Training

1 year |3999 B.C.E|

No actual training was done this year… well aside from sharpening my mind and getting used to seeing people cleaved apart while I was in a backpack of sorts attached to my mother. 

Seriously, all I'd done this year is get dragged to battle after battle on her back. She'd actually given me access to a tiny crossbow (which was mounted on her shoulder) so that I could assist her when I felt like it… couldn't reload the damn thing and was barely able to pull the trigger (let alone aim) but she was more than happy to slow down for a bit to help out. I was kinda horrified and proud… proudified? That I'd actually managed a single clean shot too.

Were regular Asgardian babies even able to use it? Because she either already had a shoulder mountable crossbow for halflings on hand, specifically commissioned one herself… or Asgard already had some in storage. All of these options had quite a few implications that were rather… interesting.

Anyway…

As psychopathic as my upbringing was turning out to be, I was glad that she was so invested in helping me grow and learn… though I really only learnt about battle. 

Perhaps I may have grown too detached from life and not cared for it if I had grown in this environment under normal circumstances, hell, the first time I saw an elf get split in half I felt like vomiting, not to mention the sheer bloodlust being emitted from a thousand enemies at my mother and by extension myself.

These feelings would have consumed me had I not been surrounded by so much support, for how much of a monster my mother may seem, she genuinely cared about me and tried her best, being awake to see her struggle to figure out what to feed me, to seeing her putting aside her pride to change a diaper.

To see how protective herself, Fenris and my grandmother were towards me. Hela choked a dark elf with his own intestines for daring to aim at me, Fenris ate another for getting too close… and my grandmother placed enough protective charms and wards over me that I resembled a glowing furball.

It truly touched my heart.

While admittedly terrifying, I couldn't help but feel my love for them all steadily increase with each day that passed. I didn't learn to fight this year… but I did learn to appreciate my scary family.

I also successfully learned to crawl! I had astronomically more coordination than any Asgardian toddler should have… I think, and while this helped with enhancing my senses and granted a modicum of body control, it still didn't allow me to walk straight away.

I felt that I simply didn't have the muscle required to move how I wanted, not to mention I felt too… Squishy? Yeah, squishy! To support myself with just my legs currently.

Not that I needed to move around a lot, I was more interested in reading anything I could get my hands on the moment I figured out their alphabet. Maybe I've mentally regressed a bit since I caught myself really enjoying children's books? 

"Gah ga goo ubba?" (What do you think Megatron?) I asked the Draugr plushie Grandmother made for me.

Megatron (In sheer arrogance) decided he was above answering my question?!

"Ah affa buu!" (Insolent worm!) So I rightfully challenged him to a duel!

After making sure my subordinate knew who's boss, I continued my reading session having temporarily forgotten my prior question.

2 years |3998 B.C.E|

Ok… so maybe showing intelligence beyond my years was a bad idea.

*CLANG*

I fell to my knees while sloppily blocking a strike with a sword I could barely hold, my attacker… Mother, was smiling happily as I hastily got back on my feet barely blocking another attack as I skidded backwards.

Behold exhibit A on why being a prodigy while being the son of the god of war is a bad idea.

After my Grandmother explained that I, in fact, had a primary Godhood related somewhat to body control (fitting I guess), I ditched the idea of sitting pretty and began showing my rapid advancement. A few steps here, some speaking there, and voila, certified prodigy.

The upside was my mother allowing me more access to reading and learning in general. The downside was basically everything she wanted to teach me still involved fighting and battle.

…Which eventually led me to my current predicament- I was bigger and stronger than I should be at my age with the addition of greater intelligence and body control… leading to my mother thinking I was more than ready to begin training.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the idea of getting stronger… but saying you'll do something difficult and actually doing it are two very separate things… anyones resolve will begin to waver after a few days of this kind of training!

Running several kilometers while carrying a large stone!

Followed by sword fighting Mother until I collapsed!

Pretty sure even a regular Asgardian would be destroyed trying to complete this routine! She was going easy and the stone admittedly wasn't that big… but I'm 2! I could control myself way better than anyone else and had yet to get seriously tired… but bruises accumulated and mental stress was still a factor.

I could have had it easier but the moment she discovered my near limitless stamina that was thrown out the window. Me and my big mouth…

Still glad I have enough control to no longer crap myself though…

I was so distracted with being bitter that I didn't see her leg close in and send me flying a few meters away. I wasn't seriously hurt thanks to being such a cockroach, but I did feel extremely winded after coming back down.

"Focus Ausar! If this were a real battle your enemy would have already killed you." Hela firmly (though not unkindly) yelled to me.

"Okay Mom!" I said once I got my breath back. A second after that and I was back on my feet. I threw myself back towards her and aimed my sword for her heart, she could have blocked, dodged or even cut my own sword in two, but instead chose to parry- leaving me to stumble backwards due to her strength.

I didn't have to worry about aiming for non-lethal areas in this spar, for one, I reckon that even if I were allowed to attack her with the sword all day without her resisting, I still wouldn't be able to kill her, and two, the only lesson she'd really drilled me on was to always aim for the vitals.

So I did, not that it helped… but it sure made her happy. I corrected my stance again and dove back in, myself and mother both sporting a smile the entire time.

3 years |3997 B.C.E|

I grit my teeth as the world around me slowed to a crawl, as it always did when someone was forced to do something they disliked.

I was currently doing a plank while having a boulder a bit larger than myself on my back. And it hurt like a bitch!

I have a vague recollection of carrying a fridge up some stairs in my last life. I'd obviously done it wrong and my back had been in terrible pain for a few weeks afterward. The memory kept coming to mind since the pain I'd felt then was almost the same as what I felt now.

I'm sure if I were to be truly injured some magic could fix me up, but pain is pain. And when you're in the moment, and happen to have a supercomputer for a brain, every second is an eternity spent considering every moment that led you to your current position.

I remember getting a checkup done by grandmother after Hela saw my physical progression proceeding faster than she anticipated.

Turns out I'm not only growing bigger due to my Giant heritage, but I've also ended up getting a combination of increased physical parameters from Asgardian and Giant physiques, even my fathers part (apparently he's human?!) hasn't weakened me but instead seemed to help balance out my bloodlines.

Giants can match or exceed Asgardians in strength due to their size, while Asgardians can match the Giants due to increased density and having more efficient muscles on top of that. Apparently I'm getting the size increase combined with the denser, more efficient muscles… 

When I inevitably grow to double an Asgardians height I won't have just double their strength, but because of the square cube law I'd actually have 8 times their muscle mass! Not to mention that due to my domain being control I'd already be able to exert far more power than my size may suggest!

Long story short, I had a lot of potential strength at my fingertips… I just had to go through some hellish training to get it!

Turns out something similar happened to Hela too, though instead of physical strength she instead got greatly increased magical talents.

…And of course she only used her talents for creating weapons and a bit of necromancy. Weapons for her love of combat and necromancy only because of her domain… not that it made her weaker, she just had the perfect circumstances to make use of it- Death domain allowed for insane regen and Asgardian genetics provided decent toughness, this allowed her to basically forego defense entirely and pump all her 'stats' into offense.

Better to be a master in your field than only mediocre at everything… That said, my own 'build' was leaning more heavily into defense. I wouldn't be a slouch when it came to dishing out pain, but it was plainly obvious that I was slowly turning into a juggernaut.

My size would allow me to be a bigger target… but it'd also mean I'd have extremely thick bones and condensed muscle in spades- combined with my Asgardian and giant genetic makeup along with my greatly enhanced control, it'd be like I was wearing armor even when I was butt naked! And not to mention I planned to wear armor anyway!

As if that wasn't broken enough, my domain over death would eventually allow me to pull off the type of crazy regen that mother possessed (Though I'd have to put more work into raising my magic reserves) . 

And there's more… because of course there is. Grandma isn't just a regular giant, she is instead the shapeshifting daughter of a Wolf Lord and the serpentine Mother of Monsters. Sitting down, she awed me with her constantly changing form as she went from a wolf (duh) to a snake (double duh), to a dragon!

She even informed me that Fenris is… technically my aunt. I'd rather not dig into that.

Back on topic. Her prestigious bloodline made it a damn near guarantee that Hela would gain a second Godhood, and usually if Hela had a child their bloodline would be diluted or weakened… yet not in my case!

Whoever my father was apparently had the perfect blend of magic in his blood to allow the human aspect to pull everything from grandmother to the forefront- which explained the increase in size and rams horns.

This was good for reasons mentioned already… but it got better or worse depending on how long you looked. First up, I will never stop growing… queue the serpent side. Great for power, but something I'd no doubt curse around doorways… at least there were spells to solve that and eventually I may be able to shift myself to appear smaller anyhow.

Second, I was going to heal damn quick… turns out Helas healing is even more OP and bloodline based than I thought. Great, right? NO! It meant my training routine just got bumped up in intensity!

How the hell are wolves even related to healing factors?!

A drop of sweat rolled down my face, onto my nose and below into the dirt. It seemed to have taken minutes to me, yet likely only took a second or less. My arms were beginning to shake after holding up myself and the boulder for so long.

Before the chat with Grandma, the training I'd been subjected to had ironically been quite light- Mother and Grandmother both worried about leaving permanent injuries if they pushed me too hard. Yet with the confirmation of being able to eventually heal from any non-fatal injury, they were determined to push me as hard as they reasonably could.

But they didn't just force me into the new training… Hell, despite their enthusiasm, they were willing to wait until I was mature enough to withstand it. 

…At least until I opened my big mouth.

~Flashback yesterday~

"I want to be strong!"

Grandmother was rather taken aback at my proclamation. Afterall, what child, when asked about what they want to be when they grow up, would reply with an answer like that?

"And why is that?" She asked with a noticeable amount of humor.

"So I can protect you, Fenris and Mother!" I replied back with the most serious expression I could muster.

I could almost see an invisible arrow pierce her heart as the stony facade she always kept, momentarily cracked as a flash of love, guilt and pride flashed across her face. "And you think being strong will allow you to fulfill that goal?"

"...You're right." I know that being strong isn't enough, plenty of beings in this reality are strong… and yet still little more than insects in the grand scheme of this joke of a reality.

"?" Grandmother raised a single eyebrow at my admission to her being correct-

"Being just strong isn't enough… so I'll be the strongest!" 

-Which was quickly joined by the other brow upon hearing my lofty goal. "And how… will you achieve the strength you seek?"

"...I don't know." I of course had plans, but I couldn't exactly reveal my knowledge about info I had no right knowing about.

Grandmother's face changed back to amusement at my grand ambitions seemingly having no scaffolding to stand upon, and was opening her mouth to say something, before I cut back in- "But… I know it will take a lot of work… and time… and help." I sported my most serious face again while looking her in the eye "I also know you're holding back for my sake."

I moved forward and grabbed her hands with my own "I know you want to protect me, and I appreciate your concern, I know that most at my age wouldn't be able to handle the intensity…" She didn't look close to budging, especially with how it certainly seemed like I was trying to guilt trip her… which never worked on her or Mom anyway. "But… we're not talking about others my age, you and I both know I'm far beyond them even without training. I'm not dumb, nor am I naive. I know it will be hard, I know there will be points that make me want to quit. You asked me how I will achieve my goal? Well I'll tell you… it will be by learning from the best of the best, and who better than you and Mom?"

That last part may have been me sucking up to them, but it was the truth. Grandmother, despite her proclivity towards melee, was an incredibly powerful sorceress who was capable of casting thousands of spells or even making new ones on the fly, not to mention her skill with runes and blood magic- a completely separate type of magic that was either incredibly guarded or bloodline based. In the same vein, when it came to weapon fighting and pure skill in melee, you'd find nobody better than mother- who had thousands of years of battle experience aided both by her regeneration which allowed her the chance many warriors never had to improve their styles, and her godhood which passively increased her skill anyway.

Grandmother currently had an unreadable expression on her face, not giving any of her thoughts about what I'd said away. "...and you think training now would let you achieve your goal?"

I obviously knew that regardless of training, I'd never be a match for beings like The Sentry, let alone outlandishly powerful monsters like The Beyonder. Some beings were just born outrageously powerful or had the ability to have neverending growth… While my potential was nothing to sneeze at, I was ultimately finite. There was a limit to what someone could achieve purely with effort… an annoying fact to admit, but true nonetheless. I'd once again looked at Grandmother with conviction blazing in my eyes "No… but it will give me the tools I need to succeed and stand a chance…"

Grandmother sat in silence with me for a while, her face conveying a slightly questioning look tinged with… sadness? We just sat and stared at one another for a few tense, silent minutes as she tested my mettle. I didn't back away from her stare either… I knew at least a few of the things this universe would throw at me, and any moment I spent not preparing felt like a moment waiting to die.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angerboda (Granny) Yesterday POV 

…Have we already failed him?

At first I found it rather adorable how he wanted so desperately to protect us… but to hear a child acknowledge the cutthroat nature of the world… even in a less detailed manner? And to see him looking as if all the world was out to get him?

I felt like I had failed to preserve his innocence… at least as much as could be preserved under such bloody circumstances. It felt like only yesterday when I'd seen him playing pretend among his wooden blocks…

More importantly… I felt like I had failed at the most basic task- making him feel safe. As well as he tried to hide it, I could see the anxiety tainting his every move, action and thought… perhaps not so strange when the ones you loved were constantly amid battles or had an untold number of enemies.

The very notion that he was scared not for himself, but for us… it nearly broke my cold heart.

It made even more sense when Surtur or Malekith were added to the equation. Powerful monsters in their own right, they were spoken of in tales to children- of Surtur who would escape from an un-maintained hearth to burn down your home, or of Malekith who would feast upon any child unlucky enough to enter too deep a shadow.

Now imagine that the ones you love are fated to fight such beings… and perhaps his anxiety begins to look a lot more reasonable.

He had mentally matured far faster than his peers due to his Godhood… yet he was still just a child. A smart child, sure… but still lacking in experience or the wisdom those experiences netted. He most likely knew of the physical strain that training would require… and perhaps even thought he knew of the mental strain.

He was wrong…

She looked into his eyes, making absolutely sure that this is what he truly wanted. No amount of reassurance she could give would be enough to assuage such fears, and her idiot daughter wouldn't know the first thing about comforting one against their fears.

…Perhaps a measure of personal power would alleviate his concerns slightly?

Time would tell… but she would be there to help him the entire way… and pull him out should it be too much.

"…"

"...Alright."

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Back to Present~

*Sigh*

"I heard that!" Grandmother's face entered my line of sight, as from atop the boulder on my back she leaned down to look me in the eye while upside down. "If you have the energy to complain, you have energy to spare… Now Ausar, do you have any complaints?"

This was a trap question. Answering no meant I had energy to talk, but not answering would make her assume it was a yes anyway. Trying to worm my way out, I answered by way of shaking my head from side to side; giving a clear indication of no.

"What was that? A few more weights you say? Well why didn't you say so earlier?" Grandmother 'excitedly' questioned me. Ughhh… Damned if you do- "No thank you Grandma, this is plenty" I was able to barely get out with a polite smile on my face.

"A-ha! So you do have energy to spare!" -Damned if you don't.