Kapitel 10: Sacred Gear Conversion
A few days later from all of his caution filled planning, Jun was on his workshop with two sacred gears sealed in his Akashic Converter, waiting for his input on what to do with them.
'I should have just done and be done with it.' Jun complained to his overly cautious past self.
It was a truly trivial matter. Jun had approached each boy when they were returning home from school in Saji's case and from playing with Irina and himself in Issei's case.
He set up a small boundary field to keep people away, hypnotized them with simple magecraft, extracted their respective sacred gears in a few minutes of jittering and nervousness and then left with neither of the boys feeling anything strange had happened, only thinking that they spaced out in the middle of the street.
'Alright then, in the future, I should not let my cautiousness stop me from taking action. But I should not get rid of it either, it is still a good trait so long as it is moderate.' Jun thought before turning to his spoils.
'So tell me Ahsaka. What can I do with my two new sacred gears.' Jun requested.
'The simplest conversion is to transfer them to yourself without changing them in the slightest.' Ahsaka said.
'Hmm, boring, tell me the other options.' Jun said.
'You can also fuse the sacred gears into one with synergized abilities.' She continued.
'That would be a good option if I can get all of Vritra's sacred gears but I don't know about doing that with just Absorption Line and the Boosted Gear . . .' Jun commented.
'Tell me what I can do with the Boosted Gear in specific.' He requested.
'Other than what I've told you already, since the Boosted Gear possesses the complete essence of a powerful dragon, we can separate the soul from the sacred gear and fuse into yours to trigger Dragon Kind Evolution and slowly give you the abilities and form of a dragon of the Nasuverse.'
'Now that's what I'm talking about!' Jun excitedly communicated.
'Be advised, all unique abilities of the Boosted Gear will be lost in the process. What you will develop will be standard draconic abilities and, in the future, your own specialized abilities.' Ahsaka warned.
'I see . . .' Jun started pondering.
'Anything else I should know about that particular option?' He asked.
'The change will be gradual, integrating the essence of a Heavenly Dragon on the level of the gods and beyond will be a slow process but the growth of your own abilities will increase the pace.' Ahsaka informed.
'I think that for my future potential, this is the choice to take. What is your opinion Ahsaka?' Jun shared his view of the matter and asked for the ever loyal and knowledgeable Ahsaka's input.
'I fully agree with you assessment. While the Boosted Gear would give you greater instant benefits, it cannot compare to the potential of the Dragon Kind Evolution process.' Ahsaka declared.
'It's decided then. You said the sacred gear itself will remain so what will become of it?' Jun asked.
'Due to holding the essence of such a powerful dragon for such a long time, the gauntlet itself will have power. While abilities that directly require the soul of the dragon like the Juggernaut Drive and Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames will be unavailable, the others should still remain.'
'How does that work?' Jun inquired.
'The sacred gear itself retains some of the dragon's powers so even if they are somewhat limited by the lack of its soul and essence, they are still there.' Ahsaka explained.
Hearing this, Jun remembered something from the series.
'Issei did take some of Albion's power from a jewel of Vali's Divine Dividing Scale Mail and could then use Divide even without Albion's soul so it does make sense.' He pondered.
'Precisely.' Ahsaka supported his reasoning.
'With that decided, before we do anything, what can be done with thee Absorption Line I got from Saji?' Jun decided to take care of all decision making before moving onto action.
'The options are much the same. Integration, transfer, fusion, or, since there is also a soul within the sacred gear, you can extract and use it. It is incomplete but you can extract the special ability and add it to yourself at the cost of the soul itself which would be tremendously wasteful.'
'As for integration of the soul's essence, since you already have a much higher quality and complete essence of a more powerful dragon, it is rather pointless.' Ahsaka explained.
'Fair enough, I think I'll keep it for now and see if I can get my hands of the other Vritra sacred gears, maybe I make make some sort of deal with Azazel once he shows up in town. Anything else?' Jun said his points.
'Vritra's soul is a viable catalyst for the summoning of a Servant, the option has already been unlocked so you won't lose it even if you convert it in the future.' Ahsaka casually added in her usual monotone voice.
'What Servant?' Jun asked.
'There is a Servant version of Vritra in the Grand Order timeline. The soul of the Vritra of this universe allowed the Akashic Throne to search her out but you still need to fulfill the magic energy requirements.' Ahsaka explained.
'From what you've said, so long as I get a catalyst, even if I were to lose it, it would not matter anymore right?' Jun asked for clarification.
'That's correct. Once a connection to a particular heroic spirit is created, the catalyst is no longer required. Even analyzing a Servant summoned in one of the Holy Grail Wars will then allow you to summon a version of it yourself.' Ahasaka confirmed and added.
'Nifty! I'll definitely visit some extra timelines with cool servant on them then.' Jun commented.
'All that aside, let's begin the integration of Ddraig's essence shall we. Even though I do feel somewhat about his consciousness, what will happen to it?' Jun asked.
'It will be erased in the process of conversion.' Ahsaka emotionlessly replied.
'That's too bad but progress requires sacrifice and better for others to make that sacrifice than me.' Jun selfishly declared and gave Ahsaka the go ahead to initiate the process.
At first, it was just the purification of the essence in order for it to integrate properly so Jun felt nothing but when the integration itself started, it was not a pleasant experience at all.
In the beginning, he just felt an unbelievable surge of power that made him felt almost omnipotent but soon, the power reached the limit his vessel could hold but get growing, causing Jun to felt as if he was about to burst, resulting in extreme pain.
He still toughened it out, Jun's Ascetic skill helped him cope with the pain quite well after all but then, the true changes to his vessel started happening and the pain made him feel like his was burning alive as hsi body gave out sweltering heat and magical energy just emitted from his entire being.
If he was not within his own workshop, it would have been an obvious beacon for everything and everyone to follow but thankfully, Jun had the foresight to build a workshop and undergo the process there.
Unfortunately for him, the pain was far from over as after his physical vessel changed, it was time for his soul to do so as well.
Mere Dragon Kind Modification that comes from bathing in dragon's blood or eating one's heart cannot compare to the depths of the change Jun was undergoing and thus, the pain and burden was likewise incomparable.
Jun's soul was torn and remade as it became the powerful soul of a dragon and the suffering brought about by the change left him unable to even formulate thoughts.
After hours of continuous torture, the pain and suffering gave way to endless comfort and pleasure and limitless power filled Jun. At least that was the impression he got even though it was far from the truth.
'You could've warned about the pain.' Jun complained.
'I did not think it to be something of importance.' Ahsaka replied in her usual tone but Jun could detect some disappointment.
It was likely not because Jun's suffering though but due to the fact he thought her performance in her role was less than perfect.
'Ah, you're probably right, I would've done it anyway so what does it matter. From now on though, I'd appreciate a heads up.' Jun relented.
'Very well.' Ahsaka replied, her tone ever unchanging but giving Jun the feeling she was not "feeling down" so to speak for the lack of better words.
With all of that squared away, it was time to properly evaluate the changes that had occured.
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