Shadow turned around and walked to the darkness.
Jon, who was worried about the other Jon ran to him and shook him.
The other Jon opened his eyes and shouted "Finally!".
"We need to get to..." Jon was about to say something but something interpreted him.
*HISS*
A strong hissing sound was head all over the place."
Both Jons looked at one direction and froze.
"Is there a way we can merge back or anything?" Old Jon asked.
"We fight first, then we can figure that out later." Red Jon took out a sword from somewhere.
Old Jon was in a pinch as his confidence level in fights is a bit pitiful.
"Do you have one for me?" He asked.
Red Jon was in a loss for words.
"Figure it out yourself!" He shouted.
"Oh, okay!" Old Jon meekly responded.
Meanwhile, the hissing became closer and a snake appeared. A large one.
"Come at me, snake!" Red Jon raised his sword and ran towards the snake head-on.
Old Jon saw the scene and cold sweat covered his back. A 10 years old version of Jon is now running madly at a large snake. He was afraid yet he moved at Red Jon's direction.
The large snake appeared to be one meter in diameter and its length was unknown due to part of it is still within the border of darkness. Once it saw Red Jon running at it, it opened its mouth wide and jumped towards Red Jon.
It was a total madness to face such a thing head on. Red Jon was surely going to be swallowed but in the last second, a fast shadow moved and grabbed him, pulling him away.
"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL IT!" Red Jon was squirming left and right trying to get free from Old Jon's grip.
"Yeah yeah, go get us killed! YOU IDIOT!" Old Jon stood up and pulled Red Jon away from the snake's second attack.
"I'll skin that snake alive!" Red Jon kept screaming.
"THAT'S A VIPER, YOU IDIOT! LOOK AT IT'S FANGS." Old Jon was losing his patience. It was good that Red Jon wasn't that heavy.
Red Jon finally agreed to evade the viper instead of facing it head-on.
"We need to make a plan!" Old Jon shouted.
"Plan for yourself. I only need to land a hit on it." Red Jon was a real brat.
"Fine, we need to make a plan for you to land a hit on it." And Old Jon was meek as ever.
For some reason, they didn't understand how this brat added to that meek can make their splendid Original personality.
Anyway, the two were running around to evade the rampaging large viper.
"Can't you use magic?" Old Jon asked.
"Why would I?" Red Jon paused for a second.
"... Magic is much better than attacking it in close quarters, you idiot."
"... It is just a pain! You do the magic." Red Jon and took out a shield from somewhere.
Old Jon was trying to take out something from the very start of the battle but he didn't know how to do it and was very dissatisfied.
Still...
"... I can use magic?" Old Jon was surprised for some reason.
He looked at his hand and called 'Chain Lightning' and it indeed came out.
"Hey, I can really use mag..." He was about to announce it but the viper flicked him away with its tail.
Red Jon clicked his tongue and put his shield up when the head of the viper cornered him.
*clash* *clash* *groan*
He was being attacked relentlessly and got pushed back then got rammed by the viper's body and flew away.
"Dammit! That hurts!" Old Jon and Red Jon were not very pleased with the outcome.
{That's the point of a fight, isn't it?} A voice replied at them.
"Come out and face me, you coward!" Red Jon roared at the voice.
"I am sure he was kicking our asses the past few minutes while smiling smugly." Old Jon stood up and started looking around.
He was now trying to use the situation rather than running around like a fool. He had himself and Red Jon. He can use magic and Red Jon is summoning weapons as if it is some second nature in him.
"Listen, if you can summon weapons, the focus on defense, leave the offense to me." Old Jon said.
"Defense? Impossible!" Red Jon was still planning to retaliate at the viper no matter what.
"You will get to beat him but right now, we need to do it together, you damn fool. Protect me and I will use magic." Old Jon said in a commanding voice.
Red Jon, who was acting all brat a minute ago, nodded and ran to stand in front of Old Jon summoning two shields each hand and donning himself in a heavy armor.
Old Jon needed at least that protection to use magic easily.
"Round two..." Old Jon shouted as he started evoking magic.
It was 'Stoneskin' on himself and Red Jon, then Two Frost Atronaches and after that came the Lightning attacks.
Red Jon was holding the shields that were put together to reassemble one shield and readied himself for impact. Once Old Jon started shooting 'Lightning Strikes' one after the other which mostly landed on the viper.
The viper, that was ready to move anytime it senses danger. Jon and Jon were both ready to intercept its next movements and with Old Jon's attacks, the viper moved left and right while charging forward.
It targetted Old Jon that posed the greatest threat but a large shield met its charge head-on and it was stopped. Magic rained it left and right but the Viper managed to regain a foothold (or a tailhold in its perspective) by bringing all of its body to the fight and...
"Damn, that's big!" Old Jon was barely keeping himself from panicking.
"I will skin it alive." And Red Jon was still a brat.
The viper stood and commenced its next attack. Red Jon wasn't pleased with the situation.
"Watch out for the flanks."
Old Jon didn't understand as he was already guarding the flanks with two Frost Atronaches but it seemed that that wasn't enough when the viper moved.
The viper crept around the two Jons and two atronaches using the advantage of its length to surround them.
Old Jon clicked his tongue and started getting ready for the next attack.
The viper's speed rose so much that it started to look like the gears of death and it was tightening the area of the two Jons.
"More!" Old Jon started conjuring as many Frost Atronaches as he could and there were almost twenty of them around him, they all started to push at a different direction to keep the viper from taking all the space.
Red Jon saw how relentlessly Old Jon was fighting. Just a while ago, he was about to crap himself and now he is taking the offense and the defense alone.
"DAMMIT!" He shouted and the instincts of the warrior kicked in. He discarded his shields and summoned a big hammer that didn't suit his size. With it, he struck the viper's body so hard that the viper made an agonized scream.
Old Jon and Red Jon faced each other and each of them readied an attack.
Old Jon called upon lightning and Red Jon charged at Old Jon. Once they were about to clash, Red Jon jumped over Old Jon who unleashed his Lightning attack to where Red Jon stood.
The Hammer smote and the Lightning struck. The hammer hit away the viper's tail that was about to attack and the lightning burned away the viper's eyes.
*PHAHHHHH!*
The viper screamed from pain yet the bastard was too sturdy to be killed.
Red Jon delivered the last blow for 'Round 2' with a...
"FUS RO DAH!"
"YAHOOO! Fly away, bitch!"
The Viper was sent away flying by Red Jon's shout. Old Jon and Red Jon jumped in a similar way and used the same middle finger gesture. It was disturbing to see it from a ten years old but Old Jon didn't think about it.
For a second their both of their line of sight became higher than it was and something felt strange...
... No, it felt familiar.
It returned to how it was supposed to be.
{It seems that you found your way back to yourself... Congratulations!}
The voice sounded once again.
"So you are the one behind this headache, huh?" Jon spoke in his haughty tone. "Your color was so negative, man. That will teach you not to try to imitate the most handsome man in the world."
The voice of Shadow laughed. It was true that the form Shadow appeared in was in Jon's true form yet in a negatived colored effect.
{You are really something, aren't you! I am glad you made it this far. I guess Round 3 won't be a challenge to you. See you then.}
The voice quieted and the voice of the viper came out instead.
Jon who regained his form was standing there alone. He then used his mentality and summoned a hammer as the one Red Jon used. He, however, understood how these things can be summoned.
He was in his Mind Realm and he himself experienced it a lot with the Augur's communication methods and the System. He didn't need a hand out like his two incompetent other selves.
He could even manipulate the Mind Realm as he wishes but it is a bit too costly on his mental power.
Once the viper appeared from the shadow once again, Jon clicked his tongue.
"Tsk! I wanted the Cat or some dragon at the very least, yet all I get is a limbless lizard."
The viper seemed to have got offended by Jon's words and it charged full and reached Jon in a second.
It was opening its mouth in a frightening angle yet Jon only moved his arm.
The hammer struck on the viper's head from the side and sent it flying.
"Lightning Cat Paw Strike!"
Jon spoke in a cool way while making a pose.
The viper landed far away yet it seemed more powerful than the last round and readied its body to attack Jon.
Jon only extended his arm then pointed down with his finger. With his hand gesture, a large golden blade formed in thin air and pinned the viper's tail. The viper released its body towards Jon despite having its tail pinned. Each time it moves, a new blade forms and pins a part of it.
Surprisingly, the viper started getting thinner. The thinner it gets, the longer it extends its body.
"... Come on, not the Gumo Gumo devil fruit!" Jon was at a loss for words yet his black sarcasm was always there for him.
Blades started forming and coming down at the viper until its one meter in diameter body became much thinner yet it seemed I bare reached Jon and that was the limits.
"Sigh! A viper is my Guardian Beast? What kind of joke is life trying to play on me?"
Jon walked and stepped on the viper's neck.
The viper looked up to him and opened its mouth wide revealing its terrible fangs and hissing in anger.
Jon summoned a short blade in his hand then he held it in reverse with the two and pointed it down at the viper.
The viper made its last angry hiss opening its mouth wide and Jon coolly stabbed down with the sword.
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"Sigh! A viper is my Guardian Beast? What kind of joke is life trying to play on me?"
Jon stepped on the viper's neck.
The viper looked up to him and opened its mouth wide revealing its terrible fangs and hissing in anger.
Jon summoned a short blade in his hand then he held it in reverse with the two and pointed it down at the viper.
The viper made its last angry hiss opening its mouth wide and Jon coolly stabbed down with the sword.
The sword stabbed down through the viper's skull and no resistance was shown. The viper's body then dissipated in light particles and disappeared.
"Humph!" Jon snorted as he stood his ground.
{Congratulations! You splendidly passed... I guess I was worried for nothing."
Shadow's voice sounded then Shadow revealed himself.
"Why don't you show me your true face?" Jon asked.
"No, it is still too much for you."
"Who says?"
"I do."
"And you are?"
"... Let's just say you wouldn't come to be if not for me making you what you are." Shadow said in his lazy attitude.
Jon narrowed his eyes yet.
"I thought you are whatever that test is about at first but it seems I am wrong, now that I think about it, the Viper is not one of the Guardian Beasts, the snake is… the fuck is going on?"
Jon felt a bit of a threat from the entity in front of him and started getting in a lousy mood.
"Nah, no need to worry. I've been here from the beginning, it is no threat to you anyway. I was just pressuring you."
"For what reason?"
"Simple, you are the best of both selves, I simply separated them and wanted to observe how will you put yourself back together. You can thank me now…"
"… Thank you?"
"You are welcome." Shadow said with a smile.
Jon wasn't pleased with Shadow's behavior.
First, Shadow has an amount of control over him.
Second, Shadow seemed to have immersed himself in Jon's memories.
Third, Shadow has as much smugness as Jon himself.
And Jon could tell if Shadow is a threat or not.
"What is your motive?" Jon asked directly.
"Simple, if you were to take that Guardian Beast or whatever challenge, the result wouldn't come as you predicted."
"Huh?"
"Since your reincarnation, the young soul wasn't perfectly merged together with the old one, you saw, it looked like a ten years old brat. What we did just a while ago was to boost it to grow normally instead of relying on the older soul so much. I am not saying the older soul is bad, actually, I never thought it would be good with magic and mental power, it is like adding not just knowledge, but power to the Dragonborn's soul and giving it even more potential..."
Shadow kept talking about how he wanted the 'Red Jon' soul, which is the one with the Dragonborn power, to grow. The minds and the souls are connected, so the mind of Red Jon had to be adjusted so it can start to naturally grow faster and become more connected to the mind and soul of the reincarnation.
"… Think of it as a Barbarian game character and a Mage game character. Now we put them together with all their states point combined, and the resulted Barbarian Mage is you. You were at least able to reach some sort of synchronization between the two but now you are perfectly molded together. Amazing, right? Once we gave your minds separate choices, the got back together in their own terms this time."
"Still, what will you gain out of it?"
"… A lot!" Shadow's expressions changed and smiled at Jon.
"We both are the final vectors in this… I trust you will do what is right." Shadow said as he returned back to the void.
"Oh! Almost forgot, if one day you may encounter a problem that you really can't solve. I'll give you a hand out as an apology, come find me by then." Shadow said a disappeared completely
"Tsk! Annoying, why do I have to do what you want?" Jon clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and started feeling a change of the place around him.
Before he knows it, he was back at the location he was supposed to be at from the beginning.
***
Back to the place I was in before I get dragged by shadow. My hand just touched Nurina's.
The difference about then and now is that; I am back to my normal appearance, no one is around anymore, and the sky changed from the night sky to a burning fire sky. It is still the Alexandria I know though.
Nurina who seemed to have seen the past me and looked baffled. Hilda noticed the changes around the place and looked around.
"Hey, beauties! So both of you are here? Like what I have done with the place?"
I was about to try to comfort them as it seems I got late and Nurina had to come into the Mind Realm after us. I was about to say something but out of nowhere, I was tightly hugged...
… by Hilda.
Looks like I really made them worried!
It's all because of that asshole Shadow, I don't know what he is but there are a lot of possibilities I need to discuss with someone knowledgeable once I get out.
"I am sorry for not believing in you, boy. I am really sorry!"
Hilda wasn't letting go of me any time soon.
Nurina also joined the hug playfully.
It seems some discussion was raised about something but I don't think I have time for that now.
My challenge is here.
*RoAaAaAaR*
Alright alright, I hear you…
I looked up to the sky and there was a something flying around.
Spreading its wings to catch wind, extending its head and neck to pierce through the air, making loud roars in the sky, that's definitely one of them.
"Alright, ladies! There is a flying lizard situation in my Mind Realm right now, mind if I go take care of it?"
""…""
Hilda and Nurina were having trouble speaking after seeing a dragon. Still, they recovered early after remembering that it is only in my head.
"I am going after it!" I said as I started following on foot.
The dragon was high in the sky so it was impossible to catch up with it but that was the point of the trail. Jonrad told me that one needs to either follow, withstand, or fight the Guardian Beast but in the case of having a Dragon, one must not fight it.
That's why I started making sure of its direction and ran according to the layout of the area that I remember. Thank goodness I still knew about the alleyways and the shortcuts. Before I know it, the dragon was flying over the sea.
If someone saw a dragon flying over Alexandria like that then it would turn into a total freaking out season. I kept laughing over the bizarre idea in my head.
Hilda and Nurina followed me smoothly, it seemed that some laws of physics don't apply to them.
The Dragon turned in the sky and flew north then started to land.
I ran as fast as I could and found the dragon landing over the Citadel of Quaitbay…
A dragon... on Quaitbay…
The immersion level is reaching a critical state right now.
The Dragon opened its mouth and jumped and shouted an unheard word. It sounded like the Thu'um but it wasn't. It was just a raw and a powerful mental shock wave.
I could only grit on my teeth and endure the pain.
It was a strong pain as if I was chewing on a piece of glass and a black hole growing in the center of my brain. I felt as if my head was being hit by a large thing.
It was horrible!
Jonrad told me about that part and it was more painful than he described.
After two or three round of withstanding the intimidation of the dragon. It spread its wings and flew up.
'Where is it going?'
It only flew up then suddenly turned down and took a nose dive at me.
Should I still watch it come at me?
I was kinda terrified but I kept saying it can't be true.
It shouldn't be true, right?
Well… no point in asking, it was already too late anyway.
I could only wait to be flattened under the dragon but Jonrad said it will be alright.
Once I could feel it, the scene around me turned white.
***
The next thing I felt was a white space and… nope, there is a clear sky above me… which means…
"I AM FALLING!"
That's all I could tell.
I was having a free fall over the sea.
*RoAaAaAaR*
"A LITTLE HELP HERE, PLEASE!"
It seems that the dragon was also making another nose dive beside me. It was faster than me and got to the sea first then dived into the water.
I had no power to do anything so I readied myself and dived after it.
The scene changed once again.
***
The next thing I saw I was in the water. A bit too deep for someone who just fell in it as I could see no sea surface though...
The dragon was there but it was as if it was made of golden light. It swam in the water is if it is flying in the sky. Strangely, I could do the same.
I kept following it in the water and it moved through a school of fish that dispersed away from the movements. The Dragon started taking turns after turns then it shot upward as if falling in the other direction of the gravity.
I could only harden my heart and follow its pace.
Once I rose up the same way it did, I could see the water surface coming clearly and with a booming sound, I was already out of the sea.
The place I arrived at was a cave-like space with a lot of trees and flowers as if it's a piece of heaven, I was no longer flying.
I walked out of the water and saw the dragon in its light form standing there on a rock not far from me.
I understood that I should follow.
Once I arrived to it, the dragon jumped up and flew to another rock.
I looked at it flying and ran after it.
It flew one more time and headed far into the cave.
It was a bit of a thick greenery around here so I lagged behind a bit, but once I passed the thick greenery, my mouth almost fell off.
In front of me was a valley of light dragons. There were a lot of them.
I looked around and it was a very majestic feeling. I could also see the dragon I was following landing on the other end of the valley.
There was a road between the greenery and it only meant one thing. I kept following between the big number of light dragon until I reached a stairway that was reaching up. There were no other way.
After I took the stairs up. I arrived at a half circular wall and the dragon was standing on top of it. That was a Word Wall, and just like the dragons, it was made of light.
The dragon's aura seemed to not intimidate me anymore, I understood that I have already reached the end. Yet I still could feel something glowing in the middle of the Word Wall.
I approached it and knelt down so that I can reach it.
Once I realized what it is… I was…
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Alas, the dragon didn't reply and all I could feel was the light glowing intensely and my back becoming cold.
I opened the eyes I closed and in front of me… I saw a lot of familiar faces.
Yep, I was back!
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