EV B2 Chapter 1:

The second time I died... Well, that wasn’t entirely a fair statement. I’d died many, many more times than just twice. But this was the second time I died for real, from a real life. I didn’t even see the feasting halls of the Lesser Hall of Valhalla. No, it wasn’t long before I was staring up at a cheering crowd as Baldur gave a speech similar to the one Thor had given last time I was here.

I breathed heavily, slightly wounded in a few spots but relatively untouched from the run through the twelve-man gauntlet. It had been a breeze. There was never a moment where the result of any fight was in doubt. I hadn’t come close to getting injured severely enough to hinder my ability to fight any more than anyone else. Still, I was extremely anxious as I scanned the crowd. My heart raced as I looked through the faces. Would anyone recognize me?

I had returned to my previous body, the body of Miles, rather than that of Alaric. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a strong feeling one way or the other about it. I had gotten so used to the temporary body I was in, but I also knew that I could only stay here so long. There were only so many souls I could truly accomplish, and even if I hadn’t been betrayed, I would have likely been back here within a few months, a year at the most.

Scanning the crowd, I didn’t see anyone pointing or crying out. I remembered there had been a big uproar when I last left, but that was a while ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised if everything had died down. Besides, I didn’t know if there was anything official—wanted posters, or crimes. I don’t even think there were any laws in particular. This was Valhalla, the realm of Odin, the Hall of Heroes. I’d seen enough drunken fights and honor duels when I was here last to know that a mob in the streets probably wasn’t even that interesting.

Loki had said all I needed to do was lay low for a while, and I had. It had been a decent amount of time since I’d accidentally cheated in an arena duel. Hopefully, no one would remember that. The only people who would probably care were my old team—Bjorn, Jonas, Astrid, and Helga. I felt bad about abandoning them on such short notice, and I was torn about seeing them again. But if anyone was likely to remember me and not want to hurt me, it would probably be one of them. I needed to track them down and see what they were doing. But first, I needed to get through orientation.

Following the crowd, I listened to the exact same lecture as before and received a medallion for the training houses, the ones all newcomers to Valhalla proper got. I would get my room and board for a while. While listening to the lecture, I mostly focused on my status screen. It hadn’t changed much, but I was just planning what I wanted to do with it. I had a lot of free points—twenty-five to be exact—and I struggled with where to put them.

My speed was by far my highest stat, followed by focus. I figured I should start putting things into focus. I was pretty sure. But thinking back to my previous situation, I wondered if I wouldn’t have been betrayed if I had a higher charm stat. Would a higher charm have allowed me to weave my tricks better? I hadn’t been able to use a lot of my stats last time, so it was hard to rely on my previous experience. Still, I remembered the sight of Alana being struck down and not being fast enough to help. I considered dumping all the points into speed. I could always be faster. Speed was always useful.

But something held me back. My constitution wasn’t so low that I’d hurt myself instantly, but if I pushed speed almost to 90, would 22 constitutions really prevent my joints from breaking as I moved? My strength wasn’t that high, either. Eventually, I made a concession, putting ten points into speed and splitting the remaining fifteen between strength and constitution, bumping constitution up by one extra point to spend them all.

Level: 17

Status: Tier 4: Valhalla Proper

Class: Arcane Fool, Lvl 10

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Subclass: N/A

Traits:

Incisive Gaze

Loki's Champion

Skills:

Mana Perception Enhanced

Spells:

A Fool's Constitution

Dance of the Jester

Weapon proficiencies

Sword: D-1

Spear: F-2

Striking: F-7

Halberd: D-3

Dagger: D-4

Grappling: F-7

Stats

Strength: 44

Speed: 73

Constitution: 40

Focus: 40

Charm: 15

Free Points: 0

Blessing: Loki's Favor

Strength: +2

Speed: +2

Constitution: +2

Focus: +6

Charm: +10

Jester Shop Access

Additional effects: ???

I felt my muscles and tendons grow denser, and I grew larger at the same time. My nerves rewired themselves so that my fingers twitched slightly before I could feel the increase. All in all, I hoped that was enough. I’d probably need to pick up a couple more spells or skills—maybe not just pick them up, but craft my own as well. My illusion and arcane affinities would certainly come into play if I really wanted to step things up. The farther up the Hall, I went, the better. But there was still so much I needed to learn about Valhalla proper.

I didn’t cause any scenes, as I simply followed the crowd of newbies to the newbie house. I ate a quick meal, ignoring the servers beyond politeness, and headed up to my room, where I lay in bed for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. But now that I was alone and ready to rest, my mind wouldn’t slow down. No, it began to race.

What do I do now? What should I do next?

I remembered seeing Alana being taken by the Valkyrie. So she was here somewhere. Well, no. She was in the women’s side of the Lesser Hall. Hopefully, she wasn’t somewhere worse. I didn’t know much about that, besides what Helga and Astrid had mentioned in passing. It's not a really in-depth explanation. I wanted to know more. I wanted to help her, but I couldn’t fathom how I could influence her situation at all. I supposed the only thing I could do was wait and keep my eyes open, hoping she’d make it through the Lesser Hall and into Valhalla proper.

I needed to make a habit of checking the names of those added to Valhalla proper. I didn’t even know why I felt such an obligation to her, but the thought of leaving her alone and confused here was simply beyond the pale for me.

My next step was to find my old team. Hopefully, they had moved on and landed on their feet. I wasn’t sure how things would go with a full party again. What level were they? Where were they living? It bugged me, but I needed them for information. I considered who would be the best to talk to. Honestly, I couldn’t tell.

Bjorn was having problems last I remembered, and so was Jonas. They were letting certain aspects of their personalities take over—things the magic of the Lesser Hall had masked, like Bjorn’s dependency on alcohol or Jonas’ inability to focus on anything but women. I hoped they were okay, but I didn’t have a ton of hope for them.

Helga and Astrid would be ideal, but... well, we had only been working together for a short time and were still just becoming friends. Of everyone, Astrid was likely to be the most angry with me. She had that temper. But at the same time, she was by far the most perceptive and would be the best to give me a lay of the land, maybe even help me find a party to go delving with again. I needed to place well enough to set myself up and afford to increase my repertoire of spells and skills.

I wasn’t sure if every time Loki sent me down to another world, I would keep my skills and stats, but I wasn’t certain that I wouldn’t. Also, I had actually enjoyed my time away from Valhalla. Maybe I would make a deal with him again. It was hard to say.

Eventually, my pacing in my room stopped. With a vague idea of what I was going to do tomorrow, I let myself fall asleep.