A cub's Roar

As soon as I saw Hela, my head ached with yesterday's events and the countless defeats I suffered in my dreams, replaying at once along with the revelation that I am not invincible, nor undefeatable, nor truly powerful, and that there is someone out there who can kill me.

Hela continued with the speech she was giving the soldiers, which I didn't really pay attention to because my head felt like it had been hit by a hammer again. Once she finished, she turned to me with a smirk and said, "You too, muscle up and get ready for battle."

Confused, I inspected my body and noticed that I was still in my thin night form even though it was day. My eyes widened in shock at the impossible phenomenon while my self-hatred for this weak form surged up again, along with a strange sense of relief - from the 'me' in those strange memories - for being free of my curse. These two strong and conflicting emotions whirled inside me as I felt my reality being shattered once again as what I thought to be absolute was so casually dismissed for a second time. I used these conflicting emotions to suppress each other, lest I get too caught up in them.

(A/N - before you all get mad, MC's standards of strength are based on his daytime form, so his night form is just base Asgardian strength, which is still slightly stronger than a human athlete/warrior. Night form is thin, not sickly or malnourished, just thin. Further discussed in the A/N at the end of the chapter.)

Hela, on the other hand, seemed intrigued by my dilemma and confusion and mumbled just loud enough for only me to hear her, "So you haven't truly awakened your magic yet. Interesting..."

"Awakened? I have always been able to use my abilities since I was but a child. What is more concerning is the fact that I can't seem to access my abilities and am shackled to this weak form!"

While shaking her head with a smirk, she said, "You have not even been using your true magic. Abilities constrained to the use of tools cannot compare to the true might of Aesir magic."

I jogged to keep up with her as we made our way to Fenrir and asked, "What about my current weakness? My body is more shriveled than a dwarf's beard!"

She sighed as she got on Fenrir and pulled me up as well, "By my father's blind eye! How slow can you be? Your 'weakness' is your original untrained self and so far you have been relying solely on the enhancements of your power. Unfortunately the 'initiation' briefly knocked some sense into you and now you are thinking too much."

Watching Fenrir bound through large distances off to and past the front lines, I asked as I held on for dear life, "What now? How do I utilize my abilities?"

As if waiting for me to ask, Hela grabbed my arm with a glint in her eyes, "Well, we just need to get rid of those unnecessary thoughts." And threw me like a stick to a group of Fire Demons below.

*Woosh* As I fell, I could feel my body flapping in the wind with my mind blank from the shock, "Now, don't disappoint me by dying Escanor." That was all she said as I saw her riding away and had the wind knocked out of me by landing on the scorching hot ground on my back.

Wheezing as I picked myself up, I saw the nearby pack of Fire Demons snapping their heads in my direction at the sound of my fall, and after waiting for a brief second, they charged at me in a rabid and mindless rage. I groaned at the spiked of pain that I felt in my ribs and swallowed as much air as I could as my mind was overwhelmed by a thought that had been haunting me since before I woke up.

I was not invincible. I can die. I am weaker than the Fire Demons. I am going to die.

Mustering as much strength as I could, I hobbled away from them, and with my unfamiliar fear fueling me, I moved faster and faster away from the family of demented creatures. But that was not enough, as they had gotten close enough for one of them to lunge at me and manage to graze my back. As if my surprised yelp of pain encouraged them, the rest lunged too, and this time, managed to tackle me. They all piled on top and, in quick, rabid fashion, clawed into my flesh, drawing blood, and sunk their glowing hot teeth into my limbs.

This feeding frenzy sent my fear to new heights, but along with this sense of impending death, an emotion that had so far been repressed managed to rise again. My pride spoke, softly at first, 'Pathetic.'

I could feel in the middle of the chilling terror a small flame billowing and growing in my chest as it growled, 'Is this how far you have fallen? To fall to mere mindless beasts?'

My ears rang, and I closed my eyes, unable to muster the strength to see the beasts gnawing and ripping at my flesh. Instead, I saw the visage of a giant with a blazing emblem of a lion on his back as he looked down at me in scorn, 'Is this how you are going to die? In a pathetic crack as just another casualty?'

The figure's rage grew as the heat bubbled stronger in my chest as he said in indignation, 'Is this how the weilder of my grace perishes? Without accomplishing anything, without even beginning to comprehend the pinnacle of power?'

I felt my pride becoming stronger and burning the self-hate as if coming to a realization.

I will not die on this baren rock.

I will not die to these insignificant bugs.

I will not die to my pathetic fear and pointless hatred.

I will not die till I reach the pinnacle.

"I WILL BURN MY FEAR IN MY MIGHT, FOR I AM ESCANOR!"

BOOOOM

—

A/N: Yo! I am back! Miss me?

First of all, I would like to apologize for disappearing for two years. I've been doing a lot of readjusting and soul-searching. I experienced more than six character arcs, four friend groups, and 2 moves. It has been an eventful time, but I should be back since it is summer now.

To clarify the A/N I put up in the middle and refer to some reviews and comments from previous chapters, MC's memories are currently sealed, so everything is in the perspective of a warrior prince and has a lot to do with planned character arcs. Again, MC's memories are SEALED, not erased. Very crucial difference. And as you may have experienced so far, it is not just his memories on Earth that have been sealed~

What are your thoughts on the rewriten awakening scene? While it is similar to before, I wanna know if it had the added 'omph' factor I wanted.

Special thanks to Martin_Gardner for continuing to support my story with stones for more than 50 days with no update on my side, and a thank you to my cousin for proofreading this.