In Vill-V's workshop, three people gathered around two dimly glowing weapons.
"Why are there two of them?" Eden asked, staring at the two black and white spears, although her gaze lingered on the white spear longer.
A tired-looking Vill-V with bags under her eyes had attached herself to Thor, "Phew~ the Sixth's power was matter manipulation, the mist was just a medium for erasing matter, turns out that it can also be used to restore matter."
"Oh? That sounds quite powerful, but surely there are some kind of limits, right?" Thor asked.
"Mm, in its current state, my tests put the output at about 40%, as they are now, they can both recreate and destroy matter, but they need Honkai energy exceeding our average Knight-Class to do that, let alone when they combine and use 100%."
Eden reached forward towards the white spear and, picking it up, admired the design. "What did you call them? Not something strange, I assume."
Vill frowned, "My names are NOT weird, Eden, right Thor?" She looked at Thor lovingly and sweetly.
He could only give her a neutral nod, preferring not to comment outright.
His silence made Vill pout for a moment before sighing, "Heh, doesn't matter, I guess. The one you're holding is 'White Flower', and the other is 'Black Abyss'."
Eden felt the flowers on 'White Flower's' handle, "That's… Quite normal, for you anyway."
"Hmph, don't act so highly, do you want me to tell everyone the names you came up with for some 'attacks'?" Vill gave Eden a smug smile, one that only turned to a smug grin when she saw the latter's expression morph into embarrassment.
"My~ Whatever do you mean, Vill? Your naming sense is quite good, don't you think~?" Eden changed her tune when she saw Vill about to expose her chunni past to Thor.
Vill huffed, "Thought so, but is that all you two came here for? I would have just brought them to you later today anyway."
Thor and Eden stiffened.
"Huh?" Vill wasn't one to miss such an obvious shift in atmosphere, and on top of that, why did she feel like she made a mistake asking that?
With a wry smile, Thor told her about Elysia's demonstration with the others early.
"...Will I be alright?" Vill asked, concerned, if what Thor and Eden just told her wasn't at all exaggerated, 'Isn't this an unfair matchup!?' She was a tech specialist, sure, she's a Mantis, and her multiple partitions let her excel more at things, but none of these benefits was in direct combat! She was a pure support-type fighter, while Elysia was a top-tier DPS!
Eden scratched her cheek, "I'm not sure, can you survive a nuke yet?" She said, using the closest comparison she could think of for Elysia actually trying.
The colour drained from Vills face and she hugged Thor tightly, burying her face into his neck while wailing "I'm dead!".
Thor patted her back, "I'm sure it won't be that bad. What about those battlesuits Mei had you working on? Surely they could help you survive a hit or two?"
Immediately, Vill pulled herself back and stared into Thor's eyes with a look that said 'You are a genius!', before she scurried off of him and back into the depths of her workshop.
Thor and Eden let out a laugh as Vill ran off before meeting eyes, "Did Elysia's 'Motivation' work on you?" Thor asked now that Vill was gone for a moment.
Eden nodded, "Yes…" She stared at her raised hand, a rune lit up on it, and a small white fireball hovered above her hand, "We might be strong, but against what's coming, we're nothing more than meat shields right now." The rune dimmed, and the flame followed.
"Well, I trust that you know not to push yourself beyond–"
"I know, Thor." Eden interrupted him.
Thor stood up from the sofa he had been sitting on for the past while and walked over to the two spears, picking 'Black Abyss' up from the table and taking 'White Flower' from Eden. "As long as you know,"
Hearing a hum of confirmation from Eden, Thor inspected the two spears, 'What do you think? How do these compare to divine armaments?'
Scathach had remained silent since they arrived, content to observe. But since Thor asked, (Hephaestus would weep in envy at that girl's talent)
That surprised him, 'That good, huh?'
'And what about the merged form? The one Vill mentioned.'
(I cannot say. I have not seen it.)
Thor inspected both spears closely himself, admiring how every time Vill creates a Divine Key, not only are they incredibly well-designed for him, but also his primary weapon of choice outside of fists, such as both of these being spears.
Each Divine Key Vill-V makes reveals so much more about Herrschers' abilities and often times shows that if Herrschers were scholars like Mei, Einstein, or god forbid Mobius, even he might not be able to win.
(But I should congratulate you.)
'What do you mean?'
(That girl. In fact, most of the women around you are extraordinary, yet almost all of them are intimate with you alone.) Scathach spoke her true thoughts she had been holding onto since yesterday.
Thor almost fell over at that. He shifted his grip on the spears, 'That was what you meant?! And how is that strange, it isn't strange for powerful people to have multiple partn…ers…'
(Mm, you get it, just like how your friend Kevin is only with that girl Mei, this world doesn't practice it as we do.)
Thor's expression changed a lot in those few seconds, leaving Eden quite baffled at it since Thor had neglected to tell everyone about his mental companion, having just genuinely forgotten to do so.
Scathach felt the turbulence in her disciples' thoughts. (Don't think too deeply about it, just thought to let you know, after all, these women are strong enough to choose any man as their partner, yet they choose to stick with you, make sure you cherish them as you have, and keep it that way.)
Thor took a moment to process her words before outwardly smiling, baffling Eden further, 'Thanks, and don't you worry, Master, I'd sooner die than mistreat them.'
Scathach agreed with him (I'm sure they would be happy to hear that.)
"Uh, Thor? Are you okay?" Shaken from his conversation by Eden, Thor glanced at her, "I'm fine, Eden. Just an interesting thought." He said before taking one last look at the spears, before placing them back down on the table.
Eden looked him up and down a few times before shrugging. "Alright." The two then waited for Vill to return with her prototype battlesuit.
..
"*Whistle* Looks good on you, Vill~" Thor whistled when Vill returned in a skin-tight bodysuit that perfectly accentuated her 'assets'.
Eden felt a little embarrassed picturing herself in future having to wear something like that, even if it did improve her combat prowess, it's still embarrassing to think about.
Vill huffed proudly, and Thor could tell that he wasn't face-to-face with Vill's normal self but one of her partitions, "Has our magician come out to play?" Thor asked.
She froze for a second before relaxing, only surprised that Thor could tell the difference so quickly, but that also made her happy that he paid that much attention to her. "Mhm! Other me got a little too excited putting it on, she nearly fainted~" She cooed before lunging at Thor.
Thor easily caught her in his arms while Eden rolled her eyes, preferring to play with a few runes instead.
(Other me? Has she got a split personality too?) Since when were split personalities as common as cabbages? Scathach thought.
Thor resisted the urge to chuckle, 'She does, in fact, she had 8 of them, maybe even more now if my recent soul nurturing runes start showing their effects.'
(And she's not gone insane yet? Incredible, her willpower must be immense then.)
'Hmm, not really, in fact, would you believe if that version of Vill from earlier actually had self-confidence problems and was quite timid?'
(...)
Thor was amused by her loss for words and refocused his attention on the needy magician hugging him. "So how's the progress on it?"
The 'Magician' stopped inhaling his scent and reluctantly pulled away from him, lifting her arm, "It depends on the wearer, for a normal human, it could maybe let them jump a building, but for someone like me, I feel like I could rip an Emperor-Class in half with pure strength alone." She flexed her arm as if to emphasise the 'Strength' part.
Smiling, Thor tried to analyse it, but since the tech Vill used is experimental, he couldn't gauge much from it other than what he already knew, "*Clap* So it shouldn't be an issue then if Ellie shoots you a few times, right~?"
Vill froze, then sweated bullets, damnit! She had messed up, "U-uh a-about that…"
Thor leaned in, grabbing her by the shoulder and feeling out the suit itself, "Hmm, actually, maybe Ellie could do more than a few shots if my initial feel for your current strength is right."
Eden snickered from the side, watching as The 'Magician' Vill's face went paler and paler.
…
After giving Vill and her partitions a good scare, Thor left her and Eden alone as the two wanted to discuss a few things. Now, he was wandering the halls of FireMoth once more, responding to greetings and praising the staff for their hard work as he walked by.
(Thor, how are you feeling?)
Thor paused his steps for a moment before casually resuming them, 'What do you mean, Master?'
In his mind, Scathach frowned, (Don't try that with me, tell me, how are you feeling right now?)
Thor deliberated, outwardly choosing to teleport away from Moth abruptly, only to appear on top of a snow-covered mountain. 'Do you really want to know?' He walked to an edge and sat himself down in the snow as the cold winds ruffled his hair and clothes.
(Yes, you look fine now, but I know you, it's just like before, isn't it?) Scathach was careful to choose her words; if she said the wrong thing here, while Thor would never come to be annoyed or frustrated with her, he would most certainly not talk to her for a full day at least.
"..." Thor was silent, and he stared into the horizon, letting his silence speak for itself.
(You remember what I taught you, don't you?)
Thor nodded.
(Then you understand what I am going to say.)
"...Haah…I know, I know. It's just difficult, I want to force my way into the imaginary realm, take Aurora out, end the Honkai, even if I die in the process." Thor confessed his troubles to Scathach.
(Don't forget, you have that insurance you left on the moon. Worst comes to worst, you can use that; your soul will regenerate quite easily.)
Thor leaned back, gazing upon the full moon in the daytime sky. "I know, but messing with time, creating paradoxes, it's not something I can do lightly."
(So Chronos told you then?)
"Mmm. Time loops are too dangerous, let alone after breaking the loop. What happens to the mind during thousands, if not hundreds of thousands or even millions of loops? I could come out with a God Complex or an aversion to a reality where I don't know what happens next." Thor's eyes held a profound look to them, making Scathach face palm.
(Ugh, that bastard, he really knows how to stop time users from using time.)
Thor laughed, "Does it really matter? Overall, I'm glad to at least know of it. Not that it would change my decision in the end. If it's the only path, I'll take it."
Scathach didn't know what to think of this change in her disciple, (You think a lot more now.)
Thor raised a brow, "That hurts to hear from you of all people, haha."
(Hush, stupid disciple.) Scathach's voice grew softer (I mean, you are softer now, you think with your emotions more, it's not an insult or weakness to do so, I know you will find the correct balance, as you have now.)
"..." Thor chose to be silent and just stew in his thoughts.
...
A/N: Bit different from a usual chapter, ended up going in a different direction than planned, but I'm happy with it either way, needed to get some Thor introspection anyway.