The rain was drumming a steady, frantic beat against the window of Leo’s cramped apartment, a perfect acoustic match for the storm brewing on his computer monitor. On the screen was Age of Mythology: Extended Edition , updated to version 2.8.

He rested his chin in his hand, watching a squad of Egyptian Axemen desperately trying to hold back a relentless tide of Norse Frost Giants. Golden sand met crushing ice in a clash of pixels and code. Leo smiled. He had been playing this game for over twenty years, transitioning from the scratched CD-ROMs of his childhood to this digital, polished version on his PC.

A massive, golden bolt of lightning ripped from the clear sky, striking a scouting party of enemy Ulfsarks miles away.

The soldier looked up, a fierce grin breaking across his bearded face. "They have already frozen the outer farmlands, My Lord. But with you to command the favor of the gods, we fear no frost."