Brotherly Bonding

[Year 1249]

Around 80 or so years had passed by since Vali began spending most of his time constructing his mindscape faithfully little by little, akin to a bricklayer who was on a mission. His spare time away from all the tiring meditation, was spent with his siblings improving their 'brotherly bond'.

Vali who had just taken a break after a week long meditation session, used his 'truth eyes' to locate Thor who was hanging out with his crew consisting of the 'warrior three' namely, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg for lunch. He then turned around and spotted Loki dozing off on a wagon with one of his illusionary bodies covering his drooling face.

He made his way towards Loki in a few minutes, before dispelling his magic and kicking him awake. Loki who had just jerked awake turned around with a menacing look on his face, only to find Vali looking at him with cold judgmental eyes before asking him to follow along.

Loki got down his wagon with an annoyed look on his face, wiping his drool off his chin and using a little magic to cleanse himself. Why was he obeying his brother's orders without question? Well, the last 80 years had 'taught' him a lot, and Vali had followed this schedule of taking a break after every other week for a single day.

Loki had attempted to resist throughout the years, but now he was experienced in the art of healing broken teeth and noses. He lazily followed along, as Vali made his way towards the dining halls where Thor was chilling.

Upon noticing silver haired Prince's entrance into the hall, the clamorous hall was instantly silenced before Thor noticed who had arrived before getting up and following along with a jovial expression in his face.

"GREETINGS, my dear brothers! How was your day, shall we dine together?" he spoke up boisterously annoying Vali with his loud voice.

Vali who didn't bother answering just pointed towards the door and started walking out with Loki; a few minutes later, Thor walked out after giving his companions his 'grand goodbyes', as if he was giving his final farewell before being shipped off to war.

The trio soon made it to their usual practice site, which was next to a string of dark brown mountains that had a surface that resembled iron and was a natural barrier surrounding one side of the realm. His personal guards were both waiting there, and they looked a lot more imposing than they had been before they joined Vali.

Both Skarf and Frodi stood there in all their 6ft and 7ft glory respectively, with plain expressions on their faces as they leaked no aura owing to their evident mastery.

If any veteran with several millennia of experience in the battlefield saw these two right now, they would notice Frodi's masterfully contained killing intent that seemed to have seeped into his very being making people with weak wills look away; a symbol of a being who has survived and had numerous close calls with death.

At this point, such a being would probably have Lady Death's phone number on speed dial.

They would also notice Skarf's monstrous control over his presence, with his eyes looking around casually, seemingly unbothered by all external forces but as soon as they looked past him, they wouldn't find him in his previous position any longer. A crucial mistake, which wouldn't go unpunished and would result in disastrous consequences in the battlefield.

The knowledgeable experts from other worlds might even call him a master at misdirection.

This would normally be impossible against experts at their levels as many of them had 360 vision, pseudo-domains and other methods of detection. Vali had the scholars prepare custom armor, with pre-existing runes that helped in concealing oneself from most detection methods for a short period of time, and Skarf could make do with it using a few tricks.

Thor and Loki were familiar with both of them, as they were their instructors and sparring partners over the years. At first, they were shocked at the strength of his personal guards but over time they realized, that this was the result of Vali training them diligently. The princes had to admit that they were formidable opponents, and learned a lot from them in battle as they never held back.

Skarf battled with a short sword and taught the trickster prince who was forced to wield a pole spear, several tricks on survival and Loki absorbed them like a sponge as they were all in his zone. When he had once asked for the reason for the odd weapon, Vali had simply explained that he was a Sorcerer and that his primary weapon would be a scepter in the future. They both were familiar with each other and started their spars as soon as they arrived with taciturn expressions.

Thor on the other hand mostly sparred with Frodi, and sometimes Vali himself. Thor had managed to get Mjolnir, his hammer in advance because of Vali's intervention. Though, Thor didn't know that Vali hadn't done so with any good intentions.

"Thor, where's your hammer?" asked Vali with a cold expression on his face.

"What hammer? Ahhh, you mean Mjolnir! I... have misplaced it!" replied Thor with a stiff face, remarkably failing at lying.

"You've hidden it in father's throne room, haven't you?" asked Vali with a straight face, as the throne room used to be one of the blind spots in his vision. Now it was different, because his eyes were constantly improving with his training.

"The hammer better be here by the time your spar with Frodi begins, or you'll experience a regrettable scenario that could've been avoided." followed up Vali, before supervising the other battle.

Thor whose straight face twitched, called for his hammer which arrived in a few seconds before engaging in battle with the 7ft tall brown haired bear, that was Frodi. Thor who had a monstrous physique owing to his parentage was stronger than Frodi, who also had a decently powerful physique in comparison, but it was also a fact that he rarely defeated the being in front of him, because Frodi was far more skilled than him in all the other aspects.

His battles with Frodi mostly ended in a draw due to time constraints, with him getting a beat-down through most of the battle. His lethal battle style made it difficult for Thor to find an opportunity to strike back as he had to always watch out for counters.

Thor who had always craved for battle, was always subdued and on the defensive, but he was focused when battling the huge bear. The tanned Frodi wielded a thin spear made of Uru that was as tall as him, and he moved with extreme sharpness and agility.

Thor had just barged in with his newly arrived hammer, before taking a enormous swing only for it to be deflected smoothly by the spear in Frodi's hands. Before Thor could back away, the bear rotated the spear with one arm before using it's blunt side to sweep at Thor's unprepared legs, which were soon caught sending him rolling.

The high intensity battle went on for almost a day, before Frodi stepped away due to a lack of stamina. In the last few years, he had managed to 'beat' Frodi with his superior stamina, again owing to his superior physique.

He could probably achieve proper victory if he could channel a few lightning bolts through his hammer at Vali's guard, but he shivered when he remembered what happened last time a sliver of lightning appeared on Mjolnir. This was also one of the reasons he tried hiding his hammer and avoided bringing it.

[Flashback]

[A few years ago]

When the battle got heated and he was about to smash Frodi with a lightning bolt, Vali interfered in the battle before snatching Mjolnir from him. It was easy for Vali, since Odin hadn't had the time to make proper enchantments to it, except for the basic ones.

Vali then proceeded to wield Mjolnir, and smash Thor across his body sending him flying into the mountains causing explosions, and before Thor could recover, he was smashed around with his own lightning hammer for several hours straight.

*thud*

*boom*

*thud*

*boom*

The only thing he managed to hear when he was almost killed with several broken bones, was Vali muttering, "Maybe you'd awaken your divinity, if you get smashed by this lightning hammer."

When that thrashing ended with a failure at awakening anything, Vali threw the hammer at him and ruthlessly spoke, "If you can't channel thunder through your own body, don't even bother channeling it through the hammer or be prepared for this to happen every single time."

Loki had also stopped complaining during spars since then, after seeing him in a half-dead state.

[Flashback ends]

Since then, Thor always had a mental block when he wanted to use the full power of his hammer, and so he actually spent several hours every other day earnestly attempting to awaken his divinity only to end in failure.

Vali who had noticed this, realized that he might have to take a different approach with Thor. If all else fails and Thor falls in love with his hammer again, becoming the same god of hammers, he'd have to step up and completely destroy the hammer, playing the role of Hela in the future.

But disregarding his divinity, Vali was confident that the present Thor could hold his own against most outsiders except the purple ballsack chin, and his minions. But even against him, he was confident enough to train Thor to hold his own in the upcoming years.

Thor who had barely won, placed his hands on Frodi's shoulder and spoke up with a bright smile on his face, "Frodi! You are a mighty warrior! We shall drink together, today!"

Frodi who had just managed to regulate his breathing, was not surprised as this conversation repeated itself frequently, and spoke politely after bowing, "I apologize your grace, but I must accompany my lord today."

To which Thor gave his standard reply completely unbothered by his refusal, with the same smile on his face enjoying his 'victory', "Another day it is, then!"

The two brothers who had just finished their spars, walked back together to enjoy their freedom. Vali along with his guards relaxed for a while, and he knew that his brothers wouldn't have any great improvements anytime soon so, he planned to reduce the time wasted on them for now. He then turned around to closely observe his guards.

Frodi was around the same height as Vali, but was a lot broader than him. He had a long scar below his right eye owing to his adventures, a neatly trimmed brown beard and short braided brown hair.

He thought about Frodi's improvement, and knew that sending him to Sakaar was the right move. When Vali was 20, before beginning his education, he wanted Frodi to be an actually useful blade. So, he sent him on a perilous mission to Sakaar; to find more information on the place, the final Valkyrie and most importantly on the ageless elder, whilst he battled in the arena.

Frodi had obviously survived the arena for a decade, and made it out of there, resulting in his current appearance. Vali had predicted a high possibility of death when he sent him on the mission, especially considering that a being like the Grandmaster ran things there. He was a manipulative immortal; he essentially couldn't die unless he lost his will to live.

He had gambled with Frodi's life, but he wasn't going to do the same himself as long as a being like that ran the place. Frodi making it out of Sakaar meant that the Grandmaster simply didn't care, or he could be laying a bait waiting to catch a bigger fish. He simply couldn't be bothered thinking of his intentions for now, as he returned to his meditation.

************************

Looking at Skarf. [AN: 'Misdirection? Motherfucker, is that the phantom sixth man?' Kek]

I'm planning to release a chapter on 'Frodi's adventure in Sakaar' in the future xD.

[ P@ treon.com/7rox ] or [ buymeacoffee.com/7rox ]

Won't be posting any advanced chapters there, though you can donate 3$ and buy me a cup of coffee for the time I've spent writing, if you're interested. Peace.