Anima Requiem: I Bought a Katana Online and Triggered the Apocalypse-Chapter 66: Indus the Explorer

Axel missed a step, he hurriedly leaned on the table, preventing himself from falling.

The old man looked at him.

"What—" the word trailed off as Axel sat down, clearing his throat.

He looked down at the soup and quickly picked up the spoon, trying to distract himself from the awkward situation. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

For the duration of the meal the old man said nothing else, but it made Axel all the more uneasy as he slowly slurped the soup.

"You’re not his grandson," The old man’s voice broke the silence.

Duh, even a fool would know that from my reaction.

"I never said I was," Axel answered, still slowly slurping the soup, he glanced upward to see the old man’s eyes narrowed, focused on him.

"Why would you think that?"

"The Gishiki, why else would you have it?" The old man replied.

The Gishiki, Ursa’s grandson. Axel’s eyes widened, the weilder, it finally made sense, why Ursa wasn’t willing to let him in the village.

But then, how does this old man know? That would determine if this situation was good or bad?

"How do you know it’s the Gishiki?"

The old man stared intently at him for a second too long, then he chuckled, "You really think I won’t recognize what I made?"

Axel’s eyes went round, made, the creator of the Gishiki, an ancient blacksmith, doesn’t that essentially answer most of his questions, but...

His eyes narrowed, suspicion creeping in, wasn’t the Gishiki ancient, then how old was this old man?

"You made the Gishiki?"

"Are you deaf again?"

"No...it’s just I find that hard to believe."

The old man simply shrugged, " Not my business?"

Axel’s brow twitched, wasn’t he supposed to try and convince him or something?

"So will you answer me?"

Axel’s brow arched in confusion.

"Why do you have the Gishiki, I can feel you’re just at echo level so you’re just a new wielder. Which makes me wonder why Ursa would leave that with you?"

"I..." before Axel couldn’t formulate a lie, the old man’s voice cut him off.

"If you lie, I’ll know."

Right, Axel cleared his throat.

"I’m its new wielder." He said, looking to see the man’s reaction, if he could really tell if he was lying, but he was disappointed or glad as the old man simply nodded.

He can’t tell huh.

"What happened to Ursa’s grandson?" The old man continued.

"I don’t know."

The old man stroked his chin, looking down, then he nodded as if coming to a conclusion.

"So what are you doing in the Netherveil, that old man should know better."

Netherviel huh, that sounds a lot better than hell.

Axel took a deep breath, "I needed a place to get stronger, so I thought why not the worst place possible, why not the Netherveil."

The old man turned to him, eyes locked on him like a predator scanning its prey, "You lied twice."

Before Axel could protest, the old man continued, " but it doesn’t matter, you need to leave, this is no place for a child."

Axel’s eyes narrowed, something was off, the old man was being too dismissive.

He sighed, "Unfortunately I don’t know how."

Shit, I just said something I shouldn’t have, his eyes slowly moved to the old man hoping he hadn’t noticed.

Unfortunately the man’s gaze was locked on him as he stroked his beard, "interesting."

Axel felt the room get colder, it was as if a sudden pressure fell on the room. His hand subconsciously moved to the thread of Continuity.

This did not go past the old man, his eyes widened for the first time as he noticed the dark wisps rising from the necklace, which till now was hidden beneath the snake.

"That’s an anima?"

Axel traced the man’s gaze to his neck, he simply nodded.

Axel could only look on with confusion as the old man burst into a boisterous laughter, a complete contrast to his calm and calculating demeanor from before.

He reached out and patted Axel’s shoulder, his gaze softening as he laughed.

Axel suddenly felt a chill, not of danger this time, but more like a subject under scrutiny.

"This is perfect young man, I’m Indus The explorer, would you like to be my disciple?"

Eh, Axel froze, a scowl on his face, hold up man.

I have a lot of questions, but before he could ask, the old man continued.

"I’ll teach you all I know about the Gishiki, help you increase compatibility and not to mention those crystals, they can be yours." The old man finished with a bright smile which reminded Axel of car salesmen.

Something was definitely wrong, Axel could feel it, all those benefits, it was like he was trying to sell himself, if so...

"What’s in it for you?"

The old man looked at the Gishiki, then upwards, he took a deep breath.

"For years the Gishiki hasn’t truly displayed its might, its wielders were..." He stroked his beard as if thinking of the proper words.

"Weak?" Axel muttered.

Indus shook his head in disagreement, then he snapped his fingers, "close minded, they weren’t truly compatible with the Gishiki, but you," he grinned, eyes sparkling as he turned to Axel.

"You have potential, a rare talent, the fact that you can weild two anima" Indus grin widened.

"It’s phenomenal."

Wield two anima huh, must be a big deal for the change in attitude to be this jarring. Axel smirked, I guess that’s what talent does, but...

He wasn’t exactly weilding the Gishiki was he, should I tell him, he glanced at Indus who was waiting eagerly for his answer.

No, Axel shook his head, I’ll use this opportunity as much as I can, I’ll find a way around that, perhaps the Gishiki might just choose to help me.

"Fine," he finally replied, causing a wide smile to appear on the old man’s lips.

Upon seeing the smile, Axel somehow felt he just made a big mistake.

"But I have two conditions."

The old man’s eyes narrowed for a second, but he nodded nonetheless, "go ahead."

Axel took a deep breath, "I need an anima that can heal...and." He looked towards the forge.

"Teach me how to make anima."

Indus exhaled, "there are a lot of anima out there that can heal, why not find them yourself."

"Because most are difficult to find, and as a master shouldn’t you aid your disciple." Axel stated with a smile.

"Hmm, alright, but for the second request, it’s almost impossible and at the same time possible."

Axel frowned, what does that mean?

"I can teach you theory, but practice would be almost impossible."

"Why?"

"Because," he paused, "there is no more raw Zvezdan, so it is almost impossible."

"But aren’t we surrounded by Zvezdan?"

Indus chuckled, "You know nothing of the Netherveil do you."

Axel simply shrugged.

"There is no raw Zvezdan, what you see are just remnants of anima energy affecting the environment," He looked up, "perhaps in a few thousand years, it might mutate, but for now..."

"You said it was almost impossible."

Indus grinned, "of course."

This will probably be something ridiculous but, "What other way?"

His grin widened as he leaned back, "You have to kill one of the guardians."

"Guardians?"

"You met one already."

Met one, Axel frowned, when, they seem like a big deal, I’d know if...

His eyes widened in realization, Indus grinned as he enjoyed the moment.

"The so called dragon."