“How can a competition like this prevent Ragnarok?” Halina asked, bewildered by Frigga’s revelation. “That seems ridiculous. Why would it need to? None of the clairvoyants have seen the signs.”

“Some knowledge of the future is blocked from the people of Midgard,” Frigga responded to the last thing first. “It was deemed unnecessary knowledge, likely only to cause a mass panic. Suffice to say, Ragnarok is much closer than you know. We have been trying to come up with solutions and contingencies for years.

The Wild Hunt is actually my son Baldr’s idea. He thinks that it can be used to demonstrate the strength that we can muster to our enemies, as well as promote relations between the Realms for the mortals.

Most mortals never realize it, but you are the foundations for our empires. If war between yourselves becomes unacceptable, it becomes impossible for war between the rulers.”

Halina lapsed into silence as she considered this information. She still had qualms about her own worthiness, but to protest it further would risk angering the Aesir woman in front of her. Moreover, if the fate of the world was truly at stake, she couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

She tried to quiet the voice in the back of her mind telling her that she was only accepting for the rewards, but it would not be silenced.

“Okay,” Halina let out eventually. “I’ll represent you in the Wild Hunt.”

“Thank you dear,” Frigga said with a smile. “Tell Swein to begin your training immediately. I’ve already sent orders for Aschild to return as well.”

Halina bowed once more after the clear dismissal, turning to leave the room. The doors were transparent from this side as well, she realized. So Frigga had been able to see her brief reunion with her father. Halina wondered if that had been part of the blonde Aesir’s plan as well.

“Oh, and please tell the Einherjar to send in my next appointment, dear,” Frigga called to her as she neared the door.

Halina saw him then, a dark figure in dark robes. He was sitting on the benches opposite her father, taking up an entire bench by himself. His black robes covered most of his body and face, but black runestal greaves peaked out from the bottom. They were intricately adorned with wailing skulls.

He had pale green eyes set in a dark skinned face, and his lower face was covered by another piece of black runestal worked into the visage of a skeleton’s lower jaw. Those eyes swiveled to lock with hers through the closed door, and she noted that they were surrounded by script like the eyes of the Aesir. A moment later he broke the eye contact, just long enough to leave Halina unsure if he had really been looking at her.

Halina forced herself to keep walking and open the doors, relaying Frigga’s instructions to the Einherjar.

“She will see you now, Gazini,” one of them told the man, who rose to his feet with the majesty of a king looking down upon his subjects. His eyes were more placid now, looking into the room as he walked past Halina.

A cold chill swept behind him, and a brief smell of centuries old death came with it.

“Let’s go, kiddo,” her father called from the other end of the waiting room. She hurried over to join him. “Surprised he accepted her invitation. Figured he’d be a shoo-in for Helheim. Most necromancers would jump at the chance to get on Hel’s good side.”

“Who is he?” Halina asked, darting a glance back over her shoulder at the now closed door. “I think he was looking at me through the door.”

“Probably was,” Swein said easily, leading her out of Frigga’s hall. “Gazini the Bloodless. He’s a Top Tier necromancer from the Gullvatr continent.”

Halina shivered at the words. Top Tier Players were almost on the same level as the rulers of the Realms. He almost definitely had the power to look through that wall straight at her.

“No need for you to worry about that,” Swein told her, dropping back to clap a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Not sure how closely you read the rules, but the top three Tiers only compete inside their own Tier. We’re gonna train you up until you can knock a D-Tier on their ass if they’re not careful.”

Father and daughter lapsed into silence after that while he led her through Frigga’s section of Asgard. He had to drag her away from a few of the more intricate sculptures, their beauty great enough to overpower her trepidation over the days' events.

“Here we are,” Swein told her, dark blonde hair tossing and eyepiece flashing in the light as he spun to gesture at a vast arena in front of them. “Frigga’s training hall, dueling grounds, and simulation arena all rolled into one. Magnificent, eh?”

The building towered over the surrounding area, with colorful frescoes decorating every inch of its massive oval walls. Countless alcoves were carved in layers all the way up to the point where the arena’s dome sloped away from them. Each alcove was graced by lifelike statues painted so realistically that it seemed they were simply holding poses.

It took a full minute of walking from the time they entered the shadow of the building until they reached its gates. Sol was barely past the midpoint of the sky.

“We’re gonna start you on combat training,” Swein told her, throwing his hands up after her sudden glare. “Not that I think you need it! I’m just mostly useless outside of combat and dungeon diving, and the other champions already booked up the dungeon simulator for today.”

Halina grumbled slightly at that but didn’t protest otherwise. Swein led here through even more winding corridors past hundreds of doorways until they reached what seemed to be the center of the building. A large grin was etched on his face now as he turned back to her and put his hands on the door handles.

“I know you prefer fighting monsters to people,” Swein said, startling her. “So I arranged something special for you.”

“How—” she started to ask, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Swein cut her off by opening the doors, flooding the hallway they were in with sound.

Beyond the doors, a carpet of sand spread out like a lake. Several varieties of beasts were penned into different parts of the arena along the walls, and they were the source of the cacophony. Tiered seating surrounded the sandy arena floor, rising hundreds of feet into the air. A few people were warming up at the far end as well.

“Ho there you bums!” her father called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. “The guest of honor has finally arrived! Ready the gauntlet!”

“Blow it out your ass, Swein!” one of them jeered back. “Come over here and make us!”

“Oh no you don’t, Hermund!” Swein yelled back, smile never leaving his face. “I told you, if you don’t do this today, your sparring rights are cut off!”

Hermund grumbled for another few seconds, but the rest of the people gathered had moved to the pens containing the beasts. They deftly hopped the fences, wrangling one of the creatures from each of the caves.

“Alright, kiddo,” Swein said, light glinting off his eyepiece again as he turned back to her. “You’re gonna be running through my very own special menu today. I need to get a baseline to devise your training regimen, so go all out for me, got it?”

“How did you know I prefer dungeons to fighting people?” Halina demanded, still glaring in suspicion at her father. “Have you been watching me from up here this whole time?”

“Sounds like you’re ready to me! One full course meal, coming right up!” Swein hollered, unruffled as he turned back to the people holding the beasts. He drew a few runes in the air in front of him, light shining from them until his spell completed. “Hildigunn! Let’s start her with the basics!”

The last of his runes completed, Swein’s spell flowed out from him. Sandstone walls rose from the arena floor, boxing Halina in with a woman holding a large dire wolf by the scruff of its neck. With one hand.

“Let ‘er rip!” Swein shouted, and Hildigunn released the beast. It turned as though to snap at her, but thought better of it once it caught her eye. Hildigunn lifted her chin towards Halina, and the beast shot across the sands with a rapid-fire series of barks.

“We’re gonna have a long talk after this, father!” Halina shouted, her sword and shield materializing in front of her from her inventory. She launched herself towards the wolf, slamming her sword onto her shield in response to its barks.

A mere dire wolf wasn’t a threat to her. She just wanted the battle over quickly to confront her father.

The wolf darted from side to side as it approached, and just from those small motions she determined its attack path. When it hopped to her right side, attempting to avoid the defense her shield provided, her sword nearly tore the animal’s ear off.

The force of her blow drove its attack off the mark, and the follow-up with her shield was devastating. Halina felt the wolf’s ribcage buckle from her attack, but she used the force of the blow to create space rather than overextend. When the pained and enraged beast tried to snap at her, she wasn’t there. Just like that the fight was over.

Whining and growling, the beast’s movements slowed until it fell to the ground. Its body dissolved into mist, and a tiny stream of experience flowed into Halina.

“F-Tier monsters are no match for me, father,” Halina called. “I’m insulted that you would think so.”

“Just a baseline, kiddo,” Swein called back from behind the wall. “We’re just getting started. If you’re not bruised and bleeding by the end of it, I promise to receive your complaints in full!”

The next creature thrown into the cage with her was a massive boar.

There were six more creatures after the boar. She was bruised, bleeding, and wheezing by the time her father’s ‘full course meal’ was finished.