(Jason's POV)
I walked toward the inn, I had a lot on my mind. There was a lot of bullshit going on in my head and I couldn't focus for shit.
Just last night, I had sex with Kagura. It wasn't just any ordinary sex. It felt like there was something more than that.
I felt an odd connection. Which was crazy because Kagura and I barely knew each other.
It reminded me so much of something, but I couldn't exactly place my finger on it. It was beginning to eat me up inside.
As I walked, I heard a loud static.
I watched as the blue screen opened in front of me.
"ALERT: POWERFUL NEW SKILL UNLOCKED. REQUIRES 5 POINTS TO OBTAIN."
It's been a while since I had to listen to this annoying screen. I stopped and looked at the flashing screen.
"Show me," I said
The screen then changed and showed me the new skill.
It read:
Obliteration Style- A Powerful form of Martial Art that focuses on striking. It uses various striking martial arts as its base. Its main trait and strength is utilizing an enhanced version of True Damage. As true damage required certain conditions to use, The Obliteration Style does not require such conditions. Its True Damage is three times as powerful as the regular one. Once activating Obliteration Style, the user's offensive power is significantly increased. Any other attack that uses True Damage is greatly improved.
"Hm." I said clicking on it to unlock, "So it's basically a mode where I can use True Damage with any striking?"
It'll definitely prove useful. Triple the True Damage. And True Damage has proven to be quite useful.
The only question is, will it be enough? Facing Suzaku was not something I accounted for. And if he's allied with Tartaros, then it'll be a hellish mission to undertake. He's at a level way beyond I imagined to face. He almost killed me. And easily at that. He's no joke. He's easily the strongest Mage currently in the continent.
Why is he even here? What's his goal? He mentioned his master's orders. What the hell does Diabolos want in Ishgar? It just doesn't make any fucking sense to me.
I looked up at the sky, "Are Seilah and Kyoka alright?" I asked aloud
Something within me really hoped they were okay. The mere thought of something bad happening to them made my stomach drop.
I sighed, "I hope they are." I said looking ahead of me, "I just wished I was stronger...."
I turned to see a bench on the side of the road.
I walked over to it and sat down.
The Blue Screen was still open.
"Screen." I said, "What other spells do I need to unlock? And how many points do I have?"
"YOU ARE CURRENTLY REQUIRED TO UNLOCK 10 MORE SPELLS. AND YOU HAVE 15 POINTS TO SPEND."
I nodded, "I see." I said, "What're my options at the moment?"
"YOU CAN FURTHER UPGRADE THE MAGIC AND MIND SEALING FIST."
I watched it switch to the page.
It read:
Magic and Mind Sealing Fist- Stage Two: Greatly enhances the effects of the sealing. It can also partially absorb magic power and cover your fist in said magic power. Once you strike with that magic power, it will deal bonus damage. (3 points required.)
"Seems okay." I said clicking on it, "What else?"
"YOU HAVE A MAIN SPELL AVAILABLE."
It switched to the page.
It read:
Ritual of The Enlightened One: Activating this spell will cast three large circles on the ground. Those caught within the circles are forced into the ritual. The caster will be required to perform specific acts in order to progress the ritual.
-The first step is to strike the enemy closest to the caster at specific points in their body that only the Caster can see. Once this step is completed, the ring in which the enemy is will glow brightly and the Caster will move on to the second step.
-The second step depends if there is more than one enemy within the circles. If there is, the Caster must repeat the first step but this time, the second enemy will be frozen in place until the next step. If there isn't another enemy, all circles will shrink to the caster, and a small circle will appear around the caster. The Caster must then draw 5 circles in the air and must strike his enemy through these circles without moving from the circle on the ground. If he succeeds, the second step will be complete.
-Once the third step commences, the frozen enemies will be unfrozen. The Caster must then focus on the first enemy that he targeted at first. All whilst avoiding attacks from the other enemies. The Caster must not be hit by the other enemies. He must strike at his targeted enemy on a mark that appears on their body. The mark will appear randomly. This step is a test of how the caster can perform when under pressure. If the Caster can strike the mark without taking a hit, then he can move on to the next step
-The Fourth Step is quite simple. Defeat the untargeted enemies. To do this, the Caster must hit them with an empowered Fajin strike. Those hit with Fajin, are ejected from the Ritual and are unable to harm the caster in any way. Ejecting the untargeted enemies progresses the Ritual.
-The Fifth Step activates the true power of this spell. The Caster can summon massive astral projections of his limbs. These projections can mimic the Caster's movement. They are imbued with True Damage and any elemental damage that the Caster desires. In this state, the Caster's eyes are turned white and emits a massive white aura: it is referred to as The Enlightened State The Fifth Step is the final step of this current Stage of the spell.
The Enlightened State can last indefinitely unless the Caster is hit at least once. Meaning, if the Caster can attack without being hit, he can be in this state forever, dealing an insane amount of damage. (7 Points Required.)
"Huh." I said, "This sounds like a really powerful spell. And from the looks of it, the second stage unlocks different steps."
I clicked on it to unlock it.
I sighed, "Man." I said, "I guess this helps me out a bit. But I got a bad feeling that it won't be enough."
As crazy as the majority of these spells are, Martial Arts magic doesn't seem to be as powerful as I hoped for. I mean, yea, they are incredibly powerful if I can utilize them right, but compared to other magic here, it's not much. The only thing I have going for me is my crazy body and magic power. It's the reason I can use it so effectively.
I wonder what the other Magic is about. Black God Slayer Magic and War Magic. If I can unlock those, I can probably become even more powerful.
Power. That's what I want. Power.
Suddenly, I got a piercing headache that made me buckle.
"Aghhhh!!!!" I yelled out in pain
I collapsed to the ground and I clutched my head. It was fucking killing me. This was a pain I haven't experienced at all. It was is there were thousands of scorching hot knives stabbing me all over my brain, it was unbearable.
"Gahhh!!!" I said as my entire body went hot, "W-What the hell?!?!?"
Suddenly, I was getting flashes of something. It looked like a vision. It was blurry and it flashed a lot, I couldn't focus much on it. The pain I was feeling was definitely keeping me from focusing.
Then like nothing, I was in a different place. It was a room. It looked like a...Classroom?
I looked around, there were many people in uniforms. They looked like....students
I opened my mouth to speak, but there was no sound coming.
This feeling, was similar to that dream I had. For some reason, it gave me serious Deja Vu.
Was.....Was this a memory?
I looked in front of me, I was sitting on a desk. I could see my arms, they were covered by the sleeves of a gray school uniform. I saw a lunch box in front of me, it was opened. Inside was some cheese kimbap. I had one in my hand.
I didn't know what this memory was. Was it mine?
I then felt some footsteps approach.
"Well well well..." I heard a voice say
I looked up and saw a group of guys walk up to me. They were somewhat tall, wearing the same uniform as I was wearing. The weirdest thing about this, their faces were blurred out completely. Their voices weren't distorted at all, it was just their faces.
One of the guys walked up to me and leaned in.
"So this guy, eh?" He said
I could tell the guy was smirking, I couldn't tell.
"This is the Judo prodigy everyone kept talking about?" He said, "This fat nerd?"
"Kahahaha!!!" one of the other guys laughed, "He's a bit chubby, man! But yea, he's apparently ridiculously good at Judo. They call him the Two-Second Emperor. One second to grab ya, one second to throw ya. Load of bullshit, if you ask me!!"
Suddenly, the first guy slapped the kimbap out of my hands.
"Hah!!" He said, "Two Second Emperor? What, do you have premature ejaculation?! What a fucking joke! You're nothing but a loser, Jason Ahn. Just like the whore your mom is!!"
Suddenly, everything went black. I couldn't see or hear anything.
What the hell was that about? Was that memory mine? Why didn't I remember that? I.....
"Jason!!" I hear a voice call out
I opened my eyes, I saw Kagura and Lucy look down at me with worried faces.
My headache was gone. My body felt numb, however.
I sat up, "W-What happened?" I said looking around, "Where am I?"
I was in a room, on a bed. I didn't recognize it.
"You're in the inn." Lucy said as she patted my shoulder, "Are you okay?"
Kagura leaned into me and patted my forehead, "His fever is gone." She said, "Jason, we found you collapsed on the street three days ago. You were unconscious the entire time. What happened?"
"I...." I said, "I....I don't know..."
Kagura looked at me with a worried look, "Are you okay? Do you feel okay?"
I nodded, "I feel okay..." I said, "I just don't know what happened....it happened so suddenly."
Before anything else, the door slammed open.
"Oi!!" Natsu said as he ran in, "Is Jason awake?! We got trouble!!"
Lucy looked at him, "What's wrong?"
"The palace has been attacked!!!" He exclaimed
I widened my eyes, "Again?" I said
"Oh, you're awake! Good!" Natsu said, "Cause we got another problem. There is a whole army of what looks like those Tartaros monsters outside of the city! Sting and Rogue that a lone swordsman is leading them!"
I narrowed my eyes, "Suzaku..." I said
Kagura straightened up, "We're under attack yet again..." She said, "We must end this then."
I stood up from the bed, "Okay." I said, "I'll head to the palace. All forces focus on Suzaku and the army."
Lucy looked at me, "Are you sure?" She said, "I could come with you."
I shook my head, "No." I said, "My gut is telling me that I need to go alone."
"The guy I need to kill is there."
*********************************
(3rd Person View.)
"Such a shame." Mard Geer said as he walked over the corpses of imperial soldiers, "All you pitiful humans try so hard but in the end, it is futile."
As he walked past the unconscious bodies of the Garou Knights, Mard Geer placed his hands behind his back. He made his way past the doorway to the throne room. The entire room was filled with debris and thorns. It appeared as if he had fought in it.
He sighed, "Another shame is that I have to get my hands dirty, yet again." He said, "All my fellow Demons are currently in a state of suspended animation until the Ritual ends. Who knew the Conversion would take so long? Oh, I suppose that if I want something to be done quickly, I ought to do it myself."
He came to a stop. In front of him, Arcadios stood with his sword readied. Behind the knight, the King and his daughter, Hisui were huddled in front of the throne.
Mard Geer gave the knight a sly smile, "I suggest you stand aside." He said, "Unless you wish to forfeit your life."
"Why do you do this?" Arcadios asked as he sweated, "Why must you go to all this trouble?"
"Coincidentally, that human girl over there is gifted with an abundant amount of pure ethernano. It's quite surprising, really." Mard Geer said, "While it may not be converted to magic power, the fact that it could be used as pure fuel is very convenient. I have great use for that. I can have her as a farm for pure ethernano conversion to curse power."
Hisui's face was horrified, "W-What?"
Mard Geer placed his hand on his chin, "Yes." He said, "There are many ways to do this. The easiest but bloodiest way is to have you spawn demonic seeds...."
"Spawn?" The King said
"Yes, spawn." Mard Geer continued, "It's not a very pleasant thing. But I would rather go the harder route, as it's the cleanest method. I'll have her convert her particles to curse power via partial demonification. That method can only be done by Lamy, however. She excels at that. I can do the spawning method myself. You just have to.....endure me...."
He gave them an unsettling smile.
Before anything else, Mard Geer felt an intense aura behind him.
He turned to see Jason walk up to him with a vicious glare on his face.
"Oh." He said, "It's you. I am surprised to see you're alive."
Jason then immediately lunged at him.
"Devil's Lance!!!"
Using a True Damage-enhanced hand spear, Jason tried to impale the Demon. Mard Geer, however, was able to just dodge. The attack managed to graze his arm, leaving a bit of blood out in the air.
"Oh?" Mard Geer said, "You managed to draw blood....if that attack connected, it would definitely cause some trouble."
Jason then released an immense aura.
He gave Mard Geer a death glare,
"I'm gonna kill you."