CHAPTER 109

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[Alex - Nidavellir - POV]

Learning from Emily had proven to be difficult, what was the true meaning of pouring your heart into something, in theory, I understood the principle of it, but in practice, I had no idea how to apply it.

I mean, I already loved crafting, and the power this skill brought me, but that was not enough according to Eitri.

"Alex!" I heard someone shout, snapping me out of my train of thought.

"Thor?" I turned around to find Thor entering my room in Nidavellir.

"Who else but the mighty!" Thor replied with a wide smile, but something seemed off, it was as if the space itself was bending around him, the mana around Thor seemed to oscillate creating a strange reading.

Now that I think about it, where's his name tag, why can't I see his level or name.

There were only two possible explanations the way I saw it, one, this was a being able to distort my power, or two, this was a mage of some kind creating an illusion to trick, and considering I was too much of a small fry to invoke the ire of the few possible gods able to distort my powers, I was inclining to the latter.

The question now was, who was the man standing in front of me? Whoever this person was, it was an enemy that much was clear, the minimap showed his presence as a red dot. Which alleviated my thoughts of him being a dangerous being messing with my powers because if he was, the minimap would also be affected, but that wasn't the case, his illusions didn't affect my map, I could work with that.

Now, what do I know? Whoever this person is he has to know of my relationship with Thor, so maybe an Asgardian, Loki mayhaps.

"So, brother, I wanted to invite you to a glorious quest of might!" Thor smiled, approaching me.

But why would Loki try and trick me, no, scratch that, he was the god of mischief, it was on his nature, the question was, why was he now my enemy, a month ago his dot was green, like all the other Asgardians, so what happened to make him an enemy?

Oh well, this was beyond the point now, if Loki wanted my head, he would have to fight for it.

"I'm not Thor, Loki," I replied with a sigh, "I am not easy to fool, nor I will be an easy prey, so drop the act,"

"Bravo," Loki replied, his illusional form changing back to his with each passing second, "I am impressed mortal, I truly am, it seems unlike Thor and his friends, you use that brain of yours,"

"So, tell me, why do you want to kill me?" I asked with a chuckle.

For a moment, Loki stared at me, as if weighing his next move, perhaps he was surprised with how easy I had seen through his little scheme, or perhaps he was shocked, I knew he wanted to kill me.

"Well, because you like many other mortals have stepped out of your line," Loki sneered, even from afar, I could fill his rage, his hate, his sadness, just what in the hell had I done to him.

And then it hit me, he was jealous, of my relationship with Thor, of my relationship with Sif, of my status in Asgard, he was jealous and out of jealousy, he was throwing a tantrum.

"Oh, I see," I snickered, my right hand covering my mouth ever so lightly, "You are jealous,"

At this, Loki glared at me, not saying a single word, his eyes doing all the talking, in short, I had pressed his buttons.

"You dare…." Loki hissed.

"I dare what? Speak the truth?" I smiled at him with a condescending look, after all, the more pissed he was, the easier it would be to deal with him.

"I will enjoy what's coming next," Loki hissed once again, his level finally appearing above his head, [Loki Odinson - LV 223]

"You will enjoy defeat? I have to say, how altruistic of you," I cackled. 

"That's IT!" Loki screamed in rage, summoning two daggers as he ran towards me.

I looked at Loki as he approached me, and sidestepped as his attack was about to hit, then quickly, before Loki could respond with a follow-up, I swiftly punched Loki in the throat using [Savagery] followed by a second punch to the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of the God of Mischief, stunning him in the ground for a brief moment.

"I fight Thor almost on a daily basis, and you thought you had a chance?" He was a few levels ahead of me, but if I had to take a guess all of his stats were in non-physical areas, leaving him as a mage with no offensive skill, all he had was his illusions, and his conjuration, leaving him with no real offensive skill, meaning that while his level was higher, I was vastly more prepared.

"Sleep!" Loki hissed, touching my leg, immediately after I fell his mana invade my body, trying and failing to mold my head to obey his command, unfortunately for him I was immune to such attacks.

"Did… did you just try to mind control me?" I asked with a smile.

"This… no, it shouldn't be possible, why is your mind so strong, no mortal should have such mental defenses!" Loki hissed, coughing a bit of blood as he struggled to stand up.

"Had you had enough?" I asked, extending my hand to him, "I bear no ill towards you, Loki, I even admire you, so let's be friends? Shall we?"

"Friends?" Loki laughed, "FRIENDS?! I won't be humiliated like this by a mortal! If I can't hurt you directly, I will do it indirectly, perhaps your daug–" he hadn't had the time to finish his sentence, when I had already blasted him back to the ground, stabbing him with his own knife.

"I will be as clear as possible, Loki…" I muttered to his ear, digging the knife deeper and deeper into his body, "Walk on that path, and I will kill you, make no mistake, I am not Odin, I am not Thor, I am not Frigga… I will eliminate you the moment you become a nuisance, is that clear, little god?"

Before Loki could reply, a new presence came into the room, Odin.

"That's enough Alex," Odin said.

"I meant every word I said, Odin," I replied, turning my head around to face Odin.

"I know," Odin replied.

"I don't care about your rules, or his status," I sighed, taking the knife out of Loki's body, "If he threatens my family… ever again, it will be the end of him."

"You… di-" Loki growled only to be silenced by a glare from his father.

"Had I been once second late, he would've killed you Loki," Odin roared, "I will deal with your punishment myself, he's an ally of Asgard! For Bor's sake!" 

"I understand, father," Loki replied, avoiding his piercing gaze.

"Remember my words, little god, for now, I consider you a threat, and my eyes will be forever on you," I added, walking out of the room, sharing a cold look with Odin that said, control your child, or I will for you.