Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

It had been a month since Jon and the others defeated the Venomous-Sand Hydra and cleared the Burning Desert Of Kel. A month since Jon discovered the Sunlit Inferno Lagoon, clearing both the eight and tenth mandatory tasks associated with Dungeons and Wonders.

During this time Jon and the others had found and completed one other Dungeon within the System Introduction. After deciding to journey northwards to better explore the small realm, Avahni with the assistance of Annwn Boann and Cadhla Medb had discovered a Dungeon Of "Lake" on an island in the centre of the lake, northward of their original campsite.

And a Dungeon Of "Rat" in the swamp several kilometres east of their current campsite.

The first Dungeon, the Graceful Waters Of Yog as the System had referred to it, was another Mortal Ranked Localized Dungeon which required the five of them to defeat a Moonlit-Shadow Crab which dwelled within the mirror image of the moon on the water's surface.

The battle was even easier than the one against the Venomous-Sand Hydra and the environment allowed for both Xochitl and Ortlinde to almost overwhelm the Dungeon Guardian all on their own, given the abundance of flora and space the two needed to fight.

The second Dungeon on the other hand, took the form of an ancient cave-system filled to the brim with hundreds, if not thousands of rat-creatures. It took Jon and the others the better part of four days to complete it, trying to find each other through the stench of blood and fur, in a world near-devoid of any natural light source.

The Dungeon Guardian was called the Baneful-Mountain Rat but was not nearly as difficult to defeat as either the Venomous-Sand Hydra or the Moonlit-Shadow Crab. The only thing noteworthy about the Rat-Caverns Of Photh, was its labyrinth-esque layout and how annoying it was to traverse.

Each of them had obtained the Lord Ranked reward associated with the tenth task, although Jon, Wilheim and Avahni all refrained from accepting it, not needing another Mana Core of their choice right this very moment.

Sariel and Shamael on the other hand, were quite thankful for the opportunity to obtain another Mana Core of their choice.

Sariel chose a Phoenix Mana Core pushing herself towards the Fifth Initiation.

Shamael on the other hand, had long since integrated the Hydra Mana Core he had obtained from the Venomous-Sand Hydra and instead chosen something that not even Wilheim expected him to.

A Summon Mana Core.

The sight of which caused all the summoned companions present to twitch at the presence of, peering at the blue-skinned satanas with no small amount of interest on their faces. The fact that he had chosen a Summon Mana Core aside, the possibilities of additional companions was something that Ru Luan Di, Ashvattha Rana and Despoina had all gotten used to.

Adding even more might stir the pot but strengthened their group to the point where even Ortlinde or Ler Setanta would have to think twice before taking head on. Avahni, at the very least, seemed quite pleased with the choice that Shamael had made, patting him on the back several times offering to help him with obtaining catalysts for any summoning rituals he might need.

With her assistance allowing him to use a Fragment Of Serpent to summon [Aahron; Phosphorus Night Murder] and a Fragment Of Knight to summon [Lamorak; Knight Of Golden-Tree].

The addition of these two summoned companions increased his flexibility and coordination with others during combat. Aahron and Lamorak, could be used to fight on the front-line while Shamael and Ahuatzi could provide ranged sources of damage and support from afar.

Jon did not know what manner of fragments Shamael had integrated into his Hydra Mana Core but recommended him to integrate a Fragment Of Regeneration. He had not told him what type of effects his own [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] possessed, but told him it would manifest some sort of self-healing ability.

Although perhaps the most important thing to have happened to the two satanas over the past month… would be the formation of their Mortal Titles.

Shamael and Sariel agreed to form their Titles at the same time, allowing Jon, Wilheim and Avahni to protect them while doing so. Despoina sat closely beside Sariel, her feathered neck resting gently in her lap all the while.

After eight hours the two awoke smiling the moment they both opened their eyes.

Sariel was now Sariel Of Lemnos; Adeptus Sanctus Medicus.

And Shamael was now Shamael Of Lemnos; Legionnaire Of Virtuous Pestilence.

Both seemed quite pleased with their Titles, especially Sariel who Jon often caught staring at her status page chatting with Despoina while pointing out several synergies some of her abilities had. The addition of a Phoenix Mana Core meant that she could integrate a Fragment Of Summon to obtain another companion but refrained from doing so in the short term.

Sariel was much more interested in obtaining her final Mana Core before looking to integrate any more fragments for the time being.

It had left Jon to his own devices for a brief time.

Avahni often sent out Ortlinde, Grendel, Titus Claudius or even Auberon to search the area for traces of a Safe Zone or Dungeons wherever they made camp. Despoina and Lamorak also volunteered to do so on behalf of their summoners, allowing them to cover a much wider area in a much quicker amount of time.

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Jon had offered to send Schwarz Eis along with them but was met with a backhanded dismissal as the White Lady Of The Winter Castle sat beneath the canopy of the Earthen Treasury Womb. Her beautiful figure lazily draped across the vines and tendrils, drawing the eyes of more than a few other summoned companions.

Schwarz Eis was the oldest summon amongst them all.

A fact that Jon had not realized until she told him about it after their completion of the Burning Desert Of Kel.

While Ru Luan Di, Ortlinde, Ler Setanta and Jibril had all been born during the 19th system integration, Schwarz Eis had been born during the sixth. To put it in perspective, the shortest time between system integrations was about one hundred thousand human years.

The longest, was six hundred million.

Schwarz Eis had died so long ago that Jon could not even imagine a name for the number of years that had passed. Despite the playful and mischievous nature of the winter demon spirit, he knew that she was hiding things that she was not quite comfortable sharing.

The two of them were stuck together for the remainder of his natural lifespan, so Jon allowed Eis her space for the time being.

This had been his life for the past month, camping, exploring, and watching as all of his friends grow and develop their knowledge and abilities while Jon assisted them in training themselves physically for the battles to come.

It was then that Jon had an idea.

Quite an interesting one, albeit one that Eis had called stupid.

"You want to fight a Knight on your own? Jonathan. Do you know just how risky that sounds!?" Schwarz Eis said, crossing her arms while gazing at her summoner with an exasperated expression on her face.

The man in question just shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head from side to side.

"If I can get the drop on them, I can overwhelm them using [Imperial Spear Art; Divine Spear Extinction] combined with [Wrath Is The Paradise Whispered On Thou Lips]. Adding [Helel] into the mix as well would let me even defeat the Malum Hobgoblin all by myself." Jon stated, not seeing what was wrong with his words.

Eis let out a sigh, cradling her head in one hand.

"Jon. You should not underestimate the differences between a Mortal and a Knight. A beast is not necessarily just a beast anymore. Each Rank comes with an increase to intelligence and sapience, making lifeforms more aware of their own intrinsic characteristics and limitations."

"If Avahni, or even Wilheim were Knights, do you think you could defeat them?" she asked.

Jon scrunched up his face in thought, before conceding the point to Eis.

"No, although I do understand your side of the argument. Knights are not just stronger than Mortals. They have greater reserves of spiritual energy. Abilities with greater effects and synergies. Even the effectiveness of certain abilities, such as Fragments Of Incarnation are more than twice as powerful given the amount of lifeforce they possess."

Eis opened her mouth to speak but noticed that Jon was not quite finished.

"But… it is because the fact that my opponents are beasts that gives me the confidence to win." Jon said with a grin.

Pointing in a westerly direction, Jon stood beside Schwarz Eis gesturing towards the distant landscape.

"Titus Claudius and Despoina have told me that there are two Knights within ten kilometres of the western section of the Graceful Waters Of Yog. One is a Summerfyre Hornet Queen and the other, a Horse-Tortoise Chimera. The former is much closer to Lucia Zenobia in terms of size and combat effectiveness although is surrounded by numerous Summerfyre Hornets, most of which have at least a single Mana Core."

"The Horse-Tortoise Chimera on the other hand lives in the shallows of the lake, alone only leaving to hunt for food. Despoina said that it chased her for three hours the other day before tiring and retreating back to its shallow water dwelling."

"What does this tell you?" he asked.

Eis huffed, tapping for foot while rolling her eyes at Jon.

"Despite not being able to fly, it still tried to chase after her. So the creature is both dumb and obsessive, is that what you're trying to say?"

Jon nodded, ignoring her obvious sarcasm.

"The Knight will not give up chasing me, that much is almost certain. It possesses both a Tortoise Mana Core and Horse Mana Core neither of which will cause a problem since the abilities either one manifested are primarily mutations. Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation will help me in that regard."

"It also has both a Thorn Mana Core and Inferno Mana Core, Despoina confirming that after almost being struck with thorn natured spiritual energy and inferno natured spiritual energy. Other than the Inferno Mana Core, its other abilities are of little to no concern," Jon said, watching as the expressions on Eis' face transformed from exasperation to thoughtful consideration.

The opportunity was there; no doubt about it.

The creature would not possess a Memento Source Fragment given that this was a System Introduction. Unless it had killed a participant of the introduction who had obtained a Memento Source Fragment, there was no way that this Knight could ever obtain one.

It was dumb but had an abundance of stamina and endurance if it could chase Despoina for more than three hours.

If Jon could prepare an environment counterintuitive to the abilities of the Horse-Tortoise Chimera, then he might be able to finish the fight in a single blow. An extended battle would see him expend all his spiritual energy before his opponent, something that Schwarz Eis would not be able to protect him from.

'If he lays several concealed spear detonations in an environment where the beast is forced to activate them, Jon should be able to win. Fragment Of Ira and Fragment Of Superbia combined with the effects of his Fragment Of Eradication should kill anything that does not have at least another Fragment Of Transcendence activated.'

'Or a Fragment Of Immortality, albeit for all of five seconds.'

Schwarz Eis tapped her chin in thought.

'If the System is generous then he might even receive… no, better not tempt fate. At the very least he would receive a Title Fragment or two from killing a Knight on his own.' Eis thought to herself.

The winter demon spirit lifted her head, glancing towards her youthful summoner.

To be honest, she had never expected to become the summoned companion of someone so young, or better yet, the summoned companion of someone who did not even know what spiritual energy was prior to getting their first Mana Core.

Jon was both… eager and determined and always seemed to strive for perfection and self-excellence. He did not tire. He did not waver. He did not falter and did not quit until he did achieved the goals that he had set himself.

He was his own desires and the drive to obtain them.

Schwarz Eis showed a small smile, one that lacked the playful qualities that it usually had.

'Despite his immaturity, I do not think I could have asked for a more perfect master.'