Dimensions Collide: Destiny Bond Chapter 188: The Truth

Chapter 188: The Truth

John didn’t feel anxious or even upset. If there was any emotion that could be used to describe his current state of mind…

It was probably just that of annoyance.

“What are you doing here?” John sighed.

“? I’ve been exploring the world,” Jinae said with a smile. “Travelling does wonders for these old bones of mine.”

“Don’t get it twisted,” John muttered. “Your old bones are perfectly fine.”

“Oh? Who’s to say that? You? I don’t see the years stacking on top of you, young man,” Jinae grumbled, shuffling up to him.

She was wearing a shawl of good quality, and while it was worn, it still seed to be in good shape. A cane was by her side, but given the fact that it was made of a strange wood, it was also likely a staff.

Jinae reached John, poking him in the chest with the cane.

“I was surprised you just up and left, you know. You dropped quite the bomb on before your departure.”

“I don’t know. Is that an issue… Jinae?”

The old lady didn’t react, but John saw her eyes light up in surprise montarily.

“…I see.”

“Secrets are ant to be kept, but they are just as easily found. I am curious, though. For how long did you know?” she asked, but she didn’t seem upset.

“Since we t. I only found out your na the day I said it, though.”

“Hm… interesting.” She didn’t push the issue any further. “Then, I suppose the obvious question remains. What are the two of you doing in this town?”

“Cut the bullshit. You know what we’ve been up to,” John grumbled. “You contacted your Mystic friends and got into situations I really wasn’t looking forward to.”

“Ah, Lupin and Leora. I hope those two are doing well,” Jinae smiled.

“What, didn’t talk to them yourself?”

“No. I suppose you know, by now, that I am the leader of our little group. We have our ways of contacting each other. I simply asked everyone to look out for you if they ran into soone of your appearance.”

“...thanks.”

John would have answered in a slightly more clever manner, but he was busy talking to Prota at the sa ti. She’d been ssaging him in their system, and he was desperately trying to dissuade her from the idea she currently had.

[Can we tell her about you]

[no what]

[Please?]

[what why there’s literally no reason]

[You told Kit and Destiny and Miss Dawn and Mister Wolfhound]

[That]

[?]

[Thats not fair]

“And how’s little Prota doing?” Jinae smiled. “I suppose you’re aware of your brother’s shenanigans by now, hm? Has he been behaving himself?”

Prota nodded her head, paused for a mont, then changed her mind and shook it “no” instead.

“That makes sense. You know, he almost killed the first ti we t. What a scary fellow.”

“That was your fault!” John protested. “Why were you larping as a cultist?”

“...larping?”

“Live action role- you know what? Never mind.”

Jinae chuckled. “Regardless, it is good to see the two of you in good health. I truly an that. Not to be rude, but… neither of you seed to be very healthy the last I saw you.”

The statent made sense in respects to Prota, but…

“?” John frowned. “I’m fine. What do you an?”

“Mm… there’s a light in your eyes that was not there before.”

Before John could do anything, the old lady had shuffled up to him, grabbing his face and looking at it from all angles. He tried to protest, but most of his words ca out as muffle gibberish.

“Buh- hey, warn before you do that next ti,” John said, backing off quickly.

“Mm. Definitely a lot better looking. Find any ladies you’re interested in, young man?” Jinae grinned.

“Wha- why is everyone in this world obsessed with dating?!” John yelled. “Seriously, you old won are gonna drive crazy…”

“Well, I suppose there’s no hiding it. We both know this town is special, don’t we?” Jinae said, sitting on John’s bed. “So, let’s just have with it. I’ll tell you what I’m up to if you tell what you’re up to.”

Prota looked at him, her eyes shining.

[No.]

She stared even harder, pleading without a single word.

[...fine]

With a sigh, John crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“Jinae. I’m gonna tell you a lot of things, ok?”

“Oh?”

The old lady didn’t quite sit up, but she did seem quite interested. Still, she hid it well.

“No, it’s not the truth or whatever. But it’s what I told Lupin and Leora, so I’ll tell you as well. Plus, you… well, you did take pretty good care of in Vulcan. I’ll give you that.”

“Good to know my deeds haven’t gone unrewarded,” Jinae said with a chortle.

John just sighed again. Well, it wasn’t like his secret was much of a secret anymore. Besides, Zero had said the end was near. If that were the case, he might as well just get all of this over with.

He explained everything any other [Character] knew, starting with his powers, the idea of conceptual energy, the fact that he ca from another world, his age, all of it.

Throughout, Jinae showed no signs of surprise, nor did she react. She simply listened calmly and accepted everything as it was.

“And that’s it,” John concluded.

Jinae simply nodded.

“What, did they already tell you?” John frowned.

“No. They did not,” Jinae said simply. “But I was aware of much of this before I even t you.”

“...let guess, you guys had a mber in this town?”

“And thus, the reason we are both here is revealed.”

She wasn’t showing any emotion, but she was no longer smiling.

“And I believe you have one more thing to tell , do you not?” the old lady said.

John flinched, but there was no getting out of it now.

“...Jinae. Are you familiar with the concept of regression?”

“Yes, but it is not possible. Many Mystics have tried, but…”

Her eyes widened as she realized what John was about to say.

“You-”

“Shh. Not even Lupin and Leora know about this. There’s only three other beings in this world that know. Prota is one. I won’t tell you about the other two.”

“I see… but why tell this? For what purpose?” she frowned. “I suppose it is nice to know you have that ability available, but-”

“Correction,” John said, clearing his throat. “I don’t have that ability anymore.”

“Then why?”

“...Prota’s the one who told to tell you about this. I’m only doing it because you’re not going to understand what she has to say.”

Jinae looked at Prota in surprise and found the little girl staring back at her, eyes shining.

“Do you rember how she didn’t like being around other people?” John said. “She’s still like that, by the way. I hate to break it to you, but interacting with you a few tis isn’t gonna make her like you all that much.”

“Are you sure it’s alright to speak of her like a pet…?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Yes, because it’s true. She’s not fond of that many people. Do you know why she’s fond of you?”

Jinae looked at Prota again, who had now backed up sowhat, but was still looking at Jinae with an expression of fondness. Well, it wasn’t really visible to Jinae, given that Prota’s expression was completely blank, but for John, it was quite apparent.

“Well, have you seen her magic, for starters?”

“Who, Prota?” Jinae said, surprised.

“Yeah. Actually, before I tell you anything, why don’t you two have a little spar?”

Jinae raised an eyebrow at that. “? And her? John, you-”

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Prota looked up at John, mildly annoyed. She didn’t mind fighting, but she also didn’t think this was very necessary. At least, that’s what John thought she was thinking.

“I’m not telling her unless you fight her,” he said.

“...fine,” she muttered, standing up.

“Co on. Let’s go.”

~~~

Given how difficult the forests were to navigate, it was only a short ti before Prota and Jinae found a suitable place to battle. There was no clearing this ti, but that was fine.

A warrior needed to know how to fight in any terrain, after all.

Jinae still seed a little concerned about the whole scenario. Well, that was to be agiven. She didn’t know how strong Prota was, but more than that, she was unaware of Prota’s special traits.

“John, I understand the two of you went to Scholaris, but this is still-”

“Just shut up and fight,” John sighed. “You’d better not underestimate her, either.”

Indeed, Prota seed all fired up. The prospect of showing her first ntor how far she’d co was starting to get to her. Of course, Jinae didn’t know that.

But it was the idea that was burning in Prota’s heart.

“I don’t know what the rules are. Just… whatever. Fight until you’re satisfied. You can start, Prota,” John called out.

As soon as he’d done so, mana flowed through Prota’s body and veins, her feet pushing off the ground explosively as she imdiately tried to close the distance between herself and Jinae.

“Whoa!” Jinae exclaid, but she didn’t seem worried.

With a chant, she raised a wall of ice, then imdiately created a downdraft strong enough to slow Prota down.

“You don’t need to chant,” John called out. “She’s not chanting, either. Oh, watch out.”

Jinae snapped back to the fight, but Prota had already created an array of icicles, spell after spell pelting the old lady. She wasn’t taking much damage, but it was definitely annoying to deal with.

However, icicles were no longer Prota’s main source of damage.

“Blossom of Ice.”

The dozens of ice shards on the ground began to shake, pulling themselves toward Prota, rearranging themselves into two crystalline roses. With a cry, Prota sent them forward, all while dodging the bombardnt Jinae was sending.

“Wh- I’ve never seen a spell like that before!” Jinae exclaid, but she didn’t seem worried.

No, she seed incredibly impressed.

“She’s got more,” John said, his expression smug.

Still, Jinae definitely wasn’t weak. She was handling the attacks with ease, simultaneously sending spells back in Prota’s direction, and there wasn’t a hint of stress or discomfort on her face. Well, John had said this was a showcase of sorts. It made sense to build up one’s skills slowly to see what the other party was capable of.

But Prota had yet to display anything of interest.

“Frozen Fla,” she muttered, blue fire and clear ice forming together.

The spell exploded, sending flas spewing everywhere, but even this was just a diversion. Bursting through the flas, Prota dashed forward, mana forming at her fingertips.

“Frozen Bullet.”

She no longer needed to slow down ti to fire this spell off. The icicle zipped past Jinae’s head, piercing through a tree behind the forr cult leader.

“...I see,” Jinae said, closing her eyes with a smile. “Then, I suppose I’ll start taking things a little seriously as well?”

A gale began to swirl around the old lady, almost in a defensive stance. Prota instinctively backed off, watching as elent after elent began to swirl around in the wind.

Firing off a few experintal icicles, she found that the various spells within the gale automatically moved to protect their caster. It was an automatic shield, one that seed incredibly impressive. Prota didn’t think she could replicate it.

“You won’t need to miss intentionally, now,” Jinae said with a wink. “Show more, won’t you?”

Prota didn’t need to be told twice. She took mana from her staff, replenishing her core to cast the spell she deed the most fitting:

Absolute Zero.

How was Jinae supposed to block a spell that didn’t involve a projectile?

Cold mana gathered around Jinae as even her body began to lower in temperature, the very space freezing to ice…

Or, at least, that’s how it was supposed to go.

“Fascinating!” Jinae muttered, steam wafting off her body. “A spell that dictates the temperature of space? I didn’t think anyone knew how to do that!”

“What- what did you do?” John frowned.

Even he was confused.

“Ah, I just raised the temperature a bit,” Jinae winked. “These old bones aren’t fond of the cold, you see.”

Prota wasn’t done, though. A Plasma Disk had already been ford, spinning through the air, setting the branches on fire as it passed through the trees.

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. A giant hand of earth erged from the ground, catching the spell like a frisbee, tossing it back into the air where it wouldn’t do any harm.

“Prota!” John called out.

She turned to him, sweat pouring down her face. The new mana reinforcent and mana recovery she was using were keeping her quite fit, but this many spells at once was still bound to take sowhat of a toll. Still, she could go on for way longer.

“Just bring everything out!”

Prota’s eyes widened, but she realized what John was saying.

Jinae still wasn’t taking her seriously. It was ti to step things up.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, focusing for just a mont.

“Snowstorm.”

The mana in the air began to attune itself to that of ice, the temperature dropping ever so slightly.

“...a domain?” Jinae mouthed, wonder in her eyes. “John, just what did you raise?”

Prota wasn’t done.

Snow and wind began to whip around, creating a genuine snowstorm that blocked Jinae’s vision. The gale surrounding her stopped her from taking any damage, but the fact that it was annoying didn’t change.

“An effective domain… ha! What a monster!”

Before she could do anything else, Prota erged from the snow, half a dozen Blossoms surrounding her.

“Go.”

They all shot toward Jinae, whose spell blocked them with ease, but a few of the spells within the gale began to disappear.

It was working.

The shards from the Blossoms were called back, pressing in on themselves until the ice turned blue, slowly compressing into a single, thin icicle.

“Frozen Cannon.”

The icicle shot forward, a boom ringing out as the sound barrier was broken. Jinae’s eyes widened, but she called up a giant wall of fla, its heat apparent even to John, who was standing a good ways away.

It wasn’t enough.

“Drat,” Jinae muttered. “That’s quite the spell.”

She raised her hands, her eyes montarily glowing before an arrow of fla appeared, its fire pure white. With a single motion, the arrow shot forward, piercing through Prota’s spell.

Unfortunately for Jinae, it wasn’t just a bullet.

The power of a Blossom erupted upon the spell’s destruction, hundreds of shards of ice scattering and reconverging upon Jinae, who was forced to manually block so of them with even more magic.

“Rain of Arrows.”

Prota was still two steps ahead. She was no longer giving Jinae ti to react. A giant hail of arrows made of fire and ice rained down, forcing Jinae to block once more.

“Oh, give this old lady a break,” Jinae called out, but there was an excitent to her voice that hadn’t been there before.

By the ti the arrows had finished, Prota had already charged her next spell.

“Tas. Yas.”

Jinae’s eyes widened as she felt the massive collection of mana gathering before Prota. A white ball of mana was now visible, its energy dense and heavy.

“Hold on, that’s-”

“Go.”

A giant beam of energy ripped through the forest, obliterating several trees along the way. There was a roaring sound as the compounded mana perford its only task: pure destruction.

“Phew! That was close!”

Jinae was still untouched.

In fact, she was floating in the sky, a single bead of sweat dripping down her cheek. Sohow, she’d moved dozens of ters without Prota or John noticing.

“Teleporting is cheating,” John called out. “Old hag.”

“Oh, please. If anyone’s cheating, it’s your sister.”

“You don’t have ti to be arguing with ,” John grinned.

Jinae’s eyes widened as she looked back down. Fire and ice were gathering around Prota, but Jinae hadn’t see this spell yet. The elents were swirling, taking form, condensing into…

“Are those… dragons?”

For Prota, ti was almost at a standstill. She couldn’t afford to ss this spell up. Just a bit more. A little more, and…

She was out of mana. Her staff… well, she didn’t need her staff for this one.

There was still one last thing to show her teacher.

Her eyes flashed as the tendrils reached out, piercing through Jinae’s core, absorbing just a bit of mana from the old lady. Quickly, Jinae closed her core off, but Prota had gotten what she needed.

Ti snapped back to normal. Prota’s hair fluttered as a storm of wind picked up, generated by the intense difference in cold and heat generated by the spell.

“Go. Dragon of Fire and Ice.”

The spell spiralled through the sky, the dragons jaws open and roaring as they flew, threatening to devour their prey alive.

“Ah… I understand.”

Jinae smiled, closing her eyes. For a mont, Prota feared she wouldn’t block.

“Then, I’ll also show you sothing amazing.”

The spell would reach her in a second, but sohow, that second felt like eternity. Prota dropped her defenses as she watched, her heart pounding in her chest.

But, suddenly, a single spell flew out of Jinae’s hands. It didn’t look like much. Just a small beam of light.

Prota didn’t see what happened next. All she knew was that her spell disappeared. Vanished, as if it’d never been there. But it hadn’t been forcefully cancelled or teleported away. The mana used to create it had scattered, as if the spell itself had been destroyed. More than that, there was an equal amount of mana hovering around, as if a spell of equivalent force had been used to destroy it.

But that was impossible. There had been no spell of equal force. What was going on?

“Impressive, child,” Jinae said, slowly clapping as she floated back down. “And… that was Soul Steal, was it not?”

Prota nodded, still frozen with shock. Just what had happened?

“John. Is this what you wished to show ? She is an impressive child, for sure. I can see why you are fond of her. But… what was the point?”

Prota stared. Jinae wasn’t even a little tired. She was standing there, conversing with John as if she’d just co back from a light stroll.

All that effort… and for what?

“Hold on,” John said, walking over to Prota.

He grabbed her shoulders, pointing to Jinae.

“Do you see that? Her smile is forced. Her neck muscles are a little strained, and her hands are shaking ever so slightly. That woman is a match for Mystics, Prota. Stronger, even. You did fine. Plus, you drew out her ultimate skill.”

Jinae’s eyes widened. “You don’t-”

“I know what your skill is,” John smirked. “I’m just not going to say it. I want Prota to figure it out.”

“A monster who grows just from watching… I see,” Jinae nodded. “But for you to just call out like that… people like having their secrets, you know? You’ll never find yourself a wife like this.”

“For the last ti, I’m not- seriously,” he grumbled.

He looked around, seeing the once dense forest now absolutely obliterated. If there weren’t any clearings before, there certainly was one now.

“So. What was it you wished to tell , John? And why did it require us to participate in this light sparring?”

John sighed, sitting on the ground.

“Jinae. Let ask you sothing. With this much strength, you could rule the world. Why don’t you?”

“Hm… an interesting question indeed.”

“Just answer.”

“Well… there is no point in destroying this beautiful world. I search for the truth, yes, but my search has led to many places, led to many people. I try to hold myself to the standards that Mystics do. Involving myself with mortal affairs is… undesirable.”

“And if you were going to die?”

“It depends what for. If it was to protect the future… I wouldn’t mind sacrificing myself, I suppose. I have many friends, many comrades. And I really am old. I have evaded death for many years. Mortals aren’t ant to live this long, you know,” Jinae said with a wink.

“...just how old are you?”

“You shouldn’t ask a woman-”

“Fuck you.”

Jinae just laughed. “But, such odd questions. Do you an to tell that I died for soone? Is that why you brought up…”

Her voice trailed off as she realized what was going on. She looked at Prota, eyes wide.

“Yeah. Prota didn’t know shit when I first t her. Do you know what she was capable of? She couldn’t control her Soul Steal and killed people just by making contact. I had to help her with that. But do you know who taught her magic?”

“Ha… how fascinating. A previous life, an unknown encounter… I suppose this, too, is part of the world.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but sure. Jinae. You taught her. You taught her how to control her Soul Steal in combat, how to cast magic, the basis of everything she’s now capable of. She’s strong, right?”

“Strong? John, you don’t know the half of it!” Jinae laughed. “This is a child, yes? You say she didn’t know how to use magic a few years ago? In another decade, she may be as strong as !”

“...good to know,” John said quietly, but he was smiling.

“Prota.” Jinae turned to the small girl with a kind expression on her face. “Even if I do not rember it… I am incredibly proud to have been your future. I suppose I died for you in the past. Well… I would do it again. You are part of this world’s future. There is incredible, infinite potential within you. Never forget that.”

Prota’s eyes shone.

For her, that was one of the greatest complints she could receive.