Eventually silence reigned in the cave, the sound of the dragon gone, the clattering of the crystals finally stopped after frustrating Axel.

Considering he couldn't move, so he decided to do the next big thing, sleep and recover his energy.

And now, he picked up one of the sliced crystals, the blue glow dimmed down, it was shaped like a hexagon, its surface smooth with sharp edges.

He drank a little from his bowl, it hadn't exactly been up to twenty four hours yet, or maybe it has, he couldn't regard the egg as ordinary after all.

Yet after all that time, the liquid still tasted the same, viscous as ever.

Back to the crystal, the annoying sound had actually given him an idea, a way to deal with the creatures annoying echolocation.

When he clashed the crystals together, the others started vibrating, producing a similar sound after sometime, resonance.

And that was the key to beating the dragon.

He grinned, " If I can't hide, I'll just confuse it."

Axel you're a genius, he thought aloud, grinning like he had achieved the greatest feat possible.

He had almost everything he needed now, the ability to tear the void, although draining it was fast, a way to damage the dragon, the crystals, and a quick way to escape, the thread of continuity.

"If that doesn't work," He muttered, "I might as well just give up."

He tossed the crystal into the air, gulped the last bit of the liquid, and held out his hand, gripping the crystal, stopping it from hitting the floor, smiling stupidly.

Now then, he headed towards the outer compartment of the cave, a wry smile on his face as he saw the dark expanse, the rocks still there.

The dragon hadn't left, it was still out there, somewhere, trying to find something, or waiting for him.

Axel shook his head, "It can't be that petty, can it?"

A dark smile appeared on his face, considering my luck, I wouldn't be surprised.

He looked at the crystal in his hand, then outside, contemplating if the best choice would be to take it on now.

Ideally, he'd like it to retreat, at least once, for him to prepare, this was not a fight after all, it was a hunt.

But his hand twitched, the temptation to go out there strong, what was he waiting for, he had everything he needed after all, that voice kept ringing in the back of his head.

Then Imu's face flashed before his eyes, those eyes that appeared to be studying him.

He scoffed, "She'd probably tilt her head and say something like, 'as expected of a coward, or why didn't you just use this?" he said, mimicking Imu's tone.

But that's probably right, he lifted his leg, about to step forward, but he paused, then he sat on the ground, let's wait a bit, let's see if it leaves.

And so after sitting for a bit, pacing around, contemplating if he should burst his ear drum, and contemplating existence, time passed slowly, till Axel couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm definitely not cut out to be a hunter," he murmured as he headed back into the cave.

Axel strapped the Gishiki to his back, he cut one strap of his backpack turning it to a side bag, and stuffed it full of the crystals, and finally he checked his chest, ensuring the Gishiki was there.

He looked towards the pond and reached for his bowl, then he took a good and long drink, then he smooched his cheeks.

"I'm ready," he grinned, shaking his head as if trying to convince himself.

Axel turned towards the corridor, taking a deep breath and he moved.

"You got to be kidding me…" Axel shouted, brows scrunched together, his gaze focused on the leaves in front of the cave.

"Just when I was ready," He massaged his temple, then he exhaled hard and shrugged accepting reality.

"Well at least I get to prepare properly." He sighed and dragged his feet back into the cave, not noticing his trembling hand.

"At least that gives me time to prepare properly, even set traps if possible."

He looked towards the black rocks, "although I doubt I could break this, there has to be a way."

"Anyways," he grinned, "time to test out my new abilities and see what I can use as a hunter."

He headed out of the cave, unbeknownst to him, the white egg cracked at that moment, something peeked from within, something about to emerge.

But he didn't know better, heading out to test his abilities and hunt, just drinking the egg wouldn't be enough for him at this point, human greed poking its head.

But as Axel stepped out of the cave, he froze, his face twisted as the stench of fresh blood wafted into his nose.

His hand hurriedly moved to cover his nose, the other moving towards the Gishiki, eyes darting around warily, scanning for where the stench was coming from.

But there was nothing and the stench seemed to damp down, he slowly brought down his hand, face scrunched yet he still sniffed the air.

Then the stench got stronger, causing Axel to choke, eyes glistening with tears, yet he didn't dare cough.

The stench was coming from front of him, around where he killed the bolf, and where he dumped the body of the second bolf he killed, a few kilometers from the cave.

His eyes narrowed, sure he had injured them, heck he even bled, but this was new, fresh, like something was digging into them.

He clenched his jaw with regret, obviously I should have taken it farther, now what have I attracted.

He pulled out the Gishiki and slowly moved forward, crouched low, each step taken with meticulous care to ensure he didn't alert whatever was there.

Axel's breath caught, his heart rate rapidly increasing, his stomach turning at the sight in front of him.

Hidden safe beneath bushes, he watched as multiple small creatures bore holes through the body of the bolf, pushing out flesh like a blender, the smell of blood thick in the air.

But the most disturbing part was how many of these creatures were there, he couldn't count it even if he tried, they were like ants, although slightly bigger, were there stinger should be was replaced by a curled tail, bits of flesh hanging on it as they used it to drill through.

The creatures were completely red, Axel couldn't tell if that was due to the blood or that was there natural color, there hands had two large pincers, larger than the entire body, it was like a hybrid between an ant, a crab and a scorpion.

But that wasn't the worst part, there faces looked like human faces, with nose and all, except the mouth was replaced by sharp mandibles, and there eyes were hanging on the tip of the antenna, looking like even a little touch would throw it off.

Axel didn't even have the humor to name this creatures, he could accept the bolf, but this, this was a cruel reminder that this was hell, sure he had gotten a little power but so what, there was so much he didn't know, so many monstrosities lurking.

He watched with astonishment and fear as the creatures drilled through the flesh and rolled it up as a ball and pushed, heading somewhere in a single file, more replacing them, Axel felt his skin crawl, imagining if that was him.

In less than thirty minutes, the creatures had finished with the body of both bolf's, heading somewhere, Axel watched the entire process, his eyes glued, body trembling, he couldn't look away, fearing they'd attack if he did.

Yet as they moved away, a sudden urge to follow fill his head, the thought to find out what they were and where they came from.

"Better to know what I'm dealing with," he muttered trying to convince himself, "I wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise."

"Sh*t" Axel cursed as he started moving forward, still crouched low, following the creatures amidst his fear which kept growing as they moved further.

Any animal they met avoided them like a plague, hurrying, scuttling out of their way, this was definitely not something he'd cross or get involved with.

Abandoning his thoughts of using them as part of his plan to hunt the dragon, I can't get involved, no matter what, their shape alone…

Eventually, he stopped as the creatures reached what appeared to be the entrance to their cave or caste, multiple lines of the creatures from other directions approached the entrance, all rolling balls of flesh, entering the hole.

Then all of a sudden one turned towards were he was, its eyes dangling as it studied the bush he was hiding behind, then it started walking towards the bush.

It's tail poised, ready to strike, but as it snapped through the bushes, cutting them with its claws, Axel was already long gone.

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