Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

Jon sprinted through the undergrowth, the sound of his footfalls echoing throughout the forest. His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes continuously darting from left to right, searching for the most optimal path through the overgrown thicket.

The feeling of wind brushing up against his face caused Jon to narrow his eyes, leaping over a patch of [Golden Poison Flowers], hitting the ground with a roll before bursting forward, avoiding a streak of flame launched over his head.

[Monstrous Intuition] urged him not to look behind him. The sound of thunderous hooves crashing into the earth echoed throughout the forest, compelling Jon to run faster and faster through the wilderness.

He vaulted over fallen trees and dead logs, forcing his target to either avoid them or run straight through them at the cost of their momentum. Their size and mass allowed them a certain level of natural strength that not even Jon could match, even with the enhancements given to him through his Title and fragments.

His Seir-Glacial Heart pounded within his chest, his form suffused with the strength of his Fragment Of War.

Jon had long since adopted the [Dance Of The White Star], increasing his physical speed and agility, while also enhancing the effectiveness of all abilities with the Perception Trait. He had not quite gotten used to activating two stances at once quite yet but knew had come quite close while practicing with Rana and Eis over the past few weeks.

The familiar emanations of inferno natured spiritual energy exploded out from behind him, but was ignored, Jon trusting both of his summoned companions with his life.

Several feet behind him, a certain winter demon spirit manifested into physical reality. Her usual playful grin marring her face, gazing at the approaching Knight Ranked Horse-Tortoise creature with an amused glint in her eyes.

Brushing one of her twin-tails over her should, Schwarz Eis tapped the ground twice using her foot, constructing several layers of interwoven ice barriers in the space in front of her. Each barrier was but a few inches in thickness but was woven in such a way that increased tensile strength.

An interesting effect, inspired by Jon's Weave Mana Core.

Schwarz Eis smiled, dissipating back into motes of whiteish-blue spiritual energy. She did not remain behind to observe a bull-sized sphere of inferno natured spiritual energy crash into her ice barrier. The sound of steam hissing followed by a magnificent explosion resounded throughout the forest surrounding the lake, causing several heads to perk up in the distance.

Glancing behind him, Jon overloaded his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes, hoping that his Fragment Of Eyes would be able to pierce through the thick steam and smoke that was released from the explosion.

Uninitiated flora caught fire almost instantaneously, while Mortal Ranked trees and flowers resisted the flames for a few seconds before succumbing amidst to the fire and ash.

Given the differences between inferno natured spiritual energy and fire natured spiritual energy, the former tended to manifest abilities related to inflicting damage or inflicting damage over time effects. In a similar vein to his Spear Mana Core, an Inferno Mana Core was significantly more likely to manifest offensive abilities.

For a moment Jon could not hear the sounds of hooves stamping on the earth, extending a wisp of his weave natured spiritual energy outwards hoping to feel something other than the ambient spiritual energy around him.

'C'mon… I didn't set everything up for you to get tired and run away on me…'

Jon narrowed his eyes, controlling his wisp of spiritual energy with about as much grace as a child playing with a water balloon. His grasp on it was rudimentary at best, but in comparison to Avahni, Sariel or Shamael, was leagues better.

Jon unconsciously leaned forward, allowing his weave natured spiritual energy to stretch beyond the stream and ash. The environment had been saturated with inferno natured spiritual energy, making it difficult to discern whether or not the Knight was still following him.

Only when his spiritual energy came into contact with a literal wall of tortoise natured spiritual energy, did Jon start running again, twitching as the sound of a horrifyingly abnormal screech echoed throughout the forest. Jon had never heard of a tortoise or horse back on his world let out such a sound, the disturbing sound flowing into his Hastor-Yellow Horrors.

The monstrous figure of the Knight burst through the burning inferno, two heads extending forward searching for any signs of Jon's figure. A tortoise head clad in thick, abnormal scales turned left while a hairy horse head with gleaming red eyes turned right.

The tortoise head noticed the whiteness of Jon's clothing running through the forest, causing its other head to peer towards the escaping human. The two heads snarled, stamping forward and chasing after Jon.

The sound of its hooved feet galloping across the forest brought a smile to Jon's face, knowing that the creature was still chasing after him. He had long since tracked this target, searching the land around the lake north of the river for traces of Knights that fit his criteria.

The Knight Ranked Horse-Tortoise Chimera fit his conditions almost perfectly and given how intellectually inadequate the beast still was, even at Knighthood, only improved his chances of success.

Jon moved through the forest with a speed that shattered all known human limitations. His form and adroitness were practiced to a degree that made him seem more at home amongst warriors and champions rather than students and youthful scholars.

His flexibility was incredible, despite the immense strength contained within his muscles and bones. Each movement that he made was done so with clear and perfect accuracy, as if his body was being controlled like a puppet on strings.

His form reflected the thoughts within his mind. The actions Jon took replicated the thoughts bubbling forth from within his Sea Of Knowledge.

'I'm almost there… I'm almost there… Is everything still in place Rana?!' Jon thought to himself, shouting within his Fragment Of Mind, knowing that the Earthen Treasury Womb would be able to hear his words.

"Yes Jon. Your Fragments Of Trap are still in place. The pitfalls I have created will funnel the Knight through your concealed spear detonations," the bodhi tree responded, bringing a smile to his face.

His Fragment Of Marrow and Fragment Of Heart worked together to strengthen his physical capabilities, launching Jon forward over two metres with each step he took. His legs turned into a blur faster than what the average human could visually comprehend, pushing him further and further towards his destination.

[Monstrous Intuition] twitched making Jon grit his teeth, transferring all of his momentum into his dominant leg, switching directions at an almost ninety-degree angle. Phantasmal constructs of thorn natured spiritual energy crashed into the ground where he once stood, each the length of a human torso.

The Horse-Tortoise Chimera continued to chase after Jon, launching thorn constructs in his direction with a reckless abandon. There was no careful aiming of the Spell, just wild, bestial instincts propelling itself forward hoping that one of its strikes would hit Jon.

Even with his [Monstrous Intuition] guiding him through the danger, Jon winced, seeing one of the thorns strike his upper arm. The corner of his vision alerting him to the debuffs that had been inflicted upon him.

[Thorned Obsession]: Reduces resistances towards thorn-related damages, afflictions and debuffs. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

[Curse Of Brambled Thorns]: Inflicts a continuous thorn-related damage over time effect. Thorn natured spiritual energy grows within the wound, piercing through flesh and blood. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

Letting out a small tsk, Jon allowed Archetype Green to transfer the debuffs away from him. Archetype Avarice then claiming the two debuffs. Not bothering to turn around behind him, Jon started muttering the chant born from his Fragment Of Barrier.

He had learned something useful from Eis during their time together. Although the effects of his piercing wood eruption and imperial wood barrier would show the greatest effects when used on the earth beneath him, the condition of a "surface" that the two Spells mentioned, did not necessarily mean the "earth's surface".

And given his mastery over the two Spells, he could run now run while chanting.

"Theirs is the embrace that rejects the winds and rain. Theirs is the blessing that whispers truths of warmth and kindness. Theirs is the temperance, that rises against the surging destruction!"

Jon slapped a tree that he had run past, allowing his fingers to brush up against the smooth bark, imbuing the effects of [Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier] into the living being. The bark where his fingers had touched the tree immediately turned a bright shamrock green, before bursting forth with over a half a dozen misshapen and broken tree constructs.

Jon did not care how much spiritual energy he poured into the Spell. The sounds of trees crackling and writhing echoed out behind him, as the Knight manifested another sphere of burning inferno natured spiritual energy.

It crashed into the wood barrier, annihilating with a much greater ease than Eis' ice barrier. The monstrous-looking creature literally ran through the incinerated trees, shattering them amidst another explosion of charcoal and ash. It's eyes still firmly locked on the retreating figure of Jon in the distance.

Although for whatever reason… he had stopped running.

Whether it was through the innate superiority that a Knight had over a Mortal, or the intellectual inadequacy of the beast, the Horse-Tortoise Chimera rushed forward, snarling at Jon, revealing two gaping maws as it charged towards him.

It was not completely without reason however, manifesting what Jon assumed was both an illusory chainmail-armour across its shell in addition to some triangular, blue-coloured halo construct above its tortoise head.

With just a quite glance of his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes, Jon could see their incomplete effect descriptions.

[Fragment Of Chainmail]
[Behold Thy Impenetrable Mail, Forged From Tortoise Scales]
(Tortoise, Chainmail, Summon, Ability, Defensive, Shield, Buff)
(Phantom)

[Fragment Of Halo]
[Behold Thy Aqueous Annulus, Birthed From Blue Starlight]
(Water, Halo, Summon, Ability, Cleanse, Buff)
(Enhancement)

Jon did not even think it noticed Ashvattha Rana behind him, gleaming with golden-green light. Instances of [Naraka Of Protection] and [Niraya Of Protection] appeared in the corner of his vision but were dismissed with a thought watching the creature as it charged towards him.

Although his expression was impassive, the emotions that bubbled forth from within his Sea Of Knowledge seemed to excite the waters of his mental construct. Waves lapped expectantly, water surging with excitement as the Knight avoided the obvious pitfalls that the Earthen Treasury Womb had created.

Jon had chosen this location given how much clay he had found in the earth beneath him. The softness of the ground allowed even Ashvattha Rana to shift earth, despite her not-so-subtle grumbling. Trenches and pitfalls, several metres long and over three feet deep were dug all throughout the area, with a single clear path through them.

It was an obvious ploy, but one that Jon had put quite a bit of effort into creating.

It allowed him to make use of an ability that he had not yet used during combat, at least, not without a significant amount of prior thought put into laying the foundation for it beforehand.

Jon smiled, seeing the Horse-Tortoise Chimera come into contact with the first concealed spear detonation. Given how large the creature was, there was not a doubt within Jon's mind that it would tumble onto the other Fragments Of Trap that he had laid out beforehand.

[Fragment Of Trap]

[False Spear Art; Concealed Spear Detonation]
(Spear, Trap, Spell, Technique, Debuff)

Effect (Mortal): Chant, placing your hand on a surface. This surface shall become marked with a concealed spear-shaped spiritual construct. Upon physical contact with the mark, this spear construct will be released, shooting forward towards the target. Those struck with [False Spear Art; Concealed Spear Detonation] shall be inflicted with an instance of [Concealed Bleeding].

The number of concealed constructs capable of existing at once is equal to the number of fragments integrated into your Spear Mana Core. The length, width and shape of the Spell is determined through the amount of spiritual energy poured into it.

[Concealed Bleeding]: Inflicts a continuous spear-natured damage over time effect. Remnants of spear natured spiritual energy linger within the wound, preventing blood from exiting.

The number of constructs that he could have active at once was equal to the number of fragments he had integrated into his Spear Mana Core. Given that Jon had integrated six fragments into said Mana Core, he had been able to place six concealed spear detonations in the clay-filled earth around him.

The exact moment the Knight came into contact with the first trap did its eyes widen, feeling the release of obscured spiritual energy in the ground beneath it. It did not have a single moment to react before an enormous two-metre tall bident pierced up from the ground beneath it, penetrating through its leg.

Although its Fragment Of Chainmail prevented the trap from piercing through its underbelly, the pain caused the creature to cry out, tumbling forward unable to halt its own momentum. As a result, it crashed into the five other false spear arts that Jon had hidden.

Although three collided against its chainmail-armour, shattering in the process, two more instances of the Fragment Of Trap pierced through the neck of the horse-head, in addition to one of its hind legs. Blood, crimson and viscous poured out from the wounds, dripping onto the sparse brown earth beneath it.

It attempted to stand back up but then noticed a figure leap into the air above it.

Wielding a long, green spear in one hand, the Horse-Tortoise Chimera felt a burst of fear emanate from within its heart, watching as the bipedal creature it was once chasing slash his weapon out, manifesting an enormous, mirrored construct of the weapon in its hands.

[Wrath Is The Paradise Whispered On Thou Lips]

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

[Imperial Spear Art; Divine Spear Extinction].

And…

[Helel].

Jon's Helel-Testament Pride surged, manifesting a lustrous golden halo atop his head. The two-dimensional construct possessed strange spikes jutting out of it each side, seven in total.

Each of which seemed to contain a multitude of different concepts within.

Jon felt his natural physical capabilities grow-two fold.

All of his enhancements doubled in effect.

And his resistances towards certain types of damages momentarily transform into near-complete immunities.

He was no longer just an ordinary Mortal.

The Horse-Tortoise Chimera looked up at the radiant figure lunging towards it. The sight of Jon swinging Assail was reflected in its eyes, widening as the myriad spear constructs followed suit, rending turtle shell from horse flesh.

The feeling of having its summoned armour construct forcibly shattered caused pain to ripple all the way back into his Tortoise Mana Core. As if someone had just reached into its chest and squeezed down upon its heart.

The pain did not last long however as the Fragment Of Eradication worked in tandem with the Fragment Of Ira, killing the Knight with an overwhelming amount of spears.

Break.

'I did it. Everything went perfectly. I actually… I actually did it!'

Jon allowed himself a moment to breathe, seeing the numerous waves of System notifications in the corner of his eye. Gripping Assail tightly in one hand, Jon lifted his head and glanced towards the elephant-sized Horse-Tortoise Chimera that he had just slain, unable to withhold the growing smile on his face.

His hands trembled, not in pain or fear, but excitement. Quivering at the achievement that he had just accomplished.

He had slain a Knight.

All on his own.

The combination of his Fragment Of Ira went combined with his Fragment Of Eradication was strong enough to kill anything beneath Knighthood, but when used in tandem while under the effects of [Helel] propelled Jon's offensive strength into a realm beyond Mortality.

Although his Spear Mana Core spiritual energy sat mostly empty at this point, Jon did not care, chuckling while allowing the effects of [Mortal] to pass.

His Fragment Of Superbia had repercussions but given his barely ten second usage of [Light Bringer], the effects of the debuff were limited to twenty seconds. Although Jon wanted to manifest golden spear constructs, to overwhelm the Horse-Tortoise Chimera, his reserves of spear natured spiritual energy did not allow for such a reckless usage of his abilities.

Given how spiritual energy intensive all of them could be, Jon knew that he had to reconsider the development of certain abilities upon reaching Knighthood.

'[Thou Art The Monarch Of Spears And Truth] might need a Fragment Of Abundance or a Fragment Of Overflow in order to boost maximum spiritual energy reserves or mana regeneration.'

Despite his single-handed triumph against the Horse-Tortoise Chimera, he could not help but look for methods of improving himself further. He had almost hit the absolute limit for what Mortals were capable of achieving, but there was one more thing that Jon had yet to obtain.

If Jon had been born in a previous integrated universe, he might never have been able to receive this chance.

Fortunately for him however, he was chosen to experience a System Introduction.

Taking a deep breath, Jon opened his System notifications.

You have obtained the Title Fragment, "Knightslayer".

You have obtained the Title Fragment, "Martial".

You have obtained the Title Fragment, "Victorious".

Mortal Title Fragment "Knightslayer": Infinitesimally increases all damage inflicted onto Knights.

Mortal Title Fragment "Martial": Increases the effectiveness of all abilities with the Technique Trait.

Mortal Title Fragment "Victorious": Infinitesimally increases the effectiveness of all abilities after defeating an enemy. This effect does not stack with itself.

Tasks not required before completion of System Introduction.

[30]: Defeat an enemy whose Rank is higher than your own. Individuals shall receive a set reward upon the completion of this task.

Jon was about to open his mouth but noticed addition text at the bottom of the notification. It was the first time he had ever seen a System page with such a different appearance to his status page and task reward page.

System Acknowledged Feats

[1]: Defeated a Third-Honoured Knight as a Sixth Initiated Mortal. Through the combination of a Fragment Of Ira, Fragment Of Superbia and Fragment Of Eradication, Jonathan Randall Guilliman slayed a Horse-Tortoise Chimera, in a single blow.

This feat has been recorded by the System and grants him a unique reward in lieu of this exceptional achievement.

One Memento Source Fragment.

"Yes! Yes! I knew that would work!" Jon shouted, grinning as he raised both fists up into the air. He could not express the sheer amount of elation coursing through his veins right this moment.

The physical fatigue from running and the mental exhaustion from planning the ambush against the Horse-Tortoise Chimera had vanished in an instant, replaced with an overwhelming sense of jubilation and glee.

Jon had the faintest inkling of a suspicion that defeating a Knight without any forms of assistance would award him with such a thing.

Although he could not straight out ask Schwarz Eis or Ashvattha Rana if such a thing were the case, he did wonder how individuals outside of a System Introduction would obtain Memento Source Fragments considering that it was devoid of a task reward page.

The moment that Rana had been summoned she asked, "what manner of Title had he formed in order for the System to grant him a Knowledge Mana Core?"

'That was the clue. That single conversation from the moment we first spoke,' Jon thought to himself with a grin.

That the System was capable of granting rewards based on extraordinary accomplishments, such as the formation of a unique Title or through achieving a level of martial prowess that went above and beyond the limitations of an individual's current Rank and Tier.

Ler Setanta must have earned such an achievement considering he was able to slay Knights even while being an uninitiated Mortal. He suspected that Schwarz Eis, Ortlinde and Xochitl were all capable of similar feats while still constrained by their Mortality.

Despoina had also said that the creation of Mortal Ranked Dungeon Fragments granted Memento Source Fragments. Jon still had not yet managed to create an ordinary mortal ranked spiritual item, so how he expected another Mortal to create such a thing baffled him beyond belief.

Taking a deep breath, Jon accepted the reward from the System Acknowledged Feats.

"…" Jon remained silent, quietly watching as the System manifested the Memento Source Fragment in his hand.

Although Jon was unsure of what he was expecting, the form of a Memento Source Fragment threw him off, appearing in the shape of a large, pure-white cube. So large in fact that Jon almost dropped it, having to use two hands to hold it up.

There was no defining characteristic of a Memento Source Fragment other than how big it was. The colouration, or the lack thereof caused Jon to peer down at it with a confused expression on his face, wondering what was so special about this cube.

The image that Jon had in his mind of what a Memento Source Fragment looked like did not quite match that of the object he was holding in his hands.

"Eis, how do I… work this thing?" Jon could not help but ask, noticing that there was no prompt for an integration notice unlike a regular fragment.

Lifting his head and glancing behind him, Jon noticed that both Ashvattha Rana and Schwarz Eis had manifested physically, the former cradling her head in her palm.

"Jon. Read my effect description again," Eis said, prompting Jon to open up his status page, glancing towards his Fragment Of Summon.

[Fragment Of Summon]
[Schwarz Eis; White Lady Of The Winter Castle]
(Summon, Ice, Spirit, Spell, Defensive, Shield, Spell, Memento, Debuff)

Effect (Mortal): Perform a ritual to summon Schwarz Eis; White Lady Of The Winter Castle. Schwarz Eis was born from the lineage of a transcendent winter spirit and an unholy lunar demon. Schwarz Eis dwells within the heart after being summoned.

Schwarz Eis is capable of manifesting physical and spiritual shield constructs of ice natured spiritual energy. Upon contact with physical shields, inflict an instance of [Frozen Blood] on a target. Upon contact with spiritual shields, inflict an instance of [Frozen Spirit] on a target. Schwarz Eis possesses the Memento Source Fragment [Licht Weiss; Right-Hand Of Winter].

[Frozen Blood]: Inflicts a continuous ice-natured damage over time effect. Manifests minute shards of ice throughout the veins and arteries, shredding blood cells.

[Frozen Spirit]: Reduces mana regeneration.

[Licht Weiss; Right-Hand Of Winter]: Manifested through the combination of an Ice Mana Core, Fragment Of Armour, Memento Source Fragment, complete Mortal Title [White Lady Of The Winter Castle] and a Mortal Ranked spiritual pauldron.

Grants oneself a self-regenerating spiritual shield of ice natured spiritual energy. Upon shattering, inflict instances of both [Frozen Blood] and [Frozen Spirit] upon the one who last struck the spiritual shield.

Increases resistances towards fire natured damages, afflictions and debuffs. Increases resistances towards blood natured damages, afflictions and debuffs. Increases resistances towards life natured damages, afflictions and debuffs.

Can perform minor amounts of ice manipulation.

"What do you think you are missing Jonathan?" the winter demon spirit sarcastically asked.

Jon eyed Eis, muttering something about short and annoying demons under his breath.

Opening one of his task reward pages, Jon scrolled through the enormous catalogue of Mana Cores that the System had given him before finding the Mana Core and fragment that he wanted to integrate into his Memento Source Fragment.

Given that his Memento Source Fragment would manifest but a single ability, Jon had given the matter a significant amount of thought in the long run.

"Given that you now have a Memento Source Fragment in your hands, you should know that whatever manner of Title you choose to integrate into it does not affect the end result. It merely layers concepts, manifesting as additional effects more than anything else," Eis said, allowing Jon to nod focusing on making his decision.

Jon had a wide variety of abilities, manifesting from an assortment of different concepts and ideas.

Fragments Of Mind and Fragments Of Superbia.

Fragments Of Barrier and Fragments Of Library.

Fragments Of Ira and Fragments Of Destruction.

Fragments Of Tree and Fragments Of Summon.

His Mana Cores did not seem to share any sort of common theme, unlike Wilheim who seemed to focus on environmental-type Mana Cores and Avahni who possessed nothing but elemental-type Mana Cores.

Knowledge. Wood. Ice. Spear. War. Weave.

Truth and information.

Growth and life.

Cold and stillness.

Piercing and thrusting.

Battle and conflict.

Complexity and construction.

Jon felt that he did not need a common theme amongst his Mana Cores. He integrated what he thought felt right rather than go against his instincts and choose Mana Cores based on how similar the spiritual energy each produced.

There were a number that caught his eye.

Dream Mana Cores.

Victory Mana Cores.

Deva Mana Cores.

Apocalypse Mana Cores.

Sunless Mana Cores.

Even Cessation Mana Cores.

There were almost as many Mana Cores as there were fragments in existence.

Despite all of this however, what Jon needed was an ability that fulfilled something that his thirty-five other abilities could not. He possessed methods of casting Spells capable of dealing damage at range, enhancing himself through a wide variety of different Techniques and was even capable of creating an assortment of different constructs such as barriers, piercing thorns and even near-invisible threads capable of cutting through flesh and bone.

Given just how many different abilities he had, what manner of fragment, spiritual item or Mana Core would he integrate into his Memento Source Fragment?

Jon tapped twice on the task reward page, choosing his rewards with a resolute nod of his head.

The answer was simple.

Whatever the hell he wanted.

Fragment Of "Facelessness" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Weave Mana Core or Memento Source Fragment?

Y/N

Both Rana and Eis watched as Jon's smile threatened to exceed the boundaries of his face.

"Lies" Mana Core discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Memento Source Fragment?

Y/N

The two had long since discussed with Jon what the form of his Memento Source Fragment should be. And after integrating his Fragment Of Stealth, decided that both "facelessness" and "lies" would be the best way to shore up his apparent weaknesses.

[Fragment Of Mask]
[Mortal Ranked Smiling Mask]
(Mask)

Effect (Mortal): The clay used to construct the smiling mask was obtained from the depths of the Earth-Ocean Mountain Wonder. The smiling mask will obscure facial features and physical characteristics through a near-imperceptible haze of spiritual energy. The smiling mask will alert the wearer to mental and spiritual intrusions.

The trembling in his hand seemed to grow stronger, the sense of anticipation filling his mind, bleeding into his flesh and spirit.

'Knighthood is so close,' Jon thought to himself.

'I can hardly wait.'