Chapter 29:

I considered my words for a few minutes before I spoke. I didn't want to just jump in with nothing substantive, but I also didn't want to make it seem like there wasn't any reason for them to join my team. But when I considered it, I didn't see any obvious reasons why they should.

Well, we were unarmed, had no money, no experience. We were not very influential. And as far as I could tell, we didn't exactly have anyone that was a stand-out talent. Not unless I was willing to divulge more secrets than I probably should.

On top of that, I was starting to get a worrying suspicion that Bjorn was an alcoholic and might not be as reliable as I first suspected. Jonas seemed alright, but I could tell that he had issues of his own to work through now that the brain fog was up. Perhaps people who made it into Valhalla weren't as well-adjusted as the average person back on Earth. I don't think I could say I was the most stable person, considering how I died.

But as I thought, the question that started to bug me was, why were they even considering joining our team? Well, from what I could tell, their last team split apart. It hadn't been too long since the new challenge started, but they still hadn't found a replacement yet. So either they were unskilled, or finding teams wasn't necessarily as easy as I might have thought. Perhaps finding a permanent team was harder than a temporary one.

"Well," I said thoughtfully, "I think we might be better off talking about why we want you to join the team. We can tell you why you're needed and why you'll be appreciated, and that should give you a better idea of what you will get out of being on this team."

Neither woman spoke, but they seemed really willing to listen as I arranged my thoughts. Bjorn and Jonas didn't say anything yet, more than eager to let me do the talking for now.

"So, we all know each other from the Lesser Hall," I said, "And I got out yesterday. They got out the day before that. Right as the weapons of the challenge changed…" But Astrid put her hand up, pausing.

"Wait, the challenge changed. You have challenges in the Lesser Hall."

I blinked, "Have you not talked to anyone out of the male Lesser Hall before? What is in your Lesser Hall?" I asked.

She made a motion as if to insist I explain first. I nodded, "Yes, we have challenges. The whole time I was there, it was a single-round elimination tournament where you had to make 12 victories in a row with whatever format the gods decided before the 12th match was fought in the arena, and people were left to graduate. That happened every night."

Astrid seemed surprised but nodded. "That sounds brutal," she said and grimaced.

"It was. I was there for about six months in the Snowbank, Courtyard, and Lesser Hall. And, uh, yeah, it was tough. The brain fog they tell you about keeps the worst of the trauma away. But you do die a lot." Astrid and Helga both flinched.

"What is it like for you?" I asked.

"There were fights, but it's more of a school," Astrid said, "We learned magic, we studied books, and we had practice bouts with magic. After two years, you could challenge for graduation, and you had to beat one of the instructors in a match. It took me four years to get out, and I had to use magical archery rather than pure magic."

"I just punched my instructor," Helga said in a gruff voice. "It was easier than learning magic."

I nodded. "If I might ask, what kind of magic do you have access to?"

Astrid nodded. "I can imbue my arrows with different effects. And shoot better. I also have a minimal healing ability, but only through touch."

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I looked at Helga, who grumbled, "I can make my sword swing slightly faster."

I blinked. "Okay, so back to the topic at hand. We want you on the team rather than anyone else we might have met in the Lesser Hall because we lack versatility. Our forte is close-quarters melee combat. We are very good at that but not much else."

"You've only been here for a day or two. How do you know you're very good?" Astrid challenged.

"Well," I explained, "How it works in the Lesser Hall is that whenever the format changes, only those who are exceptionally good can win right away. Otherwise, the longer it goes on, the more people who are not quite as good but are crafty figure out the system and win. And also all the really good people move on as soon as the challenge changes. Bjorn and Jonas got out on the second day of the new format, and I got out on the third. That says something about our skill level."

Astrid nodded thoughtfully, not quite believing me but encouraging me to go on. "What we lack is ranged and heals and any sort of knowledge about magic, and a lot of general knowledge. We have picked up quite a bit in the last couple of days, but we haven't been through a full cycle, and we've only completed one dungeon run."

Ashley looked surprised, "You finished one on the day you got here?"

"Well, we didn't finish it. We died pretty quickly, but we attempted it and got some coins. Made a profit at least."

"That's right. You have unlimited entries," Astrid said, "That is actually rather useful."

"So as to what you'll get out of this," I continued, "One thing we can say is we will guarantee to refund the cost of your entrance before any loot gets distributed. You'll get your entry fee refunded before we get anything. That's not something you can get normally; it's not a ton, but you'll basically be able to run the dungeon as much as possible. Our goal will be to reach the minimum completion as fast as possible and then grind levels like hell. We are looking to train very intensely and form a working partnership that has the potential to work long-term. I think team cohesion is going to be very important, especially in more complicated trials. This one seems rather straightforward. Have you attempted it yet?"

Astrid and Helga shook their heads. "No. It's only been up for a few days."

"Well," I said, "It's pretty straightforward so far. Just finding a bunch of monsters one room after another."

"Okay," Helga grunted, and I waited for her to speak. "I'm not sure how much use I'll be," she said. "Honestly, I'm purely melee as well, but I didn't spend nearly as much time training my physical stats as you and the Lesser Hall did. I'm not particularly good with magic."

I nodded my understanding. "I noticed both of you have a book with you. Could I ask about that?"

Helga shrugged and took hers out, while Astrid shot her a dirty look. It was the fundamentals of magic.

"Hmm, I propose a trade. I will help, or more likely, Bjorn will help you with your sword. He trained me, and he is exceptionally good at this. And you allow me to look through this book? I think learning about magic will be important in the future, even if it's just to defend against it."

"Judging based off of Astrid's expression," I continued. "I feel that it would be rare for someone to be willing to part with this. But this seems to be an even trade."

Helga's face brightened surprisingly, completely removing the dour cast that left her feeling angry and standoffish, and she seemed excited more than anything. She slid the book over to me. "Just take it for now. Make a copy or something. I don't care."

"Bjorn, will you take this seriously?" I asked, but he just nodded, looking at the woman with what appeared to be puppy dog eyes. I groaned. Well, maybe she could distract him from drinking long enough to be useful.

"Astrid," I said, "It seems that you might not get as much out of this, but I think we have potential. With you, we have range and heals, and you have two high damage and two defensive fighters to protect you while you pick off anything at long range and keep us up. I think this party composition could do well, and all that is left is to see how well we work together. How about we give the dungeon a few runs and see how things go before making a decision? What do you say?"

Astrid thought for a moment before replying, "As long as you're refunding our entry fees, I don't see a problem with a few tries. But after our entry fee, the loot gets split equally."

I nodded. "For now. If this works for the long term, maybe we can think about some sort of community fund for gear repairs and such."

Satisfied, I looked around, and everyone seemed to be in agreement. "Okay," I said. But at that time, the horn blew, drowning out my words, and we all turned to watch the gates rise on the arena beneath us.