CHAPTER 52: DESCENDANT OF THOR

[The Stance Trail—]

The trial was over. The desert illusion had faded completely, and Darren’s mental boundary dissolved along with it.

The arena returned to normal— but the energy in the air didn’t. Students were still buzzing, voices crashing over one another, all centered around one name like wildfire:

JASMINE.

She walked toward her friends through the crowd, dust smeared across her face, wings fractured but still sharp like broken steel.

She didn’t smile. Didn’t wave. Didn’t gloat. She just moved— quiet, controlled and deadly calm, the way a warrior walks after a war she didn’t start but had to finish.

The crowd parted as she passed. Whispers chased her.

"Is she even normal?..."

"She broke Punch like he was nothing..."

"Did you see her speed?..."

"Oh my gosh, imagine what I could do with such powers..."

"She’s... incredible...."

Jasmine didn’t flinch under the eyes. Dust clung to her skin. Blood still dripped from one wing. Power still hummed around her like a storm that refused to die.

Her friends waited— Lily, Tekna, Soda, Ball, Suki, May, None of them moved. They just stared, trying to process what they had seen.

Lily was the first to snap back to life.

"JAZ!" Lily broke through the crowd and slammed into her first, wrapping her in a fierce hug despite the trembling fear still in her voice. "You’re okay...?"

Jasmine winced. "Broken ribs... shredded wings, and a headache from hell. I’ve had better days."

"Ok...Explain. Now..." Soda echoed, with hands on her hips waiting in anticipation.

Jasmine smirked, cracking her neck like someone waking from a nap— not someone who just dismantled one of the most dangerous fighters in the academy.

"Oh, that?" She brushed imaginary dirt off her fists. "Just a little warm-up..."

Soda stared at her. "Warm-up? Jasmine...you sent that man into medical retirement."

Tekna pointed dramatically at her glowing arm veins. "Since when do you have cosmic lightning veins and world-ending fists?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I don’t know. I just got mad?."

Suki stepped closer, slow and cautious, like she was re-evaluating Jasmine entirely. "Mad? You punched a dragon until it begged the earth for mercy....Girl?...."

Someone actually wheezed a laugh. Even Jasmine cracked a grin.

"But seriously," Lily said, still stunned, "what triggered it? Come on, tell us...tell me..."

Jasmine stopped smiling. Her eyes darkened jokingly. "I saw Punch’s face?."

Tekna blinked hard. "Huh?"

Jasmine spoke with absolute sarcasm mixed with a little bit of truth... "Every time I looked at his ugly face...I got angrier. Like I was spiritually offended."

A beat of silence followed, and then Soda broke laughing uncontrollably by the jab.

"No...because why is that actually valid?"

Tekna lost it. Suki choked with laughter. The whole squad started laughing, the shock finally easing from their chests. Then....

Tekna squinted at her. "No but seriously...how in all seven realms did you lift that giant war axe? That thing looked like it weighed a mountain."

Jasmine hesitated for a moment... then exhaled.

"Fine," she said. "I guess you guys should know by now."

The group leaned in.

"I’m...a descendant of Thor."

Dead silence erupted.

Soda blinked. "As in... THOR...God of Thunder?, wielder of Mjölnir, lightning bolt six-pack, cape and screaming-goat chariot Thor?"

Jasmine nodded once.

Lily’s jaw dropped. "Thor as in Asgard Thor??"

"Yup."

Tekna nearly fell over. "Since WHEN?!"

Jasmine shrugged. "My mother kept it hidden. Said people would treat me differently if they knew. But Mjölnir...Thor’s hammer, or any similar instrument, can only be lifted by someone of his bloodline... or someone truly worthy. Punch’s axe is a replica forged with the same enchantments. That’s why I could lift it."

Ball whistled under her breath. "Thor isn’t just a god...he’s a war god. No wonder you fight like a storm turned into a person."

Soda crossed her arms dramatically. "So let me get this straight— you’ve been walking around here, acting normal, while casually being part of a literal lightning royalty?"

Jasmine grinned. "What can I say? I like surprises. But this don’t change anything, I’m still the normal, old jasmine y’all used to know..."

For the first time since the chaos began— things felt normal again.

Until they didn’t....

A new shift rippled through the air— as if the arena itself reacted. Heads turned.

Valkyrie had returned from where she run off to.

She approached quietly— cold eyes forward, silver-orange hair still wind-torn from her escape. She didn’t shrink under the stares. She didn’t break. She moved like someone who had already survived worse. Despite the eyes staring at her by other students as she walked, she made sure to ignore each and every one of them.

"Uh, the freak is back"

"She’s dangerous..."

"She can draw light from the sun? What the fuck..."

Students whispered in concern and disbelief as Valkyrie walked by. She heard every word— but none of it touched her. Just like Sky had told her earlier, she refused to let their voices define her.

Sky walked beside her. Not behind her, not guarding— but with her. That alone said everything.

Lily saw her, and she didn’t hesitate. She ran towards her direction.

"VALKYRIE!" she cried, throwing herself into her arms. The others followed...Tekna hugged her tight, Rain hugged her regardless not minding if Tekna was on top, May grabbed her hand, Soda rested a hand on her shoulder, Jasmine pulled her in with one arm, so did Suki.

"Don’t do that again," Lily said, voice trembling. "Don’t disappear on us like that."

Silence followed—

As soon as the hugs settled, the noise hit Valkyrie all at once— her friends talking over each other in pure excitement

"Okay...where do I even start?!" Lily blurted out, hands flying everywhere. "Jasmine didn’t just win...she obliterated Punch!"

Tekna jumped in without breathing. "She moved so fast that the earth glitched. Do you hear me? The Stance and earth glitched! Literally! Cool right?" She grinned.

Soda threw her arms in the air. "Punch turned into a dragon...an actual dragon! Breathing fire and everything, and Jasmine folded him like hot laundry!"

"Wait...WHAT?" Valkyrie snapped, eyes wide.

"Oh, we’re not done," Suki said, stepping in with the calm voice of a storyteller about to drop trauma. "He summoned that cursed hammer he always carries...yeah, that hammer. The one nobody has ever been able to lift? Jasmine picked it up... and threw it back at him. Girl you needed to see this with your eyes..."

Valkyrie turned slowly toward Jasmine. "You’re joking. Right?"

Jasmine smirked. "Wasn’t that hard..."

"WASN’T THAT HARD?!" Lily nearly screamed. "Girl, you rewrote the laws of physics!"

"Okay, fine...I’m joking," she admitted with a laugh. "It was insanely hard. These abilities literally just awakened today. I didn’t even know I could run that fast or do anything cool like that. Honestly... I don’t even know if I can do it again."

Tekna pointed at Jasmine like she was accusing her of murder. "You broke science, Jaz. Don’t be ridiculous now...all you need is more practice and BOOM. You become a legend in Pro Magic..."

Valkyrie didn’t speak for a while— her eyes softened suddenly. Just a little. Then there was Ball.

She didn’t move.

She didn’t join the hug.

She just watched.

Not hostile. Just... unreadable.

Valkyrie noticed the expression on her face and remembered what happened earlier.

She stepped forward— away from the circle of friends and walked toward Ball. They stopped a foot apart.

"Thank you," Valkyrie said quietly. "For earlier."

Ball didn’t blink. "Don’t thank me. I wasn’t just protecting you. I was telling the truth. Stephanie got what she deserved."

Valkyrie nodded once. "Even so. I won’t forget it."

A slow exhale left Ball. And though it was small, a smile appeared. Real. Brief and Gone again.

Before she could reply, Valkyrie stepped forward and pulled her into a tight, unexpected hug— a silent but powerful thank you. Ball froze for a second, caught off guard...And then, Suddenly—

—A voice tore across the battlefield like a command from heaven.

"STEP ASIDE."

The ground seemed to flinch. The air shifted.

A shadow moved through the crowd from the far end of the arena— slow, deliberate, AND unstoppable. Students stepped back quickly to make space. No one wanted to be in the way.

Sky’s expression hardened. "Oh boy, what now?..."

The figure stepped fully into view. Tall and cloaked— with authority rolling off them like a storm.

Click

Click

Click

Who was it?