Chapter 16:

The next morning, I was the first one up and didn't bother to wake anyone else because I had business to attend to. After sleeping on it, I decided to pay Loki a visit.

This morning, I woke up with only a slight hangover. After the last time, I learned my lesson and actually controlled my drinking last night. I made my way resolutely over toward the weapons rack. I found the old, rickety bow. There was a lot I wanted to say to him.

I was resisting the urge to simply go give him a piece of my mind. As much as I felt like cussing him out would not be productive. All it would likely get me was into a nasty situation, way worse than I already was. But it didn't mean it wasn't tempting.

When I got down the stone steps in the hidden passageway, I found that the classy restaurant with a bar that I had been to the last few times had changed. Instead of the posh leather and ambiance, the room was bright and had full sunlight coming in from heavily tinted windows that I couldn't see through.

There was a smoothie bar on one side, and on the other was a counter with lots of fresh fruit stacked behind it and a blue-haired young lady blending together an acai smoothie for Loki. He was wearing a green leather jacket and dress pants over a pressed white shirt and a red tie. He saw me come in and placed an order for a protein power bowl. We waited in an awkward stillness as the noise of a blender filled the room, making it impossible to hold a conversation. While we were waiting for the noise to subside, I played over what I was going to say in my head.

But when the lady called my name and handed me a fruit smoothie bowl and a spoon with fresh fruit and peanut butter on top, I got slightly distracted by the smell of fruit rather than the endless amounts of protein and carbohydrates that I had been used to eating. Loki took advantage of my momentary distraction to guide us over to a table and sit down.

"I have to say, I was very impressed by your performance last night. Well done," he said with his charming smile. It felt a little bit less Loki-like than normal as if he was trying to get something out of me. Or maybe he was just figuring me out more and learning how to play to my predispositions. Probably the latter, but it made me feel a little less slimy, which was not a good thing, in my opinion.

I pushed aside all the angry things I wanted to throw at him and asked in my calmest voice, "Why was I against Bjorn? That was not a random chance. I don't believe in that level of coincidence."

Loki smiled. "Good. Nothing is a coincidence, especially not when we gods are involved. I think you've seen enough behind the veil to understand that nothing happens without a purpose, at least not to those who are important. And if you can make it out of a Lesser Hall, and you have got the attention of a god… Well, I don’t want to inflate your ego too much."

"My friend Jonas," I asked as a thought popped into my mind.

He cocked his head. "The halberd guy who made it out last night?" I nodded. "Ah, yes. That guy? Yes. He has not received a favor yet but will soon. One of my sisters is interested in him."

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask, your sisters? Where are all the women here?" I asked. Perhaps I could find out where Helen ended up. The distant goal of finding my wife had never left the back of my mind. He just gave me an infuriatingly knowing smile and refused to answer.

I sighed. That was frustrating, but I put it out of my mind. "Okay, but Bjorn, why? Why did you do that?"

He raised his hands and looked all too innocent. "Oh, no, that wasn't me." I looked at him quietly. "No, really. I swear on Odin's name, I did not put Bjorn against you."

That did little to convince me, but I decided to play along for now. "Okay. Who did?"

"Well, um, kind of you," Loki said as if he was breaking bad news.

"What? No, I didn't. I don't get to control who I fight; it's just whoever shows up in front of me." I protested.

"No. You think Odin wouldn't set up the system to let just anyone in by trickery, would you?"

"Well, then, why does he let me take the dagger in?" I countered.

"I didn't say it was going to be impossible, but he's going to make it harder to get in if he's using underhanded means. And if that means having to knock out one of your friends, that might be one of the hurdles. Maybe next time, the hurdle will be different."

"So what you're saying is the dagger is useless to me?"

"No, no, the dagger is not useless. It got you to the 12th round and very well might have gotten you out of the Lesser Hall."

"At a price I wasn't willing to pay," I shot back.

"Of course, of course. There's always prices you might not be willing to pay." Loki said, patting the air in front of us. "But it's a choice you have to make. But no. No, you asked me for a way to prevent you from getting out of the lesser hall in the wrong direction. You didn't want to be in the snow anymore. And that dagger will guarantee, as long as you use it intelligently, that you will always have a place in the Lesser Hall."

"Okay, so it's useless for getting out of the Lesser Hall?"

"No, it's not even that. It's just that you might not want to have to pay the price."

"So let me get this straight. If I keep using the dagger, I will always run into something I can't or don't want to beat to get out." I asked incredulously, royally pissed off about how much I had been scammed.

Loki shook his head. "No, no. You'd run out of friends eventually, but there would always be some other cost then, rather than just having to win by pure skill."

"Wait–oh, for fucks sake," I said, blowing my cheeks out, thinking. What he was saying did make a certain amount of sense. That wasn't to say that I would trust him.

Sighing, I leaned forward and dug into my bowl. Loki was sipping on his fruit juice. I looked around the little cafe we were in. "This is a nice change of pace, though."

He said. "I know, right? Old candlelit halls and feasting can get tiring. Even the posh inner space needs a little bit of a shake-up, especially so early in the morning."

I had to admit, the fruit bowl was nice. It felt refreshing and cleansing--like I had just spent a week on vacation binging pizza and came back home to have a salad for the first time in forever.

After a few bites, I was ready to resume the conversation. "Okay, so. What if I want out of the Lesser Hall?"

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Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. If you make me have to say it, what if I want help getting out of the Lesser Hall? Can you do something that actually helps me?" I asked in an exasperated tone. "I'm tired of the fighting, the duels, the feasting."

"Yes. Yes, I can," Loki said. "There are lots of options. But I have to say that the next hall might be better, but there will still be fighting."

I slumped. It was something I had obviously expected. "It's got to be better than here, though, right?"

Loki nodded in confirmation. "There is a lot more variety and more ways to succeed. But you will still need to fight if you want anything good."

I could live with that.

"I can assume giving me magic would have similar consequences," I asked.

He shook his head. "Similar. Not the same. But yes, just giving you magic wouldn't be a great idea yet. Maybe in the future, though."

That got my interest going. I decided I might like a little bit of magic. Maybe. But he shrugged. "Magic should never be your main focus. But I think learning a little bit of it might give you a leg up in the future. No, we'll bargain for that when it comes to it. What you need are proficiencies."

"You can give me proficiencies?"

"Well, not exactly, but I can help you out a little. Speed it up a lot. Into a day." He hedged.

I thought about it. I wasn't going to have Bjorn or Jonas to train with me, and that meant I was not going to be getting much better at using a halberd anytime soon.

"What if I use the dagger to get up to, like, round 9 or 10 uninjured and then use the halberd?" I offered an alternative.

"Hmm, that may work, but you still have to beat two of the best people with the halberd. Do you think you can do that in less than three months?" Loki asked.

I shook my head. No. There was not much of a chance of that happening. Still, the dagger was a good backup. Maybe I can pull it out at the last minute and get through that 12th round more easily, and it probably would work.

"Okay, fine. How are you gonna get me proficiencies?"

"I can guarantee that you get at least an entire letter rank of proficiency up to the next one. And some stats, but I am going to need a favor."

"What's your favor?" I asked. This was starting to sound dubious.

"Something I can't tell you yet," he said.

"Do you know what it is?" I asked.

He tilted his head from side to side. "Sort of. I have a good idea."

"Okay. Oh, what can you tell me about it?"

"Hmm? Well, what do you want to know?"

"What's the risk of dying?" I asked.

"Pretty high," he said. But he held up a finger to cut off my protest. "Not a permanent death. I can guarantee you no permanent death."

That sounded like a pretty good guarantee. "Okay. No permanent death. And duration?"

"Of course," he looked at me. "What do you need?"

"Hmm. No more than a month," I added. "No more than a month unless I choose to continue going, but it can't be an unreasonable choice," I said.

He looked like he was thinking about it. "Understandable. Okay. No permanent death. No more than a month."

I thought through it, almost accepting, before I threw in one more condition. "And no torturing me. I don't want to be driven insane or anything like that."

"I won't put you in any position where you get tortured. Not directly," Loki said. "And I won't even make it more likely that you would get tortured. But if you do, that's your own damn fault."

"Okay. And you'll guarantee I get a rank of proficiency with the halberd. I want more than just a halberd. I want to learn how to use my dagger properly and fists as well."

"I can't guarantee you a full rank with those," he said, "but they will be improved as well, and you'll probably get some stat points. I can't guarantee any of those too. It'll be dependent on how much you put into it with work. But I would be surprised if you don't get at least a few in each stat you have."

Was I really about to make this deal? I ran through the conditions again. No more than a month. No permanent death, no intentional torture. I could extend the favor if I wanted to. I get enough proficiencies where I'm almost guaranteed a way out, as long as I get with fists as well. I've worked on that. I can always use fists or grappling.

"Okay, add grappling to that training, and we have a deal," I said. Loki smiled and sipped his drink.

"Yes, I think that's a good deal." He extended a hand to shake.

When I shook, I felt my skin crawl and a chill washed over me. What did I agree to? Shrugging, I dug back into my bowl, enjoying the fresh fruit, and the conversation turned to more interesting things. Loki clued me in on a bit more of the politics of Valhalla. Different gods warred with each other, and sometimes, there were outside threats. This had little impact on the Lesser Hall, apparently, but once we moved on, some mortals would get involved. Not everyone would be claimed by gods, but most would be at least watched or join some sort of camp, though direct discipleship was rather rare.

Not everyone would, though. But that was when the hall became a lot more freeing than this Lesser Hall. One example of how was that everyone's brain fog would start to lift.

"You have to prove yourself or be chosen by a god. Otherwise, Odin doesn't see a point in you questioning why you're here. You're here for his pleasure. To fight in Ragnarok. Once you're worthy, perhaps you should be able to think."

"So you giving me this brand," I said, indicating my elbow, "is what lets me question things?"

"It lets you question. It lets you learn and grow much faster, to move at your normal rate, rather than whatever it takes to get out of the Lesser Hall."

"Why would you stunt the growth of those trying to get out?"

"Not stunted. It just requires more effort."

"Isn't that like the definition of stunting?"

Loki shrugged. "Hey, take it up with my father."

We parted on relatively good terms, and I went up to go train. I would start as soon as I left, and tomorrow, I would have a real chance of moving on. It was hard for me to admit, but Loki had actually been incredibly helpful. Had I misjudged him last time? He wasn't nearly as scummy as I had thought. At least he was pretty upfront about how he was using me.

Perhaps he just realized that I would accept the bargain and didn't need to hide his motivations from me. I would approach my training with an open mind and make a decision based on how that went.