Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 322 The Legend of the Rainbow Bridge (First Update! No more waiting for the book to finish reading!)

Today marks the day of Thor's return. The rebellion in Nornheim, a small enclave of Asgard outside the nine realms, has been quelled, and the Bifrost has carried Thor to Vanaheim. Now, the rebellion in Vanaheim is likely to be suppressed in a day.

According to the frontline reports—specifically, Heimdall's description—the Warriors Three and Sif have brought the situation under control. Thor has defeated the group of interstellar mercenaries recruited by the nobles of Vanaheim, and soon, Thor will return to Asgard. [The high-ranking nobles of the Vanir are all in Asgard; only minor, insignificant nobles remain in Vanaheim. This is a sign of the Vanir's submission; of course, not all Vanir gods are willing to be ruled by Odin.]

At that time, a grand banquet to celebrate the return of the Nine Realms to peace will be held.

This is quite different from Salomon's welcome banquet. At such a formal feast, as long as one person remains sober, the banquet continues, and all sorts of meats are served continuously. Even those who have sobered up must continue drinking until no one at the banquet is left sober, only then can the banquet be considered over.

This is a typical Asgardian banquet, where the person who can eat and drink the most is also the most manly and the strongest fighter. Of course, not all nobles enjoy such banquets. The Vanir gods don't particularly like the Asgardians' roughness, and those so-called court etiquettes are actually rules brought over from the Vanir by Queen Frigga. Before that, banquets in the Aesir pantheon were even worse; after a banquet, the commoner maids would often become pregnant with children of unknown fathers.

At such a formal banquet, Queen Frigga would announce Salomon's studies in Asgard before everyone got drunk—although some of the Aesir already knew about it, bringing it up at a banquet was different; it was equivalent to a formal announcement and had legal effect.

Prior to this, Frigg's instruction of Salomon had already begun. After Salomon saw Kasirius off, he returned to his bedroom in Asgard, where he found Gianna, Frigg's handmaiden and the goddess of wind, already waiting there. She ignored the messy fur blankets on Salomon's bed. This goddess, who also rode an eight-legged warhorse, had come to present Salomon to Frigg, and she informed the sorcerer that from this day forward, Salomon would dine with Odin, the Allfather, and Frigg, just like a prince.

This matter was decided last night, but if I hadn't reminded her, the Queen might have forgotten about it. The Wind Goddess, Gaina, didn't tell Salomon the whole story; it was just a trivial matter, and the Queen, Frigga, would never tell anyone that she sometimes makes mistakes.

However, Gaina still told Salomon what he needed to know: he needed to know about Frigga's many handmaidens and their powers—for example, when he was unwell, he could go to El, the goddess of medicine, who managed the infirmaries; if he wanted to find certain books, he should go to Snoretra, the goddess of wisdom, or Val, the goddess of truth, whom Salomon had met once, as they were in charge of the Asgardian Royal Library; if he had a dispute with someone, he should go to Farah, the goddess of oaths, who had the authority to adjudicate disputes between the nobles of Asgard; and if he wanted to see Frigga after the appointed time, he needed to go through Lyn, the goddess of truth, who oversaw Frigga's bedroom and reception room.

If she takes a fancy to a noblewoman, the goddess of love, Lofin, can even help. The reason Gaina says this is because the goddess Frigga inadvertently revealed Salomon's special characteristics: Salomon's lifespan is far longer than that of ordinary humans.

He listened to the somewhat talkative Wind Goddess Gaina chatter on and on, and roughly memorized the power structure within Asgard. Salomon followed the Wind Goddess with her light steps, crossing a bridge spanning the sea to reach the rear of Asgard. His next destination was the greenhouse, where he would receive his education from Queen Frigga. Depending on the closeness of their relationship, nobles would choose to meet in the main hall, the reception room, the greenhouse, or the balcony. The main hall and reception room were more formal meeting places, while the greenhouse, a more intimate setting, was used for nobles with closer relationships. Queen Frigga had chosen that place as his classroom.

The glass greenhouse was magically maintained at a comfortable temperature; otherwise, the morning sea breeze would have been rather chilly. It housed a wide variety of plants and herbs, including common ornamental flowers and many that could be used as ingredients for potions. From the most common chamomile to verbena, from celandine to sage, most of them were present, and even some magical plants used to make hallucinogenic drugs were grown here. Salomon could also see many rare plants here that he had only seen in Vandazar's For.

This place is less like a garden and more like Queen Frigga's private potions garden. Thanks to the exquisite landscaping, the air here doesn't have that unpleasant, bitter smell that comes from piled-up magical plants.

After bowing, Salomon was invited by the Queen to sit in a chair opposite the dark gold round table. Light refracted through the greenhouse's glass ceiling, while potted plants hanging from vine-like metal supports blocked the direct sunlight, casting dappled, blurred images on the floor. The temperature and humidity here were perfect for a nap.

"You've already learned a great deal." The Queen opened the thick, beautifully bound book on the table, brushing away the petals that had fallen onto its pages. She turned the book around and pushed it in front of Salomon. "My magical skills are far inferior to the Sorcerer Supreme's. I can only speak of some secrets of the magical world—thanks to our long lifespans, we are able to know things that humans cannot."

Salomon gazed at the pages inscribed with golden runes, upon which lay a delicately crafted painting that was slowly shifting. The vibrant colors of the painting revealed its subject: the Rainbow Bridge. The sorcerer looked up and uttered the question that had lingered for so long—the relationship between the Nine Realms and the Rainbow Bridge.

"You must have studied planar geometry, right?" Queen Frigga said with a smile. "As you know, there is a barrier between our material plane and the outer dimensions. We call that barrier the Bronze Barrier. It is an invisible barrier, and only capable spellcasters can cross it."

What I'm about to tell you is just a legend, and a very romantic one at that; you can treat it as a story. I told Saul this story too, and he foolishly burst into tears after hearing it.

Don't let his current appearance fool you; Thor was quite adorable as a child.

The Queen paused, not mentioning Loki. She continued, "Legend has it that long ago, a powerful spellcaster from the material plane fell in love with an extradimensional being. Due to the barrier of the bronze barrier, they could only meet through spirits. But the effects of magic have their limits. Whenever the magic wore off, they were forced to separate. The spellcaster's soul returned to his body, while the extradimensional being remained alone in that plane. Later, the wizard swore that no matter the cost, he would stay with his lover forever. So, relying on the World Tree, he began to create an incomparably powerful spell, the most powerful portal in the world, a great spell that could freely cross barriers."

Creating this magic took him a great deal of time, a period so long that it even exhausted the lifespan of his extradimensional lover. The magic wasn't finally completed until many years after the extradimensional being's death, by which time the wizard had also grown extremely old.

Then, dragging his withered body, he unleashed the magic he had painstakingly crafted throughout his life. In an instant, his body was torn apart by Yggdrasil's immense energy, and the dazzling, galaxy-like magic, once activated, uncontrollably pierced through the Nine Realms, traversing both inner and outer planes, illuminating the entire night sky.

And that magic was the Rainbow Bridge. Legend has it that the souls of the lovers who never met again reside on the Rainbow Bridge. The wizard kept his vow, and they remained together forever, inseparable even in death.

Please vote for this! I spent too much time researching this; it's a legend from Universe 616 that I've repurposed here.

(End of this chapter)