Chapter 28: Better than Expected

“Now that is a difficult question,” Axel coughed, his expression one of bloodied teeth and a vicious grin. “I have been called by many names, most I care not to remember. But Demon suits me well, no?”

“Don’t give me that nonsense,” the Eldarin snapped. “That skill you used just now, where did you get it?”

“Hmm… A dark place. Somewhere between life and death?” he mused.

The blade sank deeper, cutting the skin of his neck. Lune was not amused by his levity. “Answer the question.”

“No,” he said. When he looked up and stared into Lune’s eyes, it was with an unflinching gaze. “I may be new to this place, but even I can tell when some things are better left unsaid. There are more than just your pair of eyes looking in on me right now, princess.”

Lune flinched. A chill fell over the two.

It did nothing beyond making its presence felt, but the point was made.

“I can’t believe this. You aren’t just a Participant. You are a Candidate,” she hissed. “You have attracted the sponsorship of an Admin. One of the most powerful entities in the System, granting you their gifts. But this should be your first Zone. What did you do?”

“Sang a pretty enough song, I suppose,” Axel hummed, this time a little more honestly. 

Lune snarled in frustration. “I should kill you.”

“You probably should,” he agreed.

“You will bring ruin everywhere you go,” she continued, her resolve sharpening.

“I probably will,” he nodded.

“Killing you would be a mercy to you, and a service to others. No one should see those things you did…” She shuddered. “Every death you delivered, every life you took, I saw it. I felt it. The fear, the pain! You have slaughtered thousands. You are a monster.”

“I have been called a monster before. Sometimes even by people I respect,” he replied conversationally, a touch amused. “I do not deny what I am, or the craft that I was built to wield. A tool does not care how it is used — or by whom.”

“You are being used right now,” Lune countered, almost pleading with him. “That thing you have contracted with is not someone you can bargain or break free from. You do not have the slightest inkling of what price you are paying.”

Axel hummed consideringly. Then, he shrugged. “I don’t care. I have never mattered that much anyway. My purpose is blood and murder. Even without this ‘sponsorship’... Killing is all I will ever do until the day I die. Do not worry so much about me, princess. Either slice my throat or leave me be, I will not blame you either way.”

For a moment, the knife blade wavered. A part of Axel was hoping she would plunge the blade.

Alas, as was most things, he was left disappointed.

Lune pulled it away, slamming the weapon back into her sheath. “I still need you to kill that last Boss for me.”

“Ah, practicalities first. I approve,” he grinned. “Are we to continue working together, then?”

“No. We are done. You are not a creature who can be trusted with my back,” she answered coldly. “But I can trust that weeping, broken thing you call your soul to hunt and kill, until either you or everyone opposing you is dead. You have given yourself no other options. All you know is death. It is all you have allowed yourself to know.”

Somehow, at her condescending words…

Something within him grew unusually irate.

“What will you be doing, then?” he asked neutrally.

“Hiding like a coward until either you or my First Brother are dead,” she replied without shame. “My resources are spent. My handmaidens are almost all dead. With any luck, the two of you would kill each other. If not, whoever is left alive at the end, I’ll come and finish the job.”

From her inventory, she pulled out a golden potion and tossed it on his chest. “Payment for earlier. We will call all debts even.”

With that, Lune turned and left. The last remaining handmaiden gave a final glance at him, expression unreadable, before turning to follow her mistress.

The two left the canyon soon after, moving quickly with their enhanced speed.

Axel was alone, a mountain of corpses before him as he lay on his flesh throne, born of the Troll King’s mutilated carcass.

“As far as alliances go, that was actually one of the better ones I had,” he mused. “What do you think?”

[You should have killed her. Reaping her soul would have been a delight.]

“Now, now. You already have a buffet of trolls to torture in the hereafter. Not to mention whatever special treatment you did to the Troll King,” he yawned. “We can save some for later.”

The Troll King had been afflicted with the status ‘Reaperbound’ before it died. Axel wasn’t sure what that meant, but…

When he had killed it, he thought he felt something intangible pulled from its corpse and forcefully embedded within him.

Thoughts for later. Right now, he should probably leave the area before others come to investigate.

The last ‘Boss and Leader’ pair undoubtedly had received the notification of the Troll King’s death. If they were smart, they would be sending their forces to hound him while he was still weakened from the battle.

With shaking hands, Axel lifted Lune’s golden potion and drank its contents.

A blazing heat burst through his body as the rapid regeneration pruned him of his injuries. His missing left arm was restored, the new limb bursting from the stump in violent gore.

[Health fully restored]

Axel got up with a groan. After a few quick stretches, he nodded.

“Right. Time to get out of here, then.”

~~~

He ran up the canyon, in the approximate direction of where the pair of Eldarin had gone earlier. He wasn’t planning on following them. With the troll camp burning like a bonfire, returning the way he came from was not feasible unless he wanted to risk the hellish mass of smoke and fire.

So he followed along the length of the canyon instead, exiting into a greater ravine and finding a comfortable nook to hide in within the sprawling cliff walls.

Night had fallen, but the moon was bright and provided ample illumination for him to navigate. He settled into a spot he deemed relatively safe and sighed as he lay his tired body into a resting position.

[Do you plan to sleep the night away?]

“It’s a risk, but yes, I do plan to rest. Not the whole night. Just an hour or two to get my mind in order.”

Axel had been on high alert ever since he stepped foot into the Zone. Supersoldier he might be, but even he risked mental deterioration if not given a single moment’s rest.

His mind was exhausted. The events throughout the day were one ridiculous revelation after another. An hour or two to compartmentalise was necessary.

He also had his new traits to look through, along with the myriad of loot boxes that were yet unopened. Axel now had so many of the F-rank boxes—both of the Selector and Random variants—that he doubted he would ever run out of basic supplies anymore.

He opened up his inventory.

~~~

[Available Loot Chest]

[24x Rank F Random Loot Chest]

[28x Rank F Selector Loot Chest]

[10x Rank E Random Loot Chest]

[9x Rank E Selector Loot Chest]

[4x Rank E Raid Loot Chest]

[1x Rank E++ Giant Boss Loot Chest] (Special Secret Drop!)

[1x Rank E+ Troll Boss Loot Chest] 

~~~

The Zone had arranged its reward such that the loot would be distributed across several large parties, but with Axel being alone, he likely now possessed a horde of supplies many times over what the other Participants were making do with at the moment.

That was not even taking into consideration the massive pile of Fae-blessed Iron Weapons he had just lying about in his inventory, as well as the other unique Boss weapons and loot.

He opened the massive pile of F-rank chests, yielding himself a stream of healing potions, Skill enhancement potions, rations, and miscellaneous iron weapons. 

~~~

[24x Random F Loot Chest Opened!]

[Processing items into Inventory… Completed!]

[4x Ration Supply (1 day) added]

[4x Minor Health Potion (Rank F) added]

[3x Minor Mana Potion (Rank F) added]

[4x Major Health Potion (Rank F) added]

[2x Iron axe (Rank F) added]

[1x Iron Dagger (Rank F) added]

[4x Auction Coin added]

[2x Minor Strength Potion added]

~~~

[You likely no longer need to worry about healing for the foreseeable future.]

“I should probably bump my Endurance more,” he mused. “Potions work by healing in percentages. I won’t die in prolonged fights so long as I have access to my inventory and some breathing room to ingest the potions, but the strength of my recent foes has made it clear there are ways to circumvent healing. A strong enough blow could see me killed before I even have a chance to pull out a potion.”

[Basic healing potions cannot restore lost limbs or appendages as well. They will prevent bleed-death and replenish lost vitals like organs, but regenerating crippling wounds beyond the internal are beyond their grasp.]

“I suppose that’s why the princess decided to give me a golden potion,” Axel realised. “Those things are a better cure-all than these red potions.”

[They are also significantly rarer. You will need a D-rank Chest at least to get a chance of receiving a Gold Potion, barring System rewards.]

He continued to open his loot boxes, now with the F-rank selector chests. 

~~~

[28x Selector F Rank Loot Chest Opened!]

[Processing items into Inventory… Completed!]

[5x Minor Strength Potion (Rank F) added]

[6x Minor Agility Potion (Rank F) added]

[3x Minor Dexterity Potion (Rank F) added]

[3x Minor Perception Potion (Rank F) added]

[2x Minor Endurance Potion (Rank F) added]

[3x Skill Point Potion (1) added]

[2x Flashbang added]

[2x Incendiary Grenade added]

[1x Hand Grenade added]

[1x 10mm Handgun Ammo Magazine added]

~~~

Healing potions were great, but he needed more than just healing to survive. Those skill potions that provided temporary boosts to his stats were invaluable, especially considering how his Class Boon would double their duration and effects.

The ammo and the grenades would come in handy, but they were rare. Out of 28 Selector boxes, they had only shown up six times. Each time they showed up, Axel had picked them immediately over the other two alternatives.

“System is being stingy with ammo,” Axel grumbled as he reloaded his pistol before tossing it back into the inventory.

[It is likely just your bad luck.]

Even as his Handler said that, Axel thought his fortunes were pretty good. He was lucky enough to come across a few permanent Skill potions during the Selector Chests. Those he ingested immediately, increasing his available stock of free Skill Points.

[3x Skill Potion Consumed]

[+6 Free Skill Points!]

[Current Free Skill Points: 20]

“Put all of my remaining Skill Points into Endurance,” Axel said. “If the next Boss is anything like the Troll King, I’m going to be in for a rough time. Better I increase my odds of survival before anything else.”

[It will likely be worse. You now face the forces of the Firstborn of the Fae King. With two of his lesser brothers dead and a sister turned traitor by your hand, the Firstborn would be positively furious. Moreover, their personal power and the force under their command would be the greatest amongst the four children.]

“More fun to be had for us, then.”

[Free Skill Point spent: 20 (Available: 0)]

[Endurance (End): 50 (+20)]

“I’ll skip the Rank E boxes for now. I want to have a look at the Boss boxes,” Axel said. He cocked his head at their description. “For the giant’s, it says… It’s a special secret drop?”

[You completed a secret condition for the Giant. By freeing him instead of simply killing the enslaved version of it, the System has decided to reward you for an upgraded chest.]

“Secret conditions, huh?” Axel frowned. “Wait, does that mean there were other ways I could have dealt with the Wolf King and the Troll King as well? And doing them would have granted me better loot?”

[There are several possible outcomes depending on your actions. Generally, the System grants greater rewards for the employment of more entertaining or creative approaches to your problems. However, given your dire circumstances, I do not believe those options would have been optimal alternatives to you back then.]

Well, no point crying over split milk. “Open up the Boss Chests, then. Let’s see what we got.”