The first thing that Aerilayna had told them about the Safe Zone, was that they would be able to see it without even having to get close. In fact, depending on the time of day, they would be able to hear it before even being able to see it.

She was not wrong.

The moment the six of them stepped through the tree line, Jon could not help but pause for several seconds, eyes widening in surprise, taking in the sight of what laid in front of him. The familiar sound of a horn tooting echoed out from several hundred metres away as what he thought was a-.

"Is that a train!?" Jon felt his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline, back straightening as he gazed at the steam locomotive-shaped spiritual construct several hundred metres away. Fire natured spiritual energy billowed off the construct as more and more people hopped off the train, dressed in an assortment of different types of clothing.

Men and women, from more than half-a-dozen different Races walked side by side from the makeshift train platform constructed from twisted tree roots and magically manifested wood planks. The familiar hustle-and-bustle of a train station platform resonated somewhere deep within Jon's soul, unconsciously leaning forward, Minerva-Sagacity Eyes widening at the sight of dozens of buildings behind it.

Recognisable human architecture sat nestled in between two houses of distinct alien construction. Although most had been constructed with bricks and wooden planks, he could feel spiritual energy emanating from at least thirty percent of all the buildings he could observe.

What Jon could only describe as concrete minimalist sat beside serene eastern architecture, blending in with the surrounding nature. Greco-Roman marble pillars held up pantheon-styled buildings which had been conveniently placed opposite a gothic cathedral-looking building, one than emanated a powerful night-natured spiritual energy.

Carts and stalls, of all different shapes and sizes littered the streets.

Some constructed from spiritual energy and others spiritual items either obtained from the System or created by other participants within the System Introduction.

"… Just wait until you see an actual society built around the usage and manipulation of spiritual energy. If I get the chance one day, I'll take you to visit the Myriad Lunar Palace…" Eis said in the back of his mind.

Aerilayna turned towards his stunned group, watching as varying expressions of shock, awe and wonder crossed each of their faces.

The blonde-haired lutin placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head back triumphantly, nodding as she gestured to the seven-kilometre expanse right in front of her.

"Welcome to Springtown!" She exclaimed, gesturing for the five of them to follow her as she strode forward, a not-so-subtle spring in her step. Jon, Wilheim and the others all swiftly followed behind her, watching as a handful of other groups stepped out from the tree line, some of them giving Aerilayna a small nod as they passed.

"Aerilayna! You found a couple more stragglers eh?!" A strange, bipedal lizardman waved towards the blonde-haired woman, who returned the wave with a slight nod, her thumb pointing at the five trailing several steps behind her.

"Vertimax! Yeah, I spent the night out in the forest and ended up coming across these guys! There was a… slight misunderstanding, but one that was swiftly resolved. I even got a universal fragment out of it!" Aerilayna grinned, watching as "Vertimax" and his several other lizardmen companions turned towards Jon and the others.

The species that Vertimax belonged to was one that Aerilayna had referred to as vermitons.

Despite their appearance, they were a warm-blooded species whose scales were made of a substance closer to calcium rather than keratin. Each of them could control the development of their scales, even before the System Introduction which granted them inherent defensive properties far exceeding any of the other species Aerilayna had encountered over the past six months.

Aerilayna and Vertimax muttered something in another language for a few seconds, before the former turned her back, glancing towards Jon for a moment.

Her gaze lingered on his form before she shook her head from side to side, giving Vertimax a wry smile. The blue-scaled vermiton gave Aerilayna a small nod before returning to his own companions, striding in the direction towards the steam locomotive-shaped spiritual construct.

Wilheim, the supposed language expert of the group raised an eyebrow, almost imperceptibly shaking his head from side to side.

"I've got no idea what she could have said to him," Wilheim muttered, sending Jon a small glance.

The brown-haired human did not appear phased, instead continuing to follow Aerilayna towards "Springtown." Although the name seemed kind of on the nose, it did not stop him from glancing towards a group of several humans, all wearing spiritual items and chatting amongst themselves in English, Spanish and what he thought was German.

Jon could not help but pause his stride, staring at the first group of humans he had seen in over six months. Although technically he had encountered one other human, memories relating to his conversations with Theodore were pushed down into the depths of his Sea Of Tehom.

Although these people were complete strangers, he could not help but turn his head as they passed by, unsure of what to say or how to act in front of these "humans."

"… new batch of fragments…"

"Hopefully something good."

"Potentially a new Dungeon?"

"Not a single Wonder over the past…"

"Hi! It's been so long since I've last seen-." Jon half-raised his hand towards them but did not see a single one of them turn their heads towards him, allowing the other humans to brush past him without even so much as a word. The three humans all appeared to be in their late-twenties and did not give Jon so much as a second glance, continuing to go about their general day.

The nineteen-year-old could not help but blink, lowering his hand in half-embarrassment, half-fluster.

Although Jon was young, he did not think that he would have been ignored in such an obvious manner. Feeling quite self-conscious all of a sudden, Jon lowered his head, feeling his cheeks flush pink.

Something that was not missed by any of his companions.

Nor Aerilayna.

"Oh! Aerilayna! You're back!" A voice shouted out in Nain behind him.

A familiar accent tinging his words.

Lifting his head, Jon noticed that one of the older men that had walked right past him strode right up to the blonde-haired lutin. The man gave her a small wave and a wink, ignoring the eye rolls of his companions beside him.

Aerilayna paused for a moment, glancing towards Jon before giving the man a half-smile, one that did not quite reach her eyes.

"Uh… David right!?" She replied in English.

The man in question, David, scratched the back of his head, giving her a smile before noticing the unfamiliar faces behind her. His eyes lingered on Avahni's face for a few seconds before whatever mental-resistance ability he possessed activated, snapping him out of his trance.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Are these guys… new around here, Aerilayna?" David asked, glancing towards Avahni again.

"Yes! The "five" of them are all people I met when I went out exploring. One of them is even a human!" Wilheim slapping his face at the over-the-top emphasis on "five" and "human."

Despite her words, the man, David, did not seem even remotely interested in Wilheim, Sariel or even Shamael. The others watched as the older human extended his hand towards Avahni, giving her a sunny smile before continuing to speak in Nain.

"Hi! What's your name?" Aerilayna could not help but roll her eyes at David's actions. Avahni on the other hand, just returned the smile, shaking his hand in one of the many different ways that Jon had taught her.

David, and several of his companions were surprised to see Avahni clap her own hand against his, furrowing her brows as she failed to produce the sound that Jon had taught her. One of the other men standing behind David chuckled, nudging him while restraining himself from laughing.

"Yo, who taught the alien how to dap?" His words caused the rest of the group to chuckle in response. One of the older men turned his head towards the group beside Aerilayna, before noticing Jon stand several feet behind them, raising an eyebrow at his unfamiliar face.

His youthful features contrasted quite heavily with his height, causing to man to furrow his brows.

"Shit, are you a kid?" The man asked, prompting Jon to point towards himself, turning his head from left to right. Seeing that no-one else was around him, he nodded, shrugging his shoulders in affirmation.

"Uh, are you talking to me?" Jon asked, prompting the man to nod in response.

"I'm nineteen? Does that count?" He continued, causing one of the other men to let out a small tsk, shaking his head from side-to-side.

"Damn. Nineteen?" The man said, shaking his head from side to side, "You would have what, just finished your first year at university then right?"

"I just finished high school actually. Turned nineteen a couple months ago." Jon replied, prompting one of the other men to whistle loudly, eyebrows shooting up towards his non-existent hairline.

"This System thing is wild man, I'm telling you…" Jon tilted his head to the side, not quite understanding the man's words. Another one, standing beside David walked up to Jon, patting him on the shoulder while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a fragment.

He grabbed Jon's hand and placed the fragment into it, patting him on the shoulder while doing so.

"Hey, if you ever need anything, just ask alright? Food. Water. Shelter. Fragments can be expensive, but if you're willing to fight there will always be a group willing to take you hunting," this man said, seeing Jon stare down at the fragment he placed in his hand.

Fragment Of "Swift" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into [Monstrous Intuition], [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] [Eyes Through The Looking Glass], [Thou Is But A Shadow Of Oneself] …

"You'll find that you're not the youngest within our Safe Zone. Although one of the rules that we have here is to look after some of the younger members of our respective Races. Oh, I'm Anthony by the way. What's yours?" Jon slowly lifted his head, seeing these older humans each give him a small smile, even the one that was trying to flirt with Avahni.

Their sudden concern with his wellbeing was… strange.

It did not feel forced. Or at least, he did not think their words were forced.

"I'm Jon," he replied, watching as the others glanced towards the corners of their vision, perhaps towards their status pages or task rewards. One of them even whistled again, nudging their friend before giving Jon an impressed nod.

"Six months outside of a Safe Zone… That's a fair effort."

One of the other men almost shook his head in disbelief.

"I cannot even imagine having manifested outside of Springtown. Although those first few days were pretty bad, after Amadeus and Maliq arrived within the Safe Zone things turned around pretty quickly. With Vritrium and Celadonis the two of them brought order to the Safe Zone."

"And after Delila showed up with Nestor, things started getting even better!"

The mentioning of the names, Vritrium, Celadonis, and Nestor caused Jon to raise an eyebrow, glancing towards Aerilayna who had mentioned their names previously. Although she had done so in passing, the blonde-haired woman did not fail to mention the three Memento Source Fragment wielding summoned companions that resided within Springtown.

Vritrium; Shadow Of Twilight Obscurity.

Celadonis; Sun-Swallowing Golden Creation.

Nestor; Strategos Of Eyes And Words.

The presence of these three Memento Source Item wielding summoned companions created a balance within the Springtown Safe Zone that none dared to oppose. Laws were created and rules imposed on its denizens to prevent others from mistreating or even outright killing those around them in pursuit of more and more fragments.

The Strategos Of Eyes And Words was extraordinarily helpful in that regard.

Although Aerilayna did not know what Nestor's exact abilities were, she did not that it had been manifested from a Fragment Of Command that had been integrated into an Eye Mana Core. The Memento Source Fragment that it wielded took the form of a building, one that Aerilayna had yet to show them.

Jon just nodded along with Anthony's words, half-thinking about returning the Fragment Of Swift that he had gifted him. A Fragment Of Swift had little to no value to his current self but could be used as a form of currency in the various shops and exchanges that had formed within Springtown.

He thought about giving Anthony a fragment as a thank you for gifting him this Fragment Of Swift but paused, turning his head towards the buildings and spiritual constructs scattered about in the distance. Anthony, David and the others turned their heads in the direction where Jon was staring, wondering what he was looking at.

"Hey Jon? Is everything okay? I'm not trying to be weird or anything but-."

He could detect a surge of spiritual energy in the distance.

A familiar surge of spiritual energy.

"Aerilayna! Is that you!?" a voice boomed from across the open expanse, drawing the eyes of several dozen humans, floresiensis, satanas and vermitons. Half turning his head towards the source of this voice, Jon raised an eyebrow seeing the half-familiar figure of another blonde-haired lutin, whose form was saturated with darkness natured spiritual energy.

The image of a hazed figure clad in shadowy darkness came to mine.

One wielding a weapon born from sword natured spiritual energy.

The figure brushed past Jon and Anthony, rushing towards Aerilayna. Although Jon had not been able to get a good look at the man, he seemed the fit the image of an "elf" that he had in his mind to a tee.

Long, straight bright blonde hair. Green eyes that seemed reminiscent of late spring, and even a lithe, almost wiry form with limbs slightly longer than the average human. This man, whose name he now knew was Mael sprinted towards Aerilayna, embracing her in his swift and powerful embrace before she had any time to react.

"M-Mael! Wh-what do you think your are-." Aerilayna found herself being interrupted, hearing the emotion in Mael's voice.

"I'm so sorry! If only I was a better fighter then. We… I thought… I thought that we lost you, Layna," Mael tightened the embrace he had around Aerilayna, causing the blonde-haired woman to turn bright red, seeing a certain green-haired lutin beside her grin, winking at her while backing away several steps.

The Centurion Of The Ice-Wind channelled a fraction of her wind natured spiritual energy into her Fragment Of Wind, increasing her physical capabilities enough to push Mael away from her, while simultaneously suppressing the heat that currently burning her cheeks.

Mael, seeing Aerilayna turn so red in the face could not help but appear slightly embarrassed too, seeing Avahni, Wilheim and several other denizens of Springtown stare at them, rolling their eyes before going about on their daily activities. His eyes continued to roam across Aerilayna's form, relying on his Fragment Of Sight to discern whether she had been afflicted with any lingering debuffs or afflictions.

Eventually, he let out a small sigh of relief, seeing her devoid of any malicious or foreign sources of spiritual energy.

His gaze turned towards Avahni and the others, giving the group a set a thankful nods, smiling at them all the while.

"I am thankful for you bringing Aerilayna back to Springtown," he said in Nain, hoping that Wilheim, Shamael and Sariel would be able to understand him, "My companions and I were about to head back out in search of Layna, as well as the man who kidnapped her."

Mael glanced towards Aerilayna, allowing his shoulders to droop several millimetres, as if a great burden placed on him had suddenly been released. He did not notice Aerilayna, in addition to Avahni, Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael deadpan towards a certain brown-haired human.

"Kidnap is a little bit of a strong word don't you think…" Jon muttered, brows twitching as Eis channelled ice natured spiritual energy into his Sea Of Knowledge. The surface of his mental construct forcibly froze causing him to wince in response to the sudden stimuli.

Jon did not make a single sound but did feel his fingers clench at the sudden burst of pain.

"Eis!? You're supposed to be on my side here?!" Jon communicated, using his Fragment Of Summon as a conduit. His head half-turned to the side, allowing him to talk to the ice devil spirit as if she was standing right in front of him.

Whether it was intuition or just plain luck, Mael could not help but lift his head up, furrowing his brows as he turned in Jon's direction. His eyes scanning the group of humans that stood several metres away before feeling his gaze linger on one human in particular.

There was something familiar about his facial features, so much that that he could not help but raise an eyebrow at him as he stepped forward towards the young-looking human.

His head half-turned towards Aerilayna, who expression slightly paled seeing Mael step closer and closer towards Jon. Wilheim begun channelling minute amounts of mountain natured spiritual energy into his Fragment Of Pillars, wondering what "Mael's" reaction to Jon would be.

He paused, standing about a foot away from him, extending his hand forward in a manner reminiscent of a human greeting.

"Are you also with that group?"

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