Part three to chapter 7. Please enjoy.
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"You've done it now, Ddraig! My talents are really starting to shine bright!" Issei exclaimed merrily, as if he weren't flat on his back from crippling exhaustion. Taking a short break between charge ups finally ran its course and his human constitution finally had enough. He didn't seem all too bothered by it, his level up bestowing visible proof of improvement.
The dragon didn't reply to his silly remark, remaining silent and listening to the boy's shaky ramblings. Hearing him announce the level up led Ddraig to think pensively about the anomalous power he so commonly found himself doing now.
Ddraig still had no way of detecting the power on his own, relying on Issei to literally go into his settings and mentally press buttons through menus to allow the beast to see the screens by disabling privacy. Although he was bound to Issei's body and could directly interact with his soul, the strange system still considered him an outsider.
Lightly rebuking his pervy host again for not remembering all of his settings and showing him the Game's data earlier, Ddraig wondered just how true those words were as he read through each menu, ordering the boy to shuffle through them one by one.
Talent was such an abstruse term when referring to his holder. To any outsider, it was clear Issei's talents were abundant and astonishing. Said talents may wind up calling into question whether the boy was even human at all. However, being the only one looking from the inside out, Ddraig recognized those talents were ostensible.
Not a claim considered out of spite - as much as Issei prodded at each of his nerves - but a logical conclusion made after coming to understand his human host. By all accounts, Issei was, or rather should be, an ordinary human. Having observed him ever since his sudden awakening, this was made resoundingly clear. Issei himself has stated as much when comparing himself to his contemporaries.
By human standards, Issei was a normal boy without any inherent talents or skills, nor did he have any latent ones. Disregarding his desires and eccentric nature, he would struggle to be picked out of a crowd. Separating himself and every other power granted by the Game out of the equation, Ddraig could say without question that Issei was the weakest, most unremarkable host he had ever been birthed into.
And yet, Issei held him - the Boosted Gear.
He held a supernatural game-like system that granted him unorthodox techniques and abilities through menu screens and awakened further otherworldly powers through a lottery in the form of tokens.
Talentless, and yet Issei Hyoudou held more talent and potential than any being throughout history.
Yet another reason why the human fascinated him. While most people were not talented, such was not the case for Boosted Gear wielders. Talent came in troves for one who would become a dragon. It was much more common for Ddraig to be awaken by someone 'special' than by someone who wasn't. In that regard, Issei on his own merit had automatically become more unique and distinct than prior users.
Such simplicity and foolishness, and yet Ddraig was enthralled. He had many powerful hosts - many who were worthy and had earned his respect - all of which were going to be surpassed by this titty-chasing teenager who somehow had it all.
Absurdly incredible, to the point Ddraig felt a never before chill throughout his massive draconic body within the realm of the gauntlet.
It was... exciting to be born here in this human.
"Gnngh..."
"Hm?" Ramblings having already quieted down, Issei took note of the dragon's groan. "What is it?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it." There was a short pause. "Thought of something unpleasant."
"...Okaaay?" Issei answered after a pause of his own. That wasn't very characteristic of his partner. It kind of put him on edge. "Did you find something strange with my menus?" He was a little hesitant opening them like this because anyone could view them in this state. No one was around and he trusted Ddraig implicitly, but the Game was still his most guarded secret. Having the privacy off like this made him feel exposed. He didn't like the idea of having to make saves and reloads over some stupid shit.
"Nothing like that," Ddraig affirmed, setting any rising worry at ease. "I'm curious about your skills. Their names and descriptions were not what I expected."
"They aren't?"
"Take Holy Spirit for example. Doesn't strike me as a skill, or blessing bestowed upon you by God."
"...I'm not sure what you're getting at." His powers were given to him by the Game, not God. Unless Ddraig was insinuating that God was the one to give him it?
He checked over the skill again.
[Exalted] Holy Spirit:
Gains the implicit trusts of spirits. Raises affinity with spirits to the maximum.
"The Holy Spirit in the bible is referred to as a reflection of God himself. The spirit guides believers towards the word of God and living a life in his name," Ddraig explained, his knowledge into the angelic faction coming out. "When I read over that name, I assumed it would be something related to God, or The Flaming Sword which granted you it. However, that is not the case at all, and the ability is in fact entirely different."
"Slow your roll. You're saying that The Flaming Sword is related towards Christianity and God, but the skill... isn't?" Issei had sat back up and managed to crawl his way over to a nearby tree. He began massaging his temples trying to wrap his head around the contradictory information, vividly remembering the conversation he had with Rias, Asia, and the rest of the Occult Research Club about The Flaming Sword and the religious history it came from. How would the skill connected to it not be related, even though there was a Holy Spirit in the bible?
"I never said the sword was related to Christianity."
"What? But Asia and even Rias said it was in the bible. Of course it's related." He nearly summoned the blade to emphasize his point, but held off. "I mean, you saw how 'holier than thou' it is. Holding it made me feel like a different person... like I was ascending or something. You can't fake that shit. That's the real deal."
Ddraig agreed with Issei. He wasn't the one wielding it, but he could feel the energy flow throughout the boy from within. That sword wasn't an imitation of any kind, holding enough untapped power to slay Great Red himself. It was... otherworldly...
...Maybe?
"...Yes, that may be the answer behind this mystery."
"What is? Did you figure something out?" Issei looked down at the glowing back of his hand.
"It is merely a theory, but one worth scrutiny," Ddraig answered calmly.
The reason why his Holy Spirit skill wasn't connected to God, but instead held the ability to attract spirits. The subtle inconsistencies surrounding the blade...
"Consider this. What if the sword didn't come from this plane of existence at all?"
"...I don't follow."
Of course he didn't. "The system 'spawns' in different items and abilities for you by use of mysterious tokens."
"Yeah, I already know that. It gives me whatever I pull... unless you're saying that it gives me a duplicate?" Issei said with hesitancy. The sword was genuine, but what if the system just created a second one? He didn't want to imagine the possible repercussions of it being revealed that there are two of the same swords existing.
"Not quite. Think back to your conversation with the nun and the devils. They discussed The Flaming Sword of Eden and its relation to the Christian bible."
"I remember. It was only a couple days ago."
"A new record," Ddraig commented dryly before continuing. "Your sword is different than the one they talked about."
"It's name is different... that's what you mean, right?" Issei asked, recalling the discrepancy he noticed himself.
"Yes."
"Then..." Aggressively shaking his head, Issei began to grow agitated. "Just what are you getting at, Ddraig? Tell it to me straight so I know."
There was a pit forming inside his stomach as he waited - a repetitive occurrence that seemingly wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. The imprisoned dragon paused as if checking his own logic, the green orb on his hand lighting back up as he answered, "The Flaming Sword and The Flaming Sword of Eden are two different swords."
That... That's certainly something...
Feeling his mouth dry, Issei pushed himself to speak. "Well... I mean, you don't know if-"
"I don't know. It is something to consider."
Except he didn't want to consider it. If he did... there was no going back.
No, he was already at that stage. He couldn't keep running away.
"When you say different plane of existence... you mean like... different reality?"
"That's correct."
"But is such a thing even possible?"
"Don't ask me. I'm wondering the same thing."
"How could I not ask you?! You're the big guy! The Welsh Dragon!" Issei stressed. "You've been around forever and know and seen countless things. If you don't know then how could anyone else?"
"I may be a big guy, but I've never been the biggest. Not on my own." It always tasted like acid admitting that, but Ddraig had been humbled enough at this point to acknowledge and accept his existence may not be as big as it once appeared. If the theory he proposed was true, then he feared he may be smaller than he ever thought possible.
Worldview cracked and his reality shaken. A fish taken out of his pond, dropped into an infinitely expanding ocean.
"Damn... Separate realities? How do we even go about discovering that?"
"The possibility certainly exists. The void world known as the Dimensional Gap is a mysterious rift that exists between the three worlds of Earth, Heaven, and the Underworld. While it is unknown if such a place could lead to another reality, there isn't enough information to disprove such an idea."
"There's a gap like that between our worlds? Crazy..." He always assumed Heaven and Hell would either be way above or below earth, not split between some dimension thingamajig. "So you think that could lead to somewhere else?"
"I said it's possible. There could be other reasons. Most of the universe is unexplored after all. Perhaps what lies at the edge is what separates realities."
"Wow, so not even dragons or Gods know for sure, huh?"
"Our powers are vast... but apparently that isn't so." The great beast sounded very different there. Thoughts he never had were slowly manifesting inside his ancient mind. Thoughts he never would've entertained worming themselves in like parasites attaching themselves and refusing to let go.
Issei didn't mention his shifting tone, empathizing with his companion. He knew what it was like to be and feel small - feeling way out of his league when it came to this supernatural stuff. It must've been extremely hard for an immortal dragon like Ddraig to have that lens thrust in front of him.
Fiction was becoming reality for both of them, and they both had to adjust to it.
"...Do you really think they exist?" It was all still so hard to comprehend. The potential for unending worlds, histories, creatures, powers, and more just existing out there. Wherever his Game System came from, it wasn't from here. Didn't matter how he obtained it, all that mattered was that it could potentially hold the power to touch each and every one of those endless universes.
An alternate religion... an alternate Christianity, with an alternate Flaming Sword. The idea that he owned something that shouldn't even be in this universe was truly frightening.
And it would only get worse. RNG was boundless and he was sticking his fingers into the multiverse with each and every token crushed between them.