C92: Mission Details, Distant Lands, Abandoned World (p2)
Overall Word count = 2439 on 6/2/2024.
(I believe we have officially crossed 200k words for this FF in chapter 89. So hurray everyone. Congrats to all you readers for getting so far and reading so many words to reach this point).
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"Axel Gram!!! Get out here so I can kick your ass for what you have done to my sister" Tione Hyrute proclaims as she waves Tiona's Urga in one hand as well as her own Halberd Rolan in the other.
"Oh. and What could I have possibly done to your sister? Goodness gracious Tiona, what happened to you? I haven't seen you in the past day and a half ago and you have changed so much" Axel puts his hands on his face in mock terror which is strangely believable to Tione but she does not relent and proclaims.
"Tiona already told me you did this to her. What is wrong with you??!!!" she yells out and Axel's hands drop from his face, hanging loosely. Axel looks at Tiona, "Ruining my fun already? At least let me put a baby in you before you do." His words inflict a stun lock upon Tione who couldn't believe what he just said. Tiona also blushes like a young school girl. She is used to being the direct one and making things crazier. So having someone else do it in her place feels strange to her.
"You….You…You BASTARD" Tione rushes forward, swinging both weapons at Axel but he simply extends a finger to place it on the oncoming blades and lifts himself up so he just hangs onto the blade he touched as it swings past his original location.
"Tiona, did you not tell her that she is also getting a similar makeover or were you too busy kicking Bete away since he couldn't stop sniffing your new lovely tush? If that is the case then I have to go neuter a mutt for trying to get with my girl" Axel asks Tiona and she begins to rub her head.
"The earthquake complicated things. After we came back, I showed off, just a little bit. But they didn't even pay attention to my strength. They just kept staring at me regardless. I almost thought Ais would propose to me when she cupped my hands and asked me how I got so strong. The earthquake then messed up everything even more as tons of stores broke down around us and Ganesha couldn't come by to help so we had to step up and clear the entire set of streets" She complains, seemingly a bit mentally exhausted but not much as it is morning. It is likely that just the memory of the series of events physically tire her out.
"Tione also didn't believe I was her sister for a while too and tried to fight me when I went to my own bed" Tione blushes at her sister's words. She is about to try denying it but Axel just gives her a dead stare. He is still upside down on her blade whilst having this conversation.
"Sooo, you're saying you didn't get a chance to tell her that you negotiated with me for her to gain a divine power that would allow her to immediately become a demi-god level being and a master in whatever aspect she chooses?" He explains and Tione's eyes widen as she looks accusingly at her sister for not telling her at all. Axel gets off the blade and rolls his eyes.
"But wait, what was that about baby talk?" Tione suddenly asks as if she just had a lightbulb spark above her head. Axel bobs his head this time in a circle. "That is my que to leave. I had a guild job to do but ill back back at lunchtime with the ingredients list. Make your choice then. I have a long walk ahead of me" He informs them and teleports away to Bell's former church home since it is the closest place to the East gate that he has mentally saved for quick teleportation.
Back at the Miyamoto Household, Tione begins to grill Tiona about the actual deal and under the peer pressure she accidentally reveals that her and Axel are lovers. Tione nearly dies from heart attack but she directly passes out upon learning that for Tione to undergo a similar ritual for such a power, Tiona would have to become a mother. Tiona rushes home with her sister in her arms. She nearly decides to simply bulldoze through all the buildings on her way home so that Tione can immediately get looked at by a doctor. Illya from the guild was walking by the area as she is off duty when she spots the duo. She helps calm Tiona down and provides healing magic to Tione but that just helps her wake up before the shock of her previous emotions knocks her out again.
Returning to our handsome mc, Axel. He had already left through the East gate and began his journey to the South East directly. He decides to take in the sighs and starts off his progress slowly until he grows bored of the current scenery and wants a quick change then he would speed up. He purviews the various trees and other flora. He recognizes that the city has a big lack of nature within the walls of the Dungeon city. It is wholly restricted to just potted plants or small patches of grass in random corners of the various sidewalks.
Once he got his fill of the grass and trees, he picks up speed to the limit of his falna's level 8 agility. Knocking up dust clouds in his wake as he goes. He doesnt stop until he can see mountain ranges in the distance and new types of trees and flora around as he has entered a pretty big forest. Axel ponders a bit about the mountains as he hadn't paid them much attention to them before. He grows curious, 'how much would a volcano have to erupt to grow so tall. And what about mountains that aren't volcanoes?'
'Tectonic plates colliding'
"Holy shit! Migi!!??" Axel freaks out and verbally reacts as he is actually stunned by the parasyte actually…doing anything which in this case is talking.
"But what are tectonic plates? '' He can't help but continue speaking out loud as his fragments would still hear his words.'Underground plates. Carry the world. Collide and make mountains or volcanoes. Both can rise. To make mountains. Or one rises. And The other falls. To make volcanoes'
Migi seems to have lost it's mind as it is saying multiple sentences in complete coherence. While Axel is impressed by the knowledge, his mind turns elsewhere as he makes the executive design to ponder if it is possible to break one of these tectonic plates via his fist. His thoughts echo in the soul space as Migi simply responds.
'Don't '
"Ok, well my questions have been answered. Thank you Migi" The parasyte curls back up like it always does. Axel returns to his simple observations of the surroundings. With the knowledge of how mountains and volcanoes are formed. He feels slightly regretful for what he did when he made his personal prototype ring. Hundreds of years of tectonic shifting to create such a tall mountain, only for it all to collapse due to Axel's carelessness. He should look for a proper volcano next time around. It should be more stable since it is already used to heavy tremors and intense heat.
After an hour or so he speeds up again and within another hour Axel arrives on the edge of a desert. There is a fine line between the dense heavy sand in the distance versus the luscious dirt, grass and forest-land that Axel is currently in. He soon crosses this border, his feet sinking into the loose sand but only by 1-3 inches as it is too jam packed to let him sink deeper.
Axel takes a few steps around to get a handle of him walking in sand so he doesnt sink so much. After a small bit, he is able to walk on sand without sinking, at least in normal sand. He continues his way forward and his speed is not slow due to the entire lack of substance in the desert. Yet he still slows down after a small bit as he spots distant merchants. Camels ridden by the caravan owners or guards as lesser clothed people push along various sized carts. In between the entire group is another set of camels that trudge along with their heavy set owners adorned in various gold and silver. Walking besides the ones pushing the carts are a few other guards with whips in hand, they watch over those who are pushing the carts.
Axel scowls in distaste over witnessing slaves for the first time. But he has already been warned to be mindful of his actions in the Kaios Desert as this is the territory of 3 'Saints' who have their unrestrained full power. This is a valid threat to Axel and as such, he has no qualms with ignoring the sights before him in exchange for just continuing to complete his given mission.
Perhaps if he reaches the border of rank 10 and doesnt die or become stuck in a cycle of suffering from the pain of his soul then he could go and fight the three of them to free all the slaves here. Of course the land would likely become very chaotic if that happened which in itself would be a source of suffering for those that have simply grown used to this over the long period of time.
As he awaits for the caravan to simply pass by. He unfortunately has to take action at the next moment as one of the guards swings their whip upon a small dark skinned girl in a white dress and white flower in her purple hair. She was made to push the last cart in the back along with a series of other children. She had tripped on some of the sand and the guards sought to punish her when Axel arrived and grabbed the whip. The guards are barely level 2 by Axel's estimates, as such, the whip did nothing to his hand.
The guards are quickly alerted to his presence, taking out their scimitars or bows to point them towards Axel. Granted sweat appears on their bodies upon gazing at Axel's giant body and dense muscles. The colorful clothing and light skin indicates that he is also a foreigner. Any other foreigner they would have gladly arrested and made a slave but this appears to be a veteran adventurer from Orario, even despite his young appearance. The guards all recognize this fact and would rather use peaceful methods to shoo him away or capture him.
"Who are you? It is a crime to ambush a caravan under the protection of the Virium company. Surrender and your sentence shall be light." The guards proclaim but Axel pays him no heed.
"How much for the girl?" He simply asks, looking up at one of the fat merchants. They all raise their eyebrows in surprise that someone would dare to directly speak to them. It has been a long time for them as they have already gained plenty of glory and typically adhere to let their underlings make deals for them now unless necessary.
Even though they understood almost as many details as the guards, their natural pride prevents them from fully understanding the risk factors before them. The merchant that was asked the question simply raises his head arrogantly as he states, "Why should I make any deals with a criminal?"
His words cause the guards to tense up as the head guard even goes so far as to mentally curse the fat bastard for his idiocy. They remain on guard but Axel doesnt do anything until he crouches down next to the white dressed girl who was about to be whipped.
"Little girl. I don't know the laws of this land very well. So id like to know would I face repercussions if I kill that fat bitch and steal you away?" His words are accompanied by a small bit of dense killing intent unleashed from the combination of his many fragments. The merchant nearly wets himself in panic, the camel under him nearly tries to buck him off its humps. The killing intent spreads out relatively far but the slaves remain unaffected under Axel's precise control.
Meanwhile the little girl frowns as she shakes her head, "He is my target. You cant have him"
Her words surprise everyone but the killing intent dissipates as Axel bursts into bombastic laughter as he was truly surprised by her answer and the overall situation. His laughter continues for a few seconds and he pants a bit once he is done.
"That's cute" He quickly says.
He gives the girl a head pat, before he waves his arm where a long ribbon is made from his nen. It was made with the properties related to Migi which means that the ribbon had stretched to easily wrap around the merchant's neck before he was dragged next to the both of them. The merchant himself is paralyzed in shock and the ribbon prevents him from pleading for mercy or anything with how tight it is.
Axel manifests a knife for the girl. "Then you kill him so we can leave" The girl is surprised as she subconsciously takes the knife and looks at the struggling merchant for a moment before delivering a killing blow through the eye and into the brain. Axel is surprised by her ruthlessness but can accept that she could have a high grudge against the merchant for any number of reasons. The series of actions was so fast that the guards barely had time to shoot out their arrows to stop Axel and the girl before the merchant fell over dead.
Axel begins to walk away with the girl in tow when arrows are released upon them. The others also move to rush into melee combat yet before any danger falls upon Axel. Multiple shadows slink across the ground as the entire caravan group is killed off, Guards, merchants and other slaves all die within moments. The arrows oncoming to Axel and the girl fall to the ground broken.
Axel tenses as he….
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Alt title: Neutralizing the sister. Knowledge. Kaios Desert