"Fandral, don't think I don't see through you. Rather than worrying about me, why not focus on improving your swordsmanship? You call yourself a master, yet this is all you've got?" Loki shot Fandral a venomous glare, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Fandral, ever the one to retort, fired back without hesitation. "It doesn't matter if I'm a master of swordsmanship or not. At least I don't proclaim myself the number one magician in the Nine Realms, only to have my illusion magic overshadowed by someone who's been studying for a mere week! My swordsmanship took a thousand years to perfect, but even then, it's still superior."
Loki's eyes narrowed, and his voice became sharper, "You think that your swordsmanship can compare? What is illusion magic anyway? I know better than to be outdone by it."
But Loki's bitterness was undeniable. The gap between his knowledge of magic and Aaron's rapidly increasing abilities was narrowing. It was a sinking feeling for Loki, knowing that his once unique advantages were fading.
As the two continued their banter, their words didn't influence the battle unfolding before them.
In theory, Thor should have taken the lead by now. The Stone Titans were formidable opponents, and even the three great warriors of Asgard would need some effort to defeat them in one-on-one combat.
But Aaron was quicker. He raised his hand, and several duplications appeared at once, each armed with long spears, charging toward the Stone Titans with impressive coordination.
Thor looked over at Aaron and grumbled, "Aaron, you've already taken care of so many; these big guys should be mine."
Aaron smirked. "I'll leave one for you."
"..." Thor rolled his eyes. He was not amused but was too proud to let it show.
As one of Aaron's duplications deliberately left one Stone Titan for Thor, the god of thunder couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and amusement. He had been eager to face a Stone Titan for the first time, and yet Aaron had already taken the bulk of the challenge.
With a loud crack of thunder, Thor threw Mjolnir into the air and flew toward the Stone Titan. In an instant, the mighty hammer crashed down, and the Stone Titan shattered into a heap of debris.
Thor's power was undeniable. In a single move, he had effortlessly dismantled the towering figure, his strength radiating through the battlefield. It was clear that Thor was simply warming up.
Meanwhile, Aaron's duplications faced their own set of challenges. The Stone Titans' immense strength and tough defenses made them difficult to damage. Though Aaron's duplications wielded Uru metal weapons capable of puncturing the Stone Titans' tough skin, the sheer size of the titans meant that these strikes were less effective than expected.
While Aaron's duplications were holding their ground, the Stone Titans' size and durability meant that their injuries were not fatal. They were merely getting angrier. Aaron's physical power, unfortunately, was not yet on the level of Asgard's greatest warriors. His duplications were no match for the brute strength of the titans. Aaron himself, even if he stepped in personally, wouldn't be able to match Thor's raw power. The difference between an Asgardian warrior and someone like Aaron was clear—one's physical capabilities were far superior.
Thor, seeing that the duplications weren't making significant progress, called out, "Aaron, leave them to me. Your duplications can't deal with them. Let me take it from here."
Aaron, shaking his head, responded with a firm no. "No need, I'll handle it. Just leave one for me."
With that, Aaron's duplications scattered, focusing on the Stone Titans as he prepared for something far more destructive.
"Energy Explosion!" he commanded.
The moment his words hit the air, several of Aaron's duplications cast a high-level energy explosion magic in unison. The resulting shockwave was devastating.
The explosion was enormous, sending violent waves of energy in every direction. In one sweeping motion, several Stone Titans were torn apart by the sheer force of the blast. The earth trembled beneath the energy's force, and a thick cloud of smoke and dust erupted into the air, obscuring everything.
For several moments, the smoke lingered. Then, as the dust settled, the battlefield was eerily quiet. What was once a line of massive Stone Titans was now reduced to rubble.
Loki, watching in astonishment, couldn't contain his surprise. "The duplications can use magic too? This is far more powerful than my own energy explosion!"
He had never paid much attention to energy explosion magic before—it was a spell that seemed overly destructive, draining, and often ineffective in battle. It was easy to dismiss it as impractical. But now, seeing Aaron's duplications wielding the spell with such devastating power, Loki realized how wrong he had been.
"Just think," Loki muttered to himself, "if Aaron's duplications can do this, how much more powerful would he be if he used the spell himself?"
Loki's mind started to race. The energy explosion magic, something he had always seen as rudimentary and messy, had proven itself to be a weapon of mass destruction in Aaron's hands. "Maybe... I should try energy explosion myself?" Loki thought greedily. His own magical abilities were formidable, but the thought of wielding such a powerful attack with just a few duplications seemed almost too good to pass up.
Loki's envy only grew as he watched Aaron, still looking in perfect condition, likely having used minimal mana. To wield such destructive magic so effortlessly—it was a tempting power.