With his newfound understanding of how to counter dangerous debuffs and afflictions, Jon felt the need to reserve some of the empty slots in his Mana Cores for fragments capable of self-cleansing, refining and even transferring debuffs or afflictions away from himself.

Jon did somewhat regret using his Baron Ranked reward on a Spear Mana Core for a few moments but knew that a Spear Mana Core would serve him just as well as an Incarnation Mana Core, or even an Avatar Mana Core could.

The Spear Mana Core possessed an inherently offensive quality to it. While the conceptual weight of spears was nothing in comparison to the conceptual weight of wood, or even knowledge, the abilities manifested from it would make Jon an even more dangerous opponent to fight against.

Considering how much emphasis Rana placed on these three methods of removing foreign spiritual energy, Jon also felt the need to rectify his apparent weakness as swiftly as possible. While part of him did think that Rana was rushing him to choose, Jon understood that if it was not for his exceedingly high mastery of [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge], the debuffs that Han Of The Red Wind inflicted on him perhaps might have been the difference between victory and defeat.

As such, Jon used one of his three remaining opportunities to obtain a fragment of his choice. The young man cradling a pitch-black coloured fragment in his hand, so dark that he could see his own reflection on its surface.

"To be honest, I thought you would have chosen the Fragment Of Refinement, or even the Fragment Of Suffering over the Fragment Of Incarnation," Rana admitted, watching as Jon held up said fragment to the sky, seeing no traces of light pass through it.

Shaking his head, Jon gazed towards the Fragment Of Incarnation. The cube-shaped gemstone was somewhat curved around its edges, giving it's a soft, almost gel-like quality to it. If Jon had seen this back on Earth, he would have thought that it was just plain old obsidian, carved into the shape of an ordinary die.

"The Incarnation Mana Core appealed to me the most, even more so than the Spear Mana Core. If I can complete another task with a similar evaluation to the first mandatory task, I think I will choose the Incarnation Mana Core", Jon stated, opening the System integration notification with his free hand.

"Incarnation Mana Cores are unbelievably rare. Conceptually, they do not exist within nature. The Fragment Of Incarnation, in addition to Incarnation Mana Cores were a new concept introduced with the integration of the 20th universe. While every universe does introduce a handful of new concepts and fragments, not all of them are considered powerful or granted the right to become a universal fragment," the bodhi tree gestured towards the Fragment Of Incarnation in Jon's hand, reminding him that with this, he had obtained all six universal fragments.

The human nodded, patting one of Rana's exposed tree roots. The bodhi tree had given Jon an untold amount of valuable knowledge and information regarding the nature of certain fragments and abilities that every individual ought to possess.

Jon did wonder if there was anything he could do for Rana, but the bodhi tree said that he would have to wait until he became a Knight before he could do anything to help her.

Palming the Fragment Of Incarnation in one hand, Jon took a deep breath before focusing his attention on the System notification.

Fragment Of "Incarnation" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Wood Mana Core, Ice Mana Core, or Spear Mana Core?

Y/N

Selecting the Wood Mana Core, Jon watched as the System prompt vanished, being replaced by the familiar sight of an effect description screen. The whole process did not even take thirty seconds to be completed.

[Fragment Of Incarnation] [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever] (Wood, Incarnation, Ability, Technique, Spell, Construct, Buff)

Effect (Mortal): Chant, then sacrifice half of your available lifeforce to manifest an Archetype Green. The Archetype Green is a pseudo-independent spiritual construct manifested from an amalgamation of lifeforce, certain personality traits and wood natured spiritual energy.

Wood natured spiritual energy is expended to transfer debuffs and afflictions from the caster to the Archetype Green. Damaging debuffs and afflictions will reduce the stored lifeforce within the Archetype Green but will not resolve their effects nor reduce possibility of being afflicted. Each individual instance of debuff or affliction transferred to the Archetype Green will generate an instance of [One With Green] with no maximum threshold.

The Archetype Green will continue to absorb debuffs and afflictions until all available lifeforce has been depleted. The Archetype Green is incapable of being cleansed or refined, nor can another be manifested before the current Archetype Green has been annihilated.

[One With Green]: Increases natural recovery rate and stamina regeneration.

Jon blinked, reading the effect description three times over, ensuring that he did not miss anything. The length of [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever] was perhaps the longest ability description that Jon had ever seen before.

The abilities and limitation of his Archetype Green were quite clearly stated, not giving Jon any sense of flexibility regarding his newest ability. The first thing that he noticed, was of course the first line in the effect description.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I must sacrifice half of my current lifeforce to manifest the Archetype Green?! What the hell Rana?!" Jon exclaimed, looking towards the bodhi tree for an answer. The enormous summoned lifeforce shrugged her branches and leaves, or at least, gave Jon the impression that she was doing so.

"You are reading into things too much Jon. Manifesting the Archetype Green while in combat might be difficult, or painful at least, read the description again, and remind me how long the duration of the ability is again?" the bodhi tree asked. Her tone indicating that she already knew the answer to her question.

Narrowing his eyes, Jon examined [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever] once more, searching for the limitations and effect durations of his Archetype Green. The human spent several minutes reading the description over and over again, before shaking his head while rubbing his chin.

"Huh. So, once I manifest the Archetype Green it will remain active until all the lifeforce contained within it is depleted? Is there some sort of minute drain on wood natured spiritual energy so long as the Archetype Green is manifested?" Jon could not help but ask.

"Does it say that it requires such a thing?" Rana replied to Jon's question with another question. The human shook his head in response, watching as the enormous bodhi tree fluttered her branches and leaves, as if trying to smile at her summoner.

"That is the greatest strength of the Fragment Of Incarnation. Unlike cleansing or refining debuffs and afflictions, this method of "transferring" them removes the need for constant casting during combat or in dangerous situations. It does have its drawbacks however."

Jon nodded.

"The fact that it will continuously drain my wood natured spiritual energy, right?", he answered.

"Yes. Although it varies from fragment to fragment and Mana Core to Mana Core, methods of transferring debuffs are often the greatest expenditure of spiritual energy. While in combat, individuals will often become exposed to numerous different kinds of debuffs and afflictions. Most inflicted, but some environmental."

"Without a method of cancelling the Archetype Green, or a sufficient level of mastery, it will continue to absorb debuffs and afflictions until either it is annihilated, or until your spiritual energy runs out."

Jon scrunched up his face in distaste, looking down towards the effect description. His desire to integrate the Incarnation Mana Core had subsided significantly after obtaining [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever].

Although this ability single-handedly prevented Jon from feeling the effects of debuffs and afflictions so long as his Archetype Green remained active, losing control over part of his wood natured spiritual energy was a quite a huge downside.

His Wood Mana Core was tied to [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] his singular source of healing, and [Behold Thy Luminous Spear, Clad In Green Radiance], his greatest source of offensive might. If Jon was unable to muster any wood natured spiritual energy, he would be incapable of manifesting Assail or regenerating from wounds sustained during combat.

Jon was able to live with being unable to cast both [Wrath Of Green, Piercing Wood Eruption] and [Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier]. While both allowing Jon a method of striking at range, and protecting himself and allies from a distance, neither ability forced Jon to dramatically change his combat style.

Hearing a sigh echo throughout the riverbank, Jon lifted his head, staring at Rana. The bodhi tree shook her leaves from side to side, indicating that there was something wrong with Jon's preconceptions of the ability.

"While this problem would eventually resolve itself over time, I do not dare to reveal to you the differences between a Mortal and a Knight. Instead, allow me to share with you a possible alternative solution to your conundrum Jon," the bodhi tree stated.

"If you were to integrate an Incarnation Mana Core, and then a Fragment Of Ice, or even a Fragment Of Knowledge into it, the abilities manifested would be similar in nature to [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever], correct?" Rana queried.

Jon nodded once again in response to her questions.

"If your Archetype Green and theoretical Archetype Knowledge were both manifested at the same time, what do you think would happen to that spiritual energy expenditure problem of yours Jon?"

Furrowing his brows, Jon gave the bodhi tree an unapologetic side eye.

"If the effects are anything like one another, then the spiritual energy expenditure of both the Archetype Green and theoretical Archetype Knowledge would be halved. Debuffs and afflictions would be absorbed successively, one pseudo-independent construct after the other." Jon answered.

"That is correct. Now imagine if you integrated a Fragment Of Avatar or a Fragment Of Manifestation into your Ice Mana Core. Or even your undetermined sixth and final Mana Core. While the abilities would be slightly different, perhaps even slightly weaker than your Archetype Green, it would still often manifest an ability which can transfer debuffs and afflictions. What would happen then Jon?"

Jon paused, thinking about the hypothetical situation. The human knew that he was walking into a logical fallacy that Rana had prepared for him. Once again, his lack of experience and knowledge regarding fragments and the abilities they manifest coming into play against his more informed bodhi tree summon.

Letting out a sigh, Jon answered the question.

"If each Archetype, or whatever the manifested pseudo-independent construct would be called, transferred a debuff or affliction one after the other, then the drain on my spiritual energy would be shared throughout all of my Mana Cores", the human took a deep breath before raising an eyebrow towards Rana.

"Although, it would be an enormous investment, integrating so many similar fragments and manifesting so many similar abilities as a result. Would it not be a waste to- ", the human found himself being cut off, hearing a familiar feminine giggle in his mind.

"Would it not be a waste to manifest so many similar abilities? Is that what you were going to ask me?" Rana softly questioned.

Jon remained silent, merely gesturing for Rana to continue. While the human did not pout, Jon could imagine Rana smiling at him as if a mother chiding her son.

An uncomfortable feeling bubbled up within Jon's chest, one that was squashed moments after being detected.

"Oh, you're no fun anymore. But yes, you are correct. It would be quite a waste of so many abilities, especially considering the other abilities within your build. Having one or two to divide the spiritual energy expenditure would not be bad, and anything more than that is heading into the realm of specialization."

"At the end of the day Jon, it is up to you what Mana Cores and fragments you choose to integrate. The Incarnation Mana Core is quite powerful, all things considered and from what I can gather, you possess a small affinity for the concepts that it represents or contains. However, affinity does not guarantee strength by any means. You could just as well obtain a similar result through the integration of a Dragon Mana Core and a Fragment Of Manifestation."

"All I can offer you is the information and knowledge I have accumulated over the several thousand years of my existence. The Fragment Of Incarnation is powerful, but it is best used when combined with one, and only one, other similar ability."

"If I am being entirety honest Jon, you should ignore the Incarnation Mana Core, despite your apparent affinity with it. You should look towards one of the thousands of other Mana Cores in existence, instead of lingering on this single one."

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