"Awaken!!" Anastasia came up from seemingly nowhere and screamed out into my ear where I was curled up on the deck of the sturdy wooden wagon.
She screamed directly in my ear even though it wasn't supported by any of her Energy it still felt loud enough to be able to give even Athena a headache.
"What is it!?" I groaned as I sat up and stretched myself.
It was morning again. I slept from noon to dawn.
I was surprised I wasn't sneak attacked in my sleep by Zane but he was somewhere outside the wagon sipping what seemed to be hot stream water and roots.
Ashford and Madden were nowhere to be seen and Whitlock was setting things up so we could leave the temporary campsite.
"There may be a Crypt nearby. I'm not here to plead for you to come but you better not be planning to skip out on this by hibernating again." she was basically asking for me not to sleep.
That is quite a weird occurrence given the fact that she still hasn't even thanked me for making sure Stein didn't kill her.
"What do you mean?" I asked while rubbing my sore ankles which I got from staying in my curled up position for too long.
My eyes were heavy and my hair felt like it was getting in the way and I flipped it to many sides so it wouldn't even touch my face but to no avail it still fell over.
It was quite frustrating.
I then leapt from the side of the wagon and approached the campfire where there was what seemed to be a food preparation set and the one in use was a little pot that spewed hot steam from a hole on a weirdly shaped tube on its side.
Then Athena spoke to me.
-{It's A Teapot And That Weird Tube Is Its Sprout}
I was so happy that Athena forgave me even though I didn't understand what I did wrong actually.
Originally, I never even trusted my own instincts that asked me to run for my life so it was quite normal.
I knew that Athena could almost clearly hear my constant thoughts but I guess she would ignore this one because she may still be sore.
-{I'm Not Sore}
[A/N: Damn, she hears his self-narrations.]
POV -----> Anastasia
"You crude and barbaric boor! how dare you leap away from me after I have decided to take my time to explain" I immediately leapt after him and followed him until he stopped and looked at a teapot as though he was fascinated by it.
His expression was really funny, he held his chin and he raised an eyebrow while he nodded and examined it.
"You are too much of an ill-mannered brat to call me a boor. Mind your mouth Ana" Azur said as he tilted his purple eyes while still keeping his head straight.
"Y-You boor! You dare shorten my name so leisurely and call me a brat!?"
"You almost always shout, bratty Ana." he said as he turned around to look at me, he was still struggling to move his hair out of the way.
The length of his hair was amazing and it was almost perfectly black, I wanted hair like that.
"Boorish Azur!"
"Bratty Ana"
"Boor!!"
"Brat"
We went back and forth for a while.
We even stepped closer and closer to each other while we exchanged derogatory words.
I eventually gave in as soon as I saw that he was not even affected by this at all, his hair seemed to be a bigger problem.
There was a bracelet on my hand, it was covered in weird Runic inscriptions and it was elastic as well, it fit perfectly around my hand and I thought it would do the same on most things then out of my good will despite my high standing in society I tossed it to him.
"Just so you look less like a boor when around me, use that to tie your hair if it bothers you so much."
He caught it with ease but he tilted his head and looked at me in confusion.
He was quite ignorant about many things yet he gave off an intellectual feel that was almost as overwhelming as Stein's.
I went around him as fast as I could and then mounted upon his shoulders then I grabbed the bracelet in his hands and pulled and arranged his hair into a rough ponytail.
It was an arrangement style that I could imagine looking good on him.
"What are you doing?" as he said this I realized that I stayed on his shoulders for far longer than needed and then I leapt off.
"We were attacked at dusk by a group of Devoid Oni; Dark and beastly monstrosities that are free from all types of feeling whether physical or otherwise. A great swarm. But with all of us present they were dispatched rather quickly."
Then I came closer and signaled for him to lower his ears so I could whisper to him.
"They were quite formidable even though they have no diversity in Affinity and I made sure to keep my Dragon ability usage to the barest minimum so the 'Dragon Volition' story can be believable. So, you need not worry."
Azur stared blankly into open space. He was probably shocked that he retained no injuries so I went ahead to tell him.
"Oh, you may be wondering why you have no superficial wounds scarring your flesh. Zane took it upon himself to guard the wagon where you slept and he dispatched the Devoid Oni that approached you very quickly."
"Wait, what? Zane? That grumpy guy?" Azur said as he pointed in obvious shock at Zane who was sipping his Tea while observing us with irritated eyes.
"Yeah, there is a Crypt there, it has been explored multiple times, but it seems as though there are still good basic yields in there." Ashford returned with Madden directly trailing behind him, he was speaking to Whitlock but sounded like he addressed us all.
Then he whispered something that I clearly heard despite the whisper.
"It's owned and controlled by the AO. Madden can break the regulatory seal but there may be others."
"Oh, it doesn't matter." Whitlock replied while grinning in glee.
From as early as I can remember I have been in Stein's facility so I knew nothing about this AO.
"What was it that made them feel like they needed to be cautious just because of their presence?"
I thought to myself as I walked into the wagon and went to its inner deck so I could Accumulate and prepare.
…
After a brief arrangement period we were off once more.
It wasn't a long trip.
I could even feel the Crypt.
I sat in the weird position I saw Azur in and I began Accumulating and Releasing like he used to do.
It actually did increase my Source and body capacity and I could feel the improvements, it really made me wonder if the amnesiac and ignorant Azur was a ruse.
"Stop sucking up all the air in there. I can hear your heavy breathing from out here, I hope Azur isn't in there." Zane said as the wagon came to a halt.
[A/N: Wait, wut?]
"How preposterous! I would never partake in immoral acts."
"I don't care if you partake in immoral or immortal acts! Be done with it and get out. We are at the Crypt." Zane rudely exclaimed.
I jumped out as quick as I could and I even kicked Zane making him fall over.
Then I saw the entrance before me.
A Crypt.
It was as astounding as I dreamt it would be.
I hadn't seen much since I was basically trapped in Stein's bland castle for all my life but this was indeed a nice change.
It was a large mountain range with numerous mountains. There was a cave formed at a very unusual part of the mountain.
Under a cliff was a hollow opening and this was the only opening so I deducted this was the entrance.
I saw Azur looking up at the upside-down cave.
He was holding a longsword that had no scabbard, it was quite simple in design and had a black hilt, it seemed this was given to him so he would be armed.
[A/N: Not the one I referred to in my foreword, this one is an actual longsword and not a chokuto]
Whitlock then turned and tossed me swords of shorter lengths and if I was correct they were called Wazikashi's.
They were quite light and seemed to be strong and sharp.
Although I felt like bigger and heavier weapons were more my style I decided to go with these ones for a while.
I dusted off my attire and then walked closer to Whitlock expecting him to explain what he intended for us to be doing.
"How do you anticipate we get in there?"