3 The road to the peak

The newly self titled Acnologia looked down at the sword in his hand and asked a question he wanted to know the answer to. "Hey Lamia, do you know how you got here?"

{I do not Master, I was within my cave guarded by my creator when a blinding light forcefully pulled me from my pedestal and transported me here, it is very strange somehow whoever took me from my forger has managed to forcefully insert memories into me whilst taking all the knowledge I possess on magic! It is most strange and vexing!} He could hear the irritable confusion coming from her as she spoke.

He nodded as he asked. "What are these new memories then?"

{Oh, that's easy it is information about your body, abilities, general information, Sword and Hand-to-Hand Techniques and finally a Cultivation Technique devised solely for you!} She responded excitedly.

He blinked then frowned. "Why would I need that, I should be able to use magic shouldn't I if I am in this body?" It made sense, at least in his mind that he should have the same abilities that his body possessed. In fact he was excited about it. Acnologia was a beast who could rampage without opposition or consequence and the idea of pitting Magic against Cultivation sounded interesting.

{I am afraid not Master, you don't possess any magic in fact in this world their is no Magical Energy!} She respond with fascination in her voice, not surprising since she came from a world that was teaming with it.

"Then how will I be able to use all the abilities of this body?" He asked with bewilderment in his voice.

{Rather than using Magic Power to use your abilities you will need to cultivate Soul Force to wield that power.} She responded promptly.

Slightly put out he nodded in understanding he asked something else that was niggling at his mind. "What about my [Dragon Form]?"

{That you will also have to wait for until you possess enough Soul Force to trigger the shift.}

He scowled, that was rather frustrating. He felt slightly like he was in a game and his character had been nerfed. Though he was thankful that he had ended up in a body that was as physically strong and durable as this one. It would not have been fun to survive in this world of Cultivators and Demon Beasts by starting as an ordinary human.

"Right okay, a quick question you said you had knowledge on Sword Techniques?" He probed. He remembered that Lamia had some abilities independent from her user such as the ability to teleport and create shields as well as a limited ability to [Shapeshift] into different objects in order to blend in, she did have Greydrone's knowledge on magic but that was useless in this dimension even if she still possessed it. So he was naturally curious as to what knowledge those arbitrary godlike beings had given her, not to mention the comment about a Cultivation Technique had seriously gotten his attention, a Cultivation Technique was something that would be paramount since they were the only way to absorb Soul Force and help him unlock the abilities that made Acnologia so feared.

{They are the Techniques of a human by the name of Chun Hwa. Due to our connection I will be able to insert them into your mind directly however they all require Soul Force to use.} Her words struck Acnologia like a bolt of lightning, he had read that Manwha and had seen that character's skills in battle, some of those sword skills were seriously powerful and the strongest comparable to some of Acnologia's most powerful attacks. His [Heaven and Earth Sundering Strike] was capable of slicing through an entire mountain range!

Acnologia smiled happily, he would have quite the number of powerful attacks in his arsenal for his future battles. Though he couldn't help but ask. "How will I learn these techniques then?"

{I will transmit the techniques directly into your mind, unfortunately this does not mean you will possess instant mastery over them. You will still have to train in them to use them properly and skilfully.} Lamia said in a patient tone.

He nodded in understanding. "Okay, can you transfer the Sword Techniques to me?"

{Of course Master! Be warned this will be painful} Lamia warned said before Acnologia was driven to his knees as images continued to flash across his mind forcefully burying themselves in his head. The pain of having the memorise forcefully added to his brain was an all encompassing excruciating white fury so great he didn't even have the ability to scream.

By the time the ordeal was over he was gasping for breath on his knees as tried to get his bearings once more. Gasping for breath, sweat dripping form his brow he groaned. "N-Next time Lamia please warn me if it is going to hurt that much!"

{I-I am so very sorry Master, b-but I thought that if you didn't know the pain was coming then it might be better. I didn't want to hurt you I swear! Please don't leave me, I'm sorry Master!} He could hear the sheer agony in Lamia's voice as she began to weep over the pain she had caused him.

The feelings of resentment and anger that had been building up towards her the moment the pain of the memories integrating had subsided seemed to begrudgingly leave him as he let out a sigh. He was old enough and willy enough to know when generally most people were faking their feelings and from what he could tell Lamia wasn't. From what he remembered in the story despite being thousands of years old her mental age was that of nothing more than a teenager. She wasn't cunning enough to trick him maliciously. He knew for a fact she would never intentionally bring him harm on purpose so what was the point of holding on to pointless resentment towards someone who would be with him for the rest of his life?

He shook his head and responded. "Its fine, my fault, you told me it would hurt and I didn't take it seriously."

That alone wasn't enough to calm down the emotional sword but after a few minutes of comforting her he got her to stop crying and wailing. Closing his eyes he focused on his new memories, flashes of dancing blades and slashing swords filled his mind as he immersed himself in the new memories. Lamia was correct, despite having the memories of these techniques he wouldn't be able to instantly use them at their full potential.

For one he lacked the training in them, he had never used such Techniques before in his life and therefore despite knowing how to do them he would have to train in them in order to use them.

Then there was the second problem, in [ID-The Greatest Fusion Fantasy] those Techniques used Ki but in this world it appeared they used Soul Force which would mean he would need to possess a certain Rank of Cultivation in order to use the more powerful ones. That didn't bother him that much, he was just happy that he had such powerful skills in his arsenal even if he couldn't use all of them yet.

Now he decided to address the most important point of the conversation. "Lamia you said that you were given a Cultivation Technique tailor made just for me?"

{Yes, you see you possess a unique situation in this world and therefore you needed a unique Cultivation Technique or you would never be able to even cultivate.} Lamia replied though it was obvious her voice was more subdued than before.

"What do you mean unique situation?" Acnologia couldn't help but ask.

{Sigh, you see most Demon Spiritualists absorb Soul Force until they reach the Silver rank when they are strong enough to integrate a Demon Spirit into their Soul Realm however you are different. Your body is that of a human who reached the peak and evolved into a Dragon, in most cases this would just mean you had an incredibly pure Dragon Bloodline however this is not the case for you since you have fully transformed into a Dragon however you don't count as a Draconic Demon Beast. It is a most interesting conundrum, instead whoever has sent us to this world has tweaked your body and essence so that the Dragon in you has become your Demon Spirit despite the fact that it was born from your practice of Dragon Slayer Magic.}

"So that's what you meant when you said I wouldn't be able to enter my [Dragon Form] immediately." Acnologia said in realisation.

{Yes due to your nature you can utilise your previous magical abilities by using Soul Force instead of magic however your [Dragon Form] is the equivalent of a Demon Spiritualist merging with their Spirit and therefore you will have to possess a certain amount of strength in order to initiate the transformation, an estimation of around 155,000 Soul Force which would be the equivalent of a Black-Gold Rank Demon Spiritualist.}

Acnologia's eyebrow rose at that, that was surprisingly high considering most Demon Spiritualist could shift at will from Silver-Rank onwards though perhaps not unexpected considering the sheer size and power Acnologia's [Dragon Form] possessed.

"So this Cultivation Technique takes that fact into account then?" Acnologia said in understanding as he understood just why this Cultivation Technique was so unique. He would be the only one capable of using it, it would probably be useless to anyone else!

{Yes it does, that's why its unique! In fact it is so tailor made for you that whoever made it even took me into account!} She said in excitement.

"What do you mean?" Acnologia asked.

{Well it seems in this world I count as some kind of Demon Spirit or something similar, although my physical body may exist in your hand my spirit is currently taking up residence in your Soul Realm.} She explained.

He was surprised at that and couldn't help but ask. "Does that mean with you and my [Dragon Form] I have two Demon Spirits?" If he remembered correctly the only Cultivation Technique that allowed for a Demon Spiritualist to integrate with multiple Spirits was the [Heavenly God Technique].

{Yes it does, however the only downside is that you won't be able to integrate any new Demon Spirits into your body.} He was fine with that, having two Demon Spirits was already more than anyone else other than Ni Li.

"Okay what is it called then?"

{The Dragon God Ascension Cannon} She responded happily and Acnologia refused to allow the twitch in his brow from manifesting. Those troublesome fellows who dumped him here couldn't be any more obvious about the strength they wanted him to reach could they.

"Teach me the Technique." He said with surety in his voice.

{Are sure Master, its going to hurt?} She really didn't want to hurt her Master again but would abide by his commands if that was what he wanted.

"Yes I am sure." He said with strength in his voice. No pain no gain, right? Once more he felt the sharp pain of memories being forcefully added to his mind, luckily the contents were much smaller this time but it had still been enough to drive him to his knees in pain and gasping for breath.

{Are you okay Master?} Lamia couldn't help but ask.

He just grunted as he got back to his feet, "Yeah, I'm fine don't worry."

He was about to sit down and begin practising cultivating but realised that that was probably not a good idea to do out in the open. It would be better to find a cave or something similar and hide there before cultivating. It wasn't like he was in too much danger considering his high specs Dragon body.

Turning around he began to make his way out of the grassy clearing and further along the mountain trying to find a cave or something similar, all the time he kept his eyes open as he scanned his surroundings. He guessed he was currently in the St. Ancestral Mountain Range though where on the massive mountain range he was unsure.

That could prove an issue if he ended up wandering in the wrong direction, he wanted to reach Glory City. He had no plans to settle down there but it would be good to at least get a glance at the city at least once.

He had been walking for at least half an hour his eyes scanning the side of the mountain for a cave when he heard the sound of growling and snarling. Focusing on his ears he listened for the direction the sound was coming from, utilising all of his Draconic senses to find where the beasts where coming from.

Soon his eyes caught four different blurring movement of animals moving through the trees. As those blurs got closer he was able to catch sight of their appearance. They were four legged white haired creatures that looked like wolves only a half a size bigger than any wolf he had ever seen.

The four wolves came flying out the trees towards him and Acnologia swung out towards the Beasts. He managed to hit one, his blade cleaving right through its skin and muscle killing it instantly, after that he had just enough time to dodge out the way of the claws of one of the other beasts as he lashed out with a fist.

Bang!

His fist cracked the spine of the wolf and sent it flying towards the tree, dead the moment it hit the tree. Lashing out with his fist again he managed to slam his knuckles into the jaw of the second last wolf shattering it completely and sending it flying away into the trees.

Unfortunately he had forgotten about the last wolf which he caught out the corner of his eye lunging towards him, his yes widened in shock as its jaws clamped around his arm only instead of tearing through his skin and muscle its teeth shattered the moment it touched his skin.

Grinning in relief he realised it was too low ranked to harm him and he thanked the Heavens for his Dragon body otherwise he would have lost an arm. Grabbing the neck of the wolf he closed his hand around it.

Crack!

The wolf's neck snapped from his hand and he dropped the animal. Taking a deep breath he took a look around at the damage he had done. It was both amazing and terrifying what his new body could do, though he realised that he was going to have to get used to it. He would need to get even stronger after all.

He mentally scolded himself for his slow reaction and reflexes in the fight, he would need to not only get used to using this body in combat not to mention he would also need to train in using this sword, his reflexes were utterly shameful for the body he was in. He vividly recalled the godly speed Acnologia had used to tear through God Serena in the Anime he should have been able to kill all four beasts in a single move.

Gripping his teeth he steeled his heart, he would need to train and hone his skills as well as cultivate if he wanted to reach the peak. Turning around he continued onwards after grabbing one of the corpses, it would make a good dinner after all. He knew how to skin and cook animals after his days in the Army so he wouldn't have an issue hunting for food that was of course if this high spec body ever actually got hungry.

Shrugging that thought off he continued onwards through the forest. It didn't take long to find just what he was looking for, a cave, a relatively big one in fact. He wasn't stupid though to just waltz in rather he began to sniff around the entrance of the cave using his new Draconic senses to smell for any trace of a Demon Beast living in the cave. His senses told him that nothing was in the cave at the moment and hadn't been for quite some time. That was enough for him to risk it and he began to make his way inside.

It was surprisingly spacious as he threw down the wolf carcass and walked out of the cave and began to pick some fallen wood from the forest floor. Bringing them back to the cave he set about making himself a fire for himself, he probably didn't need it considering his body was much stronger than before and he hadn't been feeling the cold of the mountain air so far but it gave him some much needed comfort to his state of mind so that was enough for him.

He still kept an ear out for any movement coming from the forest as he set about lighting the fire, once he was done he let out a sigh as he sat down in front of it. Once he had gotten comfortable he took off the black cloak that covered his body and sat down putting his feet into the lotus position.

Breathing closed his eyes as he dug into his mind and recalled the words of [The Dragon God Ascension Canon] that Lamia had inserted into his mind. Taking a deep breath he focused on the words as he began to chant them over and over again in his mind. As he did so he felt something come to life deep inside him as energy began to get drawn from his surroundings into his body. He gasped as he realised that was his Soul Realm.

Delving deeper into his mind he couldn't help but stare in amazement at what he found, it was like a blue ball of glittering energy that had tendrils reaching out though his body, his Meridians that travelled through his body. As he focused on his Soul Ream he was able to sense two beings inside of it.

One was a black Dragon with blue markings colouring its body, it was a Dragon he had only seen on a TV screen, the Dragon form of Acnologia and he couldn't help the involuntary gulp as he he sued his mind's eye to gaze at its splendour. It was truly both a beautiful and terrifying sight.

The other was a woman, a familiar looking woman with her silvery hair dancing around her head like a halo as she held an even more familiar sword in her bosom.

Withdrawing from his Soul Realm he gasped as he opened his eyes, the blue light of Soul Force that had been faintly surrounding him vanished as his eyes sparkled. So that was what she meant by two Spirits he grinned to himself before a thought popped into his mind.

"Hey Lamia, how can I have two Spirits in my Soul Realm when i haven't even hit Silver Rank?"

{Due to your unique nature of being a reincarnated soul, your Soul Realm is much stronger than anyone else.} She responded.

"What about Ni Li, didn't he also reincarnate why wasn't he capable of the same thing?"

{No, the Temporal Demon Spirit Book directly affected time and reversed it back to to that point destroying all his cultivation and efforts and effectively destroying that timeline.} Lamia informed him, he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine at the thought of just how much a broken Artefact the book was though he didn't let his thoughts linger on it he had some pretty overpowered abilities himself.

Thinking about it, that was probably why the Creators or whoever they were had given him the sword and the Cultivation Technique. He would have no way to compete with Ni Li if he didn't have such Heaven defying things on his side.

Banishing those thoughts for another time he began to cultivate once more only this time he let himself sink deep into meditation as he lost himself in the mantras of The Dragon God Ascension Canon.

It was a truly a profound piece of writing and he suspected that its level was no lesser than Ni Li's Heavenly God Technique! He could actually feel his Soul Realm being nourished by the Soul Force being absorbed into it yet it felt like a bottomless pit devouring all the energy he poured into it as both the Sword and the Dragon began to take a portion of the Soul Force.

Had he been able to see himself from the outside then he would have seen the startling sight of a whirlpool of bright blue energy being absorbed into his body at an incredibly rapid rate.

It was a matter of a few hours before he felt something in his Soul Realm fundamentally changed and he delighted when he realised what it was. He had stepped into the 1st Star Bronze Realm and officially began the path of a Demon Spiritualist, though perhaps not a conventional one. Not that he cared about that fact in the slightest.

Over the night he would continue to cultivate as he spent the time he should have been sleeping in deep meditation. Awakening the next morning he stood up and stretched his muscles before grabbing his sword. Stepping out into the sun he began to swing the sword and train his body practising his new found abilities, he also began to learn how to use his Soul Force by channelling it through the blade which would allow him to use the [Sword Techniques].

Three days he did this, practising with the sword and learning to master his new body by day and cultivating by night.

It was enough that he broke through into the 2nd Bronze Rank by the third day, an unprecedented level of speed for those who weren't reborn monsters like Ni Li and even he would be hard pressed to have such a speed of cultivation.

On the third day the sun was beating down on his body as he stood in front of the cave swinging the sword up and down in a series of repetitions that he had been practising endlessly. However just as he was about to swing again he stopped sword aloft above his head.

He stopped as he cocked his head to the side as if listening to someone whispering in his ear. His eyes narrowed as he turned towards the forest readying the sword in his hand for battle.

It didn't take long for two white coloured lizards the size of small elephants to burst out of the forest, trees being pushed out the way as they carved a path through the forest.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of them, he knew what they were! Snow Wind Behemoth Lizards, if he remembered correctly they were a part of the Demon Beast Horde that attacked Glory City. Though those ones had been far larger than the creatures in front of him. Those had been of the Gold Rank and high Gold Rank at that whilst these were far more smaller and likely far less powerful. If he was to compare the feeling coming off them to the Snow Wolves he would have to guess that they were low level Silver Rank. They were on a different level to the Wolves before but that did not deter Acnologia though instead he felt his battle lust roar in excitement.

Neither of them had stopped their momentum as they came rushing out of the forest and Acnologia grinned as he charged towards them his feet digging into the ground as his body blurred from the speed. In less than an instant they were upon each other, the one on the left opening its mouth wide to crush Acnologia in two. Luckily he was ready for it as he dodged to the side swinging out with his sword causing it to blur as it sliced straight through the left leg of the beast meeting minimal resistance as it howled in pain from the injury and tumbled towards the ground. Acnologia had been ready for this and lashed out with his sword once more slicing through its jaw and killing it instantly.

Unfortunately in his eagerness to kill the first Behemoth Lizard he had neglected to pay attention to the second one. It was upon him in an moment looking for vengeance for its fallen comrade. He had only enough time to raise his sword in defence as the Behemoth Lizard lashed out with one of its front paws.

Bang!

The attack was enough to force Acnologia back as his feet dug into the ground leaving a trench in his wake. The moment he ran out of momentum and came to a stop he exploded forward with explosive force as his figure blurring once more.

Dashing forward he jumped twisting over the snapping mouth of the Behemoth Lizard and slammed Lamia down towards its head however due to the angle of his attack he couldn't exert his full strength behind the strike and the sword only pierced halfway through the skull.

Unfortunately for the Behemoth Lizard Acnologia not only had extreme durability and strength but also lightning fast reflexes and speed which is why he was able to twist his body slightly as he went flying over the blade and slam his other hand down on the pommel of the blade. It was a rather clumsily executed move but his raw strength was more than enough to make up for it as the blade cut the rest of the way through the skull and right into the brain of the Demon Beast.

This of course killed it instantly, its lifeless corpse slumping to the ground dead. Acnologia meanwhile managed to twist his body around so that he landed on his feet skidding back slightly along the ground as the rest of his momentum dissipated.

Breathing deeply he grinned as he looked at the two corpses, he allowed himself a moment to bask in his own accomplishment as he let out a content sigh.

That was his mistake.

From behind him he heard a deep earth shaking roar as a wave of Soul Force washed over him, it made the power coming from the Behemoth Lizards pale in comparison. He turned around his eyes turning into pin pricks as he caught a glimpse of the sight behind him, a massive snow white bipedal monkey almost as tall as the trees of the forest was charging towards him from the treeline with rage in its eyes.

He didn't even have time to grab his sword from the head of the Behemoth Lizard before the massive ape like creature was on top of him lashing out with one massive fist.