DESTINY GAMES

"In the foreign battlefield, there is no demarcation of power. It is one army against another. Forget about meeting champions; you might even meet demigods and true gods. You and your whole cabal can be wiped out with a sneeze."

Wrath began laughing as it said, "You might think you would be about to manage ten years, but you won't last an hour before you die. The foreign battlefield is a meat grinder. It is not fun and games with rules to determine engagement."

"Even if you manage to survive for up to ten years, you might not get to sleep for four hours during the whole time. You might come to regret your choice, but it won't change anything because you won't be able to return until after the tour."

"To top it off, the invasion can end in failure. That means everyone on your team gets wiped out and no one returns. So if you go to the foreign battlefield, you have to treat it as a do-or-die affair. Either your side wins or there is no return."

Kelvin suddenly didn't find the assistance of a cabal on the foreign battlefield or the concept of the foreign battlefield to be appetizing at all. In fact, he couldn't believe that anyone would opt for it.

"Why would anyone choose to go to the foreign battlefield?"

Wrath shrugged. "A lot of people go for the possible increase in life span. They are tempted by it and make a foolish decision. But there are some who are confident of survival. Someone with teleportation, for example, is confident of survival."

Kelvin nodded in agreement. "That's reasonable."

Wrath sniggered. "He thought so too, but he still died on the foreign battlefield. Someone cursed him so he died no matter where he escaped to."

Kelvin cursed. "Fuck."

Wrath explained, "In a game, you get to play against a maximum of 100 or even 1,000 people. But on the foreign battlefield, you are invading a whole world. What are the chances that the whole world won't have one person who has your weakness and can kill you?"

Kelvin cursed again. "Damn."

"His situation is not normal, though. Weaker people manage to survive on the foreign battlefield and return alive, but he was just unlucky. Or maybe not. He was pretty high profile. He drew a lot of attention and caused a lot of trouble for the world he invaded. They hated him and sent a lot of people to kill him.

He escaped death many times, but someone was bound to eliminate him after so many brushes with death."

Kelvin shook his head. "I'm not going to the foreign battlefield."

"Don't be discouraged. If you choose to participate in the foreign battlefield, you will get to visit a new world, see new sights, and meet new races. You will also get to acquire new abilities. After all, the best the world has to offer will be displayed in order to resist the invasion."

Wrath became excited. "You can pick up scraps and valuable loot when powerful beings fight. If you are lucky, you might get the divine spark of demigods. That is unlikely though."

Its excitement reduced after saying that. But it continued, "What you can look forward to is using your achievement points on the foreign battlefield to get Yggdrasil to produce a weapon for you. It is the only way to get a weapon or artifact that you can use in the games. That's how Manhattan got his famous Phoenix Nuclear warhead."

Kelvin had heard about the Phoenix Nuclear Warhead. It is a nuclear missile just like any other high yield nuclear missile. The only difference is that it can be reborn from the destruction it causes.

This way, Manhattan didn't need to manage the nuclear missiles at his disposal. He could use it however he wanted. He became terrifying because of it.

Kelvin said in understanding, "So Manhattan participated in the foreign battlefield. That explains why he is so strong. I guess no one could deal with the full might of his ability."

Wrath asked, "So are you tempted? If you get a powerful ability to secure your life or a weapon of mass destruction, the foreign battlefield might become your home."

He replied after some thought, "I am tempted, but I still don't want to go. Maybe I'll think about it when I am more powerful."

Wrath nodded. "It is best you think about it carefully, because death can come at any time. The battlefield is not for those trying to avoid death. Death can come at any time, so you better be able to preserve your life when it comes, or you will become free cannon fodder for Yggdrasil. Only those who return alive will get anything out of it."

Kelvin took the warning seriously as they returned home. Then he had to listen to Wrath regale him with stories about the interesting things it had seen in other worlds and mighty battles it had witnessed.

He didn't feel that it was a bore this time around. He was truly interested in listening, and Wrath was very interested in telling the stories.

"You should have been there. It was like the sun had descended many times. Manhattan was like a shining god of death. Many demigods chased after him when he was just a champion, but he got them running for their lives soon after."

"I'm sure you can manage something with your shape-shifting. You will be able to infiltrate the enemy and attack them from within, but nothing you are capable of can compare to the mass destruction of large swarths of land."

"It was truly epic. You just had to be there. Millions of soldiers from each army clashed in a deadly collision. But then a star fell from the sky and wiped out half of the enemies. Jaws dropped at the sight. Even the battlefield was condemned because of radiation."

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The stories made what he was doing not seem like a chore. He didn't go home directly. Instead, he went around the city in circles, stopping at random places before he returned home. This took hours which Wrath's stories made easier to bear.