29 29. The road to Beyond!

"Hmm... so magic has chosen you to inherit the throne of Magical Britain?" Fafnir spoke, and his voice carried a vibe that sent energy waves through Ryan's body. The pressure almost made him kneel... unfortunately for them, Ryan had protagonist syndrome and due to this had a lot of pride, preventing him from kneeling at all.

Ryan felt his mind, body, and soul, all being pressured by just Fafnir's gaze, but even in the weird feeling of getting hammered and crushed, he didn't show it on his face and kept standing.

"... You are not worthy to be a king," Fafnir spoke after reducing pressure, which almost made him stumble. '...Me... Not worthy?... What the fuck did the lizard sa-' Ryan was about to get enraged but was calmed by Aria just the next second.

[Master, don't let your pride cloud your judgment and yell at a being who can incinerate you and not level leave ashes behind.] Aria noticed that pressure had messed up Ryan's occulmacy and the removal had almost brought out his primal instincts. She reapplied everything and Ryan gained his calm and stared at Fafnir.

"...Why?" He asked.

Fafnir was surprised that Ryan had suppressed his outburst as just for a little time she had clearly felt his rage about to leak out. It seemed his usual technique of evaluating one's true nature wasn't going to work.

"A king is one who makes tough decisions for the sake of his kingdom and stands as both, a sword and a shield... and I can tell you will immediately flee if I had made any move harmful to you. A king never flees from his enemies." Fafnir spoke.

Ryan blinked upon hearing that. What Fafnir said about him was indeed true, he would flee the moment things went a little south. He was also surprised at how Fafnir accessed him within such a short time.

"Well, technically I'm not a king," Ryan spoke and shrugged. Ruling a nation? You expect him to take the headache of ruling a nation?

"That you indeed are not." Fafnir said, and continued, "And while I must admit I have not seen a youngling suppress his instincts after suffering from spiritual pressure, I can see from the way you carry yourself that you think of others beneath you like they are putting on a show and you're enjoying it as no matter what they do, as they would never be able to reach your level."

Ryan couldn't retort to anything Fafnir said. He indeed did see most as below him. Ever since his small journey, the ease at which he had been handling everything made him quite prideful, even more so after the evolution. The no-maj were, well, no-maj, and the only reason he was conscious of their presence was because he felt they were more evolved than wizards and was one himself in his previous life.

As for wizards? He saw most as amusement at best. A bunch of pompous children with noses up their asses, using a crutch for everything. His magic resistance has almost reached S-rank after absorbing that Lethifold, making them even more harmless to him. Even their strongest spells like Avada Kedavra and Feindfyre were harmless to him.

The only reason Ryan even bothered to go to Hogwarts was only because of his inner HP fan wanting to do so and to mess with evil Dumbles and see his pain as his plans fall apart, only for Ryan's amusement. And that was before he switched the goal to unearth the secrets Dumbledore is hiding after his raid at Hogwarts. While Ryan suppressed his negative thoughts to preserve his 'humanity', it has been decreasing ever since he got Arthur and Loki's templates.

While Aria helped, his rapid evolution made his draconic and godly instincts grow more rapidly than they should, and he knew well his psyche didn't level up at the same pace, making him a kid with too much power on his hands. He knew all this... but Ryan had stopped bothering himself about it.

He was stronger than them, it was undoubtedly true. And he did not reincarnate just to bow his head to everyone. He wanted to enjoy his life, and he was going to live how he wanted to live. So what if he is more focused on acting like some prideful brat looking down on others? He was a believer in equivalent exchange. If other's treat him with friendliness and respect, so will he. If they showed hostility, then so would he, simple. And he wasn't some idiot who would pick a fight with someone much stronger without analyzing his chances.

"... I'm aware of my shortcomings, but I don't aim to be Mr. Perfection. I want to be... just me. Even if that means I become some prideful guy with his head in the clouds." Plus, while Fafnir was indeed scary, he had met a beyond-multiverse-level being. He knows the difference between him and true gods. He may have a superiority complex, but he also knew there were many much-much superior to him.

"... I see. You are one who just wishes to live his life and do things based on your whims. But I can sense you do not have ill intentions... and even if you act mature, you're still just a kid. There is room for growth." Fafnir spoke to him. "Well, the old pact between the Pendragon line and me will be activated from now on, and you are now one of us, young Ryan... not that the pact has any strict terms. So, feel free to visit occasionally. You are enough powerful to play with the other younglings as well, so you will fit right in."

"Thank you for the offer. I'll honor this pact to the best of my capabilities." Ryan nodded and spoke.

"Good. I am aware you must be excited to roam around and explore the island, so I will not keep you waiting. Do visit in every other decade or so." Fafnir spoke, and Ryan was stunned hearing the last words. He had forgotten Dragons were extremely long-living creatures.

"I will. See you soon Lord Fafnir and other honorable beings. Please excuse me." Ryan spoke and went down. Albion bowed and followed Ryan as well.

"I was honestly expecting you to throw your strongest spells when Lord Fafnir had released his spiritual pressure. Nearly all dragons including myself had done this when our teachers had done so with us. This is done in order to beat sense into young dragons to learn to be in control of their pride and instincts, and not the other way around" Albion praised Ryan.

"It was a coincidence that I had an effective counter for these situations, or you would have most definitely seen the same happen to me." Ryan shook his head and spoke.

"Whatever the case, you have still managed to do this. Just be ready for challenges. Us dragons tend to be quite competitive and many would come to see you when they hear this." Albion said, making Ryan imagine himself just waking up and opening the window, only to see a line of dragons outside his house.

"What is this spiritual pressure?" Ryan asked Albion. Ryan had lacked knowledge about one's soul or spirit the most, and he had a hunch this would provide him the way to improve his soul.

"While I'm not that knowledgeable myself, I have heard that it is the result of one being able to project their spirit to the normal world once they cross a threshold. For dragons, it means evolving into an elder dragon." Albion answered, but it did not answer Ryan's doubts. "Well, I guess I should return as well. Do come to visit Hadrian. Maybe we could have a fight as well."She spoke and flew away.

Ryan looked back towards the peak and then the island that stretched before him. Even though the meeting left a slightly bad taste in his mouth, Ryan could feel that his recent troubles due to the Dragon and Asgardian bloodlines changing his mental state were subsiding. But it meant only for now. Still, Ryan had arrived at the answer he needed to suppress his condition. One's existence is defined by three aspects. Mind, body, and soul.

Ryan's body was in flux, and so was his mind but to a lower extent. But his soul was not. The balance was breaking, and his body's rapid adaptation to this was causing his occasional actions to be illogical.

Him messing with Dumbles even before Hogwarts began, inserting Excalibur just to see if he could, and many other things in his day-to-day life. His upset state was making him an impulsive idiot who does everything for entertainment, still thinking of the world to be somewhat fictional subconsciously, so to speak.

Ryan took a deep breath and enjoyed pure air filled with energy. Remembering his initial goal for today, Ryan set off to the Pendragon mansion to analyze all resources like books and artifacts which he needs. He still had to visit the founder mansions as well.

*Next Day*

After what happened on the Island of Avalon, visiting the other houses felt slightly boring. Ryan now had expectations to meet mythical beasts like Griffin or Horned Serpents when he visited the founder's houses but was left disappointed.

Even their libraries were not as grand as Pendragon's library. But it was mostly due to Merlin's books about the magic of their era, which did not require any tools like wands or bracelets. The Hufflepuff mansion had a greenhouse which was unfortunately empty, but there were samples of many now-extinct magical plants in stasis there with many books about potions and herbology. Griffindor's mansion was filled with corpses of magical creatures in stasis, as well as offensive magic and dueling tactics. Ravenclaw mansion had various old magical tools with books with extensive research on runes, wards, arithmancy, and rituals. And finally, the Slytherin mansion was all about dark artifacts, curses, sacrificial rituals, and to Ryan's surprise, soul magic. According to Aria, she had found some instructions which could be followed to make the mark that Voldermort had given his death eaters.

All that knowledge... and Aria had managed to download nearly everything. While Ryan could easily make Aria download it to his brain, he likes the feeling of learning magic by himself than being spoonfed into his head. Another one of his whims, but he liked to do what he liked to do. That's just how he is.

Ryan shook his head and promised Aura to come to visit at night since he needs to stay with the Tonks family and left back for Black Manor. He had some time before the 'plot' of this world starts, and Ryan wants to see how Dumbles stumbles to mold Fate for his benefit. Aria had warned him about many of Merlin's notes and talked about fate as well, and Ryan was said to be the 'master of death'. Both were aspects, something beyond mortal comprehension. And if he wants to reach those heights, he needs to study the phenomenon closely... plus, it would be quite fun.