A Dragon There Was, Alive It Is Not

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.

-Story Start-

-Third Person POV-

The sun was shining brightly, indicating midday, upon the breathtaking Frozen Forest north of the Holy Land Of Swords, a few dozen kilometers from the Frozen Ocean coast.

Our group of misfits, led by Satoru had traveled for three days, rather slowly as Satoru kept a leisurely pace, marveling at the sights and most importantly - Learning the Language.

Much to Eris's frustration.

Whether Alistair or Relna cared was a moot point, this duty acts as a vacation to the easygoing Sword Saints from their training, their ambitions no higher than Sword King after all - if their talent allows for it, Relna would pessimistically mention.

Nonetheless,

Satoru pointed at an insect, Alistair quickly responded, "Taiga Millepede."

Alistair, being the individual who was responsible for around 80% of Satoru's language progress, with the occasional 20% help from Relna, noticed the frustrated Eris and thought of a wise idea.

Eris, silently fuming, noticed Alistair looking at her, as she glared at him back, a nervous smile on his face as he said, "Why not try teaching him the language as well? It's a fun way to pass the time while we travel." He suggested

Eris's steps on the snow slow down considerably as she considers the option.

'It is a little boring, nothing has attacked us yet. It's just been this... Walking and Gojo learning.' She mulled

'Fine, just like Rudeus taught me.' The idea of teaching Satoru gained merit the moment she was reminded of her times with Rudeus.

Despite the reluctance she felt in regard to the Eccentric Satoru, she decided to help him.

Eris asked reluctantly with a sigh, "What haven't you covered yet?" her steps gained back their momentum.

Prompting a proud smile on Alistair's face and a surprised look from Relna.

Satoru however... Gained a wicked grin, which he quickly masked with a pondering expression, making a show of deep thinking, his finger holding his chin.

"Hmm... Bodyparts." He said nonchalantly, walking backward, managing to avoid trees as if he could see behind himself.

"How is he doing that Nya?" Relna wondered aloud innocently, observing how Satoru was walking, weaving to the side each time a tree blocked his straight path from behind.

"Either Gojo has incredible instincts or it's his Demon Eyes... Perhaps they provide 360-degree vision?" Alistair responded, confident in his answer.

Nevertheless, Satoru ignored Relna's and Alistair's conversation in favor of his... "Learning", Proceeding to point a finger on his lips, Eris translated her tone monotonous, "Lips."

He continued with his hair, Eris followed through, "Hair."

Then his chest, "Chest" she translated in monotony

Then his belly, "Belly" she translated once again in that monotone voice.

Then... His crotch?

"Penis." She translated, her face incredibly serious and emotionless.

At that, they all turned to look at Satoru in confusion.

A look of realization crossed their face at Satoru's attempt to get Eris to say such a childish word, in the name of "Learning".

"PFFT - BHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!" Satoru guffawed at Eris, pointing a finger at her as he roared madly in laughter.

'How old is he anyways?' Alistair asked himself with a sweatdrop at Satoru's exaggerated reaction.

"Err, that's not that funny, Gojo nya~" Relna, now thoroughly convinced Satoru is a manchild, commented in a lecturing and disappointed tone.

It goes without saying that Satoru's laughter made Eris shake with rage, her face slowly turning as crimson red as her hair.

"GOJO!" She seethed with gritted teeth, smoke coming out of the gaps of her mouth as an indication of her rage, as she took slow, purposeful steps towards Satoru, homicidal intentions all too clear.

Relna and Alistair distanced themselves from the conflict, moving to the side to avoid Eris's path.

Satoru continued his guffawing until Eris was face to face with him, her teeth bared.

Meeting her eyes through his shades he gasped in mock fear.

Eris threw a powerful punch that wouldn't put a Gorilla to shame.

No, it'd probably knockout a Gorilla.

The fist was thrown, and just as it was thrown, it froze inches before Satoru's face. His Infinity blocking Eris's assault yet again.

At another example of Satoru's weird and effective "Barrier" everyone was silent.

Sure, they had met a few monsters along their travel yesterday, but Eris had taken swift care of them before Satoru had any chance to do anything.

Though the look on his face was grateful on those occasions, he seemed like he enjoyed the free service.

Another example of the accursed barrier that saved Satoru's life from Eris's sucker slice was yet to be shown.

And now it appeared once again.

But then again, did she expect him to take it straight to the face like that?

"That damned Barrier!" Eris threw another punch with her other free hand, but it also was blocked by Infinity.

Out of the silence, Satoru relished in Eris's fury as he began to guffaw in front of her, finger yet again pointed at her, "BAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!"

"Tch." Eris clicked her tongue and threw a kick, which also didn't work, resulting in Satoru's mocking laughter only strengthening, he lowered his shades for some odd reason mid-laughter, Eris momentarily freezing at the piercing look, but shook it off in favor of hurting him.

What proceeded was Eris's futile attempts at harming Satoru for making fun of her, only for her to continuously fail resulting in his laughter and amusement growing in a feedback loop as she hit harder and tried harder the more he mocked her.

Alistair and Relna only made eye contact as the unspoken question hung in the air, "Should we stop them?"

No, they'll stop eventually.

It was the better part of twenty minutes until Eris gave up and lost the battle. Also, swords were drawn around the four-minute mark.

"What ridiculous magic! What is that?!" Eris roared out in frustration, at the absurdness of Satoru's barrier magic, heaving deep breaths as she overexerted herself with Sword Techniques, leaning on her sword exhausted as Satoru didn't look any worse from her attacks.

Hell, the only damage inflicted on him was because he laughed too hard, losing breath himself.

Satoru took a breather as he brought his shades back to cover his eyes again, shaking his finger and clicking his tongue at her, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, You should have learned your lesson by now!" He commented in amusement, shrugging at her.

This caused Eris to only weakly glare at him, as she was pretty tired.

Her... A Sword Saint, couldn't destroy a Barrier through relentless attacking for twenty minutes?

Longswords Of Light, Of Silence, all proved feeble in the face of Gojo's Barrier.

Truthfully, as much as this seemed like a comedic situation, and it was.

The ridiculousness and mystery of their temporary companion - Gojo Satoru continue to grow.

His Infinity remained a mystery to them.

An ability outside the realm of normality, even for a world filled with such elements.

Alistair decided to test the waters and ask Satoru what everyone was curious about.

"That's impressive Gojo! What is that Barrier Magic? Is it King Class? Perhaps Emperor class even to withstand that without any consequence! Do you have an estimate Gojo?" Alistair asked with clear interest, posing the question once again to the now more, language proficient and common knowledge-proficient Satoru.

"Yeah Nya, I've never seen such a powerful and yet invisible barrier. The best Barrier I have seen was a King Class Magic Blocking Barrier." Relna added, her curiosity also peaked.

Eris, exhausted, bewildered, and mad, still held onto her curiosity and silently awaited like her companions for Satoru's response.

Yes, these past two days, they have covered the simple structure of this world's power system in addition to the land they are currently in, through the limited vocabulary Satoru managed to learn thus far.

Here's what Satoru managed to learn thus far:

(1) The Power System:

Due to Satoru's still lacking language skills, only the very basics were taught to him by Relna and Alistair, so he had to adjust through what he had already discovered on his own through analysis with the Six Eyes.

The world runs on an energy known as "Mana".

It flows through everyone and everything and it allows individuals to cast spells and enhance their body through the use of Battle Aura, more on that later.

These spells vary in difficulty and potency depending on the mana used, concentrated, and intent.

This was confirmed by Satoru when Alistair used two elementary fire spells with differing effects, noting the Mana differences and movement nuances each incantation and cast had.

Of course, there is a rating that allows one to categorize the effectiveness, power, and subsequent difficulty of a spell.

The tiers are:

Elementary Class.

Intermediate Class.

Advanced Class.

Saint Class.

King Class.

Emperor Class.

And finally, God Class.

That's the gist of it when it comes to Magic.

Onto the more relevant Battle Aura.

Battle Aura, in essence, is a form of Mana manipulation, but different from the flashy effects of Magic invocation as it is invisible to the naked eye - But not Satoru's eyes.

It is specifically used as a technique to explosively boost physical power and physical defense.

It involves coating the whole body or a specific body part in Mana and forming a mantle of dense energy.

And it was there where Satoru was proven wrong, initially, Satoru believed that Mana only enhanced physical capabilities, but durability - evidenced by his combat scenario with the Luster Grizzlies and other weak beasts, seemed to not be boosted at all or only minutely.

As a side note, Satoru didn't test the Snow Dragon's durability as he merely threw a Blue at it in irritation at the destroyed clothing.

Anyways,

Upon explanation and further analysis of Eris's attacks on him, he'd noticed her Mana moving fundamentally differently, but he originally credited that to only better usage of Mana Enhancement.

He had no way of testing her durability without risking killing her, but apparently Battle Aura, when used properly, boosted durability as well.

In addition, it is what allows Swordsmen to compete and at times outclass Mages.

By proficient usage of Battle Aura, the swordsmen can use specialized techniques. For example, The Longsword Of Light and Longsword Of Silence, enhance the sword's durability, reach, and strength as well, as performed kindly on Satoru by Eris.

Satoru is still lacking in information he mused, however, there are two things he did confirm.

The first - Mana is not something he has nor ever will have or use.

The second - Although he cannot use Mana, techniques that use Mana to simply enhance physical capabilities are - in theory, replicable through substituting it with Cursed Energy.

Gojo has his eyes on the Longsword Of Light technique specifically, having eyed the technique and analyzed the flow of mana Eris had when using the technique, he theorized it may even be usable without a sword, only the hands and pure Cursed Energy manipulation.

He'll have to experiment, as the way Eris used her energy and coated herself and the sword to perform the feat was rather extraordinary.

'Thousands of years of another world's energy manipulation techniques I guess~' Satoru thought in amusement, crediting the ingenuity of the Battle Aura usage in a sword technique as a result of thousands of years of training, practice, culture, and so on.

(2) Where he's at:

The Land he is in is also a Swordsman's paradise: The Holy Land Of Swords.

The Holy Land of Swords is a harsh land covered in snow all year round located in the northwest region of the Central Continent, it's more accurately a single town that is the headquarters of the Sword God Style.

A harsh place to live in, where food, water, and supplies are scarce, but the people get by.

By sheer skill, fortitude, tenacity, and trade. According to Relna.

Unfortunately, his companions lack a world map on hand. So he can only wait to get a real scale of the world.

His tagalongs are Students of the Sword God School, the signature and taught Sword Art in this part of the world.

The strongest swordsmen of the world come here to sharpen and improve themselves, obtain proper ranks from the Sword God, or perhaps challenge him.

His tagalongs are only at the rank of Sword Saint apparently.

A whole King, Emperor, and God above them.

Which broadened Satoru's horizons of this world.

He'd estimated Eris to be around Grade 1 in strength.

'She'd probably lose to the Dragon alone, though. Pretty bad match.' Satoru thought analytically.

Nevertheless.

How strong would the rest of these higher rankings be?

Satoru couldn't help but be excited.

His confidence never waned at the prospect of such individuals.

Quite the contrary, he wouldn't necessarily go looking for it, but he'll always be glad to cement his status as the Strongest in this world as well.

But, to finish it off, his companions are on their earlier-than-scheduled patrol duty, the rare sighting of a rather nearby Snow Dragon warranting the sending of at least 3 Sword Saints or 1 Sword King and 1 Sword Saint.

Quite convenient, Satoru thought in amusement, as the sword techniques and the methods these swordsmen used their mana to enhance their bodies would be most useful for him.

'After our little trip's done, I'll follow them to the town' Satoru confirmed his course of action, the reasons behind seeking town obvious - Education for the most part.

The Jungle Man Satoru phase is over.

It's time for Civilized Satoru to take center stage.

"Well, Gojo? What rank is that barrier in your opinion? Don't keep us hanging!" Alistair's voice broke Satoru out of his amused thoughts, as Satoru met Alistair's eyes through his shades.

Satoru hummed in contemplation, he had no point of reference, he only knew the rankings and really had no basis for claiming anything.

But of course, he could only claim what he believed was the truth regardless of lacking evidence.

"God Rank" He posed confidently

A collective deadpan was what he was met with.

Regardless of how effective and powerful his barrier seemed to be, The notion of God Rank was far too distant in their minds, a classification more suited to mythology than reality.

"Did you really expect anything else?" Eris grumbled under her breath, standing up straight now, after leaning on her sword.

"Somehow... Yes." Alistair agreed in disappointment, a hand on his face.

At that, the group took a rest for an hour and resumed their travel for another two hours until they arrived before a clearing of trees.

Where Satoru suddenly stopped.

"Gojo what's the matt-" Alistair questioned only to be rudely interrupted by Satoru's announcement.

"We're here~!" He declared happily with a thumbs-up.

In response to this, an excited and bloodthirsty smirk was plastered on Eris's face as she quickly pushed through the clearing and past Satoru without anyone's input.

"W-Wait Eris!" Alistair held out a hand to grab her as he shouted.

"Tch, Gojo, Relna let's go!" He announced with a click of his tongue, chasing after Eris, a tone of seriousness in his voice.

"Right, nya!" Relna mirrored Alistair's seriousness as she followed after him, bursting into a run as well.

Satoru on the other hand, kept their pace an amused and expectant smirk on his face.

As the three of them pass the clearing, they are met with Eris standing still, frozen.

Alistair is quick to react, he reaches her side as he asks in concern, "Eris what's the matt...?" Only to freeze mid-sentence, his face transitioning to bewilderment.

Relna reaches their side and narrows her eyes, only for them to widen as she froze just like them.

"Why'd you stop~?" Satoru asked, a Cheshire grin on his face.

Eris's voice was a whisper, heavy with confusion and disbelief as she asked, "What happened here?" Her eyes remained locked on the puzzle before them, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of what lay before her.

The clearing revealed a massive frozen hill, its surface deeply caved in, and at its center, a gaping, shattered hole.

What had once been a Snow Dragon now lay as a mangled, unrecognizable corpse.

Its pristine and recognizable white scales were shattered and its body compressed in a manner that defied the laws of nature.

The hill itself bore witness to the immense force that had led to this dragon's demise as if nature itself had conspired to create a grim spectacle.

A Dragon There Was, Alive It Is Not.

Satoru, in his own classic fashion, responded to the unasked questions that hung in the air.

"Oh? That? It burnt my clothes, so I killed it! It was pretty weak~" His cheerful tone carried a hint of disappointment.

He waved his hand dismissively as if the crushing of a dragon was akin to vanquishing a pesky insect.

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Hey guys! How are you doing?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Cause I had fun writing it and I hope it was up to standard and such XD

How did our friends react to Satoru's ending of the Dragon's life and keeping them in the dark about it?

Find out next Chapter lol.

Anyways! Did I portray Teen Gojo well in this chapter? I'd appreciate feedback on this on each chapter! As this is the most critical part of the fic! Yeah! Feedback!

Have a nice day!

-Author Note End-