author note: just a FYI, the entire conversation here takes place inside John's conscious as obviously he can't speak or hear shit all, with all his senses being gone and everything.
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While the test Kaelthar had given John was going decently well, his other test wasn't progressing as smoothly, John stood in the emptiness of the first test, given by Kronos and Khaos, he began to question his existence. Without his senses, he had nothing to hold onto and the void of nothingness was overwhelming. He felt as if he had been standing there for an eternity, and the thought of losing his mind started to become a reality. He couldn't remember how long he had been there, or if he had ever existed at all. The only thing that kept him going was the determination to prove himself and gain the strength he sought. But as the minutes, or what felt like minutes, turned into hours, John began to lose himself. He couldn't remember his name, his past, or his purpose. He was lost in a sea of nothingness, and he feared he would never find his way back.
John stood alone in an endless void, his senses deprived and his mind teetering on the brink of insanity. Suddenly, a small whisper broke through the silence. "Oye." The voice grew louder and more distinct. "Oyeeeeeee human, you ain't giving up yet, are you? You've earned my respect, better act like it." It was the voice of Pallas, resonating in John's mind.
"Oye Kostas, I know you've woken up as well. Say something, the kid's losing it," Pallas' voice echoed.
"I know, fool. But I don't think there's anything we can say right now that will change anything. Fuck, I'm not even sure the guy can fucking hear us," Kostas replied.
John was confused and questioning his sanity. "Pallas? Kostas? What is going on? Have I finally gone crazy?" he thought to himself.
"No, you fucko. When I used the spell to send you back in time, a sort of fuck up happened, and our souls sort of merged into one. So, we are speaking directly into your consciousness. You're not crazy yet, but quite close," Pallas replied.
"That kinda sort of makes sense, but how come you two woke up so soon? You said it would take a while before you woke up," John said in his head.
"What do you mean, kid? The amount of energy our souls have gathered, I'd reckon it's been about 10 years since you came here. Also, what the fuck kind of situation are we in right now?" Pallas asked, his tone confused.
"Well, that's kind of hard to explain. But since our souls have merged, I'm sure you can read my memories. Just go through the events that happened since I came here," John spoke in his head.
.
.
.
.
After what seemed to be about an hour of going through most of the events that had happened before John's tests started, Pallas finally spoke, "damn kid, why would you humans send a young soul to the divine realm? We dragons would never dream of sending our hatchlings to such a thing."
"I agree with Pallas," Kostas chimed in. "I mean, I'm sure humans possess the ability to get stronger without blessings. I don't sense any divinity coming from you during our battle, so why?"
"It's true," John replied. "Most humans don't need to take these tests, and I too got stronger in my last life by my strength without relying much on anything else but training. However, the situation is different now. I have better chances and this is the best boost I could get to survive the upcoming events and maybe even prevent some of them."
"What do you mean the situation is different?" Kostas asked, baffled by John's words. "How could things change so much in only a week since you came back? Things from the past don't change that easily."
"I too am confused," John said. "I was waiting for the two of you to wake up to get an explanation from Pallas about how his spell actually worked. Things that never happened in my past life are happening now. My grandfather intends to endorse me to become the next emperor, which should never have happened. The gods chose me to take their tests, which also never happened. None of this should have changed in one week, as I didn't take any incredibly drastic decisions that would change things so much. So, Pallas, care to explain?"
"Well, the thing is… I didn't exactly send you back in time, as much as I sent you to a parallel timeline, pretty much identical to our own but one that is still far behind our previous timelines flow. Going back in time is impossible even for we dragons, the masters of mana, however, our ancestors did partially succeed in making a spell that could make our souls jump through the flow of space and time, however, doing so would destroy our dragon heart in the process as we were defying nature and as such had to take its fury, of course, this spell is only passed down to through the dragon emperors, and is only meant to be a last resort move in case something threatens the existence of our species" Pallas explained.
"So why'd you do it back then?" Kostas reasonably questioned. "Well, I was going to die anyway, so it was better now than never, at that moment," Pallas said in a nonchalant tone.
"Hmm, fair enough. But hold on, do you mean to say that the future right now is far more uncertain even than what we thought it would be?" John asked.
"Well, both yes and no. Major events will likely still be the same, the history should also be for the most part the same, but things were bound to change anyway since we are going to be interfering with the present," Pallas said.
"I see, I see," John said, understanding.
"Well, I believe that should have answered your questions. Now it's about time you answer some of ours," Pallas asked.
"Well, yes of course," John agreed.
"What do you intend to do now?" Kostas questioned.
"Well, as you have already seen in my memories, I'm sure, I'm the bastard son of the emperor, and as such, can't make any rash moves, lest I want my life cut short. I will form a full-body core, as you may have seen, and then we'll fix the empire. After which, well, I will just have to see. Everything I have thought of till now kind of goes to waste after you said the events could be different, so I will have to take action accordingly. However, for now, I am far too weak, both physically and politically, to make any changes to the end goal," John replied.
"I understand. By the way, have you any idea of how long this test of yours could last? If it will take a while, then I think the three of us should try to fix the holes in that full-body core thingy your emperor had," Kostas said, understanding.
"About that, I too have an idea if you are open to it," Pallas added.
"Go ahead, as you can see, well not actually but can probably guess, I have nothing better to do," John said.
"Well, my idea is quite simple. Like how we dragons form stars in our hearts to concentrate our mana and improve our strengths, you could do something similar. By making your body into something similar to a dragon heart, a sort of pump of mana, and forming stars within it, you could gather more and more of it in a more concentrated amount." Pallas explained thoughtfully.
John pondered over the idea for a moment before turning to Kostas, "What do you think of this idea, Kostas?"
"I believe it's a sound concept," Kostas said, nodding in agreement. "We Titans also use a similar technique in that aspect, so I think we could make it work for the humans' core formation method."
"Alright then, let's get to work," John said, determination in his voice.
As the three delved deeper into their discussion, the gods observed in awe, still trying to process what had just occurred. Kaelthar shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe he regained consciousness. How did he manage that?"
"I am not quite sure either" Kronos responded with a baffled look on his face, while Khaos only had a wide smile on his face as he watched the situation.