Jon could only watch as Avahni abruptly collapsed to one side. The strange, elf-like alien didn't even bother waiting for Jon to verbally respond to her request, taking his mimicry of her actions as a sign of confirmation.

The young human merely blinked, before squatting down, rubbing his temples for a couple seconds and letting out an overexaggerated sigh. The form of a beautiful young woman laid sprawled out on the sands beneath him, their figure defenceless, vulnerable to the weather, and possible approaching predators.

'Maybe… things are different in the lutin culture. Perhaps they consider a promise, or an oath to be something sacred, unbreakable once forged. I could probably understand if I too were also a lutin, but you cannot just assume that a random alien won't attack you while your incapacitated! I could be a murderer! Or worse! Surely humanity cannot be the only sentient Race with concepts such as "stranger danger!?"' Jon ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to comprehend this alien's strange rationality.

Jon considered himself a decent person.

While putting himself first was always the correct option, he wouldn't not help another person if they requested it of him. Opening the door to a parent with a stroller. Holding the elevator for someone. Helping someone pick up their groceries if their bag broke. Simple things.

If someone felt as though they were in danger, and asked Jon for help, chances are he would help them. Right and wrong were inherently subjective, so at the end of the day, Jon would do whatever it took to help himself sleep better at night.

In this moment, Jon knew that he could quite easily kill the alien in front of him. Claim the Mana Core from their corpse, and whatever fragments they had integrated. There would be absolutely no resistance, and Jon knew that with his own ability, he could make it as painless as humanly possible.

Jon tapped his foot on the ground, as if to show off his annoyance.

The eighteen-year-old stood up, sending one last glance towards the lutin on the ground. Picking up his spear, Jon clenched it tightly in his hands, biting his lip.

'Avahni. That would be the name of the first person I ever killed', Jon's conscience whispered from the depths of his mind.

'Technically, she isn't a person. Their consciousness or states of mind might be inherently different to that of a human being. And someone as trusting as this, probably won't make it that far in a place as savage and unkind as this small realm', the rational, more calculating parts of Jon's personality whispered back, causing a sense of disgust to fill his chest.

Just mere moments ago, Jon was almost bouncing at the thought of being the first ever human to come into contact with a sentient alien species. He had seen movies before, some films more serious or dramatic than others, but knew that showing off the worst parts of the human experience wasn't something that he would enjoy.

He could almost imagine it within his mind.

Here lie Avahni, the lutin who trusted Jon, the human.

It wasn't what Jon wanted to be remembered as.

It wasn't who Jon wanted to be remembered as.

'At the end of the day… I feel as though I haven't grown up at all', Jon shook his head, smiling before throwing his spear off to the side.

The young human just let out a sigh, feeling a certain weight lifted from his shoulders. He thought he might have been imagining it, but just stretched his shoulder blades and walked towards the tree line, searching for the direction his bags were sent flying in.

He wasn't sure how long it would take to find them, but hopefully, he would be back before the lutin woke up.

Palming the Wood Mana Core in one hand, and his handful of fragments in the other, Jon smiled, feeling his mood improve, despite the pain in his arm.

Break

It took Jon all of about ten minutes to find both his duffel bag and backpack and bring it back towards his camp on the riverbank. Due to two of his abilities [Monstrous Intuition] and [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge], both his memory retention and memory recall grew sharper and more efficient, giving Jon an enhanced sense of clarity when recalling certain memories or experiences.

The young man placed his bags back in their original location before checking if the contents within were undamaged and intact. Taking a moment to glance at Avahni's unconscious figure, Jon took out his former sandwich container before adding in his new fragments and putting it back at the bottom of his bag.

Jon had a total of seven fragments in his possession. If he included the four he used to integrate into his Knowledge Mana Core, he would have had eleven. Despite integrating so many fragments, his status page didn't change that much.

Jonathan Randall Guilliman Age: 18 Rank: Mortal Tier: First Initiation Title: N/A

Mana Core(s):

[1]: Knowledge [Fragment Of Instinct] [Monstrous Intuition] (Knowledge, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Sensory, Perception)

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[Fragment Of Mind] [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] (Knowledge, Mind, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

[Fragment Of Tree] [Ashvattha Rana; Earthen Treasury Womb] (Knowledge, Tree, Summoning, Spirit, Spell, Buff)

[Fragment Of War] [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] (Knowledge, War, Spell, Enhancement, Buff)

[2]:

[3]:

[4]:

[5]:

[6]:

The addition of his new abilities filled out the length of the status page quite a bit, however, the distinct lack of any real changes left Jon a little bit despondent before opening his System task page, somewhat expecting a similar reaction.

Jon almost immediately felt himself perk up, reading the two newly completed entries at the bottom of the page.

Tasks not required before completion of System Introduction

[6]: Obtain a total of ten Fragments. Individuals shall receive a set reward upon the completion of this task.

[21]: Defeat an enemy whose Tier is one stage higher than your own. Individuals shall receive a reward of their choice upon the completion of their task.

"Not too bad. I know I've only completed a couple of tasks, but the fragments given out from the System task rewards are usually better than the ones found in beasts or in the wild. Hopefully some of them will be compatible with the Wood Mana Core in… wait a second, "receive a reward of their choice". Am I reading that right?", Jon's shouted, traces of shock and excitement clear in his voice.

His expression rapidly shifted, the throbbing in his arm temporarily forgotten, as Jon lifted his hand, gently pressing on the system page in front of him. The text shifting in front of him, as a familiar prompt appeared before him.

Please receive your fragment of choice.

Jon felt his mouth drop, unconsciously blurting something out.

"Dragon!", a childlike glee evident in his voice.

Would you like to select the "Fragment Of Dragon" as your System task reward?

Y/N

Jon blinked, before pressing "no", shaking his head and rubbing his chin. The eighteen-year-old just stared off into the distance, his mind a bubbling volcano of thoughts and possibilities right in this moment.

'What do I need right now. Some sort of movement ability would be nice. An overall physical enhancement would be great as well, not going to lie. I have an additional Mana Core that I can integrate as well, so choosing something that would benefit that wouldn't be a bad option either'. Jon let out a loud sigh, moving his gaze downward towards his lap.

His eyes lingered on the blistered red-pink skin of his arm. Jon felt the world around him fall silent as the focus of his attention moved solely on his wounded limb, entering a clenching motion as a wave of pain flared all the way up to his shoulder.

This pain drowned out all the other possibilities in his mind.

Jon's facial expressions became uncharacteristically soft, as he muttered a series of possibilities.

"Healing".

Would you like to select the "Fragment Of Healing" as your System task reward?

Y/N

"Cure".

Would you like to select the "Fragment Of Cure" as your System Task reward?

Y/N

"Regrowth"

Would you like to select the "Fragment Of Regrowth" as your System Task reward?

Y/N

"Regeneration".

Would you like to select the "Fragment Of Regeneration" as your System task reward?

Y/N

These four possibilities were the only ones that Jon would currently consider.

He couldn't afford to just wander around the small realm with such a grievous wound. The pain aside, the threat of infection was just as possible here as it was on Earth. Back on Earth, hospitals and medicine would be able to treat such an injury, but here in the System Introduction, perhaps only an ability would be able to help Jon.

A healing ability, even just a self-healing ability would be a lifesaver if Jon continued to get injured. It would reduce the worries he had on minor wounds, and potentially reduce the threat of a mortal wound, to perhaps just a serious one.

Each of the four fragments that Jon had in mind synergized well with the Wood Mana Core in his possession. In Jon's mind, these were the fragments with the highest possibility of manifesting some sort of healing-related ability.

'Healing is self-explanatory. From the name it might be more of a generalized method of healing, perhaps even allowing for targets other than oneself to be affected. If this was a video game I probably would pick this on the spot and then just relegate myself to the role of a healer, telling everyone what to do and whatnot'.

'Cure seems more specialized, perhaps focusing on poisons or venom or some other dangerous substances. Less focused on healing the actual damage and more on removing foreign matter or debilitating effects. Regrowth seems a good choice. It has definitely has synergy with the Wood Mana Core, and it does fit with what I am trying to fix. Potentially, Regrowth might even be able to restore things that are lost, such as organs or limbs?'.

'Regeneration… this is perhaps the fragment with the greatest concept behind it. It is similar to Regrowth in context, but is perhaps more generalized, allowing it to synergize with a greater number of Mana Cores than the former. A Fragment Of Regeneration would possess synergy with both my Knowledge Mana Core and my Wood Mana Core'.

It did seem as though abilities were somewhat random, and Jon did want to test the possibility of two people manifesting the same ability, if they possessed the same Mana Core, and then integrated the same fragment.

For Jon, he needed a fragment that was both reliable and effective. Even if that came at the cost of utility and flexibility, the importance of self-sufficiency and self-reliance could not be understated by Jon.

There was no room for debate on this topic. This ability would perhaps become the greatest tool upon which Jon would survive the System Introduction.

"System, I would like to receive a Fragment Of Regeneration as my task reward". Jon spoke, ignoring the lingering possibilities in his mind.

Without a flash of light, or an immediate influx of pain, a strange, coloured gemstone appeared in the palm of Jon's hand. Shaped similar to a diamond, it possessed neither a brilliant lustre nor a radiant sheen like all the previous fragments that Jon had obtained, instead containing within it, a single droplet of radiant liquid within it.

Holding the Fragment Of Regeneration in two fingers, Jon lifted it up to the light, watching as the droplet shifted from reds and pinks to deep violets and purples. Every shade of every colour of the rainbow, only made Jon surer of his decision.

Jon found himself staring at this particular fragment for a little while longer than he felt necessary, and glanced towards Avahni, still unmoved from her initial position. Jon felt slightly guilty, seeing her figure thoughtlessly collapsed on the sand and dragged her towards a fallen tree branch, leaning her up against it.

Placing the Fragment Of Regeneration with the rest of his belongings, Jon accepted his other task reward, watching as another fragment appeared within the palm of his hand.

Fragment Of "Shadow" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Mana Core?

Y/N

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