Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

In all honesty, Jon had been preparing for the moment he obtained his own Memento Source Fragment. He had debated with Eis and Rana about the form and usage of his Memento Source Fragment, going back and forth with the bodhi tree and winter demon spirit trying to reach an understanding in accordance with his desires and their recommendations.

Rana had suggested combining a Fragment Of Aegis, Shield Mana Core and Mortal Ranked Spiritual Shield in order to create a pseudo-independent shield which could deflect physical and spiritual projectiles without Jon needing to respond.

Eis had suggested a Fragment Of Vehicle, Sky Mana Core and Mortal Ranked Windless Cloud in order to manifest a type of transport that Jon could use to traverse both the small realm and Earth once he returned from the System Introduction.

Jon had even gone so far as to hear Ru Luan Di and Despoina's recommendations, not that at the very least the former once possessed a Memento Source Fragment during his lifetime.

The little ginseng kind had recommended combining a Fragment Of Personification, Eternal Mana Core and a Mortal Ranked Half-Puppet. Ru Luan Di had said that it would manifest a pseudo-independent construct which could "borrow" some of his abilities at the cost of being unable to use them for a short duration.

It could fight at range and even withstand quite a bit of damage depending on the materials used to construct the spiritual item.

The white salvation phoenix on the other hand had proposed choosing a Fragment Of Truth, Star Mana Core and a Mortal Ranked Crackling Flame. The end result would create a radiant star-construct that could pierce through Fragments Of Obscurity and Fragments Of Concealment.

Despoina mentioned that it would be able to deal star-natured damage as he ascended to Knighthood and Lordship depending on how he wanted to develop the Memento Source Fragment.

Jon did not bother asking Ler Setanta or Ortlinde about their thoughts.

The former was enough of a pain, while the latter seemed quite keen on fighting him at any available chance. Although with Schwarz Eis around the Second Sister Of Destruction seemed to be quite reserved, occasionally stealing glances at the winter demon spirit, Jon was sure that the lightning fey would want to fight him the moment Avahni was not looking.

Said lutin also possessed Xochitl and one other Memento Source Fragment-wielding companion that she had not yet summoned. He did not bother asking the green ocean mangrove considering how… unique its relationship with its Memento Source Fragment was but did not consider such a thing viable given his abilities and inherent nature.

The reason behind his decision-making process was quite simple.

Jon knew that he lacked an obvious stealth ability and hoped that his Memento Source Fragment could fulfil that role.

His Fragment Of Stealth which had been integrated into his War Mana Core provided a type of "offensive stealth" as Eis put it. It prevented his enemies from seeing his features, from identifying what manner of weapon he had been wielding or even how long his reach and attack range was.

The dark-red haze that it manifested was annoying to deal with, even more so knowing that it would inflict debuffs capable of lowering the effectiveness of abilities with the Perception Trait.

The connotations and relationships between "facelessness", "lies" and "masks" were also quite interesting all things considered.

Jon thought that it would make for quite a powerful Memento Source Fragment.

Sitting beneath the golden-green canopy of the Earthen Treasury Womb, both Jon and Schwarz Eis leaned against the enormous bodhi tree. The former looking down at the smiling mask in his hands, noticing how strangely pliable the object was.

Crushing the spiritual item in his hands did nothing but warp its shape for a few seconds. The clay that the System had obtained from the Earth-Ocean Mountain and used to create the smiling mask must have been extraordinarily valuable.

"Are you ready yet Jon?" Eis asked, watching as her summoner fidgeted with the spiritual item in his hands. Through their connection she could tell that he was more than just a little nervous.

Jon just nodded, placing the Mortal Ranked smiling mask back into his Red Archives. A small section of the Fragment Of Library had been left empty, save the ingredients he intended on using to shape his Memento Source Fragment.

Glancing around him, Jon could see Wilheim and Sariel practice using their abilities on each other. Although the floresiensis possessed a set of more support-oriented abilities, Sariel was just as capable of regenerating the damage and cleansing herself of any debilitating effects that Wilheim could throw at her.

Her Phoenix Mana Core manifested a couple interesting abilities whose effects Jon did not quite understand. The connotations aside, he could think of over a dozen different fragments that would suit the Mana Core conceptually, and even more that would just manifest interesting effects.

'I'm getting distracted. Being nervous does not suit me,' Jon thought to himself, shaking his head while showing a wry smile.

There was a more pressing matter at hand, that required his undivided attention.

The formation of his second Title.

Opening his status page, Jon observed the collection of Mortal Title Fragments that he had collected since the beginning of his time in the System Introduction. Since obtaining his first Title, Jon had noticed a slight change to the appearance of his status page.

Title: [Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation]

Title Fragments: [Pathstrider] [Killer] [Adept] [Sui Generis] [Voyager] [Invictus] [Bastion] [Thracian] [Wanderlust] [Viridis Benedictus] [Knightslayer] [Martial] [Victorious]

After using up six Mortal Title Fragments to form Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation Jon had obtained five more Title Fragments to make up for it, leaving a grand total of thirteen for him to choose from.

Although Jon had been unsure as to what Title Fragment he wanted to serve as the foundation to construct his second Title, it had been Rana to convince him to use a more recent addition.

Despite Schwarz Eis' almost fervent opposition.

Jon lifted his finger, selecting the tenth Title Fragment listed.

[Viridis Benedictus].

In that single moment, the heads of everyone present turned towards Jon, feeling their Titles resonate in response to this sudden genesis. The concepts that Avahni, Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael had integrated into their Sources might have been different to the ones contained within Viridis Benedictus, but all of them could feel the weight behind it.

Ru Luan Di perked his head up, eyes widening in response to the familiar echoes emanating from within Jon.

'Is that what I think it was?' the little ginseng asked himself.

Ortlinde narrowed her eyes. This presence was not something she had felt in tens of thousands of years.

'The Mother Of Verdant Night? That human managed to catch her eye?' the lightning fey observed from afar.

Ler Setanta stirred beneath the enormous lake that Avahni and the others had situated themselves beside. The indomitus shastasaurus opened its golden eyes beneath the waters, peering towards the familiar concepts.

'The Angel Of Green… what a foul existence,' the Incarnation Of The Hunt closed his eyes once more, resting amidst the kelp and murky waters.

Xochitl seemed to quiver in excitement within Avahni's pocket, resonating with the concepts contained within Jon's Title Fragment. The Green Ocean That Drowns The Screaming Stars had been the progenitor of tens of millions of flora and fauna.

Green ocean mangroves were of no exception.

Everyone present had numerous different reactions to Jon's formation of a second Title. While none of the summoned companions dared to move in face of certain concepts, Wilheim and Sariel had stopped their sparring, manifesting their shielding effects around the Earthen Treasury Womb.

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Metzli under Avahni's influence did the same although applied the effect to Ashvattha Rana rather than Jon himself.

Schwarz Eis did not move but allowed her gaze to linger on her surroundings, not daring to drop her guard. Jon had seemed to have collected quite a few reliable companions and allowed them to protect him for the time being.

'The real question is… will any of them react when he integrates the Title into his Memento Source Fragment.'

Minutes after allowing the concepts contained within Viridis Benedictus to integrate themselves into his Source, Jon selected his second and third Title Fragments.

[Victorious].

[Killer].

The former was one of his rewards for slaying a Third-Honoured Knight while still a Sixth-Initiated Mortal. It infinitesimally increased the effectiveness of all his abilities upon defeating an enemy.

The latter was one of his rewards for defeating Han Of The Red Wind, another participant in the System Introduction. Upon killing an enemy it increased his physical capabilities by a minute amount for a short duration.

The concepts contained within were similar enough for Jon to integrate them both at the same time. Although Victorious was more generalized than Killer, both were to be used during a combat setting, allowing him to strengthen himself while fighting against large groups or over an extended period of time.

Jon was somewhat hesitant in integrating Killer into his Source but knew it would synergize well with Victorious.

It did not take even three minutes before Jon selected his fourth Title Fragment.

[Wanderlust].

Almost immediately furrowing his brows, feeling the immense depths of the concepts contained within Wanderlust. Although he did not realize it at first, "wonders" represented more than just the adjective that Jon was familiar with.

It encompassed "Wonders". As in the unique existences which birth all manner of different treasures, spiritual energies, fragments and even Mana Cores. The existence of the Sunlit-Inferno Lagoon was but an infinitesimally unimportant fraction of the greater concept known as "Wonders".

As such, the effects of Wanderlust were too good for Jon to pass up knowing just how valuable Wonders would be in the future.

Eis had reminded him that Earth would still be devoid of spiritual energy after he returned from the System Introduction. Although Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation allowed him to generate spiritual energy, it would not be enough for him to ascend to Lordship through.

The creation of Wonders would rectify this problem although in of itself presented its own set of problems.

The addition of Wanderlust would hopefully alleviate some of the worries Jon had about ascending to higher and higher Ranks after returning to Earth.

Taking one final breath, Jon allowed himself a moment of reprieve before selecting his fifth and sixth Title Fragment. In contrast to Killer and Victorious, these two Title Fragments did not have much in common conceptually but possessed similar effects in the grand scheme of things.

[Voyager].

[Martial].

An increase to the effectiveness of all abilities with the Ability Trait and Technique Trait.

Simple, but undeniably powerful given how many of his abilities possessed either trait.

The ideas and notions contained within Voyager and Martial collapsed into his Source, integrating themselves amongst the greater concepts contained within him. The assimilation of so many new concepts into himself caused Jon to scrunch up his face in discomfort, feeling as though something within his chest had begun to inflate beyond the limits of what his body could withstand.

His Mortal Source was unfathomable to the undiscerning eye but was still limited due to Jon's own Mortality. The concepts contained within Viridis Benedictus collided with the lingering concepts that once formed Mutare Dominus, crashing into one another before being transformed and mutated into something alien and incomprehensible.

Prodigy smashed into Victorious birthing concepts related to "success" and "conquering".

Ariya crashed against Wanderlust, creating concepts related to "illumination" and "desire".

Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation had been manifested as a result of Jon combining and compressing the information contained within each of his Title Fragments, into a single new concept.

A multi-faceted one, but one, nonetheless.

Virtuoso melted against the concepts contained within Martial forming other concepts such as "mastery" and "self".

Maestro has started to blend itself into Killer, manifesting concepts such as "slaughter" and "perfection" from their remains.

Ortus was compatible with dozens of different Title Fragments, focusing on enhancing preexisting qualities. When combined with Voyager, it further strengthened the effects of abilities with the Ability Trait.

Jon had to simultaneously focus on integrating each of the Title Fragments into his Source, while preventing them from becoming lost amongst the existing Title Fragments within. At the same time having to compress and combine them all into a singular defined existence capable of coexisting beside Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation.

The difficulty of which was not by any means small.

Time once again passed in the physical world as Jon continued to form his second complete Title. The familiar emanations of concepts relating to the Mother Of Verdant Night or Primordial Sin Of Birth had long since vanished, integrated into Jon's greater Source.

The presence of a Half-Grand disturbed Ru Luan Di, Schwarz Eis and Ortlinde, but the winter demon spirit could not even mention her name without the possibility of summoning her incarnation.

Anything that had stepped beyond the Rank of Throne and opened the gates of divinity had become more of a physical concept than an actual living being. The Angel Of Green was even older than the Angel Of Ice, and her progenitor had existed since the dawn of the 6th integration.

Over nine hours had passed since Jon started the formation of his Title.

Nine hours since Avahni, Wilheim and the others had begun rotating shifts in order to watch over Jon during his Title formation. Ortlinde, Schwarz Eis or even Ler Setanta would have noticed an approaching presence given their former Rank and wealth of self-mastery.

Despite everything.

Despite all of this.

Not a single one of them detected the presence that was observing them.

The Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue which stalked them through the underbrush. A monstrous existence, whose size did not suggest could achieve such levels of silence and quietude. Mammoth in both size and strength, whose form rippled with strength unseen but in those with draconic blood.

Whose blood-coloured bristles gleamed with violence, deafening the sound of its own movements.

Whose four ears could perceive even the flickering of eyelids from a hundred feet away.

Whose wings seemed to obscure the moon and stars, bathing everything beneath in a horrifying darkness.

And sitting atop this monstrous being was a singular lone human being. Whose blonde-hair seemed to blend in with the shadows and shrubbery, despite the oppressive contrast between the two colours.

This human being grinned, enjoying the effects of his Fragment Of Bat.

[Fragment Of Bat]
[Itsumade; Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue]
(Summon, Blood, Bat, Memento, Silence, Darkness, Spell, Ability, Debuff)
(Lull)

Effect (Mortal): Perform a ritual to summon Itsumade; Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue. Itsumade was born from the corruptive shadows of the Realm Of Black End, an indescribable mutation born within a blood-night acerodon. Itsumade dwells within the mind after being summoned.

Itsumade possesses a monstrous physical size and strength, allowing it to fly, despite its mutations increasing its weight beyond sustainable limitations. Itsumade possesses blood-bristles capable of obscuring all of its natural sounds. Its heart beats without notice. Its wings flap producing no sound. Its muscles tense and tendons contract producing but a silent unmoveable strength.

Itsumade is capable of using lifeforce or blood natured spiritual energy to cast either [Shared Blood] or [Shared Perceptions].

[Shared Blood]: Manifests a connection of lifeforce between oneself and a willing target. Recovery rate is transferred to the opposing party based on how injured or wounded they are.

[Shared Perceptions]: Manifests a connection of spiritual energy between oneself and a willing target. Each party may perceive each other's senses while this connection is active.

Effect (Knight): Itsumade elevates itself from a Mortal Ranked blood-night acerodon into a blood-night acerodon tyrant. Itsumade becomes capable of using lifeforce or spiritual energy to cast either [Cursed Blood Lull] or [Sanguine Sleep].

[Cursed Blood Lull]: Inflicts a blood-natured damage over time effect. Blood dreams of escaping the confines of which it is contained, pushing against veins, arteries and organs. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

[Sanguine Sleep]: Lulls the blood of a target into a dreamless sleep. Reduces resistances towards blood-related damages, afflictions and debuffs. This effect cannot be resisted.

[Kagami, Kagami: Lightless Mirror Reversal]: Manifested through the combination of a Darkness Mana Core, Fragment Of Silence, Memento Source Fragment, complete Mortal Title [Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue] and a Mortal Ranked mystical mirror.
(Fragmentation)

Manifests a Lightless Mirror capable of reflecting light and spiritual energy. The Lightless Mirror can reflect the senses of living creatures back towards themselves.

Those whose reflection is caught by the Lightless Mirror become afflicted with [Silence].

Increases resistances towards light-related damages, afflictions and debuffs. Increases resistances towards eye-related damages, afflictions and debuffs. Increases resistances towards virtue-related damages, afflictions and debuffs.

[Silence]: Prevents the activation of abilities with the Spell Trait. Each instance of [Silence] is consumed to prevent one activation. This effect cannot be transferred.

Effect (Knight): The Lightless Mirror becomes capable of shattering portions of itself which can be controlled at range. Each piece of the Lightless Mirror can inflict a single instance of [Silence] upon at target. Each piece of the Lightless Mirror can be detonated inflicting darkness-natured damage.

Sharing his senses with the Quiet Death Of Light And Virtue, Theodore Jeffery Manson observed a certain green-haired woman resting within a human-crafted sleeping bag. The pounding of his heart within his chest would have been perceived by one of her summoned companions, if it was not for the effects of Kagami, Kagami.

He stared unblinking even as the burning desires within his chest threatened to set him alight.

"Itsumade… I want her."