Valhalla, Divine Power Inheritance!

"A Winged Pegasus that can travel a thousand miles a day and amplify divine power? If my hometown, Earth, had horses like these, we probably wouldn’t need trains or high-speed rail."

"This is Asgard’s dueling and training grounds? It’s so vast and spectacular—more than five times larger than Earth’s Olympic stadiums. It truly deserves the name of a divine realm."

Kyle’s wide-eyed amazement and envy at the novel sights of the divine realm, like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, greatly pleased Deputy General Fielder, who was showing him around Asgard.

"There are even more extraordinary things to see. Come, I’ll take you somewhere else."

Driven by pride and vanity, Fielder eagerly ushered him along. He wished he could take Kyle through every corner of the divine realm, letting him broaden his horizons and admire from the bottom of his heart Asgard’s immortality and greatness.

After passing through residential streets, the stables, and the troop training grounds, Fielder and Kyle continued deeper into the divine realm and soon arrived before something resembling a ceremonial temple.

A spotless road of neat white stone slabs led to the hall. Fire braziers stood symmetrically every five meters along both sides, their flames burning fiercely. The temple itself, built entirely from pure white stone blocks in an ancient Greek style, hung sacredly at the edge of a waterfall at the end of the ground.

Two towering guards in golden armor, holding great axes, stood watch here, motionless before the temple gates. From within came the faint voices of many Asgardian youths. From time to time, a weak milky-white radiance flew from the temple dome and vanished into the brilliant starry sky.

Fielder merely led Kyle past the road before the temple’s main entrance. Kyle had not paid it much attention at first, but as if his body had keenly sensed something, he suddenly stopped on the path before the gates. His gleaming gaze settled on the ancient temple.

"General Fielder, what is this place?" Kyle asked curiously.

"This is Asgard’s Valhalla." Fielder looked toward the temple with unwavering faith in his eyes and explained reverently, "It is also called the cradle of dreams for divine generals and heavenly soldiers. It is a sacred hall where King Odin grants and strengthens our divine power."

"Valhalla." Kyle rubbed his chin, a glint flashing through his eyes. He smiled at Fielder. "General Fielder, may I go inside and take a look? Just one look. I also want to feel the presence of the King of the Gods up close."

"This…" Fielder hesitated, his expression troubled. "By the rules, those without the qualifications of an Asgardian Soldier may not enter Valhalla…"

Though he had shown no hesitation at all when entering Asgard’s military stables and training grounds earlier, he now hesitated for more than five full seconds.

At last, beneath Kyle’s expectant gaze, Fielder gritted his teeth and agreed. "But since you are His Highness Thor’s honored guest and have been allowed to set foot in the divine realm, I’ll make an exception just this once. Remember, just take a look inside. Don’t touch anything else!"

"Of course." Kyle smiled calmly and nodded.

Since Fielder had made his decision, he no longer hesitated and directly led Kyle toward Valhalla’s gates.

Before they could step over the threshold, the golden guards brought down their axes. The axeheads clashed with a crisp metallic ring, blocking the two from entering Valhalla.

"Stand aside. I am Fielder, Deputy General under Thor. I am entering Valhalla."

Fielder domineeringly displayed his identification badge. Upon seeing it, the golden guards swiftly raised their long-handled axes and resumed their watch, standing like Stone Statues.

Firelight flickered within Valhalla, its gentle glow illuminating the great hall. Kyle raised his eyes slightly and saw a golden statue of Odin wielding the Eternal Spear and riding an Eight-Legged Pegasus.

In the other corners of the hall stood more divine statues, each bent over and holding a large sphere in its hands.

More than a dozen Asgardian youths, both male and female, wore simple white robes. With diligence and faith, they knelt before Odin’s statue, solemn-faced as they attempted to touch the spheres in the various corners.

Even though they noticed Kyle and Fielder entering, the youths ignored them, immersed in the temple’s sacred ritual.

"When Asgardian commoners reach the age of sixteen, they enter Valhalla for their coming-of-age ceremony. It is not merely a necessary ritual, but also the process of inheriting divine power’s protection." Fielder spoke softly.

Kyle happened to see a young girl reach out and touch one of the spheres. Specks of daylight-like radiance flickered, baptizing her body as divine power manifested from nothing and settled over her skin as a protective blessing.

"These spheres represent different divine powers—Thor’s power, Fire God Power, Light Power, and so on. Every Asgardian commoner may try to touch and sense them. Depending on their affinity for a certain divine power, they may receive that power’s baptism and protection."

After hearing Fielder’s explanation, Kyle suddenly understood. He had completely figured out where Asgardian soldiers’ divine power came from.

Every god was like a source of divine power, storing their own power in Valhalla before death and waiting for others to sense and claim it.

After walking half a circle around Valhalla’s hall, Kyle surprisingly noticed something unusual in one corner. Both the divine statue and inheritance sphere were covered in black cloth, thick with dust accumulated over the years, utterly at odds with the surrounding holiness.

"Don’t stop here." Fielder reached out to pull Kyle away and warned him in a low voice, "That is the inheritance point of Death God Power. Commoners are now forbidden from sensing it."

"Death…" Kyle fell into thought. Naturally, he knew very well why.

Goddess of Death Hela—the sister of Thor, who had been stripped of her divine status by Odin and exiled to the Undead World because of her excessive ambition.

Just then, a blinding pillar of lightning rose from the Thor power inheritance point, enveloping one youth. The pillar reached the ceiling of Valhalla and lit the entire hall brilliantly.

The sight drew gasps of amazement and envy from the other dozen youths.

"Remarkable. Our Thor army has gained another seedling who can be cultivated into a divine general." Fielder clicked his tongue in praise, then explained, "Every Asgardian has a different affinity for divine power. Some can only use Thor’s power to temper their bodies, while others can wield divine power as their own."

"General Fielder must be the latter, then." Kyle said with a smile.

"Of course." Fielder proudly thrust out his chest. "When I comprehended the inheritance of Thor’s power, I triggered a divine power pillar with a radius of two meters. It even alerted His Highness Thor."

Kyle circled around before finally stopping in front of the sphere containing the inheritance of Fire God Power. He sensed a mysterious, wonderful feeling—this sphere was resonating with the divine power within his body.

Could the Fire God, who was born in the universe long ago, have left something here? Kyle wondered.

Noticing his odd behavior, Fielder walked over in surprise. "What’s wrong? Time’s about up. We should leave too."

"General Fielder, can I sense this one?" Kyle pointed at the sphere before him and asked with a serious expression.

"You?" Fielder froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "It’s not that I won’t let you comprehend it. It’s that humans like you simply cannot sense divine power. Or rather, among all races in the universe, only us Asgardians—the loyal people who believe in the gods—can receive divine power’s protection."

"Then I’ll give it a try."

Kyle shrugged. Under Fielder’s uncertain gaze, he extended his right hand and slapped it toward the sphere of Fire God Power.