Jon found that although time passed within the Dungeon Of Sand, the positioning of the scorching sun above him did not move, even after an hour of running. Even with his enhanced physique and superhuman physical condition, Jon himself was not immune to the effects of extreme heat.

His [Mortal Ranked Rejuvenating Shirt] clung to his chest and back uncomfortably, forcing him to take it off the moment he entered the shade of the stone ruins that he had run towards. Reaching a hand into his Fragment Of Library, Jon pulled out a piece of White-Flower Dragon Fruit, biting into the apple-shaped fruit with a reckless abandon.

Jon did not allow a single piece of juice from the mortal ranked fruit to go to waste. Eating a total of three White-Flower Dragon Fruits before he relieved his growing thirst.

After his attempt at forming a Mortal Ranked Depthless Bottle, Jon had destroyed the plastic water bottle that he had brought from Earth. Although Jon regretted turning the bottle into a small bomb, he still had plenty of other methods of storing clean drinking water.

Avahni, Sariel, Shamael and Wilheim all used hollowed out Blooming Gourds as methods of storing water. The gourds themselves were about the size of a forearm, and mature ones could store about two litres of water each.

Given that Jon had manifested a type of storage-ability, he had decided to keep several Blooming Gourds within the [Red Archives Of Mars Quirinus], in the event that he was unable to find a source of clean drinking water. Although it was somewhat excessive, he felt that it was better safe than sorry, especially while he and the others would be travelling through the small realm.

Sitting upright with his back against a ruined tower structure, Jon let out a small sigh of relief, throwing his scraps of White-Flower Dragon Fruit off into the shade somewhere. Wiping his brow, Jon closed his eyes, gently urging his ice natured spiritual energy towards his Fragment Of Heart.

'Thank god for an Ice Mana Core.'

Jon felt his heart rate slow, under the influence of his Seir-Glacial Heart.

Jon knew that due to this specific mutation, both his standing heart rate and sitting heart rate were several standard deviations beneath the average heart rate of a nineteen-year-old male.

His internal temperature too was several degrees lower than what it should be.

The possession of a Mana Core, while unstated, created a resistance towards the type of spiritual energy it produced. Although not perhaps as useful as a Fire Mana Core or Sun Mana Core in this instance, his Ice Mana Core allowed him to recover faster than Sariel or Shamael would.

Avahni, with her Fire Mana Core and Water Mana Core would fare well, even in an environment as inhospitable as this one, while Wilheim, with his Tundra Mana Core and Mountain Mana Core, might consider the heat as just an annoyance more than anything else.

Taking a deep breath Jon cleared his mind before tilting his head back and glancing up the length of the ruined structure behind him. Pieces of the tower laid scattered about around the base, indicating that its height must have been quite tall, despite its current appearance.

"I'll have to climb it to get a better idea of where I am," Jon muttered to himself.

Forgoing his shirt for the time being, Jon started flowing more spiritual energy into his Fragment Of Marrow, enhancing his physical capabilities. Gripping onto one of the stones near the base of the tower, Jon pulled on it, smiling as strength was unable to move it even an inch.

"Even if you fall Jon, given how far your enhancements have pushed your physical qualities, you should still survive. Ru Luan Di should be able to heal broken bones and internal bleeding," Schwarz Eis added, causing Jon to roll his eyes as he reached higher and higher up the broken tower.

The height of the tower, even while broken was about forty to fifty metres. Climbing up was not difficult all things considered, but Jon was worried about some of the stones being loose resulting in him taking his time while ascending the structure.

Given his strength and endurance, Jon did not feel sore or winded in the slightest as he stood atop the broken tower, manifesting Assail and wedging it between a small gap between two stones. Gripping onto the spear tightly with one hand, Jon circulated spiritual energy from his Knowledge Mana Core into his Fragment Of Eyes.

Jon narrowed his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes as he observed the surrounding desert, [Eyes Through The Looking Glass] piercing through the haze of heat that obscured his vision.

Jon focused most of his attention on the other stone constructs that littered the Burning Desert Of Kel. Avahni and the others were smart enough to know that in a Dungeon such as this, devoid of natural water sources, places that offered shade and protection from the sun were considered "safe zones".

Humming Jon turned around, still gripping onto Assail to prevent himself from falling. Jon felt his gaze linger on the burning oasis far off into the distance, seeing several crimson-coloured palm trees, alongside what he thought was an enormous lake containing a burning red liquid.

'What the hell is that?' Jon tilted his head to the side, knowing that leaning forward to look closer would only invite disaster.

The voice of a certain winter demon spirit within his mind, contained an uncharacteristically surprised tone behind it.

"Oh, how interesting? This little Mortal Ranked Dungeon has managed to produce an infant Wonder. How fortuitous," Schwarz Eis said, even going so far as to manifest physically beside Jon.

Hearing the term "Wonder", Jon perked up, glancing towards the White Lady Of The Winter Castle beside him. Schwarz Eis stood tall with both hands behind her back, gazing towards the red-coloured lake with a hint of interest flashing through her eyes.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Can you explain to me what a Wonder is, or do I have to physically go over there and touch it before the System doesn't consider it forbidden knowledge?" Jon asked, opening his task page and glancing towards the eight mandatory task the System had given him.

[8]: Discover a minimum of one random System generated Wonders within the small realm. Individuals will receive a unique reward with each additional Wonder discovered over the duration of the System Introduction.

Considering that Jon could literally see a Wonder off in the distance, the human wondered whether or not he would be able to complete two of the System mandated tasks before exiting this Dungeon.

He was still unsure of what a Wonder was exactly, in addition to how the notion related to Wonder Fragments.

Schwarz Eis glanced towards him, smiling as she winked at him.

"I'll tell you, considering that I doubt you are the first person in this System Integration to encounter a Wonder. Although a relatively obscure and limited Title Fragment, Wonderchild, would have allowed you to cultivate Wonder Fragments at an increased rate an efficiency. It is something granted to the first individuals of a World or small realm who have managed to obtain a Wonder Fragment," Schwarz Eis stated, causing Jon to frown but to ignore the comment.

Schwarz Eis huffed, rolling her eyes seeing that her words did not phase her youthful master.

"You're no fun Jonathan. But I digress. Wonders are… how should I put this."

"Wonders are what happens when the concepts contained within a fragment and the spiritual energy contained within a Mana Core, "bleed" out into the physical world, at least for lack of a better term. The ambient spiritual energy is pushed outwards by the spiritual energy contained within the Mana Core, "dyeing" the environment around it with the flavours of said spiritual energy."

"This continues until the fragment and Mana Core in question are completely integrated into the environment, transforming it into something… interesting?" said Schwarz Eis, as more of a question than an actual statement.

"The formation of a Wonder, unlike the formation of a Dungeon, is a completely natural occurrence. There is no way to synthetically create a Wonder, or a Wonder Fragment. The System has the purview to create Wonder Fragments, although even I cannot say as to why this is."

Jon narrowed his eyes, knowing that Schwarz Eis still had not answered his question.

"So what does a Wonder and the Wonder Fragments it produces actually do?" He asked.

Schwarz Eis clicked at him, pointing her index finger as if it were a gun.

"At their core, Wonders do nothing but produce spiritual energy in vast amounts. As a result, locations turned into Wonders often manifest an overabundance of fragments and Mana Cores related to the concepts and spiritual energy that birthed them. The more generalized the fragment or Mana Core, the more varied the fragments and Mana Cores it will produce."

Jon raised an eyebrow.

"In addition, Wonder Fragments are… well fragments of said Wonder. In a similar manner to fragment pathways, they will possess a name constructed from an amalgamation of different concepts. A Wonder will produce Wonder Fragments periodically, which can be used one of three ways."

"The first is through the creation of another Wonder-." Jon opened his mouth to retort her words but was interrupted as Schwarz Eis continued to speak.

"I know I said that Wonders cannot be created synthetically, but this is not an artificial process. This is… the same process as a tree allowing a bird to devour their seeds, only for the bird to poop it out, fertilizing this seed in the process."

"Through the actions of an individual such as yourself, the Wonder can spread its seed across the stars, propagating itself in accordance with its natural life cycle. No single Wonder can last forever, so it must expend some of its energy in order to ensure the continuation of its existence." Schwarz Eis said, causing Jon to close his mouth, contemplating the notion.

The way that Schwarz Eis described them gave Jon the impression that Wonders appeared more than just a "contamination" of concepts and spiritual energy into an environment. Spiritual energy possessed mutative qualities to it, while the concepts contained within fragments gave the mutation a direction and form.

Schwarz Eis described the formation of Wonder Fragments as seeds, "propagating itself in accordance with its natural life cycle.

It almost made it seem as though…

"Are… Wonders alive?" Jon could not help but ask.

The winter demon spirit shrugged, shaking her head from side to side.

"It… depends on who you ask. Some Wonders appear as nothing more than a crimson-coloured lake adorned with burning trees and fiery shrubs. Others appear… significantly more active and vibrant."

"I am of the belief that Wonders are living creatures whose existence perhaps only the Grand Powers can understand. As someone who has sent an exorbitant amount of time around one Wonder in particular, I know this to be true." Schwarz Eis said but did not allude any further.

The White Lady Of The Winter Castle showed a surprisingly wistful expression, glancing in the direction of the burning Wonder far off in the distance.

The winter demon spirit had never once allowed her inner emotions and true thoughts to spill out into Jon's Sea Of Knowledge, something that he had seen Rana do just once, during his battle against the Malum Hobgoblin.

It might have just been the angle, but for a moment Jon thought that Schwarz Eis appeared sad, or forlorn.

Jon tried his best not to show an outward change in expression, merely nodding alongside her words. He had never seen Schwarz Eis act in such a manner, noticing that even Rana had retreated further into the gap between his conscious and subconscious minds.

Concealed beneath the waters of his Sea Of Knowledge, Jon did everything he could to prevent his thoughts from rising to the surface.

'Has this got to do with her summoning incantation? The Inverted Ice Mountain, wasn't it? The one that was taken from her?'

Jon remained silent for a few moments, deciding to keep these thoughts to himself. After a few seconds, Jon thought about something else to task, channelling his curiosity into another topic.

"You said that there were three ways of using a Wonder Fragment?" Jon said, trying to change the subject.

Schwarz Eis nodded, blinking several times before shaking her head.

"Yes, yes I did. The second way is to use a Wonder Fragment during the creation of a spiritual item. The integration of a Wonder Fragment into a spiritual item will often times cause the spiritual item to possess the Growth Trait, allowing an individual to repeatedly enhance them without having to use a Fragment Of Creation."

Jon scrunched up his face in thought, thinking that outside of wealthy or influential organizations, the average individual would not choose to use a Wonder Fragment in such a manner.

Although the idea of a Growth Trait, seemed interesting, it just seemed as though it was a weaker version of a Memento Source Fragment.

"And the third way?"

Schwarz Eis paused for a moment, before letting out a small sigh. Despite her tone being quite chipper just moments ago, the winter demon spirit lacked the leisurely tone it usually possessed.

"The third way to use a Wonder Fragment, is through the absorption of the spiritual energy within. At… subsequent Ranks, the absorption, refinement and integration of ambient spiritual energy is what allows certain Ranks to ascend to the next."

"Although it would require the spiritual energy within to match that of an integrated Mana Core, through the destruction of a Wonder Fragment, an individual would experience an enormous increase to their progression from one Rank to the next."

The White Lady Of The Winter Castle lifted her head and peered at Jon. Her expression serious, devoid of the mischievous smile which Jon associated with the winter demon spirit.

"If you would decide to chase after this Wonder Jon, I would plead with you not to choose the third option."

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.