“So, you are saying that God does not exist, instead, what we know as ‘God’ is in fact an Eternal from the Endless Void where there is no time, nor dimensions. This entity’s inherent ability was to create alternate dimensions separate from the Void, in which he could create, and direct the forces of nature, what we now call ‘Laws of Physics’, he is also all-powerful and omniscient inside this ‘Universes’ he creates” William said, “He created planet Earth as some kind of paradise and then left, to create more Universes, outside of this one, and has yet to return, but not before creating actual Gods on Earth, tasked with protecting it,”… “am I correct?” He finished.

Sigrun had gone through the actual Cosmology of Creation, the real one, not the kiddie version found in different cultures on Earth.

“That is the gist of it,” she sighed. “With major liberties on your end, but I cannot and will not spend more time on the matter.” She said, with finality.

“I cannot understand how you can accept the System, which is something I would never believe in if not for being its forsaken ‘proxy’, but cannot fathom the possibility that entities such as gods, demi-gods, demons, and all sort of creatures greater than men exist.” She rebutted.

“Well, you see, Lady Sigrun”, -I could not help myself with adding the honorific, especially after finding out that she was a demi-goddess of war,- “Back on Earth, we already know of a concept similar to this “System”, we can also create alternate realities, that we call ‘videogames’. The major difference is that our alternate realities are not tangible, they do not exist, they are only constructs created for our leisure and entertainment.” Explained William.

“That sounds an awful lot like what the All-Father does,” Sigrun said, “If humanity has advanced so much, maybe we stand a better chance than I originally thought.” The concept of ‘games’ completely misunderstood.

“You won’t think that after seeing Tetris,” I said.

“What is this Tetris you speak of?” She asked.

“Something, I’m afraid, we will have to put on hold for the time being, considering, as far as you have implied, we are short for time Lady Sigrun, as well that it would be easier just to show you if we ever get to go back to Earth, er… to Midgard.” He rectified.

“Indeed William, we are short for time, as you do well in reminding me, it’s just that the little I saw of this new Midgard baffled me to no end,” She then proceeded to recount her flight above the one-stone roads, her arrival at the Meeting House, how she saw William and Raulin fighting for their clan’s lost honor, the fire shooting sticks, the horseless carts, how they could summon daylight indoors, all of it truly marvelous.

“Shut up you heathen! Or I shall bore into you a new set of ears,” she said full of indignation, after she described everything, William was laughing so hard at her understanding of the ‘wrestling’ match, that he had fallen to the floor and was rolling around, tears flowing freely, even Bear had come inside to see what was going on, and started huffing his laugh away, in solidarity.

“Silence I say! How dare you laugh at the lack of knowledge of your Savior? Do you take me for an ignorant peasant?” She added.

The fact that lack of knowledge was exactly the definition of ignorance, only added fuel to the fire. It took her unfurling her white/bluish wings, and power to accumulate in her eyes and feathers, for William to remember that he was indeed, laughing at a goddess of war, who had just told an innocent recount from the point of view of someone that had died before history started being written.

So he relented, kneeling over one knee he said:

“I offer thee my apologies, Oh Lady Sigrun, it was indeed, my most fiendish behavior the fruit of a lapse in judgment, as there is no fault in knowing not the customs of new lands, separated from yours by time unaccountable,” I said in all seriousness, sometimes having to bite my tongue, to stop new laughter overtaking me.

“Indeed it was fiendish, William, but I will make it as if nothing happened, on account of your valiant efforts to liberate me from the elves, but what of the roads? and the trees on their sides, the ones with lights?” She asked in return, clearly more interested in understanding than anything else.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

After a couple of rounds of explanation on electricity, paved roads, and ‘pro-wrestling’, she now stood mollified. All’s well that ends well.

“I need to see this so-called pro-wrestling sometime,” she said, “do they do pro-wrestling in Tetris?” she asked.

“Yes lady Sigrun, they do,” having accepted that she would now call all games Tetris. Zoey and Matt were going to chew him out for this.

“And the System exists within this Tetris then?” she said, getting back on track.

“Yes ma’am,” was my answer.

“I see, very interesting.” She stood there thinking, taking it all in. “That is great, we will have an easier time explaining everything to the Jarls in that case, we will need as many Jarls as we can on our side if we hope to stand a chance in what is to come.”

“What, if I may be so bold Lady Sigrun… what is to come?” I asked her, thirsty for knowledge.

“War, William, war, slavery, death, and oblivion.” She said, looking at me with those beautiful big eyes of hers, “The two Orcs that attacked and killed you were the lowest of the low specimens in a Galaxy-spanning empire, called the Galactic Horde, they arrived here on Midgard by mistake, and the System Administrators have established a time embargo on us, separating us by a time dilating spell, so we have 10 years to transform it into a total war machine, if we want to survive, Asgard and the nine realms alone won’t be able to withstand the power of the Galactic Horde on their own. And they are just one faction in a galaxy full of diversity.” She said solemnly.

I was killed by Orcs, space orcs at that, but I had read enough Warmace 30k not to be overly shocked by the news, if I was talking to a Valkyrja, -Sigrun insisted that was the correct way-, what are Orcs? am I right or what?

“But we have the advantage, we have the system, we can grow stronger, and in ten years, we can stand our ground and send them packing,” I said, full of hope, but as every unfounded hope has ever been, I was crushed by her answer.

“Ha ha ha ha,” she laughed, grabbing at her sides, obviously exaggerating, “You ignorant, you lack the knowledge to come to real understanding.” “Hahahaha,” Sigrun was clearly a petty kind of person I reckon. “They have always had the system since it came into existence, Midgard had Gods and was separated from the rest of the galaxy by the Eternal Ice Wall, far beyond the domain of Hades, but the Ice has weakened, and the Orcs have come, and the Gods long perished.”

Holy ice cubes Batman! we are in deep shit indeed.

“You are right Lady Sigrun, I’m thus ignorant,” I replied, not caring about her laughing at me, I’ll get her on the down low later on, you wait for it Sigrun, wait for it.

“Now I see, my being here is just a trial run by the system before implementing it back on Earth… er, Midgard. If we complete it successfully, they can debug the information and streamline it for mass consumption.” I said.

“I don’t know what bugs and lines of water have to do with it but yes, that is the gist of it.” She said with a straight face, making me bite my tongue again. A bit harder this time.

“We will continue on this topic after we have cleared goals, closer to our reach. William, I hereby task you with empowering the Heart of Valhalla,” she said, expectantly, as if waiting for a big reaction on my part, not the blank stare I was giving her. She frowned a bit and repeated “Empowering the Heart of Valhalla.” This time with more emphasis.

I swayed back, opened my eyes as wide as I could, and said “Woah, The Heart of Valhalla?” feigning awe-inspiring reverence at the mention. To which she answered with a self-satisfied smile.

“Indeed William, the very Heart of the Halls of Odin.” While producing a small, handheld orb made of an alloy I had never seen before.

“This little contraption, made in the forges of the Dwarf Kingdom, was created by using Uru, a metal that only exists in the country of Asgard, in the Asgard mountain range. It can only be powered by the life energy of an Odinson, which gives us a clear path in our never-ending toil.” She said, all grave and serious, which made her look cute as fuck if you ask me.

“How? You said all the Gods had died at Ragnarok,” I asked.

“Yes, the Aesir and Vanir did perish, only two brothers remained that could help us, Vidar and Vali, both sons of Odin, but without Goddess Idun’s Golden Apples, they grew old, older than anyone else, and now await, powerless atop the peak behind Valhalla, where you must go now and find them.” She dropped on me, as if actual living gods were a common occurrence.

“You are not coming?” I asked her.

“I’m powerful, but yet not at the Zenith, I must stay here and continue to purify Valhalla with my seidr, so it can become a sanctuary once more, and my power be restored this way. Then and only then can I go out with you.” She said.

“I wager that after your return, we could even send a small message to your family if you want, for I have seen their fates, and they are not long for this life,” she said, while I became livid.

The weight of this news hit me like a truck, my heart sank to my belly, and my strength left me, sick threatening to come out of my mouth.

“What do you mean? what can I do? Is it inevitable?” I asked hurriedly, desperately.

“Be at peace, William, for I have already chosen them too,” she said, regally.

“We will defy fate, and try to accommodate their demise and align it to our cause, there are things at play here that impede me from bringing them sooner, such as our level, but if you toil and work, become stronger, and fulfill this task, their fates are not set in stone, they will not depart to the Silver City, but I can catch them in between, and make them new Einherjar, such as you are.”

“What about Dad and Gramps?” I asked, “And what do you mean to catch them in between, would they also go to the white room? Would they end up here with us?”

“Your Sire and Grandsire are fated to remain well, having time yet until after the advent of the system, they would not thrive, but also not suffer,” she answered, “It is only your brother and friends that have their doom set, and yes, they would end up here,” she answered, giving me respite. “I don’t know of this white room you speak of though.” She added.

“Just as well,” I said while taking the Uru Orb, “Where is this peak I need to get to?” I added, “Time is wasted.”

And that is how I departed Valhalla, leaving Sigrun and Bear behind, with a new task, a task that was so personal, so important to me that it was all I could think, to put one foot in front of the other, my heart set, my mind clear.

Nothing would stand in my way, I only had to convince two Gods older than human history, to die for me.