Anima Requiem: I Bought a Katana Online and Triggered the Apocalypse-Chapter 68: Duality

Axel groaned as he sat up, stretching out like he just slept for days.

He slowly rubbed his eyes, trying to rid them of whatever grogginess was hidden beneath.

For a second he sat still, the only sound was his lips smacking against each other, that was a really good rest.

He frowned at the thought. Rest?

Then like floodgates opening all at once, the memories came flowing back. The meditation, the vision and finally...

He quickly patted down his chest, shifting the loose sheet of fabric to see what was beneath.

But unlike what he expected, there was no gaping wound, no bandage, as a matter of fact, his skin was flawless.

There was no scar, nothing.

His face scrunched up in confusion, was I imagining it.

"No," he shook his head, rejecting the idea.

I clearly felt the pain, I’ve been through too much to not know if I was stabbed or not.

But if so...

He looked down once more. Where’s the injury?

Clank, the sound rang sharp and loud, making Axel instinctively wince.

Am I still hallucinating, his head turned as he finally scanned the room. There was no change, he was in the same room as before, except there was no old man and no Gishiki either.

Clank, the sound came again. Axel looked towards the source, the entrance to the forge. The only other noticeable change was coming from there, blood red light spilled from it, flooding the room.

Clank, Axel shook his head and stood up. He slowly approached the forge, gulping hard the closer he got.

Standing next to the door, he took a deep breath as if steeling himself for some unknown threat, then he peeked.

Clank, the sound echoed once more, orange sparks flying off at the same time.

Axel looked closer, trying to see past the steam and heat radiating from the forge.

For a second, he saw nothing. Then something moved, lifting something upwards.

He squinted trying to get a closer look.

Clang, the sound rang out, sparks flying off, temporarily illuminating the forge, wind rolling back from the impact.

Axel stepped back, hiding behind the wall as the sparks spread towards the door.

"What the heck is that?"

He wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and peeked once more.

That turned out to be a mistake, but he realized too late.

A loud hiss echoed through the forge, followed by a huge wave of steam strong enough to blast him backwards.

Axel slammed into a wall opposite the door. Falling onto the bed.

What in the actual hell, he winced as his back pressed against the wall.

Heavy footsteps reverberated from the forge as a figure approached.

Axel stared wide eyed as a silhouette emerged, holding a katana in one hand and a scabbard, still glowing red, no doubt fresh from the mold.

But how in hell is he holding that, Axel curiously looked at the man emerging from the steam.

He subconsciously whistled at the sight, for a second he believed he was actually hallucinating. This was definitely not the Indus he knew.

This person definitely had the face of Indus, that annoying scowl and all, but his body was nothing but old.

It was ripped beyond anything Axel knew, skin drawn tautly against muscles that looked like the sculpted stone. It was like his body couldn’t comprehend what fat meant.

And to top it off, scars marred his body, displayed proudly like badges of honour. Axel’s gaze trailed a particularly long scar etched from his stomach, diagonally across his entire upper body.

He gulped imagining what could have caused that, and most importantly how Indus had survived.

"I see you finally woke up." Indus’s voice broke the silence.

"If you continue at this rate, this won’t work." He moved towards the table and slammed the katana on it, while studying the scabbard.

Axel cleared his throat and stood up, he carefully approached Indus who was still focused on the scabbard.

Glancing into the forge, he noticed the heat was slowly dying down, steam dissipating.

"How do you feel?"

Axel clenched his fist again and again, how did he feel?

"Great."

Due to all that happened since he woke up, he hadn’t exactly had time to check, but now... He felt great, as a matter of fact it was like there was a new found power hidden within him, not physical raw strength just something else.

His gaze moved to the katana, he could feel a certain connection now, something he couldn’t quite explain.

No...that wasn’t right, he had felt this connection before.

He touched the chain of continuity. It was similar to the chain of continuity, the connection he felt, like it was an extension of him, but at the same time it was different.

"It was successful then." Indus turned, removing his gloves, which Axel believed must be really tough.

"You’re now a proper echo level expert, for both the Gishiki and thread of continuity." He pointed at the necklace, "a unique situation in itself."

A grin formed on Axel’s lips as he clenched his fist once more, it really felt good to be acknowledged.

"How is it unique?"

Indus leaned back on the chair and smacked his lips.

"Simple," He lifted two fingers.

"Duality."

For a second, Axel frowned, not quite getting what he meant.

Indus shook his head in disappointment, "You have two animas, so you get double the effects."

Oh, Axel nodded at the explanation, his lips curling to form a smile as he realized the implications. Doesn’t that mean those at the same level would be essentially hopeless against him. No that’s not right, he recalled the blue haired ice man.

He was stronger than me, but I almost killed him, so I can’t get arrogant. But in raw power I should be better.

And the impossible happened.

His smile widened further.

Indus scoffed, "it’s not all rosy."

"What do you mean?" Axel tilted his head.

As far as he understood, at most it would take more of his attention to level up, aside from that, what was the issue.

"What is the basis of anima?"

"Compatibility?" Axel’s eyes narrowed as if asking what the point was.

"Identity," Indus corrected.

"You’ll need to develop your identity based on this anima....

Normally it wouldn’t take much effort, but you have two. It’ll take a lot more effort and precision, not to mention the possibility of losing control."

"With greater power came greater risk." Axel mumbled, a faint smile forming on Indus’s lips at those words.

"So essentially, I need to not just develop two identities?" He looked at Indus as if waiting for confirmation, to which he nodded.

"But they have to be balanced in order not to lose control?"

Indus snapped his finger, "You’re no longer a complete idiot."

Axel’s brow twitched as he swallowed the urge to retort.

"What happens if I lose control."

"At this stage," Indus clicked his tongue.

"You’d become an aberrant."

Aberrant, Axel recalled Amy’s joke back then.

"Of course it wouldn’t be a problem, I’ll just easily kill you."