Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

After just under a second, a low sweep of Freydis's spear also hit the other boy, who fell next to the first. 

"Grraagh! Take this!" 

Dad and Freydis did not have time to defeat the first two opponents, who two more had already arrived and tried to attack them on several fronts, hoping to take advantage of the surprise attack.

Before they could both notice, this time it was Dag who took the first step, sprinting forward and faking a hammer blow.

Both of the soldiers placed their swords in front of their chests, ready to parry the blow, but Dag turned on himself, kicking one at shoulder height and the other with the hammer, which after impacting on the blade of the sword, caused a small shockwave that sent the boy flying for a couple of meters before ending up with his back on the hard floor of the arena.

"You are slow! Slow and predictable!" Dag shouted, preparing to face two other soldiers, who ran from their position after a few seconds.

Without even paying attention to their movements and without Freydis's help, Dag also knocked them to the ground in seconds, anticipating their moves.

"Most of the time you attack an enemy, you will do it head-on... if you can't come up with a good two-person tactic, how will you do if you find yourself alone? You have to work on coordination!" he replied, calling a pause and putting his hammer back in its place, looking at Wrage and shaking his head, not satisfied with his pupils.

"This windbag says that only because we didn't turn into Jotunns!" 

"Yes, it's true! It's easy to defeat us in the form of humans, but he'd never be able to face more giants at the same time with that physique! I'm sure what Aklad said is bullshit!" 

Two warriors who had not yet faced Dag spoke to each other in a low voice, but the young Master could hear their words perfectly and this time decided not to ignore them.

"Do it then!" he exclaimed, turning slowly toward those who were talking secretly.

The two boys pretended nothing, looking around.

"You have just said that you doubt the words of your own companion, who has already told you what happened to Okstorm and how many Jotunns I defeated. Turn into Jotunns and attack me. But this time, I don't know if I'll not hurt you" Dag continued, pulling the hammer back from his belt and preparing to fight, letting Freydis know the time to step aside has come.

The two boys, after being amazed by Dag's incredible hearing, asked permission to turn into Jotunns to Wrage, who agreed, realizing that Dag was now occupying the main scene.

One of them, with arrogance, moved his teammates to the front row and dropped his axe to the ground, looking at Dag defiantly.

"Come on, let me see... convince me that I am wrong" Dag said again, instigating the young soldier in front of him and challenging him with his gaze.

The warrior crossed his arms and clasped his chest, touching his shoulders with his hands.

Leaning forward, he began to bend his back and groan, as if he felt growing pain somewhere in his body.

"Breathing! You have to control your breathing better, Kane!" Wrage yelled, who noticed a slightly incorrect posture to perform the technique that would initiate the metamorphosis, immediately tried to correct his pupil, who without distraction, executed the order, keeping calm and not stopping breathing.

Seconds later, a sound of bones echoed among the soldiers in the arena, coming from the back of young Kane, who was probably one of the strongest young warriors among them.

Being already bare-chested, like all others, the increase of musculature and the growth of the bones would not tear his clothes, which in the lower part of the body were made up of a long and wide skirt, precisely for the same reason.

"Grrr... grrr... anf... anf..." Kane continued to pant and from his spine, some vertebrae pierced his skin, coming out of the flesh and becoming sharper and sharper.

Simultaneously, a bundle of muscles leaked out of his shoulder blades, clustering on his chest, and joining the muscles of his arms and abdomen, as well as those in the back area of his body. 

When the new muscles created by his body almost completely wrapped his torso, the bones of the spine bent inwards, sticking into the new tissues and forming a much larger and more resistant vertical column.

Almost at the same time as this process, the lower limbs were also undergoing the same transformation, and leg muscles such as the quadriceps, femoral biceps, and calves had almost tripled their volume.

As soon as his hands and feet were upgraded, Kane lowered his head and began to writhe his neck, feeling severe pain as his braincase was deformed from the inside and his jaw grew out of proportion, giving rise to long, sharp teeth.

The new skin was the last stage of the transformation: starting from the lower part of the nape of the neck, a uniform layer of purple epidermis began to cover the new muscle fibers, resistant as steel cables, and in less than a minute completely wrapped the body, including the head, from which the black hair of the young soldier disappeared.

"Grrr... rrr..."

Continuing to emit a snarl-like verse, when the transformation was completed, Kane stood up, showing everyone his new size: now he was more than two meters tall and his arms had become so large, that their thickness even exceeded that of Dag's upper body, who until then had remained motionless to admire that magnificent process.

"That's the real power of the Jotunns! Graaargh!" Kane shouted with his new baritone voice, turning to his teammates and extending his arms, to stir up the crowd and be encouraged against his opponent.

"Yeeeeah! Hahah!" 

"Go, Kane! Show him what we're made of!" 

His companions, predictably, began to shout his name and encourage him to fight, and in the meantime, the boy who had just been speaking softly with him approached again.