The Ancient Genes

Express Station, Ocien.ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ (f)ir(e).nᴇt

"We are finally here.." Eren muttered with a tired look on his face. But, there was a little excitement in his eyes as well. After all, the journey this time had been very boring, Axel wasn't in a good mood, and kept quiet the whole time with that dark look on his face.

"Let's go.." Axel said in a low voice before taking the lead and moving out.

"Where are we going? Are we going to see Max?" Eren asked in confusion. After all, there was still some time until the Ocien Competition, and hence, they couldn't go and stay at the Academy as participants.

"We have our place. You remember your condition with Max, right?" Axel asked as he looked at Eren.

"Condition?" Eren raised his brows.

"Yes, you promised not to ask anything. We will tell you everything when we think we can.." Axel reminded him, and Eren's expression changed slightly. "It seems you remember. Good, then don't ask anything…"

Eren was left speechless. And, his face turned a little dark.

How could you expect him to not ask anything? He knew the condition, but he was a curious person by nature. He was like a curious moth who wouldn't hesitate to jump into the flames of a candle.

….

Mercenary District, Ocien.

"Take this…" Axel passed onto a cloak to Eren, and then downed one on himself as he walked out into the open street from the alley.

Eren hurriedly followed him, a little excited. He had no idea what was going on, but it seemed things were going to get interesting. After all, even if they refused to let him onto the undercurrents, he sure could deduce a few things by scanning the surroundings.

The mercenary district was much busier than usual for some reason. And, the people all around seemed to be discussing something.

"There are a lot of people here. Shouldn't they be out at this time of the day?" Eren muttered with a frown.

Axel looked at him and nodded. Since, Ocean was very close to the border, mercenaries were always out on work. Especially at this time of the day, so it was very unusual for this place to be so crowded.

"Well, we will find out about it soon.." Axel muttered in a low voice, and then continued to walk ahead until they finally reached a medium sized building with a wooden signboard above spelling, Demon Slayer Guild.

Axel's face twitched on the sight of that. No matter how many times he heard it, he couldn't help it but react in this manner. They were supposed to be hiding themselves until they grew, and here they were boldly announcing their goals to the world.

It was truly laughable. But, as they said, the safest place was where your enemies would never expect you to be.

He was sure the Demons wouldn't go and destroy them just because of their name, to be honest, they were very less likely to suspect anything from a tiny group like them. After all, were there any idiots, who would declare their ambitions when they didn't have the power to achieve it?

"Sir, would you like to register with us or post a quest?" The receptionist at the counter asked as he gave a glance at Axel.

Axel took out a crest from his storage device, and calmly slid it across the counter before raising his head to look at the receptionist.

The receptionist's eyes flashed with a strange light, and then she glanced at Axel one more time, this time with a more amiable expression, "Give me a minute.."

With that, the receptionist walked away and disappeared from their view.

"Don't tell me you are some Young Master like Max with your identity hidden?" Eren asked curiously. To be honest, he wouldn't be surprised if it really was the case. After all, Max had already given them the shock once. He could easily handle a second one for sure.

"Do you think this is some kind of anime?" Axel glared at him. This guy really could be irritating at times. But, it was a good thing about him as well, being too serious all the time was not good as well.

"Sir, you may proceed upstairs. The Branch Leader is waiting for you.." The receptionist spoke as she reappeared in front of them.

Axel gave her a nod, and then headed upstairs with Eren behind him.

The people in the surroundings immediately began to whisper and surprised gasps escaped through their mouth.

After all, who here wasn't aware of the Branch Leader's temper. She never saw anyone and did as she pleased. She was a dangerous person, and even the other guilds feared her. And, it was not because she was strong, to be honest she was quite young, and not at the level of the other Guild Leaders for a guild of their size. But, there was one thing which she was well known for. She was crazy woman. Once she went mad, nothing could stop her.

When she had first stepped in Ocien to take control of the guild, it was very small in size. And, no one had any knowledge about this small guild who had just emerged. On top of that, she as the leader was pretty weak.

But, they began to expand rapidly, and ignored all the hierarchies set around. This obviously irked a medium size guild, and they entangled themselves with that woman.

Since slaughter was obviously prohibited in the city, no one did anything. But, it didn't mean that the bigger guild couldn't use their connections to obstruct someone else's path.

This enraged the crazy girl, and she went into the Orena and slaughtered every single person she could find of that guild. In the end, the guild leader of the medium sized guild had to step up to stop her rampage, and he made a move himself.

But, the thing that happened next truly shocked everyone. The Master Tier Mage died at the hands of an Expert Tier.

In the end, the girl dragged the man's body through the streets of the city, and brought him to his own guild and passed it to them saying that he died at the hands of the beast.

Lying one was thing, but not even attempting to put an effort in it was another. The dead body literally had sword stabbed through the chest, and she pulled it out right in front of everyone before putting it into her scabbard.

The scene that day was not something anyone could forget.

After all, on that day, she defined what being overbearing meant.