The Games We Play- Shaman c45 (Patreon)

Skadi smiled as she continued to cuddle with Raynor. She won’t comment on her intentions to do all these naughty things.

She doubts her husband cares. If she wants to do it, he will do it with her. He is just that straightforward.

“Fufufu, should we get up? We spend the whole night doing ‘things’. If we continue, we will be wasting the day away.” the Jotun Goddess commented as her fingers stroked his chin. She was lying on top of him.

“We could. It's not that there is anything urgent to do,” he said after pondering his agenda. He still needs to upgrade his gear in Dragonstone and finish the totem in the forest, and, no bet, Sirzechs also wants to talk with him. 

After all, he was away for a while. He does want to see what the Crimson Satan will tell him as he has banged Rias.

“Didn’t Sitri say something about the school?” Skadi commented as she recalled something the devil was complaining about.

“Oh, and that too.”

He hasn’t seen Arno for a while. He wonders if he is keeping his training going.

‘Wait, I could create a shaman pendant which could assist in developing Shaman powers!’ 

His eyes widened for a second. Such an item could shave away the time needed to synchronise with nature.

“But, more importantly, my Goddess, do you want to practise Shamanism?” He asked her while squeezing her bum.

Skadi looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“That's quite a weird way of asking and doing things.” She commented on his actions before nodding at him.

“But, I do wish to learn methods which you used to beat me.”

“As I said to Ullr, I can only teach stances ans swings. The rest depends on you.”

“That is fine with me.” As she nodded at him, blush started to appear on her cheeks. The endless fondling of her ass cheeks was beginning to get an effect on her.

“Since you want to do it, we might as well we should get to it~.” 

~~~

“Bro, where have you been? After that snowy day, it's like you ceased to exist!” Arno asked Raynor as his buddy decided to return to class right in the middle of the lessons!

“I was in Niflheim with a Viking God of Hunt.” 

“...Damn… so it was a Viking God who was causing it to snow.” The blonde realised who caused the snow.

“Yep, I spent some time hunting and got myself a Goddess as a present.”

“...”

“...Can you repeat that?”

“I got Skadi as a wife,” Raynor repeated to him.

“...Bro…” Arno looked at him weirdly.

“Don’t tell me you will start practising Viking cultural choices. Like raiding and stuff.” The blonde thought Raynor raided Nifelheim, kidnapped a Goddess, and made her his wife.

He was not far from that.

“Sorta. I mean, we tried to kill each other several times, but it only made her look hot. So I created a ritual that caused us to fight over who would wear the pants in our marriage.” Raynor explained to his friend that as if he were discussing holiday packages, one could choose from a webpage. 

“...Damn. I can see that you are happy with this.” Arno realised his friend was much happier the last time he saw him. It would seem finding someone like Skadi who tried to kill him makes him happy enough.

“Yep, so I got something for you. I was thinking about accelerating Shaman powers training, so I created this.” The Shaman pulled out a pendant made from grass and feathers.

When Arno saw it, he could hear drums and flutes. Inside the pendant, it was like a tribal ceremony!

The strangest thing was that this pendant looked extremely basic! It was a grass wheel with a pentagram in the middle and several feathers hanging loosely.

Yet, he could sense something from this item!

“Just put it on and keep it on for a while. It will help you synchronise with nature. Eventually, you will be able to do it instinctually.” Raynor handed it to him. 

The blonde decided to put it on but hide it behind his clothes. As with such an item, he would look worse than a hippy. 

The moment he puts it the way he is, the world changes like a filter, highlighting the nature placed on him.

“The pendant automatically pulls nature into your body. It allows you to start the synchronisation early. In simple terms, I am making the hardest part into a shortcut. 

You should be able to draw nature energy soon.”

“...That is soo cool!”

“Yeah, just be careful. I don’t want you running around naked with tribal tattoos. It's a bad rep for my profession.”

“...Bro!”

But Raynor looked dead serious, which made Arno question his life choices. 

Will he, for real, have a chance to go wild like that!?

Regardless, he tried to calm down and think before acting. Yes, that would help. 

He didn’t realise that Nature’s Energy can inflate a person's instinctual side. The blonde won’t even realise he went commando because it was the right thing to do.

That is why one needs to channel that instinct through hunting or shamanistic rituals. It becomes something like an urge.

~~~

As classes were ending, Raynor left the school with Sona, and Arno rushed home to practise. The blonde teen had finally awakened his desire to train. 

With that in mind, the shaman was relieved that his buddy had finally lost that lazy streak. However, He could not ponder on this any longer as a crimson-haired man awaited him with his maid.

“Sirzechs, is there something I can help you with?” The Hunter asked the man in front of him.

“I understand you have been busy with the Norse pantheon, but I want to remind you that we have a business venture. The list of customers who want to visit the SPA in Iceland is growing, and my excuses can only be able to delay this for a while.” He said that with a resigned tone. The nobility of the devil kind wants to burn his ass more and more.

“Yes, I know. I planned to get to work, but my parents had already flown over there.”

“Good. Then let me assist you, and I can take you to the place.”

“Sure, that will save me time. Let’s go to my home first. I need to collect my Goddess.”

“Very well.” With a crimson circle, the group disappeared.

The next moment, Raynor reappeared in front of his home. He swiftly went inside to find his lazying Goddess, who had been watching television.

“Skadi, let's go.” He went over and scooped the confused goddess. 

“Where are we going?” She asked him with confusion.

“I have some work to do. While I do stuff, you can laze around in that place.” 

“...Fine.” She agreed without much hassle. No, it's even better, as she can check how he works! Maybe she can learn a thing or two about shamanism. She got the pendant, which gives her a new perspective on Nature’s power, but it doesn’t mean she can start carving totems or arrows and tapping into animal powers. So far, she hasn’t developed the gut feeling Raynor was talking about.

Maybe she needs more pillow talks to get more details. Yes, that could work.

“You won’t allow me to get shoes?” She asked with an eye roll.

“No worries. You will be staying in a hotel, and the hotel will provide stuff like that.”

“...Alright.”

Seconds later, they left the house, where Sona, Sirzechs and an annoyed-looking maid with silver hair looked at him.

However, the moment they saw Skadi, there was a certain change in the two devils.

When Raynor said Goddess, they thought metaphorically, not literally…

“...Is that…”

“Goddess Skadi, my darling, I conquered in Nifelheim.” Raynor, being a hunter, bragged about his greatest prey to this day!

“I see…”

‘To think he only needed a week to leap from mid-class to high-class. On top of that, he created positive relations with the Norse AND brought a Goddess home as a wife!’

Hell, Sirzech even considered positioning this so that devils could profit from such development.

‘Well, Iceland is a Norse land. Maybe we develop something there.’

Then Tsufaame manifested in front of Raynor between him and Sirzechs.

“You haven’t changed after this many years.”

The Crimson Satan looked at her for a second. He didn’t look shocked or intrigued by her existence. No, he was more like anticipating something like this would happen.

“Tsufaame, it would seem— Valeron has brought you back in some shape or form.” The current Lucifer commented.

“More or less. I am his weapon now.”

“Does this mean you can resurrect people, eventually?” Sirzech looked at Raynor while asking that.

“The definitive answer is yes.”

“Hoh, I hope you are ready for things to come. Messing with the cycle is never a good thing.”

It's one thing to resurrect recently deceased people and the other to bring back someone dead for over 500 years.

“Indeed. But your devil kind exists in a limbo, which I can abuse.” The Shaman clarified with a half-interested voice as he enjoyed holding his Goddess in a princess carry.

“Yes, we can discuss this once things which need immediate attention are dealt with.”

With a casual hand motion, a red circle appeared under their feet, transporting them to Iceland.

The temperature drop was immediate; Skadi even hummed with satisfaction when she felt the cold weather.

“Follow me. I will show you the management.” Sirzech’s personally motioned to follow him.

~~~

After checking on his parents and selecting a room for couples, Raynor started exploring the countryside. He needs to look for THAT tree.

“So, how are we going to do it?” Skadi asked him as she dressed for exploration. She was not wearing full fur clothes, but she was somewhere in between, with leather shoes and gloves.

It wasn't that cold that she needed her original clothes, as her cold bar was very high, considering she was Jotun.

“You will be joining me?” He was surprised for a second.

“Of course, you think I will miss such an opportunity?” Goddess slightly huffed at him. She was offended; he thought she would miss such an opportunity.

Instead of saying anything, he got closer to her and kissed her.

She accepted at first, but she pulled her head away after a few moments.

“We can do more once we are back at our residence.” She said with a small blush. He is taking too many liberties with her! She is a goddamn Goddess!

“Of course.” After seeing that blush, he grinned at her, but then he placed his two fingers on his lips and whistled loudly.

Loud howls followed as wolves started to manifest around them.

The numbers rapidly approached triple digits!

“...That’s a convenient ability.”

Skadi could sense that these wolves were not normal; they were emitting energy similar to the one emitted by Raynor.

“Go, find me a good tree for a totem.”

**HOWL**

The wolves spread out and proceeded to look for that tree.

“So they are smart enough to know what you want.” The Jotun Goddess casually commented on this strange dynamic. It's some sort of symbiotic connection he has with the animals.

“Yes, you got it right, so let's go.”

As they started to walk in random directions, Raynor summoned his birds as well. He is certain he will quickly explore the whole of Iceland. It's such a small place that he doubts it's as big as his land in Westeros.

“This is a place of ice and fire. How strange.” Skadi quickly realised the true nature of this place! Even though she had never seen a volcano before, her instincts as a Frost Giant told her of the flames this place was holding.

“Yes. That’s why this place is suited for totem creation, specifically fertility totems.” 

Her eyes widened for a second, and a certain glint appeared in them. Just like that, she became extremely interested in what they would be doing here.

“I see. Very interesting, is it because of those two natures?”

“Precisely, there is sheer symbolism in what fire and ice represent in this land. We are in Norse-controlled lands. In their pantheon, Ice and Fire gave birth to Ymir, who started the whole pantheon.”

“Does that even have any sort of importance?” She was somewhat intrigued because she wanted to get knocked up by her husband.

“Land absorbs everything we give it. Just as death ferments in Graveyards, so do other things. People are part of the ecology, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. The saying: The land makes a man is not single-layered.”

“I see. So that’s how it works.” The Goddess finally understood how this works!

“Hmm?”

“You see things in several layers. That is how you were able to abuse me in that fight. It was my fault that I thought It was a simple brawl of power A against power B. But you dragged every single layer in that fight.

You even weaponised Nifelheim! How am I supposed to fight the land that created me!?” She huffed when she mentioned the last sentence. It made her realise how outmatched she was! Fuck the whole ‘equal fight’ He brought the entire land to the battlefield!

Raynor simply smiled at her. 

“How am I supposed to know that my darling future wife has no idea about weaponising her surroundings in her fight?” He smiled back cheekily.

Normally, she would have tried to punch him for comments like that, but by this point, she had no will to oppose him. Besides, he was right…

“Anyway, since you made me your wife, I request to be trained in similar arts.” She huffed at him, but all she got back was an amused snort.

“Don’t worry. I will train you to be my wife.” He hinted at something completely different.

It made even Skadi feel a cold chill pass through her back. Is he planning to chain her to his bed?

After travelling for a while, the pair realised that forests in Iceland are not that common. It's easier to find a waterfall than a forest.

However, eventually, they found a tree which looked like it fit the criteria. 

“It's tall—tall enough for me to create three totems,” Raynor said as his wolves started to return to him.

“Three? Why so many?” Skadi enquired. She doesn’t mind at all. The more totems mean she will get knocked up faster, the better.

“Because one is the core totem, and the other will be relay ones. The hotel is big and has three big baths.” The Shaman explained to his Goddess.

“I see. So are you going to cut it? Do you need my help?” she eagerly asked him, which made him smile at her enthusiasm. He didn’t need to be a psychic to know what was going on in that gorgeous head of hers.

“No, it's fine. For my magic weaving, I need to do this myself.” 

“Oh, okay.” 

She took a couple of steps back as she decided to watch him do his thing.

First, Raynor placed his hand on the ground. His mana surged, and the earth started to retract around the tree. Seconds later, the tree collapsed on its side, as its roots were not holding it in place.

All that was needed was a strong wind to drop on its side.

The Shaman then summoned a normal-looking axe. But Skadi could sense Nature’s Energy rolling from it. This tool was not a normal axe at all.

Sure enough, he proceeded to cut the branches. There was some amusement on her lips as she saw him collect every single piece of the tree.

It's as if there are no trees in this world for this Hunter.

Eventually, Raynor cut all the branches, and it was time to cut the whole thing into three pieces. 

Raynor didn’t take long, as he only needed a few swings to cut the tree into three pieces.

“All done, we can return.” The Shaman collected all of the tree, including the roots, and even used earth manipulation to seal the hole he left.

“You took even the roots?” Skadi asked with a baffled tone.

“I am going to use them for ritual to bring water.” He explained to his wife.

“This totem will take over the full control of the water to give it magical effects, which devils want this much.” 

She slowly nodded to his explanation. So it would seem she will need to protect this totem until she gets knocked up.

After returning to the SPA, Raynor instructed the devil staff to assist him with a few things. 

They cleared people out and prepared the area for ‘refurbishment work’. 

First, the Shaman started to work in the main area, where the biggest bath is. He created a hole for the tree's roots to be set in. 

With that in place, he sealed the ground and proceeded with the carvings with his carving knife. The whole time, Skadi observed with a curious look. 

She wondered where the true magic would happen, and she didn’t need to look far. Soon enough, she saw nature start bending to his will with every stroke of the carving blade.

Her husband flooded the tree with magic and carved the effect with every blade stroke.

It was gorgeous— in the most primal way possible.

However, she was not the only one looking at his work. A certain maid with silver hair and red eyes was looking at what he was doing.

She was waiting for the right moment to end this once and for all.

The longer this lasts, the more her kin will depend on him.

If she catches him by surprise, he won’t survive; after all, he is just a human at a high-class level. If she can’t allow him to use his tricks, he will die quickly from her attacks.