Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

Jon had to admit, walking through such a strange and vibrant landscape, one untouched by humankind was quite the experience. Although Jon had been hiking and camping before, the effects of his newest ability allowed Jon to perceive the world around him with new and vibrant colours to it.

On the other hand, his heightened instincts and intuition made caused Jon to feel somewhat paranoid, especially whenever he heard the crackling of a tree branch or the snapping of a twig off in the distance.

Silence became comforting, blessing Jon with a quiet sense of repose.

There was no change in the direction of shadows, even though Jon knew he had been in the small realm for a few hours at least. Whatever source of light existed within the small realm seemed to leave it within a constant state of daylight, permitting Jon another small comfort.

While following the sixth sense granted to him by [Monstrous Intuition] Jon had encountered two other lifeforms within the small realm.

The first was a creature whose appearance reminded Jon of a rabbit, albeit one clad in violet coloured fur, sprouting a large, coiled horn from out of its forehead. Jon had tried to remain stealthy, keeping within its blind spots and downwind of the creature, but failed to kill it the moment he tried striking it with his makeshift spear.

Imagine his surprise when the moment he thrust his spear out, the creature vanished in a puff of violet coloured smoke, reappearing several feet away. Jon, in a stupor of shock and amazement, could only watch as the rabbit creature bounced away, occasionally vanishing and reappearing with clouds of violet smoke behind it.

'Teleportation? Or some sort of spatial displacement?' The sight left Jon amazed and slightly envious of the Mana Core and fragment that the rabbit creature possessed.

Jon had already confirmed the existence of a Space Mana Core during his time in the Pure Room, so it should not have surprised him when he encountered creatures possessing abilities related to spatial displacement or teleportation.

It did make him slightly envious that he did not choose such a Mana Core. Even if Jon managed to obtain both the Fragment Of Mouth from the goat-creature and the Fragment Of Instinct from the task reward, he could imagine both fragments generating a powerful spatial related ability.

Something related to movement would give him a greater confidence in exploring the small realm without worrying about encountering large groups, or powerful lone creatures.

The second lifeform on the other hand-.

"Shit! In what universe would it be a good idea to give a duck the ability to breathe fire!" Jon shouted as felt his instincts flare up, immediately rolling towards the nearest tree. His expression pale as he felt a wave of searing flames travel right over his head.

Tilting his head around the opposite side of the tree, Jon narrowed his eyes, breathing shallow breaths as he observed the creature several meters away. Despite its relatively normal appearance, Jon could see several details his intuition immediately drew him towards.

First, and perhaps the most obvious, was the fact that this duck was quite large. Larger than the average duck at least. Standing at over five feet tall, this abominable creature quacked significantly louder, and with a much deeper pitch than an average duck specimen. A motley layered mess of feathers and ash covered its somewhat brown body, leaving behind an obvious trail of where it had waddled through last.

Its beak possessed the faintest traces of maroon to it, something that Jon would not have noticed without the effects of [Monstrous Intuition] enhancing his five senses. The discolouration was more than likely due to the mutative effects of whatever fragment it had managed to integrate into its Mana Core.

Jon watched as the five-foot-tall duck let out a confused sounding quack, turning its head back and forth while strutting around, looking for any traces of himself. The duck tried to sniff the ground but seemed to do nothing but follow the path of ash that it had created, leading itself around in small circle.

'It's kind of… stupid. Although, I was worried for a second that this duck must have obtained a Dragon Mana Core but given the traces of ash that it leaves behind, I'm guessing that it must have integrated either an Ash Mana Core, or a Fire Mana Core. It doesn't appear to possess any outstanding physical traits either, other than its size of course'.

Glancing to his side, Jon pried off a piece of bark from the tree behind him, throwing it in the complete opposite direction behind the fire-breathing duck. The large, brown feathered creature lifted its head up, immediately breathing a searing, thigh-thick, torrent of flames in direction that the sound had come from.

It gave Jon the chance he needed to sprint out from the tree he was hiding behind, bags forgotten and spear in hand. He considered wearing his duffel bag or backpack on his chest like he did previously with the goat-creature, but worried about how the contents within would measure up against a literal stream of fire.

His footfalls produced loud thumps against the earth, causing the fire-breathing duck to swiftly turn its head, opening its flat beak once more, the faintest traces of light emerging from the depths of its throat.

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Jon's breath hitched, his instincts sharpening as if a sword grinding against a whetstone. A familiar sensation of clarity washed over Jon's mind, dulling the unnecessary parts of his psyche.

His eye twitched as he hoisted the makeshift spear in his hand, lifting it behind his head, while stomping his dominant foot on the ground in front of him. Flashes of certain memories flickered through Jon's mind, recalling the movements and minute details of Trevor and his teammates during their athletics training.

There was one kid whose name escaped him, an experienced javelin thrower who wanted to participate in the Olympic tryouts in a couple years.

Jon's intuition helped overlap the movements of that young man in his mind, with the actions of his current self. Jon let out a shallow breath before flinging his arm forward, ignoring the possibility of dislocating his shoulder or snapping the muscles in his arm.

The makeshift spear did not possess even the faintest traces of an aerodynamic structure. It was relatively straight but was still quite clearly a tree branch. There was no sense of balance and was crooked in multiple places. Jon had attempted to roll his fingers along the branch, trying to add spin to reduce its flailing but could only mimic the memories in his mind so closely before his inexperience became evident.

The spear left Jon's hand, hurling through the air with an astonishing amount of force. Jon had been aiming for the centre mass of the enormous duck, hoping that a larger target would give him the greatest chances of striking true.

Unfortunately for Jon, the chances were just not quite in his favour.

His spear shot through the air, flying past the head of the gigantic duck, mere inches away from his target. The unbalanced and jagged tree branch collided with a soft patch of earth several meters behind the duck, sticking in upright, albeit on a significant angle.

The large, mutated duck feeling the sensation of air rushing past its head, unconsciously glancing to the side, hoping to catch glimpse of the flying object. The average duck probably would have been startled by such a thing and decided to fly towards safety, but instead turned its attention back towards Jon, its opening its beak in his general direction.

Jon spun on the balls of his feet, immediately running in a wide circle as he felt another wave of searing flames scorch the hairs on the back of his neck. His eyes narrowed towards the source of the flames, noting its posture and distinct lack of any movement while activating its ability.

'It doesn't move when it releases its flames!', Jon's intuition whispered to him.

Jon kept running in a circle, keeping a wide berth between himself and the fire-breathing duck. His gaze locked onto the form of the abominable duck over a dozen meters away, his hand wrapping around a familiar object as he continued sprinting around his target.

'I can't rely on luck and chance to strike this stupid thing! But if I risk getting in too close, I might end up dying!' Jon gritted his teeth and raised his arm behind his head, getting ready to throw his makeshift spear once more.

Getting burnt was not an option. Being cut or struck with a blunt force object might result in bleeding or even a concussion, but both were relatively manageable in the scheme of things. Receiving second-degree, or even third-degree burns were wounds that Jon was not willing to risk receiving within the small realm.

There was no method of preventing infection out here in the wild. No medicine to reduce swelling, or to relieve pain. And the possibility of encountering creatures which could take advantage of Jon's injuries, leaving him at a severe disadvantage.

Jon narrowed his eyes, rolling back behind the tree concealing his duffel bag and backpack. Without even a shred of hesitation, Jon strapped both to himself. One on his front and the other onto his back. Jon immediately allowed his intuition to guide him, reminding him of the direction in which he was travelling.

Jon did not look back behind him as he sprinting in the opposite direction of the fire-breathing duck. His speed would not be enough to exceed that of a bird in flight but specifically weaved his route through low hanging trees and sections of forest with a thick, shadowy canopy. While his pride and confidence were somewhat hurt from the sudden retreat, Jon was finding himself pleased that both his logical reasonings and his instincts came to the same conclusion.

This fight was one that he wouldn't leave unscathed. That even if Jon did somehow win, it wouldn't be without repercussions, or serious consequences.

While Jon did not look back, he could hear the sounds of the duck chasing after him, deep bellowed quacks echoing throughout the forest. While he was not sure of how far the distance between himself and the duck was, given that the quacks were becoming fainter and fainter, he was relieved that he could put some distance between himself and that annoying creature.

Jon did not let up his sprint for another few minutes, eventually stopping beside the largest tree he could find, dropping his gear onto the forest floor and leaning against it, wiping the sweat off his brow. His shirt and jeans clung to him uncomfortably, but Jon just reached for his water bottle, ignoring the sensible part of him and gulping down several mouthfuls.

He stopped when his water bottle felt less than half full but did not feel bad as he rested his head on the tree behind him.

"That… definitely could have gone better", Jon said to himself.

Jon think much of the fire-breathing duck when he first saw it. The creature was nothing more than a large duck, perhaps with greater physical strength or endurance to match its larger size.

It was only after Jon saw the faintest traces of light emerge from the depths of its throat, did his instincts warn him of the danger than the creature possessed.

"That duck… it must have had another ability in addition to the one that allowed it to breathe fire. I cannot think of a fragment that would stimulate such physical growth and then mutate something into allowing it to expel fire from the mouth…", Jon replied to his own words, his voice trailing off at the end brows narrowing in thought.

"I've been thinking about this wrong. That goat-creature probably didn't necessarily have to possess a unique Mana Core. System introduced individuals were allowed to receive one of their choice, something which the System referred to as "a unique privilege given to those who are chosen to participate within each System Introduction".

"If that is to be considered true, then either other creatures receive random Mana Cores, or are somehow unable to choose their Mana Core. If that goat-creature, was merely something with a Goat Mana Core, that just happened to obtain a Fragment Of Mouth, then that would explain why it was such an ordinary mutation".

"The duck on the other hand… it possessed a multitude of different abilities. The trails of ash. The increased physical size and mass. The resistance to heat and flames. The fact that it can breathe fire through its mouth… I cannot be completely sure how many fragments can be integrated into a single Mana Core, but given how many abilities it has, is it possible that this duck has somehow managed to obtain a second Mana Core?", Jon spoke out loud, as if trying to find the answer to his own question.