The conversation that Jon had with Schwarz Eis lingered in the forefront of his mind even as the winter demon spirit retreated back into his

The conversation that Jon had with Schwarz Eis lingered in the forefront of his mind even as the winter demon spirit retreated back into his Sea Of Knowledge. Although he tried his best to conceal the thoughts related to their discussion regarding Wonders and Wonder Fragments, Jon was sure that Schwarz Eis was still able to see them.

Though his manipulation of [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] was perhaps the best amongst his cohort, Jon did not think that it had progressed that much since his completion of the first System mandated task.

In order to drown out the thoughts related to Schwarz Eis, Jon used another strategy, filling his imaginary mental construct with thoughts and ideas related to the changes that he would experience upon his ascension to Knighthood.

He was still waiting for his Ice Mana Core and Spear Mana Core to regenerate all their spiritual energy, so opted to scale back down the length of the ruined tower, sitting close to the base relishing in the absence of direct sunlight. Thoughts of Knighthood and new fragments filled his Sea Of Knowledge, the sound of waters lapping against glaciers and icebergs softly echoed in the distance.

'With Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation, I am sure that I have fulfilled one of the requirements needed to become a Knight. No doubt that the integration of a full thirty-six fragments is another requirement as well. Is there one more than I am missing?'

'The only thing that I can thing I can think of is the transformation of my Mana Cores, or perhaps the integration of ambient spiritual energy into them?'

'Might that be the catalyst I need to become a Knight?'

Closing his eyes and focusing inwardly, Jon imagined the structures of his six Mana Cores.

Although his War Mana Core had experience the least amount of development in comparison to the others, each of them possessed a single root-like tendril which extended downwards over ten centimetres. The form that Jon based the transformation of his Mana Cores off was Ashvattha Rana but took inspiration in the swift grown of Ru Luan Di, whenever the little ginseng king severed one of his limbs.

Given that Jon wanted to shape his Mana Cores into trees, the lustrous, crystalline structures of said Mana Cores made them appear strange and otherworldly. Jon was set on transforming his Mana Cores into something that would allow the easy absorption and release of spiritual energy and had not changed his mind on the matter.

If anything, the alien appearance of his Mana Cores only seemed to entrance him further, occasionally losing his focus as he stared at the subtle differences between them.

The colours of his Mana Cores were somewhat similar to each other, with the exception of his verdant-green Wood Mana Core and whiteish-purple Weave Mana Core.

The Knowledge Mana Core possessed a pale silver tint to it, wisps of information churning behind its shifting appearance.

His Spear Mana Core was a metallic silver, containing within it the piercing essence of spears and truth.

His Ice Mana Core was a pale-blue, as if snow that reflected the bright azure sky.

And his War Mana Core was coloured a distinct red-silver. Although perhaps the most dissimilar in comparison to the other three, it still reminded Jon enough of the common colour pattern his four Mana Cores possessed.

'The roots are almost finished, which should help me with the process of absorbing ambient spiritual energy. After that I should look to form the basis of a stalk with the intention of forming a single leaf.'

That was Jon's next short-term goal after the formation of a complete root from his Mana Cores. Jon hoped that his mana regeneration would increase upon reaching Knighthood, allowing him to transform his Mana Cores with a greater speed and efficiency.

Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation helped quite a bit in that regard, increasing the gradual shaping of each Mana Core.

His title increased the effectiveness of all his mutations, increasing his mana regeneration even further. Given that three of his seven Mutation Trait abilities increased his mana regeneration, Jon's capacity to produce spiritual energy was started to push on the inherent limitations of Mortality.

These was in addition to the effects of [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood].

Although his War Mana Core and Weave Mana Core lacked the same specific method of mana regeneration, Jon was fine with waiting until Knighthood to rectify the problem. The integration of a Fragment Of Abundance or a Fragment Of Myriad might be able to solve his problem.

Reaching into his Red Archives, Jon pulled out another Blooming Gourd, sipping on the hollowed out fruit. His thoughts drawn to another factor that he did not yet fully comprehend.

'Not to mention the possibility of transforming an ability or two with an ability pathway…'

After Schwarz Eis explained the notion of fragment pathways to him, Jon was sceptical at first. His entire understanding of fragments were based on the idea that the abilities they manifested were near-impossible to foresee.

However, through the formation of an ability pathway, an amalgamated concept would be formed, one that could be replicated if one understood said concept enough.

The fact that it could completely change the effects of his abilities was tempting, although left him unsure of how drastic the changes would be. Schwarz Eis said that most fragment pathways that start at Knighthood are relatively simple to understand, but at Lordship and Barony, the concepts started to become significantly more abstract.

'Fragments Of Barrier, Ice, Castle and Shield produce the Fragment Of The White-Sylvan Fortress. I can kind of understand the logic behind it. But does that mean that a Fragment Of Fire and Fragment Of Water would produce a Fragment Of Steam?'

'Fragments Of Steam already exist though?'

Jon scratched his head, grumbling as he felt his temples hurt.

There existed so many different combinations and possibilities that it might as well have been infinite.

Schwarz Eis had given him two such ability pathway recommendation upon his ascension to Knighthood. Although she admitted that it both were quite common fragment pathways throughout the integrated universes, there potential for growth was quite astonishing, even beyond the Rank of Viscount.

"Fragments Of Destruction and Fragments Of Hunt are often considered relatively weak at Mortality. Although, despite this, possess concepts that are inherently compatible with others."

"A Fragment Of Destruction, when combined with a Fragment Of Slash will produce a Fragment Of Cleaving Destruction. Or when combined with a Fragment Of Fire will produce a Fragment Of The Red Destruction."

A Fragment Of Hunt, when combined with a Fragment Of Dance will produce a Fragment Of Waltzing Hunt. Or when combined with a Fragment Of Wind will produce a Fragment Of The Ventus Hunt."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Jon sat silently, reflecting on the nature of his Fragment Of Destruction and Fragment Of Hunt. His mind trying to piece together other fragments that would suit both his combat style, and the Ice Mana Core the pair had both been integrated into.

'Fragment Of The Winter Destruction… Fragment Of The Baleful Hunt.'

Break.

The moment that Jon recovered more than ninety percent of his ice natured spiritual energy and spear natured spiritual energy was the moment he left the comfort of the ruined tower. Once more checking the direction that this nascent Wonder was located in, Jon decided to travel in towards the burning-red lake in hopes of discovering a Wonder Fragment.

The completion of his other System mandated task was important as well, but Jon wanted to see whether or not he would be able to find any valuable fragments or Mana Cores in the vicinity of the Wonder.

Given its fiery appearance, Jon assumed that the concepts and spiritual energy that birthed the Wonder would have some sort of relation to "fire" and "heat". Although given that it could birth flora, assumed that it might be something closer to "growth" or even "incubation".

Although Jon wanted to sprint across the sands full force, the distance between himself and the Wonder was too far for him to run full throttle. The sound of his footfalls would attract the Sand Fang Worms that lurked beneath the dunes, and Jon knew that he did not possess enough spiritual energy to fight them off while also running with his physical enhancements active.

Plotting a course while using the various ruined structures across the Burning Desert Of Kel, Jon walked in a jagged zig-zag pattern, resting at each broken building or shattered edifice, restoring his spiritual energy whenever he could.

The Non-Newtonian structure of the golden sands meant that too much force applied to a single step would attract the nearby Sand Fang Worms towards his location.

Given the dramatic passive physical enhancements of his Seir-Glacial heart and Murmur-Glacial Marrow, Jon often found himself cursing his own stupidity as the ground shifted beneath him, forcing his reflexes to stop him from falling over.

The sound of his foot or hand colliding with the golden dunes causing Jon to groan, manifesting Luin while activating [Monstrous Intuition] and [Eyes Through The Looking Glass].

Despite the pain that it caused him; Jon had taken off his shoes and placed them within his Red Archives. The heat generated from the Burning Desert Of Kel caused his feet to turn red but was countered through the combined effects of his Fragment Of Prana and Fragment Of Regeneration.

The sensory enhancements born from [Monstrous Intuition] increased the effectiveness of Jon's sense of touch at the cost of his sense of smell and taste. The faint movements of the Sand Fang Worms beneath him could be perceived much more clearly without his runners hindering them.

At the faintest ripples of movement beneath him, Jon thrust Luin downwards, as if trying to drive the Thulian Spellspear into the ground.

The tip of his pink-purple spear pierced through the open maw of a Sand Fang Worm burst through the golden sands, killing the creature in an instant. Eyes twitching at the approaching presence of another worm, Jon swung Luin with a flourish, flicking the creature impaled on it several metres away.

Eyeing the movements of a particularly large sand worm on the slope beside him, Jon slashed out with Luin, muttering the incantation contained within the summoned weapon.

"Bloom wonderous flowers; thulian rain shall pierce through the azure firmament. Wilt phantasmal petals; orchid hopes shall thrust through the false dream!".

Jon cut a wide horizontal arc with the spear, manifesting several thulian-coloured lances of spiritual energy. Watching as each of the lances of spear natured spiritual energy launched themselves forward, Jon suppressed the urge to grin, hearing the sound of a muffled screech the moment his Spell crashed into the opposing dune.

Given how acute his senses were, Jon continued to walk forward towards the next ruined edifice. Despite how uncomfortable the heat from the sands was, it was not enough to deal actual damage given how swift his Fragment Of Regeneration could restore the burns.

Although… it did give Jon an interesting idea.

Jon had been wondering what to spend his remaining task rewards on, given that he had just three slots remaining in his Weave Mana Core.

Jon possessed a wide assortment of different abilities, ranging from physical shields to intangible spear projectiles to various techniques that he had yet to master. He possessed the ability to create contracts and manifest dimensional-subspaces and even produce incarnations of himself capable of protecting him from debilitating effects.

Knowing that his Weave Mana Core would produce abilities with a "freeform" aspect to them, Jon had thought carefully about what type of fragments he would want to integrate into his final slots.

Jon smiled, cradling a rectangular-shaped gemstone in his hand.

'I think I have the answer.'

Although perhaps relatively simple, Jon thought that the concept contained within this fragment was quite powerful, or heavy depending on how one looked at it. The integration of a Fragment Of Space or a Fragment Of Teleportation might have been better but considered forming an ability pathway using this particular fragment in the future.

Although similar to the [Red Archives Of Mars Quirinus], Jon wanted something…

More versatile, in a sense.

It went against Jon's idea for self-sufficiency but did not seem to disagree with him. The hope that Avahni, Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael would all be able to make use of this ability filled him with a sense of belonging rather than just self-interest.

Glancing down at the Fragment Of Door in his hands, Jon integrated it without hesitation, watching as the effect description appeared shortly afterwards.

[Fragment Of Door] [Violet Doors Of Janus Quirinus] (Weave, Door, Spell, Ability, Technique, Movement, Construct)

Effect (Mortal): Chant, while imbuing the fingertips with the gentle creak of a dimensional doorway. Construct a pseudo-spiritual door which can remain active over extended periods of time. The [Violet Doors Of Janus Quirinus] connects the current location of the caster with a location visible to them.

Weave natured spiritual energy is expended to transport items and living beings through the [Violet Doors Of Janus Quirinus] and the creation of another Violet Door will cause preexisting instances of the construct to collapse in on themselves.

The distance that the Spell stretches over is determined through the amount of spiritual energy poured into it.

Jon grinned, reading the effect description.

'It's all coming together.'

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.