“What does it all mean?” Björn said, chugging his coffee before smashing a few more cookies into his mouth.

  “I’m not sure about the golden ones,” Sporus said, rubbing his smooth chin, since none of the tunnels were marked. “But the black tunnels I know are for sewage. I’ve been to the one that feeds into the Emperor’s palace.”

  “That’s why you have such a crappy attitude,” the Trickster said. Sporus only glared at him.

  “This is far more expensive than I realized,” Titus said, looking at the map with wonder and a mix of horror.

  “Any idea of its purpose?” Mýra asked as everyone looked up from the map.

  At this, Karl spoke up, explaining how he had seen golden dust particles emerge after someone died in the Colosseum or performed something magical.

  “I saw it too,” Kara said, helping to ease the doubts of the others. Mýra, however, looked completely convinced, as she had been seeing more than just golden dust, but threads, almost everywhere she went.

  “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Livia said, frowning as she looked at the map. “That doesn’t usually happen when someone dies or performs any special abilities.”

  “There’s something wrong with the Colosseum,” Mýra said, leaning her head into Björn’s chest as he held her tightly. “It could be linked to these bracelets.”

  At the mention of them, everyone looked down at their own. It would make sense, given that it was the only new thing they carried with them into the arena.

  “We’ll need to investigate this further,” Titus said. “But after a long night’s rest, of course. I was busy with the ingots that you left behind, Karl. I think you’ll like what I made you.”

  Titus excused himself to retrieve whatever he had crafted, and when he returned, he did not disappoint.

  “These are for you two,” he said, handing both Karl and Sporus a pack of semi-translucent emerald arrows. They pulsed slightly and had green vapor trails smoking from their barbed, leaf-shaped heads. “These are from the venom core ingots from those scorpions. It should help you deliver a hefty dose of poison onto your enemies. I’ll make you a fresh batch after every floor, so you have enough. You accumulated far more ingots than I thought you would.”

  Item: Venomcore Fanghead Arrows (Dei) — Damage: 18 per arrow. Applies Venom (stacking), dealing 15 poison damage per second for 5 seconds per stack, up to 5 stacks, with reapplication refreshing duration. Ignores 35% of natural and light mechanical armor (fur, hide, scales, chitin, plating). Venom damage persists through regeneration and healing effects at 50% effectiveness.

  “Thank you,” Karl and Sporus said at the same time, awkwardly looking at each other before putting the items into their inventories.

  “This is for you,” Titus said to Björn, heaving a giant set of armor of blackened iron plates intermixed with vivid green veins, which could only have come from the scorpion ingots.

  Everything about it screamed Roman, as it looked more like a heavy set of armor for a Roman gladiator, especially the helmet, which Titus explained was very Corinthian in nature, with narrow eye slits that allowed Björn to see. On either side of the helm were the two ravens associated with Odin, Huginn and Muninn, though the central chest bore a Roman eagle.

  “There are even steam vents to release pressure along the pauldrons,” Titus explained, eagerly describing every single detail about the armor set, like a child showing off a school project. “You won’t be staggering anytime soon,” he said with a proud smile, “thanks to the Juggernaut Hoofsteel Ingot effects. And you can say goodbye to the days of being poisoned.”

  Björn stood up and, not knowing what to say, locked arms with the large Roman blacksmith. The loud smack that came from the two muscly giants was enough to strain Karl’s and Kara’s ears. “Thank you,” he said.

  “Of course,” Titus replied before they sat back down.

  “I’m guessing that last one is for me,” the Trickster said, pointing to the much smaller set of juggernaut steel plates shaped like the outline of a squirrel.

  “It is,” Titus said. He promptly grabbed the squirrel by the back and, in one unceremonious move, attached the plates onto the Trickster, where they clicked perfectly into place. The new upgrade made the Trickster look buff, and the squirrel immediately stopped trying to complain when he realized how much bigger he looked.

  “I kind of like this,” the Trickster said, flexing his metallic biceps, which now looked slightly bigger.

  “And put these on,” Titus said, handing him four claws that looked exactly like the Trickster’s current set, except these looked like the Venomcore Ingots, with green fluids sloshing in each of the claw tips.

  “Ooh,” the Trickster said as he replaced each claw with the poison ones. “This will be fun for some hit-and-run techniques.” Then he looked at Karl with a sadistic smile. “Want to play a game of tag?”

  “No.”

  Karl and his friends thanked Titus repeatedly for the new armor. As they did, Karl was thankful that his strange Title ability from destroying the Dwarven machine Brokk had allowed them to get so many special ingots.

  He had a feeling they would need them tomorrow, as the games only seemed to be getting deadlier.

  The next morning, Karl woke up to an empty bed after another night enjoying the fruits of marriage with Kara. He was surprised to see that she was already up and about, given how late they had gone to bed.

  But since their minds were always connected via Pack Link, he could see, feel, and hear everything she was doing as if it were himself doing it, especially since the home was calm and not chaotic like the streets of Rome were the day that he thought he’d lost her.

  Kara carefully sharpened her blade with the magical Brokkr’s Whetstone that Karl had gifted to her long ago. She didn’t really need a sharpened sword, as she had only used it to help take down the factory overseer, but it still felt good to make it as razor-thin as she could. Plus, every time she used it, it added a three-hour buff to her blade, increasing its damage, armor penetration, and critical hit chance.

  Though as she delicately worked, she couldn’t help but remember Titus’s conversation with her about the fine line she had to walk between becoming a mother and staying a warrior. Kara could become a mother today if she wanted to, with the Sudden Spring Tonic. But she in no way felt prepared.

  Best to not think about it right now.

  As she worked, Titus was in the middle of reinforcing Karl’s Tentacle Bow, which Kara had given to the Roman blacksmith to improve its durability. He was up at the same time she had gotten up—which was rather early that morning—as she was eager for the battle to come.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t sleep in longer,” Titus said, breaking the silence and casting a curious glance at Kara.

  Before she could respond, Constantia came into the room holding something behind her back and looking at Kara with curious eyes.

  “I find it hard to sleep before battle,” Kara admitted, swiping the whetstone across her blade with perfected practice, more as stress relief than anything else.

  “Is it for your Valkyrie quest?” Constantia asked as she hovered close to her father. She must have been snooping.

  Kara stopped mid-swipe and turned to look at the girl in shock. “How did you know about that?”

  Constantia blushed. “Justus speculated the other day,” she said, looking down at her toes as if embarrassed to be so forward. “He thinks that you’ll become one once the games are over. He read about it in one of his books.”

  “Which I think I saw you reading,” her father added, patting her lovingly on the back while she blushed and didn’t refute.

  Kara squeezed the whetstone in her hand, not sure what to say. “It’s true,” she said softly, looking down at the Sólbrandr blade, which gleamed with perfection. “I’m a lot closer to the glory than I’ve ever been. Every adventure I’ve had with Karl has propelled me further than when I was alone.”

  Titus gave a stiff smile as he looked at her before returning to the mucousy bow. “You remind me of someone. I used to fight with a man named Julius Caesar. He, too, chased after glory. But that became his pure obsession, and it took everything from him.” Titus turned around and leaned against his workbench as he looked caringly at Kara, bow in hand. “It’s not a bad thing to chase after glory, but let it not consume you. It takes far more than it gives. And in the end, more often than not, it robs you of the joys right in front of you.”

  Titus ruffled Constantia’s shoulder with his free hand, emphasizing his point. His eyes beamed with pride at his adoptive daughter.

  Kara shuffled awkwardly on her feet, not knowing what to say.

  “Here, I made this for you as a good luck charm,” Constantia said, handing Kara a handcrafted wooden Valkyrie doll.

  Kara’s breath caught as she held the doll, which looked almost exactly like her.

  “I’ve got my own matching set,” Constantia said with a smile. “Father helped me to make it while you were, uh, bathing. It’ll help you to become one,” she promised.

  “Thank you,” Kara said, tearing up as she hugged Constantia, feeling torn between the coming motherhood and her quest for glory.

  As she returned to her sword, which hummed with fire, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from its deadly edge as she thought of Constantia and how much love her parents had for her. One wrong move in the arena, and it would be over, not only for her and Karl, but for their child.

  Given that Baldr’s prophetic doom for her was to be dealt by the Emperor, there was a razor-thin chance that she would never be able to experience what Titus and Livia had.

  Unless she became a Valkyrie first.

  With that, she swept the Brokkr Whetstone angrily across the blade, determined more than ever to pursue her glory.

  25

  UNDERWATER ARENA

  By the time Karl got down to the kitchen—where he planned to eat whatever Livia and her slaves had made them and possibly whip up a few snacks for the coming arena—he was surprised to see both Sporus and Livia walking in from outside, followed by two young male slaves; one was carrying several fresh salmon and a host of spicy herbs, while the other carried a bundle of glowing items which were hard to make out.

  “Oh, good, you’re finally up,” Sporus said, roughly grabbing the salmon from the slave next to him and shoving them into Karl’s hands. “Took you guys long enough to go to sleep last night.”

  Karl instantly blushed and refused to respond to that comment. “What’s this for?” he asked, nearly taking a savage bite out of the fish from how hungry he was from his werewolf nature.

  Sporus cleared his throat. “While you were, uh, resting, I sneaked into the Colosseum to see what the Emperor had in store for you today.”

  The Trickster, lying lazily on the couch, farted before speaking. “Did it involve Pluto and some chariots?”

  Sporus closed his eyes, sighing. “No. This one will be underwater. So we are going to need something to help us breathe.”

  “Oh, great,” Karl said, looking down at the salmon. “So he plans to drown us?”

  Livia shook his head. “He’ll more than likely give you some ability to breathe, though it won’t be as powerful as anything you can come up with, especially with some of these ingredients we got from an enchanting friend of ours.”

  “Magnus still overcharged us,” Sporus muttered. “But she’s right. Your cooking ability is high enough that it should grant us a tremendous advantage.”

  “How long do we have?” Karl asked as they made their way to the kitchen and plopped down all the ingredients onto the counter.

  “About an hour,” Sporus said, checking his mechanical watch, which still amazed Karl to see; he had gotten so used to the more primitive world of the Vikings that the appearance of modern technologies seemed so foreign. “Think you can do it? We can have a few slaves help you if you need.”

  Karl’s eyes narrowed, slightly insulted as his werewolf energy bristled at the playful slight. “Of course I can, and I won’t be needing their assistance, thank you.”

  As opposed to slavery as Karl was, he also didn’t want them getting in the way if he was going to cook fast. Only Kara could work in sync with him if she joined, which he hoped she would.

  Since time was of the essence, Karl straight away washed his hands in cold water and got to work selecting the largest two iron pots for the feast he had in mind. The salmon meant that a fish stew made the most sense, and given they would be fighting underwater, a snack that could be eaten while moist, like a blood pudding, made the most sense.

  I agree, Kara thought as she slipped into the kitchen to join him while Livia and Sporus departed for the living room, where the others were. Here, let me help with that.

  Kara effortlessly activated her Baldr-blessed sword to stick under the two cauldrons to heat them.

  “Thank you,” Karl said, giving her a quick kiss.

  The two of them got to work cooking the large, magical breakfast. Due to their mental synchronization, they didn’t have to communicate who was doing what. Karl took the lead in cutting the salmon into hefty chunks and deboning them, while Kara swiftly diced onions, turnips, and other vegetables for the stew. While they worked, Karl threw in some of the whale fat Livia had bought into the pots to get them to melt, causing his and Kara’s mouths to water.

  In very little time, they had everything prepped.

  With speed, Karl added the chopped vegetables into the fish pot, allowing them to simmer a bit before he added in the fish bones and a pale of fresh water to act as the base. As he worked on that, Kara drained the blood pouches that Livia had on hand, which she had been saving for medicinal purposes and was semi-reluctant to part with. While Kara stirred the blood and added flour to thicken it, Karl let his mind drift to observe what everyone was up to in the living room, which was fully alive with activity now that the kids were up.

  Titus was the only one not present in the room, as he was still hammering away in the forge.

  Justus was running around the room with his metal robot unicorn, making it “fly” in the air while it trailed a rainbow from its mane and tail. Björn and Mýra smiled as they watched on the couch, and they were closer together than before, showing much more PDA like they used to.

  Sporus, drinking a cup of coffee, sat next to Livia, who was braiding Constantia’s hair, which made the daughter appear more like a woman and less than a teenager. The young Roman girl was massaging the Trickster’s metal neck as he lay in her lap, but her real attention was on the gloomy archer whom she berated with endless questions, oddly about his favorite holidays.

  “Who did you bring during Lupercalia?” she asked softly.

  Sporus spat his coffee from his mouth, apologizing to Livia for the outburst. “Uh, I didn’t celebrate that.”

  Whatever the holiday was seemed to make the Trickster explode with laughter. Even Livia quietly scolded her daughter.

  “What?” Constantia asked innocently. “You and father had a babysitter while you left to celebrate.”

  “I’ll be your plus one for the next one, Mr. Valentine!” the Trickster laughed, shaking violently in Constantia’s lap. “That’s if she doesn’t snatch you up first.”

  Karl looked at Kara with confusion, but she only shrugged, smiling at the awkward tension between the two.

  He reminds me a lot of you when we first met, Kara thought to him as Karl carefully inserted the salmon chunks into the simmering stew. Karl was about to argue, but was stopped when Kara relayed her first memories of him, which were awkward to say the least, especially the ones where she and Björn found him naked in the forest.

  Kara giggled at that one.

  As Karl continued working on the blood pudding, he added in beef fat since that was more prevalent here in Rome, along with salt, leeks, iron root powder, and a sprinkle of ash. Karl got to work dealing with the magical ingredients that Livia had gotten from this so-called Magnus.

  The first was some ground shavings of a chalky white pearl that seemed to have an inner glow. He tried tasting it, but it had no flavor and left his tongue numb. Still, he found his breath came easier, and it didn’t require as much breathing for him to feel normal. He added a pinch of that into the stew, as he wouldn’t need a whole lot of it.

  Next, he took dried-out kelp that was dark green-black, with veins that looked like muscle. It had a very briny taste, but it would help with giving them enhanced movement underwater.

  Finally, he added another strange vegetable that had a silvery-green texture and reminded Karl of a mint leaf. He added these skillfully, like a master chef, which he was, and allowed it to simmer with the salmon.

  Karl almost dropped the ladle, though, when a scream came from Justus in the living room. He and Kara both turned to look at what happened when their eyes settled upon Mýra, who was holding the robot unicorn toy.

  Justus must have given it to her to show her, but the rainbow glowing effects from its mane and butt were seemingly gone. Mýra stuttered. “I don’t know what happened. I just touched its rainbow tail, and I could feel it. And the next thing I knew, it broke.”

  Tears welled in Justus’s eyes as he looked at his now very dead robot unicorn. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to convince himself.

  Just then, Titus came barging in from his forge, looking for a threat, holding a glowing-hot hammer in one hand while Felix poked his head out from behind the large man with a concerned look. But when Titus’s eyes found his son and the inert toy, he lowered his hammer, putting it on a nearby counter before approaching his son.

  “Here, let me see if I can fix that,” he said, ruffling his son’s hair before grabbing the toy from Mýra.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mýra said, looking sorrowfully at Justus.

  “It’s okay,” Titus said, flipping the toy over in his hands. “It just seemed like it was a luck enchantment that caused rainbows to sprout from it. Nothing I can’t fix.”