Asgardian Sword God

As Odin said he wanted to give something to Vali, the both of them soon left the medical facility and then they went on to leave the palace. After they left the palace, they kept on walking.

Vali felt confused as they had left the palace, he thought that the thing that his father, Odin, said to Vali that he will give him is going to be something from the vault of the Asgard palace. But, as they left the palace, it dawned on him that his speculation is completely wrong. As he felt confused, he asked, "Father, where are we going? "

" We are going to a garden just outside of the city. " casually replied Odin.

As Odin told him this, Vali is reminded of something, but as he could not know whether if it will be his expectations, he asked " Father, what is so special about this garden? " Vali said this because there are gardens in the palace, yet they are leaving the palace to go to another garden.

" It's hard to explain, it will be better if you see and experience it yourself. So, wait a while longer till we get to the garden. It won't be long till we get there. " replied Odin as he smiles.

Since his father told him that he would know it if he sees it himself and that they are not far away from the place, Vali did not push on to get his answers.

After Odin told Vali this, they walked for a while and finally left the city of Asgard. They still walk for about a minute, and not far away from the city, they arrived in front of a garden.

This said garden is surrounded by a metal fence, there is only one gate for entry and exit on the fence. Right by the gate stood two guards clad in golden armour, the two guards hold in their right hand a sword and on the left, a shield.

As the guards saw Odin and Vali approaching, they quickly put down their weapons on the ground and began to kneel. Seeing the two guards kneeling in front of him, Odin said, " Get up, and tell Idun that I am here. "

Immediately after Odin said this, both of the guards took their weapons they put on the ground and stand up, then, one of the guards quickly run into the garden.

After this, Vali and Odin stood inside the gate and waited for a while until the guard that return. After about a minute, the guard that ran inside the garden returned, and with him came a woman. This woman has a long blond wavy hair that reached up to her waist, she was wearing a simple and long white gown with a long red shawl that she coiled it around her body.

" What brings you to my garden? My king. " greeted the woman as soon as she saw Odin. Although she used the honorifics when addressing Odin, her tone and behavior are a bit different from the other Asgardians when they saw Odin. It felt too casual.

" We came to get one of the golden apples for Vali. Can you get us one, Idun? " Odin replied.

When Vali first saw the interaction between the two, he was curious as to who this woman could be for being able to behave so casually with his father Odin.

But, as soon as he heard her name, he immediately knew why she could interact with Odin in this manner and why they went to this particular garden. And Vali felt extremely happy in his heart to know that he is going to finally get to eat one of the famed Golden apples of eternal youth. And as this woman in front of him is the only one who can pluck the golden apples from the tree, it is obviously natural for her to act that way in front of Odin, since this apple is something that every Asgardians needed to increase their lifespan and maintain their youthfulness.

" The apples? Well then, both of you, follow me. " said Idun as she turns around to go deeper inside the garden.

Hearing this, Odin and Vali begin to follow Idun. As they went inside the garden, Vali saw several trees bearing flowers and fruits. It looks like an orchard to Vali, except that this particular garden is several times more beautiful than the ones Vali knew.

After walking for a while, the three of them reached what seems to be the center of the garden, and in the center of this garden stood a huge tree, and from this tree, about a couple dozen golden colored fruit hangs down from its branches. This tree is the golden apple tree, but unlike all other apple trees, this tree stood tall and straight as it possesses a huge trunk.

Standing in front of the tree and looking at it, Vali felt like he is looking right at the forbidden tree, it looks savoury and delicious in his eyes. In fact, he is salivating a bit in his mouth.

As Idun saw Vali staring at the tree intently, she chuckled, then she said to Vali, " Which one do you want? "

As he was mesmerized by the tree and had fallen almost into a trance-like state, Vali is startled by Idun talking. Since he did not properly hear what Idun said, he said, " What??? "

Hearing this, Idun laughed as she said, " I said, which one do you want? "

" Oh... " replied Vali, but since he does not know which fruit would be the best, he said with a pondering look on his face, " I don't know. Aren't they all the same? "

" The effects of the fruit are similar, but some are a bit more potent than others. " Idun replied.

" Well then, I want whichever one you think is best for me. " said Vali as he smiled, he did not know the difference in the potency of the fruit so he asked Idun to pick the fruit so that might get the best one.

Idun, hearing what Vali said, she stares at Vali intently and begins to size him up, she nodded occasionally while doing this.

About a minute later, Idun approaches the tree, she circled around it a few times like she is looking for something. Then she climbed up the tree a little and pluck a fruit from it.

After she had plucked the fruit, Idun climbed back down and walk towards Vali, she then stood in front of Vali and hand him the fruit she plucked from the tree.

Looking at the fruit in his hand, Vali felt a bit disappointed, the size of the fruit is not bigger than those fruits he could see from where he stood, in fact, it is a bit smaller and it's color has a bit more glossy golden look than the others.

Seeing the reaction of Vali, Idun said to Vali, " This is the fruit that is the most suitable for you. Do you not trust me? ". As a matter of fact, this is truly the most suitable fruit for Vali. And the reason why Idun gave him the best fruit for Vali is because she understood a bit of how Vali felt.

As she knows that Vali is not an Aesir, he would definitely be weaker than them and his lifespan would be a lot shorter than the Aesir. This would probably get Vali to be disrespected by them. Although she believes that his strength might be higher than normal for a Midgardian as he has been trained by Odin, but his lifespan could not be increased through Odin's training as far as she knows.

Also, she suspects that if Vali did not possess something Odin wanted of him, he would probably not be able to live in Asgard while he is just a kid, especially getting adopted by Odin. And getting respect because you have something people wanted is known all to well by Idun. If she is not the only one who can pick the Golden apples, and with the amount of strength she possesses, she is definitely sure that the kind of treatment she received now would be gone in a blink of an eye. And as the tree long as the tree stands, Idun will get more fruit and probably a better one in the future so, she did not hesitate to give Vali a fruit which is the most suitable for him.

As Vali heard what Idun said, he could not do anything except take her word for it, then he said, " Of course I trust you. It's just that this is my first time holding one" as soon as he said this, Vali chowed down on the fruit.

As he had eaten the fruit, Vali could feel a change in his body as this is his first time eating one. He realized that his strength has increased a bit. Noticing the increase in his strength, it made Vali smile, and with eyes full of sincerity, he said, " Thank you so much, Miss Idun. "

Seeing the interaction between Vali and Idun, Odin felt at ease in his mind. And staring at Vali eating the fruit, Odin too wanted a fruit by himself, so he begins to say, " Idun, can I.... "

But before Odin could finish, Idun interrupted, " Huh? Do you want one? How long are you trying to live you old crone? " Hearing this Odin felt a bit embarrassed and angry, but this is not all Idun had to say, so she continued, " Besides, you of all people know that it won't do you much benefit if you eat right now, as you have already one in this century and with your strength, and what would you gain from it other than for filling your stomach. "

As he heard this, Odin understood that Idun did not want to get a fruit for him. Although, he could forcefully order her since he too knows that he won't get much benefit from it, and as it is a precious commodity, he did not insist on it. What he did previously is just due to a spur of the moment.

Hearing what Idun said to his father, it piqued Vali's interest, so he asks, " So, miss Idun, what you said to my father, does it also apply to me? "

" No, you can eat it. But the effects will be much weaker than the one you ate before. As this is not a strength you obtain on your own, I suggest you get first get used to this boost in strength before eating another. " Idun told Vali.

Hearing the thought and advice of Idun, Vali decided to not eat another fruit before he thinks it is absolutely needed. And the boost he got from this single fruit might be great, but if he immediately tried to stack it up, the effects would be much lesser than his first or would finally be non-existent if he ate too much.

After this hearing all of this, Odin and Vali soon left the garden and go back to the palace.

...

Inside the palace, Angerboda is approached by a man, this man secretly handed a note to Angerboda and immediately left right after.

As Angerboda read what is in the note, a furious look begins to form on her face. She slowly crumpled the note with her hands and said, " This Vali, Odin is starting to favor him too much. If this goes on, he could ruin my plan. I have spent too much time for it to go unfulfilled. " After this, she burns the note to get rid of any evidence.