As Atreus's body glowed with the power of the Black Rune, the air in the chamber suddenly grew heavy and cold. Two massive shapes started materializing on the platform where they stood.
Zelos recognized the magical signatures immediately and knew that it would be an incredibly easy fight for the current party, as the enemies were just the elemental guardians of the vault: Grendel of the Ashes and Grendel of the Frost.
"Zelos, Atreus, take care of the Ice Troll. Mimir and I will deal with the Fire Troll," Kratos said, barking his orders with military precision towards Zelos and Atreus. Both of his sons nodded in understanding, while Mimir looked at Kratos with a slightly offended stare from his position.
"Their names are Grendel of the Ashes and Grendel of the Frost, brother. They are historically significant figures," Mimir said towards Kratos, trying to impart some lore even in the heat of battle.
"I do not care," Kratos said simply. He wasted no time and ran towards Grendel of the Ashes.
He took out his Leviathan Axe and let the frost cover the blade, as he remembered that Zelos had mentioned earlier that opposite natures would be the easiest way to defeat elemental foes.
Meanwhile, Zelos and Atreus turned towards Grendel of the Frost. Zelos looked at Atreus, who was focused on the towering monster, his knuckles white as he gripped his bow.
"Do you want to fight against the troll alone? Maybe you could try and practice your transformation in a real combat scenario," Zelos asked towards Atreus.
He was offering a challenge while also reminding Atreus of his abilities that he cannot control yet.
"Yes. I would love that, Zelos," Atreus answered with determination.
Zelos started floating to the side, crossing his arms while watching intently towards Atreus. Atreus took out his bow and started firing arrows rapidly towards Grendel of the Frost, chipping away at its icy armor.
Grendel of the Frost roared and closed the distance towards Atreus. It suddenly transformed its body into a cloud of freezing mist and teleported to the side of the boy. Atreus rolled forward instinctively to dodge the ambush.
He tried to counterattack by sending a kick infused with a wind magic spell that Zelos had taught him to make his physical strikes faster.
However, the moment his foot hit Grendel, the impact felt like kicking a glacier. The intense cold froze his boot instantly, trapping Atreus in place.
Seizing the opportunity, Grendel caught the immobilized boy. The troll trampled him into the ground like he was nothing more than a rag doll.
Grendel then lifted the massive stone pillar that he was using as a weapon and attempted to slam it down to crush Atreus.
Atreus, despite being hurt badly and winded, forced himself to move. He saw the pillar coming down on him and scrambled.
As he barely came out of the way of the direct impact, he was still hit by the corner of the heavy stone.
The force of the blow sent Atreus flying across the room until he slammed hard against the cage wall that had been closed across the entire platform.
Kratos, who saw this from the corner of his eye, wanted to shout something. He almost broke away from his own fight, but he saw that Zelos was watching calmly.
With his trust in Zelos's strength and judgment, Kratos forced himself to let it be. He turned his focus back on his own fight against Grendel of the Ashes, hacking away at the fire troll's legs.
"Feel the desperation kicking in within you, Atreus! Use that as your fuel! Never mind what I said earlier about anger.
The strongest feeling that you have in the moment should be the one to be used as fuel. It is just more apparent with Father as he is often feeling a lot of anger, but you are different from him," Zelos then yelled across the battlefield.
He continued to float above the chaos, while Grendel of the Frost ignored Zelos completely due to a subtle misdirection magic that Zelos had cast.
"Got it," Atreus said through gritted teeth. His tone indicated that he was in a lot of pain, something that Zelos did not doubt, given the heavy hits he had just taken.
Atreus then started fighting once again. This time, however, he was getting hit by the troll more easily than before.
His movements were slower, and he kept on being slammed by the troll around the arena. Atreus tried to fight back, but due to his sluggish nature from being hurt, he could not keep up with the teleporting monster.
He got caught by a heavy backhand once again, skidding across the stone floor. This time, a dark thought entered his mind.
Atreus knew that if he fell here, he would become a failure. Not only in front of Kratos and Zelos, whose opinions he treasured more than anything, but also to himself.
He knew that with his true heritage revealed and the possible persecution that he would fight against in the future against the likes of Thor and Odin, he could not afford to be weak.
'No, no, no, no, no, no. I cannot be defeated here. I cannot be weak,' Atreus thought repeatedly.
He turned his head towards the dashing Troll that was charging to slam him into the ground once again to finish the job.
Then, deep inside his chest, a burst of heat started coming out of his body. Unlike the earlier attempts where pain came from the effort, this time, Atreus felt some kind of relief.
It felt as if this power was just right, a key fitting into a lock.
Then, Atreus started changing. His body contorted, shifting from his normal form into another one entirely.
In a flash of golden light, Atreus suddenly transformed into a massive bear with the same height and bulk as Grendel of the Frost.
When Atreus shifted, Zelos's eyes sparkled with intense curiosity. He was not just watching a fight; he was observing the raw flow of mana.
He saw the way that the magic flowed in the body of Atreus, rewriting his biology, which he memorized instantly for future reference.
The bear that was Atreus roared, a sound that shook the vault. He began attacking Grendel with feral intensity.
He swiped his big paws towards the lifted pillar that Grendel tried to slam towards him. The stone pillar was destroyed by the sudden burst of strength that Atreus displayed.
Atreus then launched himself towards the Troll, using his own weight and momentum to tackle Grendel.
The force of the impact dropped Grendel onto the ground with a thunderous crash.
Atreus directly sat on the chest of Grendel and started mauling him. He repeatedly clawed deep marks into Grendel's icy hide.
The troll tried to fight back, punching at the bear, but as Atreus built his momentum, his strikes became stronger and stronger.
Finally, Atreus's claw reached further deeper into the chest cavity and attacked Grendel's heart entirely. With a sickening crunch, the frozen heart was crushed by Atreus.
After the battle, the silence returned, broken only by the heavy breathing of the bear.
Atreus, whose predatory instincts were still prevalent and running high, turned towards the nearest moving object.
He saw Zelos, who was now standing on the ground. The bear roared and started running towards him like a wild beast intent on a kill.
Zelos did not flinch. He waited until the massive beast was within range. Then, with a little bit of effort and precise timing, Zelos struck the sensitive snout of Atreus with an open palm.
The shock of the blow stunned the beast and made Atreus drop towards the ground, his legs giving out.
"Focus, dumbass. Do not let the instincts of a bear swallow yours," Zelos commented dryly.
He was now holding Atreus, still in his bear form, in place with a binding spell.
Atreus tried attacking Zelos multiple times, thrashing and snapping his jaws, but found himself unable to move due to the magical restraints of Zelos.
As Zelos's words permeated the ears of Atreus, he began to calm down. The red haze in his eyes faded. He slowly breathed in and out. After a while, the fur receded, and the massive bulk shrank.
Atreus then transformed back into his normal form, lying on the floor and wheezing from exhaustion, while Kratos and Mimir walked over to watch.
"That is amazing, little laddie," Mimir could not help but comment. He saw the strength of Atreus's transformation, and it was a lot stronger than the strongest bears in the mortal forests.
Kratos turned towards Zelos, his expression stern.
"That was reckless and dangerous," Kratos said towards Zelos, reprimanding him for letting the boy take such a beating.
"I know. But now that Atreus has transformed once, it would be easier to transform into the next one, as he already knew the feeling of letting go," Zelos said towards Kratos, justifying his methods. He looked down at Atreus, who was still catching his breath.
Kratos sighed for a moment, accepting the result even if he disliked the method. He knelt in front of Atreus.
"Are you well?" Kratos asked. He looked closely at Atreus, noticing that the boy was without the wounds that he had gotten against the troll earlier when he was getting defeated. The transformation seemed to have healed him.
"Yeah. It is just a strange feeling. It was like there was something that was controlling my body other than me," Atreus said towards Kratos, describing the sensation while Mimir and Zelos listened.
"Oh, that is just the instincts of what you had transformed into. Animals have different minds than gods or men. But once you learn how to control and integrate it, your transformation will be even stronger," Zelos then explained to Atreus.
Zelos's eyes shone brightly once again as he checked Atreus's vitals. After a short while, Atreus managed to recover his stamina.
He then stood up, dusting himself off. They were now ready to go back to the sand bowl mechanism to finally begin their journey into Jotunheim.