Lakshman woke up to find himself lying on top of the bed and was surprised about it. He looked around and could see he was inside what appeared to be a small room with enough space for him to move around in it. As he looked around and saw windows that had sunlight streaming through them to brighten the room.
“W-What…? W-Where am I…?” he slowly asked as he returned to stare up at the ceiling.
At that moment, he heard a voice in his mind say, “Ah. You woke up.”
He was surprised by suddenly hearing the voice and he turned his head towards the source of it. There appeared to be an entranceway near the end of the bed and framed in it was the Magic Titan, Amaranda Lefrity. She was leaning on the entranceway and wore a small smile as she looked at him lying in bed.
“M-Miss Lefrity—?” he began slowly.
“Call me Amaranda because I don’t like the way you’re addressing me,” she telepathically told him and her smile became a frown.
“Ah…” he said in a surprised voice. Then, he asked again, “Amaranda… Where am I and why am I in bed?”
She raised an eyebrow and slowly asked, “So, you don’t remember what happened yesterday…?”
“Yesterday…?” asked Lakshman slowly and he wore a puzzled look on his face.
As he focused on remembering the events of yesterday, he finally remembered it. After defeating the army of enemies that suddenly attacked them, the Magic Titan and her giant walking turtle arrived. After reuniting with his wives, he was suddenly attacked by the Magic Titan, who blasted him away using a strong energy blast.
Lakshman, who quickly recovered, rose to his feet in shock as he saw the Magic Titan fire several magical stones at him that hurt him painfully. He was confused because it did not make any sense to him why the Magic Titan was suddenly attacking him. However, he did not have time to think of the reason as he was almost crushed when five giant boulder sized rocks rose out of the ground and smashed into him.
Any normal man would have become bloody meat from being squashed like that, but his powers and super strength saved him. After destroying the boulders, he attempted to attack the Magic Titan with One Man Army along with several more magic spells. Unfortunately, this plan failed as she immediately cast a Water Magic Spell that went a wave of water in all directions and destroyed his illusion copies. He began firing energy blasts at her rapidly to distract her in order to give him enough time to and a blow on her.
She was clever and being a Magic Titan, she immediately activated Enforcer, which was a more powerful spell when she used it. The spell defended her against all of his attacks, including his Positron Cannon. Finally had enough, he rushed in and began landing a barrage of fists on the barrier much to Amaranda’s surprise and with brute force, he destroyed the barrier when he used Blasting Smasher.
Amaranda had decided she had witnessed his power enough and proceeded to dodge the straight punch he threw at her. Sadly, she did not get away cleanly as she was burned when he used his left arm to fire Inferno Fire at her. Slightly impressed, but angered the most, Amaranda quickly put an end to the battle by hitting him hard on the back of the neck by her staff while using KO Strike, which knocked him out almost instantly.
“Oh… You used KO Strike on me…” said Lakshman as he remembered the last moments before he was knocked out.
“Good. At least, you remember you defeat, unlike most people that got defeated by a woman,” said Amaranda in an impressed, making him sigh heavily. “As for your question, we’re currently riding atop my Eternal Turtle, Telker as we head towards the border.”
“Huh?!” he exclaimed in shock. “Why am I riding on your giant walking turtle and what the heck happened after I was knocked out?”
She made a frown and telepathically said, “His name is Telker and calm down as I explain.”
The explanation was short to the point that it only took her a minute to explain all of it. After knocking him out, she had spoken to Sumara Manjuvad about what will happen to her Manjuvad Demon Clan. Sumara clearly feared another attack like the one they just faced and this made Amaranda lend her a hand in letting the demons take shelter atop the Eternal Turtle. At first, Sumara was hesitant, but was convinced by Lakshman’s wives, who clearly stated how it was the best solution proved to them.
The people began living atop the Eternal Turtle and very soon, left the village for good. Before leaving, Amaranda was kind enough to repair the forest that Lakshman had destroyed in the process of defeating his enemies. Once that was over, they set off on the Eternal Turtle. Amaranda brought his unconscious body over to this spare room and kept him well away from his wives in order to speak with him alone.
“Currently, we are heading west to reach the border and once we get there, we will reach the Teleportation Zone. Using them, we can leave Bazaraka Continent and arrive at a remote island that will keep the Manjuvad Demon Clan safe,” finished Amaranda with her explanation come to an end.
“I see. That makes sense,” Lakshman said and he nodded in understanding.
She nodded once at him and then telepathically asked, “Telker, are there any signs of enemy nearby?”
Lakshman was slightly taken aback by her question and he was quickly forced to cover his ears when he heard the loud roar of the Eternal Turtle that he rode on.
“GOOOOOAAAAAAA!!!”
Amaranded nodded with a satisfied look on her face as she telepathically said, “I see. Good. Looks like we’ve gained some time ahead of our pursuers.”
“Pursuers? There’re people following us?” Lakshman asked and he immediately narrowed his eyes.
She looked at him incredulously and telepathically said, “Obviously, we would be. You and your… uh… wives went and defeated a large Demon Squad. The top members of the squad will soon receive the message and will sent stronger warriors after us. We are now officially on the run from the Demon Kingdom.”
“Oh… That’s bad…” he said and gulped in nervousness. Then, coming back to the question he had thought up, he asked her, “What was the reason you kept me away from my wives all this time?”
“Yes… Follow me,” she telepathically said to him curtly before leaving the room.
He was momentarily surprised, but he quickly got to his feet and rushed after her, catching up to her a few seconds later. She was walking steadily down a corridor with entranceways into rooms like the one he had woken in. Whatever the place was, he knew instantly it was no location for a hospital. He looked towards her and noticed that she did not have her staff with her, but he assumed she was capable of summoning it to her side at any time.
Walking behind her, he asked, “Is this about my power?”
Without turning to look at him, she telepathically said, “It’s got something to do with it, but slightly different than the usual.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you should become quiet and just follow me,” she told him curtly and he blinked at her in surprise before becoming silent.
A minute after walking in what seemed like an endless corridor, they finally exited the building. Lakshman quickly covered his eyes momentarily as he was suddenly facing the full weight of the sunlight. Then, he slowly blinked and finally managed to adjust to see clearly once again. As he got a clear view of their surroundings, he was amazed by the view as he stood on top of the Eternal Turtle. All the forests looked like small mushrooms and he thought he could touch the mountains if he just held his hand out.
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He continued to look around and spotted stairs that seemed to be leading down the back of the turtle. Walking forward slightly, he could see the people moving around the firmly built houses that they were using as shelters. Most of the women concentrated on washing clothes or hanging the laundry while the men trained rigorously with the spears they had with them. It really was an amazing view to see from the angle he was standing at.
“This way…” said Amaranda and she began walking towards the side.
“Wait…!” he said and he quickly jogged after her to catch up. “Where exactly are we going?”
“You will see soon,” she telepathically replied shortly and left him feeling mystified.
They walked past several buildings, which seemed to be just like the one they came out. After passing them, they arrived at a building that was directly constructed in front of them. The building was tall in size, but it oddly did not have any windows or such attached on the walls that he could see.
Amaranda walked up to the one door and unlocked it by turning the knob before pulled it open. It was total darkness and without hesitation, she walked straight into it. For a moment, he hesitated because he feeling a strange nervous sensation in the pit of his stomach. Something about that room gave him bad vibes, which he did not understand as this was his first time going there.
“What are you standing there for? Come in!”
Amaranda telepathically called for him to enter and he nervously entered the building through the open doors. Upon his enter, the door suddenly sung and shut behind him. He quickly over to it and tried to turn the knob, which did not unlock the door. Everything started to become fishy and he began to radiate power as he assumed he was going to be attack from the darkness by the Magic Titan.
“Lights On,” called Amaranda telepathically from within the darkened room.
In an instant, lights got turned on by the Energy Crystals attached to each side of the walls. He got a better view of the room, which was more like a large room that was the size of an entire building. He could see the ceiling high above and the walls enclosing them on all sides. After looking around the room, he noticed there to be no windows for some reason.
Just then, Amaranda looked at him and telepathically said, “Welcome to the Training Room.”
“Uh… Don’t you mean… Training Building?” asked Lakshman in confusion as he pointed around the room.
“Technically it is a room, but that can pass as well,” said Amaranda telepathically with a nod of her head. “Anyway, this is the location that is used by the many Magic Titans, including myself, to train ourselves to become stronger and attain great powers!”
“I see…” he said slowly and he looked around the large room once more.
He noticed how there were magic circles etched on the floor of the room with each possession a different symbol in the middle than the other. Seeing them, he immediately recognised them as the symbols that define what each of the magic circles were used for.
“It’s great to know about it, but why bring me here? You’re not seriously thinking of training me, right? If so, then you’ll be wasting your time and energy because I am plenty strong as I am right now. I’m not being arrogant about it because it’s a fact,” said Lakshman confidently to her.
“Yes… I am well aware of how powerful you are. I had a taste of some of it during our previous battle,” she told him telepathically with a nod of her head. “However, I do wonder why you are not focusing on getting stronger. Did you perhaps give on getting stronger because you aren’t at the level a Phoenix Titan should be at?”
Lakshman sighed and said, “I don’t know if my wives told you or not, but I currently have—!”
“Yes, yes. You once had four seals, three of which have been unsealed to allow you to have fifty percent of your full power, with the remaining power still being sealed away,” said Amaranda quickly, forestalling him from explaining everything. “Your wives and Sumara explained it all to me about how you’ve reached the best hold over your power in your current state.”
“If you knew, then why bother bringing me here?”
She took a deep breath and telepathically said, “When I fought you, I sensed that you were holding back and the same could possibly be applied to the enemies that you fought. With the power you currently hold, such attackers should be no sweat when you can easily destroy them all with your violent attacks.”
“Ah. I suppose you’re right on that point, but you see… I don’t like to kill unnecessarily,” he told her and her eyes widened in surprise. “For me, killing is wrong and giving the enemies the chance at redemption is the right thing to do under any situation.”
The Magic Titan’s eyes had widened in shock from hearing what he firmly believed in. She placed a hand on her face and shook her head as if she could not believe what she just heard.
“Such foolishness… It will get your killed!” she told him telepathically in a quiet voice. “You say you give chances at redemption to all enemies, but then leave yourself to get badly wounded in the process. By the end of it, your enemies might have either changed or finally been killed by you. However, you will be an easy target to take down in your weakened state, like how I defeated you…”
“W-Well… I did get angry that you were suddenly attacking me for apparently no reason, but I did hold back so I didn’t harm you…” he said feebly as he looked down at the floor.
She stared at him for a moment in silence before closing her eyes and reopening them a moment later. It appeared as though she was trying her hardest to calm herself from scolding him.
“Such attitude…” she mumbled telepathically, which he was unable to hear. She sighed before telepathically saying, “That exact attitude is the reason why you are weak! Very, very weak!”
“Huh? My firm belief in such makes me weak?” he asked her in a surprised voice.
She nodded her head at him and folded her arms before telepathically saying, “That’s right, however I will not waste my mouth and words in trying to convince you. I will let this training decide that factor, but before that… I want you to face the Calamity Titan and try to defeat him.”
His eyes widened in shock and he exclaimed, “Huh?!”
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Author's Note
Future chapters might be almost he same length as this chapter, which is really like the earlier ones (Arcs 1 - 8), but it can't be helped. I feel much more comfortable writing like this than spending 4-5 hours on writing more than 4000+ words! Geez... By the end of it, I don't have any energy spare to get myself some ice-cream! It also doesn't give me enough time to fine detail the next bit of the story, which I usually need some time over (like the rest of the day and sleep) to make it better (it's rare for me to make it worse).
I'm not complaining, just saying what's on my mind so that my awesome readers know what I'm thinking. Anyway, I hope people will still like the story, with me writing like this for a while or so. I love this story and I'm enjyoing every part of it and I hope the rest of you are also doing the same.
Also, Lucky will be something amazing in 3-4 chapters! That, I can guarantee! So, stay tuned as the story goes on!