EV B2 Chapter 9:

With a long, drawn-out breath, I leaned back into my booth and closed my eyes, trying to make a final decision on how much I should tell Astrid. This was something I'd been wrestling with for a long time. After a handful of seconds, I opened my eyes and met hers, stunned by their brilliant color. I blinked a couple of times before finally opening my mouth.

"How much?" I said, halting, still struggling with the decision. "How much do you know? How much do you want to know?" I corrected myself.

She looked at me as if I'd asked a second question, then paused, thinking it over as she played with the tip of her hair. She was giving it serious thought as if my delivery had suggested it demanded a serious answer. I was grateful for that. I didn't want to burst her bubble too much, but some of what I knew showed just how little what we did here mattered. And that kind of knowledge wasn't for everyone. At the same time, letting her in, even if only in the most limited sense, would make the stakes real for her.

I was pretty sure that if I continued on with Loki, I'd face more dangers than just being set back in Valhalla all over again. Maybe things could get worse. Maybe I wouldn't even earn reentry into Valhalla with my next life. Or maybe the gods would target me in some other way. So I did my best to give her a real choice.

Finally, she looked up and nodded. "Miles? I want to know everything," she said.

I grimaced, hoping she just wanted less, but I'd expected nothing else. Slowly, I reached over and pushed up my sleeve, bearing the black mark on my arm. She looked at it, her expression showing no recognition.

"A tattoo? I mean… I haven't seen that many tattoos. Most people don't bother getting re-inked because of how often we end up dying and everything resets."

Was it a tattoo? A brand? Looking at it carefully, I couldn't really tell. I just shrugged. "It's permanent," I said. "There's a lot more to Valhalla than just fighting in the challenges. Do you remember how Thor welcomed us?"

She nodded.

"Well, Thor's not the only god," I said.

I saw thoughts beginning to whirl behind her eyes. Astrid was always smart, and soon enough, she had some of it figured out.

"No…" she whispered, drawing the word out with realization. Leaning forward, her elbows on the table, she looked closely at my arm. She reached out with a finger to touch it. "Really?"

She looked up at me, her eyes wide with curiosity. I nodded, assuming she at least understood who my patron might be.

"What do you get out of it? What do you have to do? How did you…?" She rattled off a dozen questions, not giving me a chance to respond.

Eventually, I held up my hand to stem the tide. "Let me just start from the beginning."

And then I told her my story. Well, most of it. I finished by describing how I'd died, gone through the lesser Hall again, and come back out here. Astrid had ordered us several rounds of beer throughout my tale, and as I leaned back, she mimicked me, sipping her latest drink. I'd left out a lot of the details about how to contact Loki, where his bases were, or how to identify people, but I kept most of it the same. I even told her a bit about Alana. I only meant to skim over that part, but Astrid latched on, seeming to sense my evasion, and dragged the details out of me.

Astrid looked at me with the slightest hint of empathy in her eyes, and I coughed into my hand, feeling slightly awkward and not sure how to deal with that emotion.

"So, here comes the slightly selfish part of me telling you everything," I said. "I want to know a bit more about your lesser Hall."

Astrid nodded and started recapping what I'd heard before—the way it was structured more like a school, with coursework and challenging professors, as opposed to a knightly tournament.

"It took you two years?" I confirmed.

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Astrid shrugged. "Give or take."

I nodded. If Alana was going to make it to Valhalla proper, maybe she'd do it faster. I hadn't met anyone smarter than her, and if the Hall was all about knowledge, well… maybe I'd see her in a few months.

Astrid frowned. "Do you think I should try to get one of these blessings?" she asked.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "I got a decent amount of stats from mine. But mostly, it was the connections, information, and influence it gave me in my classes. I don't think I'd even have some of the opportunities I've had without it. But on the other hand, it's definitely made life a lot harder."

I shrugged. "I don't know if you can do anything about it. You either get one, or you don't."

"You couldn't make introductions?" Astrid asked.

I leaned forward, studying her face. Did I really want to introduce her to Loki? "Would you really be interested in my patron?" I asked carefully. "I don't know if that's a good fit."

She frowned. "Why would you say that?"

"Well… how good are you at lying?" I asked in return.

This took her aback slightly, and she stopped to think, emotions playing over her face. "I don't know if I'm the worst at lying," Astrid said.

"Look," I said, my tone turning serious. "You're smart. Tricky. Determined. I admire a lot of things about you. You can be devious on occasion, but I don't think your personality matches that of a trickster. You tend to follow the rules. Not in a bad way," I added quickly, trying to head off the affronted expression forming on her face. "But you'd think more than twice about stabbing someone in the back. And I'm not sure you'd do it even if it was the best option. That's not a bad thing," I said, cutting her off as she started to protest, "but it doesn't necessarily match the needs of my patron."

"Should you have told me about this, then?" she asked, ignoring the fact that she was the one who'd insisted.

I sighed. "Probably. That's actually why I told you. I'm very confident," I said, stretching the truth a bit, "that you won't get me in trouble. If you were someone who'd be a valid candidate… well, I would've wanted to get some blackmail on you first, just to ensure your silence even if things didn't go smoothly."

Astrid blinked, the thought of either me selling her out or needing blackmail clearly never having occurred to her. I chuckled slightly.

"I can talk to Loki, but my gut tells me he won't be interested. Perhaps, though, one of his fellow gods would be looking for a disciple. Maybe someone he has a relationship with, someone who can hand out a blessing."

"I…" Astrid paused. "I would appreciate that."

I cracked a smile. "Perfect. Now, I think we have some planning to do."

Astrid leaned in close, then nodded. "Thank God," she said, and I tilted my head slightly. "Thank gods," she corrected herself with a smirk. "I think, thank Loki maybe—"

I chuckled and shook my head. "What?"

"Well, there aren't many people in Valhalla willing to do real planning. I'm not exactly a schemer myself, but the others…" She trailed off. "You, though? part of why you made a leader. Not only were you used to calling the shots under pressure, but you at least tried to think ahead."

I felt myself blush slightly. "Okay," I said, feeling the weight of expectations press down on my shoulders. "So… what are your goals?" I asked, having completely lost my train of thought.

Astrid gave me a teasing smile. "Honestly, I just want to get stronger. More levels, unlock my class, and maybe get a blessing from a god. I didn't realize that going world-side was an option, but maybe Loki would let me go with you next time."

I blinked. "You want to get deeper into this?"

"Yeah. Of course. What are you thinking? What are even the other options besides getting stronger or settling down somewhere comfortable? Get some sort of recurring investment so you have enough money that you never have to worry, get strong enough to complete any bit of the challenge with ease… then party it up," I suggested.

Astrid looked at me and laughed. "Maybe for some people, but I don't know. It sounds kind of boring."

I shrugged. "Heh. Maybe. But I don't think I have much of a choice but to get stronger. Not with the mark on me, and not with Loki. I'm sure he has some strings attached to me, even if I don't know exactly what they are."

"Okay, so, first things first. I think we need to get past the minimum clear of the trial."

Astrid nodded. "Yeah, my team hasn't managed it yet, and we only have a few days left."

I frowned. "What?"

"Yeah. You didn't know?"

I paused, realizing I'd spaced out during orientation. "No shit," I said. "I kind of assumed we had thirty days, like last time when we came at the beginning of a cycle."

Astrid laughed and shook her head. "Why do you think my team was falling apart?"

Her face became serious, and she quieted, looking me in the eyes. "No. We have three days."