C49: Rank 4, Return to Orario, Moving In
Word count = 2948 on 3/10/2024
The group stays within the boss arena for a few hours longer. They continue to be unbothered by the monster horde or any other monster really. It was a nice little rest while Axel returned to the realm of consciousness. He sits up groggily and stretches with a yawn.
The group gives him some food and drink to commemorate the slaying of Amphisbaena as well as the other mysterious rex (they don't know to call it a hydra yet).
Axel joins them in their little party before he says that he will try to return to his familia first to get his falna updated as he isn't sure if he could teleport the group with him. His new shards gave him tons of new mind reserves and converting it to mana is much easier now but he remembers that just bringing the sword with him to the arena before took a crap ton of mind that he could only travel twice before he was out of energy if he didn't instinctively have gluttony aura on him to absorb dungeon mana.
Regardless, bringing more people with him can be tested in the future but with them going up from here. It would progressively get easier as they return. He just wants to solidify his own status. The group understands this and asks him to hurry along. With a nod, he channels the memories of home into the magical seed and suddenly pops back into Orario. Just outside his own home. He clenches his fist at the fact that it was even smoother now than before. He can only thank his new soul shard for expanding his willpower to more smoothly communicate with the magic seed.
He is about to knock when he finds a page on the door. Looking at it, he reads.
"Dear Axel, If you are reading this note then you returned home faster than I expected, The guild has finally turned over the deed for the Apollo Family mansion. I have already moved all of our things there. I plan to keep this area as just a dojo or rent it out to someone else that may want it." Axel is a bit unhappy that he wasn't told this before but he doesnt mind too much and begins to jog his way there. Only taking a few minutes, he arrives just outside the gates and he finds that Raikou is teaching her class outside. This is likely due to the 'sudden' move.
Raikou is teaching her much smaller and more serious looking class right now. Many of her students dropped out after Axel became level 3. The pressure of his legendary feats and visible annoyance whenever anyone tries to flirt with the 'saints' [1] related to him.
The additional news of a monster horde coming to Orario also sparked more people to be serious in dungeon hunting or at least push down their own lusts. Which left behind the few students that did take their training seriously. A few of them are younger and are from families of adventurers who have settled down. These adventurers might have been retired members of other Saints familias over the years but chose to settle down. These people naturally don't possess the standard biases of others such as what happened with Apollo. They also felt that proper training could not be done in the comforts of ones own home, espeically if they wanted to enter the dungeon. this is why they are here and training with Raikou.
Raikou herself upon seeing Axel almost teleports to Axel and hugs him as she hasn't seen him in a few days now since they were in the dungeon. He quickly helps her settle down by saying.
"I'm not officially back yet. The rest of the group is still in the dungeon. I need you to update my falna and I should be back by evening.'' She has a puzzled expression of how he is back but not but doesnt care. She lets her students rest for a few minutes while she brings him to their room and drops her blood upon his back. She witnesses the story that Axel weaves for her at this time. The emotions that allowed him to trigger his own growth and his actions that the gods acknowledged.
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Name: Axel Gram
Title: Titan
Level 3 -> 4
(after Antares) (after amphis) --> (after hydra)
Strength: SS: 1450 --> EX: 1669 --> EX+:3000 -> I: 0
Endurance: SS: 1340 --> EX: 1652 --> EX+:3000 -> I:0
Dexterity: SS: 1330 --> EX: 1799 --> EX+:3000-> I: 0
Agility: SS: 1342 --> EX: 1841 --> EX+:3000-> I: 0
Magic: SS: 1338 --> EX: 1963 --> EX+:3000-> I: 0
(there was not much physical contact with Amphis. Most of it was the finishing blow with the sword as a medium for gluttony. And no i'm not gonna double level up. Or give extra stats at the end. That's now how this works.)
Cleanse-simple cleaning spell that dispels dust, stains on clothing or substances upon one's body.
Create Water: a simple elemental spell that converts humidity in air into water. Water can not be more than 5 ft away from user, otherwise control is lost (dnd style)
Flame Wave: An intense blast of fire magic that spreads out in a 10ft cone in front of the user.
FlameBolt- fire formed into a spear-like structure that possesses exceptional piercing power.
Mind manipulation- low leveled mind control spell that is only useful for making suggestions, can be overridden if intellect is high enough (weak monsters only)
Reinforcement magic (trace): enhance aspects of an item through its physical aspects. Cannot copy items. Can reinforce flesh and human body parts, enhancing durability and minor improvement overall power.
(New) 2nd magic: Operation of Parallel Memories. Bond of memories and aspects which allows the user to move through the unknown.
(NEW) Gravity magic- wormhole, Wave of Darkness (gravity well), Nebula, Reverse Gravity, Meteorite.
Gravity Manipulation - Locked
Anima Scissa- Holders of this skill are torn beyond construction and thus are unable to use magic. Comparably, the possessor may tap into the power of their soul to unearth new found abilities comparable to magic. When the vessel possesses enough power, new fragments may be unearthed.
Anima Scissa (Magister daemonium): tapping into the soul, the user may exhibit the power of a gluttonous demon who may consume the strength of others through the incantation, "Shadows of the Abyss, I AM the Endless, Rapture of Power and Possessor of All that Belongs to Others." Level 2 incantation: I am the endless, Rapture of Power and Possessor of All that Belongs to Others. Level 3: incantation: I am the endless, Possessor of All. Level 4: I am the Endless.
Anima Scissa (parasitica corpus): allows controlled body manipulation (only self) which can refine muscles to draw out enhanced strength temporarily. Transformations rely on Mind to maintain. Call out the incantation "Mura" to direct energy according to the user's thoughts. Distractions can negate the transformation.
Anima Scissa (Odr): A binding of love and commitment that can never be broken. This skill serves as the eternal reminder. You share aspects of those you love and love you back.
Freya - enhanced charm.
Raikou - enhanced strength growth
Syr Flova - enhanced Charm.
Murasaki Shikibu -illusion resistance
Anima Scissa (Umbra Sui): A shattered soul cannot simply rest in passivity. Provides a semi corporeal body to provide assistance to the user. Incantation is "Shade that I am". For the next 5 minutes, can freely manipulate the formed shades according to their specialties.
1. Magisters Daemonium- gluttonous spirit that creates shockwaves of devouring force
2. Parasitica Corpus- a nimble spirit that manipulates it's own body to shred thine enemies.
3. Umbra Sui-An elfish spirit that overlays the users power in the form of shockwaves.
4. Caro Irae/Invictum Furorem - A 6 armed bulky figure that can be overlayed by other spirits to grant them similar physiques and greatly enhanced strength.
5. Stella Flagelli/ StellaIntuitu - A armored Giant figure that is at minimum 25 ft tall, Intuitu allows enhanced channeling of other shades onto itself. Gravity Manipulation unlocked while enhanced with Caro Irae.
Anima Scissa (Caro Irae): Thine body is a divine temple for untold rage. The god of wrath has descended upon thy flesh, granting thee the Asuran Physique and Might.
Anima Scissa (Invictum Furorem): Rage is a powerful tool for the Asura, Godhood and invincibility are the result of such rage. Rage is a catalyst for unmistaken power. Rage = power. Deathly blows are not fatal under this state. Temporarily sets Berserker Development skill to EX rank.
(NEW) Anima Scissa (Stella Flagelli Potentia)[2]: The will of a true warrior does not fail so quickly. For even the stars bend to its true meaning. Grace thy might with the will of a giant, who fought off the very stars from his home.
(NEW) Anima Scissa (Stella Intuitu)[3]-The stars made manifest have their own desires. The things they pursue are out of reach of most mortal lifeforms. Yet when the Star Scourge arose, even the stars were made mortal. Their knowledge laid bare for the picking.
Limit Break: A status that goes beyond simple mortality. Users receive extra Excellia facing foes of a higher level.
Beast: ???? [4]
Development skills
Berserker: G
Mystery: I
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Axel has a smile on his face as he reads his status page as his growth has truly showcased the efforts he threw at the dungeon to prepare for Antares again. Raikou suddenly asks a question that confuses him.
"By the way, Did you notice that your hair color has changed." Axel freezes and finds a nearby mirror in the mansion and finds that his blue has gained a few white spots to give a similar impression as the nebula spell while Raikou holds up a hand mirror to showcase that the back of his head has a few strands of red hair. Axel is in shock but quickly theorizes that as he unlocks more fragments, his body would take on more aspects of those fragments. He has already gained an adult body. He grew extra arms as part of the gods power and that in itself may have been why the other monster rex (hydra) was created.
Now his hair is partially changing to reflect the two new fragments and the gravity magic he now controls. He is worried that he would become a sort of amalgamation of different parts at this rate. He is afterall, only level 4 now.
He shakes his head of his thoughts as he can't dwell on them right now. He has to help his team right now. He gives a kiss to Raikou and then waves to the tower of babel as he can now feel Freya's peeping. His new power allows him to clearly see her within her tower, even if it is at the top floor of the tower of babel.
He then activates his second magic again, Operation of Parallel memories to return to the dungeon, on the 27th floor. His group is still resting there but seeing how he is back get up after saying that they are ready.
Axel nods as he uses some gravity magic to move the giant sword to the edge of the current room. He would return once the group had left the dungeon. After double checking their gear once more at Axel's insistence and to eat up a bit as they would only get to rest a bit every once in a while on their way to Rivira.
BOOM
The dungeon shakes as hordes of blue crabs and merman are crushed into waste and devoured by Axel's vortex punches. Within a few minutes they already reached the 26th floor. The group continues forward, Axel takes the groups head on while the others take care of the stragglers as well as the monsters coming up behind. Axel uses a bit of reverse gravity to help the group speed up. This doubles if not triples their own agility which helps them fight faster or better.
Axel has been informed that his eyes slightly change when he uses gravity magic, It looks like a mini purple vortex is made around his pupil but it's a minor change that doesnt seem to hold any negative effects and is simply another visual effect of the new fragments.
After 3 hours of fighting, the group finally arrives back at Rivira. The armaments are still there but they seem to be under much less pressure. After saying that Amphisbaena was slayed and their goal was met. The group was told by the remnant guards of the Rivira defense force that the monsters have been acting slightly weird the past day as they were less stampeding but more organized. This means that groups were larger and still trying to break through Rivira but they weren't mad. It's as if the dungeon has gotten angry but reorganized the monsters to be more like an army.
Axel shares that the monsters in the water city and giant tree were still acting the same, so the theory would only work on the upper and early middle floors which would be weird overall.
With no conclusion reached about the theory, the group was finally allowed to rest. Tiona was back in Orario to manage resupplies for the Loki familia, as such, she did not have a chance to challenge Axel today which made their stay in Rivira peaceful and they still retained their discount for the help Axel gave before defending the city. Axel was also given his crystal ball back a while ago when they were resting.
After resting for an hour, the group only needed another 2 hours to climb up the remaining 16 floors and that was only due to the floors being long and the number of monsters being far higher than lower floors. If the water city had 10 blue crabs then the upper floors had 10 minotaurs in a group or even 100 goblins together. It's a bit crazy what the emergence of the hydra and Antares are both doing to the dungeon monsters. It's definitely harder for weaker folks to work solo and the number of official groups has risen in Orario.
The group can finally see the sun and after heading to the guild to turn in all the monster cores which is a massive amount. All the members, including Axel had smaller pouches on them that held the weaker monster cores while Lily held onto the 2 rex crystals and all the deeper floor cores she could collect as she was forced to leave them behind when they were rushing after Axel. Lily cries invisible tears before Bell comforts her and they split the money.
As they are heading home, Axel is surprised that Daisy is walking alongside him.
"Um, I was told by my goddess that part of the payment for helping with the war game was a few rooms in the mansion for all of us to fit in. This seems to have also been the case with the Knight of Camelot who gave a lot of manpower but found a pretty large lack of space to set up camp inside Orario. So living in the mansion was their solution and why they were so eager to help." Daisy explains and Axel realizes that Raikou was being a bit sneaky when she showed him to their rooms as she avoided the main entrance that was closer to the West entrance where their rooms are.
The entire East side is reserved for the Pendragon familia, granted they still have to pay rent but the mansion is big enough to support them all. Even Kaoruko had moved in as Axel quickly finds out upon seeing her walking about, enjoying the scenery. She was made in charge of the garden to maintain it while the knights had to remodel the training field that Apollo had as it was too small.
When Axel and Daisy got home, it was already evening but not fully dark, closer to dusk but the sun is not visible as it was behind the distant mountains. They joined the home just in time for dinner where Axel is again confused that Syr is also here. She seems to have grown more radiant and beautiful, letting her hair fall down as she isn't in her work uniform.
"You live here too?" He quickly asks.
"Why wouldnt I? After what you did to me last time around" She says with a bit of coquettish manner before grabbing his hands.
"Cant you tell? What your harsh treatment did to me?"
"Uh, what?" Axel is thoroughly confused before she has him lower himself a bit so that she could whisper into his ear.
"Im pregnant"
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[1] I have found a reply to one of the older questions I posted in the beginning of the story for alternate names for immortals and I liked Saints. So we will be using that from now on.
[2] stella flagelli potentia means Star Scourge's Might. Felt that the title for Radahn was more appropriate
[3] Stella Intuitu means Star's insight b/c ya-know, Astel is a creature race born from literal stars and Radahn used his willpower to stop the stars. I could have alternatively made it something like Stella Flagellum Intellectus for something like Star Scourge's Insight but believed that Astel needed its honorable mention. It is afterall the source of our new gravity magic
[4] I apologize for not showing this skill the last time around I showed the status. It is still the same as before.