Authors note this is chapter 5
A lot of time has passed, kal is now 18 and alongside his brothers is going to participate in the tournament of champions
competing today, are my own sons, the Princes of Asgard and future protectors of the Nine Realms. PRINCE KAL." Odin's voice boomed and he grandly gestured to the arena doors that Kal exited.
He entered calmly and winced slightly at the noise that greeted him, the roar of the crowd was deafening and Kal gave small waves of his sword to the crowd that caused the roaring to intensify.
As he entered, he also noticed that the royal box was occupied by more than just his parents and their council.
Whilst their mother was seated to Odin's righthand side, sitting to the left of their father was a very smug and equally stunning Amora. She wore a gorgeous emerald dress and fine jewellery that made her look like a princess of Asgard. Kal realised her presence was because Loki for some unknown reason had agreed to wear her favour thus requiring her to be seated with the Royal family.
Sitting next to their mother, was another figure that took Kal a moment to recognise it was Lady Sigyn who whilst Amora looked like a princess Sigyn looked like a queen. She wore a regal golden dress, held herself like a highborn lady was expected and where Amora looked smug at her placement Sigyn simply looked like she belonged there.
Kal was puzzled as to why Sigyn was sitting in the royal box at all but then remembered he had agreed to wear her favour which was currently wrapped around his upper arm. Kal quickly composed himself and gave his parents a salute and Lady Sigyn a deep bow.
The action caused, another roar from the crown and the Lady Sigyn to blush slightly returning a bow of her own, it also caused Amora's smug façade to crack for the moment as she was upstaged.
"AND PRINCE LOKI" Odin announced again gesturing to the door.
Loki's entry caused another roar of the crowd but one that was slightly less than Kal's had been. Loki accompanied his entry with a display of magic causing illusionary fireworks to go off above him and he gave grand bows to the people.
Loki quickly gave his parents a salute and then gave Amora a very reluctant bow before he hurriedly went to stand next to Kal. Loki's payment of respect had been so fast that the crowd hardly had time to cheer it before he was stood next to his brother a grimace still on his face.
"FINALLY CROWN PRINCE THOR" Odin's final announcement was almost drowned out as the crowd was already on their feet before Odin had finished.
Thor's entry dwarfed Kal's and Loki's entry easily, the roar of the crowd was so intense Kal could feel his bones shake. Thor milked it for all it was worth, roaring back to the crowd, waving at his adoring public and even throwing his weapon in the air then catching it again, causing the crowd to go wild.
Thor instead of a simple salute knelt before their parent and raised his weapon pointing to the Allfather whilst his voice boomed across the field.
"FOR YOU FATHER!" his announcement caused another roar as well as Sif to roll her eyes at her friend's action.
Kal merely smiled and shook his head at his brother grandstanding but heard Loki next to him whisper bitterly "Show off."
With that Thor took his place next to the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three readying themselves for the Allfathers command to begin.
The first battle was between a massive einherjar warrior called feignir and Fandral, feignir was strong and was renowned for his thick skin and mean swing, but it had not prevented Fandral from laying waste to him in a blaze of speed
Kal was pretty confident in his ability, he was practically invulnerable and thought that should be enough to carry him through the contest where his lack of experience could not.
'Practically' though was the word that stuck in his head, was he like Feignir just a beast that could be felled with time and continuous strikes. And what about the others how far could raw skill or power carry them when faced with centuries if not millennium's worth of experience.
Kal soon got his answer, Thor, Sif, Loki and even Haldor won their first contest but the first of the young warriors to be eliminated was Volstagg who was soon followed by Hogun.
Volstagg had the misfortune to face General Tyr himself in his first match which ended very swiftly. Volstagg had charged at Tyr with all his might, and Tyr merely parried Volstagg's blow and backhanded the youth with his stubbed forearm.
Causing Volstagg to spin once and land unconscious on the floor, ending the match in less than a minute. Tyr had then twirled his sword once in his hand then rested it on his shoulder and departed the arena's field to the roar of the crowd.
Whereas Hogun had fought a brutal sluggish match with another aged warrior named Rongor, who Kal knew as an old friend of his father. The two had pulverised each other and Rongor had one by simple fact that he had collapsed unconscious after Hogun did.
Kal's first match was a quick affair like Thor's had been. Kal had merely dashed forward and after a few dodges had landed a blow so hard the experienced warrior he had been facing had simply crumpled under it.
The rest of the matches however were now becoming slow affairs as each match was quickly followed by another resulting in every warrior present becoming tired and sluggish with each fight.
Muscles were straining to keep up the effort and the lack of rest was starting to take its toll, even Kal was starting to feel drained and he saw Sif almost asleep on the bench at one point.
Eventually, it came down to the final ten warriors and to Kal's pride, Thor, Loki, Sif, Fandral and Haldor were still amongst the contestants.
"The final stages of the Contest, and with only 10 left we are going to start fighting each other." Haldor gave Kal a grin, his friends face covered in bruises. "I promise to go easy on you."
Kal chuckled at his friend's statement, Haldor looked like he survived a war he was battered bruised and bleeding in several places. Whereas Kal apart from his cloak being torn and his armour being a little scratched he was perfectly fine, the few wounds he had received had healed quickly.
"I will try to be gracious in defeat." Kal quiped back.
"We have reached the final stages of the Contest, and soon we shall witness our grand victor however before we proceed we should honour the greatest warriors of Asgard," Odin announced standing up from his great seat.
His statement caused the crowd to begin cheering again, however instead of the deafening wall of noise before it was a cacophony of sound, as the crowd began competing with itself to chant one warrior's name the loudest.
Thor's name was clearest and most shouted by the crowd but Kal could also hear his name as well and much to Haldor's pride he could hear his name on occasion as well.
"I wish to state before we proceed that you have honoured Asgard with your courage and skill, whilst there can be only one Champion, know that you are all deserving of glory and honour." Odin gave a small bow of his head to show his respect.
The remaining warriors returned the gesture with deep bows of their own, Kal had not idea what Thor or Loki was feeling but his chest was swelling with pride and desire to show their father that he was worthy of the title of champion.
Odin then struck Gungnir once more to begin the final matches, the final list appeared before them and glowed as two names were selected.
"Now, let us proceed the next match shall be Prince Kal against -" Odin's voice trailed off as the other name appeared.
"The match will be between Prince Kal and Prince Loki."
The two princes took their spots opposite each other in the centre of the ring, Kal was armed with a sword whilst Loki merely stood unarmed. Seeing the two one would think the match horribly unbalanced.
However, Kal knew better than that, Loki was never truly defenceless, his brother's skill with a blade and magic was not something one simply dismissed.
The arena was quiet for a moment as everyone waited with bated breath for the match to begin, the only sound Kal focused on however was the steady breathing of his brother.
Then the sound of Gungnir broke the silence, as Odin signalled for the match to begin.
Kal didn't move, he knew it was what Loki would expect him to do, explode forward in a burst of speed to try and end the match in one strike, just like he and Thor usually did. So instead, he waited and began sidestepping keeping his eyes on Loki, not wanting to play whatever game Loki was cooking up.
His brother merely smiled at Kal's caution and tipped his head to his little brother.
Loki also began to sidestep matching Kal's movement, if with a bit more flourish and style than his younger brother, causing the two to start circling the centre of the arena.
Kal's breathing was steady he knew the match would all be about keeping Loki in front of him and not allowing his brother a chance to play his tricks. Whilst Kal was difficult to injure and healed fast, he hated magic as it affected him the same as everyone else, something Loki was aware of.
'Okay, keep circling wait for an opening and when he gives you one stri- DAM IT' Kal's thoughts had distracted him for a moment and in that split second Loki suddenly disappeared from his vision. Causing Kal to curse at his own foolishness.
Kal reached out with his hearing to try and find his brother, which was an immediate mistake as he was suddenly overwhelmed by a high pitch screeching noise. A curtsey of Loki's magic.
"Ahh!" Kal opened his eyes at the pain and swung wildly around him expecting an attack.
Suddenly he felt a slice and stab in his side as Loki appeared, rushing past him striking just underneath Kal's outstretched arms as he went by and then before Kal could react he disappeared again.
Kal swung at where his brother had been but connected with nothing but air, he tried using his vision to find Loki, but this time was met with a blinding flash of light. Which caused him to stumble backwards flailing his sword about as he went.
Kal hated magic.
Another series of strikes struck Kal as he was blinded, this time they were more forceful and one of Kal's shoulder guards came off.
Kal was still trying to refocus his vision, whatever spell Loki was using had been effective, Kal had to give him that when he felt something hot strike his back.
The blast flung Kal forward and he landed face forward he quickly rolled onto his back and leapt up. His cloak was ablaze with a strange green fire that Kal could feel was burning him, forcing him to discard the crimson material.
Energy projection brother practised it just for yo- However, Loki was cut off when Kal's foot suddenly connected with his chest sending him flying into the side of the arena wall, causing his concealment spell to fail. His arrogance in flaunting his achievement allowing Kal to find him despite his spell.
Loki had barely time to recover, rolling out of the way as Kal descended upon him barely moving in time as Kal's sword struck the ground just where he had been causing it to fracture under the blow.
Loki tried to strike Kal with his blades whilst he was overextended but Kal twisted with unnatural speed parrying the blows.
More pain erupted in his chest, as Kal's free hand slammed into his chest sending him flying again this time he blacked out for a moment when he hit another of the arena's walls.
The crowd was now on their feet cheering like mad for Kal to finish the fight, an event that caused Frigga to wince both at how blood-crazed the crowd could get at times and the blows her sons were inflicting on each other.
Kal moved forward again following with another strike but blinked in confusion as the ground beneath him exploded in green fire sending him first into the air and then crashing back to the floor.
Loki, not wanting to take chances moved up to him and creating numerous illusions of himself each one baring a dagger at him
kal was at this very moment in a lot of pain but, through sheer force of will, he powered through it lifting his arm up and string the ground, causing a large shockwave which knocked Loki down
Kal rose like a spirit of vengeance moving so quickly that even to Odin Kal suddenly appeared before Loki. Kal simply bent down and lift his brother by the throat with one hand then reeled back his other hand in a fist and struck.
The blow was loud and final, with Loki going limp as he was rendered unconscious, the glow of magic surrounded Loki and he disappeared from the field transported to the healing room.
You just had to lose your shirt, didn't you? Baldur laughed
Sif had faced Tyr and after a duel of blinding speed and feats of athletic prowess, Sif managed to claim victor, by the skin her of teeth when she got past the general's guard and delivered a blow to the side of his head.
Baldur had the misfortune of drawing Thor for an opponent
But he had made a good showing battling Thor at a pace that made him seem like a beam of light,... well that is until Thor landed a blow so hard that Balder's helmet cracked and he fell unconscious
Sif although appearing her usual calm self on the surface was slightly panicking inside, as she faced Kal across from her.
She was under no illusions about the difference between the two, whilst she was a trained warrior Kal was still a prince of Asgard with the power she could never hope to match. She just prayed to her ancestors that they allowed her an honourable showing before Kal claimed victory.
the match started Sif felt pain as Kal faster than she had ever seen before appeared before her and struck her with his sword.
The blow hit her fully in the side of her chest and sent her flying, with more pain following when she slammed into the arena walls, causing her to start seeing stars.
She shook her head trying to dispel the confusion from her head, however, as her sense came back to her Kal was again upon swinging his blade once more, this time she raised her own to block the strike.
The result though was her wrists feeling like they had fractured as she again flew through the air, this time though she managed to land on her feet and skid to a halt. She then had to roll out of the way as Kal descended on her for the third time, her act sparing her further pain as his strike missed
Taking the opportunity at Kal missing Sif whirled around and started her own offensive, starting a series of lighting fast strikes on Kal.
The offensive was short-lived, the first dozen strikes she made hit Kal squarely on his side clearly causing him pain but not near enough to gain victory
Sif almost groaned at the result, she neither had Thor's power to harm Kal nor Loki's magical abilities, meaning that even if she found a weakness she did not have the capability to use it.
However, ever the warrior she continued on regardless of the futility of the act hoping that perhaps Kal would provide some kind of opening she could exploit.
For Kal, he was amazed at Sif's current tactics whilst her strikes were, unfortunately, doing little to aid her he was impressed by her lasting this long.
They fought for a little while and Kal was thoroughly impressed by Sif who somehow was managing to keep up with him but no matter, and as kal moved up to end the battle in one swift blow, he could swear that there was a sudden glow in her eyes and power was flowing between her arm and sword,.. as he moved closer as fast as a bolt of lightning she raised her sword and let loose a bolt of golden energy which as it made contact with kal's chest caused him immense pain, similar to Loki but somehow different,...
'what in Hel's name was happening in this arena' He thought
'By the bristling beard of Odin' Thought Sif how she had managed this.. she did not know she had learnt in the halls of Odin and from her own father that all Asgardians were to a certain extent Gods of battle and war, some like Tyr have the ability to draw power from war or even a friendly battle others had the ability to channel their inner power their godly spark through weapons and it appeared that she had just attained,... Godhood as she drew in power from the battles happening around her
Well goddess or no Kal was still a prince of Asgard and not wanting to drag this out he attacked her in a flurry of blows and Sif for her part gave a very good showing making Kal try and manage to give him some trouble
until he sprinted forward before she could raise and knocked her onto her back. Placing a foot on her chest he levelled his blade at her throat in an effort to cause her to yield.
Sif struggled for a few moments and even drew a dagger trying to stab Kal's leg which simply broke when it connected with his almost impervious skin.
"Sif please just yield." Kal's voice was one of concern as he did not want to hurt his friend any more than he had.
Sif struggled and tried to pry his foot from her chest but seeing the futility of the act merely slumped beneath him.
"Fine, I yield." She stated with a groan.
At which Kal offered a hand to lift her up which she took, and as he pulled her up, after which he raised her hand up with his causing the crowd to burst into a roar. Causing a smile to appear on Sif's face as she heard the crowd start chanting her name.
Many have honoured us these past two days, glory has been won, songs shall be song of valiant deeds." Odin's voice was projected all across the arena clearly.
"However, we still have one last event to go, a final bout to decide Asgard's Champion! It will commence after a short rest to allow the two contenders to prepare."
At Odin's declaration, the crowd exploded once more, with both Kal's and Thor's names being chanted by the enthralled crowd.
Kal gave polite waves and bows from his place at the Arena's edges whilst Thor was never one to pass up an opportunity, began showboating as he left the centre of the arena.
Kal took the short rest to sharpen his blade, fix his armour, as well as pick up a shield whilst he had not needed one before he felt it might prove of use against Thor.
In truth, he was slightly nervous, whilst he and Thor had fought in the past it was only ever friendly sparring matches and neither had truly sort to harm the other or use their full strength. This time however would be different there would be no holding back and that worried him slightly.
Kal was difficult to harm and arguably as strong as Thor but that was the issue he did not know who in fact was stronger.
Thor had proven himself able to match Kal every time they sparred, and his brother was able to wound him if only a little, but that was training, and Thor had never pushed that advantage. So, the question was what would happen now.
His small side scene played out Kal saw that the time for the Duel of the titans was approaching, and so marched to the centre of the Arena.
"Prince Kal and Prince Thor are you ready?" Odin asked his sons as they took their position.
Both nodded, Kal a bit more focused than Thor who was grinning like mad.
"Very Well BEGIN!"
Kal had learnt three fundamental facts since the start of the match; One, Thor had been holding back, Two, he currently was only NEARLY impervious to harm, and Three, real fighting was painful.
Any semblance of technique had been abandoned quickly, as the two princes ended up in a slugging match to see who would falter first.
Thor's armour was in tatters as a result of Kal's relentless assaults, his torso was covered in cuts, he could no longer see out of his left eye due to the swelling, he was sure his right arm was broken and the knuckles on his fist were bloody.
Yet Thor gladly endured it all, his little brother's assault had been spectacular to behold and painful to endure. Thor was proud of his little brother, Kal was moving as fluidly as a river, as swift as the wind and was hitting like a bilgesnipe.
Thor was laughing as his brother's blade struck him in the side, he quickly dropped his arm to trap the blade there, although painful it was necessary as it allowed Thor to again unleash his own battering on his little brother.
Kal for his part was fairing little better than Thor whilst he was as sturdy as and equal to Thor in strength Thor had actual combat experience and it was showing.
For every blow, Kal had landed Thor had returned three and with such unrelenting fury that Kal had no time to heal. His armour like Thor's was in shambles, his shield had been destroyed in Thor's opening salvo and his body was covered in cuts and bruises as well.
His blade moved like lighting, striking Kal's side repeatably in the same spot and then went for one of Kal's legs hammering away at it trying to and disable his brother's ability to rapidly move.
Thor had discovered that if he focused his strikes repeatably in one spot he could cause lasting damage to his little brother, expanding the small bruises and cuts he could inflict into actual wounds. The repeating strikes prevented his brother from healing as he normally would, thus leading to their tattered stakes of both opponents.
However, despite the brutality of the match, Kal was enjoying himself as well he was sore, bleeding, tried and loving every second of it.
Kal had struggled with understanding the thrill Thor and the others always talked about when they discussed battle or fighting, to Kal fighting was all work and in honesty was too easy most of the time.
His opponents stood still like statues and crumbled like paper when struck, so he had never really gotten any joy from it.
Until now, Kal was tired, his body ached, his muscles were on fire, and he was in so much pain he wanted to blackout. Yet in spite of all that he was having fun, he felt the rush of adrenaline in his blood for the first time, a fire in his heart that demanded victory and every blow he took or dealt out was given with the jubilation that he was for once fully committed.
Kal laughed as kicked his brother off of him to release his arm and then sprinted forward to attack Thor whilst he was down, unleashing a series of blows on his brother's torso's that Thor took with a laugh.
Thor blocked then stood up and the two began hammering away at each other neither carrying to block nor parry only focusing on beating their opponent into the ground.
Kal could swear Thor was moving so fast that he could see sparks of lightning coming off his brother like a storm was raging under his skin. Whilst to Thor he would swear that Kal looked like a burning star almost glowing as if a sun burned under his brother's skin.
The two battled for what seemed like an eternity with the crowd watching enraptured with the spectacle cheering and screaming at every blow, all waiting for something to give.
It did as Thor landed an almighty blow that sent Kal flying Thor waited for his brother to come crashing to the Ground, except he did not, there he was hovering in the sky his eyes glowing a golden red as twin beams of golden light erupted from them and struck Thor in the chest dragging him Through the ground, The pain he was feeling at the moment was quite unquantifyable
Are you firing the sun at me Thor quipped as he powered a laugh through the pain
How am i supposed to know, even i am just finding out i can do this Kal spoke back
Thor could swear he saw a new sun forming in the sky and that its power was concentrated in Kal's hand as he stretched it out and let loose a bolt of pure heat and energy The eldest son of Odin wondered weather he could fly and jumped up, evading the blow and to the awe and wonder of every eye in the arena he hovered in the air
At this very moment Kal only groaned, he had thought he had the advantage, he figured out that he was channeling the power of suns but then Thor started flying as well but before this line of thought could reach its end Thors eyes glowed blue lightning streaking from them as the skies over Asgard darkened with a storm brewing
A massive lightning bolt streaked down and impacted onto Kal as he struggled against the lightning and forced it back with power
The two Gods grappled once again striking each other with a flurry of blows, each one strong enough to leave entire cities until they locked each others arms in place...
For an hour at the very least the two went at it trying to overpower the other neither was making a dent until both of them started seething with power Calling upon their might the sky itself was divided between a glowing sun and a raging storm as both sent forth their might, a golden beam met a blue bolt of power, neither giving way to the other and so all that power built up in the middle,
Odin stretched his hand forming a barrier to protect the viewers as the cosmic energies unleashed reached a breaking point and exploded outward meeting the barrier and much to the All-fathers chagrin nearly overwhelmed it
Once the dust settled both warriors were in the middle of the field half naked and battered they were far too evenly matched to decide a winner but that was when Odin stepped up and roared out my people I give you your winners the twin champions of Asgard PRINCE KAL AND PRINCE THOR
What happened Kal stated as he groggily got up seeing that thor had gotten up first
Thor merely enveloped Kal in a hug and lifted his little brother off the ground spinning him causing the crowd to roar again.
A battle for the sagas my brother that is what has happened!
hor stated in delight, he placed Kal back on the ground and took Kal's hand and raised it in triumph alongside his own.
The action caused an even greater roar from the crowd, a roar that continued even as Kal left the field returning back to the tunnel where he had first exited.
As Kal entered his changing room he was suddenly greeted by two figures he had not expected. One was his mother Frigga and his father Odin
It was his mother that moved first wrapping him in a tight embrace filled with love and affection, which Kal returned already feeling better as a result of the hug.
Then they spoke a while and Frigga left leaving Kal alone
'I really need to get off Asgard' Kal thought
'I wonder what Midgard is like?'
AUTHORS NOTE
and this is another chapter review and follow and favourite