"You DARE!?!" The Dragon screamed its head off as it looked down at me.
'You know, today just isn't my day' I thought as I looked back upon at the Dragon. I was strangely calm, however, that was a bit obvious. I was dead, what was a Dragon going to do, kill me harder?
"Hey man, not so loud would ya? You're shaking my ribcage here." I responded, sounding bored.
The Dragon was seemingly taken aback by my lack of care or concern for it and actually stopped yelling. It blinked in surprise for a moment before remembering that it was angry at me for something. "I'll kill you, interloper!" He declared.
"Yeah yeah, can you do it quietly please?" I asked back. It was a bit strange that I felt no intimidation from the Dragon at all and, as a matter of fact, I felt... drawn to it?
"The hell? I was never a furry or a scalely or whatever so what gives?" I muttered to myself.
"If you think the Great Storm Dragon will lose in this contest of wills, you are mistaken!" the Storm Dragon declared defiantly.
I was now becoming annoyed. "Shut your trap! Who the hell cares!?!" I shot back, earning a surprised yelp from the being.
"I-I have not been weakened so much by my prison that I will allow someone like you to dictate commands to me! I am the world's strongest!!!" It declared, though quieter this time.
I felt myself growing stronger somehow and I was filled with a new boldness that I never knew I had before. "Huh!?! What kind of Dragon gets itself stuck for 200 years and still has the Gaul to declare itself the strongest!?!" /1\
"T-thas because I didn't take the fight seriously!" Veldora protested.
"You got serious part way through though and STILL lost!" I yelled.
"Sh-shut it! You weren't there! That Hero has amazing Unique Skills!" The Dragon protested weakly.
"You're a True Dragon! You're being is equivalent to an Ultimate Skill itself, and you STILL Lost! No wonder brother abandoned you and our sisters bullied and tormented you! You are too arrogant!" I shot back.
The Dragon, once seemingly 300 feet tall had shrunk to the size of a puppy during our argument, though I hadn't really noticed until just then. I also didn't notice that I was slowly acquiring the memories of Veldora the longer our argument went about. I had no 'Sisters' or 'Brother' but just then, I KNEW that I did. Veldanava was my older brother and creator of the Universe who went to get milk and never came back, my eldest sister Velzard who seemingly hated me and often killed me over and over, and my other older sister Velgrynd who liked to beat me to within an inch of my life and sadistically 'play' with me in my weakened state like I was some kind of toy or dog.
"Damn, our siblings are kinda awful huh?" I asked the Dragon after regaining my focus, only to see I was alone in an empty void.
"Wait, where is Veldora?" I asked myself aloud.
Just then I heard a ping seemingly coming from inside my soul.
<
<
The announcements sounded.
What was that? I pondered for a moment before the information came directly to my mind.
The World Language, Voice of the World, World System. There were many names for it.
'Wait but... how did I get that information though?' I asked myself.
The answer hit me like a Lightning Bolt. It was my Unique Skill [Investigator]. I blinked several times as hundreds of questions raced through my mind. I blinked again in surprise. I have been thinking weirdly for a while now.
No not like 'this is a weird thing to think about', but as in just a second ago, the thousands of questions I had were all asked simultaneously and answered simultaneously as well. I had multiple trains of thought running at once. It was a bizarre and fascinating feeling. I wondered what caused it, only to be surprised by the answer that came to me shortly afterward.
Parallel Operation
It was part of my overall power that seemed to be part of the Unique Skill [Investigator]. I concentrated on the Skill more and realized that this Skill was both amazing and kind of pathetic at the same time. Its abilities were no doubt amazing.
I could accelerate my thoughts by thousands of times using [Thought Acceleration], which would allow me to think faster. I could meticulously plan out all of my responses in an instant of real-time but what were hours or even days of time for me? It would be the perfect argumentative tool, as I could appear to have the patience of a saint, all the while raging in my mind for hours before calming myself down and shooting back with devastatingly well-thought-out counter-points.
Another power was the ability to split my consciousness into multiple trains of thought to accomplish complex tasks and become the ultimate multi-tasker; [Parallel Operation]. I wondered if this was what being a Hive-Mind was like, though as a single body, my experience was limited. I wondered if I could eventually learn to create clones of myself, each clone running a train of my thoughts and allowing me to become akin to the Borg from Star Trek or the Tyrannids from 40k.
Next was what I was using to figure everything else out; [Analytical Appraisal]. It allowed me to essentially 'scan' any target, even esoteric targets like my memories in order to grant information on them to me, though I doubt I'd be able to scan the memories of another person without some sort of permission or special ability.
Up next was the power that was most useful to me at the current moment; [All of Creation]. It was essentially a brain-booster ability that increased my comprehension of the world and gave me generalized information about most things, though it seemed to work better the more information I had to work with. Right now it is working in-tandem with [Analytical Appraisal] to answer all of my questions for me, though I guessed that I wasn't just given nerfed omniscience for nothing and there were probably some things that I couldn't figure out just by asking questions of my Skill.
Finally was the ability that would have made me spit my drink if I was drinking at that moment. [Persuit of Truth].
I had to take back my assumption from last time, as this ability directly interfered with the World System to discover information. It could discover ANY information so long as the information had happened in the past. I could clearly see the progression of the world since the creation of the World System, from my brother's first creation of the Angels of Origin to a mere moment ago when I noticed my sister Velgrynd f*cking my brother-in-law, Rudra.
I shuttered, thinking about it as I tuned out that last thought. I looked down at my hands. I had six fingers now, all as dexterous as my index finger or thumb, each with a sharp nail that I just knew would cut through anything I wished. I cranked my long neck stretching it out as I moved my head from side to side trying to feel the limits of my reach. I flexed my back as large wings fluttered lightly causing a powerful windstorm to sweep through the cave I was standing within. I wiggled m,y but just a touch and my thick tail struck out like a whip, striking hard against a wall of light which had suddenly appeared.
"Oh, right," I muttered as I recalled Veldora's, no, MY memories of being sealed by the Hero. For as much as I dogged on Veldora before, looking back on that fight, the Hero had done a number on me. I doubt I'dve won without resorting to a battle of endurance even if I took the fight seriously from the get-go.
I closed my eyes and began to ponder on the rest of my abilities. Needless to say, I had way too many. The 'Storm Magic' I had alone was already the stuff that most battle-shonen anime protags would be using as 'End of Series Finishing Moves'.
That was in addition to my nigh-indestructible body and limited immortality due to reviving after death, though I knew from experience that I'd lose memories if I did so.
Next was the Unique Skill [Rioter]. I gawked as I read the Skill and remembered my death as a human in my last life. Still, the power did not disappoint. It had two rather heinous abilities. the first was [Optimal Instict]. From what I gathered, it was kinda like plot armor for a protagonist. It worked passively but it influenced the world around me subtly to lead me to what I wanted most. If I wanted to defeat an enemy more powerful than me, this would help me realize their weakness or strike their weak point just in time. If I wanted to meet cute babes and go clubbing, I'd end up taking a chance on a 'random' club where I'd meet plenty of hot babes that I could seduce. It also gave me a silver tongue, as for the most part, if I relied on this skill, I'd instinctively know what not say to avoid the most trouble for myself.
To be honest, this power seemed too good to be limited to a Unique Skill, but it somehow got even better. It also had [Certain Outcome], which was instrumental in the functioning of the Skill. For example, even if [Optimal Instinct] was running, things I don't know could still throw a wrench in the works. For example, even if I knew what NOT to say, I didn't realize what to say correctly to get the benefits of my [Optimal Instinct]. In short, [Optimal Instinct] was the passive component that helped keep me out of trouble while [Certain Outcome] was the active component or my 'protagonist luck' I needed to get the best results from my actions, ensuring I was never misunderstood.
I closed my eyes and thought for a long time using [Thought Acceleration] and [Parallel Operation]. I even linked [Investigator] and [Rioter] together in order to come up with the best possible plan moving forward. I opened one eye and peered at the shimmering light of the [Unlimited Imprisonment] which surrounded me.
I was stuck, but it's not like I HAD to be. There was something familiar about it that I just couldn't place but I decided to ignore that for now and focus on my immediate situation. I knew that if I wanted, I could probably get out of it almost immediately, as with [Rioter]'s [Certain Outcome], I was guaranteed to overcome nearly any obstacle, however, the question became, what happens after that? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was actually in a tight situation.
My previous rampage was one of my worst ones yet, and if not for being sealed by the Hero, it was likely that I'd have been killed by Velzard or 'punished' by Velgrynd again. Given my history, even if I broke out, I doubt they'd just let me go. It seems like my imprisonment was likely their way of punishing me this time. I wondered if using [Rioter] would help me avoid that Bad End, but determined probably not. Both of my sisters had Ultimate Skills and so they were likely immune to the effects of Unique Skills.
I sighed. 'Damn it past me, why were you such a bitch?' I moaned before coming to a decision. 'I have enough information on this world to know that if I continue as I am, I'll just wind up dead, but if I play my cards right and actually learn to master my Skills and abilities...'
It was time for the training montage.
(3rd POV)
In the shadows of the cave, a pair of eyes glowed dimly, watching the Storm Dragon pout and begin to change. The orbs of Red and Blue blinked a few times, noticing the change before a look of relief washed over the face of the being watching the Storm Dragon.
"I didn't believe it at first, however, it seems like you were right, Chronoa. He did change this loop, though I still have doubts about THAT matter" She muttered as she turned to walk away.
"Not that I am opposed to it if he's as you said he would be," she said as she melted into the shadows and disappeared into the darkness of the cave, never to return. /2\
.~.~.~.
/1\: Christian and Veldora do not notice it here, but their souls are fusing together into a single new soul and this is proof of it. Veldora never said how long he'd been trapped but those memories are leaking into Christian's mind now too.
/2\: Yes, this is Luminous. In Chloe's previous loop, the MC also took over Veldora's body and did some things to mend relations with Luminous. Chloe told this to Luminous who decided to keep an eye on it. Luminous would also never come back to the cave, as Veldora's change was the only thing she wanted to see for herself.