Danmachi: the Great Devourer

C5: Axel's Status

Word count = 1708 on 12/22/2023

Surprise everyone . But don't worry, there will still be the regularly schedule chapter for tomorrow.

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As the falna is established, the trio of 'divine' beings lay witness to the mystery that is Axel.

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Name: Axel Gram

Level 1

Strength: I-0

Endurance: I-0

Dexterity: I-0

Agility: I-0

Magic: I-0

: NONE

:

Anima Scissa[1]- Holders of this skill are torn beyond construction and thus are unable to use magic. Comparably, the possessor may tap into the power of their soul to unearth new found abilities comparable to magic. When the vessel possesses enough power, new fragments may be unearthed.

Anima Scissa (Magister daemonium[2]): tapping into the soul, the user may exhibit the power of a gluttonous demon who may consume the strength of others through the incantation, "Shadows of the Abyss, I AM the Endless, Rapture of Power and Possessor of All that Belongs to Others.

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The three 'goddesses' gaze up the sheet with differing expressions. Freya who knows about the state of his soul and can tell that the falna has stabilized it, so he won't be experiencing any strange injuries anymore. Raikou on the other hand doesnt like the demonic implications of his techniques but she has already accepted Axel as her child, she naturally cant be an irresponsible mother and abandon her child. Astolfo on the other hand is excited because they know that skills upon awakening are very rare. She recognizes that the two skills are linked to each other and that there could be more based on it's phrasing and is excited about the potential of the child before them.

As for Axel himself, he has passed out upon the Falna's creation as his soul undergoes the stabilization change. Raikou is the first to recognize that Axel is asleep and quickly bows to Freya once more in gratitude whilst saying, "Thank you again Goddess Freya."

"It is quite alright, it is a simple matter. I trust that you can handle the rest yourself?" Freya dismisses the thanks and begins to take her leave while Raikou nods in affirmation. Illya who was waiting outside the room is startled since she was leaving against the door. Upon seeing Freya leave, she heads in and talks to Raikou and Astolfo to get the paperwork over with, except the parts that Axel has to fill in on his own. Once that is done, they begin to make their way back home. Astolfo lives around the middle region of the Immortal region while Raikou is closer to the outer edges of it, near the tower and guild building. Raikou carries Axel the whole way and with their appearance, she lightly fantasizes that Axel was actually her true blood child due to the resemblance of her purple hair and his own blue hair.

She quickly brushes off the fantasy but she holds Axel tighter against her chest as he peacefully sleeps. They soon arrive at the dojo. All the students had already left on their own when Raikou disappeared with the guild member they saw. Raikou simply shrugs as she goes to the back where a small hallway leads to the halfway house attached to the dojo. She unlocks the door and after entering, closes it behind her. She goes up to her bedroom and sets Axel down in the bed as her house isn't big enough to have a 2nd bedroom, she barely has a couch due to the lack of space for a living room. A simple lifestyle that she had gotten used to over the many years of her life. She didn't really hold out hope that she would ever become the main familia owner. She was under the impression that she would instead be like Astolfo, a secondary owner, but when Axel came into her life. She was overjoyed but now finds her living conditions very lacking. She will have to theorize later on how to handle things so that Axel could have his own private space.

For now though, she needs to make dinner and go to sleep as it is starting to get quite late. After spending half an hour doing some light cooking. She eats her own food while storing away Axel's portion when he wakes up. Finding that he still hasn't woken up since the Falna creation, she gets a bit worried but believes that whatever 'curse' he was under might be taking a while to get rid of it which is why he is asleep so long.

Reassuring herself, she begins to change out of her loose white Gai and into a simple bra and panties with her thick sweater covering it all. She doesnt typically wear a sweater to sleep but feels the need to at least lightly cover herself until she gets to know her new child better. She helps him out of his clothes, granted she already got the chance to look at his body due to him going shirtless for the falna creation. She feels no embarrassment at such an action and instead is internally happy as she fulfills her motherly duty of caring for her child.

She snuggles into bed, under the sheets, only covering her bottom half as her sweater will keep her warm but she does tuck in Axel. She joins him in dreamland soon enough as her mind has been quite active today due to Axel's arrival.

NEXT DAY

Axel lightly shakes away as his face is covered by a thick sweater and something heavy behind it. After looking around a bit more, he realizes that he is currently being pressed against Raikou's covered breasts. Luckily he isn't being held down which let's him escape the situation but he quickly realizes that he is borderline naked with just his underwear and quickly jumps off the bed, skipping over the side profile of Raikou who is still asleep.

He gets dressed in his previous, semi bloody clothing when he is assaulted from behind by the gentle hands of a woman. The woman in question is Raikou who has just woken up as he was getting dressed.

"Axel, you shouldn't wear such clothes, we will need to go shopping a bit to get you some more clothes and maybe even some dungeoneering equipment."

"I don't have any other clothes, ill need to wear this until i get a new set" He simply retorts, she quickly realizes that he is more outspoken now than before. She also cant deny his retort but she cant at least help. She gets a simple gray robe from her closet and gives to him. It is far above his size but she quickly mends it by sticking needles in to stop the robes from touching the ground and they don't stab into Axel either.

Axel does a little dance at being able to move and he eats a bit before the duo head out to do their shopping after Raikou leaves a sign saying her classes are closed until the evening. Just because she wants to spend more time with Axel doesnt mean she is irresponsible. The two do some shopping and eat lunch together before addressing matters related to the guild and dungeon.

"What fighting style do you feel suits you?" Raikou asks and Axel is quite unsure as he has no memory of fighting.

"I don't know." He simply responds and so Raikou invites him into her evening class so he can at least try out swordsmanship and martial arts.

Some time passes as Axel is given a spare Gai for him to put on, he joins the other students as he starts off with stretches before switching over to a simple running exercise with the class. He witnesses the lecherous gazes of his fellow students at his 'goddess', this attention annoys him but he doesnt act out as he knows his goddess wants him to fit in with the others and get stronger or at least find his own style.

The class progresses into him being taught how to wield the wooden sword which is a bit heavy for him. Axel also got to try out his new skill incantation during the class. He whispered it to himself as unlike magic, he doesnt have to say it out loud to others. He immediately feels the difference as there is some sort of 'film' on his body, so during the sparing matches, he would be lightly hit as his opponent doesnt take him seriously but in the end, it's all for his benefit as his opponent is quickly tired out from his own strength being drained. Axel only gets a headache at the extended usage but he found that when he absorbed from the other students, he was able to last longer. He will ask his goddess later if his status changed.

After classes ended, he learned that his strength increased by 20 points, his Agility increased by 16, dexterity by 23 and endurance by 18 while magic increased by 15 points. The dexterity and strength seemed to be the focus of the stats from the other students due to using martial arts instead of just brute strength in the spars. As for the magic, he felt that even when he wasn't in contact with anyone, he was still absorbing. He assumes that he is absorbing the magic energy in the air, or 'mind', and that is slowly increasing his magic since he is both replenishing his mind as well as increasing the stat.

When Raikou witnessed these written changes, she interrogated him about the events of class and how he got annoyed at the others for staring at her. Feeling that their stares are disrespectful to her. So he tried out his new skill and this was the result. Raikou quickly understands that he has very little control over what his skill absorbs and while she too is annoyed with her students, she hopes that his actions don't cause a bigger repercussion of events once they realize that they actually got weaker. Afterall, her students are the type of people who have been at their level long term and mostly stick around the upper floors to get enough money to last them for a while.

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[1] Anima Scissa = Soul Torn

[2] Magister daemonium = Master demon/demon master