“You are from the Eihwaz continent, a demon, my dear disciple and Old Shu’s adopted grandson. Also, the one who is loved by my other disciples and a very talented kid who will become one of the strongest beings in this world. Any other questions?” → Shen
I answered as plainly as possible. I was surprised by Theo’s sudden transformation but I maintained my calm face until the end. Right now, Theo tested my temper and if he saw that I panicked then his trust towards me would’ve decreased, making him close his heart in front of me.
What a terrifying brat, gambling so much only to see if he can trust me, he really has guts. → Shen
“Wha-!?” → Theo
Theo didn’t know about what he should be more surprised about, by my plain reaction or by the news he just got. It was confusing for a kid of barely 11 years old.
“Well, being a demon has its own advantages, you can control and feel mana much easier making you a dragon among men. Don’t hate yourself for what you are and neither the ones who will talk trash about you. If you’re a demonic being then be the best demon ever! Try to become the Demon Lord yourself if you want! I’ll support you from the back. Of course, as long as you don’t kill innocent people. I don’t wish for a murderer as a disciple, understood?” → Shen
I said all this like a father supporting his son, Theo was given to me by Old Shu to take care of and for me, Theo is already like a son. Like hell I’ll let any bastard touch him when he’s under my wings.
Well, being in such a harsh world I would expect for him to kill in hundreds… but at least let them not be innocents. → Shen
I felt bitter for the future but I couldn’t ask from Theo to not kill when just the fact that he’s a demon might bring destruction around him.
“M-Master!” → Theo
Theo started crying and hugged my waist. I patted his head while talking.
“And don’t be afraid of showing your true self to Bonny and Melinda, if they were people who would discriminate only because you’re of another race then they wouldn’t be my disciples right now, trust me.” → Shen
“Yes!” → Theo
After our talk, we entered the library where the girls studied and showed them Theo’s new face. They were really surprised and started examining his demonic characteristics with much interest. Especially Melinda, she would rub his horns and gaze insistently at his eyes with curiosity, making Theo redden in the face when he looked in her bright blue eyes.
“Oh my~ Melinda you better watch out, yes~? Theodore’s transformation might not be just externally, if you get so close to him he might go on and eat you up~.” → Bonny
Bonny teased Melinda in a naughty voice.
“What are you-…eh?” → Theo
Theo panicked, thinking Melinda would be afraid of him after hearing this. But to his surprise, she actually started blushing.
“E-eat me? Uuh~~….m-maybe when we’ll be older..?” → Melinda
Melinda couldn’t stop stuttering. Even though she’s only 12 years old, she looked at some romantic movies from Earth together with her bigger sister who also taught her some things about love. She couldn’t help reddening at the thought of doing such indecent things with Theo. For a 12-year-old, ‘indecent things’ means at most kissing, up from here she doesn’t know what’s next.
“Eh?” → Theo
Theo was dumbfounded by Melinda’s reaction.
Are there more ways than one to eat someone? What? → Theo
He couldn’t understand and kept on staring at Melinda who was fidgeting, embarrassed by Theo’s gaze on her.
So it’s true when they say the girls mature faster. Look at this brat already making plans for the future. Goddamn it, as their master I’ll have to prepare a house for them, no? → Shen
I was even thinking of what name I should give to my grandson or granddaughter when I suddenly remembered something. I took out Old Shu’s book and started training outside the cave while the three disciples were reading inside. Let’s see, the easiest technique from these 3 is ‘Dragonic Materialization’.
[The most brutal and wild chakra inside the human body is the ‘Root Chakra’ or also named Muladhara. In antiquity, the people would call it ‘The Dragon Point’ exactly because of its fierce and uncontrollable essence. This chakra can absorb the most primordial and unrefined energy, which is used by Divine beasts who achieved a level of power comparable with dragons. While fighting, the energy is absorbed by them, then in a life and death confrontation, this energy will bring them to a berserk state, offering unlimited power but at the same time losing control over their own minds. In this book, I present a way to control the energy, absorb it, and take a dragon’s form. In my researching, I found out this ability is the most useful for Dragoons who have a little bit of true dragon blood inside them.
Requirements for using this skill: The person using it must be at least of Saint power-rank and also needs a strong mental power to resist the primordial energies from corroding their mind. This skill is labeled TABOO and is preferable to be used only in imminent danger otherwise, the user will be crippled or dead after the first mistake.
To activate the Dragonic Materialization, activate the Mind chakra and form a barrier around it so the primordial energy won’t take control over your reasoning, the stronger the barrier, the better. Activate the Root Chakra (Dragon Point) and let it absorb the primordial energy from space. One must first be able to feel the primordial energy, which is also one of the primal essences in the universe. Don’t absorb more than it’s supportable for the barrier. The energy absorbed will move inside the middle dantian or ‘Svadhisthana’, which will then be cultivated and circulated afterward in the other chakras and meridian points. This energy is a dangerous and unrefined one.
Once activated, the user will need to use it until he finishes what he absorbed or it might end up corroding the internal organs and spirit, crippling or killing the user. The moment this energy is inside the body, the user needs to leave it to circulate on its own because everyone has a circulatory form fundamentally different from each-others. Just like how the smaller bifurcation of the veins aren’t exactly formed the same for everyone. The same is with the meridians, having the smaller circulations and the tinier acupoints different from person to person.
To activate this form, one must think of the powers of dragons and their might, doing so, they’ll send soul waves to the primordial energy, which would go in the right points to transform the user in a draconic form with powers comparable to half-dragons. Is necessary to imagine the form of a dragon as clearly as possible so the subconsciousness can send accurate information about the body in the form of soul-waves to circulate the primordial energy in the right acupoints… (The chapter continues on the next pages.)]
“What a terrifying skill!” → Shen
Having the physical power of a dragon, that is the dream of every warrior. Even half-dragons isn’t that bad. The problem is the backlash.
If used continuously for more than 2 hours, depending on the resistance of the user, one might end up with broken bones, ruptured muscles, and broken meridians. Also, the internal organs might take a tool if it’s continuously activated and deactivated. The primordial energy is the most brute and unrefined energy that created the planets and starts. Letting such energy inside one body is the same as letting lava circulate through the sewerage of a city, the iron pipes will melt and the lava would gush out destroying everything.
…So there’s actually sewerage in this world? Quite amazing. → Shen
“And two hours? That’s only if you’re a monster at a Saint level! For normal people, more than 2 minutes and they’ll explode!…” → Shen
My eyes shone with anticipation while a sick grin appeared on my face.
Let’s try it out, shall we? → Shen
I sat down on a meditation position and emptied out all my meridians by absorbing the chi inside my dantian. After doing so, I started to absorb the primordial energy from space.
-tzun~-
A red, thin string of energy shot out from the sky inside my head, circulating through my body like a fluorescent liquid through a transparent tube. My meridians shone with the red light at first, then it disappeared in some parts while shining stronger in other. Suddenly, throughout all over my body, only red dots were visible, because this was internal energy, such a visual effect was visible only by a Soul Seer and the one who used the skill. After a little bit, two white horns sprouted out from my forehead while my skin turned with a shade darker. On my limbs and even around my eyes, white scales appeared. My nails got sharper and longer, looking more like claws while my teeth grew fangs sharp like blades. In the end, behind my back a thick and long tail grew while my hair turned completely white.I opened my eyes with a green shine and my pupils turned in slits, looking more wild and fierce than Theo’s demonic eyes.
“Grrr~…”
Instinctively, while breathing out an excess of primordial chi, I growled out while swinging my tail up and down. I got up from my seat and started to examine myself.
“…This. Is. AWESOME!” → Shen
My hands were shaking with excitement while looking at the tail and white scales, then suddenly a strong shock struck my consciousness, almost making me lose my mind.
“Grah!”
I growled again while grabbing my head in pain.
-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-
Unable to control the tail too well, it started to pounce the ground again and again, creating deep bumps here and there.
It’s because I lost my focus. The primordial energy is trying to take control. If I lose myself, I’ll go rampant and destroy everything around me until this energy is completely emptied. → Shen
I tried to create a barrier around my own mind and regain full control over the energy, only to feel how it tried to break my mind before I could do so.
“Know your place!” → Shen
-BOOM!-
I roared furiously then a strong aura exploded from inside my body, destroying the ground around me. The primordial energy dispersed from inside my mind and I was able to regain control.
“Go in Hell!” → Shen
I then focused all that energy inside my left arm and with a powerful fist I punched the ground, dispersing the energy all around the Valley.
-BOOM~!-
I made sure the energy would disperse and not remain focused at one point. Like this, the only disaster I made was to crack the ground inside the Valley and the base of the mountains around, but without forming another huge crater. I looked at my hand and observed how it had cracks all over it as if it were made from porcelain. It appears that even at a molecular level the amount of energy was too much for me. It didn’t hurt or bleed, but I felt like, if I won’t heal it now, I won’t be able to use the hand ever again. My body then turned back to normal, the horns, tail and scales dispersing like smoke.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
And to think I didn’t even absorb that much, only for a little trial. If this were the regular amount, that slight miss in concentration would’ve had turned me into a calamity for everything around. This energy is more dangerous than I thought… But there is only one man to whom I can trust such a toy with. → Shen
Of course, it was my one and only brother in this world: Ryu. But even so, I won’t trust the entire skill to him or he’ll drop dead for good. While healing my hand I started to think about what to do with this unstable ability I just got.
Now about the amount of power needed to use the skill. → Shen
“If I think with the gaming measurement then AP can be the power of the body to resist the circulation of chi. Mine is around 1200 which is comparable to a middle staged grandmaster. While right now Ryu’s AP must be around 1500 if I’m not wrong…Damn pay-to-win.” → Shen
I said with some jealousy.
“His power level is comparable with a first staged Saint. I can control this form for around 1 hour and 15 minutes while he’ll be able to do so for 2 full hours or maybe even more, but gambling with this would be foolish. Also, the resistance of a Grandmaster can’t be compared to a Saint, my meridians might start to explode even before 1h has passed. Now for Ryu, the mental barrier might prove to be a problem. I can make the barrier strong enough to absorb more power than needed, however, my meridians are too weak for that. While Ryu’s mental barrier is…Hell! He doesn’t even know how to create one!…Ah.. if only I could give him my-…!” → Shen
I suddenly thought of an idea.
OY SYLVIA! → Shen
“Kya!” → Sylvia
I tried to contact Sylvia via telepathy, but because I was too excited about the idea I just got, I forgot that her perception was much more sensible than Ryu’s. It seems she was taking a bath at the moment. Her heart jumped from fright after hearing my voice in her head, together with the strong mental shock.
Shen! Didn’t I tell you to be gentler with your telepathy? Uuhh~~ how can you do this to me? → Sylvia
I was shocked by the pain she was feeling inside her heart. It seems I damaged her soul again.
Ugh… I’m really sorry, I wanted to ask you how to give my mental barrier to someone else. → Shen
I felt guilty for making her feel this pain… again…
Oh? Why do you wish to know that? → Sylvia
After I told her my idea she was truly surprised. Of course, I couldn’t tell her about the real dangers Shu’s skills brought with them.
It kind of feels bad to lie to her. But hey. If she doesn’t know, it won’t hurt her. → Shen
I thought so to myself while waiting for her to process the idea.
That’s a really great idea and I’m amazed about thinking of ways to make someone else more powerful even at the thoughts of making yourself weaker. I think you already know that the stronger the mental barrier you make for someone else, the weaker will be yours, and all the attacks will be transferred to you. → Sylvia
Pff, and what? The offense is the greatest defense and I’ll be sure to break their minds. I won’t have the barrier but I still have my mental waves. → Shen
The overbearingness from my words made Sylvia giggle.
It’s good that you’re so confident but please be careful, even though you have a strong mentality, try to not be rash. → Sylvia
Sylvia taught me how to create a mental barrier around Ryu and she was truly surprised when she attacked Ryu’s mind with her own. Around his head would appear a slight golden shine like an aura, showing that his mental barrier it’s up and unshakeable. All of this happened without Ryu knowing, making him simply feel a wind around his head while he was strolling around the city.
Your barrier is incredible… Wait… You gave him the full power of the barrier?! → Sylvia
Being able to suddenly see some of my memories, Sylvia got scared at the thought of me being completely defenseless mentally so she created a barrier which would at least hide my thoughts.
Haha~ thank you, I’ll be indebted to you. → Shen
You! I just told you not to be so reckless!… Please for the love of heavens, take more care of yourself. → Sylvia
I could feel some anger from her tone. She was worried sick for me, a fact that made me even more confused.
Why is she so worried about me? She’s with nothing indebted to me. If it’s about me helping the 4 races then this is a mission I already accepted the moment I started teaching my disciples. I won’t let some animals kill this planet’s civilization when I’m finally here, able to learn and pass my knowledge to the others. → Shen
I tried to only think for himself but it didn’t work. The barrier around my mind was made by Sylvia this time, resulting in her being able to hear my thoughts even without her really wanting to do so. After hearing what I said she felt even more angered.
Shen… You should be more selfish. Thinking only about others will shorten your lifespan! → Sylvia
Sylvia felt like crying while meditating, she was so perturbed she barely held the connection.
Wha-! Sylvia?! Are you alright? What is it now?! Is it my fault? → Shen
YOU! Worry more about yourself first! → Shen
Sylvia was suddenly so irritated, after saying those words she interrupted the conversation.
“I’ll never be able to understand women…” → Shen
After this, I waited for a while then contacted Ryu and passed to him the ‘Dragonic Materialization’ chapter from Old Shu’s book. I knew that I could trust him in learning the ability without activating any more backlashes than there already are. Being a clever guy, he understood what to do after me explaining it only once and didn’t even flinch when I told him about the consequences.
So. Turning into a true dragon, is it? Isn’t that super cool then? → Ryu
Eh? → Shen
I was left dumbfounded by his positive answer.
W-wait, man. You’ll literally lose your humanity. You’ll start to behave like a true dragon if this skill it’s overused… and that only if you won’t die in the process… Are you sure you still wish to learn such a skill? → Shen
Hm? Dude, if you think I’m not strong enough for it, then why did you tell me about it? → Ryu
Ah. No, I do think you’re the best option for it. It’s just that… Ain’t you accepting things too damn quick?! Aren’t you worried about death or stuff like that? I mean, come on man. You’ll lose your damn mind and kill everything if the primordial energy goes out of control! → Shen
I tried to reason with Ryu… Reason that wasn’t even that important to me in the first place.
Kek, that only depends on you. Until I learn how to make a strong mental barrier, such a tragedy will be YOUR responsibility~ I got nothing to do with this. → Ryu
He brushed it off as if we were talking about a walk in the park.
…You’re crazy. → Shen
Say’s the dude that wishes to give his best bro some broken spells! → Ryu
Ryu shouted back incredulous.
I know all too well how important this skill is! What? You think I’m on crack or something? → Ryu
Well I don’t know?! Who knows what kind of crap you digested while traveling into this world? → Shen
The hell? I’m the one who digested crap? Then tell me how you came up with such an OP skill? Come on, tell me you didn’t smoke something. You said you’re around mountains? Was it the blue mushroom? → Ryu
Hell nah! I got it from an old man, damn it! → Shen
Did he give you the mushroom? → Ryu
He gave me the skill! Okay, just drop the jokes or I ain’t giving you this skill anymore!’→ Shen
Okay okay, sorry… Jeez, so quick to anger. Now tell to papa Ryu what you found. → Ryu
…I swear I’m so going to beat the hell outta ya when we’ll meet. → Shen
Boahahaha~ → Ryu
I tried to calm down while Ryu laughed out loud at me. I narrated to him the exact contents of the chapter while he was listening quietly. After going through the explanation for a few times, he then started meditating while listening to my every command.
After teaching him the technique, because the barrier was much stronger than he expected, he was able to show strength close to Isa for one full hour.
‘Tsk, you’re a monster.’ → Shen
I clicked my tongue when I saw through his eyes how he destroyed a mountain to vent the primordial energy out from his body. He reached a point in which he would grow more black scales than me, his eyes would become slits, from his back two tiny black wings would appear, a long and spiky tail at his back, and on his head two round and pointy horns would suddenly grow, appearing more of a Dragoon than Dragoons, making Lissa feel quite jealous.
Look who’s talking, aren’t you the one who created this barrier? I can still absorb even more primordial energy than this without the barrier even shaking. If it weren’t because I felt some pain through my bones I wouldn’t have stopped you know? What kind of mental power do you have?
If it weren’t for the body limitations, the possibility of Ryu transforming into a true dragon would’ve been pretty huge.
You both are abnormal so stop talking. → Sylvia
Sylvia sighed. She couldn’t be surprised every time by us two humans who she wasn’t even sure if we were still humans. Ryu’s learning speed and my perception were monstrous even for this world.
Pff says the Future teller… → Ryu and Shen
Ryu’s teammates already knew about the conversation between him and me but seeing him getting information about new techniques made them quite surprised, especially Ronald and Marina. Both of them ran to Ryu and asked if they could get some kind of techniques from me. I told Ryu to gaze into their eyes while I looked through his. I was able to tell that both of them were immature but their souls were still stable and pure, without being weakened by the hardships of the world or corrupted by the negative feelings from around them.
In the end, I gave the boy Ronald a dual swords technique, which would absorb the elements of wind and form numerous wind-blades from his every move. He could combine the wind element with the dark ones for a nice combo, while to Marina I gave knowledge about the element of fire, helping her in controlling it and being able to combine it with the skills she already has. Such information was something kingdoms would pay huge amounts of gold to get their hands on, or burn it as they did with Gabriel’s books. Ryu knew this and was truly surprised by the fact that I gave them around like candies.
“You two! You better thank Shen for what he gave you, these abilities are more valuable than legendary weapons, understood?” → Ryu
Ryu told them in a strict tone.
“We thank you, uncle Shen!” → Marina and Ronald
Both of them bowed their heads after getting the abilities, feeling gratified.
The hell… Now I’m an uncle? I’m only 19 you know? → Shen
I said this telepathically only to Ryu. For some reasons, he tried to control his laughter.
Now the Hell you laughing at? Huh?! → Shen
Nah, no reason~. → Ryu
I felt quite annoyed seeing Ryu laugh so happily for himself, but I couldn’t muster enough interest to actually ask him. After passing my knowledge to Ryu and the two brats, I continued to read the book in great interest.
‘The Twist of Fate’ ability seems something more like a ‘passive skill’…?
In short, is a spell that changes the fate from the future, past or present to go the way I wish but this will only bring more karma. For example, I can wish to release more karma in one go by breaking an arm, or to divide the karma by turning a severe injury into much less dangerous little ones but in huge amounts, making that arm full of little cuts. Or I can also delay the respective moment of when my arm will be injured but if it were predestined, such actions would only make the disaster bigger by even breaking both hands the more time passed”. Playing with destiny is like playing with lava, let alone fire. While trying to move the lava the way you want, you might slip and fall into it.
That was just an example but the effects are something like that. Now about this book… I’m really curious about where he got these skills, that Old Shu… He was at Great Saint level, would a Great Saint come up with such stuff on his own? → Shen
I continued on looking at ‘One with the universe’.
“Oh? This one isn’t so bad~. The backlashes are just like the ‘Dragonic Materialization’, if you keep it up for long you might get washed by the huge energies of space and have your soul sucked from the body. However, with my mental energy, I should be able to resist for while. This ability seems harder than that ‘Dragonic Materialization’ but is more for mentalists which is a bonus for me~. Now, let’s see what it’s able to do.” → Shen
I think this was my biggest mistake which put in motion an extremely troublesome chain of events.
-BOOM!
~-RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE~-
“This… is not good…” → Shen
I looked dumbfounded at the mountain in front of me. The upper half was crushed and the boulders fell like a landslide while the other half was dented inside with a huge fist imprint on it. The mountain was the further one from the right wall of the U which surrounded the Valley, now with it mostly gone, the mountain chain looked less like a U and more like a hook.
“I… really screwed up bad… if that huge fireball created such a commotion, this…this might really bring me a disaster.” → Shen
[Master. When did you reach Semi-God rank?]
Isa asked me in a deep and neutral voice.
“I-I didn’t… it’s just another skill.” → Shen
I was still dumbfounded by the power I displayed just now.
[Such a strong ability can be found only in the Universal Knowledge.]
“Eh?” → Shen
I was surprised by what Isa just said.
“What is that knowledge? I think I’ve heard of that before.” → Shen
On Earth, there was a book which talked about anything and everything, the ‘Akashic Book’. It was said it contains information from the very start of the Earth till present and maybe even future.
It was also called like that. Is it the same thing but the ‘Akashic Book’ of Sario? → Shen
“Oy. Tell me more about this universal knowledge.” → Shen
[I do not know.]
“What? You just said this ability of mine can be from the Universal Knowledge.” → Shen
[Indeed, but that’s just a feeling. The meaning behind it is unknown. If the master wishes, I will stop speaking my mind from now on.]
“…” → Shen
‘Hidden memories from when he was still alive don’t seem to be too useful. But they can be taken as hints in case I’m ever in a pinch. Knowing that Shu’s book is from Sario’s ‘Akashic Book’ then that means he also had a connection with the Two Guardians… I will worry about this on a later date.’
“It’s alright. You’re free to speak your mind. It might prove useful sooner or later.” → Shen
I stared at the broken mountain chain then added.
“Also, get ready for combat.” → Shen
In the direction where the mountain broke, around 10km behind it a quite big village was placed, having a full view of the now halved mountain. It was close to impossible for them not to observe how a quarter of a mountain chain was obliterated.
[As master wishes.]
The wild senses of Isa showed for a second, barring his ice fangs with a killing glint in his frosty eyes.
