Alright, here we are back again with this story, time for the good ol' chapter eight
Standard opening here to let you guys know, If you want to read ahead in advance, with the Big P fucking me over, you'll need to head over to my subscribestar. You can find it under 0jordinio0, no spaces in their search bar, simple enough. There's a bunch of advanced chapters up there already. For Stacking The Deck, Scaped(which isn't up here yet) Systematic Shinobi:Multiverse Mayhem, Systematic Shinobi, Remnant Version, A failed Future(another one not up here yet), Systematic Huntsman, Remnant Verison, Power, Power, A Scottish Dragon In This Wonderful World, Power, Bleached Invader...and a bunch more shit. Heck, there's even Is It Wrong To Devour Monsters In The dungeon and a bunch of other shit.
"So I'm back."
Eyes opening, Brody found himself once more sitting before a massive roaring flame. A long time had passed within the confines of his own mind.
Forty five days to be exact.
And yet, it looked like barely, if any time had passed at all since he took his fathers essence within himself with his Take Over Magic.
He clenched his fist, and couldn't help the giddy smile that spread across his face as shimmering emerald green flames burst into existence around his fist.
The flames of the hellfire dragon.
His flames.
'Best to get a move on, son,' a familiar voice spoke up in the back of his head, 'Lingering around here will have my people come across you and you don't want any questions, right?'
The voice doused the flames from his hand and Brody scowled, "I'm still not talking to you." he huffed petulantly, crossing his arms.
He was mad at Atlas Flame.
After all, he'd completely lied about the fact he would fade away.
'Come now Brody, don't be so pouty, I thought it would give you more motivation to master your abilities quicker,' Atlas Flame snorted, 'And I was right even. You've gotten all the basics down already and even started on-'
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was….when the time had come, and the thought acceleration training period within the confines of his mind had come to an end, he'd cried big snotty bitch tears at the thought of Atlas Flame dying and leaving him.
Such was how much he'd bonded with his new dragon parent over the month and a half they spent together training.
Hell all over the last week of it, he'd been struck with a trembling pit of looming sadness, anxiety and despair in the pit of his stomach.
That was completely un-needed!
As if he needed extra motivation to get strong!
He might have lost his memories of the future, but he knew for sure there was some world ending crap going to end up coming around.
And he at least knew from Atlas Flame alone, that at some point he would be summoned from the past into the future alongside a bunch of other dragons, one of them being the king of the water dragons Levia, and would be put under control of some crazy guy.
Atlas Flame only had vague notions of the mans plans, but it was to do with defeating Acnologia. Which meant Acnologia was going to be active in the future.
But-
Well whatever, either way he certainly didn't need extra motivation!
This was a shonen world after all. World ending threats and rampant power creep went hand in hand for this kind of place.
'Fine, I apologize then, it was my mistake,' Atlas Flame sighed in defeat, 'I simply wanted the best for you, and it will be some time before I can use that variation of Thought Acceleration magic again so I sought to make the best use of it. It would be a different matter if I were alive, but I am little more than a parasite sustaining myself upon your magic now. But as it is now, it will take months before I can use it again.'
Brody clicked his tongue.
To be honest he wasn't really all that good at mushy emotions he didn't think. He'd never had a parent before, dragon or not.
And well, he couldn't say at all he didn't appreciate what Atlas Flame…his father had done for him.
He just wished he didn't look like a complete cry baby in the process.
Atlas Flame chuckled, 'You may lack the innate talent for magic we dragons do, but it cannot be said you do not lack the pride of one,' he noted with some amusement, 'Do not worry Brody, your secret is safe with me, I will tell not a single soul of your blubbering.'
His eyes twitched, "…Pops, I'm gonna kick your ass one day." he vowed.
It would be a long time coming of course. Having seen Atlas Flames' strength within his mind when they were training, he knew there was not a single wizard alive within Ishgar who could come close to his strength.
Even God Serena would get obliterated with ease.
Such was the strength of a dragon who was once a rival to Igneel, King Of The Fire Dragons, and once crowned the mightiest dragon of all before Acnologia came along.
'That's the spirit,' Atlas Flame laughed, 'How about I make it up to you? I know where the Ogre's live in this area, you wanted to use your Take Over magic upon them and gain their darkness magic did you not?'
Despite only being a parent for what was technically, not even a day yet, Atlas Flame had already mastered the technique to making a pouty whiny child stop crying.
By giving them a shiny gift.
Or well, in Brody's case, pointing him towards the general habitat area of massive, grotesque man eating monsters.
High in the sky, scaled green wings carrying him through the sky, Brody surveyed the dark deep expanse of the world below.
It was all but pitch black, the only light for miles around being that coming from the stars and the moon.
'It shouldn't take long,' Atlas Flame assured him, 'Ogres I've learned, tend to live solitarily unless they find a mate. They're a violent and cannibalistic race, but not the dumbest creatures around. They have learned how to rear cattle and other livestock for the most part.'
Brody nodded along as he soared through the air. He was searching for something specific.
Fire to be precise.
At any camps an ogre made, they would need to keep warm, And tended to build large pyres to do so.
Which was what he was searching for.
And it wasn't long before Brody found what he was searching for. A shimmer of light piercing through the darkness cast by the night and the looming mountains in the distance.
"There we go!" Brody grinned, his wings flapping as he sped towards the glint of flame in the distance.
It wasn't long before he was above the campsite and he caught sight of his first ogre.
And my descriptions of them in books did not do their ugliness justice. They were massive humanoids, but with lanky almost spindly limbs, misshapen dome like heads, a slouched overly heavy posture and protruding belly.
And the smell!
Even from far above, Brody could smell something akin to rank sewage. It was disgusting!
Despite that though, a massive grin was on his face.
Because it was time for him to test his power as the Hellfire Dragon Slayer for the first time in the real world!
Wings flaring out behind him, Brody opened his mouth and inhaled, his chest expanding.
"Hellfire Dragon's Roar!"
The first roar of draconic hellfire in hundreds of years erupted into existence, a torrent of highly compressed emerald green flames. Pact together so tightly they may as well have been a physical force on top.
The ogre didn't even see it coming as the flames smashed into and rolled over its titanic frame, the roar of hell flame drawing a surprised bleat of terror and pain from the beast as it was smashed into the ground.
When Brody cut off his breath attack, it was to show the massive green skinned ogre flat on its back, flesh burned and charcoaled and the ground beneath it melted into slaggy goop.
'Not bad.' Atlas Flame hummed.
It was not however a B-rank tier magical beast for nothing. With a huffing snarl, the beast tore itself to its knees and thrust a palm up at him, a noxious and massive green beam of magic erupting into the sky towards him.
"Why is darkness magic green?" Brody had to wonder, not bothering to move from his spot hovering high above.
The massive green beam was upon him in moments and washed over him-
And through him, doing absolutely nothing at all as his body shifted into an ephemeral flame.
'I couldn't tell you, the colour of specific magic styles was not a topic I was all that interested in.' Atlas Flame hummed.
Well fair enough.
Upon seeing him unphased by the beam of dark energy, the ogre roared in rage, green magic power lighting up its palms and it began to thrust them back and forth rapidly up at him, firing dozens of spheres of darkness magic at him.
That also did nothing.
The flame form of the Hellfire Dragon.
Was absolutely busted.
Without a natural weakness, another fire type slayer like Natsu Dragneel or the ability to seal away his magic, he was all but untouchable.
Time to end this.
Letting his take over form fade away, Brody dropped from the sky and began to rotate like a spinning top.
Green flame erupted along the length of one of his legs, and he came down like a meteor, smashing the heel of his flame enhanced foot atop the creatures head, "Hellfire Dragon's Crushing Leg!"
The force of his strike cratered the ground underneath the giant beast as its head caved in slightly.
And then its eyes rolled up into the back of its head and the ogre toppled backwards in a dead faint, Brody riding its skull all the way down and landing sitting atop it like a throne.
"…Incredible." Brody grinned to himself.
His strength since becoming a dragon slayer had only increased massively. Even without any of his take over forms, he could easily deal with a B-rank creature like an ogre.
His magic power had only increased a little bit in the process, a twentieth roughly overall, but that was actually through the mental training with Atlas Flame rather than becoming a dragon slayer.
It would be in complete reverse though he supposed when he got the hellfire dragon lacrima implanted within him.
…Though he wasn't sure how he would go about that yet.
'There are two ways frankly,' Atlas Flame spoke up, 'The medical procedure for it where you'd need to be cut open, or you could get someone with phasing magic to do it. If you were more skilled with the Flame Form, you could do it yourself, but that level of control is beyond you at the moment.'
Three options then, with one completely out of his reach at the moment. That left either the medical procedure, or someone with phasing magic.
…He didn't really like the idea of letting someone just cut him open to implant it to be honest. Putting aside that, there was the fact that who could he trust to do so and not just run away with the lacrima while he was all cut up?
He didn't really fancy being awake during such a procedure.
'Don't be a baby,' Atlas Flame admonished, 'A little pain like that for the increase in power you'd obtain is nothing. Besides, take it from me who has trained you to the brink, your pain tolerance is well enough to withstand such a thing.'
Well it would still be unpleasant.
…He supposed there was Porlyusica. He could probably wrangle her into doing it. Assuming he didn't join Fairy Tail and made his own guild, he still wanted to be allied with them so cultivating a good relationship with them was vital.
Also totally not just because of all the babes there.
He would need to meet Natsu Dragneel after all. He was his well…cousin?
'More or less,' Atlas Flame agreed, 'While Igneel and I are not flesh and blood we are sworn brothers, and in many cases, a bond chosen is far greater than one born into. After all, Igneel was never close to his own flesh and blood son at all but loves Natsu dearly and-'
Wait wait wait wait wait!
"Igneel has another son, a real dragon son!?" Brody sputtered.
'Hmm, yes his name was Ignia. Quite powerful despite his young age when he was born, but a loudmouth brat all the same. He fled this continent during Acnologia's rampage hundreds of years ago, but he's most likely long dead at this point,' Atlas Flame hummed, 'Levia had a son born around the same time as well who also fled if I remember right.'
Huh, that was interesting to know.
Anyway, putting that all aside, if he didn't want to get cut open, there was one guy he knew that had phasing magic.
Master Bob of the Blue Pegasus guild.
But he wasn't sure what it would take to get the man to do it. Payment maybe? He only had nine hundred thousand jewel to his name though. Which while not a small amount, wasn't exactly anything big either.
Perhaps he should take a job or two and get some more funds just in case?
'Perhaps, it would be a good idea to stop in Crocus as well before you return to Onibus after all,' Atlas Flame clicked his tongue, suddenly sounding annoyed, 'Galling as it is to admit, since I know you gain the power of the pervert in the future and we know where his corpse and spirit lay currently, there is no point in not claiming it. And it would be cheaper on your finances to get them both done at once.'
…Huh?
The hell was he talking about?
'I told you before no? That I preferred your smell without the stench of that pervert,' Atlas Flame replied.
Yeah, but what pervert was that? Going by the way he was speaking, it was another dragon who's power he would obtain.
But only one of them came to mind.
Zirconis the Jade Dragon.
'Yes…him,' Atlas Flame huffed in annoyance, 'The only thing he has of note is the defensive power of his scales as the Jade Dragon. He is, as you would say, as far as dragons go, mid.'
Despite himself, Brody snorted.
"Mid, really?" he laughed, "You sound like you really hate him pops." he pointed out.
'Hate? No. Distaste? Very much so,' Atlas Flame scoffed, 'His perverse obsession with human females is not something I wish to deal with. Not when you're already in the height of your youth and every second thought you have revolves around them. Alas, as much as I would prefer to keep you to myself as my son and heir alone and have nothing to do with that fool, Acnologia looms in the future and your strength as the Jade Hellfire Dragon was quite something…' he trailed off.
Then he snorted, 'I suppose him passing on his ability to take a beating to you is the least his blight of an existence could give to the world.'
Okay?
Honestly, that was a lot to take in.
So in the future he had the powers of a Jade Dragon Slayer as well? Was it like…. a dual dragon slayer mode?
That was a thing…maybe?
He was sure it was, but he couldn't remember why exactly.
'It is very much a thing yes,' Atlas Flame cut in before his thoughts could be muddied, 'Between it and the ability to call upon dragon force at will as a third generation dragon slayer, you were quite formidable and you were hardly much older looking then than you are now. To grow to that level of power from what you are now in such a small span of time, it makes me proud of what you'll one day accomplish. There is no doubt with a growth rate like that, that you will surpass Acnologia one day for sure!'
That was very interesting to know.
His lack of knowledge on why a dual dragon slayer mode was a thing aside, he knew deep inside him that it was like a power up mode. And he combined it with Dragon Force?
Then no wonder the future him was so impressive. Especially if he took into account he could further it with his Take Over forms as well.
Going by how easily he defeated the ogre he currently sat atop, did that not mean that he was at least roughly in the area of an A-rank level mage at his base?
Perhaps with his Take Over form he could even give an S-rank mage a run for their money?
And if not, it shouldn't be long until he was right? Taking that as a fact for the moment, then with the dual dragon slayer mode and Dragon Force, wouldn't it be possible he was stronger than even the likes of Erza, Jura or even Jellal?
'I couldn't say currently other than it is definitely within the realm of possibilities.' Atlas Flame grunted in approval.
Well alright then.
Time to head to Crocus he supposed and see about poking the soul of a dead perverted dragon until it gave him what he wanted.
First though.
Brody placed the palm of his hand flat atop the face of the ogre he sat atop, "Take Over." he declared.
Magic erupted from his palm and suffused the massive beast.
And in a flash of light, it was gone.
And Brody's strength grew slightly once more.
Travelling to Crocus, was a pain.
For no other simple reason than the fact that it was literally halfway across the country of Fiore from where the Sun Village was.
Especially so when it came down to the fact that he had to literally fly over the town where the main guild hall of Blue Pegasus was on his way there. He'd been half tempted just to stop in there on his way over and see if Master Bob could implant his dragon lacrima within him.
But with much willpower, he managed to resist the temptation and fly straight over on his way to Crocus.
As it was though, he'd had to stop at a small town and stay a night at a small motel to sleep and recover his magic.
So it was nearly a day and a half later that saw Brody arriving in the capital city of Fiore.
"Man, that was brutal." Brody winced as he entered the city of Crocus, winding his shoulder in a circle.
It was aching quite a bit.
Flying for so long wasn't just exhausting on his magic, but on his physical body as well.
He was already sitting at a half tank on magical power and he'd just gotten here.
Lovely.
"Gotta admit though, it's a beautiful city." Brody mused as he paused, craning his head up and casting a glance around the city.
It was nothing compared to what it looked like from above. But It was a sleek organized tidy city, no litter in sight, with gleaming buildings of marble as far as the eye could see.
And the massive sprawling castle in the middle of the city, elevated high into the sky was breath taking.
And there not far across from it was his destination, a huge colosseum arena with grand statues of warriors wielding weapons on each side looming over the stadium.
It was a grand building for sure.
And deep within the mountain it rested atop, he knew lay the strewn remains of dozens, if not hundreds of dragons.
'I'll hit up there in a bit.' Brody mused.
First though, while he was here in the capital. It wouldn't be a bad idea to hit up the local magic store.
He wanted to check if there were any better quality lacrima within the city, and if not, he wanted to see if they had any magic texts on sale.
Considering the battle form he'd made for Blue, he'd decided the best bet for offensive magic beyond Transformation Magic or him to learn, would be wind magic.
What he lacked more than anything else in a fight right now, was a ranged attacking option. Plus, through training with wind magic and learning how to use it, Blue would increase his own magic power in the process that would allow him to keep transformed for longer.
After getting directions from a few locals, it didn't take very long for Brody to track down the Crocus magic shop.
It was huge compared to the one in Onibus he noted as he entered, a bell atop the door jingling as he did, 'As expected of the capital I suppose.' Brody thought as he entered.
He had to withhold a whistle as he did so.
Shelves upon shelves of magical items greeted him. From magic earphones, to stylish gale force reading glasses.
A full display of lacrima of varying sizes.
And at the far back he could see a huge set of shelves indented within the wall itself filled with texts of all shapes and sizes. From crisp black leather books to ruddy brown with yellowed pages.
Nice.
And there was only two other people in the magic store besides him. An older man manning the front counter, and another person on the other side dressed in a fine black cloak with the hood up looking over a display box was short figure.
The hooded one ignored him focusing completely on the display box in front of them.
Brody was fine to do the same, nodding at the store keep before making his way over to the display of lacrima.
'Hmmm…' he hummed to himself as he pursued the options with his eyes.
…They were certainly prettier than the ones in Onibus. All of them orbs rimmed with golden metal. But quality wise, there wasn't really any difference compared to the one he'd specifically picked out at Onibus.
'And it hardly needs to be pretty, who is going to see it? Someone who gouges your chest out?' Atlas Flame snorted.
He was going to go with a big fat nobody.
He was totally fine with that.
'Well at least I don't need to spend anymore on a lacrima.' he shrugged. Looking away from the selection of lacrima, he made his way over to the shelves of books.
Right away he winced as he saw price tags stand out to him.
100,000 J.
275,000 J.
220,000 J.
135,000 J.
100,000 J.
163,000 J.
Every single one of them was at least a hundred thousand jewels. Talk about bloody pricey.
The good news though, was that they were indeed all magical texts. Or the basic introductory into learning specific magic styles.
Earth Magic, Fire Magic, Wind Magic, Water Magic, Light Magic, Dark Magic, Snow Magic, Ice Magic, Iron Make Magic, Wood Make Magic-
More and more.
Brody almost salivated at all the magic texts on display.
'Hey, even Thought Projection magic!' his eyes lit up, before grimacing as he saw the price at three hundred thousand jewels.
Damnit why did society run on money!?
'Don't worry, I can teach you Thought Projection magic,' Atlas Flame cut in, 'It was a big help alongside Thought Acceleration when it came to creating my own enhanced flames. Though I don't see why you want to learn other elements at all, fire is the best.'
It was.
No doubt there, Hellfire Dragon Slayer magic was the best. But he needed to be decent with all the main elements if he ever wanted to use Abyss Break.
It would come in handy if he ever fought other fire slayers like Natsu or Zancrow. Especially Zancrow.
After all, he wanted those flames of his as well. Flames designed specifically to kill a god.
Combined with hellfire dragon slayer magic that could burn even magic itself, would it not be possible then…for him to kill Zeref?
If it ever came up of course.
He was kept alive by the curse of a god right? So between fire that could burn even magic and fire specifically meant to counter gods, then it would be double effective against Zeref and his curse…right?
'Sound logic, though I care little for the man beyond some pity,' Atlas Flame mused, 'Though I suppose as the older brother who cared deeply for the son of Igneel, removing the curse of that cowardly god and allowing him to pass on is the right thing to do.'
That, plus the guy was the emperor of a massive kingdom with a military might far surpassing the guilds of Fiore currently.
Becoming capable of killing a guy like that only made sense to him. Or was it instinct? He wasn't sure to be honest, it was just a niggling feeling.
But yes, Abyss Break would be highly useful for when he sought out Zancrow and took the power of his flames for himself.
'Hellfire Dragon God has a nice ring to it, I do admit.' his father chuckled.
That it did…though again, something niggled at him.
Dragon God? Why did that feel so familiar?
Well whatever his eyes went back to the magic texts, and he winced. The good news was the basic elemental texts were the cheapest at a hundred thousand jewels.
The bad news was that between Water, Earth, Wind and Light, that was four hundred thousand jewels he'd need to spend. Sure Abyss Break could be made with just Fire, Earth, Water and Wind, but the addition of Light and Darkness magic made it even more potent, so he needed all six.
So yes….almost half of his funds. And he needed the money in case Master Bob really did require a large fee to implant the lacrima inside him.
'Three hundred thousand,' Atlas Flame corrected, 'Zirconis is a subset of Earth dragons as the Jade Dragon, so gaining his magic will cover the earth part.'
Well that was good he supposed.
Still three hundred thousand he'd need to pay out. 'Hopefully local jobs for wizards posted here will be worth a decent amount since its the capital.' he grimaced.
Reaching out, he grabbed the texts for wind, water and light magic and made his way over to the checkout desk.
As he did, the hooded person just finished up their own purchase and turned around, clutching a silver key in their fist-
And bumped into him, "Ah…sorry." they replied, voice feminine.
As they, Brody looked down and met a pair of shimmering jade green eyes set in a gorgeous porcelain skinned face, a flash of jade green hair peeking out of the hood.
What the hell was she doing here?!
His eyes widened, "Y-you're-" he spluttered, such was his surprise.
Before he could say anything though, Princess Hisui E. Fiore placed a finger to his lips and silenced him.