Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

"Are you with Theodore?"

Jon had observed the lutin in front of him, pressing Assail against her throat with enough force to draw a single pinprick of blood from her neck. His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes able to pierce through her non-existent mental defences, manifesting an illusory status page before his eyes.

Name: Aerilayna Laedrum
Age: 29
Rank: Mortal
Tier: Fifth Initiation
Title: Centurion Of The Ice-Wind

Taking a quick glance down at the number of Mana Cores and fragments she had integrated, Jon raised an eyebrow, seeing that the blonde-haired woman had not even manifested twenty different abilities. At the Fifth Initiation a Mortal could possess up to thirty abilities, yet "Aerilayna," after six months within the System Introduction had not even progressed two-thirds of the way to Knighthood.

Despite his curiosity on the matter, Jon dismissed any thoughts relating to her fragments or Mana Cores, watching her mouth quiver before responding.

"What is… a Theodore?" She responded in Nain, prompting Jon to narrow his eyes at her.

Although his Mask Of Jade Lies was a powerful Memento Source Item which allowed him to improve the qualities of his spoken lies, its effects did not extend towards detecting lies spoken towards him.

It was something that he would have to rectify upon reaching Knighthood.

Despite the feeling of his spear-natured spiritual energy reaching dangerously low levels, Jon did not cancel the effects of his Fragment Of Ira or Fragment Of Superbia. He would not do so until he knew that Avahni was safe, preferably back with Wilheim, Ortlinde and the others.

Even if this person were also a lutin, he did not know whether she would be friendly towards himself or Avahni. Considering that he was in possession of a Memento Source Fragment, he would not think that anyone else other than his four companions were people he could trust within the System Introduction.

"Why have you come here then?" Jon asked again, noticing Aerilayna gulp as she tried to adjust the position of Assail pressing against her neck. Jon did not have any of it, nodding his head almost imperceptibly and allowing Eis to mimic his actions behind her.

Another ice-longsword manifested in the winter demon spirit's hands. Its tip placed against the other side of Aerilayna's throat. Her long, knife-like ears twitched at the frozen longsword placed against her neck as her eyes unconsciously moved towards the woman holding the second weapon to her jugular.

"Answer the question girl. Unless you enjoy the feeling of steel and ice against the skin?" Said Schwarz Eis, using Jon's memories to teach herself Nain.

Aerilayna glanced towards the horns above Eis' head but did not dawdle any longer.

"I… heard an explosion and went to investigate."

"Were you alone?" Eis pressed, causing Aerilayna to furrow her brows before nodding her head. The White Lady Of The Winter Castle smiled before shaking her head from side to side.

"She's lying, that much is obvious," Eis said in English, causing the blonde-haired lutin to twitch, hearing the familiar language. Neither Jon nor Eis noticed such a thing, as the two continued their conversation.

"We have to focus on getting Avahni back to the others. The fight against Theodore has expended much of my spiritual energy," Jon replied, prompting Eis to nod her head in response.

"Agreed. That Knight might not excel at head-to-head combat, but excels in subterfuge, stealth, and debilitating effects. Another fight against him will not be so easy considering he now knows your abilities Jon," Eis responded, causing Jon to turn, shouting towards Ru Luan Di in the distance.

Jon shifted his language to Avant, Schwarz Eis now noticing Aerilayna's ears twitch, understanding the words that he was speaking.

"Oi! Ru! Is Avahni safe to move yet!?" He shouted, pausing for a few moments before earning a reply from the little ginseng king.

"She is conscious but still has lie natured spiritual energy coursing through her system! She is safe to move but cannot stand on her own!" The voice of the little ginseng king bounded from across the forest, prompting Jon to nod before turning towards Eis.

The winter demon spirit took once last glance at the blonde-haired lutin before raising Licht Weiss and placing the Memento Source Item on the back of Aerilayna's neck. The Right Hand Of Winter channelled minute amounts of ice natured spiritual energy into her body, not enough to cause physical damage but enough to make her feel uncomfortable.

Through some unknown method, Aerilayna felt the connection between herself, and her summoned armour and summoned weapon impeded, forcing the three of them to vanish. Without the Winds First Labour in her hand, or the Nights Ninth Labour on her shins, the blonde-haired woman felt defenceless in front of Jon, eyes widening in fear as Schwarz Eis gripped the back of her neck.

The moment that Jon knew this woman was secure, he dismissed Assail from his hands, taking a half-step back before turning around and glancing in the direction where Avahni laid.

'Eis can keep this woman here until we get far enough way.' Jon thought to himself.

The split second that Jon was more than three-feet away from Aerilayna, was the exact moment when his [Monstrous Intuition] flared up, forcing him to manifest the Spear Of Verdant Cedar once more.

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A shadow flickered past his vision, alongside the presence of darkness natured spiritual energy.

His eyes widening as he slashed out with Assail, deflecting a strike aimed at his throat. The sound of manifested steel clanging against manifested steel echoed throughout the forest as the sound of an unfamiliar voice pressed against Jon's eardrums.

"Get the hell away from her!" The voice was distinctly masculine and was shrouded beneath a layer of darkness natured spiritual energy.

The sound of a bowstring twanging echoed from out behind him, forcing Jon to sidestep out of the way allowing two projectiles to fly past him, emanating bow natured spiritual energy. His brows furrowing as the figure cloaked in darkness rushed at him once more, muttering a chant beneath their breath.

Despite his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes being unable to pierce through this shroud, the effects of his Title allowed him to perceive the various mutations all around him. Even under the cover of darkness with his spiritual energy dwindling with each passing moment, Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation surged, Jon focusing on its fifth effect more than anything else at this moment.

He could detect over a dozen different mutations all around him, from seven separate sources of spiritual energy.

'Seven people?! How annoying,' Jon let out a small tsk, feeling pain sprout from his temples as someone tried to intrude into his Sea Of Knowledge. His mental construct resisted the probe but forced him to grit his teeth, beginning the chant for imperial wood barrier.

His reserves of wood natured spiritual energy and weave natured spiritual were each still over seventy percent, allowing him to overload his Fragment Of Barrier with more than twenty percent of his maximum spiritual energy.

"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!"

The best part of [Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier] was that Jon could manifest it anywhere within a fifteen metre radius of his current position. Jon had used this ability once to divide the Malum Goblins into two smaller groups while he was still at the Fifth Initiation and decided to use this strategy once again.

The moment Jon placed his hand on the ground beneath him did another barrage of mental probes collide against his Fragment Of Mind. His Sea Of Knowledge weathered the blows of water natured spiritual energy and earth natured spiritual energy, causing nothing more than a faint ripple to appear across the water's surface.

Jon would have grinned if it were not for Lethe changing his appearance.

The ground where he fingers touched turned a bright citrus-green before roots and tendrils started bursting out of the ground all around him. His imperial wood barrier manifested itself in clumps of two-to-three trees all at once within the defined limits of the Spell.

[Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier] was even further enhanced through the effects of his Memento Source Item, causing the manifested trees around him to grow thicker, stronger, and much more durable as a result. Thorns and spikes grew up the length of each tree trunk a strange combination of the thorns of the honey locust tree and the spikes of the silk floss tree.

More than two dozen intertwined trees sprouted all around Jon, some even growing from out of the crater his Fragment Of Eradication left behind. The ground shifting beneath the feet of the approaching figures, forcing them to back up, retreating several metres backwards.

The figure cloaked in darkness natured spiritual energy dove towards Jon the second he knelt down to activate his Spell, but found his movements impeded by the growing leaves and branches that sprouted beneath his feet.

Given that Jon could sense the other mutations all around him, his imperial wood barrier manifested in such a way that blocked their lines-of-sight. The mastery he possessed over Temperance Of Green allowed Jon to freely shape the trees that he manifested using the Spell, birthing tropical trees with enormous natural foliage.

'Coccoloba gigantifolia,' Jon thought, a smile appearing beneath the Mask Of Jade Lies.

Each of the tropical trees were short and stunted, most of his focus gone into manifesting as many leaves from their branches as he could. Most debilitating Spells or projectile-type Spells required a direct line-of-sight for their effects to activate, unable to be "curved" so to speak as to avoid obstacles or targets in-between themselves and their targets.

It allowed Jon a moment to pause, glancing in the direction where Avahni laid before turning his head towards Schwarz Eis. Despite his earlier verbal communications, Jon switched to the connection between them born from his Fragment Of Summon.

"Keep her quiet for a moment Eis. Let me try something," he said, feeling emotions of trust and confidence bleed into his Sea Of Knowledge. Although it was more of an experiment than anything else, Jon felt as though Lethe would prove more valuable here than anything else.

His appearance transforming from that of a middle-aged man into a lithe, blonde-haired woman. Jon had heard Aerilayna speak but a few words to him, filling the gaps with mannerisms and intonations that he had associated with Avahni instead.

Within a matter of seconds, Jon now possessed the physical body of a grown human male, but the face of a blonde-haired female lutin. Despite his initial urge to touch the ears on each side of his head, Jon lifted his head and shouted into the night.

"Everyone wait! This is all just a huge misunderstanding!" He shouted, almost taken back at how feminine his voice sounded. Despite feeling a slight itch in the back of his throat Jon continued to speak, narrowing his eyes as he felt the mutations all around him grow still and motionless.

Aerilayna feeling her eyes widen as Schwarz Eis placed a hand over her mouth. A minuscule ice barrier formed between the winter demon spirit's hand and the lutin's mouth, preventing sound from escaping.

"That guy from earlier was just looking for his companion! He wanted to know whether we had seen her or whether she had been the cause of the explosion! He said he'll let me go the moment he got any answers!" Jon shouted, continuing to lie about his appearance and voice.

Although he was worried that his words might inflict instances of [Falsehood] on those around him, his Memento Source Item was surprisingly easy to control. Jon was able to limit each of their effects with as much finesse as he had over his Sea Of Knowledge.

There was a short silence which filled the forest before Jon heard a reply.

A masculine sounding voice.

The one that had been shrouded in darkness natured spiritual energy.

"… How do we know that he isn't coercing you into saying this, Aerilayna?" said the voice, prompting Jon to tsk, shaking his head in annoyance. His reserves of spear natured spiritual energy dipping below ten percent.

Jon pretending to pause as if giving Aerilayna a moment to convey his words.

"He said that he is outnumbered. That if his companion is not here that he wishes to go without worrying about being attacked. He says that he does not want to fight," Jon replied, gesturing for Eis slowly retreat through the gaps in his imperial wood barrier.

The winter demon spirit nodded, gently pulling Aerilayna backwards, most of her figure encased within a growing barrier of ice.

"… If Aerilayna can understand your words then you must at least either be a human or a vermiton, or someone capable of understanding Common." Jon heard the voice shout, raising an eyebrow as he switched between two familiar languages and an unfamiliar one.

"Hear me this. If you have harmed a single hair on Aerilayna's head then I promise, you will not live to see another day. Release her and I shall grant you five System minutes to retreat, so long as nothing has happened to her." Said the man, releasing minute amounts of sword natured spiritual energy as he retreated backwards several metres.

"Five minutes. And then we will burn your barriers to the ground."