The Alpha's Return

Lucas looked at the drinking horn with suspicion. He did not trust what Utgard Loki said even a little bit.

"I need to finish all of this? In one go?" Lucas asked.

"I want you to try. I know that you will not be able to finish it. It is a nigh impossible task for a mortal like you." Utgard laughed.

Lucas raised the drinking horn. It was surprisingly heavy. Even though it was the size of Lucas himself, Lucas prided himself in his strength and speed. And for that, he knew that he would be able to lift almost anything. But when he was lifting the drinking horn, he struggled. His muscles bulged as he brought up the horn to his mouth.

Water started gushing in through his throat. It was salty, and Lucas felt reminiscent about the sea, for some reason. Water kept pouring in, but Lucas still did not gulp. Only after a long, long sip did he finally gulp all of that water in. It was like the mouth inside was much bigger than how it appeared outside.

But the weight of the drinking horn did not even decrease a little. Lucas kept drinking from it, and taking long gulps. He was sure that he had drunk the volume of an entire giant itself, and maybe even more, but he could not find any tangible difference in the drinking horn.

After a few minutes of doing so, he left the drinking horn to the ground, and fell to the ground. He wheezed for air, and coughed out some water out.

"What the hell is that? That is no ordinary drinking horn. The water tastes terrible, and I drank much more than any of these stupid henchmen of yours could ever drink in their life." Lucas shouted.

"Mere excuses. It looks like you have failed yet another. But I shall give you one final task. That is all. If you are able to complete this one task, then I shall accept you into my plan." Utgard said.

"And what the hell is that?" Lucas said, irritated. And why wouldn't he be? He was being trialed again and again over the last few days, and everyone doubted his qualifications. And after he was put to these tests, he was sure that someone rigged the results, because he could not figure out for the life of him how he lost against some giant in speed, and how he could not complete a drinking horn in a few gulps.

Even now, his stomach felt like bursting, and it was full from all of that water.

"Alright! This is going to be an easy challenge. I just need you to lift my pet cat off the ground. If you are able to do that, then I shall recognize you." Utgard declared.

"Where is your pet cat?" Lucas asked with a new found skepticism.

Meow

From seemingly nowhere, a black cat started walking in. As expected, this was no ordinary cat. This cat was as tall as Lucas himself, and it seemed like it was very, very different from ordinary cats.

Lucas peered into the cat's eyes, and he felt that they knew something. They glinted, as if mocking Lucas for even attempting what he was about to.

Lucas shook his head and cleared his mind. He then stood in front of the cat, and started lifting the cat. He used all of his power and started pushing the back of the cat outwards.

But the cat kept arching its back at an extraordinary angle, and it did not even budge a little. Lucas raised his eyebrows.

"Guess I have to raise this up a notch," he said.

His arms started showing white fur, and his eyes turned blue. His entire body turned a snowy white, and the legs of the cat started trembling.

Meow

The cat cried out. Lucas started breathing heavily as he tried harder to lift up the cat from its place, but he still could not. But he did not want to give up. He tried harder, and his biceps started expanding. They became the size of a watermelon, as Lucas continued his conquest.

But after all of this effort, the only result that he got, was that he could raise one paw off of the ground. One paw. Lucas let go and fell to the ground once more. He looked down in shame.

"I could not lift even a cat? That is impossible. I disagree with this result. Your whole army is nothing compared to me! I demand a rematch. I demand another trial. I will defeat any of your men that you think are so great, and I will beat them in a wrestling match!" Lucas shouted.

"hehehe" Utgard chuckled.

"Everything that is happening here is so reminiscent of the past. It is true that history always repeats itself. Who would have thought that you would go through the same exact route that another had taken in your shoes? But that is no longer required. Although you have not passed any of the trials properly, I never expected you to. After all, these trials never were the true test." Utgard chuckled.

"Who were the people that I faced? I know that they weren't ordinary people." Lucas demanded to know.

"Why don't you ask that friend of yours deep inside. He is the only one who has ever cleared all four of my trials." Utgard Loki said.

"I told you didn't I? Losing wasn't something that you should shame yourself in. That Logi guy who you barely won that eating contest against? Well, that was Wild Fire. The embodiment of wild fire itself. That giant that you lost the contest of speed? Hugi is the embodiment of thought. No one can outrun the speed of your thought itself. That is why I told you to clear your mind. That turned out to only backfire. But never mind that. That drinking horn you drank from can never be emptied at all. It was the ocean itself. Back when Thor drank from it, he also thought that he failed this test. But it turned out that he drank enough to cause the tides. Although you aren't there yet, you were close. You did well in that. But that cat, that cat is the truly terrifying one of all. That cat is the little bit of power that Ouroborous left with his best friend. And you lifting him up was basically Ouroborous saying that he was conceding a little to you." Fenrir explained.

"So all of these were practically Utgard tricking me? Why am I not surprised? They both have Loki in the name." Lucas grumbled.

"You are not bad, mortal. These trials were all made with a god in mind. Me asking you to join them was already asking too much. But to think that you would finish a trial that even Loki himself failed at is commendable. I shall speak to Loki about how we shall proceed later, but this is a good result. I am very, very satisfied with your power, and I know that you will be able to exert enough of Fenrir's power for my plan to work." Utgard said as he got up from his throne.

Lucas looked up. With Utgard Loki now standing up, he was towering at a height that Lucas never knew a giant could reach. Utgard was towering at more than a hundred and ten meters and looked truly terrifying at such close distance.

Utgard smiled, and he snapped his fingers. He immediately disappeared from where he stood, and a miniature version of himself appeared in front of Lucas.

By miniature, it was miniature in comparison to before. But still, he towered at three meters and looked down towards Lucas.

Lucas looked up, and all of the fur on his body disappeared.

"So then, when is anyone going to tell us what the whole plan is?" Lucas asked.

"Let us have this conversation privately. Loki, care to join us?" Utgard looked at Loki, who was standing by one side.

"No thanks. I do not want to go through all of that boring stuff again. I will just let you do it all." Loki shook his head.

Utgard nodded and he held Lucas' hand all of a sudden. Lucas felt an unshakeable grip from Utgard. He widened his eyes with surprise. Just as he was about to say something, everything around him warped.

He disappeared from where he stood, and so did Utgard.

They both reappeared in a private room, and Utgard took a seat on the normal sized chairs that were already there.

"So then, why don't we have a talk on how we will start Ragnarok." Utgard smiled.

"Ragnarok? It looks like you are planning to raze Asgard already." Lucas chuckled.

"Oh my, How perceptive. That is exactly what we plan to do."

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