C225: Open World Conference
Alt Title teaser: Old Ones Knowledge.
Date published: 6/2/2025.
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Ten years is no small time. People grow up, change, learn new things about themselves and those close to them. Axel is not immune to these changes as he officially reached 25 years of age. He chose not to diminish the effects of time on him to allow some natural growth into his body which now resembles a mix of his asura state and his inflated teen state.
This means his current appearance is quite tall, reaching 6' 4", which is incredibly tall in Japanese society and thus makes him the center of attention just based on his height alone. Yet the height factor quickly fades, gazes instead linger due to his muscular physique. His proto-muscles filled with intense magical energy greatly defines his physical prowess as both the immovable object and unstoppable force. As he has grown to regularly bear a business suit due to his magical business with the Clocktower, his physique is quite noticeable.
His business had expanded from talismans to proper magi-tools, gadgets that have built in mana circuits which can either be superimposed on regular gadgets or create new ones. It's similar to mystic codes but these represent functions that lie even off the battlefield. Such as a printer that gives the middle finger to HP as it uses other non-ink based materials to create the actual ink. Transmutation magic is it's source but this is only one of the many inventions he and 'Rin' had developed. Cooking devices, laundry machines, so many possibilities.
Speaking of Rin, she has grown into quite the joyful young girl. While the loss of her father did hurt her for some time, she had begun to treat Axel as her new father just like Sakura. Both girls are now in highschool and have graduated from his tutelage 3 years ago. Naturally, Sakura was first place and Rin in second between the two of them.
As for their appearances, Rin retains her gorgeous brown hair which she puts into twin tails. Slightly bigger around the chest area due to receiving nutritious food from childhood as compared to eating take out or homemade slop like canon. With thigh high leggings, a red long sleeved shirt with a Decagram (10 point star) just below her neck and a short black skirt to finish her outfit. Though there is one standalone feature that truly stands out from her original appearance, Instead of having 2 black ribbons tying up her hair, she has two blue ones which were custom made to give a starry night blue color. She wears these as a sort of tribute to the connection she has with Axel.
Sakura on the other hand remained mostly the same but was certainly not as thin as canon. As she grew, Sheba and Luna took over her day to day care. They became infatuated with her as she had so much potential. Their interactions along with the presence of her older sister had allowed her to break out of the small shell she had made due to the Matou's. Yet even after so many years, she had retained her half brown and half white hair.
She had eventually approached Axel to help her. He had told her that he could return her hair back to how it originally was but after a moment she hesitated as she wanted to share the same hair color as Washio. Originally this was meant to be temporary as a small joke but when she saw how happy he was when she told him about how it was semi-permanent, she chose to keep it. Now instead of her original deep purple hair, she has a lighter violet shade which she has grown out into a pony-tail.
Speaking of Sakura and Washio, they had started dating at the end of middle school, at least officially. Unofficially, they held the title ever since a few months after Sakura had initially moved in. Washio had joined the kendo club after his interest in it was sparked by Raikou during one of the playdates over the years. Yet even now they had still not taught him magic, he has remained a regular person throughout this whole time.
Though he did have one incident where Sakura was bullied and a crack appeared in the seal of his magic. A wave of darkness had spilled out from him and traumatized the bullies. Yes Washio had inherited from Kaoruko her illusionary power but from Axel he had obtained the power of death. This was the reason why she and Axel, his parents, had chosen to seal his power as if he used it incorrectly, then he could hurt those he cared about or become a typical villain who uses the power of darkness and death to take over the world.
As for Murasaki Shikibu-kaoruko, she had expanded her illusionary art business, slightly increasing its power, she also had been contacted by a special organization related to the clocktower that acts as a sort of high end auction so she was acting as the speaker there for a bit. It was an odd twist for her to do this but the reason was to provide free advertisement for some of the more magnificent pieces of magi-tech. It was Sheba who had convinced Kaoruko of doing this herself. Axel was willing to shape shift his doppelganger into Kaoruko but Sheba has been a great help in also getting Kaoruko out of her own shell too.
Sheba overall had been a great help everywhere in Axel's life. From starting her new work as his manager, she had remade the deals with various groups to get more money but they couldn't be angry, only disappointed as she found out that some of them had actually been cheating Axel in some of the deals. She also doubly if not tripled the overall expansion of where the merchandise was sent out.
It goes without saying that she received the entire portion of money and other bits she got from the renegotiations so she was properly motivated, and it's not as if Axel is meeting a loss, he honestly doesnt care about the money in the first place but knowing that he is now going from Hundreds of thousands to Millions is a pleasing sensation.
Sheba has also had plenty of time to share her genie type magic with Axel so he could develop it further but his main focus was the chaos magic he got long ago. Originally he only had the Blood moon spell which transformed people into beasts or made others even mindless. He had only obtained 2 new spells and 1 new ability during this 10 year period. He has after all lived entirely in peace so he could not find the right source to act as the intermediary for his study of magic. Perhaps if he had allowed Angra Mainyu to be released then he could have mastered the magic but then he would have just been the evil that released all the evils of the world. While he might still dislike Alaya, he is not so crazy as to have a grudge against the world itself. As otherwise there would have been no point in attempting to settle down in this world.
The first spell he gained was a self application spell, Beastification. Similar but different to his territory's ability to become any sort of animal that is inside it. Yet this was different as Axel properly became a newtype of beast based on his own body and soul. It is essentially a nuke type ability as he temporarily loses his mind to supercharge his own physical power and possibly magic power due to the existence of his [Rhongomyniad].
On the other hand, the second magic he gained from the current level of his chaos mastery is Spectral Hunter. It's a type of cloning technique but this one makes a brand new independent clone that does not have access to his magic but he does have his physical power. He has a saw cleaver and repeater pistol. It seems that this hunter is actually born from a fragment of his mind or something but unless he is killed it doesnt negatively impact Axel himself. The hunter also refuses to come out unless it is to hunt.
The third and final ability he gained was not a spell but knowledge. His eyes had been opened to the truth of the world. Indeed, he can see the old ones, the various amygdala hanging around on random houses or floating in the sky. They mostly create a bit of chaos to feed themselves while making people forgetful, annoyed or any other negative emotion which fuels them. Though they also influence the creation of nightmares. That serves as their greatest feast.
Though during the night, Axel has noticed that certain locations such as houses or buildings like a churches or chapels are being covered by barriers that repel the Great Ones. These barriers come in various colors, likely due to prayers to various gods and goddesses. As for Axel's home. No old ones are found here. They can likely sense Axel's power and while it originally wasn't a threat to them, they didn't want to risk having him be aware of them and hunting them. They made even greater distance from him the moment he had made eye contact with one of the many eyes of these eldritch beings.
As if studying him, they ensure to stay away from the Tohsaka's as well while other locations act as gathering hives for them like the Matou's building. Axel almost wanted to simply release the hunter to go after the old ones for fun just so he wouldn't have to hear his own voice in a British accent. It's hellish.
Though he inevitably chose not to release the hound onto the public beasts, he did send him into the territory to hunt the ones who ended up there whenever he released his reality marble. It seems that they had primarily been tormenting the mindless dungeon beasts Axel set up for his zoo. Their echoes of pain and agony were music to Axel's ears as his territory is once again free of bugs.
There are still a few months left before the supposed 5th and final Holy Grail War. Axel has no clue who or what will participate in the war. Rin surely has no desire for it as originally she would have joined to fulfill her duty as a Tohsaka and also restore her family. Yet now she has far surpassed her own family's magic, it is no longer The Tohsaka family but Rin's Tohsaka family. She is free to make new vows and rules.
"Old man Zouken might participate himself but maybe he will do something to shinji so he could properly participate even if he has no talent. Maybe something similar to Kariya's situation. Shirou might participate for his own reason since Kiritsugu still ended up adopting him." Axel ruminates to himself out loud as he leans back into his sofa.
"There was the office worker or whatever he was in unlimited blade works. Was he also Casters Master in heaven's feel? I wonder what happened in the original?" He offhandedly comments as he thinks over each of the servant classes. Berserker with Illya, Medusa and cursed hand hassan assassin differed or were not even mentioned in unlimited blade works.
"So much has changed. Since i've done so much, let's spice things up even more." He makes a final comment as he gets up and changes clothes from his business suit into more casual clothes befitting his casual nature.
During the whole ten years, he had been busy with a long term project which is likely to come to fruition in a day or two. It is only the finishing touches that he has to accomplish before he can initiate the whole thing.
Axel returns to his territory and begins to meditate, he reconnects with thousands of his clones spread out across various worlds. They all are placed in one location within the ocean of hundreds of variations of earth. These clones awaken from their slumber as they set their hands on the ground and begin to channel earthly energy to rapidly grow until proper new land masses are made. From there, they create a mirage replica of the portal structure Axel made in his territory.
With this, the island and portals are set up. There are only 2 matters left, the first is defense and thus by stomping on the ground, rows of stone soldiers begin to rise up. These stone soldiers all wear full sets of stone armor with broadswords while others have a sword and shield. A select few even have hammers or maces. There is also a central guardian that can mentally command the other stone guardians.
Yes, mentally, afterall, they are all outfitted with powerful dungeon monster cores that grant them thoughts and habits but also knowledge on how to wield their weapons. Of course Axel ensured that they don't have souls and remain loyal to Axel unconditionally. The cores will also enhance their bodies and weapons to protect them against larger threats like meta humans and other super powered beings.
Afterall, the island and its territory is meant to be a no aggression zone. It's not as if he simply overrides their emotions, well, he could but that would be mind control and he doesnt enjoy that. He also made a vow to not compromise the original worlds just because their people are in his territory. The Beyonder and Death take their duties very seriously for such old folk. Though that is also why he respects them since they didn't outright ban him from doing anything and being a stale vegetable within his own territory.
He can rightfully expel troublemakers and if they try multiple times then they can be executed if they are not important to that world. An example would be that he cant kill the joker if he tries to bring a bomb or joker toxin inside. All such items would be automatically expelled from his body upon entering the portal so he could only try to physically harm others with his own body but as he is not known for such a thing, it is unlikely he can cause trouble. Yet even harassment can cause expulsion.
His world is to be a safe haven to exchange ideas but even those ideas have limitations placed on it. The spreading of ideals is allowed but forceful spreading is not allowed. It is all very complicated but everyone has as much time as they need to learn them.
Axel has prepared the valkyries with their chosen warriors as well as a few others throughout various worlds he had personally met to join him. This includes a few old friends from his original world.
Welf with his two wives and plentiful children have come over along with Bell who is with Hestia and Artemis along with their 4 kids. Hestia is even pregnant with their 5th but she is still early into the 2 year long pregnancy. Welf and Hephaestus are still very into smithing over these past 2 decades and have crafted wondrous pieces of equipment. Welf's studies into elf craftsmanship offers his a wondrous avenue in his work. Though he still ends up being just a simple beginner when reuniting with Senji Muramasa.
Daisy is there taking care of their youngest but she happily meets the still young third generation of Axel's children along with his wives. They exchange tips and tricks with each with Daisy mostly on the receiving end due to the ladies multiple pregnancies and helping each other out with their babies.
Brunhilde was assigned as the leader of the guards which is made of the old friends as well as the other valkyries, heroes and even a few 'servants' from his homeworld that wnat to ensure that their new home doesnt suddenly go nuclear.
As the preparations for the islands are finished and everyone takes their posts. Axel uses his clones to hijack the communications devices of each world while for others he appears multiple magical holograms.
"I greet everyone of planet Earth. My name is Axel Gram, and I am the owner of the little planet right above your own. Im sure many of you have been curious of what is there since you could never access it for your own unexplained reasons."
"I simply wish to let everyone know that I have created a piece of land which I now offer to all of you and your home on Earth. On this island is a small temple and at the end is a portal to my home. The rules can be found at the docks and airspace i have set up. I ask that everyone maintain the peace and rules. Until we meet in person but if not, farewell" As he finishes speaking, his hologram or the tech begins to show world coordinates or a map for where the island is as well as it's similar mirage version.
For worlds that are crystal copies of default earth then they receive a set of coordinates, one leads to the middle of nowhere in the Pacific ocean while the other is the same but Atlantic ocean. Spatial magic ensures that everyone that moves to the atlantic will be transported to the pacific one and doesnt just fall into the ocean when stepping onto the ground. It is sure to cause quite a bit of confusion but that isn't Axel's problem.
Pacific: 6.86 latitude and -39.8 longitude
Atlantic: Latitude: 7.85457, Longitude: 173.92932
As for less technological worlds, they instead get a miniature world map that shows notable landmarks to help navigate for where the 'temple' is.
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Alt Title: Fate World Progress, Potential for 5th War, Grand Opening of Axel's World
Word count: 3025
Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.