Ascend Once again

A/N: First of all, sorry for the subpar Ch 80. It was my fault it came that bad, and it happened because I wanted to get his Power Up over with, which caused me to speed the chapter up, so to speak. Too many coincidences(the reasons for which will be explained in this chapter), and not a good side quest, overall.

But, I won't be changing it. Not any reason, just that I don't think that without making the chapter bigger than I'm comfortable with, or by stretching the arc into more chapters, I cannot make it better. I took an extra day to think, and yes, that was the best I could write that particular chapter.

Sorry about that, and I hope this chapter balances it out. Thank you!

Secondly, also sorry for being late on the update during these two chapters. I've moved to another city, and it's.. taking a while to settle down. I'm looking for a job, while repeatedly calling my college to see if they have my Degree Certificate ready yet, and I've suffered from a bout of insomnia, which made me sleep for just 5 hours per day, these last 4 days. So, yeah.

Hope you understand.

Read on!

---

Maya, that's what she called herself nowadays, and she has had the name for a few centuries now. She had been known by many names over the millennia, far too many to count. But she did remember her birth name, as that was the one name she always returned to. It was the one name she felt the most attached to.

Selene.

Her Father had believed the name to belong to a Goddess who would be born in a few thousand years, and he was right. Selene the External was born almost 6000 years before Selene, the daughter of Titans Theia and Hyperion, was even conceived. 

Why he named his daughter after a Goddess, while planning on cursing her entire existence, Selene didn't know. Not even after gaining all his memories she could gain an introspection in his thoughts.

Selene didn't just gain his memories, however, when she had absorbed his Soul into herself. Selene got all his Magical Knowledge, as well as his talents in Divination.

While she didn't use the gifts much, preferring to live one day at a time, she couldn't always control it. She would receive visions about the future, and sometimes, if the matter is serious enough, about the past.

Amongst many, Selene.. Maya, she reminded herself.. had gotten the visions of the First Deaths of many of her External brethren. She assumed that it was so she could help them come to terms with their newfound Immortality. Their.. Ascension.

But almost always, the Externals refused her help, most of the time violently. They believed that now that they were Immortal, they were above needing anyone's help. It still made Selene chuckle whenever she remembered the External Molar, who could create Earthquakes by just touching the ground. She had offered to help him, and he had attacked her, causing her to flee.

She didn't want to spill her siblings' blood needlessly, you see.

Alas, it didn't help him when he challenged a God, Zeus to be precise, in a fight to the Death. Zeus obliterated him within seconds, and when Molar died.. he didn't resurrect.

Many of the Externals she had met in her long life had died, regardless of their Immortality. Some died because of their own hubris, like Molar, while others died to the schemes of other- stronger- Externals. But still, Maya had kept hope that she would find a companion for herself in one of her immortal siblings, someone who could keep her grounded to sanity, while also not trying to kill her every century.

And then.. she had Seen her latest in a long line of siblings. Atharva Joshi, he called himself, but Maya knew that it wasn't his true name, just like how Maya wasn't hers. He was immortal even before dying by the hands of the Goddess of Death. And when he resurrected from his First Death, she was there to bring him to safety.

It took a surprisingly long amount of time for him to wake up, two hours to be precise, and Maya found that it was because of who exactly killed him. Hela Odinsdottir, the Goddess of Death. Her Necrotic Magic was amongst the most vile she had ever felt, but as she had told Atharva, nothing can stop an External from resurrecting after his first Death.

Atharva was.. odd. He was curious about the world, and he didn't have the arrogance that most of her siblings have. Even Garbha-Hsien, a man who claims to be peace loving, has a lot of arrogance in his Magic. And while Atharva was a bit extra confident, he had enough self awareness to know his own limits.

He didn't reject her help outright, not violently anyway, but said that he prefers to figure things out by himself.

And now, after a series of events and tales, Maya stood on his home. An entire Island, hidden through a Soul Magic spell, ensuring that only Atharva and those he personally welcomes, even know about the place. She had understood the bare basics of the Spell, but Atharva had said that the Spell was yet to be actually invented, so even he couldn't tell anything more to her.

And wasn't that an interesting revelation. Atharva Joshi was not from this time period, he came from a time 2000 years into the future, through an accident of his own making. 

But, that wasn't something she found too odd. She had already met with a few Time Travellers. She had to, having been the Sorceress Supreme at one point in her life, which meant that she was entrusted with safeguarding the Time Stone along with this Reality.

Alas, wherever the being named Sise-Neg had escaped to, she didn't know. She did know that if he returned to the True World once again, her Curse would start changing his soul, granting him.. introspection. It will make it so he will realise the faults in his goals of conquering Time.

A handy Soul Curse, that. Best used on enemies you actually want to see redeemed, but it could also be used on those you believe you cannot defeat.

Shaking her head, Maya looks at her Brother working on painting the Ritual, while the giant Cat that she had learned was named Matatabi, looked on. 

Atharva had brought her here not for her help, but for her guidance. He wanted to be sure that his Ritual would work as intended, and that it wouldn't kill him, or destroy his Soul. And she had to say, Atharva either was an absolute genius when it came to Rituals, or he had some very good luck.

Probably both.

He had taken two separate Rituals, each with a cooldown period during which he wouldn't be able to go through any Ritual at all- 5 years for one, and 100 for the other- and he had merged the two Rituals together.

He.. had.. merged.. rituals. Together. In just half a decade. And most of the Time was spent by him just getting familiar with Soul Magic.

That was not something even she could do in such a short amount of time. She probably could have figured out something to fit the same purpose in a couple years, but it wouldn't have as high a effect as the merged Ritual.

The two Rituals he had used were pretty much already known to her, or at least the effects were.

The first was the Soul Enhancement Ritual, one that he had worked out himself, perfectly created for him and only him. It would take the Soul of a Sacrificed being, and after purifying it into pure Soul Magic, merge it with the Mage's Soul. This would have many effects. Making the Mage's Soul denser, more potent, and allowing his Magic to finally take a foray into the next stages of Magical Evolution. This one by itself would have a cooldown period of 100 years, meaning that after this one Ritual, the Mage wouldn't be able to use any single Ritual without deformation of his body, loss of sanity, and even.. death.

The second Ritual was one she knew of in passing. A Strength Enhancement Ritual, to grant the Mage the strength of any being. Mostly, Mages would use either Giants, Dragons, Nundus, or Re'em for this Ritual. The effects are obvious, it takes the strength of the animal, and grants it to the Mage. This one, she knew, had a cooldown of half a decade.

Where the first Ritual works purely on his Soul, the second one will work purely on his body, balancing things out. And together, they will take his Magic to the next stage almost immediately.

Peeking at the ingredients in use, Maya could tell that Atharva was going to use a Re'em, one that he had tried saving from the Asgardians, and died in return.

Asgardians.. now that thought brought a frown to her face. Hela, one of the Asgardians, had killed Atharva, and Maya knew that she scared him. 'I'm not strong enough' Atharva kept repeating. 'My Magic is too weak' he had said.

He wasn't weak, Maya knew that. Just by getting a feel for his Magic Maya knew that Atharva was almost stepping into the Realm of the strongest Mages, most of whom had some sort of hybrid parentage. Half Demons, half Angels, half Fae, half Gods, anything. And Atharva was in there, even if he was right at the bottom.

Maya didn't have the same problem as him, her Soul being far, far different than a normal one. And her body was a non-issue, since her Life Force Absorption allowed her to make her body stronger with every Soul she absorbed. 

But Atharva had the bad fortune of meeting a Goddess, and hence, he felt he was not strong enough to protect his.. Sanctuary.

And this Merged Ritual, Atharva hoped, would bridge the gap between their strengths until he isn't a weakling in front of Hela.

As Atharva stands up, and starts walking around the Ritual that he had drawn on the ground in front of his impressive Castle, Maya asks, "Are you not satisfied by me saying that the Ritual is without errors?"

Atharva barely glances at her, and says, "I could have made errors when actually drawing the Ritual down, which is what I'm checking for. Plus, making sure that I actually am not missing anything."

"Well, why don't you tell me everything. Speaking allows you to understand clearer, or so I've heard." Maya says, and leans back on the soft, comfortable chair she had conjured for herself.

Atharva nods, and turns his head towards the center of the Ritual circle. He says, "That 3 hands wide circle is obviously where I'm going to stand. The Pentagram around it, and the Alchemical symbols surrounding all the lines and shapes form the Soul part of the Ritual, and Matatabi will have to stand on that point over there.. if she's still willing to die for my cause."

Maya smiles, when Atharva looks at the Flaming Cat in question, who just looks annoyed by him. It wasn't the first time Atharva had brought it up.

Atharva sighs, and then says, "All of those lines are drawn by a mixture of Matatabi's blood, my blood, and Squid Ink, where my and Matatabi's blood were just a single part each to ten parts of squid ink. On the four remaining points of the Pentagram are already kept a human skull(representing Death), a Phoenix Feather(Rebirth), the Everlasting Gubraithian Fire(Flames of Life), and an orb of Crystallized Magic donated by the Elves(to represent Magic), all of them kept in holes dug for them."

Atharva walks outside, careful not to step on any of the Symbols, and says, "Then comes the second part, Body. A Triangle, surrounded by a Circle, surrounded by two more concentric circles. The vertices of the Triangle contain the Binding Potion, and the two eyes of the Re'em in question."

The Eyes have no purpose in the Ritual except to be sacrificed. As for the Binding Potion, it was a Potion made by mixing the blood of the Re'em, tusks of a Magical Mammoth, and a few more ingredients she didn't know of. It will make sure that all the effects that Atharva gains after the Ritual settle down peacefully, without causing him too much discomfort.

Without the Binding Potion, there was a small chance that the Magic might not stick to him, negating the Ritual altogether. Painfully.

"Between each Vertex are kept three copper bowls, containing the blood, flesh, and bones of the Re'em. Together, they will enhance my body strength to be just a bit higher than that of a Re'em." Atharva says, and kneels down to check if the symbols he's drawn are correct.

Maya snorts, when he says 'Just a bit', it was an understatement if she has ever heard one. The Ritual, she could tell, would take any normal Mage to a strength comparable to the Re'em whose body was used in it. For someone like Atharva, whose strength was already pretty high, it would make him at least twice as strong as the Re'em in question. 

And it won't stop there. Over time, as his Magic gets stronger, his body and Soul will follow. Where before his Soul and Body limited his Magic, later his Magic will help his Soul and Body grow stronger. It will, however, stop some day, until Atharva manages to cross the next threshold for all three of those components.

He might never get as strong as Hela is now, not unless he manages to make an Outer Realm his own, but he will be able to give her a good challenge with all his other skills combined.

Finally satisfied by the Ritual, and finding no errors, Atharva walks back out. He couldn't use Magic while inside the Ritual, because it would damage something, or even activate the Ritual. Which.. without the Sacrifice.. would definitely kill him.

He then approaches Matatabi, and asks, "One last time, Matatabi. Are you ready? And are you sure?"

Matatabi, a cat four times as tall as Maya herself, stands up, and says, "I am a Queen, Mage. Once I have decided, I will not change my mind. Now.. tell me where I should stand, and I will die without my honour sullied by your words."

Maya chuckles, not having known that Magical cats could even have honour. 

Atharva sighs, and says, "First, there's something else. We need to mark each other. We need to brand each other with our Magic."

Maya raises her eyebrows, having not known it before. But, she understands why it might be necessary. Branding one another will make their bodies used to the other's Magic, making the transition easier. It would also designate the cat as the sacrifice, and Atharva as the beneficiary, and not the other way around.

As Maya looks on curiously, Atharva raises his hands, and shoots a beam of yellow coloured Magic, one that makes Maya's skin crawl, towards Matatabi's forehead.

Pure Light Magic. How.. interesting. She didn't know Atharva had access to it. A perfect enemy for her, if so inclined. Thankfully, it wasn't so.

The beam of Light Magic causes Matatabi to wince, probably because of her own Demonic ancestry, and leaves the symbol of a bird in the middle of her forehead when it disappears. 

Matatabi caresses her forehead, and then breathes out a small beam of blue flames at Atharva. When the flames leave, Atharva has the symbol of a Flaming Cat on his own forehead, just the face thankfully.

Preparations done, Atharva asks Matatabi to stand on the point reserved for her, and then looks at Maya. She smiles at him in reassurance, and prompts him to start the Ritual.

He begins with a chant, in a language she knows to be Sanskrit. She doesn't understand the words, however, and is left to just listen as he speaks for a minute, without stopping to even breathe. And then, he closes his eyes and lets his Magic flow.

Immediately, the circle he is standing on lights up in a white light, and the light spreads outwards to the Pentagram. As soon as the Light touches the five points of the Pentagram, white flames erupt out of the points, and cover the four ingredients, burning the Human Skull, Phoenix Feather, Gubraithian Fire, and Magic Crystal into.. white Magic dust?

Maya had expected Ash, but even the Human Skull got turned into White Magic Dust. The Gubraithian Fire just merged with the white fire, turning brighter. 

The fifth point of the Pentagram, which held the willing body of Matatabi, a Flaming Cat, is the last to light up with white fire. And as soon as Matatabi's entire form is covered with the flames, the White fire and Magic dust collected through the burning of the four other ingredients start swirling around Atharva, keeping him at the center.

He doesn't notice anything, however, with his eyes closed, and smoke exiting out of his nostrils and ears. The heat of the spinning fire tornado causes all of his clothes to burn. Thankfully, he understood that he couldn't wear anything Magical on his body, which could have caused interference in the Ritual. 

Matatabi opens her mouth in a silent scream, as white flames erupt out of her, and join the swirling fire tornado that was becoming bigger and bigger with each passing second.

With each second, however, Maya notices something happening. The burning form of Matatabi was becoming smaller and smaller, and it wasn't just the flames around her body. Her body itself was shrinking, and Maya knew exactly why.

The Ritual was working, at least the first part of it. Everything within Matatabi, her Magic, her fire, her body, her Soul, everything was being sent into the White flaming tornado, which now had Atharva in the middle of it. Maya couldn't see inside the fire Tornado, but she could guess that some of the Flames from the Tornado were entering his body, and that the Ritual must've begun changing him already 

Soon, Matatabi goes from a height four times that of Maya, to the size comparable to a small kitten, and keeps shrinking, until finally.. she completely disappears.

"Thank you for your Sacrifice, Queen Matatabi.. your deeds will never be forgotten." Maya hears Atharva grit out through pain, his voice still loud enough to speak over the fire tornado.

The flaming tornado expands upwards, and starts becoming wider and bigger, as Atharva's Magic starts leaking out of his body. It mixes with the flames, and makes the Tornado start covering more and more of the Ritual Circle into its Eye.

The flames, now blue in colour thanks to Matatabi's sacrifice being accepted, activate the second part of the Ritual. Immediately, the three main ingredients meant to increase Atharva's strength, the blood, flesh, and bones of a Re'em, shoot upwards, and start spinning around the Tornado, while stretching thin. 

And then.. all three of them shoot towards the tornado, and fly through it, into the centre of the flames without stopping. The Cauldron full of the Binding Potion disappears too, and she hears a splash of the liquid falling from somewhere inside the Tornado. If Atharva's prediction was to be believed, the Potion just drenched him in its contents, while the Re'em ingredients were just beginning to do their work on him.

The fire Tornado keeps spinning for a few seconds, and then.. the fire suddenly gets sucked towards the centre, towards Atharva, and Maya has only a moment's warning before she's forced to conjure a Magical shield to protect herself.

BOOOOOMMMM!

The flames explode, sending a blast of heatwave outwards. The wave slams into her Magical shield spell and sends her skidding a bit backwards. Maya widens her eyes, wondering if Atharva even survived. The force of the explosion would have killed her if she hadn't put up a shield. And Atharva was right in the centre of it.

She looks towards the Ritual circle, and finds the entire Ritual turned to ash, with not even a single symbol remaining.

And in the centre of it all, sat just a small pile of ash, not big enough to cover Atharva's body at all.

Maya's heart skips a bit, realising through her connection that Atharva had died just now, burned completely to ashes through the flames his Ritual had created.

Maya knows that this was a Death brought about by Atharva's own hands. He went through the Ritual and he himself created the fire that killed him. This might constitute as an External killing an External.

But then, before she has even begun mourning.. she feels it. A pulse of Magic, and a pull on her connection to the Externals.

A hand shoots out of the pile of ashes, shooting some ash into the air. The hand then grabs at the ground, and using it as leverage, a body starts pulling itself up. Maya smiles widely, wiping at the tear that had managed to get loose, but refrains from helping him.

He needs to get out of the ashes by himself, without interference. Once he's out, the Ritual will be considered complete, but not before then.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Atharva starts coughing, taking in deep breaths as soon as his body is completely free of the ashes. His skin was still covered in the ash, and so were his eyes, and his mouth was now shooting ash out of it. But Maya could tell that he was okay. A bit disoriented and weak, but okay. She was glad.

Maya immediately walks towards him with a glass of water conjured in her hands. She ignores his nudity, having already seen everything before, and gently helps him drink the water.

Maya could tell that a lot had changed, in his Magic, his blood, his skin, his Soul. He had achieved what he wanted, and more. His body was stronger than hers now, she could feel it. His Magic flowed through his entire body, without any issues, as if he was not a mortal Mage but a God. There was no Divine taste to his Magic, however, which is what stopped her from outright calling him a God.

And his Soul.. it was not a Human Soul any longer. It wasn't even a Kasha Soul. It was.. something else in between. It was something more.

What he had wanted to achieve, he did. And Maya was all the more happy for him, since that meant that one of her siblings was now more likely to survive the ravages of time.

---

Atharva Joshi POV:

Taking in deep breaths, as I get over dying once more, I shakily take the glass I could see right in front of me and gulp the water down. I open my mouth to ask for more, but the glass refills immediately.

"Thank you." I roughly whisper out, as I keep drinking the water from the refilling glass.

The person in front of me, Maya, gently places her hand on my forehead, and I feel her Magic enter my body to analyse the changes. I appreciate it, since I wouldn't be able to use my Magic without getting over the changes done to my body and Soul first.

But then.. I feel something. I feel my own Magic responding to Maya's intrusive Magic. I feel my Magic immediately attack it, and before Maya could retreat completely, my Magic.. does something.

"What… did you do?" Maya whispers, with a bit of horror creeping into her voice.

I hold my hand up, since I could feel something happening there, and there I see it.. a wisp of smoke coloured my palm, like the smoke that comes out of volcanoes, only darker. I move my palm, and the smoke moves with me. I ask it to float above my hand, and it follows my command without fighting.

It feels.. Dark.. and cold. As if it sucked all Light and Warmth from the surroundings. Just by this one moment of manipulating this new Magic, I could tell that if I use this for too long, then I will be addicted to it.

I look at Maya, and see her looking at my hand in fascination. She turns her head towards me, looking strangely serious, and says, "Try and expel it, the Magic your body stole from me."

I nod, knowing that stealing Magic is a big no-no, but ask, "Why? It can't be just because my Magic stole it?"

As I focus on expelling the foreign Magic, Maya says, "If it was any normal form of Magic, I wouldn't have been bothered too much. I would have even helped you learn my Art. But this.. this is Darkforce, brother. And you're a Sorcerer of the Light Magics. The conflicting Magics will kill you from the inside."

She then says, "You need to be careful about whose Magic you copy like this, Atharva. Some people's Magic is far more possessive than Magic has any right to be."

My Magic obediently returns to normal, as I listen to Maya's warning, and I can't help but agree. Darkforce, if the lore is to be believed, is extremely easy to start using, but just as hard to control. The fact that I don't feel the need to use the Magic again is the only thing reassuring me right now.

But.. I could also feel it. In my mind. I remember the feel of her Magic, I remember the feel of the Darkforce. But even without the Darkforce there, I feel how Maya's Magic feels.

"What?" Maya asks, probably suspicious of the thoughtful look on my face, but I ignore her for a moment.

Focusing within myself, I discard the Darkforce trying to put itself in front of my memories, and only concentrate on Maya's Magic. Her Magecraft. 

Bzzzz.

My whole body shivers, as my Magic vibrates, for the lack of a better word. It moves, without me prompting it to, and I feel my skin tingling, as it shifts in the familiar movements of my Metamorphmagic, only.. stronger. Better.

When I open my eyes, I see that Maya is no longer sitting on the ground in front of me, but now.. she stood a few steps back, looking at me with a horrified fascination. She was afraid of me, which.. is weird, because I know that she can kill me within moments if she actually tried.

And it is a bit understandable. She's no longer looking at me, Atharva Joshi, a brown skinned man. But she is looking at herself, with the same skin tone, same eyes, same smile, same height, same weight, and most of all.. the same Magic.

My Magic.. it had definitely evolved further than I had originally hoped. My control wasn't as good as it was before, which will need some practice to get over, but my other Magical gifts.. 

"What did you do?" Maya whispers, finally getting out of her shock.

I smile at her, still wearing her own face, and say, "One of my Magical talents was Metamorphmagic.. Shapeshifting. One limit to it was the fact that despite wearing different faces, I was still myself from the inside. My Magic was still my own, and it still felt like my own. This.. Ritual.. it has allowed my Metamorphmagic to evolve. In addition to my Body mimicking others, my Magic can now mimic the Magical signatures of other people too."

It's.. funny. No it really is. My Ascension to being an External had just evolved my Mutations, while giving me a bit of a boost in my strength. My Magic had remained the same. And now, the Magical Ascension that I had just gone through had gotten rid of the limit. It has evolved my Magical gifts. My Metamorphmagic is the only one I'm sure about for now. But I will know about the rest later.

Smiling still at the stupefied Maya, I shift back into my own form, knowing that looking at your own naked body, while not looking at yourself, must be disorienting. I then say, "Don't worry, I won't misuse the fact that I can shift into your form and imitate you without anyone being the wiser."

I also can't use her Magic as well as she can. While my Magic can imitate hers, as I said, it can't gain the knowledge she has. That is her own. I also won't be able to become a God of Death if I somehow Manage to copy Hela's Magic. I'll just be copying her Magical signature, not her Magic itself.

But.. this perfect Shape Shifting power of mine will definitely come into use.

Maya looks into my eyes, and snorts. She says, "You can't get up, can you?"

As a matter of fact, I couldn't. My Magic and my body are too weak. And my experimentation soon after waking up didn't help matters.

I shake my head, and say, "I knew that going through the Ritual would be exhausting, not to mention excruciatingly painful. But my body's natural Healing is taking care of that for me. My Magic, however, will at least take me a few days to recover completely. Until then, Lady Maya, I surrender myself to your tender mercies."

At least this time, I didn't have to go through three hours of pain to let the Ritual make changes to my body.

Maya sighs, and with a wave of her hands, causes me to float beside her. Thankfully, she also conjures a robe around me so that I don't flop around my legs.

She then starts walking towards my castle, me floating beside her, and says, "Your Magic feels.. different, now that I can comfortably feel it. It is a bit on the darker side, likely the effect of Matatabi's soul being Demonic in nature. And it is also multiple times denser. Matatabi's entire Soul was sent to you, and your mortal Soul fed on it like a hungry animal."

Huh, does it mean I'm not Light anymore? Or would it just.. not matter to my Swords. I sure hope the Light Magic doesn't try to get rid of the Demonic part of my Soul. It will be worse than Cruciatus and it'll mean I'll have to give up on Orcrists and Glamdring.

Damn.

"Your body, I can't say for sure just yet. It has not yet finished going through the changes, despite your eye catching rebirth. I suspect it will take a week for your Ritually induced strength to settle in, at the least." Maya says, and reaching my room, lays me on my bed.

As she covers my body, I smile at her in thanks, and ask, "What do you think? Do I have a chance with Hela now?"

Maya looks down at me, an eyebrow raised, and says, "Physically? No. Your strength has yet to settle in, as I said. But at most, it will make you four times as strong as you were before, and with the increase in your Magic control, the number might.. MIGHT.. stretch over to five." 

I immediately become disheartened, feeling the worst about Matatabi's sacrifice now. So she died for nothing? Even now I cannot defeat Hela? How will I even defend the Creatures if I can't fight one Goddess? How will I fight armies of them, if the time comes?

Oh, God. What kind of person am I? I should have just refused Matatabi's Sacrifice. I should have just tried to look for other methods. Stolen mutations like I did with Victor's. Apocalypse, Maya, that old dude Garbha-Hsien, I could have sought Mutants out and just stolen their flesh, blood, and bones to go through the Rituals one after the other! Five years would have been worth it!

A hand touches my face, making me blink through my tears to look at Maya's worried face. She says, "I said you're physically not strong enough to defeat her. Your Magic on the other hand, should be able to help you bridge the gap very well. Remember, you are not a mortal anymore. You are an Immortal Kasha. A Demonic Flaming Cat. And a mixture of those two souls now rests within you, powering your Magic with every second."

She leans down, kissing me on my forehead and I suddenly feel calm, as I feel myself become sleepy. She says, "Rest. Allow your body to gain its new strength, and allow your Soul to strengthen your Magic. I will wake you once it is done."

"You cheated." I mumble, as my eyes droop from the spell she cast on me. And before I know it, I fall asleep.

---

Two months later, I appear in the lands of Britannia with a pop, a compass in my hand. The Eye of the True North. A compass that takes you where your need can be the easiest, and earliest to achieve. A Relic that uses Liquid Luck to transcend the barriers of Space and Time.

I had asked it to take me to where Asgardians will attack Magical creatures next. Because I wasn't evil enough to attack them without any prompting. I don't want to come off as a villain when I attack a troop of Asgardians while they're just sleeping, for example.

Two months. That's how long I had spent on Sanctuary, getting used to my new powers, my new Strengths. I was around four times physically stronger than before, making me around at the level of Loki, I believe. Probably just a bit higher than him, but definitely weaker than Thor still.

But, to be fair, he is a God of Strength too.

I had taken this time to practice everything. From my Magecraft, to my Sorcery. From my Healing, to my fighting. Hell, I had even spent a few days with Maya, mastering as many dead languages as I could.

Kasha.. I had realised a few things after my Soul.. stabilised, so to speak. One of which was that Matatabi wasn't the one keeping an eye on me. It was her ancestor. Elder Goddess Gaea.

For some reason, Gaea allowed some of Matatabi's memories to bleed through, showing me her meeting with Matatabi. They spoke about Kasha, his crimes against Magic, and what Gaea wants to do to stop it. And Gaea told Matatabi about me, about Sanctuary.

She told her about my death against Hela, and what I'm doing to fix it. Gaea manipulated Matatabi into accepting her fate as a Ritual sacrifice. She gave Matatabi the spell that would summon me to her, and she gave Matatabi the knowledge of where exactly Kasha was hiding on Earth.

Gaea might be a good Goddess, but I can't help but feel hate for her.

That is before I realise that I'm not much of a challenge to her authority. Despite my Ascension, I am still weak against her.

Speaking of, my Ascension to an External had made my Mutations stronger, giving me an almost instantaneous Healing factor, denser bones, stronger Telepathy, and a better control for Telekinesis. I have no doubts that other than other Externals, I was the strongest Telepath on the planet.

My newest Ascension, what I'm calling my Evolution, from a normal human Mage, to a Demonic Hybrid Mage, has taken my Magic leagues ahead of where it was. A fifteen times increase in the potency of my Magic that came about because of a perfect merger of a human soul, and a Kasha soul, along with the strength enhancement of the body.

And I wasn't a Demon Sorcerer, no. Despite my fears, I was still a pure Mage-Mutant-Sorcerer. I just had a slight Demonic tint to my Magic that was slowly going away.

Of these two months, almost an entire month was spent just casting spells repeatedly, to get me used to deliberately underpowering my spells. I could control the power behind the spells, thankfully, meaning I could fight with a human as well as.. whoever is my equal right now. The Elves certainly weren't.

None of the spells fired by the elves affected me as they intended. A spell meant to make me laugh uncontrollably barely made me smile. A spell meant to banish me away from them just sailed around me harmlessly. A blast of fire just felt warm, while a spell that would have blown my head off cleanly just pushed it back a little.

The last one needed a lot of reassurances, and convincing before the Elf managed to actually cast the spell.

It wasn't that they were weak, but I was too strong.

One thing I've learned is that my Metamorphmagic went beyond simple Shapeshifting and copying Magical signature. I can mimic other people's Magical signatures, sure, while perfectly mimicking their bodies too. But I couldn't make my Magic denser than it already is. I can make it less dense, make it less potent, but not more. Meaning copying Hela's Magic, if successful, won't allow me to become a Goddess of Death and wreak havoc and blame her for it. My Magic won't be potent enough for that.

But, I could completely control(under my limit), how Potent my own Magic is, meaning if I wanted to, I could let the spells of the Elves and other normal Mages affect me. If I wanted to, I could return to becoming exactly how I was before the Ritual.

Hell, I could become my 10 year old self, Magical signature included.

My almost perfect memory came in handy during those experiments.

But, the days of training are done now. It was time to get this Asgard matter over with. And to do that, I need to find myself some Asgardians.

Making myself invisible, I cloak my presence with a spell, and float up into the air. My control, as I said, has improved a lot.

It took a few days of waiting around the forest I had been brought by the Eye of True North to, but I was enjoying it. I was watching over the Centaur herd there, who were curiously enough guarding Unicorns. The Centaurs did look up at me a few times, despite my invisibility. But since I didn't trouble them, they didn't trouble me.

I purposefully didn't show myself down there. A few experiments with the Unicorns on Sanctuary had shown me that they're a bit reluctant to come towards me now. Which means I also probably won't be getting any more Unicorn horns from them. Not unless I ask the Elves to get it for me.

Four days of waiting, however, is all I need to wait before what I was waiting for happens. Magic gathers all above the forest, and the Bifrost slams into the ground right outside the forest. A couple Unicorns, guarded by a single Centaur, find themselves to be the first ones to be greeted by the sight of a dozen Asgardian warriors dropping in from the skies.

Most were men, wielding swords and Berserker staffs, already in their hands. But three of them are women, but not ordinary ones. These ones rode on top of Pegasi, and wore white Asgardian leather armour. And they had swords already out, which told me they're ready for a fight.

So Einherjar, Berserkers.. and Valkyrie. This makes me smile, since I get to test my strength on these people, and I know Valkyrie are not weak.

One of the Valkyrie, the leader of this party apparently, stalks towards the forest, towards the taller Centaur looking at her with a calm smile on his face. She scowls angrily, and says, "You there! Half-breed! Tell me, where we may find tiny witches! They look like ugly Elves, and are about this tall. Tell us, and your herd will be spared."

The Centaur keeps smiling serenely, looks up at me, and says, "Mars is bright today. And it has high chances of getting dimmer in a few days."

The Asgardians look up, but scowl, finding nothing. The Valkyrie points her sword at the Unicorn, and says, "Stop talking in riddles, Half-breed! We have not come here to listen to your confusing words."

The Centaur still says nothing, and instead gives a loud neigh, while kicking up at the Valkyrie right in front of him. She's more than agile enough to dodge it, and prepares to strike her sword at the Centaur's hip, aiming to separate his human and horse halves.

CLANG!

The sword, instead of hitting the Centaur and splitting him in two, hit something else instead. Something golden, with the shape of a hand. When the Valkyrie widens her eyes at the sword stopped without any give, I turn visible completely, and say, "You should go now."

"You! You dare raise arms against Asgard? And we aren't going anywhere. Not until the Centaurs tell us where the Tiny Witches are." The Valkyrie hisses, as she tries to pull her sword away to no avail.

Smirking, I clench my new Prati Kavach covered left hand, breaking the Asgardian Steel in two, and with another gauntlet forming on my right hand, punch the Valkyrie on her face.

As she goes flying backwards, towards the Bifrost site, I look at the other Asgardians, ready to fight, and say, "I wasn't talking to you."

"Mars is bright today." The Centaur repeats, when I glance at him.

Nodding, I say, "Yes, but I am trying to prevent it. Now take the Unicorns and go inside."

The Centaur nods with a bow, and says, "Magic likes you, Guardian. Come find us when you're done. We would like to talk about bringing our herd to join your Sanctuary."

I just nod, and turn back towards the fastly approaching soldiers, all three Valkyries now riding their Pegasi. Time to test my strength, at least until Hela shows up again.

With a yell, I use the broken piece of the Valkyrie's sword still in my hand to parry the attack by a Berserker, and stab it in an Einherjar's thigh.

I am going to enjoy this.

---

A/N: Okay, the next two chapters will probably finish this arc. At max three. And then, a few filler chapters later, it's straight to the future!

How was this one, as compared to the last one? I hope this redeemed my writing skills lol. 

Speaking of his new strength. Mason is now between Loki and Thor in strength(Avengers movie). Before he was around Spiderman level, but now he's above Loki. Don't be fooled, however, Loki was perfectly capable of keeping Thor busy while fighting him. Granted, Thor was probably not going all out, but still.

Magic wise, he won't be too OP when he goes back, because I gave him a way to limit his Magic potency. Why did I do that? To keep the story interesting. As you might have noticed, Mason fights his enemies in an area they're good at, not he himself. 

So, he fights Wizards with Magic, Sorcerers with Mystic Arts, and brutes with his fists. This is purposefully done, and is a result of Mason's arrogance. He wants to defeat his enemies at their strongest field.

But, if an enemy proves beyond him in that area, he uses other areas too. So despite being halfway above Loki, don't assume that Mason has no way to defeat the strongest enemies he might face. He always has a way.

Oh, and his new Prati Kavach gauntlets will be explained later! Don't worry!

Now, before I spoil anything else. Thank you for your support! Thank you for understanding that some of my chapters come out worse than the others. And just.. Thank you!

Tata!