After they finished negotiating, Odin pulled out two cans of beer and tossed one to William. "Shouldn't we celebrate a bit? Then I'll give you directions so you don't get lost the next time you want to visit Asgard."
William popped the tab, clinked cans with Odin, and downed it in one go. "That'd be great. But I might not have time anytime soon. I still have to find Merlin's staff and handle the whole Transformers situation. Once that's settled, I'd really like to see what Asgard looks like. If I'm lucky, maybe the girls there will take a liking to a mortal like me."
Even though William had already left a few sentinel material anchors in Asgard, meaning he could teleport there anytime, there was no way he'd admit to Odin that he'd "planted a few nails" in his house.
"Haha, as long as the girls are willing, no one will care what they do," Odin laughed as he pulled another pack of beer from the mini fridge. "If you like, you can even settle down in Asgard. And I'm not bragging, but kids born from Asgardian women usually live a lot longer than those from Earth. If you make military contributions to Asgard, I can even grant you noble status. Then the name 'Devonshire' wouldn't just echo on Earth, but across the Nine Realms."
"We'll see about that."
William thought, instead of spending time fighting wars for Asgard, he'd rather keep building up X17, his own private planet—where he had the final say and didn't have to play second fiddle to anyone.
Still, if Asgard was willing to pay in magical treasures, he might be persuaded.
Seeing that William was still guarded, Odin knew saying more wouldn't help. Eventually, when William visited Asgard, Odin didn't doubt that at least one girl there would catch his interest.
After downing his beer, Odin smiled. "If you ever want to go to Asgard, just call Heimdall's name. He'll open the Bifrost and bring you over. After your first visit, I imagine you won't need Heimdall's help anymore, right?"
"I'm not sure," William shrugged. "The farthest I've ever teleported is the Light Elf planet. Asgard? I'll have to try and see."
"Sigh..." Odin looked conflicted, secretly hoping the man he invited was a gentleman—not a troublemaker.
"Well, the beer's finished and our business is done." Odin opened a bejeweled box from the RV's storage cabinet. "This is a gift from Frigga for your mother," he said, handing it to William. "Next time, I'll have Thor bring a formal gift and make an official visit. As for me…"
He shook his head. "Better not. Your mother would probably be uncomfortable if she knew who I really am."
William understood. Having a King of Nine Realms visit a forty-something-year-old mortal woman would make anyone uneasy—even William didn't think he had that kind of face value.
It was like expecting an elder of great age and stature to happily pay respects to someone much younger. Unlikely.
Opening the box, William saw a pigeon-egg-sized diamond shimmering with rainbow hues.
"This is Frigga's Blessing. It can protect against most diseases and, with prolonged wear, delay aging and extend life."
Frigga's Blessing? What a name. It was just a multicolored diamond that could store magic. Still, William had manners. He solemnly nodded. "Thank you."
Then, under Odin's astonished gaze, he held the diamond in his hand and instantly sensed its magical energy. In just ten seconds, he had reverse-engineered the enchantment using the flow of its energy.
Afterward, he curled his lip. Clearly, Asgard in the cinematic universe wasn't that great at magic. Otherwise, Frigga wouldn't have taken a sword to fight Malekith in close combat.
Since he wasn't impressed, William's eyes began to glow a faint blue. Natural magic surged from his hand and was instantly transmitted into the rainbow diamond through thin air.
Odin's eyes widened in disbelief. Even as King of Nine Realms, he'd never heard of anyone being able to transmit magic energy into a physical object like that—as if it were a tangible item.
And after the modification, there was no need for magical sensing. One could see with the naked eye the dazzling green of nature magic glowing within the gem.
"What is this?" Odin asked curiously.
William shook his head. "Just a trinket. Added a bit of healing magic to it."
When he first saw the diamond, he had expected something with defensive or life-saving enchantments.
But to his disappointment, even the Queen of Asgard only gave a jewel that delayed aging and resisted illness.
"There's no magical item in Asgard that can protect against fatal attacks?"
Odin gave William a strange look. "If such a divine artifact existed, how about we trade it for the Casket of Ancient Winters?"
William was stumped for a moment. Thinking back to the films, there really wasn't anyone who had an absolute death immunity item.
Even Thanos, with all six Infinity Stones, almost got killed by Thor's Stormbreaker before snapping his fingers.
That meant his jade healing charms might be well-received in Asgard.
He pulled one from his inventory. "You've seen healing magic before on the Light Elf planet. This is a portable jade healing charm. Would Asgard be interested?"
Odin's eyes lit up. Asgard's medical techniques were strong, but having an instant-use battlefield item like this? They didn't have anything of the sort.
"Does it perform as well as your direct healing?"
Understanding that this item would be in high demand, William answered, "About ninety percent as effective as the real thing."
"That's excellent." Odin thought for a while before finally saying, "If you have time, how about coming to Asgard to talk?"
Now that there was business to discuss, William was definitely free. He covered his ear and said to Sunday, "Let my mother and the others know I'll be out for a day or two on business."
After Sunday responded, William looked to Odin. "Let's go then, Your Majesty. We can head to Folger Castle or Oxford Castle.
Or better yet, let's not leave from here. Otherwise, the media will be all over tomorrow with headlines like 'Duke Devonshire and Earl Folger Mysteriously Disappear.'"
"Haha, anywhere works for me. Or we can just head to the outskirts of London and find a quiet spot."
William thought for a moment and remembered the vampire estate outside the city. "Let's go to my estate in the countryside. It's well hidden."
He glanced at the crowd of reporters outside the RV. Seemed like a good excuse to roll out those three new supercars too.
Soon enough, an Aston Martin One-77 roared out from the estate a hundred meters away.
With reporters and pedestrians looking on in envy, William and Odin sped off in the sports car, leaving everyone in the dust as they headed for the countryside estate.
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