Norse Mythology, also known as Scandinavian mythology, was a mythological system unique to Scandinavia. Its earliest oral traditions dated back to the first and second centuries AD. According to its legends, the world was formed around an infinitely vast "World Tree," upon which the Nine Realms were spread. Gods, giants, elves, dwarves, and mortals all lived within the Nine Realms.
Johann Schmidt studied the unusual wooden-looking relief, recalling the many things he had learned about Norse legends. He ran his hand over the three roots of the World Tree. One plunged into the Well of Urd in Asgard, the realm of the gods, and another into the Well of Mimir in Jotunheim, the land of the giants.
The third reached Niflheim, the Land of Mist. Beneath that root lay Hvergelmir, and a poisonous dragon named Nidhogg, who constantly gnawed at it. Legend had it that the dragon would keep biting until the day it finally severed the root—and then Ragnarok would come.
"The poisonous dragon, Nidhogg."
Schmidt stroked the relief of the dragon coiled around the root. As if in a trance, he pressed one of its slightly protruding eyes.
Click!
A square seam appeared in the relief, and something inside shifted. Schmidt pulled out the wooden box carved with the dragon and gave the old man a satisfied look.
He slid open the lid. A dazzling, icy blue light flooded the stone fortress, turning night into day. It shone steadily, without flickering.
"The Cosmic Cube. Odin's treasure."
Schmidt almost moaned the words. He put the lid back on, concealing every trace of the Cosmic Cube's light.
This entire wooden carving, along with the box containing the gem, had to be some kind of artifact capable of blocking detection. Otherwise, an object with such tremendous energy could surely have been