The internal interface flashed before Shane's eyes: a daunting choice laid bare. Five levels up—a jump that would catapult him years ahead in his ascent, but the unknown cost in terms of potential upgrades was a heavy consideration. Alternatively, maxing out his existing skills: Super Speed, Super Strength, Foresight, and Copy. Those were the tools he used daily, the very abilities that had pulled him through the impossible deadlines and the skirmishes with Apex Negativa's inept minions. To permanently enhance those foundational powers would offer immediate, tangible defense against the growing threats but with the 5 level ups came 2 new skills - it was an unknown variable. It could grant great powers or it could be just some irrelevant new skills that barely tipped the scale.
He toggled his thoughts toward Gary first, relying on the clarity his system provided even when speaking to others peripherally aware of the system's existence.
"Gary, I got a reward prompt. It's either five levels straight up along with 2 new skills which I don't know the full implications of, or maxing out Speed, Strength, Foresight, and Copy," Shane stated, keeping his tone deliberately casual as he leaned against the rental truck in the lot of the new rural site Gary, Amanda, and Ben were preparing.
Gary, who was currently sorting through a stack of freshly ordered blueprints, paused, wiping a smudge of dust from his forearm. He had been clean for months now, and the quiet dedication he now possessed was startling compared to the wreck he'd been. He still didn't grasp the mechanics, but he understood the value gains.
"Shane, look, I don't know what those levels do, but you're already moving like the wind, and you can stop a truck with your bare hands now," Gary said, considering the options with surprising logic. "Maxing out what works seems safer. Those skills already saved us. If you can make those top-tier, you'll be even harder to touch. Especially Speed and Strength. That's what you need for defense." Gary smiled "Or if you wanted you could put on a cape and fly around with those skills maxed out."
Shane nodded, grateful for Gary's straightforward, work-ethic-based assessment. It was grounded, which was what he needed when dealing with metaphysical decisions.
Next, he shifted his focus, reaching out to the one person who understood the celestial game better than anyone currently active in his sphere—Veritas Alpha, who was currently assuming the identity of Johnny John, maintaining surveillance near the northern reservations. The contact was instantaneous, bypassing physical distance entirely—a function of the system's integration with celestial pathways.
*Contacting: Johnny John.*
Veritas Alpha responded immediately. *"Shane. I felt a shift in the background resonance. You've acquired a prize."* VA maintained the gruff, experienced tone of the older Native American security chief he currently inhabited.
"It's a choice between leveling blindly or upgrading the foundation. Thoughts?" Shane transmitted mentally.
*"The system is designed to reward advancement, Shane. As you get higher, the standard XP curve becomes punitive. These rewards are vital velocity checks. If you choose the levels and 2 new skills you gain unknown advantages—perhaps new avenues of celestial engagement, new abilities entirely. If you max the core skills, you become exceptionally proficient in the known quantities. Frankly, I don't know precisely what unlocking five levels at this stage entails for your integration process, but skill development is a significant advantage against AN's minions. Remember, this is likely a reward for your success with the Holmgang and Olaf's subsequent ritual. This is not the last quest-reward structure you will encounter."*
Shane mulled over VA's words. The unknown potential of new skills outweighed the known boost to his existing repertoire, especially since his current skills were already performing beyond expectation.
"I'm going for the levels and the new skills," Shane decided. "We need the unknown variables on our side."
*"Wise choice, young celestial proxy. Proceed."*
Shane initiated the selection with a focused thought. The world around him—the dusty parking lot, the sound of Ben and Amanda wrestling with lumber twenty yards away—seemed to dim, replaced by the raw surge of energy flooding his core.
The system interface erupted in light.
**LEVEL UP INITIATED. +5 LEVELS GRANTED.**
The physical sensation was immediate and brutal. It was not just a surge; it was a violent, microscopic reconstruction. His cells screamed as they expanded, his bone density increased with a jarring, deep-seated ache that bypassed muscle soreness entirely. It felt like rapidly accelerating a growth spurt followed by the hardening of rock within his very structure. He gasped, dropping the tablet he was holding. His rugged, weather-beaten shell was being polished, refined, reformed into something aesthetically perfect. His physique transformed from that of a strong manual laborer to that of an elite, perfectly sculpted athlete whose form seemed carved from marble, yet retained a rugged intensity that suggested unparalleled functional strength.
As the pain reached its peak, a sequence of notifications flashed over the receding white light.
**NEW SKILL GAINED: TELEPORTATION.** *The user can teleport to anywhere they can see or that they know intimately (personal spaces or someplace they are very familiar with). Level one - Limit of 3 uses per day.*
Shane only registered the word *Teleportation* through the blinding agony, his conscious mind lagging behind the physical transformation.
Immediately following:
**NEW SKILL GAINED: TIME TRAVEL.** *The user can manipulate time. Level one - 1 minute forward or backward. One use per 24 hours with a cooldown of 3 days.*
The reconstruction ceased as abruptly as it began, leaving Shane breathless, leaning heavily against the truck door. The world snapped back into sharp focus, but now, *he* was different. His senses were impossibly acute; he could hear the fine grit sliding across the metal roof far up on the neighboring job site.
He consciously toggled his internal skill menu, reading the descriptions carefully now that the pain had subsided to a dull, deep-seated power hum. Teleportation. Time Travel. He had effectively gained two instruments of high-level manipulation.
"This is amazing," he murmured aloud, flexing fingers that now felt impossibly strong and precise. "With these skills, it will make it easier to defend from AN's minions."
Even with this massive boost, he knew the reality: a direct confrontation with Apex Negativa remained a non-starter. His survival relied on foresight and buying enough time for Olaf or Veritas Alpha to intervene.
He reached out to VA again. *"VA. I took the levels. Teleportation and Time Travel."*
Veritas Alpha's response was immediate and tinged with satisfaction, He had felt a sharp, momentary pull on his own nascent celestial energies—a reaction to the power transfer.
*"I felt the surge, Shane. A potent expenditure, but clearly worthwhile. You unlocked powers far beyond mere physical augmentation. Know this: every step you take, every righteous action you commit, strengthens the alignment. Without your insistence on pursuing Olaf, without the foundation you've built with your crew, my own abilities would be constrained. You are the hinge upon which this world turns right now."*
They quickly discussed integrating these new tools into their defense strategy. The key was Olaf; his newly defined conditions were complex, but if they aligned Shane's growth with Olaf's needs, they could maximize both their celestial gains and maintain defense against AN.
*"We must coordinate closely with Olaf once he sets his full conditions. Your role will be to meet those conditions through your business success and direct actions, feeding both mine and his required power structures."* VA signed off, leaving Shane to process the magnitude of his physical leap.
***
Elsewhere, in a location shielded by layers of ritual purification and deep isolation—the kind of place that dampened even celestial awareness—Olaf sat in the quiet center of his self-made meditative space. The sage smoke curled upward, thick with the mingling scents of ancient Norse protective herbs and the earthier tones favored by the local spiritual traditions he respected.
He focused inward, breathing deeply, attempting to anchor his consciousness as he prepared to define the terms of his renewed celestial engagement. He needed structure—a framework to channel influence in the modern world, one that didn't rely the same way as the old days on the concepts of Wisdom, War, Death, and Magic as primary power sources.
As his thoughts calmed, the sheer, sharp solitude of his temporary existence hit him. He reached out, not focusing on power, but on connection.
A profound sense of loss washed over him, leading him directly to the image of his counterpart in the cycle of reincarnation. His wife.
In the language and lore of the old Norse, her essence was *Frigg*—the loving, wise anchor. In the fragmented traditions he'd encountered among the indigenous people, she manifested in countless maternal archetypes: Earth Mother/Weaver, Spider Grandmother, White Bead Woman, Sky Women, and Corn Mother.
The message was clear, resonant in the depths of his restored celestial awareness: *Find her.*
At that exact moment, across town, Shane Albright—still reeling from the intense, muscle-tearing process of upgrading his physical shell—was explaining the basics of his new *Teleportation & Time Travel* skill and explaining why he suddenly looked different to a shocked Gary.
As he concluded his briefing, a fresh, urgent notification seized his attention, overlaid neatly onto his vision of the suburban landscape.
**NEW QUEST RECEIVED: FIND THE CELESTIAL FRIGG**
**REWARD: MAX OUT 2 SKILLS FULLY**
Shane blinked hard, the pain of his transformation barely a phantom ache now. "What am I now? The celestial detective?" he muttered, running a hand over his newly streamlined jawline. He thought back to the insane power fluctuation he'd received for finding Olaf, the sheer significance of the reward tied to one obscure fighter. This was the same mechanism.
"How am I supposed to find this celestial? Put her photo on a milk carton?" He felt a flicker of dark humor, quickly suppressed. "It was pure luck that I saw the energy signature of Olaf and things ended the way they did. That reward was significant. I will need to ask Veritas Alpha if he has any idea where to start."
Olaf, meanwhile, continued his deep meditation, his mind aligning with the celestial frequencies. The old conditions had been necessary for a time of tribal dominance and overt metaphysical conflict. Now, the war against AN was subtle, infrastructural, a battle for the soul of infrastructure, finance, and social conduct. He needed conditions that actively counteracted AN's established systems of division and inertia.
He filtered through possibilities, aiming to siphon power from the very activities AN encouraged, or steal authority from areas AN considered beneath his notice. Sports—the easiest siphon, as AN often manipulated outcomes there for minor chaos, but Olaf saw potential for massive positive influence. Gambling—AN controlled the narrative of vice; Olaf could claim the spoils of accidental good fortune.
After what felt like an eternity of internal negotiation between divine duty and present-day reality, Olaf settled on the framework for his re-entry.
He would anchor his celestial abilities to conditions that directly opposed AN's methods of societal rot:
1. **Socialization and Nature:** Power gained when people actively spend *social time* in fresh air instead of isolated indoors on electronics. This included sporting events, public protests (specifically those draining AN's chaos energy), and shared outdoor activity.
2. **Sanctification of Life:** Power when anyone actively *saves someone's life*—overdoses, accidents, conscious choice to preserve another human being. Extra potency for self-sacrifice.
3. **Clarity of Sight:** Power derived from anyone who sees *through the noise* of binary political division, recognizing AN's red vs. blue structure as a distraction designed to prevent unity.
4. **Active Altruism:** Power anytime someone takes up a cause to *help those unable to help themselves*—children, the elderly, addicts, the downtrodden.
5. **Adherence to Old Ways:** Power generated anytime anyone *puts belief* in the ancestral, non-chaotic spiritual tenets.
6. **Spectacle and Competition:** Power generated by *sporting events*—athletes and spectators alike. This was a direct attempt to claim the entertainment sphere AN used to dull the populace.
7. **Uptick of Fortune:** A significant boost for anyone *winning large amounts of money* through gambling, lotteries, or contests—a direct siphon on the financial manipulation that often fueled AN's control.
8. **Conversion:** Power gained specifically from the *conversion of followers* from siding with Apex Negativa (either side) to following Olaf, acknowledging AN as fundamentally wrong.
*These conditions,* Olaf thought, feeling the structure solidify around him, *should draw immense power, especially in conjunction with Veritas Alpha's guidance.*
He knew finding Frigg was essential. She, too, was in the cycle, likely buried deep. A fiercely protective, home-focused maternal figure—the antithesis of AN's chaos agents. Freya, on the other hand, was Olaf's wild card. He hadn't sensed her presence at all among the few known entities present when he met with the old gods. Freya was a warrior. A multifaceted goddess who is both nurturing and fierce, beautiful but also a formidable warrior and sorceress and a Master of seiðr, a form of Norse magic involving foresight and destiny weaving, which she taught to Odin (Olaf). With her conditions she would be powerful in these times if she wasn't in the reincarnation cycle. If they found her then the hard part would be to convince her to help. Her and Odin (Olaf) together held a key that could give them a huge advantage over Apex Negativa. To convince her they first must find Frigg.
************************************