Humanoids were generally slippery targets, and they didn't offer much meat, but they were satisfyingly crunchy once you got past their strange outer layers.
As the hulking monster crept closer, its rudimentary instincts flared with slight confusion.
It had hunted and eaten stray Frost Giants before, but this creature was vastly different.
Its skin wasn't blue, and it was entirely too small.
It barely constituted a snack, let alone a full meal, but it was better than starving.
On the bright side, the danger seemed minimal. While adult Frost Giants could put up a violent fight, this tiny, fragile-looking thing appeared to be nothing more than a defenseless cub.
Confident in its overwhelming advantage, the Frost Beast lunged.
It didn't even see the movement.
The tiny humanoid casually pivoted and delivered a brutally fast, vector-enhanced kick directly to the beast's knee joint.
The apex predator's leg shattered instantly, forcing the massive monster to crash heavily into the snow.
Before it could recover, the humanoid delivered a concussive punch that flipped the creature entirely onto its back, then calmly grabbed hold of its thick, scaly tail.
Boom!
After a brief, hilariously one-sided beatdown, Ethan dusted off his hands and looked down at the whimpering, overturned behemoth with satisfaction.
He had been feeling a bit hungry himself, but he certainly hadn't expected room service to deliver itself so promptly in a frozen wasteland.
Compressing the air with his vectors, Ethan generated a razor-sharp wind blade and cleanly severed a hefty chunk of meat from the end of the beast's tail.
As the giant creature thrashed in pain, a warm, golden aura of energy suddenly bloomed in Ethan's palm.
He pressed it against the beast's stump, instantly cauterizing and repairing the wound.
It was the energy of the Light.
True mastery of the Light required a profound, pious devotion to a higher divine authority.
Without genuine faith, merely holding the ancient texts wouldn't grant access to its most devastating offensive capabilities.
But Ethan had never been interested in using the Light for combat anyway.
A power bestowed by an external deity could easily be revoked.
He vastly preferred the self-contained reliability of the Darkhold's knowledge.
He had only bothered to skim the Light's principles while resting in Asgard under the pragmatic philosophy of, 'It's free, I might as well learn the basics.' And those basics were undeniably useful.
It was perfect for quickly patching up injuries—or, in this particular case, culinary applications.
With a shift in concentration, the soothing golden Light in Ethan's hand intensified, transforming into a searing, smokeless golden flame.
He held the severed chunk of tail over the fire, rapidly roasting the meat.
Holy Light BBQ was entirely natural, pollution-free, and left no strange aftertaste.
It could be summoned and dismissed at will without the need for tinder or fuel.
As far as survival skills went, it was incredibly convenient for an interdimensional traveler.
Ethan retrieved a few small packets of seasoning from his pocket, sprinkled them over the sizzling meat, and took a bite.
It was surprisingly tender, tasting vaguely like an exceptionally hearty chicken.
Given that it was meat from an apex magical beast, the protein content was likely astronomical compared to standard beef.
Grumble...
As Ethan enjoyed his meal, a thunderous rumbling echoed through the gorge. It was the Frost Beast's stomach.
The monster lay completely still, its massive eyes locked onto the delicious-smelling roast meat in Ethan's hands.
Hearing the sad noise, Ethan paused mid-bite.
He glanced at the beast, then casually tossed a large, roasted chunk back over to it.
"Here. I accidentally cut off a bit too much anyway."
Naturally, the Frost Beast couldn't understand a word of English, but it understood the universal gesture of being offered food.
Looking at the perfectly roasted piece of its own tail, and feeling the desperate ache in its stomach, the monster's eyes briefly welled with moisture.
The tears froze into tiny ice beads before they could even fall. J
otunheim was a cruel world; survival took precedence over dignity.
It happily gobbled down the meat.
"Alright, let's go," Ethan said, dusting his hands off before effortlessly vaulting onto the beast's broad back.
Since he was entirely unfamiliar with the geography of Jotunheim, aimless wandering was his only real option. However, after riding the beast for half a day, Ethan realized the futility of his method. Jotunheim was a monotonous, endless tundra. No matter how far the beast ran, the scenery remained exactly the same: snow, ice, and more snow.
'I remember seeing Luna jump into the spatial tear right behind me,' Ethan recalled. Figuring it was worth a shot, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a handheld game console that Luna frequently used. It still carried her faint scent.
"Can you track down the person who was holding this?" Ethan asked, holding the device out. The Frost Beast blinked, confused at first, but its predatory instincts soon kicked in. It gave the console a long sniff, finally grasping what the strange humanoid on its back wanted.
Taking a few deep sniffs of the freezing air, the beast caught onto the faint trail. With a low grunt, it banked sharply to the left and began sprinting aggressively across the ice fields.
The beast ran relentlessly for over an hour before finally arriving at a massive rift nestled between two jagged snow-capped mountains. As they approached the opening, the Frost Beast's pace slowed to a hesitant crawl. It seemed genuinely afraid to cross the threshold.
Whoosh!
The sharp whistle of displaced air echoed as a dozen three-meter-long ice spears rained down, slamming into the snow to cut off their retreat. Simultaneously, several smaller Frost Beasts charged out from the rift, surrounding Ethan's mount. Riding atop these beasts were seven or eight towering, blue-skinned giants.
Ethan's mount let out a defensive roar at its domesticated kin. Ethan calmly slipped off the beast's back, his boots crunching against the snow. Running into the locals was vastly preferable to wandering blindly through the tundra.
"Do any of you understand what I am saying?" Ethan asked, projecting his voice clearly and speaking in the universal dialect of the Nine Realms.
The Frost Giants immediately bristled, gripping their weapons tighter. The so-called 'universal dialect' was, in reality, Asgardian—a language forcibly assimilated into the other realms after Odin's brutal conquests.
"You speak the tongue of Asgard," the lead Giant sneered, his own grasp of the language crude and heavily accented. "All Asgardians are damned!"
To a Frost Giant, a human and an Asgardian were virtually indistinguishable, save for the Asgardians' denser muscle mass. Given their bloody history, any presumed Asgardian found wandering Jotunheim was an immediate target for execution.
The giants closed the circle, raising their ice spears to strike down the lone interloper. But before they could attack, a deep, resonant horn echoed from within the rift. A massive Frost Giant, far larger and more heavily scarred than the patrol, rode out on an armored beast. Hearing the horn, the surrounding giants immediately lowered their weapons and parted respectfully to let the newcomer pass.
The towering giant dismounted and strode toward Ethan. He stopped a few feet away, scrutinizing Ethan's face and build. A sudden spark of recognition lit up the giant's harsh features, replacing his hostility with visible excitement.
"It is you!" the giant boomed. "You must be the missing pet the great one has been searching for!"
Ethan blinked. He was relieved that Luna had apparently made contact with the locals, but his eye twitched slightly. 'Pet?'
"Please, right this way," the giant said, offering a surprisingly polite gesture toward the canyon entrance.
Ignoring his bruised ego, Ethan followed the giant into the rift. Deeper within the canyon, the harsh winds died down, revealing a sprawling settlement carved directly into the glacial walls. Hundreds of enormous ice dwellings housed a bustling tribe of Frost Giants.
As he was guided through the outskirts of the village, Ethan was led toward a large, ornate tent draped in heavy animal pelts. Before he even stepped inside, he heard a very familiar voice complaining loudly.
"Hunting party! Has anyone seen my pet yet? He answers to Ethan!"
Ethan let out a long sigh, simultaneously relieved and thoroughly exasperated. He pushed the heavy pelt aside and strode into the tent. Sure enough, Luna was sitting comfortably on a makeshift throne of furs, looking entirely in her element.
"Ethan!" Luna's eyes lit up the moment he walked in. "You finally made it out of the spatial tear. I knew my calculations were correct. You experienced a two-day temporal delay compared to my arrival, but you still landed in the correct geographical zone."
"It's good to see you too," Ethan smiled. He walked over, reached down, and mercilessly pinched her cheek. "Now, would you mind explaining why the locals think I am your pet?"
"Is it not obvious?" Luna swatted his hand away, highly offended. She immediately lunged forward, delivering a surprisingly forceful headbutt directly into Ethan's stomach. Before he could react, she tackled him to the floor, pinning him down and glaring at him with her large eyes.
"I generously promoted your status from 'slave' to 'pet', and you still have the was to complain?" she demanded.
"I thought my official title was your knight," Ethan wheezed, raising his hands in mock surrender.
He didn't take her attitude to heart.
Ever since Luna had broken through to the demigod realm, the spiritual rebirth process had caused her physical form and personality to regress into a more childish state.
Arguing with her current temperament was completely pointless; it was easier to just play along.
"Leaving the titles aside," Ethan said, dropping the smile as he sat up. "Do you have a way for us to get back to Earth?"
"I have a method," Luna confirmed, instantly dropping her playful demeanor to focus on business. "But don't be in such a rush. Have you forgotten about Malekith? The final piece we need to permanently destroy him just so happens to be located right here in Jotunheim."
She offered a sharp, dangerous smile. "Get ready, Ethan. We are going to pay a visit to the current King of the Frost Giants."