I'm still working on my other stories and I probably shouldn't start another one but I've had this in my head for a while and really wanted to just get something down. Who knows if I'll continue it for long, but excuse my terrible grammar and mediocre story telling.

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Death can sometimes be quick and painless, while other times it feels like an eternity passes by as you slowly fade away. Sometimes you know when, while other times you don't know when it will happen. And there are plenty of ways to die, whether it is natural causes, murder, suicide, disease or even a freak accident. But being impaled in a freak accident, while certainly not new, is certainly not a way someone wants to die. Today we witness one of these deaths.

It was a cool winter night, evident by the light dusting of snow on the ground and light flurries in the sky. It was not overly cold but just enough to wear a good sweater and warm pants with a light pair of gloves. But that's not what should be focused on. An accident had just happened while on the road home for our protagonist.

A young man in his mid-twenties sat in his wrecked car as he stared at the piece of metal that was impaled through his chest. The driver behind him lost control of their vehicle and hit this man from behind, causing his vehicle to hit a construction workers truck that was carrying a lot of material. It wasn't fastened down properly, so when this man hit it, a piece of rebar flew out and went right through his windshield and into his chest.

The pain was extraordinary for this young man, but slowly the pain started to dull as his eyelids grew heavy with every shaky breath. He soon felt someone trying to help him but he wasn't focusing on that, as he knew he wouldn't last much longer.

'Of all the things…' he thought to himself as blood slowly flowed from his mouth 'The one day I feel excited to be alive and make it home… this goes and happens'. He looked to his side as he saw someone pulling him out of his vehicle and beginning to call for help. As he laid on the snow covered concrete, he looked to the sky and chuckled internally 'Man I wish this didn't hurt so much'.

[Pain nullification acquired] A robotic female voice echoed in his mind.

'Great… Now I'm hearing voices' the pain dulled even more as it became more increasingly difficult to stay awake. 'I… Know it wasn't my fault… but… rushing home just to read the new Dragon Ball chapter in the middle of winter?' he outwardly chuckled this time and immediately regretted it 'Ah it hurts to laugh'.

'It's too bad I wasn't a saiyan or something, could've taken this like nothing'

[DNA not available. Recoding DNA to match]

'Of course they aren't available, they don't exist' he said to the voice in his head 'I don't have the build or the spikey hair'

[Muscle mass increased. Height increased. Hair Changed]

'I've officially lost it now… but haven't experienced this before… so I guess it's a first' his eyes started to close slowly. He looked to his left and saw a woman and a man panicking as they tried to help, even though they knew they couldn't do anything.

The woman was openly crying as she kept saying "I'm sorry" over and over again. The guy didn't say anything as he just stayed knelt beside him and looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry kid" he spoke in a deep voice.

With all the remaining strength the 'kid' had, he grabbed the man's arm weakly "Hey…" the kid managed to croak out as blood spurted from his mouth.

The man was alarmed "Easy there buddy, just rest"

"Tell my family that… I love them and I want them to receive any money I have" the dying man spoke as the other man listened intently, knowing exactly what he was doing. More blood came from his mouth in the form of a cough as he continued to speak raspy. "I want my best friend to have all my games and my other best friend in B.C to have my books" they were manga but he didn't need to know that.

The man nodded as he looked to the dying 'kid' "I got you" he spoke calmly "what's your name kid?"

"It's…" he managed to say before his eyes closed "Axel…" and with those last words, Axel died.

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Axel didn't know what to expect after he died. He wasn't crazy religious, nor was he an overly good person who constantly helped people. He was just your average weeb in his mid-twenties who liked to laze around and binge watch shows. While he wasn't rude in life, he was still kind and reliable, but was also kind of lazy and moody.

So when he opened his eyes, only to be laying on soft grass near a running river while staring at the blue sky and listening to the sound of birds. He was certainly a little confused.

"What the…" Axel raised his hand in to view and starred at it for a moment "My hand looks a little bigger?" he questioned more than stated. With a small grunt of effort, he put his hand on his face as he sat up "Is this heaven?" he mumbled to himself while lowering his hand as he slouched over a bit. When he saw his body, he could see he wasn't wearing the same clothes he 'died' in.

He was currently wearing black boots, loose black pants with an odd brown belt and a white short sleeved shirt that felt a little bit tight. Slowly but surely he stood up and looked around "This sure as hell isn't home" he said aloud while glancing around at the clearing in a forest he now found himself in.

Axel looked around the clearing for any signs of life, other than the birds in the sky, but didn't see anything. The only thing he could really hear was the sound of a river nearby 'Guess there isn't anywhere else to go right now' he thought to himself while walking in the direction of the river.

Within a few minutes Axel had arrived at the river, the few feet leading to the water was made up of small rocks and sand. The river itself looked like something straight out of a fantasy anime, the water being so clear and flowing so calmly, that you could even see a few fish swimming around. The perfect picture of peaceful.

Suddenly feeling extremely parched, Axel knelt on the small rocks and scooped a handful of water and drank it. He let out a satisfying sigh and closed his eyes in bliss, when he opened his eyes back up, they immediately bulged out.

"What the!? What happened to my hair!?" Axel ran his hand through his now spikey hair that jutted out in random directions. 'I had freaking short hair that was almost buzzed before, how the hell do I have Goku hair?!' Axel started to run his hands through his hair and pull on it random places to see if it was real. "It's not just that" he looked back into the water and saw that the white shirt he was wearing was helping show off bulging muscles.

"I mean…" he started to do a few possess that you'd see in body building competitions to see his muscles. "I worked out before but this is crazy" his build wasn't massive but the amount of muscle he had was crazy. He was even taller too, went from maybe five foot seven inches to five foot ten inches.

"Wait a second" Axel said aloud before crossing his left arm across his chest and grabbing his chin with his right hand in a thinking pose. "That voice in my head when I died, it said some weird stuff before I suddenly woke up here". He then tried opening and closing his eyes repeatedly and pinching himself "I can taste, hear, feel and smell everything" his eyes then widened again.

"Did I get freaking ISAKAIED!" he yelled out which caused a few birds to fly out of their homes in the trees surrounding the river. "But then that means…" he looked down to his 'belt' which unwrapped and swayed behind him.

Several minutes passed as Axel's poor brain tried to process all this information at once "I… think I need to sit down". Axel then proceeded to all but fall back onto the grass a few short feet away from the river 'It's really real, I can't believe it'. Axel looked at the passing clouds in the sky 'What the hell am I going to do? I've camped and hunted before but how the hell am I going to live out here on my own. I guess I should follow the river or something so I can find a settlement or a town of some kind'. With a heavy sigh, Axel rose to his feet and slowly began to walk downstream.

A few hours went by before his stomach started to growl something fierce and boy did it sound like a wild bear. "I guess I forgot about that" Axel mumbled while holding his stomach "Guess I should hunt for something… but I don't have anything to hunt with". Axel looked around but obviously there weren't any guns lying around or a fresh deer waiting to be eaten. "I mean I have these" he said while looking at his hands "If I really did become a saiyan, then I should be able to just snap some things neck with no issue". Axel then flexed his hand before he walked up to a nearby tree "Well let's test this out and hopefully I don't break my hand". After a deep breath, Axel punched the tree with his full force and completely shattered the base of the tree in a single strike.

Axel blinked owlishly at the tree as it slowly fell to the ground and crashed with a resounding thud. A smirk then came across his face "Oh hell yea!" he said aloud with a fist pump "Guess getting some firewood shouldn't be a problem". And with that, while full of adrenalin, Axel proceeded to punch the fallen tree in multiple areas to create a substantial pile of firewood. A light sweat was now on his forehead "That was pretty fun" he said with a slight huff. "I have all this wood now but no food" he looked to the forest and then towards the river "Probably be easier to get fish".

Axel then proceeded to gather some stones and arrange it in a circle with some wood before he approached the river. He removed his shoes, rolled up his pant legs a bit and somehow managed to wrap his tail back around his waist in order to fish by hand. Axel stepped a few feet into the relatively shallow river and began to look around below him 'Never fished like this before but with enhanced strength and speed, I should be able to do this'. Axel bent his knees slightly and readied his hands.

He saw a few fish swim around him 'Gotta wait for the perfect one' he thought to himself before suddenly thrusting his hand out and grabbing a medium sized fish straight out of the water. "HA!" he shouted loudly in triumph "Got one!" It continued to wiggle within his grasp and the damn thing was slippery so he was doing his best to keep a hold of it. "Damn little bastard!" he mumbled while cautiously walking back to his impromptu campfire which had yet to be lit.

He placed the wriggling fish on the ground and went back to the river as it slowly died from the lack of water. 'Just one ain't gonna be enough so I'll have to get at least five more or something' so that's just what he did.

It took Axel at least an hour and a half before he caught the amount of fish he wanted. They all varied in size but none of them were overly small and he got lucky the first time, because every second or third attempt was met with failure. When he finally finished placing the last fish down, he grabbed the rest of the tree he had punched down and lifted it with ease towards his campsite to use as a seat. He then grabbed a few twigs and some grass that could be used for kindling to start his fire. He managed to create enough heat on the dry grass he grabbed to cause a few embers to appear. Axel then brought it to his mouth and gently blew on it in order to cause the embers to grow hotter and catch fire. After carefully placing it under the arranged wooden logs, a fire slowly started to build and grow larger. Luckily he found a rock that was somewhat thin and sharp enough to act as an impromptu knife in order to descale the fish and whatnot. It certainly was a rough job and it looked like someone used a chainsaw to gut the fish. But hey, it works.

He used two long sticks to help cook the fish as he held it over the fire. It took a while since he had never cooked this rough before and all this was mostly trial and error. The fish, when they finished cooking, were pretty unevenly cooked but were cooked enough and were edible. He cautiously took a bite and grimaced slightly 'I don't have any seasoning but I'm way too hungry'. He then started to absolutely demolish all the fish he had. Within what felt like seconds, all the fish was gone and his appetite was relatively satisfied but he still wasn't exactly full.

The sun was already starting to set, so a warm orange glow was cast all around him as he starred into the fire. 'Don't even feel tired yet' he said while crossing his legs on the log 'I guess if I have become a saiyan, then I should be able to access ki. But I have no one to train me'. Axel then closed his eyes as he went deep into thought 'The only thing I have to go off of is my memory of episodes and the only episode I can think of is when Gohan taught it'. With nothing to lose, Axel placed his hands in front of him like in the episode.

'First relax my body and look deep inside' he thought while inhaling and letting out a smooth exhale. 'Deep within should be something' with a calm mind, he reached deep within himself. Almost thirty minutes went by before he even felt something. 'Is that my ki?' he thought while 'looking' at the glowing light deep within. He tried to 'grab' it but with every try, it evaded him and caused him to grow more increasingly frustrated. He almost lashed out in impatience but forced himself to calm down 'Just take it slow. No one's pushing me'. Another few attempts ended in failure before he finally grasped his ki.

When his eyes opened, he was greeted to the sight of a small ball of blue ki in front of him. It hummed slightly and flickered a few times as Axel stared in awe before it fizzled out and Axel had to stop himself from falling over. "That… was tiring" he huffed a few times before looking into the sky and seeing it was now pitch dark outside and his fire started to dwindle down. With a small amount of effort, he stood up and grabbed some more wood before adding it to the fire and went to sit on the ground with his back on the log.

He chuckled to himself as his eyes got a little heavy "Didn't even think about fishing with the tail… oh well, maybe next time" he mumbled out as he slowly fell asleep.

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A few days had passed since Axel's arrival and not much changed since he first arrived in this new world. For the past five days, he had been living off the land as much as someone who had minimal knowledge of this stuff could. He had hunted a few times over the past couple days but he was still a novice at tracking and he couldn't sense energy yet. But he had made progress in handling his ki. Every night and every morning, he spent at least two hours just meditating and drawing out his ki. He couldn't fly yet and was still working on drawing out his ki more effectively. Axel was now proficient enough with his ki to the point where he could fire very weak blasts. So flying wasn't too far away and would be attempted soon.

But he had learned to control his tail a little better, he could now wrap and unwrap his tail without a thought and could somewhat control it. So all in all, the past five days have gone well for Axel.

*Growwwwwwl*

Except for the fact that he hadn't had a good meal in a while. He had been eating relatively often, but the amount he was able to catch and consume was too low for someone of his… nature.

With a heavy sigh, Axel held his stomach and pouted "Please just let me find a city or something" he half whined.

KABOOM

Axel immediately looked to his left into the forest, a small shockwave from whatever that explosion was had washed over him slightly. 'I probably shouldn't just run in but what choice do I have?' Axel started a light jog to where the explosion came from.

His heart started to pound and his adrenalin was at an all-time high 'Hell, I'm just raring to go!' He thought to himself, the thought of an impending battle or some sort of confrontation, got his blood boiling 'Must be my new body reacting'.

He picked up the pace and ran at speeds he never even thought possible, he was easily running faster than any human back on earth ever could. But he wasn't use to moving this fast "Oh shit!" he exclaimed as he dug his heals in to the ground in order to stop himself from dashing straight into another river. After he came to a stop, he took a few breaths to calm down before he looked around. Axel found himself looking at a large circular opening in the river which was larger than a small field, and then it narrowed back in to the average size of a river/stream.

The first thing Axel noticed was the smell of something burnt in the air and the ground was very wet, even though it hadn't rained since he got here "It doesn't smell like burning flesh or wood and it hasn't rained…". He continued to sniff around before he bent down and picked up a seemingly harmless rock, the rock was incredibly warm to the touch, even though it had moisture on it, and had char marks on it.

'Did something crash here? Or maybe something was blown up' the large opening in the river/stream looked pretty calm but then again, it took him some time to arrive, even at the incredibly high speeds he was moving at. There didn't seem to be any tracks or disturbed ground otherwise on where he was standing, so he looked to the other side and saw that there was some lightly disturbed grass, as if someone was standing or sitting there for a short time.

"Huh" he said aloud before deciding to cross. Axel went a good distance downstream to where it narrowed "I am not too keen on swimming right now" he said aloud before backing up a good distance. With a breath to prepare him, Axel bent his legs slightly and got into a sprinting pose, before running at full speed and jumping. Axel gained an insane amount of air and most certainly underestimated his jumping ability. He cleared the about thirty foot river by an extra ten or so feet and stumbled before regaining his balance.

He chuckled before looking back at the distance he cleared "Probably would've broken a world record back home" he mumbled before shaking his head and going to the spot where he thought was some disturbed ground. The grass was also wet on this side and there were some murky paw prints that looked too big to be a dog. It was certainly strange but he'd heard before that wolves were generally bigger than almost all dogs, but then again, he's never seen a wolf up close before.

The tracks went up a hill that wasn't too far away from where he was standing, the tracks were somewhat easy to see since it must have been a fairly large creature that made them. "Just what the hell made these tracks?" he said to himself "And what could make an explosion that's shockwave traveled all the way to where I was?"

Axel proceeded to follow the tracks at a steady jog, yet chose to do it cautiously since he didn't know who or what did this. The tracks took him through a vast grassland that continued for as far as his eyes could see. There was a mountain range far off into the distance but the tracks didn't go there so Axel could care less.

Axel followed the tracks for a few days, it took him a while since he had to stop every now and then to eat and at some point, it also got harder to track as the days went on. He had lost the tracks a few times and almost considered giving up but it wasn't like he had anything else to do since he was just aimlessly following a river before. Axel had now found himself on a hill that overlooked a forest pathway so he was certainly making progress on finding this new worlds inhabitants.

He was debating on which path to follow before he heard a scream up the road "YOU IDIOT!" a female voice screamed and was gaining distance so it got harder to hear anything more.

'Someone's in trouble' Axel thought before breaking off into a sprint 'can't let the only people I've heard since I arrived here to up and die on me'. The screams and bantering got louder and louder before he saw a large blast of fire engulf the road ahead. 'The hell makes that kind of flame?' Axel thought before quickening his pace.

Eventually he saw what looked to be a woman in some white looking outfit with dark purple leggings, white shoes that had purple tips, white gloves with green at the ends and purple on her fingers. A white cloak was flowing in the wind behind her as she stared at what could only be described as giant ants. Axel couldn't see her face since she wore a mask that had black markings on it and a red gem in the middle.

Axel could see she was wielding a sword that had flames flickering around it 'Did her sword do that?' he shook his head as he was only a few meters away 'She's surrounded by almost twenty of them and it looks like she's protecting other people but I can't see through them too well'.

With a mighty leap, Axel rushed into battle with an excited grin as his new saiyan blood yearned for battle. He had never experienced this before and barely knew how to fight since he only took maybe one defence class when he was young. Axel's leap easily took him over all the giant ants that were approaching the female sword wielder. The ants he leaped over had noticed him but were to slow to react as he dive bombed a giant and that was about to leap onto the woman. He crashed into the ant so hard that the ant and Axel hit the ground with enough force to send spider web cracks from the point of impact.

The woman glanced in Axel's direction before she was forced to turn around and fend off a giant ant. She easily sliced its head in half and the flames from her sword fried its brain in less than a second.

The ant Axel had dive bombed was somewhat able to recover and tried to bite Axel but he responded with a solid punch to its head. The punch caused the cracks around them to grow bigger and the ants head to cave in and leak out its weirdly coloured blood.

'Heh' he thought while staring at the crushed ant 'Almost did that entirely on instinct but man… I'm freaking fired up!' he thought to himself as the sensation of battle completely overtook him.

"LOOK OUT!" a guy screamed from behind Axel. He was an averagely tall man with neck length dirty blond hair, brown eyes and had a small amount of stubble on his chin. He wore a tan coloured shirt with a black coat that ended at about his waist with a shoulder plate attached to his right shoulder and was wearing gauntlets. He also wore light gray pants that had some fur around the waist, a brown cloth was there as well and he had gray pants with brown boots. The sword he had strapped to his back wasn't even drawn.

"BEHIND YOU!" a female shouted to his right. She seemed about as young as him with pink marks under her green eyes and wore a red long-sleeved shirt that had white at the ends and white from just under her breasts to her waist. She also had a pink skirt and black stockings with brown shoes. She also carried a brown staff that had a crystal ball on the top of it and a blue headband tied so the knot was on the right side of her head.

Axel didn't get a chance to look at the other guy amongst the group and was forced to turn around, only to see a giant ant about to leap on top of him. Quickly he hopped off the ant he was still standing on and avoided the ant that crashed down onto where he was just standing. Axel didn't hop very far so he still wasn't close to the group that had called the ant out.

The ant screeched and rushed Axel "Hell, this fun" he mumbled out as the ant leapt forward. To Axel it was moving slow enough for him to see it move relatively easily, so he sidestepped the ant. It landed directly next to him but didn't react fast enough since it got a fist planted into its side which sent it flying into a tree that cracked on impact. It wriggled around for a moment before it stopped and just laid there motionless.

"Holy crap" muttered the third person in the small group of people. He had brown hair and wore a green shirt with a brown vest overtop, gray pants, brown boots, black gloves and a red bandana tied around his forehead.

Axel smirked a little at them before glancing at where the masked woman was "Colour me impressed" he said with some praise as every other ant was down for the count and were literally smoking.

"Shizu…" the blond girl said with no small hint of amazement as she gazed at the now named Shizu. Shizu flicked her blade and sheathed it before turning around and looking directly at Axel. She took in a breath and was about to say something. She didn't get to say anything since one of the ants actually started to shake and stand up again "Shizu!" the blond girl shouted again.

She whipped her head around while drawing her sword in one fluid motion, she stood calmly and was prepared to strike. But before she could strike, she suddenly stumbled forward and kneeled on the floor while clutching her chest.

The group she was with started to panic as the ant was almost on top of her "Crap" Axel said aloud before raising his hand quickly. He gathered some ki into his hand as fast as he could and blasted it forward in a haste to help save the Shizu girl. The ki fired out in a haphazard beam that rushed the ant and made a small explosion on impact. It created a fair amount of smoke and ended blowing half of the ants head off. The resulting blast caused Shizu's mask to fly off her face and up into the air but the ant was still falling forwards even though it was dead.

As the ant was falling, it was engulfed in a large blast of lightning that made Axel's blast look like a fire cracker in comparison. "Whew" a light childlike voice said from the smoke "Probably shouldn't use that too often, just a tad too powerful". When the smoke cleared, there was some weird blue blob that had Shizu's mask on it.

"The hell is that thing?" Axel said aloud while looking at the thing on the ground.

"This thing is a slime" the slime spoke again.

"Don't those… you know, not talk?" Axel asked.

"That's what I was gonna say" said the blond haired guy.

"You guys got a problem with slimes?" the slime asked while sliding closer with Shizu's mask in its 'mouth'.

"Can't say I do really" Axel responded "Unless you're looking to pick a fight"

"No I'm not gonna do that" It slid closer "You should help your friend though"

This caused the blond girl to rush to Shizu's side and help her up "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" Shizu said while slowly rising to her feet.

"Well miss, I believe this is yours" Said the slime as it 'handed' the mask over to Shizu "Hope that blast didn't hurt you or anything"

"No" Shizu responded with a smile "I'm alright" she said as the two continued to stare at each other.

"So uh…" all eyes went to Axel "I'm kind of new around here" he continued while scratching the back of his head. "And I've been wandering the forest and fields for over a week now and I have no idea where I am".

"Where are you from then?" the blond haired girl asked.

"Somewhere you wouldn't know" Axel responded 'Don't want to seem like some crazed weirdo who spouts nonsense about being from another world'.

"Well how about I take you all to my home?" the slime spoke up.

"You got a house?" Axel asked with a questioning look.

"What? Did you think I was homeless or something?" Asked the slime.

"Kind of"

The slime huffed before turning around and hoping off "Follow me and I'll take you guys home"

Everyone looked at each other before shrugging and following the slime.

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No one really talked for the few minutes that they walked. Shizu stayed silent and didn't show much intention of speaking, while everyone else just awkwardly followed the slime. Within no time at all they reached an opening that had small wooden and thatch houses and a few large tents around.

The slime turned to the group "I'll be right back but Rigurd over there" a small appendage came out of the slime and pointed ahead. It was pointing at a large hobgoblin that stood well over two meters tall and had the physique of a body builder standing next to a tent/house. He wore a gray shirt with a black jacket over top with fur lining the neck along with brown pants and brown shoes. "He will show you a spot you can rest" the slime then hopped off somewhere as the group approached the hobgoblin.

'So I'm officially in a magic based world with slimes and goblins so that's pretty neat I guess' Axel thought to himself as they came in front of the Goblin.

The goblin struck a pose and flexed his incredible muscles "You must be the humans our scouts found in the forest" he said while smiling and striking another pose.

"Yeah…" the blonde haired guy spoke "You guys have any food to spare? Kind of starving".

"Ha-ha!" Rigurd struck a final pose "Please come through here and we'll bring you some food" he motioned to a tent that was right beside him.

The group and Axel went inside the tent and saw a few cushions lining the ground, in the middle of the cushions was a small pit that had a few pieces of wood in it. Everyone took a seat on the ground and immediately relaxed. Shizu and the blond girl sat next to each other on one side while the brown haired man sat across from Shizu and was next to the dirty blond guy. Axel took a seat a little in between Shizu and the brown haired guy.

It was silent and awkward for a minute before the blond girl broke the ice "Umm… thanks for helping us out mister…"

"Axel" Axel gave his name to the girl.

"Yeah thanks a bunch man" said the dirty blond guy "My names Kaval, this team's leader and fighter" he then pointed to the blond girl "That's Eren, she's our mage". He then pointed to the brown haired guy "And that's Gido, he's our thief" Kaval then looked to Shizu "You've heard her name a few times but that's Shizu, she joined us to come to this are just before we left" everyone gave a slight wave and a hello.

Shizu glanced at Axel through her mask "I must thank you for killing that ant for me, your strength is commendable".

Axel scratched the back of his head "You think so?"

"Yeah!" Gido said with enthusiasm "To crack the ground and send those ants flying with pure strength is awesome!"

Axel chuckled nervously at the praise "I can't take all the credit" he pointed his thumb at Shizu "She did most of the work".

Kaval chuckled slightly "Guess that's true"

Eren then looked at Axel "What was that blast you fired?"

Shizu nodded "I've seen magic similar but it seemed different"

Axel then crossed his arms and thought for a second "In short" he started "It's not magic"

All but Shizu had curious gazes on their faces "What do you mean it's not magic?" asked Eren.

"The best way I can put it, is that its life energy" Axel responded.

"Life energy?" asked Gido "Isn't that just magic or stuff that monk's use?"

Axel made a so-so motion with his hand "I haven't come across a monk in my travels but it's essentially my life force being turned into energy".

"That sounds complicated" he made a slight pout.

"Hehe" Axel chuckled "Pretty dangerous too since a lot can go wrong with it".

"Dangerous?" Eren asked.

"Dangerous in the sense that it can cause a lot of destruction and if you use every last drop of it, you could put your life at risk. I'm no master but I've been working on controlling it better".

They all nodded just as the tent flaps opened back up, Rigurd's large frame coming through and carrying a metal table. A few goblins of much smaller size wearing brown, somewhat raggy, shirts and a few wearing a similar outfit to Rigurd came through carrying various kinds of meat and a few mushrooms but not that much else.

"Hello again!" he said while placing the metal table in between us and lighting the fire below the table. "We don't have much but please make yourselves at home" he finished with a might pose that everyone sweat dropped a little at, but everyone said a quick thank you.

They placed the meat on the table and left without much else and left the group of people to eat. Within minutes the smell of cooking meat filled the tent and caused everyone's mouth to water, except for Shizu. When some of the meat was finished cooking, everyone grabbed a bowl and some chopsticks and began eating.

Shizu was the only one to eat in a dignified slow manner. Everyone else was eating as if it were their last day on earth, Axel was eating about as much as the three adventurers combined at an even faster pace. Shizu didn't show any outward reaction but she was giving a few looks from under her mask as she somehow ate through it.

For Axel this was a dream come true 'Oh god it's so good' he stuffed a whole slab of meat into his mouth 'Sure I ate a good amount for the past couple days but nothing grilled like this!' Axel was thinking to himself as he looked like a literal chipmunk. Even his tail had unwrapped and was swaying behind him happily.

Shizu noticed this and turned her head slightly to look at the tail but didn't say anything, everyone else was too busy with eating to notice this. Quickly the amount of food was decreasing and once they reached the last of the food. The curtain opened and Rigurd walked through again with the slime and another goblin that was taller than the ones they saw before. Not as tall as Axel but still had some height to him.

Rigurd put his hands behind him and spoke "Honoured guests, I hope you are comfortable with what we have" he then smiled a bit "Allow me to make introductions. This is our master, the great Rimuru!" he then pointed to the now named slime, Rimuru.

Kaval and his party swallowed their food simultaneously and spoke at the same time "Master?"

Shizu stayed quiet but gave them her attention, Axel was still eating but was looking in their direction. He just ate a tad bit slower in order to not seem too rude.

'Kind of quirky but I've seen worse, or better, in anime and stuff' Axel thought to himself while wrapping his tail around his waist again before anyone really noticed.

"Got a problem?" asked Rimuru.

"Uh, no…" Kaval said.

"Just didn't expect it I guess" Gido chimed in.

"We knew you weren't an ordinary slime" Eren also chimed in "But we still had no idea…"

Rimuru then started to hop around a bit "Nice to meet you! I'm Rimuru the slime!" Rimuru then somehow looked to be eye smiling "I'm not a bad slime!"

Axel chocked a bit on his food and had to slam his chest a bit and Shizu tried to stifle a laugh, this caused Kaval's party to glance at them with a questioning look.

Kaval turned back around bowed his head "Thank you, we never expected to be saved by a monster and some random guy, but we do appreciate the hospitality".

Eren said thanks for the food while Gido said something about being surprised at finding goblins here. "So what are you guy's doing here exactly?"

Kaval spoke first "I'm Kaval. For what it's worth, I'm the leader of this party" He pointed to Eren who said her name and then to Gido who said his name as well. Kaval then pointed to Shizu "And this is a temporary member who just so happened to be going the same way as us".

"Shizu" was her short introduction.

"What about you?" Rimuru looked towards Axel.

Axel still had some food in his mouth so he swallowed it and waved slightly "I'm Axel. Found myself in the forest and was wandering for about a week until I found these guys and helped them out". Rimuru stared at Axel for a moment and seemed to be in thought but you couldn't really tell too well considering Rimuru was a slime.

"Well" Kaval started again "We were sent here at the request of our Guildmaster in the Kingdom of Blumund. More or less to see what was going on here and to see if there was any troubling activity since some weird stuff has been happening apparently". He then smiled slightly "And there isn't any as far as I can see".

Rimuru nodded his body "I see".

Axel finally put his bowl down and patted his contempt stomach before he asked everyone a question "So, I still don't exactly know where I am right now…"

"Oh yeah…" Kaval scratched the back of his head "We never told you really".

"Wait" Rimuru looked at Axel and tilted his body "If you've been wandering the forest of Jura for over a week. Where exactly did you come from?"

Axel scratched the back of his head "Somewhere where these guys wouldn't know" he thumbed at Kaval's party "But I think you might know".

Rimuru nodded in understanding before he addressed the group "Well then. Why don't you guys spend the night here and relax, you can head off in the mourning if you want". Rimuru looked to Rigurd "Treat them well, alright" Rigurd nodded in response.

Everyone expressed their gratitude before Rimuru hopped out of the tent.

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.

.

Axel literally did not have anything, other than the clothes on his back, so he didn't have anything to unpack to get comfortable. So after some light conversations with Kaval's party, he decided to leave the tent and explore for a bit. He talked to a few of the village's inhabitants which were pretty much all goblins. He did see a few, which he assumed were dwarves going around and helping with construction, but he didn't get to speak with any of them. There were also large wolves moving about and one who was larger than the rest. He actually did manage to speak with the Wolf for a minute and learned his name was Ranga. He looked a lot different than the other wolves since he had a horn on his head and a dark blue X shape where the horn was.

It was mostly just a brief introduction so nothing really interesting happened with that. Axel did however help a few of the villagers move some large wooden beams which they were thankful for. Even got into a lifting contest with Rigurd and they were trying to see who could lift the most beams and support posts. It more or less ended in a tie since they weren't taking it too seriously but they did share a laugh together.

With all that said and done, the sun was in a lower position and it would start to 'set' soon. So Axel decided to walk over to some hill that he saw and it overlooked a whole entire valley. It was incredibly peaceful and made Axel stop for a moment and just take a deep breath and feel the wind on his skin. He sighed with contempt. He took a seat cross legged and just admired the sun as it started to set 'I should take advantage of this' Axel thought to himself as he put his hands on his lap and began to meditate.

'I've spent a good amount of time just drawing out my ki to get better control of it, so I may as well see if I can levitate. Eventually begin to try and fly' he finished that thought with a smirk. Axel relaxed himself so much so, that his tail even unwrapped and laid itself in the grass. 'I know that I have to flow my ki through my body and to my feet to begin flying, but I don't want to get in over my head and send myself flying off this hill'. With a deep breath, Axel searched within himself and found his ki. But instead of bringing it out and just maintaining it for as long as he could, he decided to move it through his body.

It felt incredibly weird, since he had only been bringing it through his hands and shot it out very few times. But with the calming atmosphere, Axel was able to flow his ki throughout his body in a calm and slow fashion. He first spread it around his chest and arms, which he was familiar with, then down to his lower body. Now that he was familiar with moving his ki around his body, he decided to slowly try and push it out of his legs. The grass around him ruffled a bit but so far, he hadn't risen off the ground.

It took closer to five tries before there was any kind of results, just a few lifts but no floating. Suddenly Axel felt a little weightless. Very slowly he opened his eyes and looked down, to see that he was floating a few inches of the ground.

"Alright!" Axel pumped his fist as his tail wagged a little.

"Congratulations"

"AH!" Axel got startled and fell back down onto the ground, still being cross-legged. Axel looked next to himself and saw that Shizu was now standing next to him and observing the now setting sun with her mask on. "How long have you been there?"

"Enough to see you start floating" Shizu responded evenly.

"Scared the daylights out of me" Axel tried to lighten the mood with a small joke, which Shizu chose to stay silent and observe the setting sun. Axel felt a little awkward in her presence but chose to keep silent for a few minutes "So uh… did you need something or are you just here to see the sunset".

"Just to watch the sunset"

"Ah" the silence remained for a short bit longer. Axel decided to uncross his legs and stretch them out while placing his hands behind him for support. Shizu had obviously seen his tail already so he just had it lazily swinging behind him.

The silence was broken by a familiar plopping sound "You guys have a minute?" Rimuru hopped between Axel and Shizu. I wanted to ask you guys something. Are you both from Japan too?"

Rimuru looked between the two and Axel responded first "Not Japan no. I'm from Canada"

"Huh… didn't expect that" Rimuru responded.

Axel chuckled before looking at Rimuru "If you are from Japan, it's weird how I can understand you"

"I see what you mean, I don't know English that well and I just know how to read the basic language here" Rimuru chuckled a bit.

"Slime-san" Shizu said aloud and got the attention of both Axel and Rimuru "that line you said was from a game before wasn't it?" Shizu then bent down and picked up Rimuru "I never played it, but I did hear about it from someone else that came from Japan" she removed her mask.

Axel observed the interaction and asked "So how did you guys get here?"

Rimuru spoke first "I was stabbed to death" he looked to Axel "How did you get here?"

Axel chuckled before jabbing his thumb into the middle of his chest "Got in a car accident and impaled through the chest" Axel then stood up and stretched. "Now I got the biology of a saiyan" he smirked as he showed off his tail.

Rimuru's 'eyes' popped out a bit "Whoa really!? That's awesome!"

Shizu chuckled and pet Rimuru "I see. So you were both reincarnated, it must've been hard"

"We're you not reincarnated?" Axel asked with a head tilt and crossed arms.

Shizu's expression took on a more sad look "I was a summon" this earned a head tilt from both Axel and Rimuru.

"I only got here last week" Axel started "When did you get here?"

Shizu stood silent for a moment "It was… a long time ago. My town was engulfed in flames"

"Were you guys at war?" Rimuru asked.

"Bombs fell from the sky…" she continued "I fled with my mother, but then…" Shizu went silent as she starred off a bit.

"You don't have to say anything if it's too much you know" Axel said after a moment.

Rimuru perked up a bit "How about I show you something fun?" he then looked to Axel "I think you already know what all the stuff will look like so…"

"Do whatever you need, I'll wait" Axel smiled a bit.

Rimuru then proceeded to look into Shizu's eyes and somehow linked with her telepathically. They were talking aloud about Japan and how it prospered after the war that Shizu experienced. She looked incredibly happy as she looked out to the sunset and was seeing something other than the sun. At least from what Axel could gather.

As Shizu looked out, she suddenly dropped Rimuru and clenched at her chest in pain and seemed ready to collapse. Axel rushed over and put a hand on her back to try and support her "Shizu?" Rimuru asked worriedly.

She continued to breathe heavily before calming down "I'm sorry".

Axel helped her stand a little straighter "Are you alright?" Axel asked with some concern.

After a moment she responded "Yes, I think so" she then put her mask back on.

Before Rimuru could say anything in response "Hey Rimuru, got a minute?" a voice said from behind the trio. The voice belonged to a brown haired dwarf with thick eyebrows and a thick beard that Axel had seen in the village before. He wore a purple stripped shirt with the sleeves rolled up, brown fingerless gloves, black pants, red boots with some fur on them, a fur collar on his neck that covered his shoulders and a pointed red hat with some goggles to top it off. "There's a house we'd like to build and we need a decision on where it should go".

Rimuru looked back at Axel and Shizu, before looking back at the dwarf "Sure" Rimuru responded. "I'll see you guys later" he said before hopping off.

The two shared some words in a comical fashion about interrupting a moment that was making Rimuru turn a bit pink. Axel and Shizu both turned back to the sunset and watched it for a bit. Shizu stayed quiet as she seemed to be thinking about something very intently.

'As much as she probably needs the alone time' Axel thought to himself as he observed Shizu 'Clutching your chest out of nowhere in pain just isn't right. And I swear I felt something…'

The sun was now about to fully disappear "Hey, Shizu" Axel said to her "It's getting late, we should head back"

"You do not have to wait for me"

"True but…" he scratched his head a bit "After an episode like that… I can't, in good conscience, leave you alone like that".

Shizu looked to Axel "I… appreciate it"

"No problem" Axel chuckled as the two stood there for another few minutes, until the sun was down and the half moon was now the only source of light. Shizu then turned to leave along with Axel, but she stumbled forward a bit. "Whoa easy now" Axel said as he supported her before she could stumble any further "You need help walking?"

She shook her head "I'll be fine thank you" Axel looked unsure but he made sure to stay close just in case.

.

.

.

Axel walked with Shizu back to their temporary home and the two headed off to bed along with Kaval's party. The guys were sleeping in a separate tent which seemed reasonable. But boy did it feel good for Axel to finally have a bed to sleep on, only sleeping on logs and the ground did get a little tiring. Especially since he didn't have a tent or a bedroll of some kind to make it more comfortable, he probably could have used a pelt of some kind but he didn't really know how to properly tan it or whatever the process was to make sure it didn't rot and decay.

Axel must have slept for a while because by the time he woke up, Kaval and Gido were already fully dressed and were eating breakfast. The two were alerted to Axel's awaking by the sound of his stomach grumbling something fierce.

Gido chuckled as he walked over to Axel's bed and handed him a large bowl of food that was bigger than theirs "Man you slept for a while".

Axel took the bowl and scarfed it down in a little over a minute, which greatly impressed Kaval and Gido. Axel let out a satisfied sigh before he responded "Still a little hungry but I'll be good for now" this caused the other two to sweat drop a bit. "But yeah" he then gave a big stretch to pop any stiff joints "Been sleeping on logs for a week".

"I think that's something we can all understand" Kaval said, which caused the boys to chuckle. "Anyways we're gonna be heading out soon. I don't know if you're coming with us or not"

Axel swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his boots on, while making sure his tail was wrapped up. "I'm not sure" Axel started "Heading to a big city would be nice but I might stick around here for a while before I go back to a city life".

"I guess I can get that" Kaval responded "Just know that you got a spot on our team if you ever decide to stop by".

"I'll keep that in mind thanks" Axel chuckled before standing up fully "I'm gonna go do some meditating outside so just let me know when you guys are off" Kaval and Gido nodded before Axel left the tent/house. He said good morning to the people that recognized him and just headed to behind the tent, where he would do his work on ki control. 'Could go back to that hill, but if I am gonna say goodbye or something, then I should stay close. Especially if they're leaving any moment now'.

Axel then took a seat on a patch of grass that was behind the tent and began to meditate. He did his usual ritual of drawing out his ki and then moving it throughout his body for a few minute before trying to levitate again. It didn't take as long as it did yesterday, only took about three tries before he had lift off. He tried to stay concentrated and off the ground for as long as possible. He got a solid two minutes before he plopped back onto the ground.

Axel smirked before he stood up 'I'm feeling adventurous so let's give this a shot' Axel then placed his arms at his side. With a few deep breaths, he started to channel his ki towards his feet. He attempted lift off a few times but wasn't really getting anywhere. 'Okay lets calm down a bit and try to let it out slowly like I do when I meditate, and see if that gives results'. With about five to ten minutes in trial and error, Axel finally felt his feet leave the ground. He was hovering about a foot off the grounds 'Alright now let's try moving' he then leaned forward a bit and tried to push some ki out of his feet. He misjudged the amount of ki and immediately had his face in the dirt.

Axel groaned audibly before standing up and wiping the dirt off of his face and pants. "Note to self" he muttered while dusting his shoulders off "Practice height before movement".

"Hey Axel!" Gido's voice shouted from the front of the tent.

"You heading out!?" Axel shouted back.

Kaval and Gido both rounded the tent "Yeah, just waiting on the girls" Gido responded. With that the three headed off to the exit of the village.

When they did arrive to the exit, Rimuru was already there on top of Rigurd's left shoulder, who was accompanied by the goblin he saw when they were given food yesterday. Axel had learned it was Rigurd's son, Rigur. He was dressed very similar to Rigurd, but obviously younger, shorter and was wearing a red bandana on his head.

Rimuru addressed the three as they approached "Good morning" he said happily, which the three responded in kind "Trust you all slept well?"

They all nodded with Axel giving a verbal response "Haven't slept in a bed for over a week, so it was nice"

Rimuru nodded satisfied "Are you going to go with them?"

Axel shook his head before putting his hands on his hips "I think I'll stick around for a while" Axel then went up to Rimuru and gave a light tap to Rigurd. "Plus, I and this guy gotta settle our little contest" Rigurd laughed aloud and flexed his arm.

Rimuru chuckled "As long as you're willing to help out".

"Guess I can be a pack mule of sorts" Axel responded, which caused everyone to laugh a bit.

Everyone engaged in small talk for about ten minutes, then Shizu and Eren finally left their tent and came up to everyone. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Eren said while the two walked over.

"We've been waiting forever" Gido spoke.

"Still true about how women take forever to get ready" Axel joked.

"Aw, come on we didn't take that long" Eren pouted a bit, which elicited a chuckle.

Shizu suddenly stopped moving and just stood there for almost a minute before everyone noticed "Hey, you alright?" Axel brought everyone's attention to her.

She continued to stare, before she suddenly clutched her chest and started writhing in agony "Not… again…" she managed to mumble out through the pain. Everyone questioned if she was alright, but then she dropped to her knees and started to scream. All of a sudden her hands went to her side and she tilted her head towards the sky.

All was silent as Shizu looked to the sky, no one dared make a move since they had no clue what was going on. Suddenly her mask cracked and it left an ominous orange glow that started to radiate light. Eren was shouting her name in worry as Gido held her back, Axel stood at the ready and moved in front of Kaval's party. A pillar of orange flame shot from Shizu's body that sent a shockwave, which had everyone stumble back a bit. Axel blocked most of the shockwave that hit Kaval and his party, but they were still shot back a few feet. The sky turned black with storm clouds and the air temperature rose drastically. The dust cleared and Shizu stood standing still for a moment before she started to float in the air. She glowed orange once more as flames formed in a sphere around her "Oh not again" Axel mumbled as another shockwave that was more powerful than the last, washed over them. Axel crossed his arms in an X formation and took the full brunt of the fiery explosion. Even though Axel took most of the force, Kaval and his party were on the floor, while Rigurd and Rigur were knelt down with Rimuru now on the ground.

The dust was still in the air and no one could really see further than where Axel was standing at the front. Axel's shirt was reduced to tatters and even had some embers still lit on his clothes. Axel took the remnants of his shirt and ripped it off, showing his toned and muscular back to everyone. Axel lowered his arms slowly and flinched a bit before turning his head to address the group behind him.

"Everyone good?" Axel asked.

Kaval mumbled "Yeah but, what the hell is this? Talk about getting hazard pay"

"Shizu!" Eren cried out.

Kaval then had a look of realization "Wait a second, Shizu… Shizue Izawa?"

"She famous or something?" Axel asked as the dust finally started to clear.

"She's the freaking Conqueror of Flames!" Kaval and Gido both shouted out.

Shizu was now able to be seen in a pillar of fire that was blowing like mad "Of course she is…" Axel mumbled while not really understanding the full scope of that title.

Rimuru's body then morphed a little to show an exclamation mark and a question mark "Y-you mean the hero of the guild from like fifty years ago?!"

"She doesn't look over fifty that's for sure" Axel mumbled out as he readied himself by sliding his right foot back and bringing his hands forward in a weird stance that looked like a cross between a martial arts stance and a boxing stance. 'Only ever been in about one or two fights in my life… but nothing like this".

"Rigurd, Rigur" Rimuru got the attention of the two goblins "Evacuate everyone and that's an order". Rigurd and his son wanted to object but they both acknowledged the order and quickly left to evacuate the village.

The flames continued to circle around Shizu, her mask fell off and revealed her face. Her eyes had tears in them that evaporated before they could fall. The flames swirled around her for a moment before bursting out and revealing a new being.

"Just what the hell is that thing?" Axel mumbled.

This new being had dark skin and red flowing hair that radiated pure heat, a set of horns were on top of its head and had a small torrent of flames being released. The being wore no shirt but had a toned body with holes in its shoulder and chest that had magma flowing in them. A dark split red skirt with a golden segmented belt was wrapped around its waist and it wore dark pants.

"It's the fire spirit, Ifrit…" Kaval responded to Axel's question.

"Then she really is, the legendary hero…" Gido muttered.

Eren was frightened "There's no way we can fight that".

"Not a chance. We're gonna die her" Gido responded glumly.

The now named Ifrit, let loose a mighty roar that shook the ground and sent yet another shockwave that was more destructive than the last. Kaval erected some kind of barrier that protected everyone from the shockwave. Pillars of flames surrounded Ifrit which suddenly dispersed, only to reveal five demonic winged creatures that had fire burning from their shoulders. The fire summons then flew over the village and left behind embers that started to burn down anything it touched.

Rimuru was angry "Damn it! We just built all that!"

"I think that's the least of our problems!" Axel shouted as the summons stared down all of them "You three should head out while you can" Axel addressed Kaval's party.

"She's one of us! We're not abandoning her!" Gido readied himself and drew a dagger.

"Right!" Eren and Kaval agreed.

"Better watch yourselves then" Axel responded and put his full attention to Ifrit.

Rimuru hopped beside Axel "Let's do this!" he then sent out a water blade which evaporated before it reached Ifrit "Should've expected that…"

Ifrit then released a small fire ball which was dodged by Rimuru and Axel. Axel responded with a small ki blast that got smacked away with no difficulty. The summonses rushed the group but were held back by a barrage of icicles from Eren "We'll handle one of them, you guys take the rest!"

"Hey, I'm the leader you know" Kaval joked as one of the summonses rushed them.

Rimuru hopped into the air and summoned Ranga, Rimuru hopped on as Ranga began to run and dodge a barrage of fire blasts from two of the summons.

The last two rushed Axel, who ran the opposite way of Rimuru to draw them away from the rest of the group. 'I can't exactly fly yet' Axel thought as he sidestepped a blast of fire 'Gotta wait for an opening' Axel hopped side to side a few times to dodge more blasts. This continued for about thirty seconds as Axel gained more ground 'Now!' he thought to himself before hitting the brakes and turning around in one fluid motion. Axel shot forward like a bullet and jumped into the air "Got you, you bastard!" he shouted before grabbing one of the fire summons by the neck with both hands and spinning. Once he gained enough momentum, he threw the summon as hard as he could into the ground. The ground cracked and buried the creature a few feet into the ground 'now to- Gah!' Axel thought before he was taken to the ground by the other summon. Axel was dragged through the ground for a few feet before he came to a stop. Opening its maw, the summon brought its face closer to Axel in an attempt to blast him it the face. Axel quickly used his head, quite literally, to head but the summons chin and sent the blast skyward. 'Ah… good thing I got some kind of pain nullification, if that voice in my head said when I died was right'.

Tucking in his legs, Axel kicked with all his force and got the creature off of him, but before he could press the attack, the summon he threw into the ground sprung at him. Axel, on instinct, spun around in order to dodge and grapple the creature's neck in a choke hold. The creature clawed at his arms in an attempt to escape, but Axel's enhanced strength was too much for the beast. With a grunt of effort, Axel crushed its throat before it could attempt anything. He tossed aside the beast and focused his attention to the other fire summon. The creature got up from the kick and glared down Axel before it charged and started to glow.

A large explosions was heard from behind Axel, but before he could look "They're blowing themselves up!" he heard Rimuru shout from a distance. Before Axel could react, the creature detonated itself in an explosion powerful enough to send him flying a good distance. He crashed and slid up to where the rest of the group was.

Rimuru hopped in front of Axel "Hey you alright?"

Axel coughed a bit "Yeah… how's everyone else?"

"Not so good" Rimuru said a little sadly "Ranga" he said aloud as the wolf appeared next to him.

"Yes master!"

"Get Kaval and his party to safety"

"But master!"

"Me and Axel will handle Ifrit, just get everyone out of here"

Ranga then nodded "Understood, please be safe!" Ranga collected the party who were all knocked unconscious before running off.

Axel slowly rose to his feet "Got any plans?"

"We'll think of something. You still good to go?"

"Heh, if this body is the real deal… I should just get stronger"

"I don't know about you, but at least I can fight without holding back" Rimuru said while hopping forward to stare down Ifrit.

"We'll see about that I guess"

The two faced down Ifrit in a staring contest for about a minute until Ifrit summoned multiple pillars of flame that when dispersed, revealed clones of himself. The clones numbered at about a dozen and circled around the two. The Ifrit's circled around and lowered themselves to the ground, the ground was literally melting from the pure heat that they were radiating.

"Quick jump!" Rimuru shouted as he turned into a drill like shape. Axel nodded and jumped up and away from Rimuru and the clones, Rimuru then started to spin "Icicle shotgun!" he shouted as multiple icicles shot out and dispersed all the clones of Ifrit.

Axel landed a few feet away and continued to observe. Rimuru was then lit up by a magic circle that erupted in a colossal pillar of flame. "Rimuru!" Axel shouted "Shit! He better be alright" he then slid into a stance and rushed Ifrit. The flames that Ifrit was passively making were burning Axel as he continued to charge.

Axel threw a punch with his right fist, only for it to be blocked by Ifrit. Axel then tried to punch with his left fist, but he was met with the same result as his previous punch. Ifrit responded with a gut punch which knocked the wind out of Axel. Ifrit then sent a barrage of fists, left, right, left, right, left, right, over and over again, each fist sounding like a gunshot. Axel finally managed to compose himself and deflect an attack and responded with an uppercut that managed to land. Ifrit easily shrugged it off and breathed out a torrent of fire that Axel had to bend backwards to dodge. Axel planted his hands behind his head on the ground and kicked Ifrit in the gut. Ifrit slid back a few meters and launched a barrage of fire balls at Axel.

Axel tried to spot dodge as many as he could, a few managing to hit in them in the chest, legs and shoulders. A particularly nasty one had hit him in the chest and was starting to burn the skin 'Shit! I'm getting nowhere' Axel started to think. 'I'm not strong enough to brute force him yet and I doubt I can improve fast enough to make a difference'.

In the middle of Axel's thoughts, he felt something touch his leg "Don't look" he heard the voice of Rimuru. The thing that touched his leg moved up and just behind his back "I'm using a small piece of myself to talk to you so listen close" Axel grunted in acknowledgment. "I got fire nullification so I'm fine, what I need you to do is hold him still and bring him to the flame pillar I'm in".

Axel wiped some blood that was dripping from his mouth to hide his lips "What do you have in mind?"

"I can wrap him in some wire made from me and absorb him. Don't question it but it'll secure an easy win"

Axel then felt the thing on him, which was a small portion of Rimuru, slide off his body and disappear back into the pillar of flames. 'Easier said than done' Axel scoffed before dashing towards Ifrit at full speed. Ifrit blasted more streams of fire at Axel but he managed to dodge two of them, before a third stream of fire hit him in the chest. Axel crossed his arms in an X formation and planted his feet to somewhat stop himself from sliding too far back. With gritted teeth and some determination, Axel started to slowly walk against the fire with his arms still in an X formation. The skin on his forearms were raw as he went from just barely walking against the stream, to a full on sprint. This surprised Ifrit immensely and was caught off guard at the sheer strength Axel was gaining in such a short period. With Ifrit off guard, Axel took advantage and crashed into him at full speed and it was enough to stagger Ifrit. Axel quickly moved behind him and wrapped his arms around Ifrit so his arms were pinned to his side.

Axel was straining his arms as much as possible, just to keep Ifrit from moving half an inch in any which way. With a grunt, Axel shouted "Now would be a good time! Can't hold him forever" Ifrit then had fire erupt from around him in an attempt to burn Axel to a crisp but he held strong 'Thank Jesus for the pain resistance! Still can't take much more!'

The pillar of flames that Rimuru was in suddenly dispersed as he hopped out with no signs of damage. Ifrit in surprise, stopped his outpouring of flames and looked at Rimuru in shock "I underestimated you, but not as much as you underestimated me" Rimuru spoke as he fired what looked like silk at Ifrit. Axel let go at the last second and watched Ifrit's arms get stuck to his sides as the middle of his body was wrapped. Axel hopped back a few feet and took a knee while Rimuru stared down Ifrit. Ifrit tried to shoot a torrent of flames but it had no effect on the slime. "My turn" Rimuru then started to ripple before shooting out in a wave of… slime? The wave of slime quickly covered Ifrit until you couldn't even see the glowing flames.

Axel looked to the sky as the clouds slowly dissipated and once again showed the bright blue sky above. When Axel looked back at Rimuru, he saw the mass of slime slowly grow smaller before he was back to his usual small blob form. Axel looked beside him and only a few meters away was Shizu's body.

"Shizu!" shouted Rimuru as he hopped over while Axel slowly got up and dragged himself over to her body.

Every step for Axel sent a small jolt of pain through his body, but he kept on moving until he got to her side along with Rimuru. When he got over to her, he slowly knelt down and picked her up bridal style "Are any of the places not burned down" Axel huffed.

Rimuru looked around before using his body to make a makeshift appendage "Over there!" he pointed to a lone tent/house. Axel nodded before slowly walking over with Rimuru hopping beside him "She alright?" Rimuru asked with worry.

"She's breathing" Axel mumbled out before he and Rimuru got into the tent and placed her on a bed. "We should let her rest" Axel said while he walked towards the exit "Get Eren or one of the female goblins to dress her in something more comfortable".

"Yeah, good idea" Rimuru hopped alongside him "How are you holding up?"

Axel scoffed a bit "Sore, bleeding, burnt, bruised and scuffed up, but I'll manage" he looked down to Rimuru as he immerged from the tent alongside him. "If you had fire nullification" Axel started "Why not just do that before?" he referred to the way Rimuru beat Ifrit.

"Well I uh… Kinda didn't know about it and mayyyybe forgot about it?" He responded sheepishly with a pink hue to his blue 'cheeks'.

Axel just lowered his head and shook it with a small smile before he chuckled a bit "At least Shizu's safe for now"

"Yeah…"

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And were done! This story just popped up in my head a little bit ago and I've had a sudden burst of inspiration to write it since Slime season 2 is going pretty strong. I also got back into Xenoverse 2 recently so that was another contributing factor. Leave a review letting me know what y'all thought and I'll try to answer them in the AN for the next chapter.