"Here you are. I know not what your life upon Midgard has been like, nor do I care. It does not matter now.", Thor said, bringing into an empty room deep within Asgard Palace. "You now stand in Asgard. And here, we live as Asgardians do. We feast until the halls shake, and we drink our ale until the cups run dry. We battle until our arms can no longer lift our weapons, hahaha! That is the way of our people. Father is treating you as a guest, and you will be our guest of honor tonight. You will drink until you feel content, and I will not take no for an answer. Your petty Midgard rules have no meaning here."
"I don't exactly want to go against Odin's wishes, so I will oblige. Just for tonight.", I said, thanking Thor.
"Good! You know well. I will leave you to it. I have shown you where our Asgard Arena is. Should you feel like having a bout with me, you are more than welcome to. My brother, Loki, is also willing to teach you, even if he may refuse it on the outside. You will need to seek him out.", Thor said.
"Very well. I'll see what to do after this. Thanks again, Thor.", I said, and nodded.
Thor waved his large hand at me, and left me to my own devices. It was then I let out a deep breath. A feeling of relief swept my body.
That...That was an extremely f*cking close call! Jesus Christ!
I could have lost my life at any moment back there. Panicking wouldn't help, though. If anything, that'd probably get me killed faster.
I seriously couldn't believe that I was currently walking amongst literal gods. Soul Protection, please grant me mercy!
Joking aside, the smartest thing I could do was to go with the flow, and try not to stand out. It was one of those moments where every bit of my body screamed at me, wanting to hyperventilate. But somehow, I kept my cool during all of that. I was quite pleased with this outcome. I didn't get instantly obliterated by Odin, and Loki didn't use his trickery on me. Instead, he just fled, not wanting to deal with me coming here.
I call that another win.
Turning toward the open archway that acted as a window, I looked out over the vast, golden city beyond the Royal Palace. Towers gleamed in its golden splendor, stretching toward the heavens themselves. Their gold-crested spires caught the light in a way that almost made them seem unreal. I saw the grand halls, the ornate bridges, and impossibly beautiful architecture that stood in place for eons.
This definitely wasn't Long Beach, California where steel, glass, and concrete dominated the skylines, haha! There was a stark difference between Asgard and Planet Earth.
But before I attempted anything else, I was greeted with one more Gamer Notification the moment I sat down onto the fluffy bed. As expected of the Royal Palace, they treat their guests well.
[Ding! Royal Palace of Valaskjalf - First Floor - Private Guest Room has been registered on your Fast Travel list.]
It really came!
You don't know how seriously broken Fast Travel is. You get to instantly move from one place to another in video games. Due to how big the MCU is, it gave me this function so I can move about the universe. That's my take on this, anyway.
Spending a moment, I pulled up the Fast Travel list of the Gamer System. I really saw all available options I had unlocked. There are only three, but in due time, this list will expand further and further.
[Fast Travel]
Planet Earth
-Azure Point (Long Beach, California)
Asgard:
-Bifrost Observatory
-Royal Palace of Valaskjalf - 1st Floor - Private Guest Room
There it is!
The Hulk Grin came back. I grinned from ear to ear. Fast Travel is now categorizing the locations to make it easier on me. How nice.
You know what this means, right?
Seeing the Fast Travel panel before me, I tapped [Azure Point].
Blink!
Just like that, my body was engulfed in a bright white light, and vanished from Asgard's Royal Palace.
At the same time, shuffling feet could be heard, approaching the private room that was assigned to me.
"Oh right. I almost forgot. Myles, when you get a chance, you can---?", Thor's voice spoke out, only to have him arrive in the doorway to the guest room. He was greeted with nothing but an empty room. "Strange, did he decide to check out a place already?"
Not seeing Myles anywhere, Thor could only shrug it off, and leave the room for the time being.
As for me, though...
Wooosh!
Back at Planet Earth, Azure Point...
I successfully arrived back at Azure Point. It wasn't in the exact same area where the Bifrost beamed me up. To my surprise, enough time had passed where the burn marks caused by the Bifrost were no longer there. The mess was cleaned up somehow. Was it a collaborative effort between Jarvis and the mechanical arm?
Either way, I arrived in front of the golden-clad elevator. It looks like that is where the Fast Travel point is for Azure Point, not on the bottom floor where the entrance is.
"You are back, Alex.", Jarvis's voice called out to me, and greeted me. "Where did you wander off to?"
"Before I answer that, did anything happen in these two hours?", I asked.
"Not to my knowledge, no. Apart from that bizarre light show where you vanished shortly after, and that the lobby was set ablaze. Strangely though, that weird-looking fire did not spread anywhere. The flames simply vanished on their own. May I inquire, where did you go after that?", Jarvis asked. "Mr. Stark is still at Stark Industries with Happy and is currently working for the day. He is sticking to what he previously said. He will not see you, unless you seek him out, or are interested in paying Stark Industries a visit."
Hearing that, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Then all is well. Thank you for letting me know, Jarvis.", I said, and smiled. "Perhaps one day, I will tell you where I went. You know about that strange ability I possess, right? I won't go into the specifics, since Tony himself is still trying to figure out what all I can do. I will say this though, expect me to be gone for different periods of time. Sometimes, it may be long. Some may be short, just like now. Adding to that, I got dinner tonight covered, so you do not need to make me anything. Can we postpone the rest of the bet you have with me? I do not know how long I may be gone for. It could just be for a couple days, a week, or perhaps an entire month. I don't have a solid plan right now."
"Very well. Mr. Stark did say your privacy is of utmost importance as part of the temporary lease terms. If you do meet his requirement to become a permanent tenant to Azure Point, please try to make some time and notify me, so I can have Mr. Stark update the lease agreement. We can postpone what we currently have in place, until you know when you will be back.", Jarvis answered.
"Excellent. Please do that. I have some "guests" to entertain in the meantime. Thank you for watching over Azure Point in my absence, Jarvis.", I said, and pulled up the Fast Travel list once more.
If it goes one way, then it should clearly go the other way, duh.
Selecting the Royal Palace of Valaskjalf - 1st Floor - Private Guest Room, I wandered toward the bedroom to make it less obscure from Jarvis's point of view, and then vanished from sight. In but a mere instant, I reappeared in Asgard's Royal Palace, and was greeted with its golden splendor once again.
This is just the beginning of using Fast Travel, but I already have more destinations in mind. Now that I have Asgard on the Fast Travel list, I now have access to the Nine Realms. And not just the Nine Realms, I can even head out into that vast universe. Planet Xandar is now suddenly on the radar of places to visit, and potentially meet the Ravagers!
So many things opened up just now, and it is giving me a lot to think about. Seeing no one in the guest room apart from me, it did not take long to hear someone approach.
"Oh, so you were here after all, Myles.", Thor said, calling out to me. "Father wanted me to inform you that tonight's banquet will be held in three hours. Until then, you are free to explore the palace to your heart's content. If you feel like having a bout, I will be at the arena!"
Holding Mjolnir in hand, I saw Thor say that to me with a smile on his face. He really is an easygoing guy, isn't he? Just another reminder to not get on Thor's bad side. His character...receives questionable development as he experiences the phases of the MCU. He goes from a proud warrior to literally a member of a frat house with a beer belly to top it off. Thor wouldn't get his act together until Love & Thunder, where he fights the God Slayer.
On a side note, that will be an interesting interaction later on. I can't even imagine how I will be like then. That's years into the future.
"Understood. You can tell the Allfather I will be there.", I said, nodding my head.
"Good. Until then.", Thor said, and dismissed himself. He didn't even question where I went, eh? Talk about convenience right there. If it was someone like Nick Fury, he definitely would, but this is Asgard. Thor's business is his own, as mine is to mine. I can only shrug it off.
Looking at the time, it read 2:30PM, March 2nd, 2006. I have multiple options available to me now on how to proceed from here. I could visit Thor in the Arena. I could visit Loki, wherever he might reside in the Royal Palace, or I could wander out into the streets and see Asgard for myself. But nah, I don't think I'm going to do any of those for the time being.
Instead, something else interested me. I still have something unfinished. I was going to do it before I was beamed up by the Bifrost.
The Beginner's Pack - Level 10. I can still open it!
Who cares if I'm now in Asgard. I want my loot, and I will get it one way, or another. And yet, before I could open my Inventory to pull it out, I was greeted with another Gamer Notification, which caused me to smile.
[Ding! Thor, the God of Thunder, has become acquaintances with you.]
[Ding! Your Relationships tab has been updated!]
[Ding! Active Skill - Thunderclap (A) - Lv1 (0.0) has been added to your Skills.]
Woah. It's only been a couple hours, but I had already become acquaintances with Thor! I like where this is going. Thunderclap sounds like a Spell, but it is being counted as an Active Skill. That means I'll be able to use it with my Zanpakuto. I can kind of guess what the Active Skill does. It'll clad my Zanpakuto in Lightning, just like how Thor does it to his Mjolnir. That sounds devastating, and scary at the same time.
And also worrisome. I...probably should not use Thunderclap in the presence of Thor. His title as God of Thunder might feel threatened by it if he sees me using such a Skill, haha!
Regardless, I felt satisfied seeing another Active Skill underneath my belt. My repertoire of attacks and spells are expanding nicely, isn't it? It's only been one and a half days, but I'm already much further along here in the MCU than what I started with. I can already feel the grind coming along again. I want to max out everything!
With anticipation in my eyes and seeing that I was alone with just a couple Asgardian guards patrolling the nearby corridor, I went into my Inventory and pulled out the Beginner's Pack - Level 10.
Here goes nothing. What will I get this time?
[Ding! You have opened Beginner's Pack - Level 10.]
[Ding! A new function of the Gamer System is now online.]
[Ding! You can now equip Classes!]
[Ding! You may now take on Branching Quests.]
[Ding! Your Stats have been increased by 30!]
[Ding! You can now use Water Magic!]
[Ding! Beginner's Pack - Level 20 has been added into your Inventory.]
[Ding! Your Status has been updated and is ready to view.]
Branching...Quests? Was this a thing in A Gamer? Or is this another MCU-specific function like Fast Travel? At the same time, I felt my strength grow even further. I had just gained 50 to each Stat with the two Beginner's Packs. 300 Stat Points total. That's equivalent to 25 Level Ups with Points Doubler, or 50 Level Ups without Points Doubler. Talk about a big gain right there!
I can use Water Magic too now, which means I can use Frozen Lance. There's one more Beginner's Pack - Level 20, it will be a while till I can open that one, since each level up is literally doubling the amount of experience points I need from the previous level.
For now, I was interested in Branching Quests and this new function, Classes. It was as if the Gamer System responded to what I wanted to review. I was greeted with another Gamer Notification.
[Ding! A new Branching Quest has been issued to you.]
Of course. What could it be this time?