Holding up the reddish-pink coloured gemstone in two fingers, Jon glanced at the System integration notice before dismissing the page and throwing the fragment into his pocket. While the Fragment Of Flesh almost guaranteed the manifestation of an ability with the Mutation Trait, with the current Mana Cores that Jon had integrated, he was not confident that the outcome would be something he would be pleased with.

After integrating the Fragment Of Incarnation and acquiring the ability [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever], Jon had decided to test its effectiveness, wandering further east into the forest while trying to find a creature capable of inflicting debuffs or afflictions.

He had found a couple of mutated beasts along the way, none with fragments that were particularly powerful or numerous. The most interesting thing that he had found was a Shield Mana Core, one that had been integrated into a strange, armoured turkey-like creature.

Its feathers were hardened and surprisingly durable, although their weight and shape remained unchanged. Jon wanted to keep a few of them but ended up being satisfied with claiming the Fragment Of Stone and Fragment Of Weight that the armoured turkey once possessed.

Taking a deep breath, Jon looked around towards the "eastern" direction of the small realm, increasing the rotation of his silverish-grey Mana Core and flowing the knowledge natured spiritual its released into his [Monstrous Intuition] and [Eyes Through The Looking Glass].

His first ever ability increased the effectiveness of his five senses, allowing his sense of smell and hearing to grow to beyond the limits of an ordinary human being. His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes on the other hand, only increased his visual acuity and retina quality, giving Jon a sense of sight comparable to birds of prey.

The human glanced around, spear in hand as his eyes observed his available surroundings. Jon had not come this far east before, using his [Dance Of The Cold Star] and [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] to increase his physical speed and agility, allowing him to cross vast distances while maintaining an extraordinary pace.

Jon had taken note that the elevation of his surroundings had increased, perhaps a few metres higher from where Avahni and Wilheim had set up their campsite.

Dismissing Assail, Jon continued running in an eastward direction. The human did not so much as break a single sweat as his inhuman agility carried him across vast stretches of woodland thickets and overgrown alien flora.

His only companion, the bodhi tree within his mind.

"You should have summoned your Archetype Green before we left camp," Rana chided, rustling her leaves and branches within Jon's mind.

"I thought that it would be better to summon it after being inflicted with a debuff or affliction," Jon responded, although without the movements of his lips or tongue. Jon had communicated with Rana through the manipulation of his Sea Of Knowledge, summoning various thoughts and ideas to the surface manifesting them as if sea foam.

The human had gotten quite a bit of practice. Even with his preternatural physical capabilities, talking while running at speeds exceeding fifty kilometres per hour was quite difficult. Turning to avoid spiderwebs and other mutated flora, while simultaneously maintaining his speed was quite difficult, so Rana suggested another method of communicating with her.

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

Effect (Mortal): Dramatically increases resistance towards mental-related damages, afflictions, and debuffs. Moderately increases the effectiveness of memory retention and memory recall. Slightly increases the effectiveness of Spells possessing the Knowledge Trait.

Accumulated knowledge, memories, information and experiences all pool within the depths of the subconscious mind, forming the foundations of a Sea Of Knowledge.

Through his Fragment Of Mind, Jon was able to control the information that flowed into his mind. Although reversing the process was impossible with his current capabilities, Jon was able summon associated thoughts and memories from within his Sea Of Knowledge, releasing them into his conscious and subconscious minds.

Rana was always able to speak to him, even at a distance due to his connection to her through the Fragment Of Tree. However, Jon did not have sufficient mastery over [Ashvattha Rana; Earthen Treasury Womb] to do the same. As such, he would have to rely on his Sea Of Knowledge to work as an intermediary for the time being.

"Having one or two continuously active abilities might be more useful than you think Jon. Your Archetype Green will alert you to the debuffs or afflictions it will absorb but will prevent you from feelings its effects. Unless you are fighting a Knight, it should continue to work even as you sleep," the bodhi tree asserted.

Taking a deep breath, Jon ignored Rana's words, continuing his pace through the forest, leaping over enormous fallen trees or ditches wide enough to fit a small car in. The eighteen-year-old increased the amount of spiritual energy that flowed into both his [Rhapsody Of The Cold Star] and his Spell [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits].

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Jon had decided on these two abilities over his Seir-Glacial Heart and Murmur-Glacial Marrow to increase his mastery over the two abilities. While the level of growth was negligible at best, there was another reason why he did not choose to overload either his heart or marrow.

The expenditure of his ice natured spiritual energy would be far greater than if he divided the expenditure between two Mana Cores. The human thought it was quite the intelligent decision, before remembering what Rana mentioned earlier about ignoring the Incarnation Mana Core.

His face scrunched up his annoyance, Jon grumbling a few words under his breath about "know-it-all" trees.

Jon did see where Rana was coming from regarding the feasibility of an Incarnation Mana Core. Abilities manifested from such a Mana Core would often be quite like each other, regardless of the fragment that was integrated into them.

Taking a deep breath, Jon noticed the faintest flickers of a shadow in the corner of his eye. The human immediately coming to a complete stop, manifesting Assail; Spear Of Verdant Cedar in his hand. The gleaming metallic-wood substance that Assail was shaped from was obscured behind Jon's shadow, preventing anyone from catching the light that it reflected.

Moving behind a tree large enough to prevent his figure from being seen, Jon peered out from behind it, overloading his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes while peering towards the distant tree line.

Jon furrowed his brows not noticing any movements other than the gentle fluttering of leaves in the wind. There was the sound of one particularly loud insect, something Jon thought was indicative of a cicada coming from some distant part of the forest.

The human released a shallow breath, tightening his grip on Assail before noticing more movement in the corner of his vision.

The shadows of two humanoid individuals emerged out from behind a patch of shrubbery. Flashes of green and blue flickered in Jon's vision, before noticing the two humanoids vanish behind a particularly thin tree, reappearing over a dozen feet in the complete opposite direction.

Raising an eyebrow, Jon seemed quite surprised to see someone with a spatial displacement ability. One that could bring other people along with them for the ride.

"Short-distance teleportation is not that uncommon as once ascends the Ranks. Although, I do admit, seeing a Mortal with a teleportation ability is quite unusual. I guess this isn't the System Introduction for nothing," Rana said, her voice trailing off towards the end.

"Is it common for such abilities to bring multiple people along with them as well?" Jon asked, watching as the pair continued to teleport further and further away from him.

"For short-distance teleportation it is. Spells usually allow for the caster to bring others that are in physical contact with them and possess a far greater range in comparison to similar abilities. For general Abilities on the other hand, those without a chant, that is, are usually quite rare," Rana answered, causing Jon to nod his head before shrugging his shoulders, dismissing Assail from his hands.

Considering that those two were not looking to attack him, Jon saw no reason to run after them, hoping to have a discussion with him. He was looking to move away from this section of the small realm, but not getting himself lost in the process.

Jon turned around, muttering the chant for [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits], but stopped, seeing another group of humanoids sprint in the direction that he saw the first two teleport towards. All three humanoids were short and ashen-skinned, possessing crude weaponry in their hands. The speed at which each of them ran suggested that all of them possessed at least a single physical enhancement type ability.

His [Monstrous Intuition] detecting the faintest scent of blood in the air.

It was not quite the same as human blood but still possessed the same metallic scent to it.

Jon narrowed his eyes, about to mutter the chant for his [Eyes Through The Looking Glass].

"Wait Jon, look there," Rana's words caused him to pause halfway through the chant, before retreating behind the tree, not daring to breathe as he felt "its" presence through the earth beneath him.

An enormous form enveloped in thick layers of fatty flesh and muscle tissue. Skin like ash, dark and foul, with an obvious stench that even Jon could detect from dozens of metres away. Boils and pustules covered the entirety of its physical form, green and yellow pus dripping from open wounds and onto the earth beneath itself.

Leaves, flowers and trees melted upon contact with this substance, vanishing in buffs of green-black smoke.

It possessed two arms and two legs; each covered in layers of fatty tissue and horrid smelling pustules. Jon caught a glimpse of crooked teeth and black coloured drool dripping from its lips, malicious red eyes surveying the area around itself with an awareness that exceeded an ordinary mutated beast.

It turned its head, causing Jon to instinctively move back behind the tree. Although every fibre of his being screamed at him to manifest Assail, Rana's voice cut through the fight-or-flight response, urging him to remain motionless.

With each step, the enormous creature that moved through the forest shook the leaves, twigs and shrubbery all around him. The entirety of its mass and weight behind each of its footsteps, each capable of shaking the very earth beneath Jon's feet.

Jon did not feel his [Monstrous Intuition] alert him to the danger. The only other thing that could prevent his Fragment Of Instinct from detecting the presence of danger around him was something akin to Avahni's [Silence Is The Verdant Flowers Daydream], born from a Fragment Of Concealment.

"No Jon… This creature is…" he heard Rana speak but noticed that the footsteps of the massive creature had come to a halt, muttering a few faint guttural syllables. Jon felt an enormous surge of spiritual energy emanate from the creature, rippling outwards in the direction where the first two individuals teleported off to.

Jon heard groans reminiscent of laughter echo throughout the forest, before the same rhythmic earth-shaking steps rippled the earth beneath his feet. Jon had unconsciously suppressed the rotation of all four of his Mana Cores, something that he just realized was a fear response born from his [Monstrous Intuition].

Not daring to glance out from behind that tree, Jon instead slumped against it, opening his mouth and drawing a slow, short breath.

The eighteen-year-old gulped, feeling that his Seir-Glacial Heart was pounding within his chest. His abnormally slow heart rate was now beating at speeds exceeding that of an ordinary human heart.

A genuine fear response. Jon felt the desire to immediately run away in the opposite direction after just seeing this creature. If he were to face it, or even fight it, could he ever hope to win against such a monstrosity?

"Rana… just what the hell was that thing that just walked past?" Jon questioned, speaking in between breaths.

There was an uncomfortable silence within Jon's mind as Ashvattha Rana remained silent. The bodhi tree appeared somewhat distressed glimpsing at that enormous creatures' form.

"That Jon… was a Knight," she replied.

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