42 Trotter

"I may have worded that sentence a bit wrong."

"You think?"

Stelle crossed her arms as she sat on her bed looking at Yuuto as he had suddenly asked her a ridiculous question out of nowhere.

'I thought I was still dreaming for a second again…'

Resting at the hotel was one thing Stelle looked forward to after a long day traveling in the mines and she hoped to get some sleep for the next day.

But her wishes were unanswered considering the voices she began to hear whenever she fell into a deep sleep. This caused her to wake up multiple times throughout the night.

So waking up and hearing Yuuto say some strange request, Stelle felt like she had to grab her bat to beat this 'deviant' version of her friend knocking on her door.

"So to clarify, you want to see the Stellaron inside me?"

"Bingo~!"

Yuuto said while watching Stelle drink her cup of water placed on the nightstand near her bed. Not knowing that the slightly sleep-deprived Stelle contemplated hitting him with a bat.

"How are you gonna look? Do you want me to take off my shirt or something?"

"You're willing to do that?" Yuuto raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.

"No."

"Then why suggest something like that then?"

Yuuto got up and sat beside Stelle who was eyeing his every move. "I just need to place my hand on a part of your body and that's all." Hearing his intentions, Stelle thought for a second and turned her back towards him.

"You should be careful when handling a gentle lady such as myself."

"You? Gentle?"

Considering the destructive nature she has whenever she fights or her tendencies whenever she finds something that she likes. Gentle was the last thing he would describe her.

Stelle clicked her tongue after seeing Yuuto laugh as if she was saying something funny and sat up straight to have Yuuto check out the Stellaron inside her.

She was also curious as to what he would find after hearing his reasons for asking this request.

One was to see the nature of what an actual Stellaron had and to see if its nature was similar to the one located in Jarilo-VI.

There was one other reason Yuuto wanted to check but he kept it to himself as it involved the one inside him that no one knew about.

'I should have done this sooner but I was caught up in preparing for the journey to Jarilo-VI so I didn't have the chance to ask Stelle when we were on the Express.'

Placing his hand on her back, Yuuto used [Clarity] on both his eyes and hands to probe the dangerous object located inside her.

Feeling a cool sensation enter her body, Stelle shivered but kept quiet as she didn't want to disturb his concentration. Considering she was a bit worried something wrong may happen during this time.

'So this is what a genuine Stellaron looks like…'

The fluctuations and destructive energy her Stellaron had compared to his, it was like comparing a small campfire to the sun in terms of heat potential.

Yuuto had initially seen what this Stellaron looked like before it entered Stelle but it was just at a surface level. But now with [Clarity], he was able to truly see why this object was called the Cancer of All Worlds.

'I can't get too close to the center as it just burns my energy away. But it's interesting to see that the properties it has burns and destroys anything it touches.''

He kept this in mind as he figured that the energy Stelle's Stellaron had was tethered to the path of Destruction. 

Despite their inherent nature to grant wishes by any means possible, the way they do it is what Yuuto wanted to look into.

Stellarons have special properties that tethers them to a certain path or Aeon's power.

This was a piece of information he remembered reading in the game which he completely disregarded but now this was something that he wanted to learn more about.

'The one on Solarian must have been tethered to Destruction and the one in Jarilo-VI should be…Preservation? No, I feel like there's another path that fits it much better..'

The Eternal Freeze that covers this planet due to the wishes of the people wanting to save themselves from the Antimatter Invasion that arrived on their world 

To the Echoes that appear due to the fragmentum corrosion. Yuuto felt like its way of putting forth its influence was more similar to one path that he was familiar with.

Remembrance.

'The Stellaron used ice to protect the world and the Echoes that appear within the corrosion are similar to memories of the past getting a chance to briefly revive once more.'

This was just speculation on his part but the properties the Stellaron on this planet showed made him oddly lean towards it being tethered to the Remembrance.

As the Luofu had corrosion in the form of reviving near-dead soldiers and turning them into abominations. Which tied it to the Aeon of Abundance. 

He felt like the corrosion on Jarilo-VI that took the form of faint echoes from dead beings made him more inclined to think that this Stellaron was tied to the Remembrance. 

But why would he want to learn more about this? 

'I wonder what path my Stellaron will tether to…'

Compared to the complete ones he has seen, the one inside Yuuto was more of an empty husk that he had to fill up to use properly. It can be considered in its infant stage.

So if he fills it up, will it contain a property that was originally within it such as Stelle's which it was based on? Or will it have the property of another considering it was consuming the corrosion from another Stellaron? 

Or can it handle properties of both making it tethered to multiple paths?

All these questions were something Yuuto had deeply thought about once he began absorbing the fragmentum within the Underground.

'This should be enough for now.'

Yuuto took his hand off after analyzing the fluctuations and properties it had and also seeing how Stelle's body was able to act as a vessel to contain the object inside her.

The connection she had with the object within her was something fascinating to him and made him wonder if Stelle would allow him to look at it once more.

The potent energy was unable to pass or seep through the cavity within her chest due to some unknown reason so he reasoned that it would only escape her body if she willed it to.

But he had never seen Stelle use the power of the Stellaron out of her own will so there are still a few undetermined factors Yuuto still had to look into.

He didn't forget to leave a bit of energy from [Mother's Embrace] within her as he noticed that she was a bit tired for some reason and wanted to help her in return for agreeing to his request. 

"How was it?"

"You are as healthy as ever!"

"That's not what I'm asking but I guess that's a good thing to know anyway."

Stelle said while adjusting her shirt and watched as Yuuto sat quietly as if immersed in his thoughts.

She felt like she should leave him alone for a bit and decided that she should eat a few sticks of jerky while getting ready. Putting on her jacket and getting her food, she noticed Yuuto standing up and moving his arms to loosen them up.

"Are you going to meet up with Dan Heng and March?" Yuuto asked while taking a stick of jerky from Stelle.

"Well, it's mainly March since Dan Heng said that he wanted to scout on his own first before going to the camp where that Svarog guy was at."

Yuuto nodded his head as he felt like the time they should meet Svarog would be pretty soon.

"I'll come out with you. I need to discuss something with Dan Heng if he hasn't left yet."

***

After trying to meet up with March and Dan Heng, Yuuto quickly found that Dan Heng already left with Oleg to check out some areas that Svarog would sometimes convene at.

March who stayed behind, told Yuuto that it would take around an hour or two for him to come back as Dan Heng said he would be quick.

Seeing that he would take a while before he came back, Yuuto decided that he had enough time to bring one person to a certain area she requested to see.

"Thank you for bringing me…"

"Don't mind it. As someone who's connected to the Supreme Guardian, you would obviously want to see the records from your predecessors."

Walking down the rocky caverns, Yuuto waved his hand to tell Bronya that he didn't mind following her request and led the way for her.

Going past a few more corners and monsters that tried to attack them, they finally reached an area where a large white crystal sealed the entrance to a certain room.

"The documents might be a bit fragile so be careful when handling them."

Yuuto pressed his hand against the crystal and it shattered, turning into a mist that he quickly absorbed. Bronya nodded her head and slowly made her way inside where she would be exposed to fragments of history that would greatly change her viewpoint.

He watched Bronya enter the room before turning his attention to the vast corrosion surrounding him.

"I felt like my absorption was kinda slow but thanks to Stelle I found a smoother way to make it flow…"

Going to a wall where a large chunk of fragmentum was located, he placed his palms on the surface and took a deep breath.

Following the memory he got from inspecting the Stellaron inside Stelle, Yuuto gathered the energy deep inside the large chunk of fragmentum and absorbed it through a path to his engine.

Solidifying the connection to the energy he wanted to absorb, Yuuto was able to gather it all towards his engine at a much higher pace compared to before.

The glowing gold within the dark black crystal began to fade away before finally shattering and falling off the cavern walls where Yuuto took a step back.

"It's much better but I still need to fine-tune some things since I felt some of the heat rolling off my arms."

He saw his skin turn slightly red but after a few seconds, it returned to his regular skin tone.

Other than this small issue, Yuuto was greatly satisfied by this large change and continued to absorb more and more of the corrosion around him.

The previous area that was ridden with fragmentum began to slowly return to the natural cavern it originally was. It took him just under an hour to gather all the remaining corrosion and felt like this was a good time to check on Bronya who was inside.

Checking his surroundings, Yuuto walked inside after seeing nothing in the distance and noticed that Bronya was deeply invested in a certain diary in front of her.

He peeked to see what it could have been and saw that the leather cover had an emblem that was similar to the one Bronya had on her chest.

'Probably tied to Alexandra or something along those lines…'

Deciding that he shouldn't disrupt her, he found a small area near the corner where he could sit down and look at a blueprint that was tied to an idea he wanted to pull through on.

Without an ounce of noise between them, the atmosphere began to resemble a library that felt oddly nostalgic to him. 

As his previous job had instances where it was dead quiet at times, he would always use that time to read or catch up on homework he was assigned that day.

–RUSTLE

–RUSTLE

Catching some noise appearing on his right side, he lifted his head as he figured Bronya was done reading but as he looked up he saw that her nose was still stuck in the diary she had.

–RUSTLE

The noise continued which was a bit odd so he leaned forward trying to see if a rat or an insect found its way inside but to his surprise, Yuuto found a pair of stubby feet peeking through the desk Bronya was sitting at.

Yuuto looked closer and noticed the dark skin it had and a pair of thin white ears moving around as it turned its head.

'What is a warp trotter doing here..?'

Seeing the familiar creature he used to kill a decent amount of times in the game, Yuuto began to wonder if it was his lucky day to find this rare animal.

He watched as the trotter continued to sniff around Bronya's leg before it reached the base of her seat.

'Hold on… this thing is acting a bit strange isn't it?…'

Yuuto felt his mouth twitch as it continued to smell Bronya for quite some time before she finally noticed as it pushed its nose against her thigh.

"Mhmm!?"

Bronya jumped up as she felt something cold suddenly touch her and immediately looked down. Seeing a pig-like creature thoroughly sniffing her leg made her quickly back off which startled the trotter.

"W-What was that..?"

"It's a trotter. They're docile and just appear at random."

Seeing Yuuto standing near her, Bronya moved her feet to stand beside him and watched as the trotter began to look at them.

It continued to stare before it eventually looked at Bronya's gun that leaned against the desk she was previously sitting at. The trotter pushed its nose against the chamber before it bit down. 

The two looked in shock as they watched the trotter hold the long rifle in its mouth before the space around it began to tremble.

"Shit! This thing is actually a thief!?"

Knowing what was going to happen next, Yuuto waved his hand to shoot a piece of ice toward the trotter. Noticing the projectile flying towards it, the trotter jumped in the air and moved into a portal it created.

Quickly disappearing from the cave where Yuuto and Bronya were at.

"Wait, it took my weapon!" Bronya said in shock as she looked at Yuuto who was concentrating on something.

"Don't worry, it didn't move far from here."

Using [Clarity] to find the trail of energy that matched the one the trotter left behind, he moved out of the cave while Bronya followed closely behind.

Going through a few corners, they entered a space where a few empty tents were set up. Most likely belonging to vagrants but currently, they didn't focus on this but on the trotter that held a large gun in its mouth.

"Take the other side and grab its attention. I'll try and sneak up on it."

Bronya nodded after hearing Yuuto's plan and watched as slivers of moonlight began to wrap around his body. He quickly moved and hid behind the tents located near them.

As he was doing this Bronya lowered herself and tried to look as small as possible to not scare off the trotter.

Yuuto got closer and closer but he felt something was off as he noticed that the trotter didn't move a single step despite the fact Bronya was inching closer towards it.

He wondered if it was about to teleport once again but saw no signs of the space around it opening up.

'Does it like being around Bronya..?'

This thought quickly popped into his head but seeing what was about to happen next made this idea quickly vanish.

–VROOOM

"EEEK!?"

The trotter that was frozen in place was suddenly grabbed by a large red hand and squealed at the top of its lungs as it felt the pressure around its body grow.

Seeing the red hand gradually form into an arm that had dark rocky spikes and bits of flames coming off it made Yuuto and Bronya instantly back off.

Holding the trotter in its hand, the entity's full body came into view, and out came a monster that had bits of sharp crimson crystals protruding out of its torso.

"It dropped my gun."

Convening back together, Bronya saw that the trotter opened its mouth to scream in the process dropping the gun it had.

"We can wait until it moves and get your gun back after it leaves."

"How long do you think that will take?"

"Probably not long."

Yuuto guessed as the monster was already moving away from its position and would leave at any moment.

But that was only if the surrounding area stayed quiet.

"Hey, you! What are you guys doing here in our camp!?" The voice of an angry vagrant appeared from behind them, making Yuuto click his tongue.

"This idiot—!"

Yuuto felt the hair on his skin rise and grabbed Bronya's waist before pulling her away from their initial position.

The space they were previously in turned into a ball of flames as the monster conjured a ball of fire from its open hand.

–VROOOOM!!

"W-What is that m-monster..!?"

"You shut up."

Yuuto waved his hand and immediately froze the vagrant while making his usual sword at the same time.

He began to revolve his engine and conjured a few spears in the air before kicking them towards the large rock-like monster.

"Are you able to use any other weapons other than your gun for now?"

"I'm familiar with using a lance."

Bronya quickly said as Cocolia taught her the basics of handling a lance during the time she was still training to become a commander.

Yuuto nodded as he made a spear from his mist and made it a bit thicker than what he usually made. Bronya noting his intentions, grabbed the spear that appeared in the air and tried to familiarize herself with it.

"That thing's body is really tough…" Yuuto said after seeing that his spears only gave it a few scratches and readied himself noticing that the monster was rapidly approaching them.

The area around Yuuto began to fill itself with his mist and moonlight began to spread throughout his body.

Being only a few meters away from them, the monster made a few balls of fire and threw them at Yuuto to which he guided a lot of his mist to go in front of him.

The mist slowed down the balls of fire and Yuuto rushed the monster while Bronya ran around it.

Yuuto traced the air and horizontal silver lines appeared near his sword which made the edges shine in a deep hue.

The lines dug themselves into the large arm of the monster as Yuuto slashed his blade trying to cut the monster in areas he figured out were his weak points. 

This chipped off a few pieces of rock off its arm but it seemed like it didn't mind as it raised its fist to throw a punch.

"This poor trotter is getting manhandled."

Yuuto twisted his body in the air and dodged the fist that was aimed at him. As he was doing this, he heard the painful squeals the trotter was making and felt a bit bad for it.

As he was in the air, Yuuto made a small spear under him and used the momentum he got from twisting his body to drag the back of his foot and push the spear downwards.

Trying to at least penetrate the rocky fist.

While he was aiming for this, Bronya on the other side took the chance to thrust her lance at the small grooves she found located at the monster's torso.

After digging her lance a few times, she moved backward to create some space when she noticed it moving closer to her.

Similar to a hit-and-run tactic.

Seeing the amount of damage she was doing, Bronya felt like she needed to do more on her part after seeing Yuuto grab all the aggro.

'I need to get closer to my gun…'

She thought while eyeing her rifle that was lying on the ground a few meters away from her.

–VROOOOOMM!

"Yeah, that sounds like it's mad."

Yuuto backed off and created some distance while eyeing the monster after noticing sparks of fire appearing near its torso.

It raised its claws and grabbed onto the thin spear placed on its opposite hand, snapping it right off. Chucks of ashen rocks fell off its large fist and the area around it began to noticeably heat up.

Which made Yuuto on his heels.

"I need to do something about that…"

Yuuto mumbled and the area around him turned a bit misty as the temperature dialed down compared to the rising temps this monster was letting off.

***

Acheron really traumatized Black Swan and gave her PTSD during their dance lol.