“I knew this was a setup,” Erland growled, seamlessly transitioning his anger at his father to Baldr instead. “Why else send me here, than to show me how bad it could be?”

“He’s really not going to let you go this time, you know,” Baldr told him calmly. “He’s spent the last few weeks digging out the basement. He built a room specifically to keep you here.”

“Bullshit,” Erland spat, though his eyes darted to the stairs in the hallway behind his father. “Even he wouldn’t go that far to stop me.”

“Words of your misdeeds have preceded your return, Erland,” the Aesir informed him, glowing white eyes radiating sincerity. “The string of killings you left behind have all made their way back here. Your father’s shame has grown with every accounting, every demand that you pay them back for lost levels. See for yourself.”

Baldr gestured to the stairs. Erland’s parents were still frozen around him. He ducked under his father’s arms, walking cautiously towards the stairs like a man expecting a trap. He swung open the door, noting immediately that the basement was shining with soft white runelight.

He walked down the stairs like a man heading to his own execution now, face growing more and more grim with each glimpse into the basement. The walls were lined with runes with various different purposes. Alarms, protections, healing, and several runes Erland didn’t recognize marched in concentric rings down the stairs.

The room at the bottom contained a bed, a small viewer, a chair, and a bookshelf. The runes lining each of the sides of the cube-shaped room were the only form of decoration. A small bathroom was attached, complete with a shower, toilet, and sink.

It was fairly nice, for a prison.

He walked back upstairs, Baldr’s power evidently overriding the runes designed to prevent his escape. He needed some air. He walked out of the house, collapsing into one of the rocking chairs on the porch. It didn’t give with his weight, surprising Erland and forcing out a breath as he met the unexpected resistance.

“Whoops, sorry,” Baldr apologized, though his face showed not a hint of chagrin. The chair suddenly tilted back and began rocking, throwing Erland’s balance off for a moment. “Didn’t think it would hit you that hard.”

“They would really go that far?” Erland said, gazing down at the porch. “To imprison me just for a few people losing a small measure of experience? Are they that afraid?”

Baldr didn’t reply for a long moment, just weighing Erland with his gaze. Erland didn’t raise his head to meet the Aesir’s eyes, lost in his own confused thoughts.

“Most people don’t look at death like you do, Erland,” he said, tossing his dirty blonde hair about with a shake of his head. “No one can ever be sure if their trip through Helvegr may be the last trip they ever make. The whims of Hel are fickle and strange. Sometimes she decides to keep newly raised Players after their first death. Other souls she may let pass through her territory many times, before only claiming them once they’ve lived a fulfilling life.

Worse still, my family and I also may choose to claim one of you in death, and what we need at that time can vary just as significantly as Hel’s whims. Respawn is never guaranteed after the Player System is activated. Each and every death may be your last.

That scares people in a way I doubt you have ever experienced.”

“Why?” he asked, turning his confused feelings into words without processing them first. His face still not rising from the ground under him. “They could die at any time, from disease or disaster. Why then be afraid of death? It is beyond their control in the first place.”

“Illusions make up the majority of most people’s realities, you’ll find,” Baldr said, his eyes turning upwards towards Asgard. “They think themselves in control of their lives because they make the decisions to live them every day. They ignore the things that may force those decisions, or render them worthless, because a lack of control scares them. Yet when they look at other people, it changes.

Other people have agency. Their decisions can be influenced more directly than something like a volcano erupting for example. They can also be held accountable or punished.

Essentially, when someone else’s will is enacted upon you, you have someone to blame.”

Erland’s countenance slowly raised from the floorboards of the porch, alighting on Baldr’s face. He searched for the words for a long moment, trying to reconcile his feelings. He wanted to call such people cowards, but wasn’t loss of freedom the very reason he had turned Baldr down in the first place?

Still, he could not shake the feeling that blaming others for your own weakness was wrong. He couldn’t justify it to himself, so he stayed quiet, just staring back at Baldr.

“I’m not cruel,” Baldr said, sensing that Erland’s mood had shifted now. “Even if you still refuse my offer, I won’t leave you here to be imprisoned. Your parents may think they have your best interests in mind, but they haven’t ever truly understood you.

If you represent me in the Wild Hunt, I will ask nothing from you. If you qualify for the tournament it will be purely on your own merits. If you fail, I swear by the Great Tree not to seek retribution in any form or fashion, nor to allow others to do so on my behalf.”

Baldr traced a rune in the air alongside his oath. It shined in the open air, visible even against the shine coming from the Aesir’s body itself. After his vow was completed it sunk into Baldr’s chest, signifying that he would be bound by the Player System itself to obey.

Oaths taken in such a fashion were inviolate. Erland had never seen one in person before, but their existence was easily verified. Even one sworn by an Aesir.

Name: Baldr

Race: Aesir

Age: ???

Level: 1K+

Oathbound to Erland Grim

It seemed that even less information was available when scanning the Player status of the rulers of the Nine Realms. Normally, the Player System also showed Class and Profession. Erland wondered if it was because that information was also hidden, or if the rulers didn’t have those limitations. He did note the level listed, but it was common knowledge that all rulers of the Nine Realms were Top Tier.

He tossed the idea around more seriously this time, weighing Baldr’s words and the situation Erland currently found himself in. If he was being honest, the competition sounded incredible. All the Realm’s greatest fighters gathered in one place. If he won, he would be able to compete against the best fighters of every other Realm as well.

The oath meant that if Baldr demanded too much, or tried to force Erland into anything, he could quit. It didn’t even require Erland to give his all, or successfully qualify.

“I have several things I will offer you, in addition to my oath,” Baldr continued after seeing there was still some conflict in Erland’s gaze. “Training with my Einherjar, free travel through the Valkyrie crystal network, and I will personally advise you.”

Erland let out a low whistle, envisioning sparring battles with the legendary Einherjar. “How long will these benefits extend?” he asked, trying and failing to subtly ask for a longer period.

“I will extend the offer to train with my Einherjar past the Wild Hunt’s conclusion,” Baldr began, and Erland’s hope rose with each word. Only for his next sentence to send them crashing down. “If you agree to swear yourself into my service upon your third death after it had come to an end.”

Erland scowled, but his heart wasn’t in it. The initial terms were more than most mortals were ever offered by the Aesir even if they managed to reach the heights of A-Tier.

“As one final incentive,” Baldr offered reluctantly. “I will arrange for you to have the opportunity to spar with myself and a few other Aesir.”

“Done,” Erland said with a massive grin, exploding to his feet and sticking out a hand. The opportunity to fight the rulers of Midgard themselves? Erland was just glad Baldr hadn’t led with that.

He would have accepted even the terms of Baldr’s initial offer for that prize.

Baldr gave a resigned shake of his head as he accepted Erland’s handshake. He had known that would sway Erland to his cause, but he wasn’t looking forward to the concessions he would have to accept from his family for it.

“Good, as your first lesson then,” Baldr stated as he pushed through his regrets. “You must be much more careful of Oaths offered to you in the future. There was nothing about it that would have stopped me from seeking retribution if you had refused me.”

“I told you already, I’ll live as a prisoner before I work as a slave.” Erland replied, grin not diminishing in the slightest. “I’ll die ninety-nine deaths to tell you to fuck yourself one hundred times. If you think that’s changed just because I agreed, you can wipe that from your mind.”

“Excellent,” Baldr responded with a grin of his own. “That’s exactly the mentality I want.”