C75: Indecision, False 'One', Giantess
Overall Word count = 2523 on 5/1/2024.
I don't like this year so far, 3rd or 4th time i've gotten sick and we only just entered May. Had trouble concentrating except the past hour where I finished this chapter.
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It was like any other day in Orario. Adventurers moving towards the dungeon, some grouping up with random people or their own fixed teams. The hubbub of various shops calling out their wares or talking amongst themselves. The various voices are culled as a peculiar sound resounds throughout the city. Everyone can just tell the direction it is coming from and looks there.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG
The harmonious day ruined by the mystical concept of how such a distant sound could reach the city. Many gods show expressions of peculiarity at the situation as those who have authority over crafting can discern a bit more from the sound of the hammer falling. The magical aura that it thrust out from every collision tells them that what is being made is a magic item. Most gods frown as it feels like the world has been changing as of recently and they don't know what to make of it.
Amongst these gods, the goddess Hephaestus is standing before a window of her home and peers off into the distance as she runs her own little calculations and theories on what is being made and how strong it might be. She soon sighs as she senses something that saddens her from the energy pulses she has felt. "It's not right. It's close to being finished. Why don't they take the final step?" she murmurs to herself even though she has no clue who or what is being made. She can feel it is a pity that even when such a phenomenon occurs and it's not even properly completed.
As for the Saints, especially the magic focused ones. They nod their heads in approval as they feel the atmospheric changes caused. They lightly loosen their seals to extend their senses further and find that there is a connection between this artifact maker and the world interaction from a few days ago.
In a distant land, a transcendent tower rising up into the clouds. At the top of it. A white haired figure wearing a pristine white robe is seen sipping some tea as he has a smile on his face from feeling the waves of energies. "Fascinating, it seems a new generation is making themselves known. I wonder what they are like"
"Tower lord, Should we try to invite this person to join the tower?" Another voice calls out though the voice is strange, as if coming from the tower itself as no one else is in the room.
"No need. They have their own destiny to overcome. Otherwise we shall show the world why we are named as Saints."
The scene slowly changes and we find ourselves in a dark cave within the side of a mountain. Following the pathway inside will reveal little in terms of design. There is only a single used area and there is a tall white haired man with the exposed chest and firm muscles wielding a slim hammer of elvish designs. Below this figure are raging waves of lava. The mountain had originally been barren in contrast to what the person assumed since it had been active before. But a simple usage of a firestorm spell had melted all the rocks he had broken away from the mountain in his pursuit to create an entrance like this.
This figure is Axel Gram and he had used a total of 10 punches to chisel out the path previously seen. He had also spent a few hours pushing all the boulders and large rocks into the crevice before he set it ablaze. Over the course of another few hours, the man-made lava had slowly transitioned into pure lava which is what Axel needed.
He had set up his forge during all this waiting and after using the natural lava to melt down the adamantium into his desired shape. He had begun to finally hammer the new magic item but this isn't any ol hammering. He is infusing his mantra, magic and nen into this ring.The mana spreads outward which is what is felt in Orario and many other places. Nen causes life on the outside of the mountain to grow and prosper while the wrath Mantra is splintering the inner walls of the pseudo volcano.
Since so much energy is being poured into the ring, the end result is likely the entire destruction of the mountain. There is one aspect of the crafting process that he is unsure about.
Soul Siphon.
The craftsman has to give up a shard of their soul to complete the ring. From his own analysis, he finds that it would have to be a major fragment. The end result varies for each fragment but he would truly lose access to the abilities provided by that fragment. He is also unsure of how much the balance of his own soul would be affected. Would gluttony fill in the gaps to protect him or is there a possibility of dying.
This choice is the reason for his indecision and why he is settling for a false 'one' ring. It would still provide him a general boost to his power but not as much as the final product. Stat-wise the incomplete ring would still elevate him halfway to the peak of his own level.And since it's an external device it would not be restricted by the seal. He can still come back later to finish the ring when he knows for certain he wouldn't be crippled or killed by his action.
Clang Clank, clang, clang, CLang CLAng. CLANg
CLANG vwush.
The final hammer lands on the ring and Axel is blasted away from the forge some 40ft away. He lands on his face and bounces a bit before landing on his back.
"Ugh"
Drrrrr, Crack. BOOM.
The walls of the mountain begin to shake and snap apart. A pillar from the roof snaps off and as it falls, it chunks out half the bridge that the forge is on. Axel quickly gets up. He brings out a mind potion and chugs it down so that he can use magic to pull it towards him. The ring lands on his ring finger. The ring has a passive purple coloring from all the energies combined.
A burst of energy envelopes Axel as he takes a step towards the exist and finds he covered 30 ft in that single step. The mountain is still collapsing around him but he isn't worried as all his energies are gradually recovering him to his peak. He takes this moment to instead get used to his new abilities, starting with his movement as he doesnt want to slam into a wall by accident.
He soon exits the mountain as a dust cloud explodes behind him from the tunnel collapsing. The top of the mountain is also folding inwards like a sinkhole.
He moves a bit further away but still close enough in case there happens to be any sort of disaster. He has to move to a few areas that had rockslides as they would have destroyed the local merchant roads. As such, with his newfound power, he summons the Radahn shade.
Chains still cover the sleeping half giant as he still can't summon him normally but he can with the constant flow of energy from the ring. The shade summons it's swords and Axel decides to try something new by channeling his mantra into the shade. The shade is soon covered in flames and red lightning as hundreds of meteorite portals are made that collide with the stampeding rocks.
Boom
A resounding explosion is heard from the collision between the magic and nature's force. Naturally the rocks are decimated but Axel is also bent over against his knees as he is sweating a ton from the exertion to allow the radahn shade what he just did
(Shout-out to Liichon for providing me inspiration by telling me about prime Radahn)
Luckily he is quickly recovering but now he knows better than to do this merger of energies as it's a one hit devastation for anything he fights. Making it a proper trump card against any enemy he might struggle against.
After another hour of preventing rockslides, he makes his way back to Orario. He plans to stop hiding now as it has been long enough. He is sure that all the saints in the city would be able to feel that he was involved in the recent activities outside Orario. He sprints his way over to Orario. His body turns into a blur as he rushes to the city. He moves towards the line which just so happens to be the same line he was in when he first entered the city. His physique makes him stand out but he soon arrives at the wall and hands over his paperwork.
The guard who takes his papers frowns upon seeing the name on the ID. "Sir, you don't look like anything as the person in the photo. Everyone in the city pretty much knows who Axel Gram is. And your not him." The guards words make Axel smirk before he ponders for a bit before asking,
"Did you participate in the city siege defense against the beasts a few months ago?"
"Yes sir. I had witnessed it all"
"Then you should recognize this" He summons a few of his shades to surround him for a bit before they disappear and then radahan shows up. The guard has his mouth lie open in shock and surprise. Others who are in line also cry out in worry. Thinking someone is attacking the city.
"I haven't had a chance to update my ID since I was out of the city. Had some unofficial work to do and my current appearance is the result."
"I see. Do try to update it but otherwise, welcome back." The guard hands back the ID to Axel who then enters the city. He makes his way back home where Raikou says,
"Welcome back my dear child. It would seem your experiment worked out just fine. We all felt it from here"
"Mmm. I also missed the respawn date of the Goliath, so ill have to settle for amphisbaena"
"Don't forget that you have to meet your new magic teacher in 2 more days. They have sent over an invitation for tea so that you two can get to know each other a bit before starting.
"When is the invite time?
"It's in 3 hours. Of course it can be rescheduled for tomorrow at the same time."
"I see. Sure ill head over to meet them. In the meantime, can you spar with me so i can test out some more of the abilities of my new artifact?" He says and lifts his fist to showcase the glowing ring.
"Fufufu" she laughs a bit as Raikou's Signature armor appears on her. Overlaying her original clothes as she wields her katana; The duo go to the back courtyard that the knights had renovated into sparing courts. They take their positions opposite of each other. Raikou takes out a small handkerchief and says "We start when this lands on the ground"
"Sure" he affirms and she suddenly throws it onto the ground while rushing forward at him with a smile on her face.
"Damn it" He says, not expecting her trickery as his fist moves to strike her sword.
Their spar lasts for 2 hours and both are covered in sweat. Axel is sitting at the outdoor chairs with his nen construct, Dr. Blythe stitches up the various cuts on his body before fake skin is used to cover the stitches to give the impression that he isn't injured at all as the stitches would merge with his skin. Axel is contemplating about the fight he just had with Raikou and shakes his head in defeat as he has truly underestimated a person who has trained in the sword for hundreds if not a thousand years. While his physical attributes are higher than hers due to her limiting herself to just level 3 power.
In terms of Falna stats, she would be like Axel who can reach EX+ in every physical stat as she is not a spellcaster as such, her magic stat would be in SS rank. But unlike Axel, she has access to the full '9k' (considering Axels own limit on stats is 3k for each stat. Level 3 would be 9k stats) worth of stats in each specific stat unlike Axel who is now limited to 999 in each one except endurance. This remains the only stat that is truly above hers but her experience surpass Axels' as he only has small parts of the experience from any one soul fragment. They help more in expanding his skill list and imagination as compared to fights. Asura in this case gave the most in that regard as his entire story is fighting against the beings that had trapped him in his world.
He is broken out of his thoughts by Raikou who says, "Clean yourself up and then prepare to go meet your new magic teacher ... .Oh right. Do try to be kind to them. They are quite self conscious of their appearance."
She states and heads inside to have a bath as well.
g
Axel takes her words to heart and changes into much nicer clothing after cleaning himself. He wears a proper robe and does not actually display his chest for anyone. Even then he still gets plenty of stares from all sorts of people.
He makes his way to the Immortal sector of Orario and then greatly deeper into it where it's practically neighboring the Ganesha Familia. He looks at the locations and soon finds the house er. Warehouse.
He knocks a bit at the giant door and it slides open. He hesitantly enters when the door shuts behind him. He tries to look around but finds that the entire place is dark. Sure his abilities give him a bit of extra vision so he can relatively make out the various curtains and other objects in the surroundings but strangely, everything is much larger than what it is in any other household. Just the cooking pan he can see in the distance could fit him inside. A strange thought to be sure.
"Not creepy at all." "Hello. I am Axel Gram. I am here for a tea invitation with my new magic teacher" He introduces himself but receives no response when suddenly the lights turn on so he is no longer blind. He still doesnt see the host when suddenly something casts a shadow over him.
"My my. How handsome. You look far better than before when I first applied to be your teacher." An illustrious hypnotic voice calls out behind him. He turns around to take a look and is in shock at her appearance.