The Savant and the Manservant

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Ten

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, June 30th 1863

It may be a little after eleven in the evening, but we did it. How I have no idea, but we are now on the summit of Snaefelljokull, and a more determined man in the professor I have never seen in all my three hundred or so years or life. Whenever I asked him why we were in such a hurry, he ignored my questions still thinking I am just a simple Icelandic lad. One person who does not think that of me is Axel, indeed he and I have become very close friends during the last fortnight or so and he has told me that his uncle is following the instructions left in a book written in the 11th century but he can date to the 16th century. Well, I knew Iceland very well in that century and I am confident that no-one I knew wrote such a message and everytime I ask Axel who wrote it, he replies "I dare not say, my uncle would kill me!"

Another aspect that Axel appreciates about me is my size and a couple of evenings ago, when his uncle had gone to sleep, he asked me how I began so big, tall and powerful. I, of course, lied and told him that it was all down to good clean living, to which he replied that he wanted to become big and strong, if only to stand up to his uncle. He loves his uncle's ward, a girl called Grauben, and even since they left Hamburg a couple of months ago, where she lives, he has been having dreams of being as powerful as I am, able to lift rocks that are bigger than me over his head, and yet endowed with those powers as soon as he asks his uncle if he can marry her, he replies "No nephew of mine is of the marrying type", he loses all those powers and becomes nothing more than, in his own words, "a single celled amoeba" and then slumps into my bosom crying like a baby.

To say that his plight moves me is an understatement of the truth, it sounds just like me and Arne, you see, I can tell you my journal because we have known each other for so long. I have come to the belief that...I love my master, and still do to this day. We both drank the potion, he, a much more clever person than me, will have realised that he could become big and strong like me. Indeed, I have often dreamed over the centuries of us being reunited, each as tall, heavy and strong as each other, celebrating our reunion with a hug so powerful that if you were to place a boulder between is it would shatter into a thousand pieces, and yet, if I did, would be disown me, after all, I have been taught that man may not love his fellow man. Oh, what am I to do when that reunion does happen?

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Eleven

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, July 1st 1863

One of the many advantages, of which I were to list them all, I would run out of paper, of being immortal is that I don't need much in the way of sleep. During the 17th century, when I was supposed to be hiding, I wondered just how long I could last without going to sleep, so tested myself by lifting a boulder the same weight as me over my head until I fell asleep. After twenty days of lifting, I did and woke up the next evening feeling completely refreshed, so therefore when we were all woken up this morning at just before three in the morning, I was the only one not complaining.

And why had we all been woken up that early in the day, before today was the day that Professor Lidenbrock had been waiting for, and as the sun rose a few moments after waking, he pulled out a parchement and declared "In Sneffels Yokulis craterem kem delibat umbra Scartaris Julii intra calendas descende, audas viator, et terrestre centrum attinges. Kod feci. Arne Saknussemm" and with that pointed to the rising sun, covering a mountain in the distance and a shadow crossing across the crater of the volcano. Whilst everyone else gasped in amazement at what was happening, I had to be more stoic than I have ever been before. It was the first time I had heard my lover's name (and yes, I can call him that now) in over three hundred years. He had never told me that he had written a message telling people what he had discovered and now, it was clear that his secret had been discovered, but for what purpose? Was Lidenbrock someone who wanted to prove my lover right, and that there was indeed something under the ground, or to prove him wrong? I simply could not tell and so have decided to keep myself to myself, but know this Lidenbrock, if you are out to convince the world that my lover is a fraud, then beware, these hands are stronger than any other man's

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Twelve

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, August 15th 1863

It has taken us all six weeks, but Lidenbrock is now convinced that having travelled down several hundred thousand feet below the ground and at least three hundred miles along, we have found the true entrance to the centre of the earth. It is a cave at least three feet taller than myself and at least three times my width, however he has seen a problem and when he reported that problem everyone looked at me, and the reason why? A giant ape! This is how the professor described him as he viewed this ape through a pair of binoculars

"Fourteen feet high, covered with coarse hair, of a blackish brown, the hair on the arms, from the shoulder to the elbow joints, pointing downwards, while that from the wrist to the elbow pointed upwards, it advanced. Its arms were as long as its body, while its legs were prodigious. It had thick, long, and sharply pointed teeth—like a mammoth saw. It struck its breast as it came on smelling and sniffing, reminding me of the stories we read in our early childhood of giants who ate the Flesh of men and little boys!"

Dare I though? Am I that strong and powerful enough? I cannot die from natural causes, but if I am stabbed through the heart then, yes, I would die and looking at that monster of a man, even stronger and bigger then me, I am scared. Scared witless that I could die. But Axel is looking at me and calling me "our own Heracles", oh, my love, would should I do?

[CardiMuscleman]

 

Chapter Thirteen

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, August 16th 1863

I did it! I scared away the Ape Gigans. Although if I am honest to myself I have ever been so scared in my life. It was decided that if I approached the cave entrance looking as big as I could make myself and then scream at the very top of my lungs and then perform some feat of strength that not even that ape could manage, I might be able to scare it, so I walked up to the cave entrance wearing nothing more than my short trousers that I have been wearing since the professor asked me to attend this expedition holding my arms in the air, then at the cave entrance, I puffed out my chest as much as I could and roared as loudly as I could, then spying a boulder almost as large as me, I grabbed hold of it and lifted it over my head and as I did I felt myself spill my essence and roared again "I AM MAN!" before throwing the boulder to one side and then peering into the cave where I couldn't see a thing.

Axel was the first to praise me calling me everything from a man made god to the most powerful man ever to exist, but my thoughts were about my master. What if that ape had hurt my master in some way, perhaps causing him to be killed by plunging a stone into his heart? I don't want to enter this cave incase I find the worst, that my master, the man I can now say to myself I truly loved is dead.

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Fourteen

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, August 17th 1863

I am heartbroken. Today we found in the cave, my worst fears realised. A skeleton, pointing towards a stone and in that stone embedded by sheer force of humanity, a book with the monogram AS on the front cover. My master's journal. My master must have been killed by that ape I scared off and worst of all we are now trapped. As the professor told us earlier: "This fragment of rock has been shaken down by some shock or convulsion, or by one of those magnetic storms which agitate these regions, and has blocked up the passage Is it not evident that this gallery was once the way open to the course of the lava, and that at that time there must have been a free passage? See here are recent fissures grooving and channelling the granite roof. This roof itself is formed of fragments of rock carried down, of enormous stones, as if by some giant’s hand; but at one time the expulsive force was greater than usual, and this block, like the falling keystone of a ruined arch, has slipped down to the ground and blocked up the way. It is only an accidental obstruction, not met by Saknussemm, and if we don’t destroy it we shall be unworthy to reach the centre of the earth" therefore it has been decided that we shall blow up that rockfall and that as a result someone has to ensure that the explosive takes. I have volunteered to be that person, for this shall be my last entry. If my master has died in this cave, then I shall die with him.

That is the signal from Lidenbrock and as the mighty Caesar once said "Alea Jacta Est", "The Die Is Cast" for I have lit the fuse and shall not move from this spot. I shall join my master in the afterlife and there I shall declare my love for him and bear what consequences that might entail. Master, I shall be coming for you.

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Fifteen

The Journal of Hans Bjerke, August 17th 2013

It has taken me a century and a half to return to this journal, because it has taken me that long to consider what has happened to me. Seconds before that explosion was due to happen, Axel did something I never expected him to do, he knocked me unconcious and when I woke up I found myself completely naked, in the leaves of a tree, in a convent garden, about ten kilometres from the Stromboli volcano in Italy with the other members of the expedition all out cold in the grounds about me. Thus, taking an oppotunity, I fled and the reason why? I had survived and couldn't face telling them why I wanted to die

Since then I made my way back to Iceland and have only made two appearances since. The first was in 1914 when following the death of the Archduke Fredinand, I volunteered to fight in the trenches of France and thanks to my master was able to survive multiple attacks and the second time was in 1939 when war broke out across the whole world and even took part in Operation Fork, the British operation to ensure that Iceland didn't side with the Nazi regime even helping settle the waters after the government of Iceland issued a formal complaint.

After that war, and on the off remark by General Montgomery that I was "a big lad" I found out about a sport called bodybuilding and visiting the United States where I understood the sport was developing was instantly taken by the muscularity of the men on the display, one of whom, Steven, was so impressed with me that he told me that I should organise a competition for the people of Iceland to find a man that could match my physique, however on the way back to Iceland, I remembered all those times that my master described me as strong and so spent the next few decades coming up with an idea and in 1985 launched the first ever Iceland's Strongest Man competition. During these last thirty odd years I have marvelled at the strength of power of this nation and none demonstrate it more than Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon, between them those two men won the title eleven times and even today the likes of Stefán Sölvi Pétursson and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson have proved to me, that strength is endemic in this nation.

Which is why I have taken this course of action, I have spent close to four hundred years hiding from the people of this nation and it is time that I revealed myself. I am writing this in the green room of Iceland's most watched television show Vikan með Gísla Marteini,and will formally state that I am seeking a new love, one who can match my size, my strength, my power and my desire to meet a man I can love for I believe that if I were to fill him with my seed, he too would become immortal. That is my five minute call, I hope I find the love of my life.

[CardiMuscleman]

Chapter Sixteen

The following day, the vibrant rays of the morning sun cascaded through the windows of Hans' modest apartment, casting a warm glow over the room. After his highly publicized interview with Icelandic television, Hans decided it was time to invest in some physical activity to complement his immortal existence. He had chosen the gym as his playground, a place where he could channel his boundless energy and sculpt his ageless physique.

Clad in a simple, sleeveless training shirt that showcased his well-defined musculature, Hans stood confidently amidst the clanging of metal and the rhythmic grunts that permeated the bustling gym. His body, honed over nearly five centuries of relentless training, displayed a symphony of strength and grace. With a focused gaze, Hans approached the weight rack, which stood like a monument of iron. Each individual dumbbell seemed minuscule in his colossal presence, mere extensions of his unstoppable might. He began his routine, the familiar strain of the weights proving to be both cathartic and empowering.

As the plates on the barbell clinked together under the immense pressure, a middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper beard approached Hans. The stranger, who possessed a certain air of familiarity, wore an appreciative smile on his face as he observed Hans' awe-inspiring form.

"Quite a sight to behold, isn't it?" the man commented, his voice carrying a mix of admiration and jest.

Hans paused, setting the weight bar down and turning to face the stranger. He studied the man's features, trying to place him among the countless individuals he had encountered throughout the centuries. Eventually, recognition sparked in his eyes.

"Arne?" Hans inquired, his voice laced with surprise. "Is that really you?"

The man nodded, his smile widening. "Indeed, it is I. I couldn't resist coming to see how my star pupil was faring after your television debut. You certainly didn't disappoint, Hans."

Hans' face lit up with genuine pleasure. Despite the passage of time, he held immense gratitude towards Arne, his master and the one responsible for his everlasting existence.

"But then, I always liked a bit of muscle on you, Hans!" Arne added playfully, his eyes twinkling with fondness.

A mix of emotions flooded Hans' heart: the nostalgia of their shared past, the respect he held for his mentor, and a deep sense of appreciation for the person who had granted him the gift of immortality. He felt a renewed sense of purpose, as if this unexpected reunion had rekindled a spark within him.

The two men stood side by side, watching the gymgoers continue their training routines. Words were unnecessary as a profound understanding passed between them. It was a connection forged through years of master and apprentice, transcending the confines of time and age.

As the clatter of weights echoed throughout the gym, Hans couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the path he had taken. The encounters, both unexpected and planned, had shaped him into the immortal being he had become. And standing there, basking in the presence of his long-lost mentor, he knew that this chapter of his story was far from over. There were countless tales left to unfold, and together, they would continue to make history. With newfound determination, Hans flexed his muscles, his immortal frame radiating power and resilience. The echoes of his past mingled with the excitement of the future, merging into a symphony that resonated within the very core of his being.

Hans and Arne spent the rest of the day catching up on centuries' worth of stories and adventures. They retreated to a nearby café, where they sat across from each other, their faces illuminated by warm, flickering candlelight.

As they sipped their beverages, Hans couldn't help but marvel at the changes that had occurred since his last encounter with Arne. The world had evolved in unimaginable ways, and Hans had witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the birth of new technologies, and the unfolding of countless historical events. Sharing these tales with Arne brought a sense of fulfillment, as he had finally found someone who could truly understand the magnitude of his experiences.

Arne, too, had undergone his own transformation. Time had etched lines on his face and sprinkled his hair with silver, marking the passing of years. Yet, his spirit remained vibrant, his intellect sharp as ever. Their conversation flowed effortlessly, as if they had never been apart, seamlessly transitioning between lighthearted banter and profound musings on the nature of immortality.

As the evening wore on, Hans noticed a flicker of concern in Arne's eyes. "Hans," he began, his voice tinged with a mix of affection and caution, "immortality is both a blessing and a curse. You've witnessed wonders and triumphs, but you've also endured heartbreak and loss. Are you content with the life you've been granted?"

Hans took a moment to contemplate Arne's question, his gaze fixed on the dancing flames of the candle between them. The weight of his eternal existence pressed upon him, and he understood the gravity of Arne's words. Immortality had granted him boundless opportunities, but it had also extracted its toll on his soul.

"I won't deny that there have been moments of loneliness and longing," Hans replied, his voice filled with a blend of wisdom and vulnerability. "But the richness of life, the connections I've made, the knowledge I've acquired—those are priceless treasures that I wouldn't trade for anything. I have come to embrace the duality of my existence and find solace in the fact that every moment, no matter how fleeting, holds its own significance."

Arne nodded, a hint of relief washing over his face. "I am glad to hear that, my dear friend. Immortality can be a burden, but it can also be a beacon of hope. You possess a unique perspective that few can comprehend. Use it wisely, and let it guide you on a path of purpose and fulfillment."

Their conversation continued late into the night, as Hans and Arne immersed themselves in a labyrinth of memories, reflections, and aspirations. In that intimate café, their reunion became a celebration of their shared past, an acknowledgment of their bond that defied the boundaries of time.

As they parted ways, promising to keep in touch more frequently, Hans felt a renewed sense of purpose burning within him. The chance encounter at the gym had not only rekindled his connection with Arne but had also ignited a flame of inspiration within his immortal soul.

Embracing the limitless possibilities that lay ahead, Hans walked through the city streets, his footsteps echoing with a newfound vigor. He was ready to continue his journey, to weave new chapters into the tapestry of his immortal existence.

For Hans, the world was an infinite canvas, waiting to be explored. And armed with the wisdom of centuries and the enduring bond with his mentor, he strode forth, eager to leave an indelible mark on the ever-unfolding story of his extraordinary life.