C73: Prototype and Mantra
Overall Word count = 2546 on 4/27/2024.
After working for a few hours at the forge to restock Adelaide's magic items. He hurried home to collect a bag he left behind before sitting down to focus. A destination, piles of ruins, The seal of Antares. The location of his first loss. That is where he teleports to through his Operation of Parallel Memories.
Once he has arrived at the ruins which had been thrust greatly into further disarray, likely a result of Antares' rage and attempts to escape. Axel passes through the ruins. He finds the ground, trees, vines and anything nature based has been torn apart but the central ruins have somehow retained their integrity. He can only assume that this has somehow to do with Astolfo and the seal itself as it would not be very good if even more of the infrastructure broke down after it was set up.
Axel soon arrives at the end of the ruins, the deepest part where he sets his bag down. He takes out a few bottles, ores and sticks. He arranges the sticks into a 3 by 3 format to give a Nonagonal shape. The sticks themselves have a star-like design which is pretty simple with 9 sticks. He then picks up various chunks of gold, silver and Lapis Azula on one side with images of the Samudra Manthena in the middle with the three headed and 3 eyed figure sporting flowing flame like hair on the other side.The right side which is the Asura side is composed of bronze, clay and a single incense stick that is lit. The 3 heads are within the mouth of a dragon which also shares characteristics of a wolf or lion. The middle is an arrangement of a stone stake created out of adamantium, milk and snake skins.
The Samudra Manthena is complete. The stake represents Mount Mandara, the snake skin represents Shiva's pet Naga, Vasuki which was used as the churning rope for the 'Ocean of milk' to create the elixir of life. The snake's skin he used was from the black hydra that he fought after defeating Amphisbaena. He had to cut up some of the leftover skin for this ceremony. To finally activate the mantra, Axel brings out a knife and cuts his palm. The blood flows into the Asuran side which flows around within the indented markings created by the thick chalk. Soon enough the blood covers the entire asuran side and begins to seep into the milk.
Axel begins to chant at this time, "Hum Padme Mani Om" He begins to chant standard Buddhist scriptures in reverse order as he must evoke his rage and wrathful nature from the depths of his body and soul to conjure the essence of the mantra towards him. This action unifies his will with the will of the world.
As the chants progress, the milk is thoroughly steeped in blood which is now bubbling and flowing into the Deva side. Contaminating It's pure essence with rage and sin. Only once the Deva side is completely coated in blood and milk does he change his chant to another more in line with Asura himself. (no source content so going original)
"Sumkti vala Dur Nirug di liru palash kve qriu Asura" This new chant causes the bloody milk to multiply and overflow from the markings as it begins to climb his body. The blood is boiling hot and emitting steam as it turns his skin permanently more caramel colored. It's only when the concoction reaches past his forearms that new brands are created upon his body. Sizzling sounds are heard as if the blood is melting Axels flesh and blood, boring into his body, changing his physique to that of a proper Asura. This is where his high endurance is coming in clutch as otherwise he would have straight away turned into a puddle to mix with the blood and milk.
Axel has to use his full concentration to chant the asura's mantra even through the pain of his body melting and reforming from the milk tincture. It is only after a few hours of this torture that he can finally stop and take a proper deep breathe. The air itself is hot as if steel had just melted close to himā¦and it was as the adamantium and many other metals were melted down by the blood which had merged with his body. These things served as the foundation of his own unique mantra ability. Which is why he waited so long to collect only the best quality items he could possibly get.
The pure adamantium, black hydra's skin, pure gold, silver chunks, Monster milk from a deep floor create simply referred to as a bovine beast. It is a humanoid beast like the minotaur but each one is on par with level 4 or 5 adventurers. The milk is exceptionally rare as only one specimen was ever captured and brought to the surface to be forcefully extracted of materials. The milk was considered a commodity as it had rejuvenating properties. These tauren beasts have a unique ability to boost their own power by sacrificing their blood. This makes them exceptionally dangerous and why it's so difficult to extract them from the dungeon as this causes them to also die after some time.
Axel was only able to collect a single shot glass worth of this milk which he used for the ritual. He had confirmed with the shade of the god that it was enough, only to be repeatedly told it was, which is why he proceeded with the ritual.
The final result is that he now looks much more like Asura himself. His skin a light caramel color, black Burn marks adorn his arms and chest but these would gradually lessen until they become simple lines connecting various dot-like holes. There are a total of 133 holes on his body. Asura told him how 30 is the minimum for the mantra, 80 is average and 150 is the maximum number. From all the various materials he gathered, it seems the gold and silver had minor impurities that had passed through his own double triple checks. Luckily his own blood was of quite a pure nature which is why he even was able to surpass 100 for the mantra.
The reason he counts these holes is because they are the new conduits for absorbing mantra energy into his body. They are similar to the nen channels within his body, the very pores that release nen except these ones absorb the wrath of the world to fuel him now. This is further augmented by the faith channel available to Asura. The very same faith and pure energy that had caused Asuras tragedy.
Yet here, he is the only one who holds sole possession of the mantra in this world which means his path is set as long as he can create a faith channel. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
Stab, SCLISH, "ugh"
Axel prepares himself for the final part of the ceremony by stabbing his own guts with the dagger he was using. The dagger this time is acting as a conduit for his own mantra wrath which is already rapidly building up from Talion, Asura and Guts (minor fragment from Asuras awakening). The combination of their 3 rage flows through the brand new markings on his body until they are forced to travel through his veins which cause them to pop until they reach the knife then flow back into himself. A blood-like crystal is created within his stomach. This can be considered his own 'golden core' in his 'dantian', a place to collect and control his mantra energy. Allowing him to be in full control of his rage as compared to relying on buddhist scriptures to maintain his calm composure.
The self harming ceremony was necessary as by flowing blood, he provides the final connection to life in the world. A soul stirring feeling envelopes Axel as he finds that he is already collecting Faith from others which he assumes is because of Antares and his powerful abilities.
As the hefty faith is collected into his core, he can truly be considered a demigod in his own right. His own mortality is the only blockade from true divinity. He must take this time to properly create his own 'stories', legends which would provide him continuous amounts of faith in the ages to come. He rests in the ruins for a few hours more to adjust to his growing strength. Because of his current state he can even partially activate his own falna if he requires some emergency growth but since he hasn't fought anything yet, he at most has gained a new skill because of this.
(not going to show the whole falna, just the new skill)
AS (Verum irae [meaning = True Wrath]): Manifest the hatred of the world and man for the owner is made divine. Strength is an illusion made reality, Destruction is reality made illusion, The flames of passion fuel thy body, fueling thy chosen path.
(A. Mantra gives him new abilities Axel has to discover himself, B: Combat based development skills +2 for a more straightforward explanation. Which means more power to berserker and chain attack š )
With his work here finally done, he exits the ruins then returns back home. He has to quickly dodge a sword being swung in his direction. He has to backstep a few more times as Raikou swings out at him with a hostile expression on her face. Her blade is suddenly stopped by a blood red arm that has grown out of Axel's shoulder.
"Goddess, why are you attacking me."
"Do not speak so casually to me monster, who are you and how did you get here so fast?" Raikou states and Axel can understand why she would believe him a stranger as his body has changed quite a bit. His hair has become fully white just like the original Asuras. Though invisible dots remain in his hair as the remnants of the nebula but with it all just being white it becomes far harder to tell. He is also sure to have caused some sort of commotion by communing with the world.
As such the simplest solution is to showcase his abilities. Shades flow out of his body.and his own body turns a bit goopy.
"Goddess, who else am I supposed to be? Who would be insane enough to barge into the 2nd most populated Saint groupā¦just to do nothing but be attacked?" His words and actions cause her to stall. But it's only when she witnesses her own mark upon his falna that she truly believes him but this is the greatest change his body has undergone thus far.
"What happened to you?" Raikou asks and he calmly brings her inside while retelling his discussions with his own soul fragments and the divine ability of the Asura shade. His pathway into demi-divinity and how he is closer to becoming a true unsuppressed god from other worlds than how the gods have chosen their path here in Orario.
Raikou herself is shocked at the revelation that his abilities all originate from various other worlds but he had also told her about the story he had regarding traveling to another world and fighting a strange but powerful knight that kicked his ass at that time. Raikou is surely surprised that there could be such beings that have such power walking about freely. Granted neither she nor Axel actually know that they are 'servants' and only showcase their grand power during a holy grail war.
Raikou mediates between Axel and Kaoruko to explain the situation, but she does warn Axel to not exhibit too much power as they had felt the magical palpitations caused by his mantra ceremony. The guild is likely to investigate as such he should maintain a low profile for a bit.
After a bit more discussion, Axel met with Daisy and Welf who were spending time together. He revealed to them the changes that he had undergone. Welf mentions how Senji told him about a magical outburst a few days' distance from here. Daisy mentions the same thing but from both Douji sisters. Axel tells them to inform the rest of the group that if they wish to do expeditions while he stays undercover for a bit then they could. Axel recommends Bell as the temporary group leader since he is the strongest after him with the second fastest pace.
The alternative would be for him to simply teleport everyone into the dungeon but he would both like to get adjusted to his new condition and abilities while also not revealing his teleporting abilities except the shade's teleportation he has already revealed but that can at least be plausible since he has to throw a medium to teleport to but the parallel magic teleportation does not have such limits.
The duo accept his argument and meet up with Haruhime and Aisha who are the closest. The duo also do not recognize him and Haruhime almost faints upon seeing Axel's exposed chest as he has taken on Asura's clothing style which is primarily a robe tied around his waist. This set of robes work akin to pants as they split into 2 pant-like sleeves as compared to regular robes that are just kimonos.
When Daisy and Welf explain that he was Axel, Haruhime still faints but less so because of his exposed chest and arms and more so due to having a flashback to their passionate night together. Aisha herself gets an explanation and had overheard the knight trio talking about the magical outburst when she was sparring with their knights. She makes the connection much faster than others but it also helps that it's only really his chest and hair that is different. She could recognize his face. She was not like others like the saints who know Axel through his aura.
Axel leaves the group to do their planning as they go to meet up with the Takemikazuchi familia as well with Bell. Axel has Raikou write a letter for me as he moves back to Adelaide's forge. He gives them the letter which explains the situation much faster as he gets to work once more. He spends the night at the store working on his project.
Once the morning sun rises, Adelaide and mash arrive at the store to find that Axel is pouring a mixture into a mold. Said mold flows into 8 circles. No these are not circles but rings. Axel has the metal solidify before he separates the rings from the mold then begins to create the final aspect of these 'holy' rings. After another set of 2 hours, he finishes the engravings and designs of all the rings before moving them into a small box with suitable space for each one. He finally lets out a sigh of relief. Adelaide can see the tons of broken rings and failed products in the corner of the forge. She knows better than to touch those after the first magic items they made which failed and exploded on her and Mash.