Something was wrong.
[Split Soul Autonomy] was created from [Parallel Thoughts], practically making it an advanced version of the skill, even if the System didn’t mention it, right? Then why was Hikari able to take control over our body without my permission? According to the skill’s description, the System now counted us both as “individuals” of the same body.
I, honestly, had no problems with this. She was me, and I was her, and if she wanted to use our body to move around instead of being caged up inside our mental and dream spaces, then so be it, full power to my other self. Yet, it was an issue if she did it willy-nilly without warning me first, especially in a situation where I hadto be in charge, like needing to teach these punks a lesson!
“Kraaaagh!” I, well, Hikari screamed using our body, flailing our long neck around in such a manner that I felt second-hand embarrassment. She was cowering before the dragon punks, shivering like a scared puppy.
[“E-eh? Where did her bravado go?”] one of the dragons asked, flabbergasted just like the rest of them as they saw “my” sudden shift in personality. [“L-Lord Rhekkraxus, I think we went a bit too harsh on her.”]
[“She is still a whelp and grew up on a weaker continent, so it was obvious she would tuck her tail like that in front of you. We also have her surrounded …”] The words of the second dragon caused all but the big man himself to second-guess their actions. Their postures suggested they were about to fly away, yet the Rhekkraxus wouldn’t let them.
[“Stay where you are!”] he shouted, intimidating the smaller dragons but not the two larger ones. Both of them shook their heads, making it clear they didn’t have to take his orders. [“Flee? For what? For revealing how weak this whelp is? She has the blood of our empress, but the moment she has to show that bravery, she cowers just like those Kargryxmors. An embarrassment to our former Ruler of Ice. She shed tears, a sorrow so mournful it called in the coldest blizzard since the days of my great-grandfather! All for this?For this skink? Our parents told us to respect this weakling?”]
This ‘weakling’ is about ready to cave in your cranium, you common house gecko! Hikari, can you hear me? Give me back control, please! I’ll make this guy eat his damn words! Fuck being an adult, I’m beating him up!
‘Noooo …’ Yet, Hikari’s didn’t respond to me. She was holding her head as the pain from our past memories came back to haunt her. ‘Leave me alone! I didn’t want any of this; my parents never did any of that! This is my effort, MINE alone! Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up! Graaak!’
What’s gotten into her? I wondered. Sure, thinking of my fellow idol trainees would put me in a bad mood, but we should have gotten over it. This wasn’t a natural reaction.
[“That’s the end of this discussion! You heard it already! She’s not even our actual princess, but we still have to treat her as such? We all agreed that we came here to show her how it works amongst us dragons, and you’re tucking your tail when we’re finally here? We’re not here to kill her, we’re here to teach her where she stands! The empress won’t mind, trust me.”] The ice dragon reached his claw out, causing Hikari to jerk back.
Seeing this, icy mist escaped the dragon’s mouth as his eyes flared up. Abandoning [Telepathy], his voice exploded like the bursting trombone, trumpeting his voice in various roars and growls. Although unclear to me, I could make out words like “ashamed,” “weak,” and “coward” from his tantrum, yet, the meaning behind his rage wasn’t lost to me.
My initial decision was warranted. Strength was all that mattered to dragons and he couldn’t accept me like this, as the “former Dragon Ruler of Ice’s” daughter, no matter how young I was. Actions and attitude mattered, but he couldn’t find any of it in me—in Hikari. After all, my other half wasn’t a warrior; she might have my memories but was, at best, a knowledgeable civilian.
As Hikari didn’t respond back to his aggression, the ice dragon cracked his right fingers, slightly arching it back in preparation to attack me. I had to act!
Spell! I should be able to—Yes, I can control our mana! A fast spell, Lightning Bolt.
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This familiar, but always satisfying feeling began well in my chest—my solar core—before it streamed through my body like my blood. I focused on this feeling, directing the flow towards my head before expelling some of it through my mana paths. With the requirements fulfilled, the System molded the mana into a purple magic circle.
The ice dragon noticed this split-second action and instinctively dodged out of the way from the thunderous blast of lightning, the spell torching the cold air as it crashed against Thalaxarus’s mouth roof. Surprised by this sudden spell, the dragons all stared at the impact location, giving me plenty of time to cast three more spells.
One [Wind Blast] next to my wings to blow my body away from the ice dragon, while two [Terra Wall]s were cast underneath Rhekkraxus and me, respectively, launching the both of us into the sky. With my safety assured for now, I glared at the flabbergasted dragon before I noticed I could see blue lines in the air. Invisible to the naked eye, but visible with [Mana Eyes], these lines showed the flow of mana in the world.
… How? Why is it working now? I couldn’t—Wait, if that’s possible then I should—Split Soul Autonomy!
Name: Rhekkraxus Cammatrak ThalaxarusLevel: 9
Race: Frostbreaker DragonAge: 47 Year
Nine? Hold on, I don’t care about the rest of the Profile. Once more, Split Soul Autonomy—Gosh, that name is a mouthful!
Frostbreaker Dragon: An ice dragon that evolved with a focus on creating and utilizing elemental ice weapons. Naturally gifted with [Cryokinesis], this humanoid dragon does not possess a stat specialization, making it extremely adaptable with its racial skills and the air-freezing breaths its race produces. Engaging in close-combat is unadvised. Rank B
A rank B dragon, meaning, he was equivalent in level to a level 89 humanoid. Not only was he faaaaar below me in that aspect, he was already 47-years-old? Sure, dragons matured slower than humans, both mentally and physically, but really? I was only a 3-years-old dragon; at least try not to bully people in the single digit realm when you’re a grown-ass man.
Regardless, this proved that both my appraising skill and [Mana Eyes] fully functioned in [Split Soul Autonomy], yet it only made me question why it was restricted in the first place at all. Nevertheless, if those two skills worked, then [Mental World] should as well. Not only should I be protected from mental attacks, but I should also be able to accelerate my thinking!
Even without all the context, this was enough. The moment I activated my skills, the world outside my eyes slowed down considerably, as if somebody had pressed the time’s 0.10 speed button on reality.
I rushed over to Hikari to grab her shoulders, only to notice she was shivering even more than I thought. Her pupils were dilated, caused by her still being haunted by our bully accidents. Usually, my parallel thoughts would share my emotions and mood, although it didn’t work vice versa. It seemed like it was the same for Hikari, although neither of us were sharing our emotional states, only our thoughts were the same.
‘This is my achievement! I did it! I trained hard; it wasn’t just ‘cause of my parents!’ she screamed. It was like she was trapped in a nightmare.
Hikari! I shouted back, but to no response. Please, just listen to me. I know what you’re going through, but this isn’t the time for you to relapse into a memory. We dealt with it, already! Not only in this world, but also back on Earth! It doesn’t matter what they think! You heard our trainers say this all the time, it doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter that they got an offer before we did, they equally worked hard to reach it, but trying to compare ourselves to them became the reason we died! Listen to me, nobody’s opinion of us matters more than our loved ones!
Hikari jolted back, shrieking for a moment before her head began to rattle around like a maraca. Her breathing was strained, but this was normal for a person having just been woken up from a bad dream. Once she managed to calm down, she turned her head to my hand on her shoulder, before we made eye contact.
‘H-Hestia?’
That’s me. Do you want the quick version, or the long one? I asked, pointing at my head.
She nodded. ‘Quick. Why am I here? Why can we see each other outside of a dream or a soul sequence, why—Ah, you already had those thoughts.’
Like I said, we shared our thoughts, so that was how the “quick version” worked.
In any case, I brought Hikari up to speed before pointing out our “windows,” only to notice the ice dragon’s claws were incredibly close to us. From the trajectory of his movements, I presumed he must have quickly recovered from being launched into the air, while I was completely preoccupied by helping Hikari. Even if he was far below me in agility, he was still a rank B dragon.
‘T-that thing!’ Hikari yelped. ‘Where did that monster come from! The moment I heard somebody’s voice in my head, I woke up and I saw it staring at me! Urgh, then the bitches just appeared out of nowhere and it got to this point? I’m risking your body.’
Our body. If I die, you die as well, so it might as well be ours, so treat it well. I spent nearly two years building all the stats and skills, okay, big sis? Treat your little sister’s dragon account well!
‘… This isn’t a game. Okay, I’m not the person to say that to you of all people, so let’s get back to what’s important—why am I in control of our body?’
That was the one question I couldn’t really answer. We had the skill’s description on hand, so I knew it was possible, but why did it happen so suddenly? There was no warning. Hikari woke up and we did a switcheroo. While it wasn’t so dangerous right now, we had to learn what caused it so it doesn’t happen in a more serious situation.
I don’t know, we have to brainstorm on it later on. However, if this skill works similar to [Parallel Thoughts], then I think you should be able to give me back control over our body.
‘Right, you gave the parallel minds body control permission a few times. Then … Hestia, take back control!’
The moment Hikari said this, our position instantly swapped, as if somebody had teleported us. With me being in front of our “windows,” my consciousness took root throughout my body. My nervous system was taking action from my thoughts now.
As Rhekkraxus’s ice covered claws were about to slash at me, I snapped my head up and grabbed his hand inches before he hit me. [True Draconic Barrier] only partially reduced the damage from touching his ice armor, but I wouldn’t get any frostbite from this. Not to mention, his normal [Draconic Barrier] was not a match against the burning heat from my [Hellblade Edge] or [Drakonian Sunlight Edge]!
Hikari, if we have to tag team from now on, then prepare yourself! Watch me and learn. This is how you play the dragon race!
Blazing heat ignited the scale-dust in the scales of my hand, setting it ablaze. The ice dragon roared in agony, signaling for the others dragons to take notice of my sudden attitude change. All of them unfurled their wings and took flight, yet before they could do anything, a lightning bolt suddenly shot through the air.
While the other dragons roared in surprise, I spent the time directing my attention to the side, where I saw somebody revealing themselves from behind a tree. Wild, medium-long black hair framed her face, before it began to light up in shades of yellow and red as lightning channeled through the prosthetic replacing her lost left arm. She raised it, aiming her crossbow at the dragons as a red lightning bolt formed on it.
[“Need some help, Donut?”]
It was Vifi!
[“H-how did you—Doesn’t matter, I’m glad to see you, Vifi!”] I expressed my genuine happiness, causing the demonkin to smirk and shake her head at my antics, before filling her smile with sadistic pleasure at my next words. [“Hold them back for me. I need to teach this middle-aged punk how to treat us young adults properly!”]
[“Orders received, Ma’am!”] Like lightning, Vifi dashed forward, only leaving a trail of red behind before she reappeared in the air, in front of all of the dragons. She then clapped her hands, creating a repulsion effect with her lightning that shoved everybody around her as far as away as possible. 𝑓𝓻ℯ𝑒𝑤𝘦𝑏𝑛ℴ𝓋ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝓸𝓂
Wait, she can use her electromagnetic force? I raised an eyebrow, but I ignored my curiosity for now, as this gave me all the time in the world with Rhekkraxus.
He roared and attempted to gore me with his leg claws, but I sent out my shed scales to tie them back. I then shoved my head closer to his, invading his privacy just as he did to me. [“I’m back. Had your fun? Now it’s my turn!”]
His eyes twitched as we stared at each other, prompting him to ready an ice breath but I simply gnashed my fangs, igniting all the scale-dust around me into an explosion. The attack sent the dragon flying away and ablaze.
Mid-flight, I activated the scale-dust in my wings and flew forward with them as rocket boosters, attempting to crash into Rhekkraxus. However, ice formed around his hand that he turned into a spear, using it to thrust at me, only for me to dodge out of the way by doing a barrel roll to the side.
With him locked into his movements, I set my glaive-like tail aflame and struck at the ice dragon, forcing him to flash-freeze his leg, creating a durable ice armor. Unfortunately for him, my attack broke right through his ice, as my undying flames prevented the armor to be sturdier.
As I drew first blood, I angled my wings slightly backwards and increased the rocket booster’s potency, driving my tail deeper into his leg, to the point I broke his bone, and sent us crashing into the ground. I quickly recovered from the impact by using [Wind Blast] to send me back into the air, before I cast [Tornado Bullet] at the only nearby signal on my [Detection Sensor].
As the bullet ripped through the air and blew the dust away, it forced the dragon to use his own scales to protect himself. Seeing this scale barrier in front of him, I gnashed my fangs once again, setting everything around the dragon ablaze and blocking his vision with flames and smoke.
He attempted to cast some ice and water spells at me, but as he didn’t have [Chant Revocation Lv. 10], his casting speed was slow enough for me to interrupt them with well-placed sphere-shaped [Terra Wall]s to block the cast entirely. Seeing him struggling though my [Detection Sensor], I then cast [Ruinous Rockfall].
Not only did it quickly destroy any of his attempts to rebuild his burned scale barrier, the falling boulders prevented him from flying at all. With my flames still sapping his health the longer he waited, it forced the dragon’s hand. Flash freezing the air, he created multiple ice blades and launched them into the air and prepared an ice breath.
Sadly for him, six [Banishment Beam] were enough to shoot them down, while I reciprocated with my own [Hellflame Breath], scorching through his liquid nitrogen-like breath attack. With [Banishment Beam] and [Ruinous Rockfall] keeping him in place, my breath landed right on his face, burning through numerous of his scales and probably disfigured him, assuming his [Draconic Barrier] wasn’t fortified.
Which it probably wasn’t, as his wisdom was only in the 4100 range. Meanwhile, my intelligence was almost 17000. Even if he had [Inferno Resistance Lv. 10], a four time difference in magical attack to magical defense with all my offensive magic and fire boosting skills, he was toast. He should be lucky I didn’t want to kill him.
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Seeing him roaring in agony on the ground, I cast [Sacred Field] on him and turned my crimson flames into white, healing his wounds before any of them permanently scarred him. Although flustered by my sudden mercy, he didn’t have the time to think about it before we both heard an audible clap in the distance, causing the both of us to be pulled back to our original spot—Thalaxarus’s skull.
Once we were close enough, Vifi released her hands and dispelled her lightning’s magnetic ability, allowing me to fly up with my rocket booster, using the momentum to reach the former Dragon Ruler of Ice’s nose, where I launched a [Scorching Blaze] at the re-gathered dragons, which caused a massive explosion that grounded all seven. Seeing as there were a few rank Cs, I held back and made sure the spell wouldn’t even kill a rank D.
Hikari, appraise for me.
‘As you guessed, four rank Cs, the other are rank Bs. The two ice dragons that opposed Rhekkraxus’s decision are both over level 20 and 50-years-old. Do you think they passed their adulthood pilgrimage?’
Yes, most likely. Rhekkraxus did strike at me with a lance, but I blitzed him before he could really show off his abilities. It should make it more painful once I’m done with this show!
With two of my [Multi-Cast] slots dedicated to [Aerokinesis], I peered into the sky before I played [Dragon Fire].
“In my purgatory, I make the devil cry ?
In Hellfire ?
All you hear are his screams, begging to be released ?
It’s Music ?”
[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Stage Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
The blue, serene sky was dyed red as flames gathered in the sky like clouds. Concentrating my mana as my human voice resounded through the entire area, I focused the power of the fire into a single entity, morphing it into the form of a dragon. I sent it flying into the sky until it blocked the sun right above it. The snow and ice was colored in crimson—the color of their destruction.
Seeing this, the dragon attempted to shoot ice breaths at me, but due to [Dragon Fire] reducing the effectiveness of ice attacks by 50%, they couldn’t even break through my scale barrier. Seeing the futility of their actions, the rank Bs flew at me, but Vifi provided anti-air defense with her crossbow and thrown lightning halberd. As a last ditch effort, Rhekkraxus tried to stop me with [Telepathy], but Hikari quickly cut him off.
“I descend on Earth with Wings of Death! ?
A Storm of Fury ?
Creating Ash and Dust ?
I am the Incarnation of the Sun ?
I shine so brightly, I bring your death ?
My lineage belongs to the God of Dragons! ?”
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With an eerie screech from the blazing fire dragon, I sent the meteor flying towards the ground, forcing the dragons to flee but, unless they could teleport away, this fire meteor the size of my three uncles would reach them no matter what.
The confidence to challenge those better than you was important for growth, but unless you properly assessed your opponent, this confidence was nothing more than arrogance. They should have at least tried to appraise me, instead of thinking I was just a kid. To think Hikari taking over my body would trick them to the point they underestimated me this badly. What a boon.
You wanted to ‘play,’ right, ‘cousin?’ ‘Play’ with me behind your father’s and mother’s back, huh?
[“Hestia, ‘playtime’ is over.”] I heard Mom’s voice, confirming she could hear everything underground. It would be silly for one of the strongest beings in this world to not hear all this chaos.
As such, I activated [Obsidian Blaze] and launched the fire meteor straight into the air, so far away it passed the clouds. I then blew it up, causing a massive firework to shower Frozen Nest in dazzling flames. Fortunately, the flames were so high up, they wouldn’t even reach the ground in time before they died out.
[“The next time you want to mess with me, remember this: I don’t need my clan name to make things work. Just because you went through your adulthood pilgrimages doesn’t make you worth anything. Come back after you get your A rank from the hunter’s guild,”] I boasted to the dragons, making sure my name stuck with them forever. [“Remember this. You can say whatever you want about my father, but the moment you bring my mother into the game and try to demean her because of me, then this fight will go from a ‘play’ to an actual fight. Don’t make uncle and auntie too sad, ‘cousin.’”]
Seeing me leering at them from on top of the skull, the dragons quickly fed the scene. Sighing in relief, I flew down and landed right next to Vifi.
“Were you actually trying to hurt them?” she asked.
[“You kidding? Just ‘cause I stayed in a coma for over a year doesn’t exactly change my personality. I don’t kill annoying flies; only enemies or scum,”] I re-declared my stance. [“The moment the meteor hit the ground, I would have considered all of them friendlies and make [Dragon Fire] give them full immunity to my fire attacks. You forgot what my spell songs could do, Miss ex-Warbringer?”]
Vifi shrugged with a smirk, clearly enjoying the banter, prompting me to ask her, [“So, tell me, a year passed and you got the electromagnetic thing fixed? Thought you can only use it with your Territory.”]
Her repulsion and attraction ability only came out when her Territory, [Magnetic Storm], was up so I was caught off-guard when she suddenly showed the ability to do so outside of it. However, Vifi wriggled her hand like a swinging scale, making an “eh” expression.
“The old man made some upgrades to my prosthetics. Had a rune added to it that allows me to use the same ‘electromagnetic’ powers Saori has on her catalyst. It has a cooldown, though, and it’s less precise than my Territory-based one. This affects everybody, so it’s bad in a team environment, but good when I have to move solo.” Vifi then began stroking her replacement arm with a soft smile, slowly moving the individual mechanical fingers as the cogs clanked. “Bit amazing how a single god’s blessing allows a dwarf to turn around an arcane ‘law.’ Runes can’t coexist on items with enchantments, but here it is. Only one, though, sadly.”
[“Why?”]
“Old man said the conflicting mana sources still happen. His unique skill simply ‘puts a barrier in between them.’ Less runes would mean I can put more enchantments on it, and so on. Still a hard cap on three enchantments … You know, just learn it from him yourself. You got your armor. Ask him to put an enchantment on it and let him lead you through everything … Stop giggling.”
Seeing me amused by the amount of affection Vifi was showing her arm, she coughed with an embarrassed face. After taking a breather, she straightened her back, looking serious, and saluted me. “Good afternoon and welcome back, General. Hope you weren’t surprised with everything that changed.”
I smiled before using [Humanize] to transform into a dragonewt to greet her, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she looked at me from top to bottom.
[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“Urgh … did you have to grow up?” she said, spitefully.
I couldn’t help but giggle as I guessed the reason for her displeasure. Before my coma, Vifi was around 153cm, a little over 5 feet, but grew up to around 160cm, about a quarter foot taller. Seeing as I was 157cm before becoming 18, she probably was looking forwards to being taller than me, and hated the fact her expectations were trashed and she still was stuck as the second shortest of our party, next to Grimnir and now tying with Tasianna.
Then again, height wasn’t everything, as Vifi’s new appearance showed. From torso to her feet, she was fully equipped in metal and leather, looking exactly like a professional soldier. Wanting to stay swift on her feet, she wasn’t wearing any platemail or heavy bone armor. To finish her look off, she hid her figure with a long trench coat, although her left arm was sleeveless, exposing her manatech prosthetic.
If it wasn’t for her feminine face, Vifi could have totally passed as an androgynous guy. The girl in me wanted her to groom her hair a bit to make her prettier, but I understood Vifi was a soldier without a doubt. Being a woman in a battle zone mattered as little as being a kid; if you could fight, you were a threat and had to be killed. That was her mindset.
I gave her a thumbs up. “Looking good, girl. Saori made it for you, right?”
Vifi looked at her coat and nodded. “Styled it after the vigilance jackets. Remember? Saori said as long as I was properly defended, the mana threaded clothes I wear could at least be cute or cool, so I chose the latter. Came out well, and I spent some money on equipping it with a stealth enchant.”
“Ahhh, that’s why I only detected you after you helped me. Come to think about it, how’d you find me in the first place? Mom said you were out hunting.”
“I was, but then I saw the Empress fly off. You can’t exactly not see her, right? Well, I noticed something crimson on her back and my immediate thought was you, so I followed behind and waited to see if you were awake or not,” she said, causing me to smile. “Anyways, you’re my boss and Saori sent me here to defend you, so you know how it happened. Now, mind telling me why you acted like a defenseless girl for a moment there, or was that another acting job?”
Seeing as nobody was coming from below, Mom’s discussion probably hadn’t ended yet. Meaning, she knew I was all right and that the entire process was probably part of her test. With the lecture she gave me, she must have wanted to teach me through a trial by fire. To show me everything she said was true about Kargryx.
I still have some more questions, though … Doesn’t seem like they like my paternal family. Something about Mom, too. Gotta ask.
In any case, I gave Vifi a quick rundown about what happened to Hikari and me, causing her to tilt her head so much I thought she would fall over. She knew my soul’s situation and bits of my past, so she understood who Hikari was, but it still didn’t change the fact she couldn’t imagine it properly. My parallel minds were understandable, but having two souls inside a body? Beyond weird.
“Technically, she isn’t a different person. She’s just my past self.”
“She still isn’t completely you, that’s the point, Donut. Haaa, whatever, what should I call her? Donut 2? Original Donut?”
After discussing it with Hikari, she didn’t mind which name we used. Hestia or Hikari were the same to the both of us, although, it might make sense for my friends to differentiate us since we had different personalities. I couldn’t even use ‘our friends’ here since they didn’t know Hikari. This was the boundary Hikari herself placed.
In any case, as neither Mom or Tasianna weren’t coming out yet, Vifi suddenly suggested that I try my skill out a bit. Seeing as I had to understand how [Split Soul Autonomy] actually worked, this might be the perfect time to do so.
Pointing me in a direction, I followed after her as we leisurely walked. To pass some time, I asked her about her birthday since I just remembered she never mentioned it to us.
“I’ll be 18 on the 18th of AutumnMoon,” she answered, shocking me.
“H-huh? Hold on, what?” I stiffened. “Wait, weren’t you already part of our group during that time? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Wrong, I wasn’t part-part of your party during that time. Second, it happened during your whole concert tour around Artorias, so I didn’t want to interrupt it just for myself. I mean, who was gonna celebrate with me? Just you? Pretty much.” She shrugged. “Not to mention, Grimnir’s birthday was in six days, and I think people would have preferred to be happy during that time, instead of thinking they’re bad people for not wishing me well.”
“O-oh …” I scratched my neck, remembering how antagonistic people were about me inviting Vifi to our group.
“I don’t really care that much about my birthday, unless it would allow me to do something. When I was still on the street, the only reason I remembered ‘when my age rose’ was to join the army.” She then glared at me, waving her hand in dismissal. “Don’t give me that look, come on! Grimnir and Tamae already gave me a damn scolding when they figured the truth out. I don’t need it from you too.”
I sighed. “Just feeling bad.”
“Don’t feel bad for me, feel bad for yourself. You missed out on a lot of fun, you know?” Vifi patted my back, correctly guessing I would dislike the time skip. “When you want to visit the dragonewt in the south, don’t forget to bring me along with you. Got some business there.”
“What exactly?”
“Hunter’s guild. It’s active here on Kargryx as well, since the monster spawning is invaluable for materials and meat. The former gets imported to Altrust, to the dwarves and elves, in exchange for treats, manatech, and information for Frozen Nest. The place is quite self-sufficient, to its own detriment, sadly,” she explained. “It feels a bit like Bole’Taria. It’s too isolated for its own good. Not enough progress, like the whole culture got frozen in time.”
Seeing my confusion, Vifi told me to trust her on this as she kept this information handy for me when I would wake up. To her, this was scouting my home, but I figured it was to sate her curiosity. Frozen Nest was different to Bole’Taria, and to the worldly-interested demonkin, she would have wanted to know how it differed from her home.
This enthusiasm immediately showed itself. “Meanwhile, the main capital of Loatryx on Miononbolax is a massive major city! You think Artorias or Inkoran-Tazul were huge, then you better be ready. Has a harbor, multiple merchant districts, training fields, a huge arena to showcase their dragoon order. Oh, and don’t forget dragonewts homes can levitate in the air! So multiple buildings can just be stacked on each other, making it efficient! You could house multiple large armies in that city, and due to all the large monsters on this continent, they can feed everybody there, as well!”
I noticed Vifi had developed a bit of pep to her walk as she kept describing the city. Vifi was still the same person I knew from over a year ago, but it seemed she did change a bit to be a little less stiff. Considering she faced no threat of her countrymen pursuing her here for desertion, nor the threat of losing her life in a war, she probably faced less stress while here, almost a vacation for her. With a full belly and a fulfilled recreation need, she was acting like a normal person now.
Glad you’re happy. Maaaaan, I really missed out on a ton of stuff, huh?
Anyways, after this talk, we reached an open area where after some experimentation I managed to confirm [Split Soul Autonomy]’s effects. First, “Hestia” and “Hikari” were two distinct people, but with the same exact Profile, aside from our names. Whenever Hikari took over my body, “Hikari Schartner” would appear in our name field, and vice versa.
In a way, it meant I could hide my identity whenever Hikari took over, allowing me to use [Identity Blocker] to its fullest by even hiding my skills and stats to fit my new “persona.” In a way, you could even see “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor” as a stage name if I were to use Hikari as my civilian identity. It was an idea for the future, though.
Second, the main reason why Hikari switched with me was due to our body treating the both of us as the “main soul” now, unlike before when my parallel minds were just copies of me. Hikari could technically spite me by forcibly taking over my body, but I could do the same back to her whenever she was in charge. There was no need for permission from just one mind any longer, which meant the moment the both of us quarreled, we could sabotage each other without any impunity.
The command to switch was to be assertive. No “please” or “could you give me control,” we had to decisively decide if we wanted control or give it over for the skill to work.
Thirdly, the reason why I couldn’t activate [Mana Eyes] while in control of our body was due to how the skill was dividing our roles. The one controlling the body could speak and act on behalf of our soul, while the one resting was in charge of activating [Mana Eyes] and [Mental World]. Thankfully, the usurpation skill could be used by both of us without any restriction, as I was able to take over Vifi’s catalyst for a moment.
“Never do that again,” Vifi said, dryly. She really gave me the stink eye.
Regardless, there was one last thing I found out, and it probably was the best. After losing [Parallel Thoughts], it proved my suspicion that the skill was the reason I couldn’t gain [Multi-Cast], the last of the four advanced magic techniques Master Kush tried to teach me. I leveled the skill up to level 7 with skill points during the finale of my fight with the Prince of Envy.
As such, even without my parallel thoughts around, I could cast seven spells or -kinesis skills simultaneously. However, as [Split Soul Autonomy] mentioned, we both could access our “spell mind” individually. The part of our brain responsible for imagining the spell and how many active spells we could handle at the same time.
“… This is broken,” I said, prompting both Hikari and Vifi to nod as they saw 14 white magic circles appear around my body, ready to shoot out 14 [Banishment Beams].
With my parallel minds, I had access to eleven simultaneous spells, as I had ten parallel minds and one “Original Mind.” With [Multi-Cast Lv. 10], ten spells would be available. However, with Hikari, that number would jump up to 20. I was already a machine gun of spells with my parallel minds, but Hikari and I worked well together, we could rock the entire arcane landscape with this.
Suffice to say, we only had 14 right now since the skill still needed to be leveled up, but I could put it on my schedule. Shooting out all these spells at once was an absolute joy, to the point I forgot I had to actually teach Hikari how to do so. The memories of my past casting experience helped her adapt to it quickly, but she still wasn’t too familiar with multi-tasking it. If she wasn’t controlling our body, she would also have to work through [Mana Eyes]’s overloading information as well.
If you get overwhelmed, just forcibly switch with me, okay?
‘That means I have to get used to moving our body and casting spells while fighting …’
And? Your point? We’re a team at this point and if the both of us can’t handle both duties, then it won’t work, all right? The foundations! We need to build your foundation, you can’t be a scaredy cat while playing my dragon account, you got that?
‘This isn’t a damn GAME! Ahhh, send me back into our soul already! I don’t want to do this any long—’
Hikari, switch with me.
‘Y-you! No, Hestia, give me back the backseat!’
[“Oi, Vifi, Hikari needs to actually calm her nerves while fighting in my body. Mind sparring with me a bit to help her out?”]
“Sure, I’ll go easy. Only my rapier.”
Nice, Hikari, switch with me.
‘Dammit, her damn rapier is enough to kill us! Stop this!’
This little switcheroo continued as long as needed to, and with every change, it became clear to the both of us how important a harmonious relationship we needed to do this. There was a delay to the switching where our body kept listening to the last orders before a new one was issued by the new mind in charge.
If I thought Hikari was doing something wrong, but she believed it would work in the end, but I kept disagreeing with her to the point I forcibly took over, things would probably go awry. Distrust was the worst possible outcome. We had to set the rules here and now.
First, nobody was allowed to forcibly take over unless during an emergency. Second, I was designated as the main soul, and was allowed to override switcheroos and take over, as I was more experienced. Thirdly, if we had to disagree, every argument would have to be delayed and we would have a mediator help us out if we couldn’t work it out after two or three minutes of discussion.
Naturally, these rules were written in stone, literally using a [Rock Wall], as the skill had no ways to handle it. It was better than nothing and you could call this setting the house rules between two roommates, since that’s kind of what we were. Two sisters living together. Both are stubborn and passionate as heck with insecurities and fears … It sounded like the perfect sitcom setting. We probably shouldn’t let it get to that point, though.
After we were done here, we heard Mom’s roar echo through the valley. Transforming back into my dragon form, I gave Vifi a ride as I flew over, where I saw not only Tasianna, the twins, Mom and her friends, but also two other dragons. One of them was Rhekkraxus while the other looked quite similar to the former and Alextraxus … but was in between them when it came to height.
Hikari? Would you, please?
Name: Siegragxus Thornurakk Thalaxarus
He was giving me a glare.
Great … Are those brothers gonna snitch on me to my Mom?
Remove
A note from AbyssRaven
So, Vifi’s nickname for Hikari … Strawberry. Yes.
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