8 hours after Thor's fight I awakened with a start, my brain throwing me into fight or flight mode as I quickly ascertained my surroundings.
Thor was sitting at a fire to my right, staring at me as he watched me awaken. "Brother! I am glad you have awakened. You had a good night's sleep, no?"
After determining that my surroundings were safe because of Thor's calm demeanor, I slowed my breathing and relaxed. After several deep breathes I opened my eyes and looked at my brother, who is pointedly sitting next to a scale larger than he is tall.
"You look like shit." I say humorously once I collect myself.
"Rude brat..." Thor mumbles as he jokingly takes my teasing seriously.
"What happened, again? Didnt you draw with the snake? Did i pass out?" I said as I rubbed my eyes awake and stood to stretch my legs.
"Indeed, it was a mighty battle. I am impressed you lasted as long as you did, you were not blessed with my strength."
"That's the understatement of the century. You outlift my whole body with one arm, I have to avoid your blows completely in duels or risk serious damage. And you're only 25... i cant imagine how strong you must be even a thousand years feom now..." i say begrudgingly, although I have to admit I think my Divinity may be cooler. Future sight as a first ability probably means my Divinity is related to time, or just IS time. Or my powers could be all over the place like Apollo. Speaking of...
"Hey, when do you think the next meeting of the God's will be held in Omnipotence city?" I ask Thor, only for him to raise his eyebrow at my question.
"I know no Idea little brother, I imagine father will tell me eventually, but I probably have to live a couple centuries first." Thor says, and honestly I still cant get used to how Aagardians see time on a longer scale. To me, an ex-human, a couple centuries sounds like several lifetimes. But to Asgardians, I imagine that feels like a couple years, or maybe a decade. Although, I think im starting to feel that way as well: my life, despite already being almost nineteen, has felt rather short, and ive noticed that as time goes on my perception of time is shortening. Not that I ever lose track of time- a perk of my Divinity i think- but everything just speeds up when nothing is happening.
"Hm..." i respond, only to walk over and grab the scale i asked for, and marvel at it's properties. The scale is incredibly strong, and when I apply force ot doesn't even try and bend, but it is also incredibly light. Not to mention in feels like the sea- as if the very sea itself has given this scale power. "Wow, this is incredible... are you sure I can keep this for myself? You did all the work after all..."
"Nonsense, this is a gift. If you recall, I forgot to get you an 18th birthday present. Consider this recompense." Thor replies happily.
"Wow, such a big word, im proud of you Thor; look at you expanding your vocabulary." I say teasingly, but he just playfully scowls at me.
"Ugh, mother has been insisting on my studies in that particular area- and I guess it has caught on."
-
After breakfast, we took a quick bifrost trip back to asgard and deposited the scale in my room, before heading back to that location and continuing our vacation.
"So brother, where are we off to?" I ask, seeing as he somehow knows the way.
"Recently I have heard the prayers of our people-" something that apparently happens to the members of my family who are publicly known, like Thor, Loki, and Odin, "-and heard of a town near here who has been constantly harassed by neighboring invaders. Now, usually I wouldn't interfere, but seeing as they are praying to me, I feel a sort of... obligation so to speak. We will be helping them, and we will do so while revealing who we are to them. This is so that others can hear of our good deeds and know we have not abandoned them, like many other pantheons have been known to do. Father very regularly uses his Odinforce to influence battles on midgard if enough people pray to him, although it is difficult when both sides are praying to him. In those instances, he chooses to stay out of it, something that i can respect."
Huh, I didnt know that. I guess there are certain things that the Marvel universe never touches on, like the specifics of how certain powers work, or how God's themselves work. Or, how does religion work in the first place? I know that Jesus christ was a real person in the Marvel comics, and that he apparently appears to a few characters; like Howard the duck and Ghost rider, but was he really God, the son? Is God, the father just The One Above All? If so, how is Jesus connected to TOAA? What motivation could TOAA have in creating Jesus Christ? And how do Pantheonic God's fit into the equation? The more I think about this, the more knowledge I find I need.
Frustrating to say the least.
"Brother, do prayers give you strength?" I ask out of the blue, and he guves me a strange look.
"Well... that's a complicated question, because the answer is yes and no."
"Explain."
"Haah- lets use Odin as an example. A common misconception is that humans create God's through their imagination. This isnt true. I dont know which idiotic God spread that rumor in Omnipotence city, but it certainly caused a great deal of existential crisises. No, God's always come first. Many rumors about gods arent true, but most of the Big ones are. Like how I'm the God of Thunder and Carry Mjolnir. This is true; obviously. But there are things like im fat, or that im an incompetent drunkard that turn into rumors, and those are obviously wrong."
"I dont know... incompetent drunkard doesn't sound so far off..." i say teasingly, only to get smacked into the earth.
I deserved that.
"Anyways, humans come up with their rumors about us, but all in all, we existed first, and their rumors dont shape who we are. Evidence for this is that you havent heard and prayers, and no one knows you exist, and yet here you are."
"That makes sense."
"Now, back to your question, yes prayer gives us power, but not in the fundamental sense. If we recieve prayer, it is more of a mental boost. We feel better, and thus we do better. There have been times when fighting brutally in the few battles ive fought that I hear a prayer mid fight and suddenly all my problems are no longer my own. There are others that rely on me, and thus I find it in myself to push forward, for those people's sakes. I do also have the power to... I guess remove that corridor from my brain, so to speak. Like when im sleeping, I can make it so I cant hear the voices, or even when im just trying to concentrate."
"Oh, well thats good, I wouldn't want to constantly hear voices; that would suck."
"Yes, I feel as though I would go crazy." Thor laughs and I with him.
"Thanks brother, im glad you told me that. I feel a lot less anxiety now about this trip."
-
Arriving in the nameless village suddenly made me incredibly self conscious, and I found myself on the receiving end of countless stares and dumbfounded looks.
I imagine that tracks, seeing as how Thor looks like... well, Thor, and I am wearing extremely durable and expensive looking armor. I also carry a strange looking blade these people havent ever seen before(the longsword was inventedby humans in the 13th century) and have only one arm.
The village warriors quickly surrounded us(quickly as in it took five whole minutes) and all gave us wary looks. Then, 30 seconds later, the warriors parted to make way for an elderly but strong looking man- clearly someone who has fought many battles and lived to tell his wisdom. He gives Thor a look of recognition- not from actually knowing him but from rumor and folk lore- and he gives me a curious look.
"Sirs, welcome to our humble village. I apologize for the lack of hospitality, but my men have been wounded rather tight lately. State your business." The Chief said without introducing himself.
"I am Thor, Second born son of Odin, and rightful heir to the throne of Asgard. This is my brother-"
"Verdandi, third born son of Odin." The crowd quickly started murmuring and talking amongst themselves, and the Chief's eyes went wide, but his eyes narrowed again with suspicion.
"How can we be sure you are not fakes?"
Thor dropped Mjolnir, the heavy hammer making a small crater in the earth, "Test your might against my might Mjolnir then, and you will see for yourself."
"They say Mjolnir is so heavy, not even a thousand Giants could lift it." One of the men said, and i nearly choked on laughter- Mjolnir isnt heavy, it just becomes an immovable object when it deems your soul unworthy. It doesnt gain weight, more like it solidifies its place in space and doesnt move. It only weighs like 100 pounds.
The chief quickly moved towards the hammer, and gripped the handle without hesitation. He attempted to lift it, only to be stumped when it didnt even budge. Not one to throw his back out doing something he knows to be impossible, he guves up and challenges his men to the task.
Not one lifts the hammer.
"I see now. Please forgive our suspicion, my Lords. We would like to welcome you into our dining hall. We were just about to eat. I hope you like lamb." The Chief says reverently, and I can tell Thor is pleased with himself. He then summons Mjolnir to himself, causing an eruption of gasps and 'oohs' from the crowd, before walking after the Chief.
"After the feast, we will have duels! I wanna test your warriors' might." I call out to the Chief, who turns to me and smiles daringly.
"Very well." Is all he says as he looks at me curiously.
-
The feast went well, with many of us drinking and having fun, our worries forgotten for the moment. My brother enjoyed drinking his own special stash of alcohol and getting absolutely trashed.
Thus, after the feast, the remaining warriors who could still stand joined me in a highly anticipated contest.
"Gentlemen, are you prepared to be tested?" I ask, to which many of the men nod eagerly. The majority of the sentiment among the men was that i would be an easy fight, that I must not be well known because I am weak.
I sense numerous rude awakenings ahead.
"Im up first! Prepare to be bested friend!" A man of similar height to myself walks up and holds up his wooden sword, and I lift mine to meet his as the Duel begins.
No words are spoken between us, and this man clearly hasn't had a drop of alcohol because he is quite skilled for a mere human. Honestly, if it weren't for my superhuman constitution I would lose this fight.
The man's name is Jori, and is the second most skilled member of the village, behind the chief. He has a stoic expression as he gauges my every move and feint I send his way- truly a prodigy with the blade.
I order to properly test my skill against his I turn off my future sight and let my skills do the talking, and the fight becomes much more even. To the point that Jori gives me a befuddled look and stops the duel.
"Why did your reaction time suddenly slow? Are you holding back?"
"Because I was sort of cheating before."
"Explain"
"My name is Verdandi, and I have special powers. Im not entirely sure what they comepletely are yet, but I have an ability to see a full second into the future. I simply turned it off for this duel, seeing as you are quite skilled."
"Ah. I understand, that sounds like quite the ability, being able to predict your opponents."
"Indeed. But it doesnt really help me polish my skills. All it does is give me an unfair advantage, so for this duel I will take you on with nothing but my skill with a blade."
No more words were spoken as I launched at him and delivered a flurry of strikes; precisely thirteen in a row. He manages to block all (although he struggled some in the beginning) and counter, attempting to lob off my head. I dodge his blade with as little energy as possible and read his body language for his next strike, taking advantage of the way his left leg tenses to read his forward jab. I step around his blade and grab his wrist and twist, causing his grip to fail and drop the sword. I then kick him down and point my sword at his neck, signaling my victory.
"Good match." The Chief says from the sidelines as he claps his hands ceremoniously, "Your skills need polishing, the both of you, but especially you Jori. You let your exhaustion cloud your judgement and Verdandi took advantage of your lack of strategy. However, Verdandi, you could've ended that fight in four fewer attacks were you smart about it. Jori left an opening after blocking your attacks because he wasnt used to the change in Tempo. You should've taken advantage and tripped his legs, winning the duel. Instead, you continued your combo and allowed him to get comfortable."
"Yes sir. I will take your words to heart." Jori says and I give him a look before looking at the Chief and nodding in acknowledgement. I try and look back on the fight and realize that the chief was correct- I had been unobservant.
"Chief, would you care for a duel? I hear you are the strongest in the villiage and would like some guidance." I say with a small polite smile on my face, though internally im excited.
"Very well." He says shortly. Thats when I really take in his appearance for the first time. He looks like his son in a lot of ways- Long golden-brown hair, deep greenish blue eyes and pasty skin, as is commonplace among Vikings. They even share a birthmark over their left eye, one that looks strangely like a bird. While Jori is wearing meager clothes, one's made for training and work, The Chief is wearing nicer clothes made for the chief. His shirt is standard but iver that he wears a well made leather vest, and his boots are well made as well; not the falling apart garments most of the village wears. Clearly the villiage takes good care of him and respects him greatly. And finally, he is currently wearing a magnificent coat made of wolf's fur.
He then shrugs off the coat, allowing one of his men to take it off him, and take hold of his sword, and i finally notice the scars. Over a hundred just from what I can see of his skin, and most certainly more covering the rest of him. His body looks like it is made of pure steel in terms of muscle mass; and I can tell that he is extremely strong for a human- hell he could be a professional bodybuilder in the modern era.
"I can see the years of sacrifice and effort you've put into yourself Chief, and i cant help but respect you for it." I say, taking a more solid stance as I regard his posture, lazy yet practiced. His style is more of a loose one eh?
"Haha! Please, as I told your brother during the feast, just Borr or T'onser is fine. No need for pleasantries! You are Gods, are you not! Now, young one, let us dance!" He says and I launch at him with the youthful energy he certainly expects. I could absolutely outlast him or tire him out, but this is not a test of physical prowess; this is a test of skill.
He responds with an extremely swift arc of his blade; the wooden shaft cutting a line into my chin as I barely manage to avoid it and stop my momentum as I hop backward to avoid his overhead strike. As I settle into place out of reach of his sword, a drop of sweat falls down my forehead and i suddenly begin to take this much more seriously.
"Jeez... i didn't even see that coming..." I say out loud as I change up my style and come at him with strategy rather than brute force. The flurry of blows that follows is extremely hard to describe, but his style seems to be one of arrogant defensiveness. No... confidence rather than arrogance. He is so co fident in his reaction speed that he can seemingly leave himself wide open, but get too close and he'll chop you in two.
In modern fencing in my old world, something similar was created called the fools guard.
My style is aggressive but calculating as I try and get him to follow my movements, and fall into my traps with feints and combos. However his experience shows here as he never once falls for one of my traps or feints.
"Am I really that predictable?" I ask in a slump in the fight"
"Indeed, although I reckon it's because you usually need not worry about dying? You rarely need to decieve to win, relying rather on brute force and skill rather than tricks. Not to mention, It seems you dont have much experience dealing someone who relies on tricks. Unluckily for you, I have faced some of the greatest swordmasters this land has ever produced, and have seen every single move you have thought up."
"Seems unlikely, you hardly look older than 40."
"I am 87" and thats when my jaw dropped. How the fuck does this guy look so damn young? What the hell?
"That's just unfair genetics." I grumble to myself.
"Says the God born of Odin." Borr says.
"Got me there." I say as I launch forward once again, trying a different strategy this time. However, it seems that Borr finally figured me out, and the instant I commit to a strike he knocks my blade to the side with the back of his hand as ne steps onto my guard and grabs my wrist- the same move i managed to pull off earlier on Jori but executed much cleaner- and pulls me forward with my momentum. Unfortunately for him I am much too nimble and manage to catch myself and roll back into position ready for combat, but im too late, as faster than I can look up his sword is at my face.
"Looks like I win. You have much to learn Verdandi, but you are an excellent swordsman. You even gave me a run for my money." He lies. He looks like he barely even tried.
"Lies. You dont even look tired." I say, taking his now outstretched hand as he helps me up.
"Maybe, but my style is not very tiring. You have the advantage of boundless energy, I do not. I needed to learn a style conducive to my old age. Hence, the lazy sword."
"Interesting name."
"I didnt come up with it, but that's a story for another time. Come, let us get some sleep. Thor seems to be sloshed to say the least, and we have a battle to train for tomorrow."