Not too many reviews this time around. Just a few questions regarding if Axel will gain a title or the ability to use magic. I have thought about it a little, but I want Axel to create or learn new techniques with Ki before that. Ki can replicate a small amount of things such as telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, healing, restraints, paralysis etc… So before then, Axel will learn a few new Ki techniques before he delves into any form of magic.
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All was silent after the new Demon Lord spoke his name for all to hear. Everyone was tensed up and ready for even the slightest sign of combat.
'I know magic and Ki are different' Axel thought to himself as he settled into a stance 'But the energy readings off this guy just standing there is insane!'
Benimaru stared impassively at the Orc before calling out "Shion!"
"On it!" the purple haired Ogre replied before readying a massive sword and running at the Orc.
"Damn!" Axel huffed "Should've called dibs" he pouted a bit.
Benimaru approached Axel and placed a hand on his shoulder "Let us handle this".
Axel relaxed and crossed his arms "Fine. But you get one shot at this. I understand he's one of the reasons that your people are dead. And if you don't take him out in one go, he's mine. Got it?"
Benimaru nodded as Shion was in front of the Orc "You call yourself a Demon Lord!" she leaped into the air and raised her sword high "I'll squash that ego of yours, you foul pig!" With a mighty swing, Shion put her full force behind the swing but it was blocked by the Demon Lord's cleaver.
A small shockwave was created at the point of impact and it sent water flying in every direction. Both Ogre and Orc struggled for a moment before the Orc broke the exchange by pushing Shion back with ease. Shion flew a few meters before sliding to a halt and immediately charging forward again.
This time before the two could clash again, a blur from the Sky blitzed in between the two.
*Schink*
The sound of sword cutting through flesh was heard as the old Ogre Hakurou, casually sliced into the Orcs neck and separated it from his shoulders. Hakurou landed on the ground while sheathing his blade, but he immediately tensed up as the headless Orc turned his body. Hakurou was shocked when he saw the Orc carrying its head under its left arm. Dirty yellow tendrils sprung from the Orcs head and slowly pulled the head back before reattaching itself in a grotesque fashion.
"Damn" Axel scowled "That's going to be hard to bypass"
"I know" Rimuru frowned "It's a pretty insane healing power"
Just as the head finished healing, small glints across the ground appeared before thin wires sprouted. They quickly latched on to the Orc to hold him in place before covering him in a thick cocoon of thread.
Souei was revealed to be behind the Orc as the threads were coming from his fingers "Benimaru!" he shouted.
"Got it!" Benimaru responded before a dark purple ball of flame appeared in his hand before launching it at the cocoon of wires. "Hell flare!" he shouted as the fire expanded in a dome like explosion that covered the cocoon two times over.
Ranga of all creatures was up next, he looked to the sky and let out a piercing howl that turned the clouds another shade darker. Lighting flashed behind the clouds that momentarily lit them up in a brilliant fashion. Suddenly a deep purple lightning bolt came from the sky and crashed onto the Orc who was only just emerging from Benimaru's attack. The resulting blast had sent a large force of wind that would've sent any lesser being flying.
Ranga grunted as his size shrunk slightly "Out of magic?" Rimuru asked and received a nod "Hide in my shadow for now".
"Yes master!" he called out before jumping into Rimuru's shadow and disappearing.
A few seconds later, the dust began to settle around the area of impact "What is…" Benimaru started as the spikes on the Orcs back were now visible.
Its body shook a few times before it slowly started to rise as it twitched all the way up. "Shit" Axel grumbled "I would've probably barely survived that myself".
Even as the Orc stood, his body was covered in deep wounds and bruises across his body "So this…" he inspected his hands "is pain?"
"No way…" Rimuru muttered
The armoured Orc General that was nearby, approached and kneeled next to the Demon Lord "My king" he bowed his head "I offer my body to you".
With a small grunt, Geld bent down and retrieved the kneeling Orc before casually picking him up and biting his head off! With ferocity, he began to devour the Orc that sacrificed himself and it certainly wasn't for nothing. Wisps of green energy rolled of the Demon Lord as its wounds began to regenerate at a rapid pace.
"I need… more… I need more!" the Orc shouted as he raised his hand at the group of Ogres who all stood together. A pink orb began to form at his fingertips and it grew in size rapidly before firing off into the air. It split apart into dozens of smaller orbs and they started to rain down upon the group.
Benimaru and his group tensed up for the impending explosions, but they suddenly diverted to Rimuru who had his hand held up high in the air. A swirling blue vortex was above his hands and it was swallowing up the blasts from the Demon Lord.
Rimuru slowly lowered his hands and stared at the Orc before taking a step forward. He didn't make it far since Axel's arm was put in front of him "I've got this" he said before walking towards the Orc with a serious expression.
"You should let me deal with it. I have a plan" Rimuru spoke.
Axel only raised his right hand and casually waved above his shoulder "I said I was taking a crack at him and I intend to whether you like it or not"
"How dare you speak to Great Rimuru like tha-" Shion said as Axel passed the group.
"Let it go Shion" Rimuru assured her.
Axel could only silently thank Rimuru as he casually strolled up to the Orc. An aura of white energy began to surround Axel as small clumps of dirt and stone rose from the ground as he increased his power.
The same could be said for the Orc as a deep red aura, which was the same as the general that Axel had fought before, encompassed his body. Four tendrils sprouted from his back and snapped menacingly at Axel.
Axel only slid his right foot back a bit before dashing forwards at an incredible speed. In retaliation, the Orc only roared and sent all four tendrils to dig into Axel's flesh.
The first tendril reached Axel in less than a second, with a quick vault, Axel evaded the tendril and was forced to hop back to dodge a second one. Axel then jumped in the air and tried to fly directly at the Orc who responded in kind with two tendrils.
With the grace of an acrobat, Axel was able to twist his body out of the way and continued to pursue. With the Lord wide open, Axel raised his fist and put all of his power behind a punch. His fist nearly collided with the Orcs face, but it was blocked by the Orcs cleaver. In a similar clash to Shion's the two had a brief struggle for dominance before a cracking sound was heard.
"Impossible" the Orc muttered as his cleaver was starting to crack where Axel's fist was firmly planted. With a small grunt of effort, the Orc pushed Axel back before dropping his cleaver as the cracks continued to spread.
'Now's my chance!' Axel then dashed forward at top speed to deliver a surprise blow to the Orcs exposed stomach. To Axel it felt like punching a metal wall, but it did manage to stagger Geld back as he rubbed his stomach. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Axel immediately jumped back in and started to wail on the Orcs stomach. Each fist sounded like a dozen gun shots each time the fists connected. Slowly but surely he was driving the Orc back.
"Enough!" Geld shouted as he managed to grab both of Axel's fists and the two started a contest of strength.
Both combatants pushed with all the force they had, Axel's aura sprung to greater heights in an attempt to push Geld back. But Geld increased the ferocity of his Aura and was starting to push Axel back. All Axel did was grit his teeth and plant his feet in order to slow the rate at which he was being pushed back. Both fighters arms were positively bulging but neither seemed ready to back down.
In an attempt to win the struggle, Geld sent out the four tendrils to latch on to Axel. Without hesitation, Axel lowered his wild Aura and had his Ki barrier surround his body. All four tendrils sunk into Axel's barrier, one on each shoulder and one on each leg.
The attacks didn't pierce the barrier but it still felt like his limbs were being crushed in a vice. A pained groan escaped his throat but it was manageable "You really are tough" Axel grunted. Axel then let go of the Orcs hands, causing him to stumble forward. With a blast from his feet, Axel rocketed into Geld's chin with a strong knee that sent the Orc tumbling back, this also had the tendrils release themselves from Axel.
As Geld came to a stop and Axel landed, the Orc growled "You will die and I will devour you!" he shouted before charging two pink blasts that he released at Axel. But he didn't release just two, he kept charging more and throwing his hands forward again and again.
The first of plenty approached Axel who vaulted over the first one as it didn't detonate the way he thought it would. It detonated into multiple smaller orbs that crashed into Axel's back and sent him flying into the dirt. Axel groaned before another orb approached him and he had to fire a blast into the ground in order to propel himself out of the way.
Three orbs crashed where Axel was and these ones detonated normally, causing a large explosion. Axel didn't have time to rest as he had to start dodging more orbs that split into smaller orbs. Axel pulled all of the aerial manoeuvres he knew in order to dodge the incoming blasts. It wasn't until a particularly large blast came through, did he have to cross his arms and block it. An explosion engulfed Axel who was momentarily covered in a large plume of smoke.
It took a while but the smoke died down some and Axel looked a little worse for wear, his shirt was completely destroyed and his wristbands were frayed. Multiple bruises were on his body and a few scuff marks littered his body as well. His forearms were a deep red and were bleeding ever so slightly.
But Axel's face remained serious "Heh, that all you… wait a!-" Axel was cut off as he sensed the Orc beside him who launched his right hand forward and gripped Axel hard. Axel was caught completely off guard and was starting to get crushed by the Orc.
His bones creaked and groaned as they were on the verge of breaking "Impressive" the Orc spoke as he tightened his grip even further causing Axel to groan.
'Thank whatever god there is that the pain isn't too bad' Axel praised his pain resistance 'Still hurts though' he groaned again as the pressure increased as a few of his ribs began to crack under the pressure.
In an attempt to escape the Orcs deadly grasp, he charged a Ki blast in his left hand and that was still just barely hanging out of the Orcs hand. He fired the blast into the Orcs gut but he didn't flinch at all "Is that all you can do in your final moments" Geld almost taunted.
"N-no not exactly" Axel groaned out "Why not let me go and I'll kick your butt".
A grunt escaped the pigs lips "Nice try" he said before increasing his grip even more causing Axel to groan a bit more and start chuckling "What is so funny?"
"You wanna know?" Axel smirked but didn't receive a response "Eye think you should look after your face"
The Orc only tilted his head as Axel sent a precise blast into the Orcs eye. He didn't scream out in pain or really acknowledge it, but his grip did loosen enough so Axel could flare his aura and burst out. Axel immediately hopped back to gain distance and was panting hard 'I'm gonna lose at this rate. I can probably go a few minutes longer… Damnit!' Axel thought as he clicked his teeth just in front of the Ogres and Rimuru. Now the group consisted of the Goblin riders and even Gabiru along with his three friends who were supporting him. Slowly but surely he stood to his feet and curled his fists before placing his hands at his side.
"Axel" spoke Rimuru from behind him "Let me finish this off, you've done enough"
"I'm not out yet" Axel grumbled before he let out a grunt of effort and his Aura sprung to life once more "Not until I'm knocked out or begging for mercy" Rimuru only frowned but still chose to sit back and watch.
"Ahhhhhh!" Axel's voice slowly grew louder and spread further "AHHHH!" his aura grew even bigger as he gave one final shout before taking off towards the Orc.
Geld started to run himself and meet Axel halfway as he cocked back a fist of his own. Both fighters roared they're battle cries and clashed their fists together. A shockwave, bigger than any that had been seen today so far, blew back all the Goblin riders along with Gabiru and his men.
Both fighters separated and went for another punch but were met with a similar result. Axel landed a punch on the Orcs gut but received a blow to the head at the same time. Another roar escaped both mouths as the two started a literal slugfest. If a blow landed on Axel, he returned it with equal force. Whether it was a flying kick to Geld's face or a punch to his gut, the two didn't back down.
Everyone was in awe at the display of raw physical strength and the endurance of both fighters. Even some Orcs arrived to the battlefield and stood a ways behind their leader and watched him slug it out with what looked like a human that was being towered over by their leader.
But it was clear who was winning this encounter. While Geld looked banged up and covered in bruises that were healing, Axel was starting to get hit with more blows and throwing out less. It got to the point where Axel could only defend himself as blows rained down on him.
Geld flared his red aura and grabbed Axel with his tendrils, except this time Axel wasn't able to defend himself from the tendrils and took the full brunt of all four of them. Axel would've been alright if they were just bites, but he was suddenly filled with an excruciating pain as the area around where he was bitten, started to turn a deep purple.
This time it wasn't just physical pain that Axel felt, it felt as if his soul was being eaten. The flesh around his neck rotting away as Geld lifted him up with the tendrils and slammed Axel onto the ground behind him. The tendrils let go and Axel continued to groan in pain 'what the heck is this!?' Axel tried to stand but he would fall back down every time.
"You fought well" Geld spoke as he kicked Axel onto his back so he was facing him "But this ends here" he said as he brought his foot down with tremendous force onto Axel's chest. The ground cracked beneath Axel as Geld leaned in and opened his mouth to try and eat him.
'Probably a bad idea' Axel thought to himself while channelling his Ki 'Pretty sure my Ki is the only thing keeping me strong enough to physically resist whatever this is. But I-' "Am not getting eaten!" Axel shouted as he poured almost every last drop of Ki into his right hand and fired it at Geld point blank.
Axel's last resort attack completely covered the entirety of the Demon Lord and the blast carried on to the sky and dispersed any clouds in the area that still remained. Axel huffed as he stared into the cloud of smoke that was supposed to be where Geld was "I-is it o-over?" he continued to huff. But he received his answer when the foot that he could still feel on him increase in pressure causing more of ribs to outright break in a sickening crack.
The smoke cleared to reveal half of Geld's body completely blown away as it slowly tried to heal itself. Within thirty seconds all of his wounds were healed but he was still super scuffed up "You failed" Geld spoke. "Now be honoured that you will be consumed for a greater cause" he opened his mouth and Axel looked towards Geld's face only to notice an odd site.
'Is that… the moon?' Axel thought before his mind went blank.
As Geld descended onto Axel, he was cut short, quite literally as Rimuru appeared in front of him and slashed him across the face with a sword that was shrouded in black fire "Your opponent is me now".
Geld's face was covered in flames that wouldn't disperse so he ripped his own face off to stop the flames. A burst of green aura surrounded him as all the wounds on his body were healed near instantly "You would get in the way of my meal…" Geld stated more than asked.
"Yea I would. Now I've seen what you can do, and I know how to stop you" Rimuru smiled a bit before tilting his head back to Axel. "Guess I should thank you for tha- oh no" Rimuru cut himself off.
Axel was only just lying there as he stared into the sky, more specifically at the moon, the full moon.
"Now is not the time! I gotta hurry this up quickly!" Rimuru said aloud before rushing at Geld and having his eyes turn red. Rimuru's face went blank as he managed to drive the Orc back a few dozen meters before his eyes turned back to normal when he was a good distance away.
"I WILL DEVOUR YOU ALL" Geld shouted as he tried to grab Rimuru who just let him grab him.
"Not before I do first" Rimuru then melted into his slime form and tried to cover all of Geld. 'I gotta try and use predator to counter his devour skill and take him down before it's too late!'.
All of the Ogre's, Goblins and Lizards watched in awe as Rimuru started to try and cover all of the Demon Lord. Geld repeatedly tried to grab Rimuru and tear him off, but Rimuru just reformed himself in order to keep on covering the Orc.
Back over by Axel's body, he suddenly started to breath rapidly, as he just stared at the moon. His heavy breaths became heavy grunts as his eyes started to lose their pupils. His chest was rapidly expanding as the sounds of his bones and skin stretching became audible enough to garner the attention of all on the field.
Rimuru's slime head jutted out from the mass of slime that had completely encompassed "Crap!" he shouted before addressing the Ogres "Quickly! Cut his tail off!".
"His tail?" Benimaru questioned.
"Yes! He has a tail and if you don't cut it off now before he transforms, then we're gonna have to deal with some real monkey business! And I mean quite literally!"
Benimaru still seemed incredibly confused but could sense the gravity of the situation. He approached Axel cautiously as he continued to convulse on the ground and was growing at a rapid pace "Hakurou" he called out.
Hakurou nodded before blitzing over to Axel who was now on his knees and his pants were almost all torn up from his expansion. As Hakurou approached Axel, he had to force himself to dodge a wild swing as an animal like instinct was taking over Axel's body.
"Hmm…" Hakurou hummed as he cautiously waited for Axel to make a move.
A deep and guttural roar left Axel's throat as he looked back to the moon and was probably more than double his own size at this point. His tail was unwrapped and left unguarded so Hakurou took advantage of this and rushed in to slice his tail.
Axel unexpectedly raised his arms and slammed onto the ground causing a small shockwave to be sent out and causing a small crater in the ground. Hakurou realised that this would not be an easy task "Fighting a man can be predicted" he said before glancing at the other Ogres "A wild beast is unpredictable" all of the Ogres nodded as they all moved in to attack.
At this point Axel was well over fifteen feet tall and his clothes were completely shredded as his skin started to grow fur. His head had also started to get larger and elongate itself to look more like an ape.
Souei was the first to act and tried to slice at the tail, but it was suddenly moved up and slammed down causing Souei to miss his strike. Shion ran in front to try and distract the creature but was forced to block a fist that now belonged to a twenty foot ape that was continuing to grow.
Benimaru blasted the ape with purple flames that completely encompassed the creature who roared in anger. Through the smoke they could see a red light growing inside "Benimaru! Shion! Move!" Souei shouted as the two were forced to dodge a massive pink beam that slammed into the ground where the two were standing. The beam traveled for a few hundred meters across the ground, carving up the ground and just barely missing everyone. When the beam did stop, it created an explosion that was larger than any of Benimaru's previous attacks on the Orc army. And those were able to encompass hundreds if not thousands of Orcs at once.
"He was nearly dead" Shion muttered as she was forced to brace for the resulting shockwave "How could he get this much stronger?"
Benimaru only grimaced as the ape was now around thirty feet tall and had steam flowing from its mouth after the beam attack "At least he's stopped growing for now".
Axel was fully gone and replaced by a massive ape that eclipsed even the Orc Disaster, its red eyes radiated a primal fury as it released a roar that shook the lands.
"This might not even be his true size" Hakurou appeared next to the two along with Souei.
"How do you know?" Benimaru asked.
"I don't" Hakurou responded "But I can feel as if he could grow large but isn't"
They all glanced over to Rimuru who was now completely covering Geld and the two were now in a battle of attrition. "Either way" Benimaru started as he readied himself as they all stared down the ape that was currently growling in their direction "We need to remove the tail as Rimuru said".
"Right!" all of them nodded as they sprang into action.
Shion and Benimaru were trying to distract the creature with Shion's brute force and Benimaru's flames. Benimaru bombarded the Great Ape in order for Shion to jump and land attacks on its stomach or dodge its feet that attempted to trample her.
As the two were running diversions, wires burst from the ground and wrapped around the beasts left leg. When it tried to take a step, it stumbled slightly and went down to one knee. Shion took advantage of this and leapt into the air to strike the beast across the face. She was successful in her attack and caused the beasts head to fling the other way. It was quick to recover as it swiped its massive arm and sent Shion flying back.
A roar escaped the beast's lips as it ripped through the wires on its legs with a slight struggle. Its mouth then opened and another pink laser was charging up and Benimaru was barely able to dodge the beam that barrelled straight into the earth and drilled down for a few dozen meters before it stopped and created a massive explosion which left a crater in its wake.
Large fists impacted the ground as the creature roared and started beating its chest. Souei appeared next to Benimaru "What should our next approach be?"
Benimaru stared in thought before answering "Try to restrain both of its legs again. Use every amount of strength you have to keep your wires on. I will attempt to keep the beast still while Hakurou waits for an opening to cut its tail"
"Understood" Souei then shimmered away.
"Oi!" Benimaru shouted to grab the apes attention "Why don't we have a go at it?!" Benimaru then drew his sword and placed another hand in front of him with a small purple ball of flame in it.
The beast seemed to recognize the challenge and roared at Benimaru before charging forwards. Benimaru started to charge as well and launched one of his Hell Flares at the beast's chest. It impacted and released an explosion that singed the hair on its chest. It continued to charge and tried to stomp on Benimaru who dodged the attack and slashed at the apes shin. A decent cut was made on the apes shin but it did not care and tried to punch the ground on which Benimaru stood with its right fist.
Benimaru hopped to the side the hopped on the arm before running up its arm while making small slashes along the way. It then tried to smack Benimaru off with its other arm but Benimaru jumped off the ape and sent a blast of flame at its face. Purple flames exploded on to the apes face and caused it to stumble back.
"Souei!" Benimaru shouted which was followed by an extremely large amount of wires bursting from the ground and completely covering both legs.
Just as the beast went to rip at the wires, a slicing sound was heard and a loud thud followed behind it. Hakurou was revealed to have sliced through the tail which caused the beast to roar in pain before it slowly started to shrink down.
A minute went by until the beasts roared sounded more human and Axel was able to be recognized. Soon enough, Axel was back to normal size and as naked as the day he was born, with a small hole where his tail used to be. He didn't really seem to be conscious and just face planted into the dirt.
All of the Ogres had regrouped, including Shion who was a little scuffed but looked to be perfectly fine. Benimaru only stared at Axel's sleeping body before sighing "I regret to think what would've happened if he was at full strength before this happened".
"No use dwelling on it" Hakurou spoke "The job is done".
"Right" the three others agreed as they turned their attention to where Rimuru was consuming the Orc Disaster.
There was almost a rainbow like glow that surrounded the two as the Orc could barely be seen beneath all the layers of slime. No one knew what was happening to the two, were they simply conversing? Or was there a fierce battle of wits and determination.
But in all actuality, a heartfelt moment was happening between the two that was left the others none the wiser. Rimuru and the Orc lord were conversing and the Orc was refusing to let himself be consumed.
"Rest easy" Rimuru spoke within the mind of the Orc "I'll devour your sins along with you".
"Devour… my sins?" Geld responded back calmly in the same fashion.
"Yeah, and not just you. But all of your people too"
"Even the sins of my brethren?" Geld responded as he looked straight into Rimuru's 'eyes'. He only chuckled slightly "You are greedy".
"Yes… I am" the slime responded as the body of the Orc evaporated within the mass of slime.
But before the consciousness of Geld was completely gone, Rimuru had one last thing to show him. They were now within a mindscape of sorts that was surrounded by a cracked desert land. Rimuru's slime form was behind Geld as he stared off into the distant desert. The ground around Rimuru was that of a luscious field that rapidly expanded to cover the whole mindscape. Geld was transformed into a less demonic looking form.
Gone were the massive horns as they were replaced with the usual pig like ears an Orc had. He became smaller in size and regained a healthy light brown skin colour. His clothes were replaced why a white shirt that had fur around the neck, a black under shirt, brown belt, black pants and brown shoes.
He slowly opened his eyes to see a vast field of trees, birds, flowers and even a lake in the distance. Mountains dotted the surrounding and Geld could only be shocked at what he was seeing. He dropped to his knees as tears formed in his eyes that fell freely on to the ground.
"Greedy one… One who devours all of my and my brethren's sins" tears flowed from his eyes "Thank you. I feel… sated" he said before his form was encompassed by golden particles before disappearing and raising high into the sky. Geld was now at peace and could rest easy.
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Many days had passed since the battle with the Orc Demon Lord, well over two weeks in fact. Within that time, Rimuru had become a chancellor of the forest, all the one hundred fifty thousand Orcs, that survived the large scale battle, were now named and were going to be brought back with Rimuru to his village. And everyone was more or less at peace with all the decisions that were made.
Axel himself was in a bit of turmoil after he woke up, it took him well over a day to recover from his transformation. Although Rimuru healed him with a potion, the effects of having his tail cut off really threw him for a loop. His balance was a little wonky for a few days and the effects of the Orcs tendril things which he learned was called 'Chaos Eater' had an effect on his mind even though his body was healed.
This was really the first time that Axel had been close to death and beaten down so severely. So when he woke up and regained his balance after a few days, he went to training. He started with the basics to get his body in working order and to compensate for the loss of his tail. And there was a massive boost in his physical capabilities when he did finally awake.
It almost felt as if he got more than twice as strong since the battle against the Orcs. It felt quite invigorating physically, but mentally he was still a little messed up. He had transformed in to a giant monkey and attacked his allies after all. An almost invisible weight was on his shoulders for a few days and he mostly steered clear of everyone within the lizard's village, even Rimuru himself.
Speaking of the Lizardmen village, it wasn't really a village per say, but more of a mountain and such that they lived in with branching tunnels and the like. They still had structures and such outside of the mountain, but they preferred to handle official affairs, have the prison, and a good portion of the living quarters inside. Axel only had one major interaction and it was with the Dryad that asked Rimuru to take down the Orc Lord.
This was about a five days after the battle and Axel was currently out in the marshlands and was overlooking the field in which the battle took place. It was mid-day and all the craters that dotted the land were visible, the area wasn't completely devastated, but it looked like it had seen better days.
Axel was currently cross legged and was floating in the air with his eyes closed. A simple tan shirt, black pants and brown shoes were on him. He meditated on the battle and was thinking of ways to improve himself.
'As it stands… I need to get stronger but not just physically. I need to learn to combat people who don't just purely rely on brute strength. But how? I guess I should start with a technique that can momentarily stun targets or a way to restrain them so I can land blows. The afterimage would be a good thing to learn. I can use it to catch opponents off guard and blitz through people. I could even try to create my own blasts that can track targets or just a standard blast that's stronger than me just thrusting a hand forward and throwing out my Ki for speed at the cost of destructive capacity' It was certainly a lot to think on.
Axel sighed as he opened his eyes and rested his left hand on his leg with his right hand under his chin, all while still floating cross legged "What should I even do after this? Should I just collect my weapon from Kaijin and go exploring? Or go on a training trip?"
"Whatever you decide will benefit you" a voice said from behind Axel.
"Huh?" he turned his head "Do I know you?"
The person that had brought Axel out of his musings was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life. She was a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, had well defined facial features that were framed by long and luscious green hair that went to past her lower back. Two green marks were just under and to the sides of both her bright blue eyes that carried some warmth to them that couldn't be described. She wore an aqua coloured dress, with white shoulders and sleeves, that went all the way down to her feet which were bare. A necklace with three red gems was hung around her neck and waist. All the while she seemed to glow a bright green with vines surrounding her.
"We have not met before"
"You wouldn't happen to be the Dryad I heard about right?"
"It is quite possible I am" she smiled.
"Umm… I'm Axel" he descended to the ground and put his left hand out which she took.
"I am Treyni" the two separated hands.
"Is there something you needed?" Axel tilted his head.
"I wish to thank you for your part in the battle"
"My part?" he grumbled "I didn't even win. I lost the one battle I wanted to win and ended up going on a rampage".
Treyni hummed and nodded with her eyes closed before reopening them "That is true. But you still participated"
"Sometimes being a participator just isn't enough" Axel looked at his fist and clenched it "Maybe now with this increase in power I could probably have fought the Disaster on even grounds. Or at least put up a better fight".
"I see…"
"But that's in the past now" he looked back to Treyni and put on a small smile "Just means I have to get stronger right?"
"It would seem so" she responded with a kind smile "I have no doubts that you will achieve your goals"
"Thanks" Axel smiled back "But is thanking me really the only thing you came here for? I would think Dryad's or whatever would stick to the forests and only appear when needed".
"You are not wrong" she confirmed "I wished to speak to you about your… transformation"
"What about my transformation?"
"I've seen werewolves and other creatures transform on the night of a full moon. But never someone turn into a large ape. And the amount of destruction you caused with only two attacks was fairly severe" she made sure to stare directly at him "Can you assure that you will not repeat this in the forest?"
Axel gave it a thought and crossed his arms "Well my tail probably won't grow back for a few more days. But as long as I don't directly turn to the full moon or stay outside while a full moon is up, I should be fine". Axel took a breath before thinking some more "There have been cases of people like me who can fully control their actions while transformed, but I don't think I'm there yet. And there was one case of a guy who managed to utilize the power of the transformation in his base form, but I'm not legendary or special".
"Legendary?" Treyni tilted her head.
"Just a little joke, don't worry about it" Axel chuckled "But as long as I know when a full moon will appear, then I can find ways to avoid it".
"That is good to hear" she then turned around to leave "I'm sure we will meet again".
"See ya" Axel waved as she started to dematerialize "Thanks for the talk"
"You are quite welcome. I would recommend speaking to your friends" were Treyni's final words as she left.
'Guess I should'
A few days after his conversation with the Dryad, Axel finally spoke to Benimaru and his comrades to apologize. They were all fairly quick to forgive him and not much really came out of it and time passed fairly quickly from then on.
After two full weeks of Rimuru giving out names and establishing relations with both races, everyone started to make the trek back home. All of the Orcs went back with Rimuru and the others, so travel time was slowed by a fair bit.
It would only take Axel a few days to fly back and the same could be said for Rimuru and the riders, but no one was in a rush to get back. So the walk back took about a week but everyone was happy to make it back home. At night, Axel would go deeper into the forests and such to train while trying to control his Ki better in preparation to learn and create new techniques.
Rimuru went straight with Axel to Kaijin's place since Axel was going to see if his weapon was ready. And Rimuru was going so he could get Kaijin to teach the Orcs about construction so they could start building homes and the like.
"So you want to get Kaijin to teach these guys a thing or two about construction?" Axel made conversation with Rimuru as he hopped alongside him in his slime form.
"Yeah, I was even thinking of showing him how to build roads"
"You don't think he already knows how to?"
"I have no doubt he knows how. But I worked for a major contractor firm before I died, so I thought I could give him a few pointers and a few suggestions" Rimuru said as they approached the door to Kaijin's shop.
"Huh… learn something new every day"
Axel opened the door first and was followed by Rimuru who hopped in and called out to Kaijin "Hey Kaijin!" he hopped on to a nearby table.
"Welcome back" Kaijin said as he put down a project he was working on.
"I got a job for you"
"Oh?"
"So long story short" Rimuru started "The Orc Lord turned in to an Orc Disaster and was evolving into a Demon Lord, we took him down and now I'm the chancellor of the Jura forest and now we have a bunch of Orcs who are going to be with us from now on".
Kaijin only scratched the back of his head "Wow" he then chuckled "Guess you'll have to fill me in later. What do you need me for?"
"I'm planning to use the Orcs as a labour force and I need you to teach them about how we're building things".
Kaijin rubbed his chin in thought before nodding "Alright I can do that"
"Thanks! I also wanted to start building proper roads but we can talk about that later"
"Alright then" Kaijin then looked to Axel "I got good news for you"
"You finish the weapon?" Axel tilted his head.
"You bet" he grinned "Kurobe!" Kaijin called out "Can you bring out Axel's new weapon?"
"I'll be right there" Kurobe's voice was heard before a grunt of effort. A few seconds after, he emerged from a back room with a sleek silver pole in his hand. It didn't have any designs on it, other than a rune on the top and bottom ends of the pole. The runes had the slightest of blue glows.
Kurobe approached Axel but made sure to say hello to Rimuru first "Here you go" Kurobe grunted as he dropped the staff into Axel's outstretched hands.
"Whoa!" Axel admired the staff and quickly adjusted himself so he didn't drop the pole. "Man this thing feels heavier than the ore"
"It's the way it had to be made" Kurobe responded "It's made entirely of the ischrós ore and we noticed that its weight almost seems to increase while it's being moulded".
"Pretty weird but I ain't complaining" Axel moved the pole between both hands and moved it around "So how do I extend it?"
"Well first I need to attune it to you" Kaijin walked up "It's pretty simple. Just need to be holding it and pour some of your energy into it and the rune I made should take care of the rest".
"Doesn't that mean anyone could use it then?" Rimuru questioned from his seat.
Kaijin shook his head "Not exactly. First they'd have to be able to lift it and two, they'd need another person proficient in runes to be able to add an extra slot so to speak".
"Guess that makes sense" Axel shrugged while pouring a small amount of Ki into the weapon. Both runes glowed slightly for a moment before dimming down again "Is that it?"
"Pretty much" Kaijin shrugged "Just have to command it to extend with either your voice or your mind. But you need to actually be holding it in order for it to happen".
"How long can it grow?" Axel asked while twirling the pole around.
"As long as you want it to really. But I don't think you would need to go over fifty feet. Doubt you'd even need for it to grow that big since you can fly".
"So you think it can grow further than fifty?"
"It is possible" Kaijin shrugged again before putting his hands on his hips "Test it outside the shop and see for yourself".
Axel nodded before making his way to the door "I'll head to the training grounds and test this out. Leave you guys alone to talk about the Orcs and stuff" Axel gave a small wave before exiting the shop.
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An odd place to end but I couldn't really think of where to end it. Sorry if you all were hoping for the fight against the Orc Disaster to be longer, but in the anime it was incredibly short with only a brief battle between Rimuru and Geld before Rimuru that lasted only a minute or two before Rimuru went to absorb Geld. And a few may be upset that Axel didn't win or have enough time to shine, but he does need a motivation to train harder. Not just surpass or be on par with Rimuru at all times. Hope you all liked it and what you think Axel could do next. Possibly become a bounty hunter?