Chapitre 729: SPACE!
Sorry for not publishing for a while. RSTUM was going way better the past month.
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Jon contemplated the meaning of many things, and from that, he learned many things more. Things that he should never have learned as mortal and meanings of higher and better minds than his.
As he shed his Greed, he understood that material is irrelevant and he doesn't own anything. This gave him ownership of everything he wanted, as long as he never desired it.
As he shed his Pride, he understood that honor is not as subjective as many would think, and it has many restrictions, but it also grants a way of freedom of its own accord. One can be proud without being vain, love themselves without being egotistical, and develop their identity with their actions rather than their words. This gave him great insight into anything related to man.
As he shed his Gluttony, he realized that material can consume man as much as man can consume material. Being enslaved by the ideas of our needs makes us slaves to these needs and thus slaves to others. One doesn't need everything to survive; rather, he/she needs to be aware of their needs, fulfill them to the minimum, be content, and let the other souls have their share. This gave him piety and modesty, but at the same time, it overflowed him with all that he needed, so he could give it away.
As he shed his Wrath, he realized that anger was nothing to be concerned about and that grief is the only feeling there is to feel over any loss. Wrath poisons the mind and leads to destruction; it is a straight path to misery and loss. Wrath causes one to lose more than what he gains. This gave him the strength to be swift with his enemies and superiority over all situations that required decisive acts.
As he shed his Lust, he realized that aside from the momentous pleasures of courting a beautiful maiden, Lust tricks the senses and creates a false reality for whoever walks into its traps. As weak as a devil, Lust is everything beautiful, yet those who are in its snares suffer without knowing, forget without remembering, listen without hearing, and see without witnessing. Lust is an addiction, and it is the opposite of how a man or woman should act. While liberty in all things is sought after by all humans, restricting oneself brings it more benefits than it would even dare to admit. This gave him a pleasure far greater than what he ever imagined, and it is his most treasured secret.
As he shed his Envy, and that was a tricky one, he realized that he had come closer to the truth and that spite and ill feelings come from the weakest place a man has, his heart. It is also the strongest place a man has, and that's why it was tricky. Envy creates a myriad of ill feelings; it creates sadness, obsessions, delusions, and selfishness, and it makes one grow smaller than their real worth. This gave him a sense of fulfillment in what he had made and made him stand in his own rank, dignified and unshaken.
As for Sloth, he has found the perfect vessel, but Sloth was always something strange to Jon. He was never the lazy sort, to begin with, and he would walk far distances in order to be what he is. But that's where he found the flaw in his logic.
If he hadn't reincarnated as Jon, if he had remained the same guy he always was, if he had kept his previous life as a youth at the bottom of the food chain, he would have never done anything that he has done so far.
In truth, all his success in his life as Jon came from his knowledge of things that no one other than himself knew, and his actions corresponded to every event in order to maximize his gains.
In other words, just like any reincarnation plot there is, Jon was cheating. Cheating is Sloth.
But what else would he do? Not take the opportunities presented to him?
It is ridiculous to even think like that, even for him. He always considered himself quite opportunistic and life opportunities are limited so if one doesn't make use of them…
But isn't his logic a bit flawed?
Jon thought and thought about Sloth. He had avoided thinking about this subject in the past, but now that he was hit this hard by Karstaag to the point where he got sent to space, he had to use the chance he was given in order to develop some sort of concept that he could use to contain his Sloth and shed it off.
He also had to face the problem that in space, he really can't move that much once he is set to orbit around Nirn, and the time he can hold his breath is running out. Even the Magicka flowing around him was very hard to tame.
So… what was he going to do with this and that?
Well… he's still working on it.
But as he was doing so, the unexpected had to take its turn and…
"SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"
Jon narrowed his eyes as he saw an object drawing closer to him in space. He tilted his head to match his concept of up and down as his body rolled in his zero-gravity involuntary motion, and just as he managed to identify that screaming object as spherical-shaped and metallic in nature, he noticed a particular glowing yellow eye at the center of that thing.
"Oh fuck! Not that mod!"
And he realized what just happened.
The object was on a zooming crash course towards Jon's head, and the two collided splendidly, but Jon managed to hold onto the object and roll with it back towards Nirn.
"Ow! Help me, space cops! Space cops, help!" Once Jon held the object, it started to frantically scream and shake Jon off, but it had no ability to move on its own.
"SHUT UP!" Jon spoke as they finally started to fall into the atmosphere.
Just then, the eye of that thing noticed Jon and looked at him.
Oh, *clears throat*, hi. Hi, hi, hi, where are we goin'? Where we goin'? Hey, lady, where we goin'?"
Jon looked at the white spherical bot with disgust.
"Lady?"
"Hey, where are we going?" The eye of the spherical bot looked down and realized that it was entering the atmosphere of a planet before looking at Jon and starting to panic. "No! Gotta go home! Go to space! Space! Need to go to space!"
As the free fall started and the atmosphere started to burn around the two, Jon thought about abandoning the chatterbox… sphere and controlling his descent by the Boots of the Apostle, but in order not to leave loose ends, Jon kept the thing at his hand.
"Alright, we're falling!"
"Nooooo! Space!"
Back on the ground, the situation wasn't as fun as one would expect. Jon was launched into space well alright but his Sin Artifacts were still down there.
"We must hold the line for his imperial highness! Purge the rebel!" Potema of Envy shouted.
"Mas…TAAAAAR!" Odokuro of Wrath shouted and charged at Karstaag.
*SCREECH*
Wendigo of Gluttony charged from the flank to ram Karstaag as it increased its size by feeding off the small Rieklings that lived under the castle.
"Huhuhu!" Venus of Lust kept floating while giggling and simply did nothing.
Sleipnir of Greed started running around Karstaag and evading all the hits the giant was dishing out in order to distract him.
As for Pride, it was strangely quiet, which seemed to be bothering Envy. As the one with the strongest ego, since it is based on Potema Septim's soul, Envy has some sort of pride in herself and thinks it is the most superior to the entirety of the sin artifacts. Still, it was absolutely ridiculous how the only sin artifact that hasn't developed an ego just yet is this defiant and acts very independently.
But this wasn't the time to start making a sin competition; Karstaag was pushing back Wrath and Gluttony at the same time while paying not much attention to Greed, who was not more than a speedy boy in his eyes.
As Envy and Lust finally got together and started confusing Karstaag with a barrage of necromantic blasts and illusions, something started to stir around the battlefield, and Karstaag managed to raise his foot over Wendigo's head before attempting to stomp it down. Usually, the sins would desperately try to stop Karstaag from doing his stomp, but as they were instructed not to get destroyed and drain the enemy, Wendigo of Gluttony had to withdraw and leave a gap in the formation, leaving Karstaag the window to summon his Blizzard Storm.
The giant's might became even mightier, and the frontliners were being pushed back. Just as Karstaag was about to have his way…
*Blast!*
… the entire ghost of the Frost Giant was blasted off its feet and sent flying back to his throne at the deepest point of the castle.
Only Jon could do that!
"Corner the rebel! Our emperor will deliver the final blow." Potema of Envy commanded and looked back at Jon, who, in her thoughts, was supposed to be there.
But the silhouette she saw didn't match what her emperor used to look like. It almost had the same presence, but it wasn't his, despite the obvious kinship she felt to the presence.
It is not the cat, either.
The strong snow mist was still blocking her view, but as it faded away, there was nothing standing there. Only the Elder Staff, Pride, floated in the air, with the silhouette she saw fading away.
That can't be!
Potema of Envy looked away from Pride and denied what she just saw. She is not the real Potema Septim since she is merely an ego from a dead lichified soul, a copy of a dead soul. Still, her stubbornness was the real thing.
Only if she looked back at that second behind her when the air moved the mist again, she would see that vague silhouette maybe a bit more clearly, especially as it glared at Karstaag with blue fox-like eyes and wielded the staff with the same haughtiness Jon wielded the staff with.
At that moment, Jon's real presence emerged, and all the sin artifacts felt him coming from the sky at a steady speed.
Jon landed back at Karstaag's castle court, holding the white sphere with a single yellow eye in his hand. He walked past Envy and handed her the thing.
"Hold that." He said.
"Your highness! This is?" She asked immediately.
"A Space Core! Don't talk to it! It's annoying!" Jon said and then whistled, "Pride!"
To that word, the staff moved like a bolt of lightning and landed in Jon's hand quite intimately, as Envy could feel.
"Good girl!" Jon praised Pride, "I've left a portal mark up in the sky. Make sure you draw as much energy through it once it is open.
Jon opened the portal with a flick of his fingers, and as the opal-shaped portal was open, he put Pride through it and started absorbing a massive amount of energy.
"Massive wild untamed Magicka, straight from the sun!" Jon said in admiration of his genius and turned towards Karstaag, "Say Ah!"
Karstaag waved his big, frozen club and got all the sin artifacts away from the encirclement they forced him into before attempting to strike.
*ROAR*
He then roared with all his might and prepared for the second assault.
"Good boy!" But Jon was already happy with the result since his sin artifacts had done their job and backed away.
He took Pride out of the portal, and with his staff glowing like a volcano from all the Sun Magicka it absorbed, Jon aimed it at Karstaag and said the magic word.
"Kaboom!"
And a massive flow of fire was unleashed in a beam.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree'' ⬅️
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Chapitre 730: Sloth 3
A/n: I have been offline for the past few days because of a situation. I've posted an update about it on Patreon and Discord so to sum it up, my wife and I are expecting a child. I'm no longer just Don, I'm Don Padre. 😂😂😂
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The power of the sun flowing through the spell that Jon cast was powerful enough to take a toll on both Jon and Pride. It was clear that his arm was being burned by the strong aura of the sun's energy, and even Pride was emitting smoke. The one who endured despite being on the wrong end of this spell is Karstaag.
The ancient ghost of the Frost Giant roared as it was being pressured against the wall of his own castle. Jon's spell was massive enough to move the Frost Giant back and keep him stuck to the wall of the castle as the latter put his arms in front of his face and channeled as much frost energy as he could. With every roar, the Frost Giant was struggling, but he kept causing a strong torrent of cold storms around Jon as if he were retaliating with an offense to defend himself.
This was going to be a battle of attrition. Unfortunately for Karstaag, this is where Jon is unbeatable.
Despite being covered by the storm Karstaag brewed, Jon was mostly unfazed, even with the emergence of many Ice Wraiths. These monsters that are born by the phenomenon of extreme cold Magicka would emerge involuntarily from Karstaag's storms and attack any source of heat by phasing through it. It was annoying since Armor and Magicka can't easily defend against them, but Jon's Sins were still powerful enough to kill any Ice Wraith as soon as it emerged.
The situation was favorable for Jon.
But Karstaag was still standing despite the complete disadvantage he was in. The Frost Giant would only try to physically push himself back, but at a desperate moment, he made a decision that would buy him some time.
His location was at the back end of his castle, right next to his old throne, which was within his arm's reach. All Karstaag needed to do and what he could do was extend his arm far enough to the left and…
"What the…"
Despite the minor inconveniences, Jon was keeping his opponent within range of his passive detection. Karstaag is one to be careful against despite pulling out this strong spell, and Jon wasn't wrong with this one. Karstaag's desperate attempt involved reaching out to the Ice Throne and flinging it with force at Jon.
Seeing this massive lump of ice flying at him, Wrath was the first to intercept it with a wall of bones that crumbled against the massive weight of the Ice Throne. Envy and Gluttony tried to stop it too, but they were too far away.
"Shit!" Jon, on the other hand, had to stop aiming his staff at Karstaag and switch into a defensive Shockwave spell, which repelled everything around him, including the throne. But just as the throne's momentum was stopped, the whole thing paused midair.
"Uh-oh!"
Without further notice, the throne was raised up in the air and Jon could see Karstaag holding it up by his two arms before…
*BOOM!*
… the whole thing descended upon Jon with a thunderous impact.
As the snow mist settled, Jon was nowhere to be seen, but his sin artifacts, which are part of his being, were still there and maintaining their formation. In the eyes of Karstaag, this didn't seem like a fight that was going to end soon.
Gluttony, Greed, Envy, and Wrath launched their attacks one more time and didn't seem to be hesitating, but Karstaag maintained pressure over the Ice Throne, knowing that Jon is not done yet. If he can't kill this opponent with all the conventional means, he'd at least keep him down and wear out his allies.
A strategy like that was realistic, but the Sins weren't things that would be worn out this easily. Just like Karstaag himself, the Sins had endless stamina to spare; only Jon was the one who'd be limited in this regard.
Yet in the heat of the fight, or rather at its coldest, while Jon was putting all this strength in his arms in order not to get crushed by the Ice Throne, a whisper came to him from Nefertiti. She told him that her hunt was finally over.
He could feel it too, Karstaag's weakness that would weaken the Frost Giant by leaps and bounds.
"Alright. My turn!" Jon said, then roared with his voice, "FUS RO DAH!"
With unrelenting force, Jon pushed out the massive throne and got to his feet. With his staff, he fired a barrage of fireballs at Karstaag to put some sort of barrier between them. Unlike his usual self, Karstaag was almost easily stunned by the shockwaves coming from those fireballs and raised his left arm over his face for protection.
As Jon suspected, Karstaag was weakened after Nefertiti did what he told her to do.
"Wrath!" Jon called again, just like at the start, and Wrath charged at Karstaag and slashed his knees from the back.
"Gluttony!" Jon called, and Gluttony bit one of Karstaag's legs before starting to pull him back from it.
"Greed!" Jon called, and Greed, in its horse form, rammed Karstaag from his back, making him fall down on his face.
"Envy!" Jon called, and Envy hovered over Karstaag's head before starting to attack him with wailing screams.
"Lust!" Jon called, and Lust had Karstaag's senses all jumbled up and disoriented.
The Sin Artifacts worked with their most efficient powers and kept Karstaag incapacitated. The Frost Giant was no longer able to resist Jon.
"Pride!" Jon called, and with his staff, he cast one last spell at Karstaag, one that would end it all.
The lightning struck the incapacitated giant, and it slowly faded, leaving behind no traces other than a heap of astral energy and solidified astral matter. It was, after all, a ghost.
Not just any ghost, though. A ghost that, without any soul-trapping spell or soul gem, was trapped by Jon.
With the naked eye, Jon absorbed the Soul of Karstaag involuntarily without trying to trap it, just like he does with Dragons.
This only meant one thing, and that is what Nefertiti was tasked with taking care of.
"Karstaag's soul was Divine!"
***
"Explain please!" Wulfur said as he offloaded two crates of Stalhrim dust from a sled in front of Jon in the courtyard of Karstaag's castle.
"Karstaag is… or was, the deity of the Rieklings." Jon said, "So long as there are Rieklings in the vicinity of the castle or even in Solstheim, their Divine Deity would be seriously strengthened."
"And so you had your cat commit mass genocide?" Wulfur asked.
"Not really." Jon answered while trying to sweeten his case, "All she did was drive off the ones close by as far as possible by killing some of them and…"
"You took it too far this time." Wulfur said.
"You never had qualms killing Falmer and Goblins." Jon said.
"Those were pests last time I checked." Wulfur replied.
"Those are their cousins, you know. Some devolved elf who ended up on this island." Jon argued.
"We don't go around killing the Giants too. Aren't they the same as those devolved Elves?" Wulfur argued back.
"Devolved Atmorns, actually." Jon corrected him.
"What the…"
"Never mind it. We only killed the ones that attacked first. The rest scattered themselves. Relax."
Jon had to bring the argument to a close and headed to carry a Stalhrim dust crate all by himself. He also harvested all the ectoplasm and the grand soul gems that were dropped with the defeat of Karstaag.
He used the ectoplasm and mixed it with the Stalhrim dust to create a cold, gooey substance that he used carefully to restore some parts of the Ice Throne, including the one Karstaag used to attack Jon.
Despite the strength of the material, some parts of it were chipped due to the fierce battle, and Jon wanted it all restored. That's why he tasked Greed with gathering all those chipped parts and fixing the Ice Throne back into its position.
But before fixing it completely, Jon broke the armrests of the chair and then took out two large gems from the Cube; these gems were the left and right Eyes of the Falmer, the gems that are acquired by the end of the Thieves Guild quests.
Jon positioned the two large gems in the place of the broken armrests of the Ice Throne, then started to restore the armrests over the gems with magic and substance.
"Why have you used those two things?" Wulfur asked.
"Because I've used them once as a medium to channel some of the chaos energy into Nocturnal." Jon said with a smirk, "Like I loaded them with chaos and splashed them all over her."
"Alright, I get it." Wulfur was still disturbed by Jon's Aims Justify the Means policy and was about to turn away but his curiosity got the best of him, "So they are strong enough to contain divine energy; that's what you're saying?"
"I knew you'd figure it out on your own." Jon said.
"And you're using that to…?" Wulfur was a little bit skeptical, but he kept watching Jon very carefully.
As Jon finished restoring the Ice Throne, he started to use the rest of the Stalhrim to modify the Throne's appearance. By using all the transmutation spells he knows, he made the giant throne higher than it used to be and a little bit thinner. Eventually, he fitted the throne to his size but left a little bit of room for further modifications.
"And with that… the vessel is ready."
Jon had a sinister grin on his face, and Wulfur could foresee where this was going at last. Despite all his nonsense about not being a High King or an Emperor, a Dragon would still love to have a throne all to himself, and what is better than a giant's throne made from unmelting ice?
As he was done, Jon sat on the throne and fitted himself nicely. He did nothing after that aside from sitting there and waiting. Wulfur had to take some time away to let Jon organize his thoughts before moving on to the next phase.
As for Jon, as soon as the courtyard was empty and the place was totally quiet to the point where he could hear his own thoughts, he tightened his grip over the armrests and let his Magicka flow to reach through the restored cracks until it reached the Eyes of the Falmer stored within.
With a little tug, he started to make the Magicka within those Gems flow, and the result was something he expected to come out.
As he was sitting and closing his eyes, the cracks all over the Ice Throne were suddenly darkening and being filled with blackness. As all the cracks darkened, the entire Ice Throne started to darken like black glass until it gradually lost its luster and darkened to the point of no recognition of its past appearance.
Jon then let the words flow from his mouth.
"Karstaag." He said.
The hall of Karstaag's castle was still quiet, but then it all started to shake as a large giant with a broad build, four eyes, a vertical skull, and two menacing horns stood in front of Jon with vicious eyes.
Jon then looked at the Giant and smirked.
"Only the soul of an Ada can take over another Ada, just like dragons do with one another. Alas, the souls of dragons are much more Divine than yours, so… that makes you mine." Jon said and crossed one leg over the other, "For a limited time, alas… I guess I can only call you two or three more times. Such a waste!"
As Jon said so, he looked away and sighed in regret before turning to Karstaag with only one eye.
"Unless you want to get your throne back… then we'd have to make a deal."
The giant ghost, who is now bound to Jon, kept staring at Jon before stomping the ground in anger and walking around his darkened throne once.
A deal with a human that usurped his throne.
What sort of thing would that be? He's already an immortal spirit, but unless he's bound to something like his Riekling followers, he'd be cast away from memory, hence Oblivion.
Jon knew this weakness and offered Karstaag salvation from Oblivion.
"Join me and become Karstaag of Sloth!" Jon's words echoed sinisterly, "Join me, be of my kin, and survive."
Each ego of the sin artifacts was artificial in one way or another. Most of the sins except Envy and Lust were developed, hence their non-human personalities. Venus of Lust was a Nede maiden whose soul was given to Sanguine many years ago, and Potema of Envy was the Wolf Queen. Sloth, on the other hand, shall be based on Karstaag, not just a living soul but one that was deified and worshiped by the Rieklings, who are still a group of mortals.
Karstaag looked at Jon and faded away as soon as he touched the Dark Throne. And…
*Crack* *Crack* *Crumble*
The Castle of Karstaag, with its impenetrable walls of ice, started to crack and fall apart. Upon its rubble and ruins, a dark throne rose into the air as if it were being carried by a storm, a storm with glaring eyes that shook those who witnessed it, and the only ones that witnessed it were Wulfur and his Skaal helpers that were minding their business outside the castle.
Jon looked at them from the throne, and then he and the throne were enveloped in the storm before it dissipated and left nothing behind.
Sloth was just created
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[ Sloth ] <Shadow Ice Throne>
- Glare of the Storm: Brews a storm around the throne that can carry it across the sky.
- Fortress of Frost: Erect a fortress wall around the throne that can't be penetrated by mundane means.
- Karstaag: Summon Karstaag.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel or Google "Donovel Linktree'' ⬅️
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
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