Anima Requiem: I Bought a Katana Online and Triggered the Apocalypse-Chapter 65: Just an Old Man 1

"So who are you?" Axel asked as they descended the stairs.

"An old man." The answer came sharp and dismissive.

A Serif archetype huh, but I’m not having that.

"That’s not a name."

"Who says so?" The old man asked, his walking stick rhythmically tapping against the hard floor.

Axel scratched his head, "It’s a general noun, You can’t just call yourself old man, there are multiple old men around."

"Who says I can’t?"

"Logic."

"Logic is just a cage, and I am not bound to it, besides if a name is what you call someone, why can’t I be called old man?"

Axel clicked his tongue, you don’t need to lecture me, if that’s what you want, so be it.

"So old man," He paused, "where are we headed?"

"My home."

"Why do you live here anyway?"

The old man glanced at him, "Why, is anything wrong with this place?"

Axels brow twitched, weren’t you the one who said who’d build a town here, not to mention the weird things living here.

"A lot of things actually, a dragon, an odd forest, gigantic snakes, bolfs, not to mention those burrows."

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly, "bolf, burrows, what are those?"

Axel shrugged tiredly, "Oh, nothing...just a gigantic wolf, boar hybrid, and those things that just chased us."

"You mean the Turovlk and Morzal."

So that’s there names, those monsters.

"Yeah," Axel nodded.

"They’re not hostile." The man uttered.

Axels brow raised, "Not hostile, they just tried to kill us."

"Did they?"

"You just ran because you were scared, they didn’t attack you did they?"

Axel thought back to his encounter with the Turovlk and the Morzal. He gulped hard. Definitely not waiting to be engulfed by them to find out.

His skin crawled at the thought, not to mention, the Turovlk attacked first.

"They did." Axel answered.

The old man stopped abruptly, he turned to Axel, eyes narrowed, "You said?"

Axel raised a brow, what’s with the reaction.

"They did. They attacked first." He said.

The old man nodded his head, eyes fixed on the floor, hands on his chin, then a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"I see, that’s good news," he turned, continuing down the stairs.

Axels eyes narrowed with suspicion, "what do you mean good?"

"How did you end up here?"

"Short story, I was pushed. Now what do you mean good?"

"Who pushed you and why?" The man ignored his question.

Axel stopped, "Don’t you think I’m the only one answering questions here, doesn’t seem fair."

The old man paused for a second, then he sighed as if what he said was a hassle.

"What do you want?"

Axel smiled, "We exchange questions."

The old man stood still, as if contemplating something. "Fine."

"You’d find out in due time. Now who pushed you and why?" The old man continued walking.

Axel smirked, find out in time, two can play that game.

"Someone from Tihodol, but I don’t know why." He answered, his gaze laser focused on the old man, trying to catch any reaction.

But the old man simply stroked his beard, contemplating something as usual.

"Why do you live here?"

"Because it’s interesting. Who exactly pushed you?"

Interesting huh, definitely an insane old man.

"Don’t know them," Axel answered. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

That wasn’t a lie, he didn’t know the guard who threw the spear, even though he knew Drazen was behind it. But now he was contemplating what question to ask the man, that wouldn’t be met by a quick and dismissive answer.

But before Axel could come up with one, they finally reached the end of the tunnel, a rock similar to before in front of them.

The man pulled the lever at the side, bright light instantly flooded the tunnel as the rock moved.

Stepping out after the man, the first thing that Axel felt was heat, like he just stepped into a sauna which was out of control.

His gaze immediately flickered to the source of light and apparently the source of heat as well, red hot fire flared, like a sun chained to earth.

Axel felt his throat go dry, suddenly parched, sweat dribbling down from his forehead, summoned by the heat.

The heat was unbearable, like being boiled alive, but oddly, his eyes trailed the old man as he moved effortlessly, no sign of discomfort as if there was no unnatural change.

The old man stopped in front of a table, stood still for a second, then he took out a crystal and placed it on the table.

Axel’s eyes went round at the sight, the crystal was familiar, something he had seen not too long ago, its familiar green glow.

It was definitely from a Turovlk, but how does a decrepit old man like him have it, I doubt he could even scratch one, not to mention wasn’t he saying they weren’t hostile so why does he have a crystal?

Before Axel could ask, the man reached into his robe and pulled out another, then another, until a small pile of different colored crystals formed on the table.

Just where is he pulling those from?

The man removed another, but rather than placing it down, he held it up.

Even Axel could tell the crystal was special, not to mention the little snake suddenly moved, its eyes gleaming and focused on the crystal.

As light hit the surface of the crystal, the color seemed to change, with each turn the crystal produced a different color.

The old man nodded his head in satisfaction and returned it into his coat.

Then without saying a word, he headed out of the room.

"Hey," Axel stumbled after him.

As he stepped into the other room, a bundle came flying into his face, his hands quickly moved upward, stopping the bundle a few inches from his face.

"You’re naked."

Axel felt his brow twitch as he squeezed the bundle, right, almost forgot about that.

The bundle turned out to be clothes, a white vest and black pants.

Axel eyes trailed the old man as he moved around the decrypt room, lighting a lantern similar to those in the hallway, revealing a modest looking room, carved out of stone.

He watched as the old man started a fire under a small pot and finally settled on a chair next to an old table.

The old man’s brow lifted as he noticed Axel staring.

"Why are you still naked?"

He tilted his head, "Do I need to explain what clothes are for as well?"

Axel awkwardly chuckled and headed back into the furnace room.

As he changed, he finally observed the room. Aside from the furnace, there was a forging table, hammers, forceps and other forging equipment hung on a wall above the table.

But the most interesting of all were the stone tablets stacked against the wall.

Pulling the sash tightly around his waist, securing the pants in place, he walked towards the tablets.

He tried to lift one, but it didn’t budge. He frowned and tried again, putting more effort into it, finally succeeding.

The tablet had a shape engraved into it in the form of a dagger, almost like...

"A mold," he mumbled as his fingers trailed the smooth edges of the engraving.

Taking another tablet, he discovered another mold, in the shape of a spear head, another in the shape of an arrow, another just a cycle.

Could the old man be a forger, or did he just find this place like this?

Somehow Axel couldn’t imagine him forging with that decrypt frame.

Axel dropped the mold and turned, heading back to the room, now dressed in what looked like an outfit for a wandering ronin which oddly fitted him as if tailor made.

"Pretty cool too, now I feel like a proper protagonist," he muttered to himself.

The moment he stepped into the room, the first thing that hit him was the scent of soup, his eyes immediately moving to the table where a bowl rested, steam rolling out of it.

The old man who was already eating, looking away from the bowl of soup, their eyes met for a brief second, before his attention returned back to his food.

Axel stood still, wondering if he should just sit and start eating, but wouldn’t that be rude, besides he didn’t know the old man that much.

"Eat," the old man’s voice dragged him out of his thoughts, "and tell me what the grandson of Ursa is doing in the Netherveil."