37. Discovery
Amora the Enchantress PoV:
'How is this possible?' Amora thought looking at the approximately 35 feet high world tree in front of her. Due to her extensive knowledge, she understood that the world tree in front of her was juvenile. It had likely been born not long ago.
But that was not what surprised her. The reason for her shock and disbelief was due to the very existence of the world tree in front of her.
As an Asgardian, the world tree was a topic she was well versed in. It was likely the same for all Asgardians, especially the sorcerers. The world tree Yggdrasill was the reason why the 9 realms even existed, after all. By extension, it was also the reason Asgardians existed.
Picture the astonishment that rippled through all of Asgard when a few weeks ago, a mysterious phenomenon led to tremors reverberating across the Nine Realms, even if only for a brief moment.
Well, it was not limited only to Asgard. The dwellers of the other realms also tried to figure out the reason for this phenomenon as their very livelihoods might depend on it.
Mass migrations would be the only choice remaining if something indeed happened to the world tree. In this cold and cruel universe, even the mightiest might fall.
This was especially true for hardened warriors, much less, regular civilians living in these realms who lacked any power of their own.
As the ruler of the nine realms, Odin took charge of investigating this incident. If someone was responsible for causing this unrest, they had to pay.
Ultimately, the investigation reached a dead end and they could not identify the reason for this incident.
Plans were made by the Asgardians to consult with the Norns, or as some know them, the fates.
But while Odin and his henchmen were investigating and about to seek out the Norns, they did not know that Amora had a stroke of luck.
The Enchantress was the lone individual who had stumbled upon this place and witnessed a second world tree.
Amora was also studying the anomaly of the world tree in her everlasting pursuit of power and conquest. Unfortunately, she was expelled from the land of the Norns by Karnilla, the Queen of the Norns.
Otherwise, she would have sought out the three Norns herself.
Regardless, this had allowed her to stumble upon this secret realm that housed the young world tree in front of her while conducting her research on Yggdrasill.
The world tree as mentioned earlier was very small, reaching a height of barely 35 feet. It did not even have fully formed proper 'worlds'.
The nine 'leaves' of the world tree were in a primordial state that existed long before becoming proper worlds and housing sentient beings.
Despite this, it seemed as though the emergence of this world tree had formed some sort of resonance with the Yggdrasill that she knew very well. It was too soon to tell as she had not studied this tree in depth yet.
It could also be that this secret realm or dimension was hidden inside Yggdrasill but this seemed rather unlikely to her.
The bigger possibility was that she had somehow stumbled upon a minor distortion in space created by the resonance and got transported to this realm. This beautiful starlight and the lush forest in this dimension formed a backdrop for the young tree.
For the untrained eye, the current juvenile world tree seemed indistinguishable from the vast forest around them, having yet to awaken its mystical nature.
But Amora was no ordinary person. She was one of the greatest sorceresses that existed. She would obviously not be fooled by this façade.
Amora wished to study the tree more closely. This opportunity could be the ticket to completing all her plans of conquest. She obviously could not simply uproot the tree and cause irreparable damage to it.
The best option was to survey the surroundings for threats and then come back after having made sure there was nothing that could disrupt her research. If everything was fine, she might even make this dimension her own personal territory for research as well as future plans.
Controlling the world tree would bring her immense power. If she understood everything about it and played her cards right she could complete her conquests much more easily. Amora was a schemer rather than a brute force fighter, after all.
'Amora, the Queen of All Realms. It sure has a nice ring to it…' As she thought about her future while grinning, her fantasies were cut short by space magic suddenly blocking any way to leave this dimension.
Amora remained composed despite the abrupt shift. As an Asgardian, she held her ground, her lineage inherently tied to the essence of conflict, even if she herself was not a warrior. This was not the first time she faced unknown threats in her life.
In fact, it made sense. Someone or something consciously guarding the young world tree was entirely within the realm of possibility. While her previously fantasized easy path to victory might have been cut short, Amora was determined to gain control of this world tree.
Not even her own space magic abilities were able to open the distortion in space that brought her here once again, granted it was not her strong suit.
With this notion in mind, Amora swiftly turned around and used levitation to glide in a random direction, seeking further hints. A cloak of green energy enveloped her form as she manipulated her magical abilities.
She quickly crossed over vast stretches of forest but she felt as if she had crashed into an invisible barrier at some point. It did not affect her for too long as she put her hand against the barrier and began to inspect what was obstructing her.
As incredible as it sounded, the conclusion Amora came to was that this was a wall and not a barrier. The vast stretches of forest and skies clad with stars as far as the eye can see were not real.
This 'wall' seemed to mark a boundary for this dimension and the forests and skies visible further ahead were just artificially made images that just looked exceedingly real. The sorcerer responsible for creating all of this had to be incredibly powerful and talented.
Giving out a sigh, Amora turned around and flew in the other direction. At the very least she had to be aware of how big this realm was and what it held.
A magician always had to be prepared, it was one of their core acting rules. But Amora, stumbling onto this dimension, as much as she did not like to say it, was a fluke. She was not as prepared as she normally would have been if she decided to explore such an area.
Nonetheless, she had to try her best to get out of here if there was a threat beyond her own abilities. Her gaze landed on a peculiar circular structure in the distance.
It had a rather unfamiliar design but bore some similarities to those buildings built by the Olympians and their followers. Amora began surveying this structure after she had quickly sped up and landed in its centre.
The multiple stands in the surroundings were completely empty. There seemed to be what seemed like a viewing area a bit higher than the rest of the stands. If she had to make a guess, this was some sort of entertainment area.
As she was going to start browsing the area, she heard faint footsteps from behind her. What appeared in front of her eyes was a seemingly buxom fourteen-year-old girl. Seemingly, as she could have been much older than she looked.
Amora had to admit that she was a true beauty, with pale shiny skin, seductive crimson-red eyes, and fine facial features. She was dressed in what seemed like a suit of red-coloured full plate armour which looked like it had been drenched in blood.
She wore a swan-shaped helmet that left only her pale face exposed. There were also plumes of avian feathers attached from either side of the helmet she wore. Additionally, the chest and shoulders of her armour had been styled into the shape of wings.
She also has a crimson skirt-like armour covering her lower body and held a large lance like weapon in her hand.
The girl then spoke in a soft and relaxed voice:
"Welcome, miss intruder, to the 6th floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. It seems like I have something to rub in that little brat's face as well as make up for my other self's mistakes."
******
The original idea was to introduce Deadpool. I had a nice storyline thought out but the stuff I wrote turned out to be absolute crap. As I said in an earlier comment, I can't get his asshat personality right and the final product of the chapter I wrote was trash.
So I simply shoved the original plot aside and thought up a new one that fit the story much better.