Axel frowned, he was about to blurt, go get your own sushi, but he stopped himself.

"A week, you have a week," Imu muttered, slowly walking towards the exit of the cave.

"I'll be back for my sushi in a week, else," Her boots passed in front of him, each step slow and deliberate, hands in pockets of her pants, each step echoing across the room.

"wait," Axel shouted, but she ignored him, still walking.

"can you at least tell me where you came from," He muttered.

But Imu didn't stop, not even sparing him a glance, she continued forward, the darkness of the tunnel swallowing her, "a week," her voice echoed in the corridor like the voice of the devil himself.

And just like that she was gone, just as suddenly as she arrived.

Axel quickly followed after her, exiting the cave, the jungle had sprawled again by this time, there was no sign of Imu, she had completely disappeared.

But the encounter still lingered in his mind, deep down he wanted to ignore it, but his instinct was telling him there was no escaping this, it was either he got her sushi or he winced thinking about what that monster would do to him.

somehow facing a dragon seemed more pleasant than facing Imu at this point, Axel shuddered and went back into the cave.

"But, her presence means there are other humans around, maybe even a way to escape," Axel muttered, his eyes lit up with hope.

He clenched his fist, alright then, he picked up the Gishiki, then his eyes narrowed at a thought.

"Could she be the original wielder," He muttered.

It would make sense considering she could lift the katana, not to mention her power, her presence, but what could she be doing down here.

He sighed, "I'll just ask her next time, that's if she shows."

And answers, although I highly doubt that, his face scrunched up.

A week to kill that dragon huh, he grinned, although it was crazy, he was getting pumped, even considering it.

Axel shook his head, "definitely crazy." he muttered.

He slowly approached the glowing pound, the water hadn't killed him or done anything harmful, as a matter of fact, he felt great.

"But just in case," he bent down, looking at his reflection in the water, scanning for any abnormality.

But there was none, his face looked normal, no bruises, no deformities.

"Wait," he paused.

He touched his ribs, there was no pain radiating, he narrowed his eyes and took off the hoodie.

As the bandage unwrapped, Axel's eyes widened, the bruises, the swelling and the purplish pigmentation were all gone.

But most surprising of all, the cauterized wound on his shoulder was missing, the skin smooth, no signs of any injury.

Axel touched the area, hands trembling, hands sliding over the smooth skin, he moved his hand to the back, no rough patch, just skin, smooth and silky.

He was back to a hundred percent, no more than that, his gaze moved to where he had punched out of frustration, the cracked rock.

He cocked back his fist and punched the floor, the sound echoing through the cave as the floor cracked from the impact, yet his fist was fine, he barely felt a sting.

The glowing water had done more than satiate his thirst, it had healed him, and turned him to something else, with strength above humans.

Axel grinned and jumped up, his body felt incredibly light, almost touching the roof of the cave.

With this beating the dragon might not be too hard, no scratch that.

"I might have a higher chance of survival, even though small, but beating it…" he grimaced.

But still this was great though, he suddenly started laughing, there was miracle water in front of him, and skeptical him had to go out, searching for drinking water.

How ironic, he sat on the ground, laughing.

For now, Axel looked at his clenched fist, an idiotic grin appeared on his face.

"Let's see how strong I really am," he muttered, eager to test his new found strength.

As Axel stepped out of the cave, he felt the air was a little less stale unlike before when it felt like it was rejecting him.

He spread his arms apart and took a deep breath, the Gishiki strapped to his back, peeking.

Then he broke into a sprint, his body felt incredibly light, like gravity couldn't hold him back, he was zooming past trees, really fast.

Then he stopped in front of a really tall tree, pulling back his hand, cocking his fist, and he punched.

His fist dug into the stem, the tree creaking, shuddering as the impact of the punch travelled upward.

He looked at his fist, still in disbelief, grinning, he wasn't able to shatter the tree like planned but he was satisfied with the outcome, for now.

Then he frowned and looked up, his eyes widening as something buzzed out of the trunk, an insect of some sort, its wings vibrating at extremely high frequency, like a bee.

But it had antennas protruding from its head, its thorax completely black, and its abdomen painted blue and black stripes, and most importantly it was as big as his hand.

Axel grinned, perfect subject for a test, he muttered, but his eyes widened as the buzzing sound intensified, the leaves of the tree disappeared, no it turned out the leaves were insects, and now he had disturbed them.

But as the insects came down to see who it was, there was absolutely no one, Axel was long gone.

Sure he could fight now, but he wasn't crazy enough to take on a swarm, his ego hadn't reached that high.

He scowled as somehow he imagined Imu saying, "running from insects, pathetic."

As he ran, he caught sight of something from the side of his eye, a familiar enemy, a bolf.

Axel grinned, screeching to a stop, "perfect," he muttered as he hid behind a tree observing the bolf.

I know it's abilities, at least more than other creatures here, I'm most familiar with it, last time my strength wasn't enough to cut through its hide.

"But now," he smirked, things will be different.

And besides, one of you tried to kill me, he pulled out the Gishiki.

"It'll be great if I could use your power at will, but oh well," he shrugged.

Axel stepped out from behind the tree, "hey," he barked, the bolf turning sharply, its gaze locking with Axel.

The creature narrowed its eyes observing Axel, it sniffed in the air, and howled as if trying to determine if he was dangerous or just a toy.

Axel clenched his teeth, here goes.

He dashed forward, sprinting towards the bolf.

The creature upon seeing this snarled at him, revealing white teeth beneath, its hind legs coiling back, and then its tusks started thrumming with energy, wind gathering towards it.

Axel continued forward, confident in reaching before the attack, or at least dodging.

But his eyes widened as the projectile left the tusk, screaming towards him, a big ball of wind, shredding everything in its path, like it was made of scythes.

Axel gritted his teeth, there was no way his speed could dodge that, the sphere almost upon him, but he grinned nonetheless, there was something else.

Golden threads materialized around him, and with a blink, he disappeared, the wind devouring where he was a second ago.

Axel appeared in front of the bolf's leg, Gishiki raised, poised for a strike, before the creature could realize what was happening, the katana dropped.

The blade passed through, cutting but spiky fur, skin, flesh and bone, a little resistance felt, but with increased strength and a little push, the sword passed through, hot blood spraying onto Axel's face.

Axel skidded through the dirt, subject of his momentum, he sharply turned around, just in time for the bolf to roar in pain, the top right side of its body came crashing down as something snapped.

The cut wasn't deep enough to loop the leg, it was too big, but it had cut more than halfway through, just a little bone and flesh holding, but the bone had snapped, the creature came down, blood gushing out of the wound.

Axel grinned, his strength had really boosted, before, he couldn't even leave a dent with a strike.

But the bolf wasn't done, it stood back up, it's wounded leg lifted up, the paw held hanging by flesh, blood pouring out.

It turned sharply, it's massive form hulking over Axel, nose strill flaring, eyes blood shot.

There was another reason Axel had decided to attack a bolf, based on his experience before, he had deduced that a terrible enough injury to the creature, made it loose what little rational it had.

He wasn't sure but he decided to test anyway, if things went awry, there was always the thread of continuity for him to escape.

And he was right, but it was too right, and something unexpected happened, the bolf's spiky hair started glowing green, it's eye simultaneously turning green.

"Not good," Axel muttered, teleporting away instantly.

But as he appeared far away, about half a mile away, the bolf was already coming behind him, jaws spread apart, trees uprooted behind it, sound arriving too late, a green streak behind it.

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