Published at 26th of June 2024 4:32 am

Chapter 3151 Missing Pieces (Part 1)

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'This should do.' The Voidfeather Dragon complimented himself for the job well done. 'There's no way Geroge can find Solus on his own, but if I push him to interact with people without murdering them, our friends and family will find us.

'At that point, I can fuse our life forces and restore his memory. Even if George collapses in the process and the wounds reopen, even Kami can save our life with Invigoration.

'Now, for the final touch…'

"Tutorial: learn the basic survival skills, sword and magic."

"I must be going crazy. This shit can't be real." Derek was stunned but since he had nothing to lose, he followed the instructions and assumed the basic sword stance he had learned on Earth.

Then, the Voidfeather had Ragnar?k project a hologram of a young Lith back at the White Griffon academy right beside the Void. In front of both of them appeared a hologram of a young Friya, holding her old training rapier.

Derek experienced a mild headache. The kids were familiar to him. Their clothes were familiar, but he was certain to have never met them his entire life. That was all part of the Voidfeather's plan.

He needed to introduce his friends to the Void so that once he met them, he would recognize and hopefully trust them. Also, by giving the Abomination side bits of memory at a time, the Voidfeather hoped to steer the Void to a more friendly disposition.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, but no one answered.

'If only we could talk.' The Voidfeather Dragon griped. 'All I can do right now is keep the flow of memories to a minimum and nudge him in the right direction. Come on, idiot. You're too much of a nerd to not know what to do.'

After a bit of thinking, the Void assumed the same stance as academy Lith. Ragnar?k altered the appearance of its scabbard to give it an edge without releasing its real blade and the hologram started to play.

Academy Friya kicked the Void's ass in two moves. Her rapier pierced his right shoulder and then his heart, forcing the scenario to start over.

"Fuck me sideways! I'm faster and stronger than any human now. How can this girl keep up with me?" The answer was that being everything a hologram, there was no such thing as physical limits.

On the second attempt, Derek observed academy Lith's movements first and then tried to replicate them. He could see where to put his feet, how to move his sword, and had short glimpses of what Friya was about to do.

"Use those legs, Lith." Academy Friya said. "You can't stand still. Remember the three key points of swordsmanship. Always look at your opponent's dominant shoulder, make use of your wrist, and remember your footwork.

"Don't look the opponent in the eyes nor their sword. It just makes you easily distracted and doesn't help reading feints. Don't keep your arm rigid like a stick. Be flexible and ready to react.

"Last but not least, a fixed target is an easy target. Swordsmanship isn't a fistfight. Dodging doesn't work because the tip of my sword is faster than your legs. Keep your blade up and use defensive maneuvers while you move."

Derek followed her instructions, but he kept getting his ass kicked. With every attempt, however, he got accustomed to Ragnar?k's weight and range. He also recovered his muscle memory and in less than an hour he had cleared every exercise.

"Congratulations! Basic swordsmanship mastered. Intermediate swordsmanship training is now available."

The male kid was replaced by a serious-looking youth with a buzz cut and dressed like a military cadet while the female kid was replaced by a scruffy man with the most punchable face Derek had ever seen.

"Why do these people all look familiar and how could I learn this quickly? It's the same thing that happened when I learned to run and fly. I went from noob to 'this is awesome' before I could even realize it."

His exercises against Morok's hologram progressed even faster and before sundown, Derek had recovered the fighting skills up to his boot camp. The completion bar was now partially filled and his head hurt like crazy.

"I need a break!" He threw Ragnar?k away in frustration, but the angry blade returned to him immediately. "What are you, a boomerang? Leave me alone!"

"No, master. Chaos. Danger." The sword whimpered like a scared puppy, making Derek narrow his eyes, and not just because of the pain.

"Wait, why is your scabbard filled with black dots now? I'm certain they weren't there back when I picked you up for the first time." He said and he was right.

With his life forces separated, keeping the Abomination form for too long meant giving the Chaos spark inside of him the opportunity to corrupt the rest of his energy body until it reached his mana core.

If that were to happen, Lith would have turned into a true Abomination.

Luckily for him, Ragnar?k was using the light and darkness crystals on its fuller along with the life force stored in the scabbard to take the damage in his place.

"Chaos. Danger." The sword replied.

The Davross of Ragnar?k's blade could take a lot of punishment, but there was only so much Cursed Element it could neutralize in the long run without endangering its power core.

"Whatever." For some reason, Derek felt that he could trust the cursed blade but at the same time, his paranoia made him doubt Ragnar?k. "Why am I stuck at intermediate swordsmanship? Where's advanced?"

"Insufficient level." The window replied. "Go and have more experiences."

"Don't you mean, collect more experience?" Paranoia made Derek distrustful and hunger made him cranky.

As time passed, he only felt worse.

"Go and have more experiences." The hologram remained unchanged. "Starting magic tutorial."

"This world has magic?" The Void couldn't believe his eyes but the opportunity was too good to turn down so he shut up and followed the instructions.

A four year old version of Lith appeared, showing Derek the six starting elemental runes and teaching him their names.

"Ekidu! Vinire! Infiro! Jorun! Magna! Brezza!"

Derek found it all ridiculous but he couldn't argue with the results. He learned the runes and conjured his first chore magic spells with an unsettling ease. The same happened with fusion magic.

"Basic fusion magic, mastered. Basic elemental magic, mastered. Spirit Magic unlocked. Do you want to practice it?" The hologram asked.

"No. This stopped being funny a while ago." Derek shook his head. "Let's assume this is real. Who the hell would be so kind to set this up for someone they don't even know? What's the point of giving me this kind of power for free?

"No one is so generous. The only possible explanation is that you are trying to manipulate me. To make me do your bidding with the promise of tasty treats like I'm a trained dog!"

'Shit! I hoped it would take him longer to connect the dots.' The Voidfeather Dragon stopped to consider his options and the holograms fizzled out of existence.

"Don't you dare run away! I demand answers!" The Void roared in frustration.

His headache kept getting worse as the completion bar filled.

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