Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

Jon considered retracing his footsteps in an attempt to find the duck creature again. Considering that he had obtained a Fragment Of Mouth from that goat-shaped abomination, there was always the chance that defeating the fire-breathing duck would result in Jon being able to obtain another Mana Core.

Although he had already decided to put more distance between himself and the duck, pushing further forward in the direction that his [Monstrous Intuition] urged him towards. There was no point in turning back after spending several minutes of running in order to escape the creature.

Without some sort of similar ranged method of attacking, Jon would be at the mercy of the fire-breathing duck.

Jon felt his eye twitch, [Monstrous Intuition] noticing something interesting about his surrounding environment. His Fragment Of Instinct alerted Jon to the fact that the ground he was travelling on had slowly started to decline, causing his mood to improve, significantly advancing the pace at which he travelled.

Although, his mind occasionally still thought back to the duck, his pride, or perhaps arrogance was unable to forget having to run away from that abominable creature.

While Jon could not be completely sure what abilities the duck did nor did not possess. But given the fact that it failed to chase after him through the forest, Jon assumed that it lacked an ability that increased the effectiveness of its senses, or one that granted a unique method of movement like teleportation or displacement.

This did tell Jon one thing about the nature of abilities that he didn't quite understand before.

'The effect description of abilities must be quite specific in that the enhancements that increase the effectiveness of certain qualities do not extend beyond what is mentioned. If I wanted to obtain an ability which increased my physical speed, then while a Fragment Of Acceleration would guarantee it, integrating it into a Knowledge Mana Core, might just improve the acceleration and speed of my thoughts'.

'[Monstrous Intuition] does not grant me preternatural reflexes or a dexterity capable of reacting to the information given to me by the ability. If that is the case, then the ability to breathe fire does not necessarily mean immunity from it. Compatibility between Mana Core and Fragment should be the cornerstone of whether I choose to integrate them or not'.

Unless of course the duck had somehow managed to integrate a fragment, which granted both the ability to breath fire and resistance to flames and heat. Perhaps something along the lines of a Fragment Of Dragon, or a Fragment Of Phoenix, would be capable of doing so, even if it was integrated into something like a Duck Mana Core.

It make Jon wonder what Mana Cores and Fragments actually were, although, given that he didn't even know what spiritual energy was, he found it unlikely that he would deduce an answer with the information in front of him.

'I kind of wished that I picked a more offensive type of Mana Core. I probably would have picked Lightning if given another opportunity, considering that it would probably synergize well with the Fragment Of Instinct I obtained from the task reward… Hindsight is a wonderful thing I guess'.

Jon took a quick glance at the System Task page, noting that the timer still had not started. Letting out another small tsk, the young man stepped around a large patch of wild mushrooms, before pausing, lifting his head, hearing a familiar sound ripple in the distance.

It was almost unnoticeable, obscured behind the sound rustling of leaves and the brushing of weeds against each other.

Jon immediately took off in the direction of where the sound came from. The sound of trickling water growing stronger and stronger as Jon broke through the tree line, entering a wide-open clearing.

An abundance of bleached-white rocks and golden sands filled his vision. A riverbank, one more picturesque than some of the images Jon had seen on social media emerged in front of him, the sound of trickling and lapping water filling his ears, causing Jon to smile before dropping his bags and approaching the waterfront.

Jon didn't quite remove his shoes or socks, instead gazing at the almost transparent river surface, the waters a beautiful crystalline blue. Jon could see traces of fallen tree branches which had settled at the bottom of the river, alongside splotches of freshwater kelp waving harmoniously with the gentle flow of the river.

The river itself was barely longer than twenty meters across, although stretched so far in either direction that Jon couldn't quite see the source or end of the rivers trail. Even though the world stretched upwards in every direction, it made gazing towards anything relatively close to Jon impossible to discern without standing atop some sort of vantage point.

'Still, it was progress. Actual tangible process', Jon thought with a smile.

There was still plenty of things that Jon knew he had to sort out. Hunting for food and establishing a shelter capable of protecting him while he was sleeping or resting. Although Jon had only seen a fraction of the magnitude of this world, he knew that if a common beast like a duck or a goat could kill him, then what would the Guardians of the System Dungeons or the System generated Lord be capable of?

Jon would have to discover how to obtain and then subsequently integrate additional Mana Cores. Acquire compatible fragments to generate abilities with manageable mutations that didn't stray too far from his original form. Complete all the mandatory System generated tasks, which included experimenting with spiritual energy and exploring the depths of the small realm.

On top of all that, he just needed to not die during the process.

'Easier said than done', Jon thought to himself.

Jon spent roughly and hour surveying the area surrounding the riverbank, collecting pieces of fallen branches and picking up clumps of dried grass. While Jon did not necessarily need to worry about the cold due to the lack of a day night cycle within the small realm, Jon still had to consider the fact that he would eventually run out of food and be forced to hunt and forage in order to sustain himself.

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Jon initially thought that he could use fire as a deterrent to suppress potential predators but remembered a certain fire-breathing duck and quickly disregarded that particular thought.

After collecting all his twigs and branches and clumps of dried grass, Jon started his first attempt at using them to create a small bonfire.

He had seen maybe a handful of videos on social media about using friction or some makeshift contraption to generate enough heat to ignite grass, wiping a layer of sweat off his brow as he took off his shirt, trying to grind the tip his smaller stick over a small groove in a larger one.

It took Jon a while to enter a suitable rhythm, considering the mind-numbing nature of the task, but after roughly twenty minutes, Jon managed to create the faintest wisps of smoke through his constant rubbing. He almost forgot to keep grinding his two sticks together but swiftly added a small pile of dried grass into the small groove, blowing on it gently, introducing more oxygen to the minute embers.

The dried grass was quickly set alight, the handful of embers rapidly expanding into a palm-sized ball of orange-red flames. Jon placed the burning grass alongside his large, grooved stick into a small pit filled with broken branches and more patches of dried grass. The young man immediately raising his hands above his head, letting out an uncharacteristically loud laugh.

"Look what I have created… I have made fire!", Jon's screamed into the air. His voice cracked halfway through his sentence. The sense of accomplishment and jubilation tearing at the corners of his mouth. Jon smiled, despite everything that he had experienced these past few hours, letting out a soft sigh as he laid down backwards on the riverbank.

For the first time today… for the first time in a while actually, Jon did not think his life sucked that much.

Break

Jon thought about the time Trevor, Summer and himself travelled with a bunch of their classmates to a summer camp when they were younger. The camp councillors were a bunch of older teens who did not give a shit about the kids they were responsible for watching, only caring about flirting with one another and getting paid during at the end of their stint at the camp.

In hindsight, Jon could understand why they did not care about him and his friends, but still, it ended up being one of the greatest summers in Jon's life. Although the memories somewhat faded, but the sense of happiness that bubbled up from the depths of his mind, unconsciously brought a smile to Jon's face.

There was a day where he and the other kids went fishing. There were no fishnets, or any rods, so the children could only rely on building small dams and funnelling the fish into them in order to catch them.

Jon still remembered the enormous grin on Summer's face, as she hoisted a two-foot-long carp above her head, laughing as the others as swarmed to take a closer look.

There was something simpler about being younger. Jon might not have realized it back then, but his life was so much freer without the responsibilities and weights that society places on adults. Having to worry about paying rent and taxes. Remembering to vote for local, state and federal elections. Working while ignoring the invites of friends or families.

While Jon had not had to worry about most of these, he knew that was the reality of being an adult. Being self-sufficient meant there was not anyone around to remind him to do each of these things, and that he would be the one who accepted both the responsibility and potential consequences in the event that he forgot or ignored one of the tedious rules of society.

But within the small realm, Jon was only required to do one thing.

Do not die.

The brown-haired man adjusted the position of his glasses, gazing towards the pig-shaped creature a dozen meters in front of him. The young man was shirtless right now, with splotches of mud and leaves were smeared all over his upper body, camouflaging his figure without closer more scrutinous examination.

The pig-creature was roughly the same size as a domestic pig raised on a farm, albeit green coloured rather than pink or some shade of brown.

Jon could not quite see from this distance, but it appeared that there was some sort of strange, bulbous growth on the pig-creatures forehead, causing its eyes to swell and its appearance to become warped. There were traces of what appeared to be moss growing on its back and hind quarters, allowing it to blend in quite nicely with the rest of the environment around it.

Jon lifted his makeshift spear, one with a significantly sharper tip to the spear he used previously.

He had taken a couple hours to find another suitable branch and used a relatively sharp stone from the bottom of the river to grind the branch into pointed tip more suitable for piercing and thrusting.

Jon had even practiced using the spear trying to find the most appropriate position along the polearm to hold when lunging forward. He thought it seemed somewhat silly pretending to thrust into an invisible target, but when compared to his javelin throws against the fire-breathing duck from earlier, he thought it best to attempt something more up close and personal.

Jon remained hunched low, using the shrubbery to conceal himself as he slowly closed the distance between himself and the beast. The pig-creature seemed quite content with eating the patch of grass beneath itself, leaving it wide open for Jon to sneak up behind it.

However, the moment Jon got within five meters of the pig-creature, without warning, it suddenly lifted its head and stared directly at Jon. His green eyes meeting the brown-black eyes of the pig creature, as a sharp, piercing sensation abruptly rocked his head.

Jon almost dropped the spear in his hands, but instead just bit the surrounding his thumb, and sprinting forward, using the sensation of physical pain to reduce the effectiveness of whatever ability this pig-creature used on him. The beast seemed somewhat shocked that this two-legged creature in front of it managed to resist its ability, and could only turn around, trying to escape from its approaching predator.

Jon did not let up for a moment, raising his spear with both hands, and thrusting it forward towards a chunk of meat just above one of its front limbs. His spear entered the flesh of the creature with relatively little difficulty, Jon unconsciously twisting the spear as he pushed it deeper inside the creature.

The pig squealed uncontrollably, immediately attempting to buck Jon behind it, kicking out with its hind legs with a surprising amount of strength and speed behind it.

Jon merely felt his instincts spike, and rolled to the side, closer towards the head of the beast.

Reaching into his pocket, Jon pulled out a rather large, sharp stone and gripped it how someone would an ice pick. Without a shred of hesitation in his eyes, Jon lifted the stone above his head and swung it down with all the force he could muster, directly upon the bulbous growth on the pig-creatures head.

Blood splattered as the creature hit the ground. Jon had felt the stone in his hands collide with bone, and pierce through it, hitting the soft, fleshy organ beneath. The relative ease at which he killed this creature shocked him, although with just a glance of the corpse, he understood why it could not resist a single blow to the head.

'Whatever fragment it managed to integrate mutated the size and structure of its brain. As a result, its skull became brittle and warped, trying to adapt to the expanded size of the brain… what type of fragment could promote such strong, unfavourable mutations?', Jon wondered.

Before Jon could examine the creature for any traces of a Fragment or Mana Core, he swiftly retrieved his spear and sharp stone before gripping one of the legs of the pig-creature, pulling it back towards his base near the riverbank.

While the creature certainly weighed a significant amount, dragging it wasn't too strenuous to the current Jon. The pig-creature probably weighed less than his current amount right now, so it wasn't that difficult to bring it back towards his partially established shelter.

While Jon was not an expert in skinning, or cleaning the carcass of an animal, it did not stop him from smiling as he extracted two crystalline gemstones from its corpse. One glistening a serene jade colour, the other, a silver so clear he almost thought it was translucent.