[ Location: Hogwarts - Hospital Wing ][ Date: November 1st, 1991 ]
I woke up smelling antiseptic and pumpkin juice.
"Ah, Mr. Frostwell," Madam Pomfrey bustled over, holding a tray of nasty-looking potions. "Awake at last. That shoulder took quite a beating. Troll clubs are not known for their delicacy."
I groaned, trying to sit up. My shoulder felt stiff, but the searing pain was gone. 'Magic medicine is no joke, I will borrow some'
"How long was I out?"
"Just the night," she said, handing me a goblet. "Drink. Skele-Gro. You didn't break the bone, but you bruised it down to the marrow."
I downed the potion. It tasted like burned oreos.
"My friends?" I asked, choking back the urge to vomit.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are in class. Miss Granger stopped by earlier. She left you... this."
Pomfrey pointed to the bedside table. A stack of chocolate frogs and a note.
Thanks for not dying. - H
I smiled. 'Progress.'
I leaned back against the pillows. The hospital wing was quiet. Too quiet.
'System. Open Chat.'
The blue interface flickered to life. And it was chaotic.
Lloyd Frontera (Admin): @Vivan Frostwell WAKE UP! I saw the quest notification! "Troll Defeated." Did you loot it?
Vivan Frostwell: Good morning to you too, Lloyd. I'm fine, thanks for asking. Just a little internal bleeding.
Lloyd Frontera (Admin): Bleeding heals. Profit is eternal. Tell me you harvested the Troll. The liver? The toenails? The bogies? Troll bogeys sell for 5 points an ounce!
Vivan Frostwell: I was a little busy trying not to be flattened into a pancake. I didn't exactly have time to harvest its nose.
Shikamaru Nara: It smelled terrible anyway. Troublesome creature.
Boa Hancock: Hmph. A filthy beast. If it were me, I would have turned it to stone and used it as a coat rack.
Wanda Maximoff: Are you okay, Vivan? That Sounds... intense.
Vivan Frostwell: Yes... I am okay, Wanda
Ryomen Sukuna:Boring.
The chat went silent.
Ryomen Sukuna: You say like you struggled against a mindless lump of meat.
Vivan Frostwell: I fought like a guy who weighs 100 pounds against a one-ton monster. It's called strategy.
Ryomen Sukuna: It's called weakness. You should have sliced it apart. You should have reveled in the slaughter. Disgusting.
Esdeath: I disagree.
Ryomen Sukuna: Oh? A Woman speaks in front of me.
Esdeath: He won. That is all that matters. The weak die. The strong survive. Vivan survived; the Troll did not. Therefore, Vivan was stronger. His methods are irrelevant.
Ryomen Sukuna: "Stronger"? Don't make me laugh. He survived because of luck. True strength is not just survival. It is dominance. It is the ability to do whatever you please, whenever you please, without consequence.
Esdeath: True strength is the imposition of one's will upon the world. Survival of the fittest. If you cannot dominate, you deserve to be culled.
Ryomen Sukuna: "Culled"? Are you a gardener. I am a natural disaster. I do not "cull." I consume.
Sosuke Aizen: Oh dear. It seems we have a clash of philosophies. The Darwinist versus the Hedonist.
Lelouch vi Britannia: This inevitably happens when you put two alpha predators in a room.
Lloyd Frontera (Admin): FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! (I'm taking bets! 10 points buy-in!)
[ System Notice: Ideological Conflict Detected. ][ Arena Mode Unlocked. ][ Duel Requested: Ryomen Sukuna vs. Esdeath ][ Stakes: Pride. ][ Do you wish tospectate? Y/N ]
I stared at the screen.
'Sukuna vs. Esdeath? The King of Curses vs. The Empire's Strongest? This isn't a fight. Sukuna can easy defeat her.'
'Y.'
The hospital wing dissolved.
[ Location: Virtual Arena - The Infinite Wastes ]
I was standing on a floating platform, looking down. The arena was a vast, barren rocky landscape.
On one side stood Ryomen Sukuna (in Yuji Itadori's body, shirtless, tattoos glowing). He looked bored, hands in his pockets.
On the other side stood Esdeath. Tall, blue hair, white military uniform. She was smiling. A cruel, excited smile.
Esdeath: I have wanted to test you for some time, Cursed Spirit. You talk like a king, but you look like a brat.
Ryomen Sukuna: And you act like a conqueror, woman, but you are just a human with some abilities. Let's see if you break as easily as the others.
[ FIGHT! ]
Esdeath moved first. She didn't cast a spell. She stomped her foot.
CRACK.
A glacier the size of a skyscraper erupted from the ground, rushing toward Sukuna at the speed of sound.
Sukuna didn't dodge. He just lifted a finger.
"Dismantle."
SLASH.
The glacier split in half. Cleanly. Perfectly. The two halves slid past him, crashing into the ground with a force that shook the arena.
Vivan Frostwell: (Internal Monologue) 'Okay. That's... terrifying. My Telekinesis barely lifted a salt bag. He just cut a mountain with a finger wag. I should start talking magic seriously but. That will take a lot of time and my magic is level 1 to even do a shit in combat, From now lets speed up magic too'
Esdeath: (Laughing) Good! You can cut ice! But can you cut the cold itself?
She drew her rapier. "Weissschnabel!"
Hundreds of icicles formed in the air, launching at Sukuna like a gatling gun.
Sukuna grinned. He blurred.
He wasn't dodging. He was running on the icicles. He closed the distance in a millisecond, appearing right in front of Esdeath.
"Cleave."
He placed his hand on her chest.
Esdeath's eyes widened. She instinctively encased herself in a diamond-hard ice armor.
BOOM.
The impact sent her flying backward. She crashed through three rock pillars before skidding to a halt. The ice armor on her chest was shattered, a deep cut bleeding on her uniform.
Ryomen Sukuna: Is that it? I thought you preached survival of the fittest. You look pretty unfit right now.
Esdeath stood up. She wiped the blood from her chest and licked it off her finger.
Her eyes glowed blue. The air in the arena dropped to absolute zero. Frost crept over the camera lens.
Esdeath: You are strong. Finally. Someone I can hunt.
She raised her hand. A massive ball of ice, like a meteor, formed in the sky above the arena.
Esdeath:"Hagelsprung!"
The meteor dropped.
Sukuna looked up. He didn't look worried. He looked... ecstatic.
Ryomen Sukuna:"Domain Expansion."
The world shifted. The rocky wasteland was replaced by a dark, watery shrine. Skulls piled high. A demonic mouth gaping open.
Ryomen Sukuna:"Malevolent Shrine."
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Millions of invisible cuts filled the air. The ice meteor didn't just break; it was atomized. It turned into snow before it even touched the ground.
Esdeath created walls of ice, layers upon layers, trying to block the onslaught.
CRACK. SHATTER. CRACK.
The ice broke as fast as she made it. She was being pushed back, cuts appearing on her arms, her legs, her face.
She laughed. She was losing, and she was laughing maniacally.
Esdeath: Marvelous! This pressure! This is what it means to be alive!
Ryomen Sukuna: You're annoying. Die.
He raised his hand for a finishing blow.
Esdeath:"Mahapadma."
The world stopped.
Literally. The falling snow froze in mid-air. The invisible slashes paused. Color drained from the world.
Esdeath walked through the frozen time. She walked up to the frozen Sukuna.
Esdeath: You are strong. But you are careless.
She placed her rapier against his neck.
Esdeath: Time resumes.
SNAP.
Time flooded back.
Sukuna's head didn't fly off. He grabbed the blade. With his bare hand.
Blood dripped from his palm, but the blade stopped millimetres from his jugular.
Sukuna's eyes narrowed. He looked... surprised.
Ryomen Sukuna: You... froze time?
Esdeath: Space and time. Everything freezes before me.
Sukuna chuckled. Then he laughed. A deep, guttural sound.
Ryomen Sukuna: HAHA! Sorcery that affects time! You aren't just a human. You're a monster too. I like it!
He twisted the blade, shattering it.
[ Duel Time Limit Reached. ][ Result: Draw. ]
The arena dissolved.
[ Location: Hospital Wing ]
I was back in my bed. My heart was racing like I'd just run a marathon.
'That... that was them playing around.'
I looked at my hand. I looked at the glass of water on the table.
'I fought a Troll and thought I was cool. They just reshaped my mindset.'
The Chat was buzzing.
Lloyd Frontera (Admin): DRAW?! I bet on Sukuna! System, this is rigged! Refund!
Sosuke Aizen: Fascinating. The Ice General controls time. A useful ability.
Optimus Prime: Such destructive power.... It is disheartening.
Wanda Maximoff: They seemed to enjoy it. In a weird way.
Esdeath: @Ryomen Sukuna Next time, I will not aim for the neck. I will freeze your core.
Ryomen Sukuna: Try it, woman. Next time, I won't let you finish the chant.
Vivan Frostwell: ...
Shikamaru Nara: Vivan? You okay? You went quiet.
Vivan Frostwell: Just... realizing I have a something left to do.
I closed the chat.
I looked at my wand. I looked at my hand.
'Telekinesis. Phoenix Animagus. Magic It's a start. But if I want to survive in a multiverse with them... I need to stop thinking like a student.'
I swung my legs out of bed.
"Where are you going, Mr. Frostwell?" Madam Pomfrey demanded, coming out of her office.
"To the library," I said, grabbing my robe. "I need to study."
'I need to get stronger. Fast.'
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