The butterflies landed on the offering, their light covering the altar for a whole minute. Einar had to cover his eyes for most of it and when he could finally look back down, his offerings were gone. The drinking horn floated an inch or so above the altar, filled with a swirling dew that shone in green, gold and red simultaneously. The seeker reached out and grabbed the horn, drinking the blessed nectar in one go.

It had an earthy taste, reminding him of fresh root vegetables and berries. A moment later he collapsed on the ground as a painful heat sparked in his heart, spreading across his body, down into the depths of his bones. The air left his lungs for a moment as every part of his body creaked and pulsed with pain, his loin and stones burning fiercely. ‘What in Harald’s beard?’ He thought as the pain subsided, the fire replaced by a cool sensation with the first breath he took. Einar felt... lively. He felt strong and full of vigour as if he had just woke up from the best sleep of his life.

‘I thank you, Elvine, for… whatever that did.’ He sighed, getting back up. With the sacrifices offered and blessings gained, the young giant found it better to find shelter for the night. The stone buildings that surrounded the third trial were mostly in ruins so he picked the least damaged one to rest in. Einar collected some firewood and made camp inside the old house, barricading the only entrance to it.

Once the fire was lit, he sat down not far from it with his back against the wall. It was time for him to see what changed in his inner world. The darkness of closed-eyed meditation was overtaken by the gentle light of the braziers that burned on both sides of his own small altar. Stepping closer, the seeker reached out to touch the familiar object that lay beside the four stone figurines. It was the shield badge with the eye on it he just earned from the trial. As he grabbed it, a new hole appeared on the stone wall behind the altar just above the crystal arrow. He socketed the badge into the hole and glowing words appeared on the wall.

{Shielded Mind}

{A warrior’s mind must be his and only his to command. The shielded mind feat draws on one’s grit to form a mystical shield in their mind to protect it from the manipulation of others. Be it a simple charm or a gaze into your mind, you shall be protected as long as the spell isn’t at least twice as strong as your grit. You can also feel any intrusion attempt and can determine its direction.}

‘A feat to protect the mind.’ Einar hummed to himself as he read the description. When he was little, his father told him stories about creatures that could mesmerize people, turning the hunter into the hunted. Other monsters could paralyse you with just a gaze or turn you into stone. The shielded mind feat was precious and also quite appropriate given the trial he just went through. As the golden words faded from the stone wall, Einar touched the first figurine on the altar, the familiar heraldry appearing on the stone slab.

{Name: Einar Arnessen}

{Title: none}

{Ancestry: dragon/human/giant}

{Age: 18}

{Valour: 6250}

{Calling: Seeker}

{Renown: known by a few}

{Attributes}

• Charm:13

• Deftness: 24

• Divinity: 10

• Grit: 20

• Heart; 29

• Luck: 14

• Might: 33

• Mind: 15

• Soul: 24

Vigour/Spirit/Fortitude

105/139/109

Compared to the last time he checked on his heraldry, the changes were quite drastic this time. Both his heart and might attributes went up by four. Of course, his grit also rose by three and his divinity by one as he imagined it would after finishing the trial. What he didn’t know was how his soul got strengthened by two and his deftness by four. It took him a few moments to figure out the possible cause of his sudden growth, but it did make sense.

He imagined that the boon he gained from defeating the giant wolves and bear raised his might by two and the offering he made to Elvine from the flesh and innards of the drake was the likely cause for the rest of his rise in power. It would also explain how his vigour and fortitude rose so sharply. The seeker remembered feeling full of energy after receiving Elvine’s blessing and she was known as the goddess of healing for a reason.

Looking through his skills and spells, the young giant found the answer to his question about the increase of his soul attribute. He found that both his frost shield and his elemental spear spells reached the next rank of mastery, which earned him the rise in soul power. He also found two new skills in the form of bow and spear mastery, both well on their way to their first boundary along with his sword skill which explained the four points’ worth of increase in his deftness attribute.

{Bow mastery}

{The path of the bow is for those who seek to kill their enemy from afar instead of clashing with them head-on. Wield your bow with the finesse and mindset of a hunter. Every fifth rank increases the harm you cause with your weapon by 1. Every tenth rank increases your deftness by 1 and grants a minor perk. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Rank: 20 (beginner)}

{Rank progression: 15/20}

{Deftness increase: 2}

{Harm addition: 4}

{Perks: firm grasp, keen eye}

The answer to his question about the increase of his soul attribute. He found that both his frost shield and his elemental spear spells reached the next rank of mastery, which earned him the rise in soul power. He also found two new skills in the form of bow and spear mastery, both well on their way to their first boundary along with his sword skill.

{Spear mastery}

{The path of the spear is well-walked by both hunters and warriors. Wield your spear with skill and strength, always aiming for your enemy’s weak spots. Every fifth rank increases the harm you cause with your weapon by 1. Every tenth rank increases your deftness by 1 and grants a minor perk. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Rank: 18 (beginner)}

{Rank progression: 13/20}

{Deftness increase: 1}

{Harm addition: 3}

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

{Perks: firm grasp}

{Sword mastery}

{The path of the sword is narrow and sharp, yet long and gruelling. Wield your blade with skill and determination. Every fifth rank increases the harm you cause with your weapon by 1. Every tenth rank increases your deftness by 1 and grants a minor perk. Every twenty-fifth rank allows you to choose a specialization.}

{Rank: 23 (beginner)}

{Rank progression: 9/20}

{Deftness increase: 1}

{Harm addition: 3}

{Perks: firm grasp, firm stance}

Although none of his other skills increased to a point where they would warrant attention, Einar found that he had more than just the ‘shielded mind’ feat in his heraldry to look out for. He found two new feats and three of his older ones also changed for the better.

{Draconic hide 2}

{Your skin is naturally tougher thanks to your draconic heritage, granting you twenty points of passive damage resistance.}

{Draconic pride 2}

{Dragons are naturally prideful beasts, seeing themselves as the strongest creature in the world. Those who challenge their pride shall raise their ire, stoking the flames of rage that will soon become their undoing. When enraged, both your heart and might attributes will temporarily increase by five, burning away your vigour to fuel your carnage. Draconic pride lasts for five minutes. After it ends, you will be weakened for half an hour.}

{Fire resistance 2}

{Your awakened dragon blood grants you twenty points of passive fire resistance.}

It seemed that offering up the drake’s remains to Elvine earned him a rise in his dragon bloodline-related feats, increasing any form of defence they bestowed by ten points. It was also easy to figure out the origin of his new feats.

{Draconic fertility}

{When in heat, all of the draconic races turn relentless in their effort to sire as many offspring as possible. Their fortitude and fertility are beyond that of other mythical creatures, only equalled by the legendary phoenix.}

{Promethean Flames 1}

{A spark of primordial flame now burns within you, empowering your own fire. Every fire-based attack will deal five points of added damage and your fire resistance gets increased by five as well.}

‘This is… hmm.’ Einar hummed to himself flustered as he read the description of his ‘draconic fertility’ feat. It sounded useful if he ever planned to get married and have children but it was of little use at the moment. Promethean Flames on the other hand was an outstanding feat that would grant him an additional means to get stronger. After checking the changes he decided to rummage through the star charts he had, deciding to spend four thousand of his valour to form his human ancestral stars. As he let his valour flow into the sheepskin scroll, his inner world shook and new stars came to life in the wast darkness above him. Golden words burned on the stone wall, Einar letting out a sigh as he read the words.

{Human Ancestral Blessing}

{Considered to be the most numerous and prosperous race to eke out a life on any land, humans are adaptive and hardy. The human’s blessing permanently strengthens all attributes by one. It also increases the speed at which you master skills and spells by one-twentieth.}Although the increase was minimal, it happened to all of the attributes, making it a worthwhile investment in the seeker’s opinion. With everything now settled, Einar left his inner world and after eating some rations, he lay down on his bedrolls to sleep. The morning came fast and loud, waking the seeker with a start as something crashed into the barricaded door of his shelter.

“This one seems to be locked,” a voice resounded from outside. “It could be protecting some treasure.”

“It’s protecting a sword you don’t want to meet.” Einar said aloud, a surprised yelp coming from the other side.

“A draugr!”

“Your mother is a draugr!” The annoyed and groggy giant replied as he pushed aside the barricade, finding a sizeable group standing outside the shabby stone house.

“Einar!” He heard a familiar voice and a moment later he saw Arvid walk out of the crowd, followed by Rúna and Brynhildr.

Not far behind them were two other groups gathering. One group was the people of the Falling Sun Empire, while the other group reminded him of Alcmene, making them the people of Hellada.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Arvid noted. “What were you doing in there?”

“Sleeping,” he grumbled. “Until someone started banging on the door. What about you? What are you doing here and with Brynhildr of all people?”

“It’s a long story, but the important part is that most of the Viking God-marked had already passed the first trial with about a third of them passing the second. We decided to move in one large group after the smaller ones got into fights with those giant wolves and bears you encountered before.”

“We did lose a dozen or so people to the second trial and a few more to the beasts though,” Rúna remarked from the side as she walked closer, eyeing up the seeker. “Are you all right? You seem... different.”

“I... a lot happened yesterday.” The giant answered after a tired sigh, signalling the others to wait for a moment while he went back inside the ancient stone hut to get his belongings.

“I imagine you have a lot to tell but first I’ve got to ask,” Rúna spoke again as she side-eyed the nearby stone structure. “What’s with those strange stairs? They give me the creeps.”

“That thing is the third trial.” Einar answered, the rest of the Vikings perking up as they heard him, some immediately walking towards the stairs.

“If you step on that thing you’ll die,” the seeker said aloud, everyone stopping in their track. “It’s nothing like the previous two trials were.”

“What happened?” The forgemaiden asked with a worried tone as she watched the seeker sit down with his back against the wall.

Einar told them how he arrived and stepped on the first stone step. At first, they listened with unbridled curiosity that soon turned into horror as he reached the more horrid parts. By the end of it, some of them were white as flour.

“This... and we have to conquer such a thing?” One of the men stuttered as they all looked at the stone stairs as if they were looking death in the eye.“What is there to fear?” Brynhildr asked with a scoff. “All you have to do is walk with your eyes forward. We are all warriors here so pain is a part of our lives. How do you want to become gods if you can’t even conquer such a small illusion?”

“But...”

“But what?” she asked back with her head held high. “We came here for glory and power. This is the price they ask for it.”

With that, Brynhildr turned around and walked over to the stone stairs. stepping on the first step. The seeker watched with a curious gaze as the same unseen force pushed the princess forward while the pale wall of mystical force rose around the structure. Everyone watched as she took step after step with a slow rhythm, making her way up to the top in about three or four minutes. When Brynhildr made her way up to the top, the mystical wall disappeared. She collapsed in front of the weathered altar, quietly sobbing as she shuddered like a leaf in the wind.