Veldora is broken as hell.
I kind of already knew that from the anime, the Light Novel, and even the Web Novel, but actually becoming Veldora has made that fact even clearer to me now.
Let's start with my Ultimate Skill.
I was able to upgrade it.
Yes. The Ultimate Skill I'd just awakened was upgraded again.
[Nyarlathotep: God of Chaos]
All I did was try to link [Faust] with all of my other abilities. I just wanted to optimize them since [Faust] seemed to be a high-speed calculator on par with [Raphael] in terms of performance, but due to [Rioter]'s [Certain Outcome], my 'linking' of my Skills and abilities caused them all to merge together into [Faust] and evolve it into [Nyarlathotep].
Thanks to that, every ability I have now has Ultimate-Skill levels of potency. Even my basic [Black Lightning] attack, at the weakest level, popped the [Unlimited Imprisonment] bubble like a bubble, and I was freed from it. After all, no Unique Skill could ever hope to stop an Ultimate Skill.
Well, I guess technically Guy was able to use [Pride] to fight evenly with Velzard who had [Gabriel], but Guy was already freakily strong, able to fight Veldanava, even if he lost almost instantly, and [Gabriel] is mostly a defensive Ultimate Skill, not offensive, nor did Velzard awaken it herself, instead having it been given to her, so maybe some loss in efficiency or power allowed Guy to make up the gap.
Either way, I was free now, not that I went anywhere with it.
Rather, I spent the next few months training myself on my new body. I had all of Veldora's fighting instincts and memories, which were actually top-tier, but with my more analytical mind, which I got from my previous human side and which was boosted by my Ultimate Skill, I could now fight at the highest levels of power. I used [Nyarlathotep] to calculate my chances of beating Guy and was surprised that I had a 5% shot.
Now 5% isn't a lot, but I'd only been training for a few days, and in terms of power, Guy was basically an early Dragon Ball Z-level character in a typically fantasy world, meaning he completely broke the balance of the world. And that was before his hax. The fact that I almost instantly stood any chance at all was crazy.
Next came magic.
I was basically able to cast any spell I could think of. As a being made of mana of the highest order, this wasn't too surprising. Of course, after getting the geek stuff out of my system (like the Kamehameha, Rasengan, Getsuga Tensho, and even Zoltraak from Frieren), I realised that, of course, my Storm Magic was the strongest stuff I had.
The wind I cast with Storm Magic was enough to strip even the soul out of a being when it hit them, as shown when I accidentally killed a Black Spider I found while roaming around.
It was kind of crazy to think I just kind of… had this power.
Granted, with Veldora's memories and temperament now settled into my soul, I wasn't nearly as shaken up about everything as I was at the beginning, but it still needed to be said. I could one-shot any Demon Lord of the Octagram with it, though of course, they'd have to just stand there and tank the hit without putting up any defenses, barriers, or countermeasures for that to be true, but still, being able to one-shot anyone, even if only in theory, was still ridiculous.
Finally, there was my [Dragon Spirit Haki]. My aura basically shredded anything I touched with it. I was able to sink my fingers into the bedrock wall as though it were sand with it, as my aura just cut through all matter in its way.
I didn't know how long it took, but it was probably a few months, maybe even years, that I spent training in the cave, honing my skills. This was something I'd definitely gained from being both Veldora AND Christian.
My human side gave me the patience and love of training, while my Veldora side provided the power and experience to perfectly train with. The fusion seems to have altered my soul in some way, as I no longer seemed to care or notice long stretches of time going by.
Maybe that was a perk of being immortal? I was immune to the negative effects of Eunni.
And just like that, 2 years went by. I was a bit concerned that I hadn't sensed Rimuru's reincarnation, but I didn't fret too much.
Old Veldora was sealed exactly 303 years, 4 months, and 19 days ago by the Hero Chronoa. His saying '300 years' to Rimuru in the anime was probably just paraphrasing.
My 'chance of defeating Guy' percentage now stood at a whopping 23% and it hadn't gone up in months, so I was probably plateauing with just the kit Veldora had to start with once it was trained to its maximum.
Right now, I am relaxing inside the large underground lake to cool off after a training session. I didn't actually NEED to cool off. My body didn't build up lactic acid from training like a human body does, so this was more for mental relaxation than a physical need, but that didn't make it any less relaxing.
"Huh?" I thought, looking off into the distance of the cave and focusing my senses.
I thought I spotted a flash of silver hair, but quickly realized I was being paranoid. This wasn't the first time I thought I'd seen someone, but it was pretty rare. This was only the fourth time in as many months.
The fact that my passive detection wasn't able to detect them, and when I swapped to active detection, I didn't see anything, was probably proof that I was going stir crazy with loneliness.
I shook my head.
*Splash!*
I didn't mind the water or the lack of air as I allowed myself to sink to the bottom and think for a moment. It was time, I would finally leave this place and see the outside world again. I was excited, basking in the bliss of my freedom. The thought did cross my mind that this was probably the last vestiges of the original Veldora from before we merged as well as that same part of Christian who was excited and always wanted to go to isekai worlds causing me to be so happy, but I didn't really mind it. I wasn't the old Veldora and I wasn't the old Christian, I was 'me'.
Sure, I took on Veldora's name, but I was a different person altogether.
As my body lay on the floor of the lakebed, I opened my eyes to look up at the surface of the water, dreaming about everything I could get up to in my new life. I wasn't on a timer, so it's not like I had to rush anything; however, I did want to get involved with the plot at some point. I'd already spent close to 300 years in this dreary cave trapped and another 2 years training to not be one-shot by my sisters if they ever decided to swing by and ruin everything, so I think it was high time I enjoyed this isekai of mine. I got up off the lakebed and pushed myself upright before I began to leisurely swim to the surface of the pool.
"I should get a hobby... and a girlfriend," I said to myself, though underwater the noise came out as nothing but bubbles and gibberish as I breached the surface and floated myself out of the water and onto the nearby shore.
I closed my eyes and began using my Intrinsic Skill [Universal Shapeshift] to transform my draconic body into a smaller, more maneuverable form. When my eyes opened, I smirked, having taken on a much more 'normal' size. I held out my hand, instantly stilling the rippling water of the lake where I had just submerged with magic. This way, the surface of the water would act as a mirror so I could look at myself.
"Damn, I look good," I said to myself with a confident smirk.
My human form was taller now than in my previous life, probably about 6'6" or 2 meters. My skin was also darker than my previous life, having a permanent tan, but my face was much sharper and more handsome. I had short, messy blonde hair and glowing golden eyes. My 'little brother' was also at a much more 'healthy' size, too. It was never small to begin with, but now I could kill a bitch with it.
"I'm not gay but... damn. I'd fuck me." I said, allowing my vanity to shine through. I closed my eyes and decided to go all out. Usually, I made my clothes with [Material Creation] Magic, and while they were of higher quality than regular clothes from my previous world, this time I decided to splurge a bit.
Unlike the canon Veldora, who went completely shirtless, I wore a top with an open front with golden accents. It reminded me a bit of a cultivator's outfit, but it was comfortable to move around in. Yellow, or more specifically gold, was my favorite color, and since it matched my eyes and hair, I allowed myself to look good in it. Despite my new appearance, my clothes were rather breathable and allowed me to move around freely..
I looked awesome. Definitely giving off some 'main character' energy here, which was fine because this world was anime-inspired, and from the outfits I knew the main cast wore, I knew this would fit right in.
I scanned over my clothes one last time, quickly noting that they were at God-Grade, the highest level any piece of equipment could hope to achieve in terms of quality and performance.
"Seems suitable," I muttered to myself before stretching my arms and preparing to leave, only for a blue blob to splat against my face.
"..." I didn't have any words to say.
The blob reformed itself and bounced back, only for it to rapidly expand to a size big enough to cover my whole body and charge to engulf me.
"Yeah, no," I stated as I reached up and grabbed the part of the slime with eyes on it, unleashing a pulse of my [Dragon Spirit Haki] which destroyed all but the small part of it I held in my hand.
I activated [Thought Communication].
*'Oy! What was that for!?! Trying to eat me, you bastard!?!'* I shouted, pretending to be angry as I undid my Human Form and returned to my full-blown Dragon Form.
The moment I did this, the slime stopped expanding and looked panicked. "That's right, asshole! Who do you think you were trying to eat?!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know what you were!" I squealed.
"Do you just eat anything you come across?!" I shouted back, scolding the creature that was clearly Rimuru.
It deflated like a balloon, rolling out of my hand and onto the floor. "I'm sorry! I can't see anything, so I just eat whatever it is I come across!" He squealed back.
I smirked and faked taking a deep breath to 'calm down'. It was good that I ran into him now. There was a chance he'd never get out of this cave if I left a day earlier.
"Well, whatever, just pay attention next time," I said with a slightly annoyed tone.
"I-I will try!" It said.
"Do or do not, there is no try." I quoted offhandedly.
"I- wait a second... where did you hear that from?" It asked.
"Someone wise from another galaxy, far, far away, once said it. Don't let it bother you." I explained.
"You are talking about Yoda! From Star Wars!!!" I exclaimed with excitement.
I was stunned and taken aback that Rimuru was a fan of Star Wars. I'd assumed because he was Japanese and preferred Manga and Anime that an American Sci-Fi movie wouldn't have been his forte, especially enough for him to remember a quote that obscure.
"Wait, are you..." I asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah! I'm a person from Earth, too!" He exclaimed, clearly misunderstanding my question.
I decided to shut up for now.