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[Eitri's POV]
Alex Walker was a very gifted individual, his unique magic, made it so learning was a smooth experience for him, no matter what challenge I put in front of him, he would eventually find a way to complete it, for all he needed was time, it was impressive really, at each turn he would surpass my expectations.
But even so.
He didn't see beyond the veil, for him crafting was the means to an end, not an art that needed to be treated with respect and care, and until he understood that, he would never reach the highs he wanted to with this.
But I had high hopes for him.
In all of my years, I had never seen someone with such talent, whatever his powers were, they adapted to anything, like the molten core of a dying star, his possibilities were endless, and if forged right, he could very well be the night Grand Crafter.
A title I myself had failed to reach.
A title only the first king of Nidavellir, the father of dwarves had achieved, Fafnir.
"I finished my assignment," Alex said as he entered my office, a small smile adorning his face with excitement in each of his features.
"Let's see it then," I smiled at him, putting on my glasses to examine his work.
"Here it is," Alex smiled, taking a deep breath of trepidation, always so nervous when it comes to showing his final work.
"Hmm," I hummed, as I took the piece out of his hands, a small knife carved from the asteroids of a fallen planet, enchanted to never lose its edge, the knife had a good weight, and the handle was perfect, once again he had surpassed my expectations, and still, the knife had no heart in it.
"So…?" Alex asked.
"It's good, but it lacks heart kid," I replied with a sigh.
"Well, duh, someone has yet to use it," Alex shot back with a small smirk on his face, cheeky little bastard he was at times.
"You know what I mean, each piece coming out of your smithy has to be perfect, full of heart and soul, like the drawing of a kid for his parents," Each piece had to have a meaning, beyond its purpose.
"I try, but… I don't know how to do that," Alex muttered his head down.
"You are a parent, right?" I asked, and he nodded, "Then watch your kids and learn, everything they do, they do it with passion, with heart, for the innocent flame that burns within them fuel every single motion they take, that flame dies eventually, we never know when, but at one point, you start to do things because you have to, not because they bring you joy, games that used to bring you joy, now are part of the monotony, the work that once used to bring you happiness is now just the means to an end, so learn from them."
"I see," Alex sighed, "I suppose kids do put their all to all,"
"They do, so learn while you can, that flame of passion will eventually die, but for now, it burns bright," I smiled at him.
"But beyond that, was the knife good?" Alex asked.
"It was perfect," I answered.
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[Loki POV]
Alex Walker, a man that in a month had earned Asgard's adoration, Thor's love, and Odin's favor. I hated that man, I hate how seemingly easy he made everything I ever wanted look.
Even Sif loved him, the Warrior Th– four, loved him, why him?
A weak pathetic mortal whose life would burn in the blink of an eye, why him?! A bug that would die in the time that takes an Asgardian take a breath, WHY HIM!? I just… I just didn't understand.
How could he a stranger get everything I had ever wanted, so easily.
It was a notion that I just couldn't comprehend.
A notion that infuriated me, beyond belief, so perhaps it was time to make this mortal remember his place, to make him remember the frail pathetic, and short meaning of his mortality.
"Loki," I heard Mother say, in a tone that said, I know you are planning something bad, so stop it.
"Mother," I replied as I turned around with a fake smile, "What brings to you my chambers this fine day?"
"Loki, I know you are planning something, so, please… don't," Mother pressed, it was infuriating how easy she was able to see through me, then again, she was the only one that has ever bothered to get to know me, it was to be expected.
"Worry not, it's nothing bad," For Asgard that is.
"You know, you say that, but I can't believe a word you say," Mother sighed, giving me a kiss on my forehead.
"What can I say, I am a mischievous child," I smiled at her.
"That you are," Mother smiled ever so fondly.
"Well, I have to go, mother, I have things to do," Mortals to eliminate, "And you know, time is of the essence," I finished with a broad smile.
"Take care, my little prince," Mother chuckled, blowing me a kiss.
"I shall," The one that needed to take care was Alex, for he soon would taste the painful wrath of a God.
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[Alex Walker POV]
Eitri's words echoed in my head. Putting my heart into my creations, sounded simple, but it was harder than it looked, I had no idea where to begin with, so I took his advice, after all, he was right, as kids we put our all into anything we do, a quality we later forget as the burdens of adulthood reach us.
So with that in mind, I enlisted no other than Emily for the job.
"Daddy, today you will learn how to do things with your heart, the old Emily way!" Emily started, she was so into this role I had jokingly given her, she had transmuted her clothes into pink military clothes, heck she even had a ruler on her hands, one that she would smack on her tiny hello kitty desk every now and then.
"Aye aye, captain!" I smiled.
"You will speak when spoken to, am I clear," Emily narrowed her eyes at me, and I couldn't help but laugh, she was so adorable. "Daddy! I am trying my best! Meanie!"
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Discord invite: https://discord.gg/XHduApz
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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.
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