"Share," he said, causing Avahni's eyes to widen, and for Wilheim's fingers instinctively twitch. The eight fragments sitting idly within his sandwich container gleaming with endless possibilities.

Jon had given this matter quite a bit of thought. While his relationship with both Avahni and Wilheim was in the beginning a matter of circumstance, Jon had to admit, that the was growing quite fond of the lutin and floresiensis.

He suspected that he might have been pushing the impressions of his friends back on Earth onto the pair but found their personalities distinctly different from that of Summer and Trevor.

Wilheim was quite reserved, but Jon could see that there was an eagerness to prove himself contained within his actions. He often contributed the most amount of firewood while foraging and always spending the longest time of the three of them exploring the surrounding terrains.

While most of his clothes were torn, with patches of blood splattered across the white dress shirt he arrived in the small realm with, it was clear as day that the material it was crafted from was quite valuable. Jon often wondered whether nor not Wilheim was the scion of a wealthy family, or if his Race possessed an aristocracy.

While Jon found Wilheim regularly staring at Avahni with an expression of longing on his face, the lutin merely smiled back at the short, hazelnut skinned humanoid, causing his cheeks to flush purple and his eyes to avert themselves elsewhere.

It was obvious what the man was thinking when staring at this beautiful woman.

'Avahni on the other hand…' Jon expressionlessly thought to himself.

Avahni, or Avahni Rudras as Jon had discovered, was a strange combination of childlike wonder and the mischievous curiosity of a cat. The lutin was always chatting with someone or something, regardless of whether it was Wilheim or Jon, or one of the two summons that her abilities manifested. A perpetual smile always pulling at the corners of her lips, one that made Jon question how such a person could always remain so happy and cheerful.

Avahni was an extraordinarily bright and sunny person. Of that much, Jon was sure.

While Jon saw the world for what it truly was, a bleak greyish world of desires and violence, Avahni would gaze out onto creation and see nothing but the vast colours of the rainbow, shining as if it were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

It put Jon slightly off, if he was being completely honest. It was part of the reason why he enjoyed being with Wilheim and Roland, if not for Avahni's overwhelmingly positive charisma. Smiling and laughing while enjoying a meal around a campfire, the experience brought up memories from Jon's childhood, unconsciously bringing a smile to his face.

And it was the main reason as to why he was willing to give the fragments he had saved up to the pair of aliens.

Wilheim possessed only a total of seven abilities spread across his Castle Mana Core and Mountain Mana Core. While he had yet to obtain a Third Mana Core like his other two companions, having five empty slots where a fragment could be integrated, was Jon willingly let Wilheim fight with one eye closed, or one hand tied behind his back.

Avahni was even worse, with a total of nine abilities and another nine empty slots. Granted there were conditions which required the manifestation of her abilities, but that was even more reason for Jon to give her another fragment.

Perhaps she would manifest a Spell-related ability which could give her more variation in her move set. A defensive oriented ability would increase her survivability during a fight, and some sort of movement related ability would allow her to run away if she encountered an opponent too dangerous to fight on her own.

Jon realized that all this was his paranoia talking, but it did not necessarily make it any less true.

Pointing to himself, Jon gestured towards the three imaginary Mana Cores within his chest.

"I… strong. I… fight," Jon said, feeling his cheeks flush red. Halfway through his words, Jon swiftly realized that his rudimentary grasp of Nain made him sound more and more like a savage barbarian instead of the heroic image he wanted to portray.

"Avahni… kind. Wilheim… smart. More… fragments… more… strong," Jon spoke, voicing his intentions. Pushing the container of fragments closer towards the pair of aliens.

He watched as Avahni and Wilheim both shared a look gesturing towards each other with their hands and eyebrows. Jon was able to understand the intentions behind their movements even without [Monstrous Intuition], but did not let them continue, picking up a random bunch of fragments in each hand before pushing them towards his alien companions.

The lutin and floresiensis could only swiftly move to catch the fragments that Jon had thrust towards them, Wilheim bending over to pick up what Jon knew was the Fragment Of Size.

Seeing that the two had accepted his gift, albeit somewhat unwillingly, Jon placed his hands on his hips and smiled, nodding his head several times as if to emphasize his point. His mind thinking back to some of the more obscure words that Avahni had taught him.

"Jon… alone. Jon… weak. Clan… together… Clan… strong," Jon spoke, almost grinning from ear to ear.

It was almost painful trying to explain himself in Nain, but Jon felt that his reasoning was simple enough for both Wilheim and Avahni to understand. He almost missed the flash of awe cross Avahni's face, and the expression of understanding on Wilheim's.

Jon did not stay within the camp for much longer, instead retrieving his spear and walking back into the forest. He had found his appetite had increased ever since integrating the Fragment Of Heart and obtaining his Seir-Glacial Heart.

He hoped to find an interesting fragment or two, in addition to his dinner for the evening.

Break

Wilheim found himself looking down at the four fragments in his hands. The familiar image of an integration notice appearing before him. Stacked on top of each other, the floresiensis found himself ignoring the notifications, but still taking note of what fragments Jon had given him.

Fragment Of Size.

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Fragment Of Dirt.

Fragment Of White.

Fragment Of Brumal.

While Wilheim found himself unsure of what type of ability a Fragment Of White would manifest, the remaining three possessed an unusual level of compatibility with his current abilities.

His eyes lingered on the Fragment Of Size, swiftly placing the fragment within his pocket, deciding to keep it for a later date. While Wilheim found himself unable to explain it, he felt as though the Fragment Of Size didn't quite fit either his Castle Mana Core or his Mountain Mana Core.

Still, his desire to integrate the fragment, overtook whatever innate sense of compatibility he thought he had with the fragment.

He had been shocked when Jon revealed the nine fragments in his little container. Despite the fact that Jon had obtained seven fragments after defeating the hound-faced bear, he had managed to do so while only revealing two of his abilities. Wilheim was certain that Jon had managed to integrate at least as many fragments as he had, and yet he had also managed to store up almost a dozen additional fragments in reserve!

His understanding of Jon's culture and society was elementary at best, but from the fabrics of his clothing and the level of intricacy behind their designs, Wilheim estimated that Jon's culture was roughly at the beginning of the information age.

Civilization at this point would have already created weapons of mass destruction, or machines capable of performing minor jobs instead of people. Yet, from Wilheim's observations of Jon and his movements, his society still valued individual martial strength and combat prowess. He also had the impression that Jon was still quite young for his Race, although he had no evidence to back this theory up.

Wilheim had experienced seventy-two cycles on Concordia, and had experienced things that the average floresiensis could only dream of. He had seen brothers betray brothers to acquire wealth and power, and husbands throw away wives and mistresses to obtain a more beautiful consort.

Wilheim was willing to admit, that his culture was quite backward in that regard. Despite the numerous technological advances that had occurred over the past two hundred years, the floresiensis did not treat the women in their society with a respect deserving of their station.

Women from noble families had it better, but a cage was still a cage regardless of how many rooms it had.

The hazel-skinned floresiensis glanced down at the fragments in his hands, knowing that none of his relatives would dare willingly give away such potential for absolutely nothing in return. The simplistic nature of Jon's thoughts was completely rational, as while they were together, the overall strength of the group increased the likelihood of their survival.

But it did not sit quite right within Wilheim.

Not one bit.

He wasn't sure if that was him disagreeing with Jon's choice or knowing that he wouldn't have chosen the same route if he was in Jon's position.

Break

Avahni was over the moon at this moment.

It truly felt as though the three of them, four including Roland, had become a group of friends!

Avahni had known about the container of fragments within Jon's duffel bag, knowing that the human had the habit of hoarding his wealth. While Avahni initially thought that Jon kept some of these fragments in reserve, feeling as though they didn't quite fit his personality, the number swiftly increased to the point where Jon stored up more fragments than she had abilities.

While she did not want to admit it, Avahni wanted to ask Jon if she could have a fragment or two. They were all just sitting there collecting dust, just begging for her to integrate them into her Mana Cores.

'We're friends though, right? Friends don't steal from each other! I don't want to make it awkward or tense by asking for them either," Avahni thought to herself.

When Jon revealed them to her and Wilheim, her heart almost skipped a beat, sharing a glance with Wilheim, gesturing for him to take the fragments. She tried wiggling her eyebrows at him, but the short, hazelnut skinned man still seemed somewhat apprehensive at the gift.

If Wilheim took his fragments, then she wouldn't feel guilty at all for taking hers!

Holding a Fragment Of Breath in her hand, Avahni felt the corners of her lips raise upwards, before accepting the integration notice in front of her.

[Fragment Of Breath] [Drowning Amidst The Sea Of Life] (Water, Breath, Spell, Buff)

Effect (Mortal): Chant, then bless a target with the benevolent grace of the azure ocean. This Spell will grant an instance of [Waters Blessing] and [Azure Grace] to a willing target. These effects cannot be refined.

[Waters Blessing]: Temporarily grant the target the ability to breathe underwater. Temporarily increase resistances towards all water-related damages, afflictions and debuffs.

[Azure Grace]: Temporarily increase mana regeneration. Temporarily increases physical agility and stamina.

It was Avahni's first Spell, one that ultimately ended up being a supportive one.

She felt it was somewhat disappointing that it did not end up being another summoning ability but knew that the utility behind the Spell was more than enough to make up for it. [Drowning Amidst The Sea Of Life], allowed herself, Jon, Wilheim, or any of her summons to temporarily gain the ability to breathe underwater with the effects of [Waters Blessing].

And for summons or individuals that could already breathe underwater, they could instead benefit from the effects of [Azure Grace].

The flexibility of [Drowning Amidst The Sea Of Life] caused Avahni to instinctively nod her head before walking over towards the flowing stream beside their camp, submerging her entire figure within the crystal-clear waters.

The sounds of wind caressing the leaves and trees immediately vanished, leaving nothing but the faint sounds of sand being stirred up beneath her feet.

Opening her mouth, Avahni gritted her teeth, ignoring the feeling of water filling her throat and lungs.

"Thou art the daughter of life, nurturing mortality within thou bosom. Thou art the child of creation, cradling impermanence without thou soul. Thou art the descendant of mine mother, sister to the sea of life".

Avahni immediately felt the uncomfortable sensation of water in her nostrils and throat vanish, any trace of irritation or pain disappearing the moment she felt herself imbued with [Waters Blessing]. She could feel the spiritual energy from her Spell shift water into air, as if she had manifested an imaginary gill-like organ within herself.

Feeling a strange, new sense of freedom throughout her form, Avahni released an excited squeal, manifesting itself as a torrent of rising bubbles. Counting the passing seconds in her mind, Avahni spent more than fifteen minutes underwater without needing to surface for a breath, swimming up and down the stretch of the river their camp was set up around.

Eventually, without an enhancement born from a new ability, the lutin found herself somewhat tired out, not used to overworking the muscles in her shoulders and hips. Even with the slight enhancement to some of her physical characteristics from the integration of her Mana Cores, it still wasn't quite enough to match that of Jon's freakish amounts of stamina and endurance.

Avahni paused for a moment, allowing herself to be dragged backwards by the flow of the river, furrowing her brows as she remembered something. Settling down at the bottom of the river, Avahni felt a strange sensation settle within her chest.

'Hm? Why do I feel kind of… wrong right now? I feel as though, I am in the wrong, in a sense,' Avahni didn't quite feel herself in this moment. It was as if something at her very core, the very source of her being didn't feel quite right.

It was similar to the sensation of yearning she felt from some fragments, yet a fundamentally different emotion all together. Clutching at her chest, Avahni wondered if she was forgetting something.

The last thing she remembered before entering the water was reading the effect description of her newest ability. The one that she had obtained from integrating her Fragment Of Breath into her Water Mana Core.

The fragment that she had obtained from… Jon.

The lutin's breath hitched, as a wave of remembrance washed over her.

[Drowning Amidst The Sea Of Life].

This was the second ability that Jon had given her.

This was an ability that could have belonged to Jon.

Yet he had given it to her, without asking for anything in return.

'This… isn't what friends do,' the lutin thought to herself.

Lifting her head upwards towards the surface, Avahni felt her chest tighten, unconsciously reaching her hand out towards the world with Jon and Wilheim.

Biting her lip, Avahni narrowed her eyes, knowing what she had to do.

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