William was kneeling, both arms down at his sides, devoid of strength. His breathing was fast and shallow, and in his view, he could only see corpses, corpses and blood, corpses of the Dokkalfar, who had fought valiantly against impossible odds. A lake of red blood and blue skin was all he could see.
Was it necessary? Yes, it was. Was it justified? yes indeed. Was it rewarding? Amazingly so. Above all else, it was something he would rather avoid. There must have been another way.
Granted, something cataclysmic was about to happen to Earth as he knew it, and our only chance rested on the shoulders of Sigrun, -that is how she named herself-, but, was her life more valuable than a couple of thousand dark elves? Probably not, but the hope she represented and the billions of lives that rode on her wings, yes, most definitely.
Would he do something like this again? He was somehow certain it would happen. Willingly? Only if there was no other option. He remembered the words of the great wizard “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.” That passage always stayed with him. Since his first reading so long ago.
‘I get it,’ he thought, ‘I understand there was no other way, and that war is a thing for a reason, and that morality changes in peacetime as in wartime. I was unprepared, that’s it, psychologically, I’m a little sheltered babe right now. I must harden, but not so much that I lose myself in the process.’
He would try next time. To find another way. He could always revert to ultraviolence in the end. He would make sure he could. The Romans used to say ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum,’ The famous ‘if you want peace, prepare for war’ was a predominant axiom of many armed forces back on Earth. He appreciated it very differently after recent events, he understood the Romans now and would embrace that line of thinking as one of his tenets in this new world we are all coming into.
He could already foresee that chaos would ensue after everybody had abilities like his own, how strong personalities would thrive, and how the meek would allow themselves to be herded, like sheep.
How the one percenters would try to exploit the new system, how crime lords would now be able to topple law enforcement, and how warmongers could grow their states into empires, or kingdoms.
William need not take a huge leap of reasoning, or perform many mental gymnastics to figure out that some small totalitarian regimes could produce a thousand E-grades in a very short time, just by feeding them low-level citizens, then terrorize, and conquer neighboring countries, rinse and repeat.
Oh yes, it was going to be ugly, but he now understood he was in a prime position to soften that blow, using some pages of their rulebook if need be. He would become a little tyrant, for the sake of Democracy.
‘Wait, wasn’t that line of reasoning twisted as fuck? It sounds wrong, I would need to rethink this later, after talking to the Valkyrie and getting some answers.’
Said Valkyrie was saying her goodbyes to Freki and Geri, the two big wolves that had come to change the tide of his battle against the Dokkalfar.
It was certainly weird, he thought, seeing the mighty wolves behaving like little cubs in front of her, wagging their tails and giving her doggy kisses. She also looked happy to see them, petting them and hugging them, especially Geri, to Freki’s chagrin.
Most of the wolves had left already, only two of my escort ‘friends’ staying behind, Happy and Grumpy, and some stragglers, were still feasting on dark elf meat. Which was a gruesome sight let me tell you, the term ‘wolfing down food’ did not come for free.
Bear was next to me, happy to sit down and do nothing, I took a couple of berries out, ate one, and gave him the other one, Bear gladly ate it and grunted at me.
“I think I will check on my new stats and level-ups before getting some shut-eye,” I told Bear, “Huff,” he answered while lowering himself, resting his large head on his front paws.
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Name: William ‘Evelyn’ Hagen
Human -Level 11 (+5)
Class: Einheri -Level 16 (+8)
Job: N/A
Grade F
HP: 156/1780
Stamina: 87/1720
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Strength: 99 (+52)
Agility: 48 (+26)
Dexterity: 48 (+26)
Endurance: 86 (+52)
Vitality: 46 (+26)
Intellect: 45 (+26)
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Class XP: 874/1600 (+10000)
Race XP: 1037/1100 (+5000)
Job XP: N\A
FP: 38 (+26)
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The first thing I noticed, was that Einherjar must be the plural of Einheri.
The implications of my class were not lost on me. I remember how we would all sit around the chimney back at home, on our carpet, while Papa Olaf would tell us the tales from the old country, rocking his chair. Sometimes our cups of cocoa would go cold, absorbed in his tales as we were. It was difficult to see Joe happier than right next to the old man, her eyes, wide and round like plates, sparkling with pure wonder and joy. She ate it all up, all the tales, myths, and legends. I still think that to this day, she considers herself a believer. And after seeing the marvelous picture that Sigrun, Freki, and Geri posed in front of me, she was right, wasn’t she?
What would she say if she saw me now? Balmung of legend in hand, a magical cloak that makes me invisible on my back, and Valkyrie-given armor clothing me, alone amidst countless foes, covered in their blood. Would she be pleased? Would she feel proud? Amazed? Would she sing my praises?
… Nah. She would give me lip and the biggest dressing down possible. I can picture it from memory, me sitting on my ass, tired as all hell, while she towers over me, fists on hips, in that way women have that no man can imitate properly, spit coming out of her mouth as she goes on and on about how stupid I was for putting myself in danger, Einherjar or not. Hehe, ‘You already died once, wanna die again you idiot? I can accommodate you easily enough William, just say the word. Just. Say. The. Word.’
I miss her. I miss them all.
I got closer to Bear, resting my head on the side of his belly. He just lazily grunted at me, the cadence of his breathing goading me into sleep, my mind drifting away to golden brown fields, gentle breeze going through them, a tractor pulling a cart full of hay, two children sitting at it, feet dangling in the air, “Will,” little Joe asked “What do you want to do when you grow up?” looking back at her, the wind messing with her blonde hair, her big blue eyes fixed on mine, her beautiful face smiling at me, “I want to be right here, with you, forever and ever,” I said, “Yey,” was all she answered, throwing her little arms up in the air, letting herself fall into the hay.
Sleep found him, resting at the side of a bear more than twice the size of a Kodiak, covered in blood, a faint smile on his lips. A single, dried-off tear across his face.
Sigrun said her final farewells to the wolf couple.
Having confirmed with them, that many ages had gone by since the time of her sires. And that time had ‘stood still’ in all of Asgard until very recently, meaning that while time seemed to keep going for the creatures living in the nine realms, nothing seemed to happen, and when something happened, it was over extremely long periods, nothing like what they had just done.
Freki confirmed that the system was a new thing, coinciding with her arrival, and how both of them started gaining levels for doing nothing, a process that still continued and that seemed to slow down as time passed. They could not know how strong they would become, but they were far weaker than in the olden days yet.
Geri told her of how Asgard, the realm, had been connected to the other realms by land, you could now walk into Alfheim for instance, all the realms except for Midgard.
How Yggdrasil was dead and rotting away, and how the Sidhe, -the fairy upstarts from Midgard- had invaded the City of Asgard after the conjunction of the realms, as they were, in kind, removed from Midgard altogether, and finding the great Aesir city uninhabited, they decided to settle there, and how the Sidhe, not even their Emperor and their Queens, could not access the Bifrost. Mostly because they had no Aesir blood. Of how the Sidhe too was ‘infected’ with levels and grades while parting with the promise of help if she grew the number of Einherjar and was planning to take Asgard back.
Sigrun thanked them again, bowing to them, receiving wagging tails in exchange.
She looked back at the corpse-ridden training grounds and found the black mound of fur that was Bear. Not knowing him or anything, but having accepted the beast as a friend, instead of a foe. Noticing William fast asleep next to it, she decided to do what should have been done as soon as she arrived but was interrupted in her task by the vile Dokkalfar.
She walked into the Great Hall, seeing it now for the first time, in its plundered state, her heart aching at the sight of Dokkalfar banners and shields, where the banners of her Lord used to be.
She steeled herself into ignoring it, they had already given weregild for their transgression and blasphemy.
She went to the back of the Hall, where three thrones used to be, in ascending order, and searched for the stairs to the secret cellar. She knew it was not discovered by the Dokkalfar, as it requires Aesir's blood and authority to open.
Finding it quickly, she touched it and simply said: “Open”.
A simple trap door led her down to a corridor, this one still held Aesir colors at its walls, reverence washing over her, memory flooding her mind.
She could hear the laughter of the Aesir in her mind, the giggles of her sisters, smell the mead, and taste Andhrimnir’s cooking, While High, Just-as-High, and Third would sit at their thrones, overseeing the gallery of the chosen.
Her eyes moistened somewhat, but she remembered they had all fallen fighting the wolf of the end, in battle, their Fates fulfilled, no need to become sentimental. She continued.
Lights went up as she walked the long corridor, now sloping so gently downward. Until she reached an ornated door made by dwarves and forged with Uru, the magical metal only found in Asgard.
Sigrun opened this door, and found the Heart of Vallhala, a sphere made entirely of Uru, encasing the power source for the Halls and its amenities. ‘It only needs power,’ she thought. She knew where to get it, and who to send for it.
Taking the hand-sized orb, she went back to the corridor, closing the door to the Heart behind, lights leaving way to darkness as she walked back up to the Great Hall.
She performed a small cleansing ritual on the Hall, removing every single trace of Dokkalfar existence in there. She went out to the training grounds, where a bigger spell was cast, removing the corpses, and all traces of battle that so far remained in Valhalla.
It used to be a ‘ritual of offerings’ for her Lord and Sire, now, it was only a cleansing, purifying the grounds, marking them as her own. If she did it enough on a single site, it would become blessed and increase her powers inside it, as well as those of her chosen.
Speaking of which, he was still sleeping, she owed him, even though it was his duty, he had not acknowledged it yet, he had no information, no allegiance, no real reason to come to her aid.
But he had knelt, Balmung in offering, like the great heroes of old, presenting their deeds in the Eddas. What a gallant figure she had thought at the time, even a bit overcome by emotion, spurring her into action, her blood boiled as she felt the connection with her chosen growing stronger, settling. She had been rash and took to war, an ill choice, if not for Geri and Freki. She would not forfeit this William, she would not look for his death as a trial run, she would make him a Commander of men.
She knew William would never be the greatest of the Einherjar, his potential not amounting to much, she knew his siblings were of better stock, but she had secretly taken a liking to this young man.
She had saved him, and he had saved her in kind. That was a bond of brotherhood on the battlefield, they were comrades now. Not that she would let him know, or make things easier for him, in fact, his next test would be even harder, and possibly his doom.
She quietly knelt down, looking at the moon, covering almost the entire sky, waiting for William to wake up, for she knew no rest.
He woke up, startled by the unfamiliar landscape, Bear’s annoyed grunting anchoring him back to reality. The big plaza in the middle of Odin’s Halls was now free of corpses and carcasses. Not a single speck of blood remained. Magic? He didn’t think he slept for that long.
Looking around, he found his savior, the so-called ‘proxy’ the system talked about. The Quest? it had disappeared without any fanfare. She was kneeling down, looking up at the sky.
She walked up to her.
“Mmm… I… “ He tried to formulate something coherent, but since he had no idea how to start the conversation, he went back to basic manners.
“Hello, my name is William, pleased to finally meet you,” he said with an embarrassed smile, extending his hand in greeting.
Two sets of blue eyes found themselves locked in each other’s stares, one set full of questions, the other, full of power.
She stood up and shook his hand.
“Heiaha William!, as Sigrun I am known, I have much to tell, and our time runs short. Let’s go into the Great Hall, so we can discuss the fate of man.”