Even if Rowan thought about the tragedy, it was already miserable enough. Moreover, in that battle, even Loki had died, so he didn't lose face as the second prince of Asgard.
Who would have thought that Asgard—still one of the most renowned Divine Grade civilizations in the universe—could fall into such ruin?
This perfectly illustrates the old saying: "A cunning rabbit has three holes; you can't put all your eggs in one basket."
Asgard simply failed to grasp this principle, and in the end, it was handed the bitter cup, nearly forced to drink it down in full.
In fact, even without Hela, the goddess of death, Asgard would not have escaped Thanos's attack. The only difference is that Thanos, the director of the family planning commission, might only wipe out half of your people, while Hela, the goddess of death, simply doesn't care about the living.
What she wants is an army of the undead, and an army of the undead is enough to conquer the Nine Realms.
However, Thanos—the director of the family planning commission—is probably not very good at math. He even sacrificed his own life just to reduce the number of creatures in the universe by half. But with the normal growth rate of life, decades later, the population would be restored to its original level.
Is it really worth it? Even at the cost of your life, you only delay the universe's development for a few decades.
On a cosmic scale, decades are a fleeting moment—equivalent to spending all that effort on family planning only to see people bounce back instantly, making it essentially pointless.
After the banquet ended, Rowan was still in high spirits. At this moment, his Kryptonian constitution was showing remarkable effects. Even these Asgardians, blessed with godly bloodlines, couldn't compare to Rowan's resilience.
Declining Thor's offer to rest, Rowan went straight to the library.
"It holds all kinds of magic-related documents collected by Asgard over the years, as well as specific spells and so forth. I hope you find it useful!" Thor said, pushing open the heavy door to a vast reading room.
Asgard is certainly not limited to this one library—the real core is elsewhere—but this one was open to the general public of Asgard.
For Rowan, it was enough.
"Thank you," Rowan said politely.
"Then you should start reading. I get headaches from these books. If you need anything, just tell the maid outside. If they can't help, they'll notify me!" Thor said.
"Got it," Rowan nodded.
Polite as ever, Rowan immediately flew upward to the top of the bookshelf without needing a ladder.
Watching Rowan's ability to fly, Thor revealed a slightly envious expression. Though he could fly himself, it was due to Mjolnir's power and inertia—nothing innate.
Rowan opened a book and began to read. First, he used his super vision to scan the titles, then began forming a mental system in his super brain, analyzing where to start.
Judging from the titles, there was no doubt these books contained many magical systems. Rowan immediately started exploring the magic of Kamar-Taj.
Picking up one of the magic tomes, he began studying it intensively. His reading speed was impressive—dozens of lines absorbed at a glance—thanks to his super brain's ability to analyze information.
As Rowan had guessed, Kamar-Taj's magic was specifically designed for humans, relying heavily on the power of various Dimensional Lords to cast spells, the most important being Visandi.
To cast Asgard's magic and gain sufficient power, one must communicate with these Dimensional Lords.
But dealing with them (the Dimensional Lords) requires caution: failure to resist their influence can lead to corruption, turning one into a Dark Mage or Fallen Mage. If resisted, one can rise to the status of the Ancient One.
You can even become a super-old sorcerer, borrowing the power of these Dimensional Lords indefinitely without ever repaying it.
Many spells uniquely depend on the power of specific Dimensional Lords. For example, the Book of Darkness is left by Dormammu, lord of the Dark Dimension, and casting its spells requires borrowing his power.
However, some spells are more common and can be cast with just magical energy, like the space portal magic that most interested Rowan.
With this magic, there is theoretically no upper limit. You can open portals to the deepest parts of the universe or even to other universes.
It all depends on the user's innate ability.
Rowan immediately decided to learn this magic. That way, he wouldn't need to fly everywhere—he could just teleport through space portals to any place he had been before.
Following the cultivation methods written in the spellbook, Rowan began to focus his energy. After a short time, a portal appeared before him, leading just above the Bifrost.
"Success!" Rowan's face lit up with excitement.
Blessed by his magical constitution, his aptitude for magic was extraordinary. He didn't need to rely on rings or external aids—he succeeded on his first attempt.
Basking in the sun, his magical power continued to grow naturally, no longer needing to borrow the power of Dimensional Lords or the gods of white magic like Visandi.
After his success, Rowan took out another book about Asgard's native magic and started reading.
After some study, he understood why Thor wasn't interested in this kind of magic.
Asgard's magic is completely different from Kamar-Taj's. Kamar-Taj's magic is refined for common humans, and its source is the power of Dimensional Lords across different realms.
But Asgard's magic is different. Its power comes from their own blood—a divine power called the power of Odin.
This divine power is ancestral, rooted deep in their bloodline, and can be continuously awakened over time.
This awakening process is when Thor, once a hammer god, truly realized that his power comes from his own blood, not merely from Mjolnir's transformation.
Although he is not yet a match for Hela, Thor's strength has undergone an earth-shaking transformation.
And though called the power of Odin, it actually comes from the gods of Asgard as a whole, not Odin alone.
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