#171 Volcanic island
Akashi released Taeko from the hug and walked up to Mera who was looking to the side the entire time they were hugging each other.
"Is it really so hard to bear the image of man and woman liking each other?" Akashi asked with an amused tone.
"...Of course not, I already grew accustomed to you two." Mera looked at him into eyes and replied without any problem.
"Then why were you avoiding us with your eyes?" Akashi asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Will you shut up? I came here out of the kindness of my heart to inform you and hand you a few items, not to watch you two getting all lovey-dovey" Mera said with a faint blush before showing off the bag she was holding in her hand.
"Hm?" Akashi took the bag and looked questioningly at Mera.
"That bag contains 5 Teigu." Mera said with a smile and Akashi raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He looked into the bag and recognized all of them since he already studied all records about Teigu.
"What's that surprised expression for?" Mera frowned and asked with a displeased tone since she took it in a bad way.
"Don't misunderstand...I only told you to kill them, I never mentioned you collecting their Teigu and to be honest, I thought that you would at least try a few of them before giving them to me...or maybe none of them were compatible with your group?" Akashi quickly explained with a calm expression before asking with a teasing smile.
"We don't need to rely on powerful weapons. We haven't even tried any of them." Mera replied with a proud smile while trying to cover it with her hand.
"True...In that case, I thank you. Do you have anything you would like as an additional reward for this task?" Akashi was really impressed by Mera's thoughtfulness but he knew that she had some ulterior motive or at least she wanted to raise the chances of her getting whatever she has in mind.
"Well, now that you ask...I saw what you have done with Taeko's weapon. Can you do something similar for me? However, I would like something special that would suit my style." Mera asked with a sly smile.
Akashi already expected this conversation at one point but he had no reason to refuse after what they have done for him. He eyes Mera up and down for a while.
'...Why am I getting nervous?' Mera suddenly grew a bit nervous under Akashi's intense stare.
"Actually, I can think of something that might suit you. Is that umbrella special to you in any way?" Akashi asked while holding his chin.
"Hm? I guess it is, I have been using it for numerous years by now." Mera was slightly surprised when Akashi agreed but she quickly recovered and replied while handing her umbrella to him without any hesitation. In the process, their hands even touched but Mera herself completely ignored the fact, however if it was her old self, she would be completely shocked by her own actions.
---
[Lesser Fear - can be upgraded to Common Fear for 2.000 gold]
[GOLD: 10.789 -> 8.789]
[Common Fear - can be upgraded to Greater Fear for 5.000 gold]
---
'Ugh, money is always a problem, every time I think that my business is making a lot, I always spend it in a matter of a few seconds. I can actually upgrade it to a Greater Fear and then upgrade her umbrella but I am not sure if it's made of good enough materials. I am sure that for someone like Mera it must be made of superior materials but it's still just an umbrella...Common Fear should be good enough for her.' Akashi thought and decided against upgrading it any further.
"Alright, I am prepared, keep at least 10 meters distance away from me." Akashi said with a frown.
"Wha-?! W-Wait, you are going to do that right now? What about any materials? Isn't this alchemy or something similar to it?" Mera immediately questioned with a dumbfounded expression.
"Just follow my instructions." Akashi didn't bother to explain things and both Taeko and Mera took a few steps back away from Akashi.
Akashi held the umbrella in front of him in both hands.
[Do you wish to upgrade Mera's umbrella with the Common Fear for 1.500 gold?]
[GOLD: 8.789 -> 7.289]
[Energy: 860/1720]
Akashi closed his eyes for a moment and the next moment he abruptly opened them, an ominous red aura started spreading all around the umbrella, affecting the entire trio.
"?! What a killing intent!" Mera exclaimed while keeping her hand in front of her eyes due to violent wind.
Taeko hasn't said anything since she already experienced something similar but her eyes still widened when she felt the potent killing intent. however, her expression quickly changed to concerned one remembering that Akashi is closest to the source of this killing intent.
Akashi himself had no problem staying calm under this amount of killing intent since he has killed a lot of humans and other creatures and yet it hasn't affected his mind that much. As long as he didn't know the person, he could kill anyone in cold blood without any unnecessary thoughts.
After a whole minute, the red ominous aura was gradually absorbed into the umbrella and Akashi handed it back to Mera.
"That's all?" Mera asked with a curious expression while observing the umbrella. The only visible change is that its handle changed color from black to dark red.
"Try summoning your Wrigglers and order them around." Akashi suggested and Mera did as he said.
"Whoa, this is...interesting." Mera exclaimed when her Wrigglers were actually much faster and it seems like she could also sense that their respective strong points became enhanced.
"Do you like it? It also has other functions on your enemy but it's almost useless against someone strong and experienced." Akashi asked with a smile.
"Yeah, this is certainly something I can appreciate. I really like to use them more than fight on my own." Mera actually released a genuine smile without any sadistic or playful traces.
"Anyway, you look like you are planning to go somewhere...What're the plans? Mera also realized it so she quickly changed the subject when she noticed a fairly big backpack on Akashi's back.
"Let me explain everything..." Akashi didn't want to include matters with Esdeath around Mera since he knew about her small crush but he decided to go through it.
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When Taeko heard about the matter with Esdeath, her expression winced a bit but she hasn't said anything. Mera who was quite master at reading from body language and microexpressions, was aware of Taeko's worries.
Mera was quite irritated when she heard that Esdeath likes Akashi so she decided to vent out.
"Taeko, are you truly alright with this? I can sense dissatisfaction from your expression." Mera asked with an amused expression while glancing at Akashi who just let her talk without saying anything.
"..." There was a few seconds uncomfortable silence and tension began to rise. Even Mera was slightly surprised by this as she slowly began to regret what she has just said.
"It's called jealousy, Mera-sama. If I didn't feel any jealousy, it would only mean that I don't truly love Akashi." Taeko opened her mouth after a few seconds of silence just to say this with a faint smile and closed eyes while pressing her hands to her heart.
"?!" Both Akashi and Mera were surprised by her words.
'Did she learn this from Chelsea?' Both of them thought of the same thing.
Akashi wanted to "reassure" Taeko, saying that he will marry her first no matter what but he decided against it with a smile on his face. It actually made him happy that Taeko feels jealous about this and maybe even insecure when it comes to Esdeath but that only showed that she truly liked him, plus there was something else. Akashi noticed her determination in her eyes, it would be rude of him to "reassure" her making it look like he has no faith in her.
After this matter was solved, Akashi mentioned his plans for next 2 weeks and offer them to join him but he still warned them that they will most likely be bored the entire time. Taeko instantly agreed since she got chance to spend more time with Akashi while Mera decided to tag along, feeling uneasy leaving Taeko alone with Akashi even though she was aware that Akashi will most likely spend all that time for training.
Mera sent a message back to Oarburgh's hideout before they left on Kiyomi's back, flying towards the south-west.
Kiyomi's stamina was actually probably the strongest point, therefore she was able to fly without any stops. It took them only a few hours before they found a few smaller islands with an active volcano. They even flew an entire hour over the ocean before finding a suitable place for Akashi's training which just showed how far they are from the Capital.
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After another hour passed by after they landed on the island with an active volcano.
"This island looks pretty good" Akashi nodded his head with a satisfied smile, standing among the numerous corpses of the Danger Beasts.
"There is also high activity of Danger Beasts." Mera added with a puzzled expression.
"I would have thought that they would try to run away from the active volcano..." Taeko was also puzzled by this.
"Most of them can't swim so they have no choice but to stay and pray, while there are still aerial Danger Beasts...it is because hunting for food became much easier for them due to chaos down here, they can also fly away whenever they want." Akashi said his conclusion while shrugging his shoulders, not bothered by this small fact.
"I hope you have an escape plan for us in case the volcano suddenly erupts" Mera frowned and said.
"Of course I have however by the time it might erupt, I will most likely already be able to control it." Akashi reassured them with a faint smile.
"...I see, so that's why you wanted to come here specifically." Mera muttered with a thoughtful expression.
"That...and also one more reason but it's something you wouldn't understand even if I were to explain it to you" Akashi nodded his head before adding.
"Try me" Mera smirked and replied.
"To get into contact with certain someone or something." Akashi said with a smile and as expected Mera had confused expression when she heard him.
"Anyway, let's set up camp near the entrance to the volcano, I already had Kiyomi fly around the volcano and find a few entrances." Akashi said as he turned around, intending to go through the jungle up to the volcano.
Girls followed right after him while keeping glancing around for any potential danger.
---Northern lands, near the borders with Northern Tribe---
"Finally back..." Esdeath muttered while overlooking the plain covered under the snow. If she were to dig a few inches below the snow, she might even find some remains of the tents or other things.
'What an uncomfortable silence. Still, returning here surely brings back memories. I should focus on my training, I will use these 2 weeks wisely to get my body and mind into the perfect state.' Esdeath thought as her long blue hair was flying in the violent wind. It was also constantly snowing but none of the snowflakes actually landed on her figure, it was as if they were avoiding her.