'Bullshit!' That's all I could think as I fell backwards down the flight of stairs. 'Absolute Bullshit!'
*Thud!*
Pain flooded my system as my body landed hard on the steps and tumbled for a bit.
The hard landing alone would have not been so bad had the bullet in my chest also not been there. rag-dolled me another few steps as the world spun and my vision was sent swimming.
*Clang!*
My skull connected to a railing as I fell and I collapsed to the ground. There was a scream and the sounds of a fight.
My body went limp on the floor for a moment before I began to spasm a little bit. Dear god, did it hurt. It hurt more than anything else in my entire life. My body felt warm and wet all over, though that was probably from the pool of blood that had quickly formed around my body. My chest felt hot, so very, very hot, but at the same time I also felt cold. There was a strange, dull pain coming from my head now. I probably had a concussion or maybe something worse going on in my brain, too. My mind was rapidly clouding over, and the world was blurring and darkening. All sound came to me as though it was coming from underwater. I saw a figure approach me. Someone was calling for someone…
'Oh… its calling my name…' I thought. I felt confused and was in a kind of weird stupor. It almost felt like I was drunk, but I was aware I was drunk.
'Hard to describe… hard to think…' I thought. 'Can't… can't black out. Have to… have to think. What about? Think about how I'd gotten here?'
I concentrated hard as I thought about it, trying not to lose consciousness for fear of never re-awakening.
I was out with my roommate Aarav and his girlfriend on a Friday night. It was Aarav's birthday today, and he had also just helped me Ace the Chemistry final I was sure to fail otherwise, so now it was my turn to treat him and his lover, Serena. She and I worked together on this day, as he had told her earlier in the week that he was feeling a bit homesick, so we came up with the idea to take him here. I drove and paid as thanks since I was the one with the car, and Serena was going to take him to a hotel a few blocks away after dinner for their own 'celebration'.
Dinner was alright. I wasn't a big fan of spice, and practically all Indian Food was spicy, though Aarav loved it. I had to admit, the few sips of the Feni he had ordered a bottle of were pretty good.
I recall paying the bill and escorting the tipsy Aarav and Serena to the front of the hotel on foot. This part of town had seen better days, and while I wouldn't call it a 'bad' part of town, it had seen some violence in recent years.
Ah, that's right. We were walking up the steps and I'd just said goodbye to the two of them but hadn't walked away yet, when the car pulled up, or more like, came to a screeching stop behind us.
The guy in the driver's seat was screaming something… it was kind of incomprehensible, but I could make out after a few seconds that he was mad that Aarav, an indian dude, was obviously going into a hotel with the blonde bombshell that was Serena.
'Great… the only thing worse than a racist. A loud, drunk racist,' I'd thought before trying to walk over and calm him down.
I'd seen this guy on campus. He was one of those really unpopular guys who spent too much time on the internet and thought he was some kind of epic 'debate bro' who'd spout one-liners, thinking he'd own the libs, but in reality was a sad and pathetic neo-nazi who was really just mad that brown people exist. I heard he was debating someone today, but the fact that he was clearly drunkenly monologuing at random people at 8:30 PM on a Friday as to why the white woman was with the indian guy and why she should come be his girlfriend instead probably meant he lost that debate.
Badly.
I didn't really care, though. This guy clearly needed to calm down before he took a swing at my roommate. I spotted one of the onlooking staff from the hotel dialing 911in my peripheral vision, so I knew I only needed to stall for a bit until they showed up and he became their problem.
Or at least, that's what I was originally thinking.
His pulling out a small handgun to shoot Aarav and my instinctive move to jump in the way, taking a round to the chest, wasn't part of the plan.
Thanks to that, I took a spill down the few steps in front of the hotel doors and hit my head. I didn't see the guy now, but from the shouting and the faint red and blue lights in the corner of my vision, I doubted he was still around.
'Damn… and here I was trying to play the hero… pathetic.' I thought.
The world was growing dark now, and a weird, serene feeling of calm enveloped me. I was going to die.
This wasn't conjecture. I just kind of… knew I was going to die.
'I wonder what the afterlife is like?' I thought. 'Maybe I'll be reincarnated like in the anime and manga I watch.'
My dying thoughts were a bit jumbled, and my mind tried to lighten the mood with some humor, though it was failing.
'You know what. Yeah. I want to reincarnate! Give me a cheat or let me be reborn as something strong, like a Dragon!' I declared to myself. 'Sure, I didn't meet Truck-kun, but I literally took a bullet for someone, that's got to account for something!'
<
I felt my eyelid twitch. 'I must be going insane in my final moments. I think I'm hearing the Voice of the World from Tensura… heh. In that case, make me a True Dragon!'
<
I wanted to laugh. Even as I lay dying, I couldn't win.
'Bullshit!' I screamed with my whole soul. 'I don't give a damn! If I'm going to die and be reincarnated into that world, I refuse to be any weaker than someone like Veldora!' I thought.
<
<
<
'Heh, what a weird thing to hallucinate about on my deathbed,' I stated as the world darkened rapidly.
My final breath escaped my lips, and I no longer felt the pain. I no longer felt the cold. For the dead fell nothing.
…
[3%]
[12%]
[34%]
[57%]
'Where am I?' I asked myself as I looked around the void around me.
"Did I seriously just die and get reincarnated?" I asked no one in particular.
"Hmm, so that's why this is happening then, huh?" I heard a voice and saw a silhouette in the distance.
It appeared to be some kind of dragon, though it was very small.
[77%]
"Who are you?" I asked the small dragon.
It smiled… it doesn't have human features at all, but I could tell it smiled. It put its two six-fingered hands on the sides of his hips and threw his head back in a laugh.
"Gyah-hahahahaha! To think there is a being that exists out there that does not know me!" Veldora chibi said, though it sounded more like boasting.
"Veldora then?" I asked, more to myself than him.
The tiny dragon nodded. "Indeed, it is I! The most fearless and most powerful Storm Dragon, Veldora!" He declared his name.
"..." I didn't say anything.
'Seeing it in the anime and seeing it in real life are, well… very different. Veldora is either going to be a massive pain in the ass to deal with or a fun guy. Probably both.' I thought.
Veldora grinned. "Pain in the ass, huh? Only someone as bold as you would dare say something like that!"
[89%]
"Wait, you can read my thoughts?" I asked.
"Of course, my soul is absorbing yours!" He declared.
"Eh?" I froze in shock. 'No way, right? I know I said, 'make me Veldora,' but I didn't want to disappear into him.' I shouted at the VotW.
Veldora grinned. "Well, don't feel too bad now. You may disappear, but with your Unique Skill, I'll be able to finally break free of this damn [Unlimited Imprisonment]!"
<
[95%]
Suddenly, my entire being shook as I felt… something flowing into me. I felt strong. I felt free. I felt like thunder and lightning were now coursing through my bones. NO, it was deeper than my bones, it was my soul.
I glanced at Veldora, whose face was frozen in shock.
"Wait, what!?!" Veldora screaming in anger and astonishment. "Why am *I* becoming a part of *HIM*!?!" He cried out in panic.
[99%]
"Uh… sorry?" I ask, more of a question than anything.
Veldora glared at me. "Motherfu~"
And he was gone.
[100%]
<
Memories flooded my mind. Tens of thousands of years' worth.
I blacked out.
When I awoke, I found myself in a cave.
I was inside a cage of semi-transparent light. Outside of that was a large collection of rainbow colored crystal ore and fields of strange, flowering grasses. I witnessed the stalagmites and stalactites dripping water into a large underground lake nearby.
"Did I seriously just… really? How? Why?" I asked myself in shock. It wasn't exactly panic, but I was definitely in a state of distress at my situation.
I'd been reincarnated as Veldora.
I did not possess Veldora, nor did I suppress or seal him inside of me. I BECAME him. I recalled every moment of both my lives, and instantly knew that, while my previous ego as Christian Stanley Taylor, a young male American University Student, took primary 'control' over the body, I was also Veldora.
Christian was a lot more reserved and analytical, but I had the overwhelming urge to just, not care too much about the details right now, which was something I would have had in my previous life, but I knew came from the Veldora side of me. I also felt a bit restless.
Christian was a bit of an introvert and a homebody, so sitting around just thinking about stuff like this wouldn't have made me feel restless, but now I could feel it. Some fundamental part of me felt the need to be unbounded. Free to do whatever I wanted.
I closed my eyes and attempted to enter my own mind. This was something people in anime did all the time, so I assumed, based on the fact I was clearly in some kind of anime or fanfic right now, that I could do something similar. Maybe the answers that I seek lie inside me.
I felt it. An… error?
<[Investigator] has hit the limit of its ability and cannot perceive any further.>
It wasn't a voice. I didn't have something convenient like Rimuru's [Great Sage], but the explanation flashed across my mind in the best way I could understand it.
'It seems like I inherited [Investigator]... I wonder if I can upgrade it to an Ultimate Skill? Veldora in canon could do it on his own, though he covered up the fact that he could with the explanation that he could only do it due to Rimuru's Harvest Festival gift.
I closed my eyes and concentrated…
<
I was stunned.
It was that easy.
Veldora just had to… want to have it.
I guess I would be embarrassed, too, if I were him. I glanced at the cage of light, correctly assuming it was the [Unlimited Imprisonment].
'How long to analyze this?' I wondered.
<10 Days>
Yeah, no way he'd admit he was stuck for nearly 300 years, and willing his Skill to evolve would solve his problem.
Canon Veldora was kind of a dumbass.
I guess that means *I* was kind of a dumbass, as according to Veldora's memory, it's been a bit over 300 years since he was sealed.
Rimuru hasn't appeared yet, but it wouldn't be long now.
I sighed.
"Time to train," I muttered.