"Right, wait for me here. I think I just learned a new ability—I'm going to try it out."
"Testing a new skill? I actually have a dedicated testing range." Hearing Clark mention that he wanted to test his ability, Eitri offered his own training ground.
"No need. I prefer wide open spaces—more freedom."Though Clark was a little tempted when he heard Eitri had a testing ground, he still declined politely.
After all, he still didn't know the full extent of his new power. If he accidentally destroyed the facility, that'd be a disaster. Clark figured Eitri's testing grounds were probably meant for typical Asgardian weapons—not the kind of power he might be wielding now.
Besides, Clark had a pretty good idea of his current strength. He'd defeated Asgard's "999" elite warriors. So honestly, he didn't have much faith in Eitri's old testing range. Nidavellir hadn't exactly produced any advanced weaponry in ages.
After hearing Clark's explanation and recalling how fast he flew earlier, Eitri thought maybe his testing ground was a bit too small, and didn't press the issue.
Clark also refused Thor's offer to go along and instead flew solo into the starry sky beyond Nidavellir.
Although Nidavellir was one of the Nine Realms, it really wasn't very large—barely the size of a Chinese province. The actual diameter was about 200 kilometers, which was embarrassingly small for a realm.
Eager to test how much stronger he'd become under that sun-bath, Clark began flying at full speed. Comparing himself to the surrounding stars and objects, he estimated he was now flying at about 100 times the speed of sound—roughly 34 kilometers per second.
Frankly, that speed was terrifying.
How terrifying, exactly?
Well, if Clark flew into Earth at that speed with a mass of around one ton, the impact would be enough to obliterate an entire country. After all, Earth already had theoretical space-based weapons—like "Rods from God"—weighing just 5 tons, flying at 34,000 km/h, capable of leveling a city.
By comparison, Clark's stats were on another level entirely.
"You're the one…"
After flying out of Nidavellir, Clark selected a target—a large asteroid several kilometers wide. It was about 2,000 km from Nidavellir and only about a minute away at his current speed. The asteroid was part of a larger field filled with floating rocks—perfect for testing.
Clark wanted to see how large the blast radius would be if he detonated the energy suit surrounding him. This asteroid field stretched several hundred kilometers, giving him plenty of room.
With his target chosen, Clark didn't hesitate—he triggered the detonation.
"Thor, your friend is very powerful!"
Back in Nidavellir, Eitri watched Clark disappear into the void and couldn't help but marvel. He'd never seen someone move so fast—and judging from how long Clark had stayed in the rainbow forge, his body had to be incredibly resilient.
"Haha, well, he is my friend, after all." Thor felt a bit embarrassed hearing Eitri praise Clark in front of him. After all, Thor did have a bit of an ego.
But as the two were chatting, a sudden flash lit up the distant sky—brilliant as a second sun.
It lasted only a moment. But as soon as it passed, Thor and Eitri looked at each other and said at the same time:
"Clark!"
They turned toward the direction of the flash, though they couldn't see anything clearly from that distance. Thor hesitated—something didn't feel right.
"I'm going to check it out," he told Eitri.
Meanwhile, Clark was just as surprised as anyone. He hadn't expected the explosion to be that powerful.
Unlike Thor and Eitri, who had only seen the distant flash, Clark was at ground zero—and felt the full force of what happened.
Everything within a five-kilometer radius had completely vanished. Everything.Even the massive asteroid he'd targeted—it was just gone. No debris. Not even ashes.
By all logic, this shouldn't be possible. No matter how destroyed something is, atoms still remain. At the very least, there should have been dust or particles.
But in Clark's view—there was nothing. It was like that entire patch of space had been erased from existence.
Clark suddenly remembered something from Superman comics—a move called Solar Flare. Though that was usually a last-resort, high-risk transformation ability, Clark preferred this one-time explosive version much more.
And he was very glad he hadn't tested this back in Nidavellir—Eitri would've had to piece his forge back together with tears.
Still, Clark was pleased. With a power like this, he had a real trump card.
Even more surprising, his energy suit hadn't vanished after being depleted. While its energy had been fully used up, it was still intact—slowly absorbing the stellar energy radiating from Nidavellir's core again.
Because the suit had run dry, the energy it was absorbing wasn't being transferred to Clark immediately. Instead, it was working to patch itself up. By Clark's rough estimate, it would take about 24 hours to fully recharge.
This regenerative function made Clark even more excited. Passive, active, and automatic recharge—this suit was practically the perfect murder weapon and life insurance in one.
Clark thought to himself: If someone like Gu Yi (Ancient One) ever tried messing with me again—I could just blow them up and leave them with an unforgettable farewell gift… assuming they survive it.
With the test over, Clark prepared to head back to Nidavellir. The forge was like a fast charger—he could refuel there.
As he approached, he saw a familiar figure flying toward him with a hammer.
"Thor? What are you doing here?"
"Clark, are you okay? Eitri and I saw a huge explosion in the direction you left. I was worried, so I came to check."
Seeing Clark safe and sound, Thor finally relaxed.
"I'm fine. I was just testing out a new move. Now that it's done, let's head back."
"Thank the gods."
Thor sighed in relief. He twirled Mjolnir in his hand and threw it, his body flying behind it toward Nidavellir.
But while Thor could fly, his speed was… underwhelming to Clark. He wasn't even breaking the sound barrier.
Clark remembered that Mjolnir's flight speed could surpass Mach 1. But apparently, Thor's weight was slowing it down now.
Clark quickly calculated: they were about 100 km from Nidavellir. At Thor's current pace, it'd take 10 minutes. Way too slow.
"You're too slow. Never mind—I'll give you a lift. Your hammer's already heading home."
Then Clark darted forward, grabbed Mjolnir in midair—with Thor still holding it—and launched into a high-speed dash toward Nidavellir.
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