The twin deities clashed their weapons one final time before they both fell to the ground. Freya dropped the orb from exhaustion and watched it roll away. Charlie had finished giving the two cat familiars their head rubs and walked up to the siblings, grabbing the orb from the ground along the way.

 

“You guys done?” Charlie looked had the look of a parent fed up with their rowdy children. The twins nodded their heads yes while still on the ground. “I agree with Freyr, Lady Freya. I think we should put the points into the strength stat.”

 

Freya rolled herself away from Charlie; she was upset with that decision. “HMPH” was the only noise she made. Freyr and Charlie both looked at her with disappointment. “Fine, but I choose your spells then! I’m the master of seidr, I’ll know best what you should use with the limited amount of spells you can memorize.”

 

“You got it, Lady Freya.” Charlie didn’t mind that at all; he wanted to get through as fast as possible. In the past he wouldn't want to participate in things or was too scared to change himself. Taking the first step was like finally accepting the big race of life, and finally meeting at the starting line.

 

Now he just wanted to reach the finish line, but in order to do that he needed to actually get through the race. To be a retainer worthy of being there, worthy of the sacrifice the einherjar made for him. He needed to train with Freyr.

 

“Since you put the bracer on, we are now truly connected. I have embedded you with my power. So, now is the perfect time to crush that orb!” Freya said.

 

As Charlie stared at the orb, he felt a small hint of hesitation in him. The remnants of the old Charlie were still in his mind. A part of him wanted to just tell Freya and Freyr never mind and to send him home (even if he wasn’t human anymore). In the back of his mind he heard these words like static trying to reach out to him.

 

“You’re already here…if…you… turn….back now…you’ll stay…the same!”

 

His eyes widened, and then he squeezed the orb with ferocity. The orb shattered throughout his body. He thought about the stat he wanted to max out at the exact time it broke.

 

His body lit up for five seconds, and then the light disappeared. He didn’t feel different, not at first, it took a few seconds but Charlie muscles started to flex themselves and harden. As his muscles spasmed, he looked down at his body to see if it was changing. He looked the same as he usually did but he could now tell how different his body felt now. He felt strong, he felt like he could fight top athletes in their field and go toe to toe with them.

 

He remembered the dash that Freyr did when Jopheil fell to the ground, Charlie looked at the tree and thought, could I… could I do the same? The old Charlie would have said, “No, who do you think you are? You would just fail and look stupid to everyone else. You're not good enough.”

 

Charlie tightened his fists and dashed to the tree. It felt like he was going in slow motion; he could feel every nerve move in his legs, moving together. It was like lighting, moving from the soles of his feet, all through his legs and thighs. Every step he took made that feeling stronger and helped break his limits of how fast he could go.

 

It felt like he was zooming into the tree on a camera with how fast and smooth the tree was coming into his vision. He reached out and touched the tree with his palm. “ I… did it,” he whispered. The twins, who finally got off the ground, each smiled at the human. For the first time in his life Charlie knew what it meant to have physicality and feel strong.

 

“See? The STR stat was the right call. He needed that boost on his confidence that only true strength could give a man,” Freyr said. He was really rubbing it into his sister’s face.

 

“Shut up, he’s going to be a woman in the Tryfing, anyways… But I’ll concede that it was the correct choice for him. Pick your style next, Charlie, I’ll let you pick that one as well,” she shouted at Charlie after Freyr finished teasing her.

 

Charlie was already thinking about what style to choose while the twins were duking it out. With his decision of maxing STR the best style to choose would be Speed. If he was already this strong and fast, imagine what he could do with the speed style. He also had just gotten a taste of the speed he currently had and wanted to be even faster.

 

He lifted the bracer closer to his face and opened his status screen, he saw the option of the three styles and picked speed style. Another screen appeared, this time asking him “ Are you sure?” He clicked the “Yes” option and his style was set.

 

Freya grabbed the floating seven-sided dice, each side had icons of the other seven roles. Freya then jogged to Charlie… Well, she started to jog and then got a bit tired and just walked the rest of the way. She threw the die to Charlie, who caught it after juggling it a few times.

 

“This part’s important, I can’t tell you what role Inari and her retainer has. The commandments forbid me from actually saying it but I can tell you if the role you roll is one I’m okay with you killing.”

 

Charlie raised his eyebrow. “Isn’t that kind of the same, Lady Freya?”

 

Freya put her arms on her hips and closed her eyes. “It's not the same! If you get Inari’s role, you will see it in my face and in my tone.”

 

“Yeah and she’s a terrible actor too, so you would figure it out right away and get disqualified from the Tryfing!” Freyr shouted from the chariot. He was now petting the two loyal cats.

 

“FREYR!” Freya was red in the face.

 

“No pressure though Charlie!” Freyr shouted back.

 

Charlie held the die in his hand. This whole experience hadn’t been what he imagined it would be. It was only just recently he had a taste of what he hoped it would be like when he maxed out the STR stat. Now in this moment of chance, he could lose it all before he even truly started. Freya would definitely show her emotions on her face if he rolled on Inari’s role.

 

“Damn it…why does it feel like the universe doesn’t want me to change and be a better person… a better me!” He threw the die in frustration, he didn’t care anymore; nothing would come from wailing in despair and endless thought. As the die hit the ground it bounced two times before it spun lightly and then stopped.

 

Freya ran to the die and looked with a face of worry. She let out a big sigh as she picked it up and threw it back to Charlie. This time Charlie was able to catch it with no difficulty, all the icons around the die were now the same. As he stared at the die, a screen popped up out of it.

 

“Your assassination target for the third Tryfing is the tactician role. The tactician does not fight, instead they power warriors from the Fantasia world to battle for them. It is based on their ather level. So a retainer that has a high ATH stat can have four to six warriors protecting them. Good luck, you are going to need it.”

 

Charlie didn’t know whether to feel good or bad about this outcome. “It really feels like the whole universe is against me,” he muttered.

 

Freya gave her retainer a small smile. “Yeah, I know what you mean, Charlie. But you don’t have to kill the tactician, it's optional.”

 

“But if I complete my secondary objective not only would I get to choose another style but at the end of the Tryfing, I can get a reward even though I didn’t win the royale.” Charlie wanted to at least complete the secondary objective. It would prove to himself that he was able to see this through and have really changed as a perso– umm einherjer.

 

As Freya was about to speak, Freyr jumped from the chariot and appeared in front of Charlie. His face was fierce and ready for battle, Charlie had only ever seen the goofy older brother side of Freyr. The person who was right in front of him was a complete stranger. Freyr created a fist and moved his arm to strike at Charlie.

 

Charlie's newly heightened senses allowed him to dodge the fist at the last second, worry and fear appearing on his face. He wanted to speak out to the deity of the Red Sun Faction but was unable to get a word out before Freyr used his other fist and gut punched Charlie, whose feet lifted off the ground.

 

Charlie thought he was in the air floating for ten minutes but really it was about two seconds before Freyr lifted his right leg and kicked Charlie face. He went flying like a rocket, hitting the ground five times and then sliding to a stop.

 

“Get up, Charlie, you’re not ready to complete any objectives the way you are now.” Freyr lifted his right hand and summoned his great sword, Summer’s Edge. Its hilt was gray with fur around it, and looked like it had tusks like a boar. The golden blade had a strong radiant shine to it, just like it’s user. Charlie was on all fours, throwing up blood and still disorientated.

 

“My sister has a goal only you can achieve.” Freyr posed with the sword, waiting for Charlie to get up. His eyes had a killing intent that shook Charlie, his mind raced and the fear sunk in. He could die, right here and right now, and as an einherjer he would go to the eternal oblivion.

 

“And it's my duty to make sure her goal’s become a REALITY!!!” Freyr dashed towards Charlie, pointing Summer’s Edge at him.

 

3rd Tryfing

 

Official judge: Heroic Greek deity, Achilles.

 

Support judge: Angel, Damaris.

 

Chosen deities:

Ra: Demi-God: Darren Donaldson

Lugh: Knight: Ariel Morales

Zhong Kui: Exorcist: Audrey Rhodes

Inari: Polymath: Kento Sanosuke

Freya: Assassin: Charlie Wilson

Nuada: Conqueror: João Machado

Minerva: Tactician ???

Team Arc-Angel: Hero Luther Satenly

 

Fantasia world: The world known as Helioan

 

Starting year: not yet decided.

 

23:45:65