A famous saying of Kinin, warrior of the Ashashagi

There is no success in conquest and wealth. The only success in life is through dedication, hard work, and mastering one's self.

The heat of the sun presses down overhead as she looks out over the battlefield. Large explosions had left the grassy field covered in dozens of craters, each one marring the scene like a vicious scar upon a once beautiful face. Intellectually Astrid understood that this room wasn’t real, but she still felt sorrow at the sight.

Her opponent, nearly two hundred feet away, pants as he looks at her, eyes wide. He probably didn’t think that she would have been able to survive that attack, but it had been child’s play. His explosion attacks were small in scale and incredibly easy to predict.

“Why won’t you just die!” he yells, jumping backwards and pulling a small yellow ball from a sack hanging off of his waist. His other hand reaches into another pouch and retrieves what looks like a small pile of plants or herbs. Vibrant green and almost seeming to glow despite the bright light overhead, he sprinkles them over the yellow ball and Astrid watches in bemused interest as the plants stick. Their glow becomes transferred to the ball and her opponent begins juggling it between his hands.

Slowly losing her patience with this man, she calls out to him once more. “Like I said, you have one more minute to surrender or I will be forced to end this fight. Permanently.”

He leers at her as he rears back his right arm, spitting, “Explode!”. His arm comes flying down in a burst of movement and the yellow ball leaps forward towards her, moving at an impressive speed. Unfortunately, it is not nearly enough.

Pulling the spear off her back, Astrid spins it and, right as the yellow ball comes within her range, hits it upwards with the butt. The ball flies a few feet upwards before exploding in a flash of heat and light. Prepared for this, Astrid covers her eyes with her other hand and kneels to the ground, taking herself just outside its range. The scent of freshly cut flowers wafts downwards towards her.

Standing back up to her full height, Astrid simply stares at the man. He must know that he has no chance and yet he fights with an impressive commitment to his success. His power leaves something to be desired but his willpower would be helpful with what is to come, she thinks to herself as he begins preparing yet another attack.

“Please, just surrender. There is more fighting coming our way and the last thing I want to do is kill people who could help me with it. If you surrender now, I’ll make sure you get some level of power”, she yells across the field, willing to give him one last chance to surrender.

The man pauses for a few seconds and then looks up. “What kind of power are we talking about?”

Astrid blinks, unwilling to let her surprise show on her face. His crude language had made her believe that he was some brute of a man. The type of person to relish their power and hold it over other people’s heads. The fact that he is willing to listen, if even for a second, is somewhat … surprising.

“I’d let you maintain control of whatever town or city you are representing, within the boundaries of my laws of course. No rape, no murder, and any citizen would have the freedom to move if they wanted. You’d also have to agree come fight for me whenever I need your help. What do you say?”

His face darkens at the mention of murder, looking upset that she’d included that rule, and Astrid hears a small voice within her that cries out for him to be punished. It is the voice of who she was before the arrival of Genesis. An idealistic, uncompromising fool who had assumed that she was always right and that everyone else were either idiots or evil for not seeing things her way. Genesis had taught her the truth; everyone is evil in their own way. To have power is to have the means to enforce your will at the expense of others.

Sometimes you have to make compromises and decisions that leave you feeling disgusted. Necessary, but unpleasant, decisions.

He considers her words for a few seconds, visible emotions playing out on his face. The man might have created or discovered a fascinating method of attack but a master manipulator he is not. Coming to some sort of conclusion, he drops the ball back into his pouch and yells across the field. “You’ve got a deal if you give me a day before the rules apply. Let’s just say, I need to clean house.”

Feelings of conflict arise within Astrid, but she knows what her decision has to be. The Allfather had shown her what was waiting for humanity and they needed every last person with power, even if they were murderous garbage like the person in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she nods. “You’ve got one day. If I find out you’ve broken the rules after that, you die painfully. Got it?”

Smiling with a slimy toothy grin, he nods his head. “I got it girlie. I surrender.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, a light comes down from the ceiling and completely envelops him. It grows in intensity and brightness until Astrid has to look away, covering her eyes with both hands. A cavernous drumming noise begins to fill the room, becoming louder in sync with the light. All of the sudden, it rises to a massive crescendo and then stops, disappearing with the light.

Astrid is able to get one last look at the field before her own light crashes down upon her. Unlike the one she just witnessed, this one seems to happen almost instantly. The light builds and then cuts out in a single second.

Blinking, she finds herself within the warm room. Two of the incredibly comfortable chairs sit in front of the smoldering fire and it appears as if Cael has already arrived. Like before, he fills her with a sense of fascinating unease.

Dark bags hang under his eyes and give him an almost tortured look. It makes him look as if a life he never wanted was thrust upon him, but he was too good of a person to say no. This is only accentuated by his gaze, staring at the fire as if it holds the secrets to questions he wishes to ask. His dark black hair hands around his face in messy rivulets, knotting in a few places, and his clothes, a pair of simple slacks and cotton shirt overlaid with a cobalt blue armband, are utilitarian. Every part of him seems to tell her that this is a man who does not care about power and yet … he is here. In this room, in this competition, with her.

Simply put, he does not make sense. But, despite this, she finds that she trusts him.

The Allfather whispers in her ear. Valkyrie do not trust or interact with this man. He walks down a lost and forbidden path. He has attracted the attention of beings beyond your comprehension. Kill him quickly and Earth will be free of his toxic presence.

She stops a few feet away from the chairs. While the Allfather had spoken to her frequently in the early days, his voice was now rare. It seemed that the more she grew in power and drew upon him, the less he was able to speak and offer his advice. The fact that he had done so for Cael was … interesting. Whose attention had he attracted? What kind of path was forbidden in this new world of endless possibilities?

Putting aside the Allfather’s advice for a second, she walks up the fire and sits down in the chair across from Cael. His eyes glance up from the fire and a friendly smile spreads across his face at the sight of her. How could this kind person be a toxic presence?

“Looks like it’s just you and me now”, she says, breaking through the comfortable silence of the crackling embers.

He pauses for a few seconds before responding. “Looks like it. I’ve got to ask, are you willing to surrender?”

Astrid shakes her head with a wry smile. “No, I’m not. I think that I’m the best person for this position and responsibility. Don’t take this the wrong way Cael, but you seem like too nice of a person to hold that much power.”

He chuckles, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. “I think that’s one of the nicest things anyone’s said about me in a long time. Thank you.” Before she can get a response out, he continues. “I don’t think you’re right though. About being too nice for the role that is.”

“You don’t think your kindness will get in the way of difficult decisions?”

“Oh, it definitely will. But … I think that’s a good thing.” He turns and faces Astrid, staring into her eyes with resolve. “Without kindness, those difficult decisions will eventually just become everyday decisions. I think a leader should be able to empathize with their people so that every decision serves the right interests.”

She looks at him incredulously. “I think it’s a little bit more complicated than just empathizing. You know what’s out there now. You really think we can get a Dungeon World while treating this like the old world? Things are darker now. Dirtier. We’re going to need to make bad compromises in order to survive.”

A crack from the fire breaks through their conversation. Astrid falls into her own mind, considering everything that Cael had said. She … hadn’t expected him to be this naïve. The Allfather had taught her that empathy was weakness in a leader. A strong leader was expected to be merciful, but only until a point. Once that point had been reached, a leader had to be the embodiment of ruthlessness.

Moments pass and she feels her gaze drawn backwards to this strange man. Considering the Allfather’s words, she decides to follow her own path. He may be naïve and a ‘toxic influence’ but she somehow knows that he is someone she could eventually trust. Someone she could depend upon when the times got tough.

Breaking the silence, she says, “I think I know your answer, but I need to know. Will you surrender? I think we could work well together and … I don’t want to be forced to kill you.”

He raises a single eyebrow. “Are you that certain you’d be able to win? Seems like you might be overestimating yourself or underestimating me.”

Gritting her teeth, she bites out, “That’s not the point.”

“Of course not, the point is that you just admitted you don’t want to kill me, which tells me that your power is something you might not have full control over. That idea doesn’t fill me with confidence that you’d be a better Primus. But how about this compromise: if either of us feels that the fight is going in the other’s favor, we can surrender at any point?”

She nods her head without considering it, too upset with herself for revealing something about her power. And, if she were fully honest with herself, mildly impressed with how shrewd Cael had been. Obviously, there is more than just kindness behind those eyes.

A clap behind both of them causes them to jump out of their chairs and bring their hands up in a defensive position. Instead of an enemy, they find Linus, the referee, looking at them with an amused expression. “Sorry to break up this little chat but the final field is ready and I need to bring the two of you with me. This one is a … well let’s just say it’s different from the last two.”

Cael, bringing his hands down as if Linus wasn’t a threat, asks, “What do you mean different?”

Linus smiles widely, a frightening expression that hints at things better left unsaid. Holding out a hand to both of them, he says, “Well, why don’t we go find out?”

The two of them make eye contact with each other, give a quick nod, and then grab onto Linus’s hands. Light quickly envelops them.