"Alright, it took me six months but I finally got the hang of this sword," said John in relief.
"Took you long enough, but you still don't have any of that black aura you talked about," said Jax.
"I don't know what to do about that, but I think we're ready to take on Darren, I've gotten my harmonization to 300%, that's gotta be enough," said John.
"We shouldn't try and take on Darren unless absolutely necessary," said Oliver.
"But-" John was cut off.
"No, remember what happened last time," argued Oliver.
"I know I'm ready, let me try," argued John.
"You haven't even been able to use any black aura yet, what makes you think you're ready?" said Oliver.
"I-I don't know, but I have this deep down feeling," John paused, "that I can beat him."
"Well that feeling is wrong, Darren is more powerful than anything you have seen, if you don't slow down and just listen to me then I can properly prepare you," the argument got more intense.
"Why don't you believe in me, what more do I have to prove to you, I'm already stronger than you, and Jax. There's nothing else you can do for me, I'd be better off on my own, you know what. That's exactly what I'll do," John turned around and stormed off.
"John, wait!" Yelled Allie in desperation. John didn't say a word, manifested his big sword and flew off.
"You did it now. Had to go and scare the kid off," said Jax. Allie didn't say a word and went inside.
"All I'm trying to do is protect him, why can't he see that?" Asked Oliver.
"The way he sees it, you're holding him back. I know all you're trying to do is protect him, but you need to put yourself in his shoes a little bit. He's been training his ass off for years and hasn't really seen any progress towards your goal. He really does want to help you, and I know you can see that," Jax turns around and heads inside. Oliver slaps his head and looks up into the sky.
"God Oliver. What have you done?"
"You want that black aura back kid?" John heard a demonic voice.
"Wait, I know that voice, it's the same voice from the creature when I got my sacred crystal!" Thought John.
"Yes, it's me, the one you saw when you touched my sacred crystal," said the creature.
"How could he hear me?" Thought John.
"I'm part of you now so I can hear all your thoughts, and from what I was hearing earlier you want to achieve some kind of black aura, I can help you."
"How can you help me with that?" Asked John.
"Nobody else knows about the black aura, they didn't know it even existed, but I had black aura, I know what it is."
"Ok, but how is that supposed to help me get it?"
"If you let me take over, I can use it to kill anyone you want," offered the creature.
"No, I'm not giving my body over to you just for a little power," John argued.
"Fine, then you'll have to earn my power, I'll make a wager with you," said the creature.
"What is it?"
"If you can defeat me in battle, I'll give you my power without taking control, but... If I win I get to take your body over."
"Deal, but how am I supposed to fight you?" Suddenly John's body went limp and he fell out of the sky.
"Here, now we can battle," said the creature. John had appeared in a white plain, just the two of them.
"Am I in my own mind?"
"Pretty much," answered the creature. "That body's all mine," the creature launched himself at John, reaching his hand out to grab him. As the creature was about to grab John a white slash appeared and cut off his arm, the creature jumped back. "I didn't even see his sword!" He thought. "You're a fast one," the creature laughed as his arm regenerated, "show me more."
"You wanna see more, harmonization, 100%" John went at the creature.
"Where did he go-" John appeared behind the creature, cutting him off. "You are fast, but that's not everything," the creature stomped on the ground, destroying it, sending a shockwave that threw John off his balance. He went to throw a punch, "this ends now."
"Harmonization, 180%" The punch faded straight through John.
"What?! An after image?!" Said the creature.
"Not so fast," John said from behind him, he slashed him in half.
"How, he can't be that strong," thought the creature. "No, no, no, I've not lost yet, you will die!!" Millions of black slashes started coming out of the creature's body.
"Harmonization, 200%" John's eyes glowed white, white aura steaming off his body. He started moving so fast there were hundreds of after images.
The creature had regenerated and stood back up, still in a rage, "I'm going to kill yo-" he was cut off.
"You're done," said John. In an instant, thousands of slashes appeared on the creature, and he crumbled into pieces. John's body went back to normal. He woke up laying on the ground, his landing created a giant crater, "I won!" He yelled as he stood up, throwing his hands in the air.
"You know what kid. I like you, you're powerful, a good person to serve under," said the creature. "Did he already forget about our first fight? He seems so surprised that he won," he thought.
"First things first creature, what's your name?" Asked John.
"My name is Rognor, how do you not know who I am? I was the strongest General in King Oliver's army, rivaled by no one, not even the king himself," said Rognor.
"Well I'm not from this world to tell you the truth, I was brought here from my world by Oliver to help him reclaim his kingdom," explained John.
"Reclaim? Is he no longer king?" Asked Rognor.
"No, he was overthrown by Darren, so he needed my help to get it back," said John.
"If that's so then let's get down to business, I can't give you all my power at once, that much of an instant change would kill you, but I will give you more and more as you train with it until you have fully mastered it," said Rognor.
"Alright then, let's get started," replied John.
"Looking at your stats from our fight earlier, I think I can give you 30% of my power to start," said Rognor.
"Ok," said John.
"Power up to 30% harmonization,"
"Harmonization, 30%" Said John.
"Ready?" Asked Rognor.
"Yes," replied John. His aura, that used to be white, started turning black. It radiated off his body. "This is 30%?! It feels so different then my original aura, it feels more like 3000%" John was surprised.
"This aura is very powerful, be careful while you use it, now train in this form until you've gotten the hang of it," said Rognor.
"I have a question," said John.
"What is it?" Asked Rognor.
"Do I gain any magical abilities from this, can I use spells?" Asked John.
"Yes, but it sounds like you're saying you couldn't use magical abilities before," said Rognor.
"I couldn't, that is correct," said John.
"What?! You're telling me you couldn't use spells and you are this strong, you weren't using any enhancing spells or anything?" Said Rognor in shock.
"Nope, I wasn't, I can't use spells, just harmonization," said John.
"Well then I'll just show you how to use my three strongest abilities, but we'll mainly focus on the harmonization, that seems to be your strong suit," explained Rognor.
"The first one is called Domain of Terror, you and your opponent are brought into a domain that you control, your overall stats are boosted and you can launch attacks from anywhere in the domain at any time, it's a guaranteed hit, let's try it," said Rognor. John gave a nod. "Alright, lift your right arm up... cross your right index finger and middle finger... Now repeat after me... Domain of Terror," said Rognor.
"Domain of Terror," John repeated. The whole area went black.
"It's just you in here because there was no opponent to bring in, but your stats should be boosted," explained Rognor.
"I can teleport around in here?! That's awesome?!" Yelled John in excitement, teleporting all over the place.
"This domain is one of the strongest known, it was my specialty," said Rognor. "This domain is nearly invincible from the inside, it would take a massive amount of strength for anyone to have a chance of getting out, the only other way is if there's a stronger domain expansion, but those two options are very unlikely" explained Rognor, he gave out a little laugh.
"A massive amount of strength, like how much, could I destroy it?" Asked John.
"The strength required would be similar to two universes clashing together," explained Rognor.
"What?! That's insane!" Yelled John.
"You're telling me," said Rognor with a laugh.
"So this is how I can win against Darren," said John.
"Yes, but it might take a little more than that, let me teach you the other two abilities first," said Rognor.
"Ok, what are they?" Asked John.
"I can show you one more right now, but you'll have to get to 100% of my power before you can use the last one," explained Rognor.
"Alright, what you got for me?" Said John eagerly.
"The next one was one of my personal favorites, Dimension Piercing Slash, nothing could block this attack, and no matter how durable they were, it always dealt damage,"
"Ok, how do I do it?" Asked John.
"Unsheath your sword... Concentrate, like you're putting all your power into the sword," John's sacred crystal started to glow, black aura flowing off of it. "After you have all that energy built up, slash the air like you're hitting something." John sliced the air, a black slash flew through the air and hit the wall of the domain, shaking the domain.
"I shook the domain?!" John was surprised.
"You shook the domain?!" Rognor was also surprised. "I know that domain was buffing your stats but holy crap, you're a strong kid."
"Thank you, since I haven't been able to use magic I've pretty much just been working on my physical prowess," John explained.
"Well let's get to training to get you to 100%" Said Rognor. "We'll start actual training tomorrow, get some rest for now, you only got a couple hours until morning," said Rongor.
"I am a little tired, getting some sleep would be a good idea, try not to keep me up please," said John.
"I'll try," Rognor laughed. John makes his way over to a cave and goes to sleep.
"Did you feel that last night?" Allie wakes up to Jax and Oliver talking.
"Yeah, that deadly aura?" Asked Oliver, "I felt that, although it didn't seem aimed at us so I paid no attention to it, but even I was scared."
"It wasn't Darren, that wasn't his aura, but I don't know what it was," said Jax.
"It did feel a little familiar, but not 100%, and even if it was... no it's impossible," said Oliver.
"What, who did it feel like?" Asked Jax.
"It kind of felt like my old general, Rognor, from back when I controlled this domain, but that's impossible, he's been dead for over a hundred years. It wasn't just him though, it was mixed like his aura was mixed with another familiar aura, but I can't quite figure out who's it was," explained Oliver.
"Weird, there's nothing I can think of, it's almost impossible to bring the dead back to life, you can't imitate aura. The only thing that could've happened was that maybe he was sealed in something," said Jax.
"But who could be strong enough to wield something he's sealed in, I don't think that even I could," said Oliver.
"I don't know, but we better keep our guard up, if something that powerful starts coming for us, we're as good as dead," said Jax.
"What are you guys talking about? Did you feel that weird aura last night?" Allie walked in for breakfast.
"We were discussing that. We're going to have to keep our guard up, if you sense that aura again tell us immediately, it is potentially very dangerous," said Jax.
"If it's really that dangerous, I will," replied Allie.
"On a different note, let's continue training, we'll have to let John figure out these feelings on his own," Oliver continued.
"But he said he was gonna fight Darren on his own, we need to do something like that before he gets himself killed," said Allie.
"Don't worry about that," Jax points to an orb sitting on the table, "we've been keeping an eye on him," explains Jax.
"I need to get this black mana mastered, then I can beat Darren," said John to himself.
"I have an idea," said Rognor.
"What is it?" Asked John.
"There is this training area where I trained, the gravity there is insane, if I remember correctly, it was supposedly 500 times stronger than here on earth. It was almost impossible for me when I was there, but since you're stronger than me it might be perfect," Rognor offered.
"I want to do that, I think it would work, how do I get there?" Asked John.
"It's called the land in the clouds, all you have to do is fly straight towards the moon, a portal will open up, that will bring you directly to it," Rognor explained.
"Great, I should probably let the others know first," thought John.
"No, you can't tell them, if anybody else knows about it, the portal won't open, one of the other generals tried and it didn't open, and when he went to try again, even after not telling anybody, it wouldn't open, so you only get one chance," explained Rognor.
"But won't they know I've gone missing? What if something goes wrong?" Asked John.
"Time works different there than it does here too, years there would hardly be a day here, they would be fine," said Rognor
"Ok, I won't tell them, when do we go?" Asked John.
"Tonight, when the moon hits its apex, they'll never even know you're gone," said Rognor.
"Ok," said John.
"For today just focus on trying to summon the black aura right away, push it harder and harder, see if you can increase the amount you use," said Rognor.
"Deal," replied John. He continued resummoning the black aura all day, until finally. "I did it!" Yelled John. "I can summon black right away now!" He was excited.
"Good job kid, it looks like you can use a little more now too, go up to 40%," said Rognor.
"Harmonization, 40%," said John. The ground below him started to crack and he quickly powered it off, "what was that?" He asked.
"This world can hardly sustain all the power you put off, you'll have to use your domain in the fight with Darren if you don't want to destroy this world along with him," explained Rognor. "Go back and get some rest now, we'll leave later tonight."
"I am pretty tired, that training was draining my stamina," said John. He headed back and went straight to bed.
"I bet you don't go to sleep at six o'clock often do you?" Asked Rognor.
"Yeah, not very often," John fell asleep soon after he had laid down. He got woken up in the middle of the night by Rognor.
"Hey, kid, it's about time to go, get going."
"What? Oh yeah, alright I'm getting up," John woke up in a daze.
"Are you ready?" Asked Rognor.
"Almost," replied John. "Alright, I'm ready."
"Alright then let's go," said Rognor. They get outside. "Now you're going to need to fly, you can ride on your sword right?" Asked Rognor.
"Yeah I can, here," John manifests his big mana sword, "ooo, I like it better as black, that's cool."
"Now, as I explained earlier, you need to fly straight towards the moon until a portal opens," explained Rognor.
"Alright," John jumped on the sword and flew straight towards the moon. After flying for a couple minutes a portal finally opened, John hesitated for a second but slowly flew into it. The moment he fully crossed over the higher gravity hit him, "ah dude, this gravity is insane," John complained.
"Yeah it's pretty tough getting around here, everything feels so much heavier because of the gravity too," said Rognor.
"How am I going to train here? Is there someone to train with?" Asked John, he wanted to get right down to business.
"The same guy that trained me, Cifer, he's a good guy," said Rognor. Suddenly a regular looking human walked up to them.
"You look strong kid, ready to get started?" The man said.
"Who are you?" Asked John.
"I'm Cifer, your trainer," he explained.
"He doesn't look that strong," thought John.
"Don't underestimate him kid," said Rognor.
"Ok, if you say so," thought John. "Yeah, I'm ready," John replied to Cifer.
"Before we get started, what's your name?" Asked Cifer.
"Oh yeah sorry for not introducing myself, my name is John."
"Nice to meet you John, I will be your trainer," said Cifer.
"Wait, how did you know what I'm here for?" Asked John.
"That's the only reason anybody comes here from your world," explained Cifer as he laughed.
"I guess that makes sense, do a lot come around?" Asked John.
"Yes, more than you'd think actually, about eight every year," said Cifer.
"How come there aren't tons of people that strong in my world then?" Asked John. Cifers face went completely serious.
"Almost all of them don't make it through the training alive," he said. "Only a few select people make it, the truly strong ones."
"Do you remember any of them?" Asked John.
"I do remember three of them, the most powerful of everyone I trained,"
"Who were they?"
"The weakest of the three, but he had a lot of potential, his name was Rognor, he was a great and serious student," said Cifer.
"I know him, he was the strongest general in king Oliver's army, who else?" Asked John.
"The next two were really close in power, they were extremely powerful, their names were Darren and Jax," said Cifer. John froze.
"Wait, Jax is almost as strong as Darren? No way, maybe it's a different Jax, if he's that powerful why hasn't he told us, we could've come up with a plan to beat Darren," thought John.
"Honestly if the two of them went at it, in the end, I think Jax would win, his magic ability is on another level," continued Cifer.
"What?! Impossible," thought John.
"Now, enough chit chat, are you ready to start training?" Asked Cifer.
"Yeah... I'm ready" replied John in a choppy voice.
"Calm down kid, it'll be alright, we'll figure this out when we get back," said Rognor.
"Ok. Alright. I'm calming down, you're right," replied John.
"It won't matter how strong anybody is when you're done here," said Rongor.
"You're right. Thank you Rognor," said John. John followed Cifer to the training grounds.
"This will be where we'll train for the next couple of years," explained Cifer. "Sleeping quarters are over there," he points at a house off in the distance. "Now we'll get started, first I'm going to gauge your strength, don't worry about destroying anything, this world is thousands of times more durable than yours, so you can go all out here, come at me."
"Yes, sir," said John. Training commenced.
"Oliver come quick," yelled Jax.
"What? What happened?" Asked Oliver.
"He's gone, it's not letting me track him anymore," said Jax.
"How, he can't use magic so it's not like he could use a conceal spell," said Oliver.
"Idk but we're going to have to go look for him now, otherwise he might try and fight Darren on his own," said Jax.
"Let's go," said Oliver heading out the door.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
