Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"We will start by practicing your skills on small living things. If you will learn some of the healing and invigoration spells I'll teach you, you'll train them on people. It doesn't matter if you've already done it before... this is my way of teaching the supreme art to which I have dedicated almost my whole life. If you don't accept, you'll continue your journey as a healer on your own" Egill said, in a serious tone.

"I accept, Master Egill. I'm ready to go!" Karl confirmed.

"Very good. Detach a plant from outside the fence and come back here, I'll teach you basic the movements and the breathing techniques".

When Egill and Karl officially began training, Gridd and Freydis resumed fighting and Dag walked slightly away from the arena, sat at the foot of a tree, and continued to read his book, hoping to get to the part where it explained how to take the correct position and how to channel energy.

It took almost an hour to finish the skill story section, which told about the process that led to the creation of Thor's mythical hammer, citing all the characters involved in that affair.

In those chapters, Dag discovered some of the legendary adventures Thor was forced to face, both for the sake of his kingdom and his people and for the growth of his powers, letting him realize that, despite his divine strength, Thor also had the motivation in the past to train and improve, just as he was doing.

The God of Thunder, from birth, was already much more powerful than many others, both human and mystical creatures, but for him, it was never enough. 

One day he would have to take responsibility, succeeding the Alfather on the throne of Asgard and reigning there until the last breath, so he was not given even a moment of rest and his life as a warrior was almost a continuous battle, sprinkled with moments of glory but also of great failures.

About two hours passed when Dag took a break from reading and looked up to the sky, imagining Thor, who with the other Aesirs of Asgard, spoke of Midgard and humans, praising what for him was the most beautiful of the nine kingdoms.

"The most powerful beings in the cosmos, creators of universal laws and rulers of the nine kingdoms of Yggdrasill, the tree of life... how did you submit to the Xis? How did they manage to drive you out of the celestial kingdom you built so hard? Powerful Thor, I am fully aware of your existence and it is thanks to your strength that I have managed several times to control the element of thunder. But just like you, when you were a young, ambitious warrior, I feel it's not enough. Gods and humans should work together, in one great battle, to finally be able to return home. If you're listening, please... help me understand how I can help. Help me channel my powers to your service, let me try" Dag said, thinking aloud. 

The clouds over his head continued to move in the blue sky, and the birds chirped through the trees.

He sighed and began to read again, ready to figure out how to tap into the source of Thor's true power, the 'Asgardian Thunder', which according to the book, was the first spark, the first and purest expression of electricity in the universe, the father and mother of all lightning bolts that rips through the heavens.

The skill learning rules were divided into three major phases: 

1. Storage

2. Control

3. Release 

Unlike Lightning Strike, Stormbolt and other Clan skills, this was not immediate and had to be activated at the right time, trying to make the most of its incredible destructive power.

In the first phase, the storage, the book explained how it was possible to absorb electricity from everything around the warrior, even from the air itself: being the Asgardian Thunder one of the elements behind the creation of all things, the air was impregnated of it, even though it was invisible to everyone. 

Every air shift, every fast movement, even every breath could be converted into electricity, the fuel that would feed the divine skill.

Dag read that chapter all in one breath, especially the part that explained how it was possible to absorb electricity by exploiting enemy attacks, parrying them, and holding their energy.

Although Dag's fighting style has always been focused on dodging and deflecting attacks, if he had learned to parry some of them, he could have used this to his advantage.

The air particles, if cut from the blade of a sword or any other weapon, would begin to vibrate and turn into energy. 

The impact between a sword and a shield, according to the book, would cause a kind of small explosion of such particles, increasing even more the energy to be absorbed.

This principle was based on the recommended combat technique for learning this level 9 skill, which suggested the use of the hammer for increased blunt force, which would increase vibration and therefore energy.

"This is incredible. I can use Magni's hammerhead to parry the blows and convert them to my advantage! Enemies will believe they have the upper hand, but they're really doing nothing but boosting me more and more!" Dag reasoned, imagining he was on the battlefield.

The second phase was the control: just as it was possible to collect electricity from everything, it was also possible to disperse it easily.

The more energy stored, the more difficult it would be to control it.

Making very powerful attacks was the first thing to avoid, followed by sudden body movements, such as dashes, jumps, flips, falls.

Of course, all this was related to the combat ability of the apprentice warrior, who had to look for the right balance of moves, reasoning extremely quickly to always calculate the movements that would cause the least release of energy.

"Fuck, it seemed too easy... 'a deflected or unseeded shot releases an amount of energy equal to 10 shots parried'... uff... no, it actually won't be easy" Dag continued, as he delved into those technicalities.