Odin, who had been beaming with joy over his eldest son finally awakening the power of the God of Thunder, now wore a face full of dark lines.
Watching Thor struggle in pain on the field, constantly being hit by magical attacks from various angles and getting covered in dirt, he felt it was necessary to strengthen Thor's magical education.
He didn't expect him to immediately become an all-around warrior proficient in both magic and martial arts, but at the very least, he should have some ability to deal with tricky and hard-to-defend spellcasters.
Seeing Thor's clumsy performance, Odin could no longer bear it. He waved his hand, broke through Ethan's spatial barrier, and signaled for both sides to stop.
In fact, they could have stopped earlier. This battle was meant to draw out the power of the God of Thunder within Thor.
However, Odin wanted to see how far Thor could push his power, so he didn't call a halt immediately. Now, he deeply regretted that decision and wished he had stopped the match sooner.
Ethan's spatial isolation was cast using an Infinity Stone. If Odin were in his prime, he could have broken through it with a wave of his hand.
However, in his current extremely weakened state, he couldn't break it so easily.
Ethan gave Odin face. Upon sensing Odin's move, he followed through and dispelled the spatial isolation spell, also lifting the various distorted spatial forces in the area.
Thor, caught off guard, fell hard again. Fortunately, this time there was no overwhelming magical energy plastered across his face.
And since he had heard his father's call to stop, he withdrew his power and stood up once more.
Thor looked quite disheveled at the moment, but aside from his hair, there were no serious injuries on his body.
Ethan, on the other hand, hadn't moved from start to finish. He merely stood there, waving his arms and rotating his wrists. His biggest movements were tossing Thor once and punching him a few times.
After stopping the casting, the glove on Ethan's right hand completely disintegrated into dust, and the Space Stone detached from the back of his hand, slowly falling toward the ground.
However, before it hit the floor, Ethan caught it with Mage Hand, making it hover in his palm. Then, with a spell that concealed objects in another dimension, the blue Space Stone vanished in his hand.
Thor had been watching Ethan's actions closely. Now, he finally had a more accurate and clear concept of the Infinity Stones.
"It's terrifying. After you used the Infinity Stone, I couldn't even get close to you."
Thor, who now understood why Ethan had done what he did, wasn't angry—he only expressed a bit of grievance over the loss of his hammer.
"Even though I understand why you did it, was there really a need to destroy Mjolnir?"
He also understood why Odin had arranged for Ethan to fight him. With Ethan's spatial abilities, he could have easily separated him from the hammer. There was no need to guess what would have happened next—he had already experienced it.
"Do you think Mjolnir still has value?"
Mjolnir, the hammer of the God of Thunder, was merely a tool to help Thor better exert his power. Now that he had awakened his hidden strength, Mjolnir had lost its most significant use and was reduced to being just a physical weapon that could return when thrown.
After mastering the power of the God of Thunder, Thor had also gained the ability to fly. Although he flew with sparks and lightning, it was much more agile than flying with the hammer.
Considering Mjolnir's durability, Ethan believed the weapon wouldn't be able to withstand the full power of the awakened Thor. At that point, Mjolnir would become a rather awkward weapon to wield.
"You need a better weapon."
Ethan looked at Thor and finally gave him another suggestion—one that nearly broke him.
"You also need a new haircut..."
"What?"
Thor hadn't noticed this until now, but once it was pointed out, he realized his hair had been severely 'damaged' during the battle. Even washing it wouldn't restore its former flowing golden glory.
"No!"
Whether it was an illusion or not, Ethan felt that Thor's attachment to his hair ran deeper than his attachment to his hammer. That anguished cry conveyed how much he loved his golden locks.
Ignoring Thor, who was now inspecting his hair, Ethan walked up to Odin.
"Thank you very much, Ethan."
Although the outcome had differed slightly from what he expected, Thor had finally awakened his power. Next, Odin would teach him how to use that power while gradually transferring his authority, completing the handover of the Asgardian throne.
"You're welcome, All-Father."
Before Ethan could exchange a few more polite words, he saw Odin hand him a red stone. Having just stored the Space Stone, Ethan immediately recognized it as the Reality Stone.
No one noticed when Odin had destroyed the Aether and extracted the Reality Stone. Although his body was in its worst condition ever, he could still manage such a feat easily. But this exertion would require a significant amount of time to recover from.
"Thank you, All-Father."
"As you said before, you're welcome."
Odin still had matters to discuss with Thor. It wasn't appropriate to speak in front of outsiders, so he asked Loki to entertain Ethan and the others, while he walked toward Thor.
His attitude was clear: the show was over, and everyone should leave.
Aside from Queen Frigga, who stayed behind to tend to Odin, even Loki had to leave the area, giving space to All-Father Odin and his heir, Thor, the God of Thunder.
No one thought anything was wrong with this. Everyone was already satisfied after watching such a grand spectacle for free.
As Ethan left the training ground, he walked over to Tony and quietly instructed, "Make sure to give me a copy of the footage."
He didn't even need to ask. Knowing Tony, he had definitely recorded the entire battle in secret.
Although Ethan had been one of the participants and knew more than anyone about what had happened, he still wanted to keep this 'souvenir.'
After all, he had beaten Thor so thoroughly that he couldn't even fight back. Of course, a scene like that was worth preserving.
Seeing Ethan's expression, Tony gave a knowing gesture, indicating it was no problem. Although he had recorded the fight to analyze both Ethan's and Thor's combat abilities, and even learn a few unknown techniques from it, watching it as entertainment was perfectly enjoyable too.
Cough cough!
Just as the two shameless guys were discussing how to share the video, Loki, who had appeared behind them at some point, suddenly interjected.
"Be sure to save a copy for me too."
Then, without waiting for Tony's response, he walked straight past and left.
After everyone dispersed, they returned to rest.
Ethan found a place to meditate and recover.
He didn't expect to gain any insights from the battle. He simply used meditation as a substitute for sleep and rest. The fight hadn't consumed much of his magical energy; even toward the end, he still had plenty left.
What was truly drained was his mental energy.
The Space Stone's energy was vast. Using such immense power required tremendous mental strength, and since this was his first time channeling such a large amount of energy, there were some minor inefficiencies—for instance, he had to use more mental energy than necessary just to ensure there were no errors.
So, even if Odin hadn't called the match to a stop, Ethan would've stopped on his own soon, as he truly couldn't have sustained it much longer.
"Such powerful tools really do require sufficient strength to use freely."
After Thanos used the snap with all six Stones activated, not only was the gauntlet severely damaged, but Thanos's hand also suffered serious, irreversible injury.
Even someone as powerful as Thanos suffered backlash. Ethan felt that even if he obtained the Infinity Gauntlet and all six Stones, he still wouldn't be able to unleash their full power. In the end, he simply wasn't strong enough.
"I can't get complacent yet!"
Beating the hammer-wielding version of Thor wasn't something worth celebrating. He still needed to keep working hard. Moreover, even when facing the hammer-wielding Thor, it was only with the Infinity Stone's power that he had managed to win so easily.
Only when he could fight opponents of that level without using the Infinity Stones—relying solely on his own power to the point where they couldn't even touch him—could he afford to feel slightly proud.
With those thoughts in mind, the night passed quietly.
Ethan stored away the Reality Stone, carrying it with the same spell that concealed objects in another dimension, just like he had done with the Space Stone.
Next, he planned to say goodbye to Thor and return to Earth with Tony to check on Prinz Eugen's situation. After that, they would travel the universe together for a while.
What Ethan didn't expect was that, just as he was about to go say goodbye to Odin, Thor—now sporting a new, neat short haircut—appeared directly in front of him.
"Father needs to sleep for a while."
It seemed that using his power continuously earlier had taken a toll on Odin. But this didn't surprise Ethan. What did surprise him was that Thor actually wanted to go to Earth with him, and then travel through the universe for a while.
"What about Asgard? Don't you need to watch over it?"
"With Loki here, I believe Asgard will be fine," Thor replied with a smile as he glanced at Loki, who had also come to see Ethan off. "Besides, I have a few things to take care of on this trip. It's also to better protect Asgard."
Others may have thought Thor was heading out to handle some minor matters, but Ethan understood what he was really after.
"Could it be... to go to the dwarves and forge Stormbreaker?"
(To be continued.)
***
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