Axton woke up, standing in a space of emptiness and darkness, nothing to be seen, nothing to be heard; no matter how far he tried to see nor how hard he tried to listen, all he knew was that he could walk, and so he did.
He walked and walked, as if he was stuck in an empty cave that spanned acres; however, he saw something move, something glow. As he walked closer and closer towards them, he could see two different white figures, as if they were waiting for him.
So he ran. Axton Abanish ran and kept running, running as fast as he could for as long as he could. Both of the two figures had silhouettes of long hair; one had spikes on their shoulders, and the other one had longer hair that flew in the wind.
The faster he ran, the more it felt like he stood in place, never getting closer and within an arm's length of the two figures, so he reached out; he raised his hand as he ran and reached out to try and touch the figures standing in front of him, and as he was about to grasp at the spiked shoulder of one of them, the doorbell rang.
Ax woke up abruptly in a cold sweat. He got out of bed as fast as he could and sat up, still trying to process what just happened.
"That was a weird dream." His next thought got interrupted by the doorbell, which rang again.
"Oh right, the door," he mumbled to himself as he finally mustered enough energy to get up from bed and walk up to the door, and as he stood before the door, his hair still disheveled, he finally opened it, and behind the door was someone he was very familiar with.
There stood a man his age, with similar-length hair; it went to his shoulder, but he was taller, wore a metal band t-shirt, his hoodie tied to his waist, regular jeans, and some sneakers.
He was Axton's best friend named 'Aseef,' and his nickname was-
"Ace?". Asked Ax.
Ace was scrolling through his phone while waiting for him to open the door; he then looked up and said, "You gonna let me in, or are you just gonna stare at me, dude?".
Ax moved out of the way and let Ace walk through the door. Ace entered the apartment with two large white bags in his hand, one of them with a leek and some radish sticking out.
"Nas told me that you guys met and had a talk; she also mentioned that she treated you to some ramen and how you were running low on some cash, so I just got you some groceries to get you by for a few weeks, also doing a wellness check," explained Ace as he observed Ax's home.
"You didn't have to do this, you know. You could've just called or something if you wanted to check up on me, you know that, right?" asked Ax.
"Yeah, I did at around 8 pm-ish, but you were unresponsive; also, Hamz gave you that pick, and Nas gave you some food. Don't want to be caught slacking now, do I?" replied Ace.
"Oh right... sorry about that," Ax said sheepishly.
Ace walked straight for the kitchen section of the apartment and placed the groceries on the counter with an audible thud and looked at Ax.
"You just gonna stare at me or help me sort these in the fridge?" asked Ace.
"There's no convincing you, is there? Alright, I guess," replied Ax.
...
Ace and Ax sorted the groceries in the fridge together, making sure the right ingredients got to the right sections of the fridge and freezer. Ace brought some regular vegetables like onions, carrots, and flour, and some different meats with him as well, which were sorted in the top freezer.
Ace took one good look around the apartment one last time and looked back at Ax.
"Clean up your bed; I'll clean the couch and the table," Ace told Ax.
"I- alright, but why?" asked Ax.
"Just do it, said"Ace.
...
Time had passed, and the entire apartment was clean, the bedsheets changed, furniture wiped, laundry sorted, etc. Everything had been cleaned.
As Ace opened Ax's closet to put some clothes in there, he saw a pair of leather gloves.
"Oh hey, these look great! When did you get these? I've never seen them before," said Ace.
"Uh... my aunt gave them to me a while back, and I kind of just forgot about it," said Ax.
"Huh, these are good quality," Ace said as he put them back with the clothes and closed the closet.
"Ace, sorry that you felt like you had to do all this; I owe you one," said Ax.
"I did it because I wanted to; don't mention it," said Ace.
"I still owe you one," said Ax.
"No, you don't," said Ace.
"Yeah, no, I do. I'll do basically anything," said Ax.
"Anything?" asked Ace, raising his eyebrows a bit.
"Yes? Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Ax as he replied to him.
Ace looked at him with a smug look across his face.
"Rejoin the band," demanded Ace.
Ax just looked at him with his mouth agape.
"Fair enough, I did say anything; you win," Ax said with a soft smile.
"Although, I will say, I broke my high E string on my electric so I still need to get that.", Added Ax.
"Well, lucky for you, I have absolutely nothing to do, so let's just get out with your guitar and just get it fixed by a professional because heaven knows we can't fix strings for sh1t, and let's just hang out for a bit after that." Ace said, explaining his idea.
"Alright, I'm down, I guess," said Ax.
...
They both had made their way to the city mall and were having some boba juice while sitting at the same table. Ax had his guitar hanging on his shoulder in the gig bag, and both of them were wearing similar t-shirts; Ace was wearing his hoodie over his, and Ax grabbed the nearest jacket he could find. Both of them had their hair tied up, but Ace had one of his ears pierced, wearing a black stud on his earlobe. Ax was around 5'9, and Ace is around 6 feet tall. Ace was a lot paler than Ax, who had a darker complexion.
"Ax, check your Redbook; I sent you a list of tracks we're going to play. They're pretty easy, and the rhythm isn't hard to catch on to, so take your time and practice because even if you didn't, you'd do fine." explained Ace.
"Alright, sure, where's the venue, by the way?" asked Ax.
"Okay, so you know 'Cafe Zio'? Yeah, so it turns out their owner used to be a huge rebel back in 2024. He himself was also 24 back then, and he used to love metal and punk music, right? So he's organizing a metal gig for us in the cafe," said Ace.
"Wait, 'Zio'? Isn't that the big cafe quite literally known for holding gigs indoors? How'd you manage getting that?" asked Ax.
"Not the point; I need you to come looking extra, like we used to back in the day," Ace requested of Ax.
"Oh, so one of those. Alright, I'll come prepared," said Ax.
They both kept talking about the gig, about the TV shows they both like, and even some animals they saw on social media the other day. Time had passed, and it was late for both of them.
"Hey, thanks for checking up on me again. I genuinely appreciate it," said Ax as he was getting up to leave.
"Don't mention it; you would've done the same if we switched places," said Ace.
Ace grabbed Ax in for a hug, and they both parted their ways; the next time they would meet face to face again would be at the venue of the gig.
Before Ax left the mall, he remembered something.
Ax stopped in his tracks and made a stop at the cosmetics store before he left for home; he bought two tubs of red and white face paint.
...
He went home, and when he finally reached his apartment, he pulled out his phone and looked at the track list Ace sent him; they really were simple, so practicing them wasn't an issue for him.
It was 9 pm, and he was not tired yet; his mind wandered, not about the gig anymore but about what happened to him the day before, how he practically learned that he will keep dying and now actually 'die,' but he still feels the pain.
He wanted to do something about it; he had 2 silver Totas and 7 bronze Totas left. He knew what he needed to do; he finally needed a sword.
He stood up, put on his boots again, and grabbed his jacket and all his Totas again.
The blue door appeared right in front of his right as he was ready to walk out.
"So you appear when I have the genuine intention to enter Nexus, but how? How do you know when I want to enter that strange world?" he asked himself, talking out loud.
Ax walked through the door, fully accustomed to travelling through the worlds now, but this time he also knew where he was going.
As he was familiar with the area, he walked straight to the blacksmith's shop he met the second day here. He found the shop, and he walked in.
"Oh? You look more experienced; did you...?"
Ax showed him a small bag, it jingling due to containing the coins he basically died for.
"Ah, you're a little experienced now, aren't you? But alas, not what I expected," said the man.
"How so? Can I at least buy something?" asked Ax.
"You'll figure it out, and yes, give me a moment. How much do you have exactly?" asked the man.
"2 silver and 7 bronze," replied Ax.
"Okay, give me a moment," the man said as he jumped down from a stool...
He walked in front of the counter and looked at the different swords in his collection. He walked around and collected a few swords and walked back to the counter and laid all the swords down on the table, all while Ax was staring at him in utter confusion with his mouth agape.
"Careful, child, a bee will fly in," said the man, sarcastically.
"You're short? But you're so muscular and strong," said Ax in disbelief.
The man now is just staring at Ax, with a face that shows that he has been through the same situation more times than he could count.
"I'm a dwarf, you absolute waste of a nickel! Of course I am short! How are you less surprised with seeing elves with pointed ears than literally people who look like you but shorter?" exclaimed the dwarf, asking him in the same vein.
"You... have a fair point," replied Ax, as he grabbed his chin.
"Pick one already," said the Dwarven blacksmith.
Before Ax laid four different swords, all one-handed.
A falchion, an unbalanced sword with a weight distribution that makes it easy to dismember, and its blade is in the shape of a machete.
A rapier, a swift, light, and thin sword made for dueling, it excels in thrusting strikes. It has a basket-shaped hand guard attached to its hilt.
A shamshir, a very deeply curved sword, perfect for swift slashing attacks.
And the final sword, a one-handed claymore with a cross-guard.
"How much are they?" asked Ax.
"Three silver, but two silver and five bronze will do fine," said the man.
...
Ax took a few moments to consider what his first sword will be.
"I see, in that case, I pick-