Narvath thought back to a simpler time. A time when he wasn't a god, just some no named soldier who was just lucky enough to serve under Krania. This Goddess spoke to him spirtually, he would sometimes during the various battles catch quick glimpses of her. She had the biggest smile on her face which liken her more to a Netherborn (Demon for the uninformed) than a Goddess.
"And despite her terrifying visage i couldn't help but feel comforted by her smile, It felt like we could achieve victory no matter the odds." He thought as he crashed through various trees. The scent of pine and cedar oddly comforting despite the pain.
He didn't have any parents, he didn't know if they were alive or dead. He grew up faceless in a rundown orphanage in MotoCin, didn't even have a name to grace him. He was all on his own in this world, not sure what to do with himself or the festering anger that plagued him. The rage that came to him as a child would leave him perplexed, he didn't know where it was coming from but it demanded to be taken out. So when a gang of children who ruled the orphanage took his meager lunch, he lashed out and attack them with every ounce of his anger.
He didn't win. But they stop messing with him afterwards.
Everyone stopped messing with him after this.
News of the fight spread, earning him the nickname rabid dog among his scared peers. He was alone, but that was alright. There was something to keep him going. It was stories. Stories that distracted him from the hellish realities of being trapped in a rundown shelter.
More specifically it was the stories of Krania, her long wild black mane flowing like water as she cut down the most terrifying enemies like they were nothing. How she would laugh in the face of death herself, annoying the Goddess of the Underworld greatly. How her sword weigh more than a mighty tree and she swung it like it was a mere pillow.
It wasn't long before he found himself kicked out from his shelter. Aged out of the orphanage's good graces like so many of similar origin found themselves.
If he was to be perfectly honest, he was lost. He didn't have a true example of how to go through life from any of the adults that watched over them.
But Krania herself seemed like a good example to follow. She could have just easily watched over the battlefield and not get involved but she was right there with them. Sometimes dressed in the same armor (though her had to be custom made because she stood at a devastating seven foot and seven inches). Despite her bloodlust she was kind to the soldiers underneath her. Narvath chuckled as he remembered when Krania hit him on the head and sent him flying much like he is now for saying something like that while having a meeting with her.
Krania rushed over to Narvath through the newly formed entrance in her home. Her expression one of regret and a earnest smile.
"Jeez, sorry about that, i meant to hit lighter. Anyways, here's a quick but equally Important lesson to you, always be aware of your own strength. But moving on from that, there another lesson here that i want to impart to you. When you're fighting with me, There is no rank. In a battle we're all soldiers, the people that followed me into battle are not below me, they stand beside me, just like you. End of discussion. Now come on, My sweet tub of lard is making roast beef and egg sandwiches and you look famished." She told him with a grin as she pick up him by his neck like a mother cat would her own kitten.
He finally hit the dirt, the embrace of the earth mother welcoming him into her arms.
He look up at the skies, that beautiful and vibrant amber sky. Reminded of how he got here. He smiled to himself, he did it. He protected Erosa, he proved himself to be worthy to stand at her side.
His nose is shattered, his right hand is limp and barely functional, bone sticking out every which way.
"I can use that as a weapon too. I'm not out of options yet." He thought to himself, memories of the past threaten to take him from the here and now. He couldn't let that happened. And yet he remembered so clearly Krania's grin as she stared down at him as he laid bleeding out. Seemingly impressed by his attempt to protect her.
And that when he saw it. Androcien flying by, she seemed to be in a panic, blood dripping from her lips.
"If she thinks she can get away with attacking my love, she is in for a rude surprise." Narvath thought now fueled by vengeance, He leaped into the air as hard as he can and crashed into Andros, catching her off guard with a uppercut straight from the legends themselves. The sheer sound of it brought a unbridled joy to Narvath's heart.
The Purveyor of Knowledge was sent flying into a tree which made Narvath grin like a little kid. He took his sword out of his scabbard, it was a simple blade, nothing fancy. He requested The God of the Forge Malakai himself to make a simple sword which surprised his lover.
"My well hunged Narvath, are you sure you just want a simple sword? Mother's...concubine? (Erosa look towards Malakai whose face now red as he hides under his hood as she try to get confirmation about the relationship status between Aphros and Malakai cause it was honestly really one sided for her view.) Well Mother's concubine could probably make you a mystical sword that redirect any attack towards you or a sword that can cut the soul itself." Erosa told him, she didn't much about her mother's latest toy but she knew that he had some talent judging by those little pint-sized automations helping him.
Malakai kept to himself, he couldn't make a sword that could cut the soul itself without traveling to the underworld and getting permission from Thermes the Goddess of Death to give him the right material but that will take time. Time that Narvath and Erosa didn't really have.
Narvath shook his head.
"A simple strong sword can do anything i need it to." Narvath responded simply with a smile that made her want to devour him right there. Erosa didn't really get it but it makes her lover happy so it doesn't matter.
He swung his sword, his devotion to protecting Erosa and hatred for Androcien increasing his strength tenfold. Androcien barely manages to block this with her bracers, the impact alone caused all the trees to be nearly be uprooted within the area. But he kept swinging, his strikes getting stronger with each blow. But it was clear to him that she can anticipate every move of his.
"Let see what she thinks of this?" Narvath thought as he dropped his sword for only a moment, he saw Androcien's eyes move downward to the falling sword for just a moment.
And that was all he needed.
He headbutted her, hearing the bones crunch in her nasal cavitiy gave him a pump of adrenaline. He then grab his sword just before it went out of arm's length and swung it again, aiming at her neck but she managed to put her bracer up in time, and the sword broke completely in half. Narvath was stunned, he got even more stunned by Androcien punching him in the liver, this punch would have utterly torn through a average mortal.
Androcien kneed him in the gut and elbowed on the top of his head sending him flying into the ground in a storm of dust and his own blood.
"Foolish human." Androcien muttered, blood running down her face. She grit her teeth, angry at herself for falling for such a foolish trick.
As Narvath hit the ground, he felt himself slip from conciousness once again.
"How pathetic, what does Erosa even see in you?" She asked of him.
The new God of War struggled to stand. Not too far there was a traveling cart that was on his path.
"Well it doesn't matter, you're just another of her pawns. Once she get bored of you, she will leave you in the dust where you belong." She told him, hoping the objective truth could break him and keep him from doing anything more foolish.
Now he was even more enraged he threw his broken sword at Androcien, the speed from his throw almost caught her off guard as she dodge to the side. The wind blowing her hair back, Without thinking Narvath grabbed the traveling cart and throwed it at her as well. Horses and passengers and all. Androcien had the grace to avoid that as well, completely baffled by Narvath's lack of car-
"Alright maybe not baffled but very, very disappointed, judging from the throw the passengers should land in that mud pit just over yonder. And here he was thinking he was more morally supeior than me, the nerve when he destroyed a entire mountain in MotoCin, harming everyone that lived near it." Androcien thought but her line of thinking was cut by Narvath ramming both fists into her stomach with maximum force. Causing the air to be knocked of her lungs.
Narvath wasn't one to let a opportunity fly past him as he headbutted her twleve times in rapid succession before delivering a devastating right hook across her face.
A thought walked it way into Androcien's mind palace.
"Am i getting overwhelmed by a mere human in Godly clothing?"
"ENOUGH." Androcien said, her voice booming as it would usually when she was enraged.
She punched him straight in the breastplate and it shattered. He was sent flying all the way back to his lover Erosa and their army, cursing all the while.
Androcien caught her breath and left the area, feeling just a little better.