New God of the forge.

chapter 17

Hephaestus scratched the side of his cheeks as He heard him speak, it was true that he hardly felt those punches but that wasn't the problem, the problem was that he couldn't react to Kratos's speed the  moment he wasn't allowed to think properly his body couldn't react, It also didn't help that he didn't have any battle oriented skills to help him. Frankly speaking the Giant his past self defeated was the weakest of the 12 and he didn't exactly defeat it in a bare knuckle brawl, so Kratos probably has the wrong impression of how strong he truly is but that's fine.

It was at this moment that the Hogkyouku sensed his desires and once again began to work on achieving those desires, beginning with a skill that would be indispensable to Hephaestus in the  future. He could feel the device begin to work deep within him, responding to his wishes.

"Alright then get ready"

This time Kratos's speed increased nearly disappearing from  sight, Hephaestus was able to sense the danger his instincts warned him but unfortunately he could not react as a punch to  the stomach launched him off the ground however before he could be elevated any further Kratos grabbed him by the leg and slammed him on the ground before  proceeding to try and  stomp Hephaestus on the chest but of course he  quickly rolled out the way and stood on his feet once again.

This  was a spar to test his  strength as such simply letting Kratos pummel him won't get him the necessary results but so far it hasn't been anything he can't handle, he  needs Kratos to  go a step further and in order to do that he needs to have Kratos on the defense so he needs to match his speed and  power

"Alright then"

He began to start using his magicule breeder reactor core and mana surged within him, empowering his body and increasing his strength, he didn't know any magic spells as such he used his mana to augment his body, increased his strength and speed.

Their spar resumed with Hephaestus taking the initiative, Nike floated above the forest watching with a curious expression on her face, He seemed to be doing relatively well though the longer they spar the   more strength Kratos will use, she's curious about when Hephaestus will reach  his limit.

While up in the air she was able to detect 3 presences approaching her,  she  immediately recognized them  so  she quickly turned around and waited for them to arrive, once  the  three people were before her she  took a bow and  greeted her lord.

"good afternoon Lord Zeus"

"Yes, Nike. I heard that my son is here sparring with Kratos"

"Yes, my Lord he came a few minutes ago to ask him for a spar"

She  pointed Below to where the two  were having their battle, by  the looks of  things Hephaestus was holding his  own  against Kratos which caused Zeus to squint his eyes in slight suspicion.

"is  Kratos holding back?"

"Yes,  I can't tell by how much but he  did say he  was going to increase his strength as the battle continues, so  far it's only been a couple of minutes since they started"

Nike explained having anticipated the  questions Zeus would ask if she had answered in one word type answers and it would  be disrespectful.  Hearing Nike's explanation Zeus  kept his eyes on below watching the Spar with some interest.

Hephaestus was keeping up with Kratos with relative ease, each punch he took from the titan was returned  with near equal power, each time Kratos took an attack from Hephaestus he would increase the strength and speed of his next attack and because of this Hephaestus had a difficult time dodging the attacks, his reaction time and speed was always a step behind Kratos regardless of how many times he increased the augmentation of his body.