won't oppose you anymore then. Act as you see fit."

Now all of this peace treaty stuff may sound pretty formal but honestly, it was only a verbal agreement between nations. Either side could technically break the agreement but that would result in a loss of credibility which no one wanted.

Thus, the human party left quickly. They were probably heading straight back to the border to help defend against potential retaliation from the empire.

Finally, they were gone! Without any further distractions, I could fully focus on my recent gains.

By absorbing Sigurd I had finally gained a mythical beast's bloodline. A fire dragon's no less.

Sadly, my initial joy quickly began to wane. The process of deduction required to create the blueprint for such a powerful beast was way too long.

Also, apparently, the bloodline was too potent for ordinary people. A strong soul and a resistant body were necessary to accommodate such a bloodline. Even Sigurd had needed the dragon's soul to take some of the pressure.

The only one I knew who could sustain this bloodline was Völsung. I'd try to give him the bloodline as soon as I had finished the deduction.

Regarding the aforementioned dragon's soul, it was now within me as well. Despite its constant resistance, the soul was slowly eroded and devoured by me. This process brought me a vast amount of benefits.

Firstly, my deduction speed increased slowly but steadily. Secondly, a faint path to the innate understanding of fire appeared within my mind. Thirdly, all the fire dragon's memories were extracted and stored within me. Should I ever have time, I could sort through them and maybe learn a thing or two.