Dimensions Collide: Destiny Bond

"Nn. Nummy," Prota muttered as she happily chewed on some kind of pasta in a creamy sauce.

The group was in an interesting position. Yes, they'd just lost to a single person. Yes, there had been three of them fighting this one individual. And yet, none of them felt that bad about it.

John, obviously, felt the best. He hadn't even fought, so why would he feel bad about losing in the first place? On top of that, he'd gotten what he wanted out of the exchange; he'd helped Destiny in finding a good sparring partner, and as a bonus, he'd gotten to see how strong the twins were.

Prota felt pretty good, too. Her brother had found her stumbling through the forest, a little dazed, but then he'd picked her up and carried her back to camp. On the way, they'd discussed possibilities for her new spell.

They had to name it. This was something new, something they wouldn't teach in classes, but it was incredibly powerful and effective when used at the right opportunity. All her other unique spells were powerful area-of-effect spells, but they used a lot of mana and didn't have much effect on anyone with a powerful defence. This spell was only effective for one person, but it would pack a powerful punch.

In the end, Prota went with "Frozen Bullet." It sounded lame, but it was basically what it was. They were working on various ideas, like having the projectile shatter upon contact and having the shards expand, but that would be for later, when they weren't in the middle of nowhere.

Ryan and Lilith were definitely the most conflicted about the battle they'd just taken. After all, they'd thought they were getting stronger. Private lessons from a Mystic with Prota as a goal had increased their rate of growth significantly. Now, they'd realized there were people even above Prota, and that didn't really feel all that encouraging.

However, after John had explained what Destiny was and the type of training he'd gone through, the twins felt better. Obviously, he hadn't said anything about past lives or being the hero, much less anything about being the [Protagonist]. However, upon learning of his feats in the Town of Beginnings, they felt better about losing to them.

"I mean, to hit him with that many attacks and survive for that long was pretty impressive on its own," John shrugged as he dug into his meal. "You guys improved a lot since I fought you… what, a year ago? I don't think I can win anymore."

"I can't believe that guy is the same age as us," Ryan muttered, looking into his can. "But… I guess it makes sense."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. He's just a special boy."

Everyone was a bit more sore than the day before, but it was a good kind of sore, like the feeling you get after a good workout. Well, that was a bit of a lie. John's [Determination] kept him from feeling the pain, and Prota was practically just as immune as he was. Still, everyone was exhausted, and so once again, after finishing their meal, they went off to bed early.

John once again stayed out late. He'd discovered a way to get drinks without the professors noticing. Now that they had two tents, he and Prota shared one while the twins shared the other. He'd pulled out his canteen, pull out a bottle from his pocket dimension, and fill his canteen with the drink. He was reminded of an office worker trying to sneak vodka to their desk in a water bottle, but he tried not to think of himself as a depressed alcoholic.

"That stuff's not good for you."

Zero didn't come out for fear of observation, but his voice was still loud and clear.

"Oh, please," John sighed, leaning back as he kicked his feet up. The fire was dying down, but it still cast a comfortable warmth outward. "You were the one who told me my body doesn't get affected by anything other than combat. I can't age. I can't get fat unless it's for comedy or something."

"Of course you'd remember that part specifically," Zero sighed. "Go ahead. Find an escape in the bottle."

"...this is soda, Zero."

"So? Your [Setting] makes it so it has the same effect as alcohol anyway. Well, you can't get drunk. But you'll definitely get a little stupider."

"What the- what kinda dumbass came up with that idea?"

"Guess."

John sighed, taking another swig. Anyone watching would have definitely found him strange. He was in the body of a child, but he was acting like a depressed twenty-something overworked college kid. Well, the [Author] was definitely lazy enough that any Mystics watching wouldn't comment on it.

"It's nice, though, isn't it?" Zero said suddenly. "I mean, I wouldn't mind sharing a drink with you right now. This is quite a nice beach. You should enjoy it."

"You're only saying that 'cause something's gonna happen."

John closed his eyes and listened to the crashing of waves, but somehow, it wasn't nearly as relaxing as yesterday.

~~~

"You saw what?"

The students who'd been eliminated were in a tropical resort of sorts. Private chefs, clean beaches and water for swimming, laid back chairs and fresh fruit, anything someone could hope for in a vacation.

Unfortunately, one group of students was unable to enjoy it.

"It- it was like a beast," Harriet said, shivering as she huddled up in a blanket. "I- I don't know. It was human? I guess? Maybe elf? But it was like an animal. Snarling, growling, claws, sharp teeth-"

She shuddered as she remembered the creature that had attacked her.

"There were three others," Leon said. Having been carried, he'd had the best look at the situation. He was also the calmest of the group. "In cloaks. We couldn't see their faces."

"Their voice?" Lupin said quietly.

He frowned. What was going on? The island was supposed to be protected, monitored at all times so that incidents like this didn't happen.

"They didn't speak. Nothing at all."

Leora cast Lupin a quick glance. Neither of them knew what was going on. The entire point of the test had been to see how the students would adapt to their surroundings and use their powers, respectively. If John had known, he would've thrown a fit, but combat really wasn't something the teachers were looking for. Sure, they'd expected a couple of groups to clash, but there were meant to be enough supplies to let everyone survive. It wouldn't be comfortable, but it would be possible.

The animals had, in fact, been intentional. Crates had been placed near areas where animals typically congregated. Students would most likely need to use their wits to get to their goal. The animals were dangerous, yes, but that was the whole point of the safety devices.

More than the safety devices, though, the teachers had been monitoring the students. They had to, in order to mark them accordingly. The worrying part was that at no point had they seen any strange beings or figures. There were magic circles planted all over the island to let them know if something had gone wrong, and none of them had gone off.

At no point had they ever planned to form a group to hunt students down.

"You," Lupin said, snapping his fingers.

An assistant teacher ran over, waiting for instructions.

"Get ready to send a message to the headmaster. Do not send it yet, but prepare it. We may need support."

"The- the headmaster, sir?"

"Yes. Are you doubting me?"

"No, sir!"

The frightened man didn't argue and ran off. The two Mystics gave the students a few comforting words before heading off to their own rooms, worry eating away at their minds.

"Lupin, are you sure? Involving Sofya would be-"

"I am sure."

"You believe this to be something beyond us?"

Lupin closed his eyes. That boy was on the island, wasn't he? John. The wolf Mystic hadn't been paying too much attention to that manaless student, but from the few times he'd taken a look, he seemed to be doing extraordinarily well for his status. He seemed to be a natural leader, even if his characteristics weren't very leader-like.

It was fascinating. He didn't have the qualities of a good commander. He was lazy, careless, and seemed to do things as they came. He didn't have a knack for organizing or encouraging others, let alone convincing those around him to do what he wanted.

And yet, somehow. He managed to command and lead, and it always worked out. And those around him. The Elvish princess. Destiny Windwalker. Danjo Jadu, whom he'd heard was a budding genius. Prota Char, his sister, was a mage of extraordinary talent.

How did such a crude and powerless boy do it?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There had to be something more to him. Something beyond the realm of logic, something supernatural even in a world of magic and mana.

"That boy is there," Lupin said quietly.

"Do you still believe it's him?" Leora asked.

"Do you not?"

"I don't know. He's manaless, is he not? I can sense it. But she told us he used some kind of power against her. He has yet to exhibit anything of the sort. I do not dismiss the possibility, but still…"

"He's special, Leora," Lupin said quietly as he sat on a chair. He stared out into the ocean, watching the sun reflect off the water's surface. "And if he really does know something we don't, then what's going on out there might truly be beyond us."

~~~

John looked at the noble standing before him.

"...you want us to what now?"

"You heard me. Hand over everything you have."

Fortunately or unfortunately for Draco's team, the first team he'd run into was John's. It was unfortunate because John had no intentions of just doing what Draco said. It was fortunate for Draco's team members because it looked like they would get an escape from this whole thing.

"I- what? Why would we just do that?" John frowned.

"You should be honoured to-"

"No. No, I'm not going to- you know what? Let's kill him. Guys, let's just kill him."

Unfortunately, John was unaware of the sheer amount of power Draco held over the Casting class. He had no interest in political power games, so unfortunately, the standoff would last a little longer than anybody was hoping for. He looked back and saw the looks on his teammates' faces.

"...no fighting, huh?"

John sighed. He had a vague idea of what was going on here. He was surprised that Prota wasn't stepping up, but perhaps it was due to the presence of the twins. Well, whatever. He didn't really care.

Taking a quick look at the enemy, he could immediately tell that even he could take them on. Hungry, tired, overworked, and, to be honest, it looked like they didn't want to be here anymore either.

"Alright, then. I'll do this alone," John sighed.

"Alone?!" Lilith exclaimed. "John, hold on. You can't just-"

"Why not?"

His body was still probably hurting from the fight with Destiny, but as long as he couldn't feel it, he would just keep pressing forward. If he took too much damage, it would be an issue since he'd have to wait for the test to be over to heal up, but otherwise, Draco alone couldn't be that much of a threat, right?

"Your teammates know what it means to go against me," the noble sneered.

John just stared at Draco. What was this dumbass trying to do? What could he possibly do to threaten him? He had no family aside from Prota, and Prota wasn't someone Draco could touch. He had the Elvish king as his backer now, and he had no obligations to the human kingdom. Now that he knew Quaesitor Veritatis was a name he could throw around with weight, he had that in his back pocket as well.

If it came to it, there really was nothing Draco held over him. And if that was the case, then all Draco could do was deliver empty threats.

"You're just a bug. Why are you even trying? Just hand over your food, and I'll spare you and leave you alone," Draco tried, although he was a little less confident than before.

John clenched his teeth, trying to stop himself from responding. The little shit was really grinding his gears.

"It's bait… it's bait, don't take the bait…" John muttered to himself.

"What's that? I couldn't-"

He wouldn't finish his sentence. At that moment, a spine-chilling cry rang out through the island, the same screech the creature had made while chasing Leon's team. And while everyone still taking the exam could hear it, the sound was especially close to John's group at the moment.

"Shit," he cursed.

This was it. The twist he'd been waiting for. To be honest, he felt an incredible sense of relief. It'd been far too long without some kind of advancement to the [Plot], and now that something had happened, he could rest a little easier.

Additionally, it just seemed to be some kind of beast or monster. That would be easy enough to deal with.

The reason he'd cursed was due to the fact that he currently lacked a weapon.

"Wh- what was that?" Lilith said quietly, as if whatever had made that sound would hear her if she spoke any louder.

"I don't know," John said, his voice also quieter than usual.

His face was grim as he looked around. There was enough light poking through the holes in the canopy of leaves that you could see, but the shadows made for easy hiding spots. All thoughts of Draco had left his mind at this point.

"You two," he said, looking at the twins. "If you want to back out now, I wouldn't blame you. I don't think the teachers would, either."

"Wait- this isn't part of the exam?" Ryan said, eyes wide in fear.

"Wh- no! Why the hell would this be part of the exam?"

"For an extra challenge or something, I don't know!"

"Do you see those guys over there? They're barely standing! You think the students here need an extra challenge?" John yelled.

Ryan would've argued back, but another screech ran out. This one was closer. The twins began shaking in their boots. John just sighed. They'd been doing well, but an unexpected life-or-death situation wasn't something they should be used to, other world or not.

He looked at them, shaking his head. "This isn't your fight to take."

Neither twin had seen John so serious before. He wasn't nervous. He wasn't upset. He wasn't angry, nor was he excited.

Just dead serious.

"We- we'll stay here," Lilith said, her voice shaky.

"You sure?" John grimaced, stretching his arms. "This isn't gonna be like anything you've ever done before."

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" Draco yelled, raising his hands to cast a spell.

John didn't even look at the nuisance.

"Prota."

She wasted no time in raising four icicles. Draco's underlings were willing to go out, especially with some kind of unknown monster roaming the island, and Draco himself hadn't been ready for such a surprise attack. They vanished, their protective mechanisms teleporting them out of the island.

The twins stared in shock. No hesitation. Just one word, one action, and everything was cleaned up, nice and tidy.

"Ok, what makes you so qualified to stay, then? I thought you weren't good at fighting!" Ryan argued.

"I'm not. She is, though," John said, pointing at his sister.

"You're just gonna hide behind her the whole time?"

To Ryan's surprise, it was Prota, not John, who nodded. She, too, had an unusual air of determination about her. Her face was as sleepy as ever, but there was some kind of feeling about her that made her feel a lot more dangerous.

"Why don't you just leave, too, if this is so strange?" Lilith said nervously. "Shouldn't the teachers be getting involved?"

"They probably don't know what's going on either," John admitted. "And it's gonna take them a little bit of time to get here."

He wasn't worried about that. What he was worried about was this creature. Why was it so close? It should be going after Destiny if anybody. So why did it feel like it was about to jump them?

More importantly, though, was the fact that he probably couldn't leave. He wasn't about to risk his life to test whether or not the device would work. But he couldn't tell the twins that. He'd have to bluff. Thank goodness they didn't have a built-in lie detector like a certain someone.

"Then we should all leave together!" Lilith exclaimed.

John shook his head. "Sorry. I made a deal that I have to keep."

Prota looked at John. He'd done what?

"Nothing strange," he whispered. "I'll explain later."

"You haven't answered the question, though," Ryan said, walking up to John. "Why do you think you can stay?"

"Huh? I'm more than capable," John said, shaking his head. "I told you about Destiny, right? How do you think I know all of those feats of his?"

"What? Didn't he just tell you stories?"

"Tell me stories?" John scoffed. "I mean, yeah, I guess I got told a story. Not by him, though."

"Not by… him?"

"Well," John shrugged, pulling a fresh set of clothes out. He tugged at his scarf, pulling it up to cover his face. "I mean, we were there, too, you know?"

~~~

"Sir!"

The assistant teacher burst into Lupin's room, panting.

"Communications have been cut off!"

"Cut… off?"

"Yes, sir! The safety devices are still working since they rely on the user's mana to activate, but all other devices are no longer functional. That includes devices from here to the main island!"

"What, is someone cutting us off?"

"No, it's more like… someone's hijacked the system," the assistant frowned. "We tried to fly over to the island, but the barrier that once stopped others from getting in is now preventing us from entering."

"What?!"

Leora stood up. She'd had a hand in making that barrier, after all. She was the one who'd developed the magic to be turned into magic circles. Who in the world was hijacking it?

"Go. Send someone to the mainland, now," Lupin frowned.

"But with our abilities, that would take at least an hour, maybe two…"

"I'll go, then!" Leora exclaimed.

She got ready to leave, but a hand pulled her back down. Lupin.

"No. You need to stay in case something goes wrong."

"The island is-"

"Not there. Here."

Half the students had already been eliminated or had given up. They'd done well in the teacher's eyes, but right now, this also meant that a good number of children were playing around on this unprotected island.

"Kh-! Fine. Go. And be fast!" Leora ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

The man ran out the door, but not a minute later, he was sprinting back in.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Lupin stared into the poor man's soul.

"This had better be important."

"The barrier… contained trace amounts of demonic magic."

~~~

The group stared at the now visible figure.

"What… the hell is that?"

It was a beast, but also strangely human-like. It was clothed in a cloak, but the thing was tattered and torn, as if someone had tried to put human clothes on a wild bear and left it alone for a few days. It was sniffing around, perhaps trying to find something.

"I don't know. Have we heard anything from anyone?" Lilith said, covering her mouth.

"...did we get any kind of communication device?" John muttered.

"No."

Prota was staring intently at the creature, looking for something, but it was to no use.

"John," she muttered. "Only one soul."

"So it's not a chimera," he muttered, rubbing his chin.

"A what?"

"Don't worry about it. The thing is… how do we kill it?"

There was an audible gulp from behind. John sighed and turned around. He trusted his sister to keep an eye on the thing.

"I told you. You can back out. That option is still available. The only time you can't back out is once the fight starts, because once that happens, I'll be planning around you two getting involved."

"Then doesn't that mean you need us?" Lilith exclaimed. "Then we should stay, right?"

"Need you, don't need you, the hell does that mean? No, Prota alone can probably pull something off. How hurt she gets depends on how much assistance she can receive."

"Then we should-"

"No. You don't get it, do you?" John sighed. "If you tap out mid-fight, that's infinitely worse than you leaving right now. If you stay, you stay the whole way through, until you get pseudo-killed and sent back with the safety devices. You cannot afford to pussy out mid-fight. You either risk your life, or you don't. Got it?"

He could almost hear the cogs whirring in the head of the twins. They were good kids. They wanted to help Prota, and for that, he was eternally grateful. His sister had gone way too long without friends of her own, and seeing such loyal people next to her was definitely a good thing. The problem was that if they weren't dedicated enough, it would cause numerous issues.

The two problems were as follows: first, John didn't know if this was an [Event] from the original [Story], or if this was once again a consequence of his interference. If it was, in fact, his fault, then Destiny would likely need his assistance. John wasn't sure what he'd do without [Infinity], but he'd do what he could. That was, after all, what he'd promised the king. He wasn't one to always follow through with promises, but this was one he intended to keep.

Second, and far more risky, was that he was starting to believe Destiny's worries about the whole safety mechanism not working theory. He hadn't been worried before because he'd been confident he'd survive. He was up against a bunch of inexperienced kids. What was the worst that could happen?

But now that there was some kind of wild monster of unknown origin roaming around, he could no longer assume that he'd be able to keep himself safe.

"John."

He turned around to see Prota putting her hand on his chest.

"It's ok."

Had she somehow sensed his nervousness? She seemed to be telling him that everything would be alright. Well, with something like that, how could he back down now?

"We'll stay," Ryan said suddenly.

It seemed everyone had made up their minds. The twins looked nervous, but that was to be expected. If anything, John and Prota were definitely the weird ones for being so calm.

"Alright. Then, if we engage, Prota and I will take the frontline. I don't have much of a strategy other than for you to provide as much support as possible. Provide cover fire in any way you can."

"We can-"

"You can't fight in close range. You don't know how. Just leave it to us."

"But-"

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Something was close. Very close. They could hear wet pants, smell stained blood and raw flesh, as if it were a carnivore that'd just finished a meal of raw meat.

"Fo-o-ound yo-ou."