I aimed myself at the guard tower that impeded access to the specific mountain entrance I sought to enter as I sailed through the air. I effortlessly reached the tower a split second after I oriented myself towards and began to grin.
Numerous warriors surrounded me but I was capable of instantaneous movement. I lunged at the one closest to me and hurled my hand at a speed exceeding the speed of sound through his chest before he could truly react to my abrupt appearance.
My hand effortlessly penetrated the man's armor, and then violently pierced his chest. I used my knowledge of the human anatomy to aim for and grab his heart. When I felt the organ in my hand I pulled it out of his chest, and even before I finished extracting my hand from his body he was dead.
I lunged at the next warrior, still moving so fast that I couldn't really be reacted to but not fast enough that the world was frozen around me. With him, I quite simply detached his head from the rest of his body with a single slice of one of my hands.
There were a total of five men in this tower, which meant that only three were left alive. I turned on one and immediately hurled a kick at him at super speed, which was empowered further by my super strength. It hit the side of his head and shattered it, causing the deceased man to immediately fall and begin to bleed all over the floor.
I was a blur of speed and efficient violence. The semifinal remaining soldier had the time to look at me in fear, but I wasn't stopping my violence just yet. I turned to face him and leaped forward before hurling a single palm strike to his chest, which hit him with force comparable to a speeding car and sent him hurling out of the watchtower. That left me with just one foe, who I immediately turned to gaze upon.
The final figure was a human of seemingly average height for humans of this world. He wore a metal mask, just as the rest of his companions did. He was trembling in fear, and I grinned, menacingly, at him. I quietly and slowly approached him, allowing him to feel the fear that was radiating out of himself.
When I was in front of him, I reached out and gently pulled off the mask he wore. He continued to quake in fear of me for the tremendous violence I had already inflicted on his allies so he didn't resist as I took off his mask. I was a bit surprised at the fact I saw underneath the mask.
The man standing before had an appearance "looked" Asian. Specifically he "looked" like a painting of an ancient Chinese philosopher, but younger. It surprised me so much that my facial expression, for a split second, was changed. That said, I quickly regained my composure and proceeded to put my fist through the man's skull, making his head almost explode in a shower of blood, viscera, and gore.
"So... this world has people who are at least superficially similar to Asian people? Intriguing..." I muttered as I proceed to walk to the edge of the tower and throw myself off of it so that I could fly into the mouth of the cave.
I sped through the air for several moments before sighing and bringing myself to a halt just a few meters off the ground. I hovered in the air and began to chuckle as I gazed at the entrance to the cave and then lowered myself to the floor. The floor was hard underneath my feet and I stared into the cave even as I felt the consequences, or rather the rewards of and for my earlier victories surging into me.
I felt the power of my fallen foes seeping into me and it sent pleasurable shivers down my spine. I wasn't sure if I gained anything of true value from them, but I was sure that I enjoyed the sensations of my initial victory. I quietly began to step into the cavern before me and thus into the den of a dragon.
My eyes didn't need light to function and so it was easy for me to see into the cave. I took confident steps and was unafraid of what lurked within, waiting for perhaps unsuspecting victims. As I made my way into the cave, my sensitive senses began to effortlessly pick up on the dangers lurking within.
I could hear voices off in the distance, voices speaking in the language of the strangers I had secretly spied upon mere minutes ago. That made me smile and as I approached them I took to the air and began to fly. When I flew I was silent and the cave was perfectly dark which would therefore render me invisible to those I wished to observe.
I began to fly deeper into the cave. As I did I made a conscious effort to fully study the cave. I noticed the dark color of the stone, the smell of the cave's interior, which reeked of dampness, and even the light footsteps that those who came before me left behind on the floor. My eyes were more than sensitive enough to give me total confidence and security as I flew deeper and deeper into the cave.
One thing I noticed right away was just how deep the cave seemed to go. I was a capable flyer, and a speedy one at that, and yet the cave seemed to stretch on for eternity. It was legitimately somewhat worrying since I had no idea how deep in the cave were my enemies. I could hear people off in the distance, humans who were evidently victims of the people who had launched attacks on my people, and no one else. That said, I knew other humans lurked in this cave as well.
The people off in the distance, the ones I could hear, belonged to the ethnic group who were victims of the dragon, who itself was guarded by my enemies. That allowed me to make several interesting observations, including the fact that the dragon was either controlled by or affiliated with my enemies and was possibly an enemy of the people I sought to make allies of. As I drew nearer and nearer I quietly resolved myself to make allies.
I flew for another minute, moving through the air at speeds below my maximum speed. I opted to focus on control and stealth rather than speed, which was quickly rewarded in the form of my success sneaking up on a group of humans who were themselves attempting to sneak through the cave.
When I reached them I allowed myself a moment to enter my... true speed state and I studied them curiously. The world was practically frozen around me which I could tell due to the slowness with which the men were moving. The group consisted of four men carrying spears and masks similar too but not identical to the masks worn by my foes.
While still in my true speed state I quickly contemplated how best to take advantage of this situation. I descended to the ground and landed lightly on top of it and as I did I realized something odd about the nature of my powers.
"I can gain powers through belief. If people believe in me, if they believe I am something even if I am not that thing... Perhaps I can become what they believe me to be." I mentally muttered, while concocting a specific scheme.
I began to approach the men carrying spears, as I "slowed down" and allowed time to speed up around me. The stealthy warriors heard me openly approaching them and turned to face me, scowls visible through their masks, and muscles flexing as they readied themselves to hurl their spears at me. I smiled and when they actually laid eyes on me they froze in confusion.
I continued to approach them, walking slowly towards the men. They stepped backward in unison and some of them were smart enough to point their spears at me but not make aggressive moves.
"Who are you?" One of them, the shortest of the warriors, managed to ask though there was fear in his voice.
"You noticed us and you haven't called for reinforcements. Are you a friend or a foe? Perhaps... a warrior from a distant land who has arrived to help us?" He asked, uncertainty audible in his somewhat delicate voice. I gazed at him and began to speak.
"I am the sun soul. So I suppose... You could say I am a warrior from a distant land who has arrived to aid you in your moment of need. I have dispatched the guards outside and cleared the way back for you. I will now aid you in your quest to rescue Nadri." I explained, speaking authoritatively.
My words caused the warriors to unconsciously take another step backward, in a mixture of fear and awe. I couldn't quite see their eyes, but I felt their belief flow into me and I felt it make me stronger in a real, concrete way. I felt my muscles expand and my form grow larger, even taller than I already was.
It was at that point that, suddenly, I watched as the tunnel I was in began to be illuminated, by something strange. By... me. Or rather by a glow that was emanating from my skin.
"Huh... So that's what that feels like is it? Neat." I whispered, speaking in English, deliberately, as I felt my own personal power begin to overflow and reach new heights. As I gazed at the warriors who had come to save Nadri from our mutual foes I felt their emotions begin to change.
They didn't actually believe me, not fully, but my words had planted a small seed of hope within them. They were open to the possibility that I was the strange warrior their people had idolized who had come to save one of their own from certain death. My sudden growth and my display of a simple light-based superpower quickly nurtured the small seeds of hope within them, but even now they didn't fully believe me.
"I see your courage in coming here alone to try and save Nadri. I am here to ensure you succeed. I sense your uncertainty. Allow my actions to prove I am who I say I am." I said to the warriors, smiling gently as my body continues to glow a faint, gentle light.
The warriors wanted to believe me, I felt them want to dare to trust me. It brought a smile to my face. After a few moments of studying them I quietly walked around the warriors and began to make my way deeper into the cave.