Chapter Text
Silence...
Drip... Drip... Drip...
Xander shot up from his lying position on the ground, sweating as if he had just had a nightmare. His mind throbbed with the raw information pulsing through his head.
He had been sitting in his sophomore year math class, bored as he always finished before everyone else. Then, he was in a void between worlds, being given raw information about a world he had never known, and asked to speak his desires so they might manifest to skills.
He took it with a grain of salt, and instead wished for what he felt most necessary in his extensive experience of watching dubbed anime and reading light novels of some of the better isekais. He had even planned out an enormous fantasy anime with a unique power system to write out eventually. But now all he had was a throbbing headache and no idea where he was.
[Magic Sense]. That was the cause of most of the pain. But the secondary cause was the enormous pile of information dumped on him about this world as he was coming over to it and being granted skills at the whim of his wishes.
Did humans exist here? Would they speak his language?
Wait, he was a monster now, as one of his wishes was to be a being capable of much more than any human. He also remembered wishing for a name as he didn't want to be latched under someone's rule and whim. So now, his name was Xrkertsra, given to him by the world. What amount of power that gave him he had no idea. But it was in his special hand made alphabet/reskin of English.
Now to actually deal with all the extensive info flowing into his head at a rate he couldn't keep up with.
He sat and sorted most of the information within his brain. He always prided himself on his memory, critical thinking, and problem solving, never his physical skills.
First off was to check the abilities he had called 'Skills', which came in several forms
Intrinsic: Skills that were given simply by being a part of a race.
Common: which could be given by simply learning how a skill worked from other sources.
Extra: Which were manifested from exertion and stress along with a strong will and a wish to acquire the ability, whether you had to know what the thing was is undetermined.
Unique: Skills that are unique to an individual, they usually show up in the same way Extra skills manifest, but with more willpower required. A lot of times these skills can manifest at birth for stronger monsters and get much stronger when said monster evolves.
And Ultimate: An evolution of a Unique skill, a lot of times combining them with several Extra or Common skills to make it much more powerful. It almost always would take an evolution or enormous power boost to acquire one. It was unheard of to have multiple.
The skills he had were, [Magic Sense], which was what allowed him to see how the Magicules interacted with everything in the world, and this cave was ripe with them. And that was it. He got absolutely nothing.
Speaking of this cave, why was he in a cave?! Was he seriously born in the middle of a damp cave?! Wait, wasn't it a possibility for monsters to be created via Magicule congregation, instead of birth? That might be how he was made, considering how saturated the area was.
And Magicules, it would be good to have knowledge of what those were at the front of his thoughts. So far what he knew about them was that they were a vital energy containing particle used in any form of magical phenomena. So essentially a direct, controllable form of energy, that was used to power magic and monsters.
Speaking of which, what kind of monster was he?
He looked down at his body, finding it surprisingly similar to what he used to have. Just a WAY different build. And confusingly clothed.
His arms as he held them up were covered by two solid white, form-fitting leather gloves that went. They had a band around the end that was a bright shade of yellow. When he looked lower he was still confused, as he was wearing a sort of black, skirt-like thing that hung around his thighs and knees. It was split through the middle and back, and the gap was fairly wide. His pants were basic, skin-tight cloth, sitting underneath his boots so they did not get in the way. His boots were black leather and thickly padded in a fantasy style, with slip resistant soles.
His upper body wasn't fully covered, but instead had cloth wrappings that went from around his waist with his belt, up to his chest, avoiding covering the shoulders and arms entirely. He also noticed he was fairly thin, and tall. But he still had WAY more muscle than his last body.
His uncovered arms were visibly toned, and he could absolutely feel abs through his wraps.
A strand of bright blonde hair drifted in front of his face, waving around in the odd breeze. There was a pool of water close to him, time to look at himself in full.
He found it harder to stand than he thought, learning his legs were longer than before and significantly stronger.
He stumbled over to the pool, looking down carefully so as to not fall over again.
The face that stared back was not at all what he was expecting from his monster heritage. Two brilliant, slit gold eyes looked at themselves, glistening considerably from the Magicules in the air. His facial structure was strong jawed and sleek, giving him a gender neutral look leaning more toward the male side. His face was both handsome and thin, yet muscled. His hair was at least three times longer than the shoulder length ponytail he used to have, now being a brilliant head of golden blond falling down to the small of his back, each one of his locks were somehow pristine and shiny, despite him waking up on the floor of a cave.
Weirdly, it looked as if he had tattoos, or maybe birthmarks? Four red marks adorned his cheeks, two long lines coming from around the front of his ears and pointing mostly to the side and slightly down on each side. At the start of his cheeks they went back and then forward, mimicking the shape of a lightning bolt.
He was more expecting something like a small dragon, or maybe a twirling serpent, not a beautifully handsome man barely a day over eighteen.
When he had transferred 'Moved, Reincarnated? He didn't remember dying?' He had wished for potential over power. Something he could constantly improve to become as strong as he wanted. Because when one wishes for a raw power boost, that's it. That's all you get. There is no second power boost to be given, so unless one is extremely diligent, the moment they come into contact with something stronger than them, that will be their end.
And so he was told he had become a Dragonoid, specifically a Storm Dragonoid. So was he a dragon or a half-dragon?
And where the hell was he?
As far as he could tell with just basic senses, it was a pitch black cave with nothing in it. But [Magic Sense] revealed a different story. The cave was fairly small, leaving room for him to walk about seven steps from side to side, and it was only tall enough to fit a bit higher than his full height, but it was long and colorful. Interspersed throughout the cave were glistening rocks that shined with both light and Magicules, giving off a small aura. They seemed to be a constant the further into the cave he went. The cave was also a dead end where he woke up.
He stepped over the puddle he had used as a mirror and began walking into the tunnel that hopefully led out. He did not want to be stuck inside a cave for the first year of his life. That sounded like hell.
The first few steps he took were wobbly and uncoordinated, on account of his new body. His [Magic Sense] detected every single piece of magical rock, what it was called or used for he didn't know yet, but boy was it prevalent in this cave.
Eventually, after about a minute of staggering in his new body, he got to a small patch of weird grass growing in the cave. It gave off some of the same signals the rock did, but was still different. How [Magic Sense] differentiated between signals to send the correct image to his brain he could not figure out.
From what he could gather from his interpretation of the signals, it was a healing herb.
He shrugged and continued wandering for a bit, trudging down the cave as far as he dared.
The cave was getting bigger the further he went, it had widened to about three times the size now and was much bigger than he expected it to be. It also had no end or turns, just a straight cave with slowly steepening walls.
In all reality it was more of a tunnel, and a long tunnel at that. He was still walking and it had been more than ten minutes, which was annoying to him with his squirrel level attention span.
So far, no other monsters had shown up, which was nice as he had yet to figure out what he had to fight with, or if he could fight at all. So he seriously hoped he could get outside and figure out what he was working with before something found him.
But Life had other plans.
The first thing he noticed was a slight feel of danger, just a nagging tick in the back of his mind that put him on edge. It was coming from [Magic Sense], a new form of signal he could not decipher.
He turned around, staring at the wall giving him this odd feeling. At first, the wall seemed oddly colored, but then he realized it was something behind it he was sensing
It was just a large mass of moving Magicules, shifting around in the walls and turning to face him.
He soon realized that it was the aura given off by another monster, hiding in the wall.
'Well shit, there goes that idea'
He started running, tripping a few times and almost falling on every rock in the cave. His efforts proved laughable compared to what he used to be able to do.
It took a while for the monster to notice he was running. He got about twenty feet ahead of it before it burst from the cave wall.
A large lizard, covered in mostly metallic grey plates with purple skin underneath and green plates around its head. The thing sniffed, twirled the two antennas atop its head, before roaring in his direction and trudging towards him.
'shit shit shit shit shit! I don't know what the fuck i have to fight with yet! I assumed I'd have been given something, but I don't know what yet!'
Xrkertsra turned back and took a look at the thing. It was at least five times bigger than him and was giving off a threatening aura, it was clearly intent on making him his meal.
Wait, now that he thinks about it, that aura was made of Magicules leaking from its body. It was just using it as a weapon, a way to intimidate enemies.
'Which means I can do it too.'
He smirked, dangerously so, and felt around within himself. His transportation to this world, and interpretation of Magicule signals made figuring out how to use them and control them marginally easier.
He felt around for the energy surrounding his soul, however the heck that thing worked, grabbing at it and forcing it out. But he realized he was just instinctually holding it in, so all he had to do was let it out. With his added force it came out full blast.
He let loose. Magicules flowed out of him in a whirl, creating a nearly physical area around him where the Magicules densified and moved to his will. The Magicules formed a sort of barrier around him, settling to move along with him in a fire-like shape.
The creature stopped, it was measuring its chances with something as strong as it. Before it seemed to notice something and immediately bolt and run as a small spark of lighting zapped through the air.
Xrkerstra stopped. He saw that spark too, and was confused at where it came from. He pushed out more of his aura, letting more of his magicules flow around him. Another spark zapped, stronger this time. Was it his aura causing it?
He grabbed his aura as a whole, it seemed as long as the Magicules were his they obeyed his command. He slowly moved them around. It seemed that he could densify and control how his aura worked. He tried making a much denser area, pushing as much of his aura as he could into that point.
Sparks zapped though it a lot more than they did when he just used it. He tried willing them to stop. The cave went quiet as all the sparks ceased. He willed them to flare, and suddenly there was a mini thunderstorm happening in front of him. Maybe he could use his aura to do what he wanted provided it could already do it. Basically allowing him to amplify its effects.
All of this was extremely instinctual, and yet easily thought about as well.
He willed it to do everything he thought it could. Emit Fear, command respect, create pressure, make those weird sparks all around him. He could push his aura much farther than he thought it was meant for.
<Acquisition of Unique Skill [Storm Haki], Confirmed>
Something changed in his soul, suddenly the aura around him was completely under his control. He could feel and control every aspect of it now. And the little shocks became much larger when he wanted them to. It seemed he could even kick up a wind now.
This was interesting, he could most likely use this as a weapon to keep himself alive.
Anyway, back to his original plan of getting the hell out of this cave!
- - - Several Days Later
It took way longer than he thought. Along with getting attacked by an angry centipede and a weird bat that both ran like the dickens when he flared his Haki.
But now, he was at an open gate, stepping into a large forest filled with magicules.
The first step he wanted to take was actually to find intelligent life, possibly civilization of some sort. If he could find that he might be able to learn how society works here, and whether or not he should avoid it, remembering the people he encountered daily in his first life.
His first thought was to call out with his aura, but that might attract unwanted attention, even from any intelligent life.
So he resolved to simply take the most travelled paths, and follow them wherever they lead.
- - -
Monster attacks were prevalent here. But most simply ran from his aura.
That is, until he ran into a very large, and angry dog. Well, direwolf would be a better description, a gigantic grey-blue wolf with a scar through its side and a gaping maw of surprisingly clean fangs. Its Magicule signature was much bigger than most things he ran into and it was using it to do something with its claws. It really didn't want to let him go no matter how much he flared his Haki.
This was getting annoying, it wouldn't leave him alone, it kept snarling like it was gonna attack, but never really charged him. It just kept him in one place.
'Pack Hunting.'
He thought with one terrifying realization. It was stalling for time so its buddies could come tear him apart. This wasn't good, he had no way to defend himself but flaring his aura and maybe those weird shocks he could make. Maybe if he found a way to hit with his Haki directly...
Wait.
Could he really just do that?
He grabbed his aura, and poured into his hand and legs, specifically his ankle, calves and feet. The main parts used for moving as he learned in his biology studies back in his old world that he was slowly forgetting anything but straight information from.
He felt it. The Magicules were providing a boost to his muscles, like instead of running on cellular energy it was running on magic. And on top of that, he was slowly forming a sort of barrier around his fist he intended to hit with, something like both a jet booster on his elbow and metal glove to hit with.
He was infusing himself with Magicules to do what his body normally did, but better.
What he was doing with his Haki was another thing entirely. He was wrapping it around himself to use like mech suit. Making him move way faster than he should and hit way harder than he should. This was awesome. He found out how he fights.
He had tried to use magic or do something cool with his fists or something before but he never had anything happen and he kind of just made himself look stupid.
Now, he had a weapon.
He moved. Both feet pushing off the ground perfectly and throwing him forward with speed he couldn't keep up with. He threw a Haki infused right hook as hard as he could. It was sloppy and could hardly be considered a fighting move, it was more like he just jumped and punched like a raving lunatic.
He hadn’t even kept his wrist straight.
Nevertheless, the Direwolf went flying, its head a bloody mess as brain matter flew out of its now completely crushed skull and some of its spine had seemed to snap under the force.
Now, Xrkerstra would never say he knew how to fight, but he knew how to throw a punch. And boy oh boy did throw a good one.
Due to him aiming down a little the dog hit the ground and only flew a few feet back but he still blew its skull apart. A win in his book.
<Acquisition of the Unique Skill [Battle Aura], Confirmed.>
And yet again, he felt his soul change a little, making the new ability he found a little easier to use, making it almost instinct to use it.
He should train this effect till he can use it reliably.
- - - One Year Later, Self POV
I had finally learned how to punch right. The right hook I threw could now be accompanied by a left hook just the same. And I learned to keep my wrist straight and how to properly put force into a punch.
My magicules also had gotten stronger.
My stores and generation had risen exponentially with my half-assed training while my experience with using them got stronger as well.
I had also found a way to do something I wished I could do so much earlier. [Thought Acceleration].
By increasing the magicule flow to my mind, I was able to speed up my thoughts and senses so it was possible to see the world in slow motion, and react to things quicker.
It has taken a while to figure out how to do so, but now I could move at extreme speeds and still keep up.
Now, I was training up resistances and learning how magicules reacted with everything around me. I had slowly learned how to decipher most of the basic signals given to me by [Magic Sense]. Now I was learning how to recognize patterns in the way magicules reflected off of most objects and creatures.
Certain common, extra, and intrinsic skills had specific wavelengths when being given off by the soul. These were found within a monster's aura. So I was researching each one to figure out what each one did.
So far, I had catalogued most resistances and common skills, a few extra and all the intrinsic skills for the creatures around me.
I was also learning what each part of the waves meant. And that meant I could detect a general idea for what most skills did, Unique included.
Now, I was getting myself poisoned repeatedly in order to find the best way to kill it with magicules. I was doing this for every bad effect I could think up and it had gotten me the skill [Abnormal Affect Resistance].
It meant my magicules immediately killed any effects that would hurt or hinder me so long as they were physical and not spiritual. And so my training had gotten me to a point where nothing hurt me anymore. I had also attained [Pain Resistance].
"Come here you stupid centipede!"
My voice was young, and somewhat neutral, but with a strong edge of intelligence.
I shot out a few sparks towards my target, a giant centipede I had chased out the cave I started my new life in. My [Storm Haki], as I had learned it was called, was much more powerful than I thought. It gave me the ability to call the physical effects of a thunderstorm to my aura, shooting lightning or kicking up deadly winds.
I was practicing it on this centipede, which was running for its life.
"Get your dumbass back here you worthless insect!" This thing was seriously pissing me off. How could it run so fast?
It was bolting through the forest at record speed, but so was I. And I was able to dodge trees faster than it.
It whipped around a corner into an open field where I could easily catch it.
'Perfect'
That was, until I felt the other two auras sitting in the field, and heard the clashing of steel. I stopped right before the field, not wanting to go out into it without knowing what I was up against.
But I knew it was bad when the centipede was cut into neat pieces with the swish of a blade. I had had [Thought Acceleration] at its lowest setting, so I didn't think it was so fast I couldn't fight it if need be, but it was still worrying.
When the insect chunks finished falling, to the ground I finally saw what had caused it.
A humanoid in a long, white Haori, with leather boots and pants that were mostly covered. It kept its hair long and in a white ponytail behind its back. The young face it had was framed by the twin white horns on its head, curving up from its temple.
The next thing I noticed was the tall person in the background. Wearing half-plate armor and a great red cape trailing along behind it. His, as it was clearly a he, hair was dark brown and cut short to his head.
Both wielded swords, the horned one had a Katana, and the tall one a Broadsword.
"Oh, it seems we have a visitor."
I rehinged in my aura as the horned one spoke, a wizened and light voice. If they went by the rules of monsters I didn't want them to think I meant harm.
"And an intelligent one too, considering how quickly it controlled its aura." The taller one spoke. A deep, royal voice that commanded respect. Both were looking at me.
"I'm taking that as meaning you understand I have no intention to cause harm or discord, right?” It was the first time I had spoken to someone other than myself in this world, so I took a lighter tone than usual to ensure they understood I was not here for hostility.
"And you realize that revealing yourself to have the intelligence required to bargain in such a way, will make you a viable threat, correct?" The royal looking one retorted my statement. Which made sense considering they both seemed highly intelligent and not quick to trust anything.
"I guess that would be true, so I'll come out and say that I only wish to interact with other beings of sapience" The two looked between each other skeptically. Then, I felt a poke in my mind.
Remembering how Eragon worked, I threw a mental wall around myself. Or more accurately, I made my thoughts as hard to read as possible. My mind was a literal storm of conflicting thoughts, every time an actual thought slipped through the stormy construction, I gave it a contradiction. Basically making all he got for reading my mind was a full image of a raging storm, or two thoughts cancelling each other out.
The royal one furrowed his brows, realizing he would get nowhere reading my mind and releasing the probe. "It seems you are even more intelligent that you let on. Not many can resist my Unique skill."
"Well I couldn't exactly tell what you were looking for, so I blocked it completely. I'd prefer to keep any secrets I may have." The horned one sharpened his glare as the last words left my mouth.
"You act as if you do not know your own memories." The horned one said with a quizzical look. I agree that my choice of words may have given that thought off.
"No, I simply do not know whether actions I think to be normal or moral would be opposite that in your culture, and I'd prefer not to offend or threaten." I gave the cold hard truth. I didn't trust my morals and normality in my old world, let alone this one.
"A good plan. You do not wish for us to judge you without knowing that you don't yet apply to our norms. But you should realize that that could give off the idea you have done things others might not approve of, and to those who could only see the surface of your words, they would automatically assume you have, and judge you as if you had done immoral things."
The horned one's observations were better than I could ever get.
"I can tell you are young to this world. Tell me, are you an otherworlder?" One of those? I guess, but not really considering they are purely human. In all reality it would be best to forget all but the important math and science for my old world and stick to being a newborn monster for this one.
"Not necessarily. I am in fact a monster, and I was not summoned by mages, but I did transport from another world. However, for the moment I'd rather you treat me as if i were new to this world in the fact i had been recently born, I am leaving my old life behind and forgetting it." They both seemed confused and shocked by my words.
"So you wish for us to treat you as if you do not know anything, but not treat you like an otherworlder?" The horned one seemed wary of my decisions.
"Yes. I was reincarnated here as what I am now, but I wish to let this life be the one I take my knowledge from. My old knowledge will be useless, so I'd rather learn most of it from scratch."
"Hmmmm... And you say you are a monster correct? What kind? I do not wish to unknowingly make a deal with a demon." The royal one seemed extremely intelligent compared to me, but I should assume everyone is smarter until I know the basics of the world.
"I... am not entirely sure." My voice returned to its usual tone now that they had lowered their guard a little. "When I first awoke, I remember being called a 'Dragonoid', but I don't necessarily know what that means." Both of them paled when I mentioned the word, Dragonoid.
"You... you do not mean to tell us you are that powerful." The royal one had a shaky voice as he spoke. And now it was my turn to pale in fear.
"Don't tell me I'm some kind of world destroying beast? The only thing I've been able to do was kill creatures like the centipede in pieces in front of us." I was now truly worried. I did not want to be some kind of all powerful demi-god or some shit. At least not yet.
The horned one spoke this time. "Well, the only other of that race in the entire world owns the title of 'Destroyer' even among the Ten Great Demon Lords, but if you are as you say there may be a long period of time before you could get that far."
“However, it is unknown how fast your kind can grow, so as far as we know you could have advanced by simply watching us fight.”
Of course. Of fucking course the only other of my species would some kind of god like being with insane power. And Demon Lords?! How was I somehow immediately related to them?!
“At least tell us something to call you by. I understand it may be impossible for you to have a name, considering what you are, but we can still refer to you as something.” The royal one sighed audibly.
“Xrkertsra. My name is Xrkerstra, I will not say who gave it to me.”
They both tensed, the fact I already had a name must have deeply unsettled them. I would need to find out more information on who they mentioned earlier. They both looked between each other, possibly speaking to each other through a mental connection.
“I suppose then, that I should inform you of who we are as well. I am Gazel Dwargo, King of The Armed Nation Of Dwargon, my compatriot is known as the Sword Oni, a part of the Royal Guard in the nearby Ogre Village and my personal sword tutor.”
‘Thats… Not really good is it? Why did the first two people I meet happen to be a Prince and his Guard!!’
“If you’d like, we would actually like to take you under our wing. Teach you in the ways of the world through our perspective.”
My train of thought stopped. Why was a king and a royal guard from a nearby village offering their aid to me after what I had apparently revealed. Something was off here, they wanted something else out of it.
Gazel had noticed my suspicion, and provided his honest answer for it.
“I know it may seem suspicious for us to do such a thing, and I will be honest with you about it. My primary reason for this is because I do not wish to have you as an enemy in the future, with how powerful you could grow to be. I would much rather have you as a powerful ally from the start.”
Most would be mad that he was only offering so I would not become a problem in the future, but it made complete sense to me. If I could grow to be so powerful, why would you take the chance of me becoming an enemy?
“I understand, and I accept your offer.”
“Hmm, you do seem much more intelligent than you let on. Come, we shall return to Dwargon and get you situated with this world.”
Gazel turned and began to walk in a direction, turning back and gesturing towards both of us.
“Master, I shall return once I have this one educated, until then, safe travels.”
The Sword Oni nodded slowly, and began walking towards wherever his home was. I began to walk with Gazel to wherever this ‘Dwargon’ place was that he was King of.
And so is how my adventure begins.