I Became the Martial God's Youngest Disciple

Episode 304

Mir asked blankly, "Mjolnir?"

"Do you know it?" Luan asked.

"Of course, I know it... Wait, wait a minute..." Mir took a breath and cleared her messy mind. At the same time, she tried to move.

"Ugh." Pain shot through her right foot, bringing tears to her eyes, but she held them back. A giant warrior did not cry out in pain.

"Are you okay?" Luan asked.

"Of course, I'm fine. So why mention Mjolnir? It is the most famous sacred relic in northern mythology. No one has ever seen it, so I always thought it was just a legend..." she replied.

"No. It's lodged in Ymir's stomach," Luan revealed.

"Really?" Mir exclaimed.

"Yes. Ymir's soul is guarding it, so it must be real. Let's keep this simple." Luan shifted his gaze to the battlefield.

The legion commander reeled under the steady rhythm of the blows as it fought the surrounding heroes, but its movements were already sharpening as it adapted. This kind of standoff would not last long. They needed to act quickly.

Luan told her, "If you swing that sacred relic with all your strength, you can break its staff. Go while I buy you time. Do you see the wall I broke? Follow that path all the way and you won't get lost. Watch out for lava along the way."

"I-I understand." Mir nodded in a daze. She was still too weak to move properly, but she understood what Luan was saying.

She asked, "But can you hold out on your own?"

"What do you mean, on my own? There are still plenty of people left." Luan laughed. "The heroes are still here, your tribe members are here, and even Senior Araxad is over there."

"That is true, but... Ah. Now that I think about it, where is Senior Ramon?"

For a moment, Luan's smile faded.

Mir trembled slightly before she lowered her head.

"Dammit." She could not hold it in and cursed for the first time. Then she said, "I'll go and come back. I will definitely pull out Mjolnir and smash the legion commander's staff with my own hands. On my honor as a warrior."

"Yes. I would appreciate it if you hurried. Ah, right. And..." Luan's expression shifted slightly. "This may not be necessary, but it's better if you hear it in advance. Didn't I say I met Ymir's spirit there?"

Mir nodded. "Yes."

Luan said, "He said that you..."

***

The cold, the snowstorm, and the sharp winds defined a harsh environment familiar to most northerners.

It was the same for Mir. Every time winter came, she would wear five layers of clothing inside her house. Even on good days, she still couldn't take off her coat. She always stayed prepared for the cold, and she never allowed the fire in the fireplace to go out. The cold was nothing new to her.

Her teeth chattered.

They called it the Cold Ordeal. This cold was unlike anything Mir had ever experienced. Still, she thought she had felt something similar once, when she slipped and fell into an icy lake. Her father had hurriedly pulled her out, and she had stood there soaked to the skin, facing the northern wind. In any case, it was the kind of cold that chilled her to the bone.

It is cold... Her toes and fingers had gone numb. She remembered her father's advice.

"If you lose all sensation in your fingers, stop moving at once and warm your body. It is a warning that your entire body is beginning to freeze.

"Always carry a bucket of hot water. If you do not have one, light a fire. If you cannot light a fire, at least warm yourself with your breath."

I'm sorry, Father. At present, she had no bucket of water, couldn't start a fire, and even her breath froze in the air. She had no choice but to keep moving, though her slow pace made her impatient.

Countless heroes, Luan, her kin, her people, and family were all fighting right now. Their lives rested on her shoulders.

I'm scared. Her head spun, her breathing grew shallow, and nausea rose under the pressure.

It is heavy. Her body felt slow and weighed down, unwilling to move. Her vision blurred, and Mir collapsed onto the ground.

Only then did she realize that her right leg was broken.

When did it happen? Ah, it must have been when I charged at the legion commander. For some reason, it hurt terribly. No, was this even pain? She could feel nothing but the cold, and even the pain had dulled.

With a groan, Mir pushed herself up and continued forward, limping.

Each step was hard and painful, and she longed to rest. To Mir, however, these feelings were just fleeting. They weren't to be feared. What truly frightened her was the possibility that she would not make it in time.

By the time she arrived, everyone she knew could already be dead, leaving only the legion commander to greet her.

No. That isn't it. Mir despised herself for entertaining such cowardly thoughts even now. For Mir Giant, the real fear was something else.

"He said that you... You aren't a giant."

She feared that she, the one he had waited for and placed his hopes on, was not that kind of being at all. Instead of meeting their expectations, she was betraying them.

Her thoughts churned. Luan said I am not a giant. Then how could he ask me to pull out Mjolnir with such an unwavering expression?

Luan's faith had always given her strength. Now, she was scared. His faith and expectations were heavy.

"I am Frost Giant Ymir's descendant!"

Had he believed her when she said that? Now she understood. It had been nothing more than the desperate cry of an immature child, empty bravado born of ignorance.

I didn't know. I had no idea. She had claimed to be a frost giant. She had believed herself the rightful successor to Titan Atlas. However, what if she wasn't a giant at all, only a small, foolish child? What could she do then?

Did you give up? Had Luan sent her away not out of hope, but to save at least one person before everything was lost?

The moment this cowardly thought took hold, Mir slapped both cheeks. Her frozen skin stung as if it would tear, but she didn't care. What mattered was that, no matter how much pain she felt, the dark thoughts did not vanish.

That fleeting moment stretched into what felt like an eternity. At last, Mir arrived at the place she had dreaded. Beyond the snowstorm, an old temple came into view. It was clearly the temple Luan had mentioned.

Mir entered the temple and headed to the largest building. Everything about it felt familiar. Chairs far larger than herself, mugs the size of oak barrels, massive doors, and ceilings so high she could never reach them. It was a world built to the scale of giants.

At the center of the building was Mjolnir. Mir approached it, then gripped the hammer with trembling hands and tried to pull.

It didn't budge, so she used more strength.

"Eek...!" Her hands turned pale, and she was nearly bleeding from the effort.

Suddenly, an electric current surged around the hammer, and a bolt of pure lightning struck down, throwing Mir back.

She rolled across the ground, gasping for breath.

Did Mjolnir just throw me back? Is it telling me to stop bothering it and leave? Mir stared at the large hammer, bewildered, before bursting into laughter.

So this is how it is. But you know what? This is not a situation where I can just agree and back down. Mir jumped to her feet, ran to Mjolnir, and gripped it again.

Lightning coursed through her body and hurled her back. She got up again. Lightning struck again. She fell. Then she rose once more.

...

Mir repeated the meaningless actions while thinking. In truth, she already knew. She had realized it the moment she gripped the hammer with both hands. This weapon did not belong to her.

How am I supposed to wield a hammer of this size? It was nearly as large as her torso, a weapon made by giants, meant to be wielded by giants.

From the beginning, this wasn't a weapon designed for Mir. That was not a new realization, yet something surged from the depths of her chest. Her lips trembled, and her eyes reddened.

"So what?" Mir, charred black by lightning, spoke as she coughed out smoke. Her violently trembling voice was thick with emotion.

She knew she looked utterly pathetic. Still, she could not stop herself from venting her feelings. "If I'm not a giant, then what am I?"

Once, the identity of a giant had been the treasure she longed for above all else. The innate identity everyone in her hometown took for granted had been her greatest goal. The image of a warrior who was strong, honorable, and who smiled brightly at the sight of monsters had been her ideal.

A hero... As a child, Mir believed only giants could become heroes. Not anymore. She realized that when she entered Corrupted. There, she learned that vampires, lizardmen, goblins, and even a diminutive girl could become heroes.

Now, they all believed in her: her family, her people, the heroes, her friends. She was small and weak, and in this state, yet she could still become a true hero.

"So what if I'm not a giant?" Mir approached Mjolnir with bloodshot eyes and grabbed the handle once again.

Baaang!

Lightning struck, trying to throw her body back, but she endured it.

Though the world turned white and the lightning crashing down on her, Mir kept shouting, "Do I look small to you? Do I look like a weed that can be trampled on at any time? Then go ahead and try it!"

It didn't matter if no one was listening. It didn't matter that the old relic was her only audience. In the place where the soul of Frost Giant Ymir lingered, Mir let her true feelings pour out.

"A weed that has been trampled on will always rise again! It endures blazing heat, does not bend in raging winds, and withstands even the biting snow! That is me! Mir Giant!" Her voice shook the old temple.

Rumble...!

As if in protest, the bright electric currents around Mjolnir intensified.

Mir felt a terrible burn in her palms. The skin blackened and smelled of burning flesh, but she did not let go until the end. "Does height or stature determine the worth of one's existence? Do weeds and insects not deserve to look up at the sky? That isn't true!"

Baaang!

"I won't fail! I won't give up, even if my entire body burns to ashes! Just like the great giant who supported the collapsed sky even after death... I will prove myself here! What matters is what I think of myself!" Through tears, spit, and blood in her throat, Mir shouted with all her might, "Even though I am small, I am not smaller in heart!"

The young giant's voice echoed through the temple, followed by a sharp cracking sound.

Mir looked down at the hammer in surprise. The ground beneath Mjolnir had split. Cracks spread like spiderwebs until the entire temple started to collapse. The walls crumbled, the ceiling fell, and the ground shook.

"Ah..." At that moment, Mir realized the snowstorm in this world had stopped.

Mjolnir soared upward, revealing its true form against a pale sky devoid of moonlight and starlight. Then it plunged down faster than it had risen.

Bang!

It wedged itself between Mir's toes like a servant bowing to a ruler.

"This..." Mir stared blankly at Mjolnir, then slowly reached out to grasp it. The familiar electric current still surged through the handle, but It no longer hurt. She didn't feel any unpleasant stinging or pain. The lightning did not strike again. Instead, the moment she gripped the hammer, a strange warmth spread through her body, and she felt as if her entire body was recovering.

Mir's eyes turned a brilliant gold. "Thank you!"

To whom she spoke was unclear, yet she offered her brief thanks before lifting the hammer and running toward the place where her companions still fought.

Soon, a hazy soul appeared in the temple and watched her retreating back.

—Was I able to help you this time? My old friend.

Ymir, the northern Frost Giant, watched the departing girl and recalled the distant past. The memories had nearly faded with time. They belonged to an era long before thousands of years had passed across this snowy landscape.

"Is being big the only thing you have to be proud of? How interesting, Frost Giant. Then from now on, you won't be able to look down on anyone. Look at the world from the perspective of the one you deemed insignificant. Maybe it will be a good prank."

There was a time when a mischievous god's curse reduced Ymir's size. In that period, he believed that size and strength were the only standards for survival, yet for the first time, he felt frustration. Despair engulfed him, and he wandered aimlessly across the continent.

"Great Frost Giant. A typhoon will soon hit, and this field will be swept away. Can you please block it?"

The only one who spoke to him then was a small ant he had once considered insignificant. Ymir remembered it clearly: the streets they walked, the smells in the air, his emotions, and every word they exchanged.

"Your situation is pitiful, but now I am much smaller. I don't have the confidence to stop a huge typhoon."

"But... I think you are still huge."

Discouraged though he was, Ymir gained insight from the ant's words and crushed the approaching disaster with his bare hands. It became a fairy tale known throughout the north. Ymir did not know that the story had been passed down as a legend, nor did the world know it held a hidden epilogue.

After gaining that insight and reclaiming the power of his true form, Ymir treated the small ant as a friend from that day on.

"I can carry things dozens of times heavier than myself. Today, I even carried a piece of fruit all the way home by myself," the ant said.

"That is impressive. Even a strong giant would not be able to match you," Ymir said.

"Hihihi."

"I do not intend to belittle you, but if you were not an ant, you might have been something much greater," Ymir added.

"Um. I sometimes think so as well. I want to see the world from a higher perspective," the ant admitted.

"Do you want me to put you on my shoulder?" Ymir asked.

"No," the ant replied.

"Then on my head?" Ymir suggested.

"It is not like that. I just want to stand on my own feet and see the world from a high place," the ant explained.

"Still, you cannot grow as big as me, right?" Ymir asked.

"I do not expect to be as big as a giant. I just do not want to avoid weeds. I want to cross streams on my own feet and not get swept away by the breeze," the ant said.

"Is that what you want?" Ymir asked.

"Huh?" The ant responded.

"My only friend. I can grant your wish. However, it will take a very long time," Ymir said.

"How long? Will the seasons change?" the ant asked.

"Yes. Not just once or twice. The seasons will change many times," Ymir replied.

"How many times will they change?" the ant pressed.

"As many as the dandelion seeds scattered by the spring breeze, the raindrops that fall in summer, the leaves that flutter in autumn, and the snowflakes that drift in winter," Ymir said.

"I cannot live that long. The life of an ant is very short," the ant said.

"It will be possible if that is what you want," Ymir assured.

It was meant to be that way. It would take a long time, but when Ymir finally opened his eyes again, his old friend would have gained what they had long desired.

You will lose your memory and forget this conversation. Perhaps time will also wear me away, and I will no longer be able to see that form, but...

What did that matter? A wish engraved on the soul couldn't be easily erased. Ymir came to regard an ant as his messenger.

After many years, that ant obtained a body of flesh and blood. The promise could have been forgotten, and the ant's true identity had faded, but Ymir still remembered.

—You woke me.

The one who had worshiped that once pitiful giant, who had been large only in size, as a god. This was the first faith Ymir received during his lifetime, before he became a god after death. The body of flesh and blood was a reward for that faith.

—Go... My only friend and the first believer of Ymir, the Frost Giant. Go defeat your enemies and save your comrades.

The soul's shape gradually blurred.

Ymir laughed and finally closed his eyes. The body of the frost giant that once supported the collapsed sky, along with the soul bound to it, was finally ready to leave.

Ymir cast off his last regrets and spoke one final time.

—Show it to the world. Size isn't everything.