Thor's muscles and strength were probably half from training for blacksmithing. So he could still tell that Hayden was using the magic of forges and fire.
“That’s interesting.” Thor couldn’t help but laugh. “But you can’t use that trick for drinking, can you?”
Actually, that's possible. Although it can't be calcined, Hayden could use his own body as a large cauldron, and the wine he drank as a medicinal liquid to be boiled in with alchemical fire... but of course he wouldn't say it outright.
“Of course. I can do anything. But I won one round, so it’s your turn to perform first.” Hayden beckoned. “What’s next? Drinking?”
Thor nodded: "Okay, let's have a drinking contest."
So Hayden picked up a large goblet, filled it with wine, blew on it, and handed it to Thor: "Let's see who can finish a goblet the fastest."
"Are you kidding me? Anyone can drink a glass of wine like that in one gulp. How can you compete?"
Thor raised the full horn to his lips and began to drink, tilting his head back and gulping it down. The horn was actually quite large, somewhat like a modern beer mug. Thor gulped it down for a few seconds, thinking the glass should be empty now—but strangely, it remained just as full as when he had started drinking.
He wasn't completely stupid, and immediately realized: "Illusion?"
However, Hayden shook his head and said, "I guarantee that every drop you drink is real wine."
In fact, Thor also felt that he was drinking real wine, because every sip tasted rich and strong, and it didn't seem like an illusion at all.
So Thor took a deep breath, then put the horn to his lips and began to drink deeply, trying to empty the cup with large gulps. He drank and drank until he had to stop to catch his breath—this time he had definitely drunk it all! But when he put the horn down from his lips, he saw that the liquid inside had only decreased by about a finger's width.
"Impressive." Hayden nodded. "Continue."
Thor began to gulp down his drink. He drank with the air of a great hero, drinking so long and so deeply—but when he put down his cup for the third time, the wine had sunk only about a finger's width.
“I concede,” Thor shook his head. “I now find the infinite wine glass more valuable than continuing to drink. How did you manage that?”
It's actually quite simple. Hayden connected the bottom of the glass to the seawater in the Arctic Ocean. Then, with Angela's help, turning as much water as he wanted into wine wasn't difficult—it's just turning water into wine, everyone knows that.
Even if Thor had the greatest abilities and was the greatest hero, he could never drink the ocean dry...
【Owner.】
Angela suddenly said to him at this moment,
I felt the sea level drop a little.
...Okay, Hayden decided not to do this kind of thing again next time.
"We've eaten and drunk. So, what do you think, Brother Thor?" Hayden tapped the table. "Do you consider me to have a skill?"
“I acknowledge your skill. But trying to run away after winning two rounds isn’t very fair.” Thor raised his arm, flexing his muscles. “After the drinking and eating, it’s time to test our strength. How about an arm wrestling match?”
This Hayden is truly no match for him. Even if Hayden uses magic to enhance himself to the limit, he still can't beat this hammer god in an arm wrestling match. But that's not a big problem.
"Sure. But you have to beat my wife first."
Hayden waved to Angela for help.
"Your wife?" Thor asked incredulously, then glanced at Angela, and seemed to understand. "Oh, right, your wife is a metal automaton. You think I can't win because of that?"
“Don’t underestimate them, Thor brothers.” Hayden laughed too. “The metal shell is very powerful.”
--------------------------------
Two hours later, the farce ended, and Thor returned to Odin's mansion to report to his sworn brother:
"Loki's mechanical wife is so strong it's practically unreasonable. I can break steel ingots in half, but when I arm wrestle with her, it feels like I'm arm wrestling with the Earth... she doesn't budge an inch."
Odin retorted sarcastically, "So you lost all three of your eating, drinking, and arm wrestling matches with this new friend?"
"At least I didn't lose the arm wrestling match," Thor said, his neck stiff. "Even though that mechanical man was stronger than me, the back of my hand was never pressed against the table!"
It might sound like stubbornness, but it was indeed the truth. Although Thor and Angela had an arm-wrestling match, and Thor was eventually forced to his knees with his hands almost touching the table, he still persisted in grappling with Angela and managed to keep his footing—at least barely. Hayden watched from the sidelines, his mouth agape in astonishment. Even Angela couldn't help but smile.
Thor, truly a great hero of Norse mythology, an invincible warrior. He indeed accomplished the impossible; the water he drank was enough to cause the ocean to surge, and even when his arm was wrestled by the immense power of a planet, he refused to be defeated—though he himself had no idea how it happened.
“In other words, this Loki friend is stronger than you in all three aspects,” Odin sighed. “Now that you’ve brought back such a powerful mage, what if he causes trouble in the city?”
“I don’t think so,” Thor shook his head. “He’s helping the farmers with their work right now, and he’s also helping to heal the soldiers who were wounded yesterday—brother, I don’t think he’s a bad guy. Besides, fighting isn’t just about strength. We didn’t defeat those gods just because we were stronger than them. Great Magic is our real asset.”
That's right. As Thor said, the "new gods" of this era aren't actually that strong yet. They were able to defeat the feudal god-kings and carve out their own territory by building the "Great Magic" environmental engineering project. It was the high efficiency of the "Great Engineering" that allowed them to withstand the attacks of the old feudal gods.
Conversely, this also gave them exceptional confidence in their "Great Magic." As long as Asgardian magic remained intact, Thor didn't believe Hayden would cause any trouble, even though he had just been defeated by Hayden in three ways—a real fight was a different story!
Thor, at least, thought it was different.
Odin, however, was not as optimistic as his sworn brother.
“Not knowing his origins… that’s not a big deal. We don’t know the origins of many people in Asgard, and we don’t intend to dwell on it,” Odin said slowly. “The problem now is that we don’t know what such a powerful magician wants to do in our homeland. His immense power also makes it difficult for us to determine how to pay him a suitable reward.”
Such a dilemma might sound strange at first, but it's quite important to the new gods of this era. They've abandoned and even despise the status, relationships, and even values of their former feudal society. Having discarded the old, they can now only rely on the new things at hand. Measured by monetary terms might seem vulgar, but it's also the clearest and most easily understood indicator.
The amount of compensation one receives within the community determines how others perceive their abilities and social status.
“He said he wants to find a way to defeat the evil god ruler.” Thor stroked his chin. “We can share our magic with him and teach it to him.”
Odin paused for a moment, then nodded. "That's possible. However, we've already witnessed the immense power of his magic. What if our magic is completely inadequate for what he's doing for us, unworthy of being our reward?"
Thor shrugged. "Then he's even less likely to come with ill intentions towards us, right? Sounds like a more real and selfless 'god' than those evil gods, doesn't he?"
Odin stroked his beard and shook his head: "Don't talk nonsense, go back to sleep. I think you've exhausted yourself eating and drinking to death today. If you collapse, the whole of Asgard will be in big trouble."
"Don't worry unnecessarily." Thor laughed heartily. "If I were so tired from eating and drinking that I'd collapse from an arm wrestling match, then I really should find someone else!"
----------------
That night, while Thor was fast asleep in his house, he was attacked by a Protoss assassin and seriously injured.
And his hammer was stolen.
408: Crisis is an opportunity
The invincible Thor has fallen.
Last night, while he was half-drunk and had eaten too much, he was lazily sprawled on the bed and fast asleep when a treacherous and despicable divine assassin stabbed him severely.
If Odin's raven hadn't spotted Thor in time and forced him away, the assassin would likely have delivered another blow and killed Thor completely.
To make matters worse, although the assassin didn't have time to take Thor's life, he did steal Thor's hammer.
This is no joke; it's not just about Thor losing his hammer. Mjolnir, the divine hammer of Asgard—a word meaning "maker of lightning"—is, as the name suggests, more than just a super weapon in Thor's hands.
The creators of lightning, in other words, are actually the controllers of the weather.
The divine hammer Mjolnir is the key to Asgard's climate control magic system and the core device of the Aesir's Great Engineering magic.
The mighty Thor, the invincible Thor, the strongest and bravest Thor among the Aesir, has fallen. They have also lost the core key to their magical system.
No wonder Odin is now sitting outside Thor's room, looking ten years older than usual.
Finally, Eden, one of Asgard's most powerful sorcerers and the great healer who would later be known as the Goddess of Evergreen, emerged from Thor's bedroom.
Odin immediately asked, "How is Thor?"
“It’s terrible,” Eden replied sadly. “I did everything I could to save him, but the divine assassin who stabbed him used a very insidious weapon. I guess he used divine power to freeze the poison into ice, making it into an ice blade, so there are many poisonous fragments left in Thor’s body. I removed most of them, but some fragments are still embedded in the back of Thor’s neck, and I dare not operate to remove them.”
The back of the neck, which may not seem like a special place at first glance, is actually a vital part of the body because the brainstem is located there, which is the "center" of the nerve center.
The Aesir gods of this era were merely exceptionally powerful mortal archmages, born of flesh and blood; medical magic technology was also not as advanced as it would be in later generations. The ice blades crafted from refined toxins by the gods had shards deeply embedded in the back of the neck. For a mere mortal, this was naturally an injury that could lead to death at any moment.
So Odin remained silent upon hearing this. Although he wasn't a skilled healer, he possessed the knowledge to understand just how dire the situation was.
Flesh and blood are bitter and weak.
"If Thor wakes up today, everything will be fine. If he doesn't wake up, I really don't know when he will recover."
Eden left Thor's house with these ominous words. It wasn't that she was cold-hearted, but rather that with the divine hammer Mjolnir lost, Asgard needed the evergreen archmage Eden to step in and handle many matters…
So now, only the servants who clean, cook, and do laundry, twenty elite Aesir guards, and Odin remained in Thor's house. Although there were guards, they wouldn't be able to hold out if anything else happened. So Odin simply stayed in Thor's house, worrying.
...And that's when Hayden and Angela came to visit.
Actually, Hayden and his companions are in a rather dire situation right now. Two mysterious, highly powerful archmages have only been here for less than two days, and they just had a friendly match with Thor yesterday. Today, he was suddenly assassinated and killed. You tell everyone not to suspect Hayden and Angela, but even he knows that's unlikely.
Thor was deeply revered by the people of Asgard. He was a true hero in their hearts and extremely popular. If the Asgardians blamed Hayden and Angela for Thor's downfall, things would get very interesting.
Fortunately, Hayden remained relatively optimistic: "A crisis can be an opportunity. If we heal Thor, the people of Asar will start to trust us again, right?"
So he brought Angela to the door. Just then, Eden had already left, and Odin was left in the main house worrying.
“Mr. Odin,” Hayden said without hesitation, “I heard that the Thor brothers were ambushed by the gods and seriously injured. Let me help heal them.”
That being said, Odin (naturally) did not nod immediately. He gave Hayden a meaningful look and instead said, "Thor is severely injured. The assassin used a poisoned sword made of ice, and many small shards are embedded in the back of his neck and cannot be removed. Can you heal such an injury?"
"of course can."
Angela can cure anything with a breath. Besides—hearing Odin say this, Hayden couldn't help but recall something that happened when he was still a mercenary in New Asia.
Do you remember back then (over four hundred years later), there was a superhuman named Eric, whose family worked for the Wotan Corporation, manufacturing parts for them. He sent Hayden a defective Valkyrie heart part as a gift, hoping to become Hayden's apprentice. In the end, although Hayden didn't actually become his master, he still recruited Eric.
At that time, Eric was ambushed by the devil at work and was seriously injured when fragments of the devil's cold iron pierced his bones.
And that kid Eric, quite coincidentally, happens to be related to Thor by a very distant blood relationship... Now, with the shift in time and space, Hayden is seeing the same thing with Thor, which just goes to show how darkly humorous fate can be.
So now, Hayden says, "I can cure any injury."
Now he has the confidence to say such things.
Odin stared at Hayden with his single eye for a moment, then sighed: "I see. So, how much reward do you intend to ask for for this act of saving our entire Asgard from the brink of destruction?"
"Huh?" Hayden frowned. "What report... wait, before we even discussed compensation, how did this topic suddenly escalate so much? I know Thor's life is important, but has it suddenly become a crisis of Asgard's annihilation? Aren't you the leader of Asgard?"
Hayden certainly knew that Thor was important to the Aesir. But importance varies in degree. Surely it wasn't to the point where Asgard was about to be destroyed?
...Probably not?
“It seems you, Loki, still don’t quite understand the situation of this land.” Odin finally smiled, a wry smile. “Let me use a more traditional method to illustrate.”
"You saw what kind of enemies attacked us the day before yesterday. They were giants, gods, and frost giants. They were the embodiment of frost."
"And the land beneath our feet is located in the northernmost part of the earth, a bitterly cold place. The prosperity you see now is all built on the basis of the environmental and climate control of the [Great Magic]."
"When our enemy, the frost, defeats the thunder, steals the artifact that brings warmth and abundance, and prevents us from using it to bring rain and ward off the cold, the frost will soon devour us."
"We don't even need a war, we'll all die here, starving and freezing to death right here."
"So, my friend Loki, do you understand the seriousness of the matter?"
“Well,” Hayden frowned, “I do understand a little bit now.”
In this land, the harsh winter truly means disaster and death. Without great engineering and magic, the entire Asgard would be covered in ice and snow during winter.
And the gods will soon attack.
As luck would have it, a cold wind blew up at that very moment. Although it wasn't enough to make snowflakes fall immediately, Hayden could see that the clouds above had turned a gloomy, grayish color.
Thor has fallen, and his hammer has been taken from him; therefore, winter is coming.
Hayden certainly understood what Odin meant.
The economy, industry, and administration of Asgard largely revolve around the climate control functions of Thor's hammer.
It's not just about agriculture and farming. Currently, the scale of various industries in this country is gradually expanding. At the same time, more and more immigrants, suffering from the tyrannical rule of the feudal gods, are fleeing from the south, their numbers increasing. Thanks to Odin's arrangements for developing industries and improving economic and productivity, although the population is increasing, a positive cycle has been achieved.
This could be described as a very fortunate situation, but it is also a business situation teetering on the edge of danger. As soon as the positive cycle balance is disrupted, cracks will appear in the blink of an eye.
Losing Mjolnir and Thor would first trigger a food crisis in Asgard, followed by winter frost damage, and fuel shortages could also cause workshops to shut down. Merchants would also reduce their business dealings. Once this negative cycle begins, even if the gods don't immediately attack, it would be very difficult for Odin and his people to recover.
Objectively speaking, although Asgard appears prosperous at present, it actually has very little room for maneuver when facing emergencies.
Hayden has only been here for two days and hadn't realized it before, but now he finally understands.
"Politics is really difficult," he remarked, referring to this field he knew he would never excel at, then nodded. "Anyway, I'll rescue Thor first, and that will solve half the problem."
Odin frowned: "So, my friend Loki, what is the price you demand?"
Hayden frowned, mimicking Odin's expression: "Why should there be a price?"
“Because everything has a price,” Odin replied calmly. “If I don’t pay you, and you don’t accept the payment, it can also be explained as your actions being worthless.”
Nothing in life comes easily, and fate doesn't bestow its favors lightly. Only those who strive and are willing to sacrifice themselves can obtain what they desire, and at a corresponding price—a universal truth for the Aesir. Just as Odin gained wisdom by sacrificing an eye, he gained omnipotent runic knowledge by sacrificing himself.
Isn't this worldview a bit extreme? Perhaps. But the Assamese used this worldview and ideology to fight against the feudal old gods, because the old god tyrants only exploited and oppressed, without trading or sacrificing themselves. The second and third generations of gods didn't need to make any sacrifices; they could enjoy all the good things simply by relying on the protection of their bloodline.
Obviously, this is absolutely unfair. Therefore, the Assamese held the opposite view.
Therefore, Odin's sacrifice to himself was a sacrifice to himself. He did not bow to the gods, nor did he bow to fate. He offered his suffering to himself, and through this sacrifice, through the pain and torment that came with it, he understood and gained the runes and the power they represented. In his view, nothing—not just magic—could be obtained without sacrifice and trade. Everything worth acquiring was worth suffering and paying for.
This is Odin's worldview, and also the worldview of the Asgardians.
But now Loki tells him, "There's absolutely no need for that. Let me be frank, even if you gave me the whole of Asgard, I wouldn't want it."
This was true, but Odin disliked this statement. Didn't it imply that the entirety of Asgard was worthless in Loki's eyes? As the creator of Asgard, to whom he poured his heart and soul, how could Odin tolerate such an insult?