Gear Up

[Year 1380]

With the data he had obtained from the Allfather, Vali managed to analyse the stone to a sufficient extent. Even though he didn't get to spend as much time with it as he would have liked, he was pretty content.

He managed to put together a set of runes for teleportation, with what he had gained. It worked by placing an anchor rune at one place, before the user could teleport to that anchored spot. It was nothing extraordinary, when compared to Eldritch Magic's teleportation. The sorcerers with their sling rings could just open portals to their destinations as they wished.

But it had a few of its own advantages, like being hidden and leaving no fluctuations that could expose the point of arrival. He planned on leaving behind a space anchor on earth when he left, since he couldn't really use the bifrost all the time, as it wasn't exactly subtle.

Vali had just returned the stone a year ago, as he started preparing for his departure. The entire realm was bustling, as his older brothers had inadvertently mentioned that they were leaving on vacation, when they were out in public.

So, most of the realm now knew that the king was leaving with his two sons to travel the realms. News about Vali was left out, since even Thor and Loki weren't informed about their little brother accompanying them.

[Vali's Chambers]

Vali stood in his balcony with his back facing the chamber; he had his eyes closed as he took in a deep breath of the magical frigid air, that was present throughout Asgard.

He browsed through everything he would need when he arrived on earth, in his mind as his thoughts churned rapidly. Since he was paying a visit to the future birthplace of various powerful beings, and the planet that had footprints of various ancient beings, he couldn't let his guard down.

All it would take is one little mishap, and he would be swallowed whole, so depending solely on Odin wasn't going to cut it. The Allfather might treat 'earth' as his back garden, but if Vali did that then it was just plain ignorance on his part.

Skarf and Frodi watched in puzzlement as their Prince made his preparations in solitude; they silently observed him like always. They saw him deep in thought, and it looked like he was preparing for something big.

They looked at each other, as Skarf shrugged at Frodi totally confused by what was going on. In their opinion, a trip around Midgard was child's play, and the prince's caution seemed completely unwarranted.

They didn't voice their doubts though, as they figured that there might be something else that drew his wariness, and they were right to have assumed so, since they couldn't possibly comprehend the horrors of beings that once walked that land.

They saw him walk to the shelves where his weapons were stored, before he started selecting his weapons and best armor meticulously. He selected a few pairs of dual blades, gauntlets, and his full-body armor which seemed to suddenly disappear into Vali's hands.

A rune on Vali's wrist glowed for a few seconds, before it slowly extinguished on its own. This was a small storage rune he had manage to create from his 'research', though the space inside was heavily restricted to a few feet.

He had tried improving it before, only for the space inside to collapse, so he had to make do with the cramped storage. He wanted to improve it in the future, though it didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

Once he was done, he turned towards his loyal guards before hesitating inwardly. He had means to hide his presence from beings on earth, and taking more people with him would only add to the burden.

He stopped hesistating, as he decided to send them with his brothers when he diverged from the rest of the family on earth. He then nodded towards them and said casually, "Pack up! We'd be gone from the realm for a few decades, might even take a century."

Without giving them a chance to reply he exclaimed, "Move it!"

The duo who were slightly taken aback, didn't hesitate as they left to prepare for their departure. Since they would be leaving the realm, they had to fortify their minds and prepare for any sudden threats.

Assuming that they'd die gruesomely at any moment, especially when they were outside Asgard was the principle that they were forced to adopt ever since they came under Vali. It wasn't hard for them to come to terms with that, when they 'protected' a being that voluntarily jumped into danger that'd leave other beings in their positions lifeless.

Vali left alone to his thoughts, remembered the data he had put together after comparing the knowledge he had gained from Yggdrasil, Odin, and the information he had carried over from his previous life.

As a being who was destined to fight against monstrous existences far beyond his comprehension, the first step was to roughly identify the target's threat level. As a patient hunter, he wouldn't recklessly challenge a being without any countermeasures, or without other cards that guaranteed his safety.

He put together an extremely rough list of threat levels, to estimate where a particular being stood in the power ladder.

A weak mortal being could completely thwart an unfathomable existence, and that wasn't even rare in this universe. Weaker existences have won battles that they had no business being a part of, and that's what made them 'heroes' and whatnot.

'Then again, I would be an imbecile to completely put my faith in something so vague, such as power levels.' Vali thought as he inwardly winced in disgust.

He divided and placed the beings he had knowledge of into five threat levels;

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[Planetary Level]: Beings at this level were strong enough to be considered powerhouses in the universe. They could probably pose a substantial threat to an entire planet if given enough time, as mentioned in the titles. Gods that awakened their divinities, and had a decent weapon would fall into this category as they would have no equal in the planet.

For reference; Both Thor and Loki hadn't even reached this level. They were at a level that Vali couldn't even bother categorizing. He simply labelled them as ants.

[Multi-Planet Level]: Also known as the Solar System level, and like the name suggests, beings at this level could lay waste to planets easily. Adult Gods who had long awakened their divinity, and honed themselves throughout their lifetimes, would fall into this category. Most Gods would barely reach this level at the end of their lives if they were lucky.

For reference; Vali had barely made it into this category. Though he wouldn't stay here for long, as he was still in his speedy growth phase. Even Frigga, in terms of direct combat power was probably at the peak of this category.

[Universe Level]: Beings at this level could make galaxies and possibly, the entire universe tremble. Vali didn't dare to be specific when he made this category, as it held all kinds of beings. This level essentially represented the peak of the universe, and beings at this level were the 'APEX' predators in the pond.

Beings like Collector, Grandmaster, and all the way to beings like a few Celestials fell into this category.

For reference; Odin was at the peak of this category, making him essentially omnipotent in the universe. Even if a being collected all the infinity stones, that being would only reach the peak of this level, considering that they could bear the burden.

[Multiverse Level]: Beings at this level transcend the boundaries of the universe. The walls of the universe can't contain them, as they can leave the universe with their own strength. He got this conjecture from Odin, who informed him of how he was able to view the walls of the universe, but was simply unable to breach them.

Beings at this level could probably travel the multiverse with ease as long as they had the necessary coordinates. Ofcourse, there are weaker beings who could travel the multiverse owing to their innate talents and other magic, but they can't brute force their way through it.

For reference; Beings like Mephisto, Dormammu and a few of the strongest celestials fell into this category based on what Vali deduced.

[Cosmic Level]: He simply didn't have any knowledge on beings at this level. But they refered to the omnipotent cosmic entities.

For reference; Abstract entities like Infinity, Eternity, Oblivion, Death and few others that were above the multiverse were at this level.

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Vali kept these threat levels only for reference, even though they were most probably 'completely unreliable'. They were way better than going in blind, and praying for a miracle when he went after those powerful beings.

Vali would probably rush to the peak of the 'Multi-Planet' level, once he got what he was after on earth. That was also the main reason he didn't hesitate to go on this trip with his family, and who better to provide a subtle layer of protection to him than Odin himself.

As much as he hated depending on others, he was going to use everything he had in his disposal; he wasn't an egoistic being that couldn't take help. He simply preferred doing things on his own, owing to his personality and life experiences.

He could already picture beings stronger than him, that would come after him when he went for the book.

'They wouldn't let anyone at my level, near such a dangerous artifact since the damage I could cause if I was corrupted, would possibly leave the universe at the brink of destruction. They would rather leave it with mortals, or other weak beings since the impact would be limited.' Thought Vali as he mused.

The book was an artifact that couldn't be hidden, and would always resurface and find itself in the hands of desperate beings in search of power. So, since they couldn't hide or seal it, they did the next best thing by isolating it among mortals.

The book was said to contain 'limitless knowledge' of black magic, chaos magic, and reality-altering spells. It grants the reader the ability to manipulate reality, raise the dead, and access other dark and mystical powers.

He knew that chaos magic required certain aptitude, but what he was after was the limitless knowledge on dark magic. After all, he was taking a significant risk by going for it with his current level of power, but he knew that time waits for no one.

This was the step that would make or break his journey, so he wouldn't falter and look for other options. He was determined to see things through, and procure it even if it cost him a limb.

He was destined to excavate its potential in its entirety, as its malevolent magic would do nothing but empower him, as it flowed through his veins.

The Darkhold would bow to his commands, he would make sure of it.

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------Finally completed VOLUME 1!---------

As for the threat levels, I didn't want to make the story into a cultivation fic. So I kept it simple, sorry about the info dump.

[A.N]: The next volume would start with all of them on earth, so, do pitch in your ideas regarding what he'd do in the 1400's on earth. I've got a general outline, but I'd appreciate any input from y'all. Thanks for reading :D

Hand over the power stones! NOW!

[ 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.