Ch 101 – Slaying a Dragon

"An Ice Dragon, to be precise," Lute added.

Standing — well more of sleeping — in front of them was an Ice Dragon, many meters in size, much larger than a typical building. Its mere presence alone caused the whole area around it to be frozen solid, covered in magical ice mixed with the Ice Dragon's leaking mana. Its power was i9mmense, many times more overbearing than an S Rank Human Mage when they are flaring their mana.

"Are we… going to fight it?" Raiden asked, gulping as he grab hold of his katana's handle tightly. The notion of fighting a dragon, the most legendary monster in the entire world, made him nervous but also exhilarated. If he can successfully defeat it, it would put his name in the history books as one of the most powerful men in the world!

The dreams of grandeur, fame, and glory made him excited. But as if he was an open book, Lute patted his head and muttered softly, "Oi, oi, you don't wanna go announcing you killed an Ice Dragon now. If you do, many weak people would force you to become a "hero" and make you do some tedious task to "save the world" or something. So if you wanna be smart like your father here, just kill it and get over it."

Hearing his father, Raiden's back straightened as he nodded his head.

'Dada is right! Isn't Uncle Honda busy most of the time? Mmm! I'll be a… a power in the shadows! They won't know I secretly killed a dragon, hehe.' Raiden mischievously chuckled out loud, causing Kira who was watching him to slightly chuckle in response, which the two didn't manage to catch.

"Well, you want to fight it, Raiden-kun?" Lute said with a grin, his crimson gem propped on top of his wooden staff of spiraling wood to glitter lightly. Nodding his head, Raiden steeled his resolve and decided to go through this. Besides, he can just run away when push comes to shove, considering the first time he ran, he was already a third of the speed of sound. Now, he might as well be the fastest being in the world with his current top speed.

And so, with the will of the family of three decided, they silently walked into the cave and felt the temperature rapidly decreasing.

"[Divine Speed], [Lower Speed], [Time Acceleration], [Time Deceleration], [Aegis], [Higher Temperature]… [Create Item: Dung Beetle Armor, Skyhopper Legs]," Instantly, a barrage of spells were cast by Lute nonstop, increasing the trio's strength to a ridiculous degree. By Raiden's estimates, he can easily run three times his average speed without breaking a sweat with his father's buffs.

While Raiden was deep in thought, blue mana flames enveloped Lute's body, forming a tight-fitting armor that was like an extension of his very body. It was a raven black armor, though the distinct difference between the upper and lower body was quite apparent. In the upper body, it was akin to a masculine athlete, while the lower was more pointy, and insect-like, though the aura Lute current exudes can't be scoffed at.

"[Time Stop]!" Lute waved his staff; the whole world around him turned colorless and bleak.

Instantly, his voice echoed through the frozen ice cavern, intentional pun, and countless magical projectiles and spells were summoned in rapid succession. From gigantic pillars of flames to chains made from dirt, Lute did as many measures as he can to weaken the Ice Dragon.

*BOAHONSHFOAJAKHFIHAIOBFA*

A loud explosion occurred once time resumed, and the power his countless spells caused made a grand explosion that produced strong wind pressures for the trio. A loud roar was heard, full of rage, and the wrath of a forcefully awoken Ice Dragon appeared.

Slowly, the smoke receded from their view as they saw the Ice Dragon now standing, covered in many nicks and burnt marks, yet they saw it slowly healing at a rapid rate as it seemed to have casted healing magic.

"Raiden, you wanna take the lead?" Lute asked, Raiden nods his head, his eyes bright and full of excitement.

Without waiting for his two fathers, crimson sparks erupted from his body as crackling sounds were heard. And boom, Raiden disappeared into the distance as Lute grinned at the grand power his little science and magic project managed to achieve.

'To think I managed to produce my own speed force through magic, the wonders of having enough understanding of reality truly does bring tears to my eye.' Lute's mind started to wander to the past, to the time a certain "Evil Spirit" possessed a young child.

***(Flashback)

As a violet-eyed young man crouched down in front of a bleeding young boy, a masked man silently stood behind him, guarding the area around them.

'To think that I actually have a second attribute after fully healing my soul. So Sacrifice must have come from Lute, so Knowledge was from my original soul? Hmm, not only that, even Light Piercer managed to come along with us.' Lute thought with an intrigued grin while his wooden staff glowed a green light that covered the young boy's body in warm green light. His body full of cuts and bruises slowly disappeared.

'Though, dealing with my soul now being Pure White would be a bit of a hassle. If Kira were to put impurities directly into my soul, it would only damage it. Hmm, a dragon is a plausible reason, though it would have to take a bit of luck to kill so many dragons and raise my "Dark Gray Soul" to my current Pure White Soul. Though the conversion of Karma to Luck is going well, if my estimates are true, I should have 50,000 right now.' Lute absentmindedly thought while treating the young boy's body. He didn't feel a hint of remorse after forcefully having the boy become the villain in this story, considering he needed to remove the limiter for Kira's soul, killing a few tens of lives didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

'Maybe I can make a spell in the future that can copy a slime's ability to control their body at the cellular level? That would be a plausible reason for my absolute dominion over body and mind. Tch, I was too stupid before when I absorbed those goblins' bodies through my hands. Oh well, you live and learn, if I get reincarnated and have to start all over again, I can move more cautiously even with a weaker brain.' Lute thought, glancing down at the young boy who has fully healed already.

'Hmm, would this spell work?' Lute thought after making a new spell on the spot, considering he can freely manipulate his mind due to it being less obvious to manipulating his whole body, he already has an intellect far superior to most beings in this world.

"[Show Attribute]," Lute casted, fully expecting that the boy would only have a common attribute such as fire and such.

'Eh?' But against all odds, it was as if his luck has managed to turn the course of his entire plans by throwing a nuke at it. 'Lightning and Speed?'

Instantly, without any obstruction, his mind came to a single conclusion as the path of Body in his three identity plan was decided. 'The first step would be for him to attain the Speed Force, then I can slowly add in more and more until the final step is reached. If my estimations are at least 10% correct, he would attain a strength comparable to the gods without any problems. Though I'll achieve the same strength if I finally have a plausible reason for having Body Supremacy. Because when I removed my limiter, attaining the speed of light within years wouldn't be that hard if I eat and train hard enough.'

One can only wonder what plans Lute currently has. Like why is Raiden the Body if his strength comes from a magical force such as the self-produced Speed Force? Or why is he the Mind if he removed his Body's Limiter?! Wait… Is his definition for Mind, Body, and Soul perhaps different? (AN: I actually don't have a reason as to why he has three bodies yet.)

'Besides, this is all for enlightenment anyways.' Lute thought as he grinned, and slowly patted the young boy's cheeks to wake him up, for Body has been added to the trifecta.

***(A Few Weeks Into the Future)

Standing over rolling hills and grassy plains, the soft breeze made a certain trio's clothes flutter lightly. One was Lute wearing a white shirt and black pants, while a wooden staff of spiraling wood and a red gem on top of it floated beside him. The other was Kira, wearing a black shirt and black pants, along with a white mask to cover his face. And the final one was a young kid which was Raiden, who was wearing a crimson shirt and black pants.

"Are you ready, Raiden-kun?" Lute said, patting Raiden's head as Raiden wore a confident grin on his face.

"Mmm! When it comes to speed, I'm the fastest man alive in the entire world!"

"Eh??? Really??? Then if you move more than 100 meters per second, I'll buy you a ton of ice cream."

"WHAT?!?! Really, Dada?!"

"Of course, when did I ever lie to you, Raiden," Crouching down, Lute pulled Raiden's cheeks teasingly as the two chuckled.

"Kira, stopwatch please," Rearing his head, Lute glances at Kira who materialized a stopwatch out from his hand and stood up.

Crouching down, Raiden's eyes glowed brightly as this was the first time he'll move as fast as he can since gaining his new power a few days ago. Crimson sparks started to erupt out of his body from all sides, while his perception of the whole world slowly came to a shocking halt.

"Start!"

*Boom*

With a zweep sound, Raiden's body became a crimson blur and reappeared back at the place he was previously standing in less than a second.

"181 meters per second!" Lute shouted, causing Raiden's eyes to widen as he yelled loudly, for ice cream has been attained.

***(Back to the present)

"<Martial Arts, Crimson Lightning>!" Crouching down to the ground, Raiden's body flew through the air like a lightning bolt, appearing directly behind the dragon, countless crimson electrical cuts appeared throughout the Ice Dragon's head and neck. Yet, Raiden looks at his katana that shattered into countless metallic shards and clicks his tongue.

Turning around, his body zapped away just as the Ice Dragon's tail swoop over and dodged it without it even nearing him by many meters.

"Raiden! Remember that your speed comes from magic, so be imaginative with it!" Lute's shout entered Raiden's ears as his eyes sparkled with understanding.

'The concept of speed, huh?' As if he was possessed, the crimson sparks erupting from his body started to gather in his right arm, slowly forming a crimson blade of electric sparks. Not only that, as Raiden inspected it, he can sense the fields of space-time around his blade warping to a degree.

Taking in a deep breath, Raiden glances at the dragon rushing toward him and grinned.

"<Martial Arts, Godspeed>"

Within an instant, a straight line of crimson sparks appeared. Sonic booms followed in its wake as if space and time itself were cut into two. A clean, red line appeared around the Ice Dragon's snake, its head slowly sliding down to the ground while a fountain of cold red blood formed.

Appearing in the distance was Raiden, whose body was dripped with sweat while his cheat heaved up and down. That final move of his must have taken a toll on him, as he crouched down to the ground and grinned widely.

"Good job, Raiden!" Lute shouted in the distance as Raiden stood up weakly, and run towards Lute and Kira, appearing directly in front of them within less than a second after crimson sparks erupted from his body once more.

"Are we going to eat the dragon, Dada?" Raiden asked, glancing towards the beheaded dragon that he has personally slain.

"Yeah, but before that, [Structural Analysis]."

And so, the data of a dragon was given to a certain somebody who can create objects at will, now one can only think of the wondrous feats they'll achieve with a dragon's body analyzed fully.

AN: This chapter has 2065 words.

Writing hard, power stones good.

(July 27, 2022 – 245th day of writing)