Axle's Effort

A vast room with curtains fluttering in one direction; behind it hid a dashing figure. The sheerness of the thin curtains drifted in the air as the man finished pushing the third button on his shirt through the small opening. Bending up one arm, the other hand reached to secure the button on his sleeve.

Once finished cuffing both sleeves, he turned around and walked to the center of his room. Axle uncovered his eyes and spotted the elegant man in front of him. As if Eros' movements were playing in slow motion in Axle's eyes, Axle felt enchanted by the aura around him.

Unlike the strict aura Eros normally had around him, he appeared more approachable. Without the furrowed brows and unamused frown that could make a whole continent cry, he looked like a fine gentleman from a prestigious family.

Similar to a filtered beauty app on devices, Axle could see blossoms spreading wide open to welcome his arrival.

"Wow... Think of all the bloodsheds you will cause on earth..." Axle rubbed his chin, thumping a soft satisfactory tune.

"Bloodshed? Do people kill each other with knives and metal bats like what the Oracle wrote here?" Mistaking the meaning behind Axle's words, Eros' brows wrinkled once again.

Facepalming, Axle smacked his own face and slowly dragged it down his skin in the process. With his fingertips tapping against his hip, Axle looked down at the floor and sighed. "Master, this may sound rude, but it is for your own good. My first advice to you is to not take everything in that guide seriously. In the past, the things he wrote might be true. However, earth is a different place now!"

"I believe the Oracle wouldn't make a joke out of this. He took his time explaining everything to me already." Eros continued to flip through pages of the guide, trying to memorize the content.

Stepping forward, Axle took the guide from Eros' hands and flipped to a specific page about phones. "The Oracle was serious when teaching you, but his information is outdated. For example, this phone doesn't exist anymore. Even if it does, people no longer use it because it is very inconvenient. Remember the smartphone I showed you? That is what humans use in modern today!"

When Axle's eyes met Eros' uncertain gaze, he massaged his temple. "Let me tell you how miserable I became when I first visited earth. It is worse than the image of me soaked in mud water with feathers glued together. So, the story goes like this. I read this guide and happily went on earth.." He began telling the story of his miserable experience with a crooked smile on his face.

- Axle's first day on earth -

"Wow, so this is how earth looks like." The thrilling sound from Axle's voice rang in people's ears. His marble eyes shimmered crystalline blues as he scanned his surrounding.

Crowd roars, unfamiliar explosive tunes, and humans trapped behind flat screens became highlights of the city's excitement. Attractive colors sparked the hype amongst humanity as some lifted up weird rectangular devices. 'Weird, what's that thing in their hands? Almost everyone has one of those. Could it be some symbol or something?' He wondered silently.

Individuals held a rectangular object — a cellphone — and faced it in multiple directions. Some pressed the side button while others tapped on the circle shape on the bottom of the device. Though the streets were loud, the sounds of "kachak" couldn't be missed by Axle's ears.

He wondered what those weird looking things were, but it seemed interesting. Then, a soothing tune diverted his attention. He turned towards the right where a high school girl held a similar looking rectangle to her ear. She spoke with that object by her ear and then waved to somebody in the crowd.

A few minutes later, another girl arrived and both of them clicked a red circle on the rectangular object. The screen turned black shortly afterward. Axle observed from a distance as the rectangle went from bright, dim to black. He blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure he saw it correctly.

"Just now, were both of them talking to each other? Are they telepathic?! If that's the case, then I can talk to them easily!! Let me try..." He stared at the two girls in front of him with full concentration. His strong stares sent chills down the teenagers' spine, making their heads turn towards the fierce aura.

As he continued staring at them, he failed to realize his actions made them feel distressed. Other than his strong gaze, he started squinting at them in a rude manner. However, he thought his plan was working and continued looking at them. In his mind, he was attempting to send them his greetings.

Suddenly, a heavy pat slammed down on his shoulder, almost whacking his face flat against the table he was leaning on.

"Dude, why are you staring at my girlfriend for? Do you still want your eyes?" A muscular man with three built figures behind him said in a threatening manner. The man looked fairly young - maybe in his 20s. He had a leather jacket with a white tank top paired with a metal belt and blue jeans. He spat the tiny toothpick to the floor next to Axle's shoes and warned him aggressively.

"I'm talking to you, are you deaf? Do you want me to gouge those eyes out? How dare you check my girlfriend out in public?! Do you not want to live anymore?" The man spoke with his hands balled in a fist - tightly gripping onto Axle's shirt.

"I was trying to talk to them. I wasn't trying to check them out. How could you threaten people with their lives and eyes? I say you are the blind one!" Axle pulled the man's hand off of him and twisted the man's wrist.

A loud groan escaped the man's mouth when his bone cracked under Axle's carefree twist. "Argh! You broke my arm! Pay for my medical fees! What are you guys looking at? Come help me!!!" The muscular man screamed, alerting his underlings to take action.

"Oh. Sorry, I forgot my strength is too much for humans to handle." Axle said apologetically as he took the man's arm and relocated his joint without any warning.

"Argh!!!!! You crazy psycho!!!! You are a monster!!! That fucking hurts!!" The man groaned and realized his arm was back to its original position. His face turned pale like the hazy liquid from rinsed rice.

Right when Axle thought they'll call a truce, after he had apologized and fixed his arm, he saw them tapping on the rectangular object again. This time, he studied the situation closely. 'Is that a weapon???? If those girls aren't telepathic, then that means they were holding it as a weapon! They called these men! And these men are probably using that weapon to get more people! Shit!!!' Axle screamed inwardly, but his face remained the same poker expression.