CHAPTER 168

[Loki Odinson POV]

Delightful news. 

Something, or rather someone, had laid waste to the armies of the Mad Titan. 

Under normal circumstances, an event like this should not have bothered the prideful gods but the fact that it did was more telling. 

And then there was father's warning of staying away from Midgard for the time being, not Midgard as a whole per se but a Midgardian. 

Normally these two things had nothing in common but I was someone who knew about the God's cautiousness to the man known as Draul, even my father paid heed to his actions. 

If Draul was responsible for the decimation of Thanos's army, and also was considered a threat that father was hard pressed to make a decision and also was a potent force that forced those bullheaded Gods to invoke a council, then maybe my bets had been a foresighted one. Truly, very few could match my intellect. 

I think the reason why some of the Gods were panicking was due to the fact that they knew that he had an Infinity Stone with him, the Power Stone precisely. That stone alone was enough to make one raze a planet to the ground with a flick of their fingers. 

But him having an Infinity Stone shouldn't have been the reason for the gods to commune. The most likely fact would be him possessing more stones than just the Power Stone which begs the question – what other stones does he have in his possession? 

He wielded the Power Stone which enabled him to block Odin's strike rather easily, a testament to the might of a universal relic of creation. What however didn't make sense was his dominion of space during our last encounter. 

Yes, the human called Draul did possess many abilities but during our recent encounters, he never once used any form of spatial abilities other than magical spells of the spatial variety which he used in conjuring portals which was vastly different from what I felt when he took us to Mars. It felt as if Earth had been an illusion ever since and Mars was where we had been standing since our arrival. 

There was no bending of the universal laws or weaving of any magical matrices that would have indicated that magic had been used, instead it was as if whatever he did was in conjunction with the universal laws. Earth was Mars and Mars was Earth, the distance between them negligible. 

'I see, the Space Stone.'

If would also make more sense of he indeed were to one to lay waste to Thanos's fleet as there would have been no way he would have gotten to Thanos all the way from the Earth's solar system, vanquish the Titan's army, erase whatever was left of them out of existence and then go back to Midgard, all in the span of a 24 hour cycle if he had the Space Stone. 

"Space and Power, huh. That alone should make him one of the universe's most fearsome warriors. Imagine him paving the way to my glorious ascension like the obedient mule I will make him to be. This also calls for caution. There can be no mistake or else not only him, but me and Asgard could pay for any of his mishaps."

I still had quite the time left to set my plans in order and ensure that my participation would, could, only be seen as a freak coincidence. I would also try to keep Thor out of his way since his friends did manage to walk out of the scuffle with only some injuries. 

Maybe not Hogun though, while he might have had his hand fixed, whatever that beam Draul had used to cut off his arm as spoils did some extensive damage to his nerves. It was kind of funny to see how all their faces paled when they realized that Hogun would never be able to use his hands to fight like he did before. 

Speaking of Thor, he had changed. 

He had somehow become a calmer version of who he once was – The Boisterous Prince of Asgard. The consequent defeat he had suffered at the hands of Draul somehow mellowed him down. It was not that he wasn't as loud as he was before, but when the occasion comes, like with Hermes in father's throne room, he at least now knows when to keep his mouth shut. 

It's progress if anyone asks me but no one has. 

I think I need to go for another visit, hmm, maybe confirm his possession of the Space Stone and also see if I can glean any of his future plans though I reckon that it would be very hard to accomplish and that was withstanding the fact that he could just make the decision and kill me on a whim. 

Since we are now both in an alliance, a pitiful one if anyone asks me, or at least the façade of one, I think I am entitled to ask him of his plans and maybe even advise him on some matters. 

I doubt the brutes, the red head and the little imp would make fine advisors to a man of such strength. I can also educate his ignorant self on the wider universe and the powers that be and then maybe, just maybe, I can usurp any information he has on the location of the other stones. 

I am not stupid enough to go against a being who may or may not, a high probability that he does, have multiple Infinity Stones. If I want to level the playing field then I would either have to find the stones myself or somehow prevent him from gaining more stones until I am able to utilize the power of the stones for myself and then take the ones he has for myself. 

A well thought out plan but one which the feasibility of it working was leaning towards the negatives. Trying to prevent him from the stones and at the same time getting on his good side would prove a far more harder task than anything trial that the Allfather could give. 

I made my way to a training ground filled with memories of Thor and I, long before his friends came along, one where Thor and I would battle each other or other Einherjars of our father, striving to get better and earn his approval, but now the raucous of brutish shouts filled it. 

Unlike other times, Thor was the one seated on one of the benches while Sif was fighting against three soldiers, trying to find a challenge I presume. 

"You won't find it." She must have heard my mutter as she turned to glance at me with a scowl before turning around to focus on her fight, or at least the mockery of one. 

She easily disarmed the first one, then proceeded to block a slash from her second opponent then used her newly acquired weapon to halt the slow third in his steps as he aimed at his throat. 

Taking her win rather easily, she walked towards me, a scowl still present on her face not that it would faze me. 

"What do you mean by that?"

No matter how I made it a pastime throughout the centuries I've known them to tease and prank them at every chance I get, doing it now no longer amuses me like it used to. 

While I normally would use lies and schemes to get them to do what I want, lying to them now did nothing but produce a sour taste in my mouth. 

The truth does hurt more. 

"You can't find the fight you are looking for with these poor soldiers, my dear Sif. You feel as if your growth has stagnated and a true battle where your life is at stake should help you cross this great chasm, right? Truly the spirit of a Valkyrie."

Now I won't lie, seeing Sif glaring with such defiance in her eyes did amuse me to no end which was why she was the most recipient of my pranks after Thor. 

Our little talk didn't escape the ears of those concerned so I just made my way to them with Sif following behind, trying to stare a hole through me like that beam did to her.

"What do you mean, brother?" Thor for some reason seemed calm and for all of me and every thing deceitful, I hated this new Thor with passion. He felt like a stranger, not the brother I grew up with for centuries. 

"I meant it like I said, dear brother. I reckon you feel it too, don't you?"

"A mental block?" Thor asked. 

"Aye." I don't think I would ever get comfortable with the sight of a seriously thinking Thor. 

"The reason why you lot feel as if you are weak is because you are no longer growing, or rather not growing at a pace that you can notice. Fighting the Midgardian just made that fact clear and now since you all have made him this high peak that you would need to overcome, you will never feel the sufficient growth you crave until you defeat him."

They all fell silent, musing on my words no doubt while my mind went in a different corner. If I were to conquer Asgard or lead Asgard to conquer the other Godrealms, then I need to ensure that my useful pieces were as strong as possible. I would after all need their strength to consolidate the pieces of the broken power structure that would be left in this universe after whatever titanic war was coming. They would all need to earn their keep, Thor included, if they wanted to be a part of my empire. And for that sole fact, I needed to be strong, Hel, they lost against Draul's warriors who weren't even half their age. 

"And how do you suggest we overcome this trial?" Sif finally stopped glaring at me and asked a truly wonderful question. 

"Oh it's quite simple really… challenge him again until you lose that deep seated fear of him in your heart, and try not to die. You know as the Midgardians say, third time's the charm."

Oh, I was so going to enjoy this. I wonder what the human beast will do to them when he finally loses his patience with them. I would have to let father know of their movements subtly so that he can bail them out if anything should happen because something will. 

I might have left out the part about him possessing the Infinity Stones but I don't think they need to know about that, I doubt their brains could even comprehend what kind of power the Infinity Stones give to its welders. 

"You are becoming more wise as the day goes on, brother. Now I know what I must do to overcome this setback." And like that I fixed smart Thor and converted him back to brutish Thor, my favorite kind of Thor. 

"Of course I am. I am the God of Lies. I would need to know the truth to tell the perfect lie after all."

Now with that done, I no longer have to dawdle with them. The Mystic Arts won't learn themselves after all. 

Leaving Thor and his friends to their devices, I made my way to Mother's library, her public one which she granted access to very few people, me included. 

"Loki, I see you have finally made the decision to go back to your books." Ah, that soothing and pure voice could only belong to one person in this entire realm, my mother. 

"Yes, mother. It was my hubris and also my arrogance that made me think I had learnt all I needed. I think it's high time I leave the tricks aside and go into real magic." She immediately understood the meaning behind my words which made her face lose the soft smile it always bore. 

"The ways of the Arts aren't forgiving to the frivolous, my dear boy. Are you sure you are ready?" She asked, to which I answered without hesitation. 

I would need to close the gap between myself and Thor in the aspect of battle prowess… and then him. 

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