Chapter 7: The Monastery Vision
Three days into the Wessex campaign, Paul woke before dawn with the system's familiar pulse echoing through his skull like a migraine made of light.
[WEEKLY VISION AVAILABLE]
[RECOMMENDED USE: HIGH-PRIORITY STRATEGIC PLANNING]
[CURRENT MANA: 12/12]
Paul sat up carefully, mindful of the sleeping warriors around him. The camp was quiet except for the soft snores of exhausted men and the distant sound of sentries changing watch. He'd been conserving mana for this moment, avoiding unnecessary use of his abilities while waiting for the weekly vision to unlock.
"Whatever I'm about to see, it's going to be important."
Paul activated Weekly Vision.
[WEEKLY VISION ACTIVATED]
[MANA COST: 20% - 2.4 MP ROUNDED TO 3 MP]
[REMAINING MANA: 9/12]
[DURATION: EXTENDED SEQUENCE]
The visions slammed into his consciousness with the force of divine revelation—five still images so vivid they seemed carved from reality itself:
The monastery courtyard from above, stone walls forming a perfect killing box. Hidden archers crouched in the bell tower, arrows nocked and ready. The main gate rigged with ropes and counterweights, designed to collapse and trap anyone who entered. Ragnar walking through that gate, his face bright with the anticipation of easy plunder.
And finally, an arrow piercing Ragnar's chest, his blood spreading across ancient stones while Saxon soldiers poured from hidden positions.
[EVENT PROBABILITY: 78% WITHIN 48 HOURS]
[CONTEXT: STRATEGIC AMBUSH - MULTIPLE FATALITIES PREDICTED]
Paul gasped awake, his heart hammering against his ribs like a caged bird. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead despite the morning chill, and his hands shook with something that went beyond simple fear.
"They're going to kill him. King Ecbert has learned from the early raids, and they've set a trap specifically for Ragnar."
Paul activated Success Rate Analysis, burning more precious mana for information he desperately needed.
[QUERY: RAGNAR'S SURVIVAL PROBABILITY - CURRENT PLAN]
[RESULT: 22%]
[MANA COST: 2 MP - REMAINING: 7/12]
Twenty-two percent. Barely one chance in five that Ragnar would survive the monastery raid if they attacked as planned. But Paul ran a second query, his mind racing with possibilities.
[QUERY: RAGNAR'S SURVIVAL PROBABILITY - WITH WARNING]
[RESULT: 91%]
[MANA COST: 2 MP - REMAINING: 5/12]
The numbers were clear. Warning Ragnar would save his life with near certainty. But Paul couldn't shake the feeling that something larger was at stake. He ran one final query, dreading the answer.
[QUERY: TIMELINE STABILITY - RAGNAR DIES AT MONASTERY]
[RESULT: INSUFFICIENT DATA - POTENTIAL CAUSALITY FRACTURE]
[WARNING: MAJOR HISTORICAL DEVIATION DETECTED]
"Causality fracture. Even the system doesn't know what happens if Ragnar dies here."
Paul sat in the pre-dawn darkness, wrestling with knowledge that felt like holding molten iron. This wasn't just about saving one man—it was about preventing reality itself from breaking. The weight of responsibility settled on his shoulders like a physical thing.
"How do I explain this without revealing the system? I can't exactly tell him about video game interfaces and probability matrices."
Paul practiced his warning speech in whispered fragments, trying to find words that would convey urgency without sounding insane. By the time the camp began to stir, he'd settled on an approach that balanced truth with acceptable mysticism.
"Odin showed me the Christians' trap. They've learned. They're waiting."
As the sun crested the horizon and warriors began their morning routines, Paul approached Ragnar with hands that trembled slightly despite his best efforts to stay calm.
"I need to speak with you," he said quietly. "About the monastery."
Ragnar looked up from sharpening his axe, blue eyes sharp with interest. "What has your sight shown you?"
Paul drew a breath that tasted of morning mist and approaching violence. "It's a trap. I've seen it. Hidden archers in the bell tower, the gate rigged to collapse, they're waiting for you specifically."
He described the layout exactly as his vision had shown it—the placement of the archers, the mechanism that would bring down the gate, the hidden soldiers waiting to pour from concealment once the Vikings were trapped in the courtyard.
Ragnar studied Paul's face with the intensity of a man who'd learned to read truth in other men's eyes. Whatever he saw there convinced him.
"You're certain of this?"
"I've seen your blood on their stones if we attack as planned."
Ragnar nodded slowly, the weight of leadership visible in the set of his shoulders. "Then we change the plan."
Within minutes, Ragnar had assembled his inner circle—Floki, Lagertha, Rollo, and the other experienced raiders who formed the backbone of the warband. Paul repeated his warning, watching their faces shift from skepticism to grim acceptance as he described the trap in detail.
"The Christians fight like cowards!" Floki spat, his wild hair dancing in the morning breeze.
"They call it strategy," Paul replied.
"Coward strategy!"
But despite Floki's disgust, the plan changed. Instead of a direct assault through the main gate, they would approach from multiple angles. Floki would fire the bell tower first, smoking out the archers. Lagertha would lead a flanking force through the chapel entrance. The main gate would be avoided entirely until they'd secured the high ground.
As the warband prepared to move out, Lagertha fell into step beside Paul, her expression thoughtful.
"Does seeing the future make you afraid to live?" she asked without preamble.
Paul considered the question, feeling the weight of every vision that had shown him violence and death and the terrible certainty of fate.
"Every single day," he admitted. "But I'm more afraid of not seeing what matters."
"What if you see something you can't change?"
Ragnar's eventual death in King Aelle's snake pit. Your separation from him. Bjorn's death defending Kattegat. All the tragedies I know are coming but might not be able to prevent.
"Then I try anyway," Paul said.
Lagertha smiled—a rare expression that transformed her face from beautiful to radiant. "That's the only answer that matters."
[SYSTEM POINTS EARNED: 50]
[MENTAL STRAIN WARNING: PROLONGED VISION USE DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDATION: REST PERIOD ADVISABLE]
Dawn broke across the English countryside, painting the monastery walls in shades of gold and blood. The Vikings moved toward their target with altered tactics, Paul's heart in his throat knowing he'd just rewritten history.
"Let the threads hold. Let the warning be enough."
The monastery bells would ring differently today—if they rang at all.
[NEXT PHASE: MODIFIED ASSAULT COMMENCING]
[RAGNAR'S SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 91%]
[THREAD INTEGRITY: MONITORING]
Paul gripped his axe and followed Ragnar toward a battle that should have been a massacre but would now be merely another victory in the growing legend of the Viking raiders.
The future was malleable after all.
The question was whether changing it would break something even more important than the lives he was trying to save.
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