Time: 4899 BCE. Location: Mesopotamia.

It took a few months for Phastos to finish designing and forging Janus' weapon. Eternals' equipment was more complicated to create than most of his works for the mortals. Nevertheless, Janus stood in Phastos' space on the Domo, examining his newly crafted blade.

The golden guard-less sword pulsed with energy. Phastos said that he edged the runes to have some sort of self-repairing abilities, so it doesn't get dull or break along with a retractable function when not in use. The blade expanded to twenty-three (23) inches at full length and retracted to eight (8) inches. Its weight was light in Janus' hands, but he knew that if he didn't have the enhanced physical strength of an Eternal, that would not be the case.

"You outdid yourself, Phastos. It is beautiful." Janus proclaimed. He took a couple of swings to test out the grip and his own movability.

"Hey. Stop that! You're going to destroy my room!" Phastos cried to which Janus carefully slowed down his swings.

"I'll return this favor, Phastos. Really, thank you." Janus said and gave a grateful glance.

"Just make sure you don't die when you go out there," Phastos said, returning to his own work.

After giving the other man a nod, Janus' attention returned to his sword. He activated his power to replicate the blade into two. It took much more out of him to do so. It was strange to the man. After years of using his powers, he realized a few details regarding his abilities. Replication drew out energy from him, especially the more complicated designs. Simple materials like rocks and dirt were relatively easy. Organic materials, made items, and machinery were of a different story. Depending on how complex they were, replication would range from a minuscule amount to incredibly taxing to his source. The drones, for example, could only be replicated four to five times before Janus exhausted his energy reserve. His blade, he assumed, could be reproduced only a few more times than that. The construct was nothing too highly elaborate compared to the drones. However, the automatic self-fixing runes took a decent chunk out of him.

At one point, he even tried to replicate the entirety of the Domo, which failed spectacularly. 'So much for infinite cosmic energy,' Janus thought. Over time, his reserve would fill back up. He wanted to study how his power works, but it seemed like the task was impossible without a close examination of his inner workings.

Absorbing the replicates back into their original item did seem to return some of his fuel to the source. However, there was always some energy lost to the void. Janus talked to the other members about their power source, and the results were similar to some. Sersi's transmutation abilities, Sprite's illusions, Kingo's blasts, Ikaris' beam vision, Ajak's healing, Makkari's speed, and Druig's mind-trolling consumed energy on some level. The exceptions were Phastos, Gilgamesh, and Thena. Thena's weapons would use up some power to create, but once she retracted them into herself, the energy would be returned. Phastos and Gilgamesh, on the other hand, have powers that are fundamentally different from everyone else. Their abilities worked more like enhancements.

There would always be some sort of energy loss in all these cases. Arishem's statement on how they were imbued with infinite cosmos energy seemed more and more unlikely to Janus. He would soon find out the answers if he could only examine his own body. But, for now, he needed to train sufficiently with Thena and Gilgamesh so they could give him their approval to join the warriors.

….

Time: 4886 BCE. Location: Mesopotamia.

Gilgamesh threw a jab towards Janus, which he dodged. A cross came swiftly after that, which alarmed Janus to tilt his entire body aside. Then finally, an uppercut flew upward to Janus, he moved his body backward to avoid the blow. Janus then split himself in two, one went for the right side, and one went for the left. Gil was disorientated for a moment but quickly smacked one of the Janus away before doing the same to the other duplicate. Before strongly built Eternal could voice out his victory, a third Janus struck him in his back.

Gilgamesh turned around in surprise and smiled. "Congratulations. That was a good one! The first time you could hit me. It is a cause for celebration!" Janus-three nodded in response and went to collect his duplicates. He needed to be in physical contact with them to merge back together.

"Your attacks are as ruthless as ever, Gilgamesh." He replied, massaging where he was hit earlier.

"Your coordination and planning is getting better, Janus. It was smart to make another duplicate while Gilgamesh was distracted." Thena commented. 'Was that a compliment?' Janus thought. It was rare to receive such a thing from the great warrior Thena herself.

"But you sacrificed two of your duplicates for a single attack. In a real battle, they would have suffered fatal injuries. Since we still don't know how it would affect you yet, it is better if you don't use the same strategy again." Thena added.

"Right on cue," Janus whispered, which did not go unnoticed by the other two. He knew it was true, but a person could only take so much after getting pummelled for years.

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"Don't worry about it, Janus. You'll get there" Gilgamesh tried to cheer him on.

"I do congratulate you, however. You can rest for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, you will spar with me on top of your battle training with Gilgamesh." Thena concluded. Janus would take it as a win. He was nowhere close to their level, but can you really beat these monsters in Eternals' forms with a measly few years of training?

"And bring your sword tomorrow." Her words excited Janus. He could not use his weapon for thirteen (13) years since they believed he was not ready. Apparently, he was now. This was a step up.

"I thank you both for your teachings, Thena and Gilgamesh." Janus bowed to the two. They were used to his antics by now and nodded back.

"I heard from the merchants from the other village brought a new species of cattle. I got some meat from them. So we'll feast tonight!" Gilgamesh proclaimed and quickly ran out of the Domo's training hall. The humans who broked off the settlements years ago had established a community up north. Soon after, a tradeline between the two villages was created.

Thena silently moved towards the exit as well, but Janus called out to her. "The humans told tales of a large beast down south. Apparently, it popped up a few weeks ago. I heard it had two heads full of fangs. I recommend not attacking from the front and piercing it through the flanks. Although I doubt you would have any troubles with it either way." Like usual, Thena would venture out alone to kill Deviants. If he couldn't stop her, then he might as well build a positive relationship by supporting her. Feeding information was the least he could do to repay them for training him.

Thena nodded at that and left. Janus sat down on one of the stone benches. Eternals did not feel fatigued, hunger, or thirst, but he was mentally spent. He could not build muscles since he was an android of the sort, but he had been working on his reaction time, battle experience, etc. He sat there for a while, letting his mind drift to random topics. It was hard work coming up with plans to fight against Gilgamesh. He needed a moment to just relax a little bit.

….

Time: 4864 BCE. Location: Mesopotamia.

Janus walked into the training hall with three people in his sight. Kingo, Thena, and Gilgamesh welcomed him into the fray.

"May I ask why Kingo is present?" Janus questioned the other Eternals. 'What kind of hellish training did they play for me this time?' He thought.

"Buddy, you're hurting my feelings. Do you not like me?" Kingo smiled brightly at Janus, pleased with his own joke.

"Your training had become stagnant lately. I believe sparring with another partner will help with your growth." Thena resounded. It was true. Janus could not land a single hit throughout the twenty-two years they started sparring together. Against Gilgamesh, Janus was not as helpless. He was still losing most of the time, but he did better than before. Thena's fighting style was highly versatile, very much like his own. She could switch weapons at will and had specialization in every single one. Her movement was flexible and deadly. Her senses and reaction-time were precise, without needless attacks. It felt like he was banging his head against an unmovable wall.

"Please get ready." She continued.

The two men stood in their respective starting areas. Janus had no accounts of fighting against a ranged attacker. However, he had not been training for nothing. The data collected through the years would come in handy if it was needed.

"The moment either of you gets an attack in, it is over. Try not to kill each other. Begin." Thena said as she waved her hands upward.

Janus knew he had to close the range between them. To do that, he needed to overwhelm the other Eternal with numbers. The purple-eyed man split into three different duplicates and rushed towards the other. The more targets Kingo had, the more distracted he would become. Yet, this worked both ways. Janus needed to control three different bodies simultaneously to dodge his attacker. The risks were much higher to Janus, but he needed to take it.

Seeing what Janus was attempting to do, Kingo backed away from the clones. His hands were constantly shooting beams towards the three Janus. One of the Janus replicated his sword and threw it at Kingo, but he blasted the blade to the side before it could even reach close.

With a moment of respite from the energy bullets, the three dashed towards Kingo. He aimed both his hands at clones and shot out his attacks. The duplicates touched each other's hands and returned into one before the bullets could make contact. Despite successfully avoiding the blasts, Janus was swiftly kicked away by Kingo.

"End. Good attempt, but it was your mistake to assume that Kingo could only attack at a distance." Thena explained.

Kingo helped Janus stand back up on his feet and said, "I really thought you were trying to kill me there with that throw."

"I knew you could dodge it. Besides, I doubt Gilgamesh and Thena would have let it pierce you." Janus replied. His head turned towards the other two, and they nodded in agreement.

"Let's do it again," Gilgamesh spoke. The two men returned to their spots.

…

Time: 4859 BCE. Location: Mesopotamia.

After training with the three for a few more years, Janus had a better understanding of Kingo's advantages and disadvantages. Nonetheless, before he could resoundingly win against the glamorous Eternal, Kingo was switched with another member of the team.

It was Sprite this time. Thena explained that he needed to hone his senses if he wanted to survive against the Deviants. Sprite's invisibility was the best method to do so. The young Eternal gleefully agreed to help him. Unfortunately, it was primarily due to her now being able to smack Janus around without him being able to do anything about it. The spars were frustrating, to say the least.

…

Time: 4850 BCE. Location: Mesopotamia.

'I am cursed,' Janus thought. Just when he started to gain the advantage on Sprite, they switched his partner again. Over the years, he could feel the slight movement in the air when she attacks or hears her footsteps when she was not careful. Seeing her surprised face when he caught her punch for the first time was a joy to be.

Now he had to go against Makkari. Her speed was incredible, and she hit like a truck. Gilgamesh's attacks were no jokes, but he held back a lot. Makkari's strength, on the other hand, was based on her speed. The faster she ran, the more powerful the attacks were. Janus doubt anyone could feel alright after getting drizzled with punches in super speed.

Unlike Sprite or Kingo, Janus currently had zero methods in dealing with Makkari. His best attempt was to circle himself with clones and point his swords outward to keep her at a distance. Even then, she just jumped over his defense and attacked him.

Little did Janus know that Thena and Gilgamesh had Makkari spar to enhance his pain tolerance. They had few hopes of him winning against the speedster.