Dimensions Collide: Destiny Bond

Sofya turned to her student.

"Prota, do you know what an Archmage is?"

Prota nodded. A caster who had reached the ninth circle, someone who created their own magic, a spell unusable by anyone other than them. Spoken of as the pinnacle of casting, able to use magic well enough to manipulate mana to their own will.

"You are technically an Archmage, child."

Prota's eyes widened. Her, an Archmage? Sure, she understood that she was able to make her own spells, but did that really put her at the same level as the few who could call themselves as such?

An Archmage stood at the pinnacle of the world. Destiny himself had said as much. Such beings were few and far between. How could she be deserving of such a title?

Sofya laughed. "You seem to be confused. An Archmage is not necessarily a ninth-circle mage. Never in history have we had an Archmage as unlearned as you, but that does not change the facts. Using a ninth-circle spell, the trait of a ninth-circle mage, does not imply you are an Archmage. A few mages in history have managed to copy the spells of other Archmages."

Sofya's eyes lit up as her mind went back hundreds of years into the past.

"A ninth-circle spell simply refers to the amount of power it packs, same as every other level of circle. Therefore, you can be a ninth-circle mage without being an Archmage. It is simply that reaching the level of ninth-circle spells often implies that you are capable of creating your own magic. It has been done before and may likely happen again."

She pointed at the little girl's chest, a smile forming on her lips.

"But you are the first to do it the other way around. You are the first to create magic before reaching the ninth circle. You are a unique, special individual. I have never seen a child more hated by mana than you."

Prota's eyes widened. Hated… by mana? So even the very energy that held the world together stood in her way.

"But that has not stopped you. Despite its reluctance to work with you, you have reined it in. Put it under your control. I do not know your story. Your struggle. But the harvest of your work is clear. I have never met a child with greater control over mana than you. The professors speak highly of you, you know. They wonder if you are a secret weapon raised by the kingdoms. An escaped experiment. A dragon. Although, the last cannot be true. You are an incredible existence, Prota."

Prota took a shaky breath as she closed her eyes. Her efforts had been worth it. They weren't in vain. They weren't for nothing.

Thank goodness.

"Child. Let us move elsewhere."

Before she could react, the headmaster put her hand on Prota's shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, they were transported elsewhere. The sudden light blinded her, but as she blinked the brightness away, she nearly gasped as she found herself floating far above a small, deserted island.

"I am about to show you something special, child. Few have seen this. Fewer have survived. I want you to watch carefully, ok?"

The dragon's silver-white hair began to glow as her emerald green eyes snapped open, glowing like spotlights. Her voice came out, echoing with power.

"The Tenth Seda."

A small circle appeared in front of her, glowing pure white.

"Han."

The circle slowly grew larger.

"Tool."

The circle was large enough that intricate lines could be seen from inside, creating a formation similar to a magic circle.

"Set."

Still, the circle grew larger and more intricate.

"Net."

Prota closed her eyes and saw mana swirling around the headmaster like crazy, all tunnelling into this singular circle being formed.

"Tas."

The wind was beginning to pick up, the sheer amount of mana creating a vortex of pressure.

"Yas."

The very air began to tremble.

"Il. Yod."

The magic circle was massive, now.

"Ao."

At this point, Prota herself was being drawn in, frantically waving her arms as if trying to swim out of the way. The circle was the size of a house.

"Yol."

Suddenly, the wind stopped. The vortex ceased. All that was left was a giant magic circle the size of the island.

"The Tenth Seda."

Sofya Orhein, dragon, extended her arm as if to give someone directions. The magic circle floated slowly over the island, positioning itself in the air. Another circle identical to the one above was formed on the ground, marking the entire island.

"Go."

There was a massive roar as a beam of pure white spilled out of the magic circle, an unending, overwhelming torrent of mana, like a waterfall of pure energy rushing down. The light was blinding, the sound deafening, but the headmaster simply floated, watching the spectacle with a pleased expression.

When the spell finally faded, there was no island left. Instead, there was simply a deep crater, and water began rushing in to fill the missing space.

"That," Sofya smiled, "is the spell that I created to become an Archmage."

Prota shuddered. This woman might be as powerful as Diaboli. Maybe even John.

"This is what I want you to learn."

~~~

Arthur panicked, trying to hold John back.

"Hey, I don't know if you should-"

John waved him off. "It'll be fine. I promise."

John had gone to visit Arthur in the labs. True to Destiny's tales, it seemed there had been a bit of an explosion.

"By the way, you sure you don't have any plans of becoming a demolitionist?" John said casually, looking around.

"Wh- no!"

"Then why does your shit keep blowing up?"

"These are very fragile and sensitive ingredients! One wrong move, and everything could fall apart!"

"Hm… I see. Fair enough."

The reason for his visit was something he couldn't tell anybody. Not Destiny, not Prota. It wasn't that he was planning anything devious. It was just that they would try to talk him out of it, and he had no plans of backing out. Despite his rash actions, he was well aware of when his actions were stupid. That was why he often let his plans slip; he needed someone else to talk him out of it.

However, if he absolutely knew what he wanted, there would be no talking him out of it. His friends would definitely try to stop him.

He didn't feel like dealing with that.

"Well, I didn't come here to criticize you," John shrugged. "The point is, do you have it?"

"Well, yeah, I have a bunch. They're pretty small. But I told you! It's too dangerous! Why are you willing to throw away your life for something like this?!"

John sighed. Arthur was a good kid. That was currently a problem.

"Look, I'd rather not say, ok? And I can assure you it won't hurt me."

"But-"

"Fine. How about a deal? You give me the pills, and I teach you how to make a better version."

Arthur's eyes widened. "But you're in the Fighting class. What do you know about alchemy?"

"Nothing," John shrugged. "But the issue is something related to fine-tuning the recipe, right?"

Arthur hesitated. "That's correct."

"And how exactly are you fine-tuning things?"

"Well, using weights and scales, as well as the beakers they have in the classes. I've asked for permission to use the beakers the advanced students use, but since they're rare and hard to make, I'm not allowed to touch them."

"'Cause you might blow them up, right," John sighed. "But you need more precise measurements, don't you? Something better than eyeballing. Something smaller than a gram."

"How'd you- what? How'd you know that?"

"Don't worry about it."

He couldn't say it was because he was from Earth, and he didn't really feel like getting into a long conversation here. The point was for him to get the pills and get out. He might be interfering with the [Plot], but his personal satisfaction came above that right now. Surely something like this couldn't snowball into something terrible, right?

"...you promise you can help? Wait, no, what am I saying? I can't hand over the pills! I told you, you're risking your life!" Arthur exclaimed.

John sighed. Did he really have to resort to this? Well, it was time to play the sympathy card. He hated acting like this. Sympathy was something he'd rather not resort to, mainly because it was something he lacked, but if it worked…

"Arthur, listen. I don't have a mana core. I haven't had one since birth."

This was true. Well, not really. It was lying by omission. But Arthur didn't know that.

"Wait, so you mean-"

"I've been getting along without using magic, ever. That's right. Do you know what that means? That means every class, every exam, I just get the shit beaten out of me because I can't fight back. You know how that feels, right?"

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"I-"

"Just a few times," John pleaded. "Just a few times, during exams, I want to be able to fight back. And if I die early, well, that's a small price to pay for a good life, right? I want to be something, Arthur."

John was cringing the whole way through. Such cheesy lines. Such blatant lies. But how else was he supposed to convince the boy? He couldn't just tell him that he was an immortal whose body ignored the concept of time.

He was aware that this scene was rather rushed. There was no progression up to this point, no development that had led to him gaining this new tool. This whole interaction felt forced.

That would be because he was forcing it.

But he didn't want to wait anymore. He didn't have the patience to keep going without the ability to let loose. Now that a potential solution was in sight, he wanted it, and he wanted it now.

"...but-"

"And in exchange, you'll be able to create something that could help tons of people. Also, you told me the risks. I'm asking for your medicine, knowing what I'm getting into. Please?"

The boy was kind, but he was also easily swayed. Besides, his dedication was to finish his father's mission, and the lure of being able to do so was just too strong. It was obvious. Well that was John's specialty, wasn't it? [Reading].

"Fine. But you have to promise me you won't abuse these, ok? I don't want your life on my hands."

John grinned. "You won't have to worry about that."

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out several sets of scientific equipment, including graduated cylinders, beakers, and an electronic scale.

"This thing won't last forever, so be careful with it, ok?"

"What the- what is this?"

"You'll figure it out. Have fun!"

~~~

Student and headmaster were soon transported back to the training area they'd been using for all of Prota's private lessons.

"I've seen from your math scores that you've been paying good attention in math class. Have you ever heard of an 'exponent' by any chance?" Sofya asked.

Prota nodded.

"Ah, then this will make things much easier. See, the spell I just showed you is a result of exponential power. Each part of the spell I uttered is one 'step.' Each step doubles the power of the spell."

In Sofya's hands, two flames formed. Merging together, they formed a flame twice as large. Another flame of the same size formed, and the flame doubled in size again.

"Do you understand what this means? This isn't just addition, Prota. The tenth step is one-thousand-and-twenty-four times as powerful as the first. Raw mana, concentrated and fired in a beam of pure energy."

The flames were quickly snuffed out, but the light in Prota's eyes remained.

"Do you understand what this is? I don't expect you to get it right away, and I especially don't expect you to reach the tenth step. But maybe, just maybe, you can do something with this. The beauty of this spell is that it can be fired at any time, at any step."

Prota nodded. Already, her mind was filled with ideas.

She'd just received so many things. A way to progress with her magic. An idea of how to proceed. A powerful spell to dissect, to analyze, and to use to her own advantage. Paired with the task of improving her mana reinforcement on parts of her body like the bones, veins, skin and muscles, and she would be busy for the next year at the very least.

"I see you are ready. Good. I expect great things from you."

~~~

"Alright, let's test this out…"

John took out the bag Arthur had given him. There were a lot of pills in there. Most of them were failures that hadn't exploded. According to the alchemist, they were all supposed to do the same thing.

Trade some of your lifespan for a second mana core. In John's case, trade absolutely nothing for a singular mana core.

"Right. Here goes nothing."

John popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed, waiting for something to happen. Nothing. Well, maybe it just took a little time to process.

"Hey, Zero? Isn't something supposed to be happening?"

No response. Was someone nearby? John opened the door to his room and looked around, but there was no one in sight. He closed the door and peeked out the window, but again, there was nobody in sight. He frowned, then went to the wardrobe. Nothing in there, either. The washroom? Nope, that was empty too.

"Zero?"

Where had his soul gone? This wasn't like him. Was he playing some kind of prank?

"Look, if you don't wanna tell me what's going on, you can just say tha-"

Suddenly, a surge of energy shot through John's body, his chest burning up as if he'd swallowed a hot coal. He clenched his teeth, then shoved his scarf into his mouth and bit down to prevent his scream from leaking out. Jolts of energy kept pulsing through every vein as if they were electric wires, his body spazzing out as if he were being electrocuted. Even with [Determination], something felt wrong. It didn't quite hurt, but it definitely wasn't comfortable, either.

Soon, the pain subsided, and he returned to normal. Well, not exactly normal. He could feel an overwhelming power coursing through his body, completely unlike the sensation he experienced when he used [Infinity]. His body felt stronger, faster, his hearing enhanced, his vision sharper, and there was a new tingle to the air he hadn't felt before.

"This is… mana?"

Thankfully, from some of the scraps in his memory, he could find versions of his past self using magic without [Infinity], so he had a vague idea of what to do next. The burning feeling in his chest was still there, but it was infinitely lighter than before. He focused, trying to force that heat throughout his body, and it worked. He felt light. Incredibly light. He bounced up and down a little and found that he was far more agile than usual.

"Then this should also work…"

Focusing his attention in front of him, he pictured a flame. He pictured a spark and pure oxygen coming together, and suddenly, a flame sparked to life just above his hand.

"Magic," he whispered, a shudder of excitement running through his body.

He had to test this out.

Running out of his room, he dashed to Destiny's door and knocked. A few seconds later, he heard the scraping of a chair followed by some footsteps.

"What do you want?" Destiny frowned as he opened the door.

"Me. You. Training area, now."

"What? What are you-"

"Spar. Let's spar, right now."

John had forgotten what it was like to fight for fun. What it was like to wield power with no consequence, to enhance one's body without a whiplash or restriction. This wasn't [Infinity]. This wasn't bullshit. He'd play by the rules of physics, obey the rules of this world. But would he win?

He wanted to know.

"Um, sure, but if you don't mind me asking… why?" Destiny asked cautiously.

"I just wanna see something. Come on, are you backing off?"

John was so incredibly energized that it was no wonder Destiny was being cautious. It was like a sick child perking up after being told they could play games all day; you knew something was up.

"No, no, this just… isn't like you."

John grinned. "You'll see."

He practically dragged the hero to the training grounds, where the sun was already beginning to set. Winter would be coming soon.

Reaching into his bag, John pulled out his bat. It was a weapon he was allowed to use more than once, since its only property was its indestructibility. He would need something stronger than a training sword for something like this.

"Alright," he said, bouncing back and forth. "Come on, get your sword out."

"My sword- John, are you sure?"

"Hell yeah, I'm sure. Come on, don't hold back."

Destiny frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you planning something?"

"No, no. Just a good, honest fight. I'm not using anything other than the weapon in my hands."

Destiny sighed, unsheathing his blade. "Alright. You asked for it."

As soon as Destiny was armed, John dashed forward, but for the first time, he was easily able to keep up with his friend's movements without using some kind of cheat. He threw his bat to the side, parrying the slash and immediately brought it around for a counter-attack. He almost laughed in excitement. The bat felt so light. There was no need to push himself to counter the force of the swing, no need to strain his muscles to move his weapon around.

It was as light as a feather, almost like an extension of his arm. He could swing this thing freely. It was like using [Infinity], but without having to worry about silly things like saving the world or risking his life.

"John, what the hell?" Destiny frowned, leaping back. "How are you doing that?"

"I'll tell you if you can beat me," John grinned.

"Oh, it's on."

Destiny's blade began to coat itself with flames, but what would that do? All John had to do was parry each attack, and it wouldn't matter whether or not the sword was enhanced with magic. At least, that was what he thought. As sword met bat, a bright flash blinded John, who was forced to back off.

"What the hell was that?" John yelled.

"Trick I picked up. Come on, where's that bravado from before?"

"Right here."

John dashed in this time, taking the initiative. Swing after swing, blow after blow, clash after clash, ringing out as his heavy attacks were parried one after the other. Something was off. Destiny wasn't even mildly pressed, and he was reacting immediately as if time were slowed—

Ah.

"You're a cheater, you know that?" John frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're increasing your perception. Time's slowing down for you."

"You- how do you even know that?"

"I told you, I already taught Prota how to do that!" John exclaimed, bringing his bat up again. "Did you think I didn't know what you're doing?"

He raised his hand and shot out a fireball. It was weak, barely affecting his opponent, but it wasn't the damage he was aiming for.

It was the element of surprise.

"John, what the hell?!"

"Surprised?"

He dashed in, and this time, his bat made contact with Destiny's arm. There was a bit of a crunch as the force of the attack made it through a bit of the boy's mana reinforcement. Not enough to break a bone, but enough to leave a bit of a bruise, something John had been able to do only with grenades.

"Kh-! I thought you didn't have a mana core!"

"Correct!"

"Then how-"

John gripped his bat with both hands, delivering one last mighty blow that stunned Destiny as his blade literally shook in his hands. Both fighters backed off, panting ever so slightly.

Another advantage of mana reinforcement. John didn't feel tired. He wasn't as exhausted as he'd normally be. Instead, it felt more like he'd gone for a light jog, the dopamine of exercise rushing to his head.

"Thanks for the spar."

"Hey, how-"

"I told you," John grinned. "I'd tell you if you beat-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. He collapsed, his face planting into the dirt.

~~~

John slowly blinked his eyes open to see a soft, orange light above him.

"Mm… where…"

He tried to sit up but found that his body wouldn't let him. His arms and legs felt like jelly. All he could do was tilt his head up with a grunt and found he was in the school's nursing room. What'd happened? He'd been fighting Destiny, and then…

"What the hell?" he frowned.

"Ah, this motherfucker. Don't do something like that without asking for my advice first."

A familiar voice.

"Zero? Where were you?" John said quietly.

"Gone, thanks to you."

"Thanks to me?" John frowned. Had he really managed to make his soul disappear? "What do you mean?"

Zero sighed, appearing above John's bed. He floated down and sat on the edge.

"Do you understand what it means to use one's life force as payment?"

"Huh?" John was confused. "Doesn't that usually just mean taking a few years off however long I'd live?"

"Usually, yes," Zero nodded. "But think about the world we're in. The rules change from world to world. Here, people's lives are determined by how much mana is left in their soul."

"...what?"

"Everything is powered by mana here, John. If atoms are the universe's building blocks, then mana is the universal battery. Here, the reason a person dies is because their body no longer has the mana to power it."

"And the soul is the battery that provides said mana?"

"Correct."

There was a bit of silence.

"Wait, so taking time off the lifespan-"

"Yeah, you're literally taking mana from your soul and using it to make a temporary mana core. Unfortunately, your soul is me. Guess what that means?"

John shook his head. "Hold on, that's not possible. It couldn't have used you up. You're here. And besides, even Prota couldn't take you out. You can resist these kinds of things on your own. What do you mean?"

"It didn't take me, John. It just disabled me. John, you don't follow the rules of this world. Mana is not something native to you. In the first place, the existence of souls as we currently know them are bound to this world. The concept of an "identity" being made up of mana exists in this world, not all worlds."

"...huh?"

Zero sighed. "I hate the bring this up, but you have to remember, this is fiction. There is no universal rule, ever. There are similarities and common themes, but nothing is truly uniform. The concept of mana and souls, at least for now, are bound to this world. You, however, are not bound to this world. Your soul, me, is not made up of mana."

"Wait, don't tell me-"

"No, you didn't use up any [Deus Ex Machina] energy." Zero chuckled. "Be grateful for that."

John breathed out a huge sigh of relief. That was a resource he couldn't afford to waste. But then, if he hadn't used that, then what had he used instead? Zero was his soul, but it wasn't like it was going to take a part of Zero. Then what?

"I don't know what it uses," Zero said, reading John's mind. "But I can tell you what happened to you."

John waited, getting anxious.

"First, you did receive a mana core. A pretty decent one, at that. Your previous lives have definitely helped with your affinity in dealing with mana, but your affinity with casting kinda sucks. Doesn't matter."

"Yeah, I kinda already figured all that out. Get to the point."

"The point is that while you were fighting, your body was still acting as if you had no mana at all."

John frowned. What? He'd felt the difference, felt the increased stamina, felt the increased strength.

"Sorry. That didn't make sense. Let me clarify. What this does is pull upon your future strength and stamina. Think of the "mana" core as a timer. That timer is set to, oh, say, a full day. It was a lot shorter this time around, but picture a full day's worth of stamina, strength, and durability. What allows that to happen…"

The soul finished with a shrug.

"...ah." John could see where this was going.

"Instead of having your limits set to that of a regular human, you can somehow draw upon your future stamina, strength and durability and sort of compound it into one moment in time. I don't know how the specifics of the numbers work, but once you use up all that borrowed time, your body collapses. You already used up that energy, and so it's not there for you in the future."

John felt the strength in his body slowly coming back. He flexed his fingers, his hands still weak and shaky.

"Then magic…?"

"Ah. The casting and stuff? Well, you technically have a mana core, right?" Zero sighed. "I can't believe I had to explain all of this."

"Wait, yeah. Why were you able to explain all that?"

"Because no one else but you would've done this, John!" his soul burst out, showing anger for the first time in… when was the last time Zero had shown some form of frustration? "Normally, ■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■- oh. Look, my point is that nobody but you can do this."

John's eyes widened.

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah. Use that wisely, by the way. I wouldn't recommend using it anywhere but exams. Use [Infinity] if you're gonna fight real fights."

"...you. Are you telling me? To use [Infinity]?"

Zero nodded.

"You're boring." Suddenly, John realized a question had yet to be answered. "Hey. What happened?"

"What?"

"When you were gone."

Zero turned around, remaining silent.

"Hey, answer me!" John forced himself to sit up, struggling to face his soul. "What the hell happened while you were gone?"