Apex Negativa, inhabiting the borrowed flesh of Jack Paul, moved with a confidence rooted in arrogance. Veritas Alpha and Albright had departed, leaving Olaf exposed, still reeling from the sudden spiritual upheaval. AN smiled, a grim, unsettling curve on Paul's face. He was operating at near full capacity in this shell, a vessel powerful enough for the task at hand: keeping the Raven God suppressed.
He strode into the temporary office space at Olaf's training center, seeing the massive warrior standing near his desk, having just shed his outer layers of clothing in preparation for what he assumed would be a prolonged confrontation with the sleazy trainer. Olaf, seemingly focused, was retrieving a long object from beneath his desk.
"You think a mortal weapon will help you?" AN sneered, his voice amplified by Paul's larynx, echoing slightly in the sudden silence of the room. "Even if you somehow injure this borrowed shell it will do you no good."
Olaf looked up, and the look in his eyes caused a flicker of something akin to surprise—a glitch in AN's perfect calculation—to pass through the borrowed host. Olaf didn't answer with words. He said, "Mortal?" and with a sudden, shocking burst of motion, he hurled the weapon.
It wasn't a clumsy throw. The spear, wickedly sharp and ancient looking, moved faster than any projectile AN had seen in this realm, bypassing the Jack Paul body entirely as if it had politely stepped aside. AN smirked, already calculating how he would depower the spiritual afterimage. "You missed," he gloated through Paul's lips.
Then, the spear stopped mid-air, hanging impossibly still for a fraction of a second before arcing back with devastating speed, not toward the desk, but directly toward the borrowed shell.
"Odin owns all of you," Olaf's voice boomed, layered now with something ancient and resonating that shook the very air.
The spear struck Jack Paul directly in the back of the head exiting through the eye socket.
AN recoiled internally, a violent, jarring sensation that spoke of profound violation. He was thrown backward into the deeper recesses of his own consciousness, leaving the maimed body of Paul to recoil. The voice that managed to emanate from the ruined face was laced with genuine shock and a sliver of uncontrolled fury.
"It can't be! How would you know where to find that and how to use it? Why did I not feel its presence? I have rounded up most of your old relics, but Gungnir is one that I could never find."
Olaf steadied himself, gripping the shaft of the returning spear, which pulsed faintly with an otherworldly energy. He knew he couldn't finish the job—not yet. He was awake, but the deep chasm of years lay between his memory and his full power. He settled into a combat stance, preparing to throw the weapon again, aiming not just to wound the borrowed shell, but to shatter it permanently before AN could fully possess it again.
As Olaf drew his arm back for the next throw, the side door burst open. Standing there, framed by the sudden burst of light from the hallway, were Shane Albright and Veritas Alpha, currently operating under the guise of Bjorn the accountant.
The spear Gungnir flew again, impossibly straight, guided by an ancient will now bolstered by the presence of the old gods' representative nearby. It struck Jack Paul squarely in the eye socket again. This time, the celestial signature powering the body sputtered, whined, and vanished.
Apex Negativa had been ejected. The meat suit that was Jack Paul slumped silently to the floor.
Silence descended, broken only by the heavy breathing of the three beings left standing: Shane, Bjorn, and Olaf. They were mortal and celestial representatives standing in a blood-spattered room.
Olaf didn't celebrate. He looked at Shane and Bjorn with a heavy weight in his eyes. "You have not won," AN's voice echoed, this time carrying the weight of realization rather than threat. "You have only made me see you as the biggest threat I have to deal with."
Bjorn, ever the seasoned celestial, felt the sudden, sharp withdrawal of AN's malevolent energy. He looked at Shane, a silent question passing between them: *Can we even stand against him now that he knows we are fully aware?*
Before either could formulate a response, the environment dissolved. A searing, blinding light enveloped them. Sound vanished, replaced by a pressure that felt like being compressed inside starlight. The familiar surroundings of the training center were gone, replaced by an infinite, quiet void—a space that felt constructed entirely of pure thought and ancient energy.
They were standing together in a space not reachable by mere mortals, summoned by the collective of the old gods. Shane, the construction worker, felt his system flash warnings of incompatible reality, sheer terror battling with the XP reward he knew this event warranted.
The assembled consciousnesses—the Old Gods—did not present themselves in distinct forms, but their collective will bore down upon the three representatives. Their immediate focus was Olaf.
*"The structure must be rebuilt, Raven God,"* a voice, or perhaps the resonance of many voices, echoed in the void. *"Apex Negativa's manipulations have tethered the potential of this cycle. You must restructure your celestial conditions in the most beneficial ways to combat him. We need power that mirrors his chaos but promotes structure opposite to his design."*
The Old Gods launched into a rapid-fire consultation, a celestial strategy session designed to maximize Olaf's returning power in the current age. They proposed convoluted conditions: ones directly opposite to AN's current chaos model, others mimicking AN's current power structure only to siphon it away, and still others based on abstract concepts so esoteric that AN might never correlate them with celestial mandates.
Olaf listened patiently, his massive frame serene amidst the torrent of advice. The Old Gods spoke as if addressing a newly awakened being, fragile and newly returned from the long sleep of reincarnation.
Olaf smiled, a genuine, deep expression that finally reached his eyes. He took a slow, deliberate breath that felt unnecessary in this strange space, yet symbolic.
"With respect, honored ones," Olaf began, his voice steady, cutting through the celestial clamor. "I have not recently reawakened from a deep celestial sleep."
He paused, letting the weight of his next words settle.
"I have been awake, but suppressing my celestial powers from flowing for over a decade. I have retained my memories and knowledge."
The pressure from the Old Gods eased instantly, their collective attention focusing solely on him.
"I avoided fully awakening because, frankly, I was disheartened. There was no sign of you, and the world was descending into the chaos I had fought against before. When I gained awareness, I was a young adult in this vessel. My *parents*—the people inhabiting this body's line—stuck to the old ways. They maintained the connections, which is why my memories did not flood back suddenly. I gained them back fully over the past year or so."
Olaf shifted slightly, his hand resting near where Gungnir had been. "Now, in my early thirties, I possess my full knowledge. More importantly, I now understand that I am needed here, and I am not alone. Veritas Alpha is active, and now, Shane Albright is moving the necessary conditions into place."
He looked toward Bjorn. "Your condition, Veritas Alpha, covers the necessary *improvement*—the upward trajectory, the stability for those who choose it. Shane's growth in generating stable, wealth-creating environments aids this greatly."
Olaf then looked down at his own hands, flexing his fingers as if grasping an unseen concept. "My conditions must cover those who are being intentionally cast down. All those currently trapped under Apex Negativa's boot—the disenfranchised core members of society, the working poor, the exploited. The concepts must be tied to the old ways, but altered to match today's fractured society, giving hope to the remnants of the Norse people, the Native Americans, and all others suffering his structural malice. I must create the platform for their complete spiritual resilience."
He met Bjorn's gaze, a new partnership solidifying in that moment. "This will require thought and meditation once I stabilize my anchor fully. We can plan tactical delays against AN's attacks, but the choice of conditions is mine, and mine alone. I have put this off long enough."
Veritas Alpha stepped forward, his composure unwavering but his expression softened by profound relief. He extended his hand. "I am so glad you are back, my friend. It has been a long time."
Olaf clasped the offered hand/forearm, a genuine smile returning. The connection between the two celestials felt warm, like a long-absent anchor finally securing itself.
Olaf released Bjorn and turned to Shane, patting the construction worker's shoulder with surprising gentleness. "Young man, I see great things in you."
Shane Albright blinked rapidly, the influx of knowledge—celestials, AI systems, extra-dimensional spaces, mandatory conditions—threatening to overload his brain even with his leveled-up system active. He thought, *What have I gotten myself into?* His system, despite being overwhelmed, managed to deliver a single, curt message: *Reward: Host fully integrated with allied celestial leadership structure. New Skill Acquisition Imminent.*
The divine space, having served its purpose, began to thin. The pressure lifted, and the next sensation was the sudden return of gravity and the slightly stale odor of the training center office. Shane, Bjorn and Olaf stood where Jack Paul's corpse had lain moments before.
Olaf moved swiftly, getting rid of the borrowed skin of Paul (now an empty corpse) and cleaning up signs of the disturbance. He had to be thorough as to not leave anything AN could leverage against them.
Bjorn, already scanning his surroundings for residual AN influence, kept a constant, protective watch on Shane. "We must assume AN knows everything now, Olaf. He saw Gungnir, he saw Shane and me arrive. He knows you are awake and dangerous. He will move aggressively."
Olaf nodded, already focused on the next step of establishing his conditions. "He will try to corrupt the environment Shane is building. He will target the foundational connections Shane is making with the workers, with the communities. That is where my conditions must intersect with his methods—but in opposition."
Shane, still reeling but recovering rapidly thanks to the system's immediate positive feedback, spoke up, his voice finding its familiar, grounded tone over the celestial buzzing. "He's already attacking those foundations. The chaos, the drugs, the political divide. My crew is trying to build stability right in the path of that influence. We have Gary sober, Marcos secure for now, Saul running training, Ben expanding…"
He paused, realizing the scale of the battle now. "Since AN knows you're awake, he'll target the hope we're starting to build. Especially the reservation work, the training programs, building up people who are explicitly *not* reliant on his system of government control."
Bjorn placed a steadying hand on Shane's arm. "That is the nexus, Shane. Your business, your localized fixes, are creating the conditions that will allow Olaf's philosophy to take root. We need to keep the fight localized to slow AN down while Olaf meditates and solidifies those mandates."
Olaf met Shane's eyes. "You have proven yourself, Albright. You are not just a catalyst; you are becoming a necessary anchor. For now, I must meditate to cement my power. I will remain close, but the tactical engagements fall to you and Veritas Alpha. Use the system Shane. It is your lens into this reality."
Just as they started to discuss security, a familiar, jarring sensation overtook Shane. The air shimmered as the screen popped up resonating with a powerful and sudden jolt of celestial energy. "Choice - Reward:** 5 Levels Up & 2 New Skills Unlocked *or* All Current Skill Levels Upgraded To Max."