The sounds of laughter and celebration flooded the streets of Springtown. Dozens of Mortal Ranked Spiritual Lanterns and Mortal Ranked Mystic Fire-Lights stretched across the skies of their Safe Zone. Mortals and Knights walked the streets of this infant metropolis, setting off fireworks and playing music with no regard to the volume or intensity.

Humans walked the through the narrowed streets, side-by-side with nadians and lutins.

Floresiensis' cheered and partied alongside vermitons and appaloscians, cheeks flushed after drinking wine and beer.

Satanas' watched recordings of the tournament held mere hours before, analysing the footage beside groups of drus and undynes.

"… How the hell can the "Princeps" maintain such levels of physical enhancements!? It just doesn't make any sense! What the hell kind of effects does his Title have!?"

"I know right?! Princeps Of The Wandering Mutation obviously relates to abilities with the Mutation Trait that much is for sure, but how many mutations does he have exactly and how many also possess the Passive Trait!?"

"Ignoring Fragments Heart and Fragments Of Marrow, he must possess at least another three-to-four different mutations! This is the third time in a row that he has managed to claim the first place in the free-for-all tournament, even managing to defeat both Amadeus and Mael in quick succession."

"Right!? Like how the hell is someone supposed to counter [Thou Is Mine Shadow, Born From Dragons And Knowledge]?! Summoned companions are supposed to be banned in tournaments, but pseudo-independent spiritual constructs are fine!?"

"It's ridiculous man. He doesn't even have a Knight Ranked Title yet. Although I realize that he would possess a full set of Knight Ranked abilities, I cannot even imagine how strong the "Princeps" would become after obtaining a Title befitting his Rank."

"… And don't even get me started on that unknown Memento Source Item of his! What the actual-."

Wilheim and Shamael both sipped on their glasses, half-glancing towards the platinum-haired lutin beside them. Their features feminine but was betrayed the shape and contour of their hands, both calloused and masculine. Said "lutin" just rolled his eyes, reaching towards the Mortal Ranked Joyful Jug, pouring himself another pint of uninitiated beer.

Shamael placing down his half-empty glass in front of him, nudging the "lutin" sitting beside him.

"As a matter of curiosity, how far are you from obtaining a Knight Ranked Title?"

The "lutin" in question shrugging his shoulders, expression unperturbed while wearing the Mask Of Jade Lies. He had yet to claim a number of task rewards for his completion of numerous Dungeons and the discovery of several Wonders, alongside his grasp of multiple different languages.

The control he possessed over [Mine Is The Three Seas Of Knowledge] and [Behold Thy Luminous Spear, Clad In Green Radiance] had reached heights beyond his imagination. Of all the abilities that Jon had elevated from Mortality to Knighthood, the mastery of both his Fragment Of Mind and Fragment Of Spear were the highest, allowing him to obtain the Earl Ranked rewards for their associated task.

Mortal Rank rewards: Choice of one fragment. [Claimed].

Knight Rank rewards: Mortal Title Fragment "Adept". [Claimed].

Lord Rank rewards: Choice of three fragments. [Claimed].

Baron Rank rewards: Choice of one Mana Core. [Claimed].

Viscount Ranked rewards: Knight Title Fragment "Journeyman."

Marquis Ranked rewards: Choice of three Mana Cores. [Claimed].

Earl Ranked rewards: Knight Title Fragment "Specialist."

Jon had long since claimed his Marquis Ranked rewards, using the Mana Cores to exchange for other valuable resources and materials. His two other rewards, the Knight Ranked Title Fragment Journeyman and Specialist awaited his confirmation.

Knight Title Fragment "Journeyman": Infinitesimally reduces the mana expenditure of all abilities with the Self Trait.

Knight Title Fragment "Specialist": Increases rate of comprehending concepts related to "technique" and "spell."

"Leave him alone Shamael, you know how he quiet and brooding he gets sometimes," Wilheim muttered, finishing his glass before belching out an extraordinarily loud burp. The floresiensis patting his chest several times before grinning, feeling the froth of his beverage leave a white-coloured moustache across his upper lip.

He winked at the "lutin" causing Jon to flip him off in response.

"I'm not brooding," Jon replied, "And as a matter of fact, am not that far from creating a Knight Ranked Title. I am just waiting for a more powerful Title Fragment to form the basis for said Title."

He was honest about that much at least.

His two companions nodding at his words, Shamael scrunching up his face in annoyance, half-glancing towards his status page. There were more than half-a-dozen Knight Ranked Title Fragments listed beside Legionnaire Of Virtuous Pestilence and more than eighteen Mortal Ranked Title Fragments.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. With all the additional Traits that my Knight Ranked abilities now possess I was hoping to obtain a Title Fragment that increased the effectiveness of abilities with the Transformation Trait."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Avahni helped me obtain a Title Fragment that boosted abilities with the Summon Trait, but I just need one more before I take that next step towards Lordship…" Shamael admitted, letting out a small sigh as Wilheim patted him on the back.

The floresiensis showing a sympathetic expression, before glancing around the room, taking note of the distance between their table and the tables all around them.

Pouring himself another pint of beer, Wilheim gestured towards the Fifth Initiated bartender to refill their almost empty jug. Despite drinking as though he was a horse, Wilheim did not seem even the slightest bit drunk, his expression turning serious as he watched the bartender retreat back behind the bar.

"You know… Maliq, Regulus and Raflea all pushed too introduce additional rules to the tournament this time around?"

Both Shamael and Jon lifting their heads towards Wilheim, watching as he swallowed another mouthful of beer.

"The activation of fragments with extreme offensive concepts, such as Fragments Of Annihilation, Fragments Of Eradication and Fragments Of Obliteration still results in the immediate disqualification of said participant. The activation of Fragments Of Transcendence and Fragments Of Evolution are still also prohibited."

"Summoned companions were banned after the previous tournament, but now the Spring Council and tournament organizers want to ban the usage of pseudo-independent spiritual constructs."

"Their exact words being "if this keeps up those with Avatar Mana Cores or Incarnation Mana Cores will just flood the arena with their offensive pseudo-independent spiritual constructs, thereby ruining the spirit upon which this tournament was founded!" Or something along those lines."

Wilheim watched as Jon and Shamael both went quiet for several seconds.

A strange tension building up around their table even as the sounds of fireworks and celebrations echoed all around them. The table of Mortal Ranked creationists across the bar drowned out all the other conversations present, the sound of their chatter and gossip obnoxiously overwhelming.

Before the three of them exploded into laughter.

All of them clutching at their drinks and slapping their thighs, as if Wilheim had just uttered the funniest joke in all of creation. Their laughter annoyingly long and persistent, Shamael even wiping a tear away from his eye, patting his churning stomach.

Their voices drawing the eyes of wandering Mortals and Knights, seeing the Knight Ranked lutin, satanas and floresiensis drinking in the corner away from the other compatriots of this establishment.

"Oi! Can you three keep it down back there!" The bartender exclaimed narrowing his eyes at Wilheim in particular.

The Wisdom Of The Myriad Lands giving the man an apologetic nod, muffling the sounds of his laughter with his hand. Jon and Shamael doing to the same, before the blue-skinned satanas took another sip of his drink, placing it down with an overexaggerated sigh.

"You must have really pissed them off with that last victory of yours Jon," Shamael chuckled, wiping the accumulated on his upper lip.

Wilheim nodding in affirmation to Shamael's statement.

"Well, Maliq will do anything to undermine the Merchant Guild. The Creationist Guild now sends their own envoys to Lakeriver Valley, Mountain Craig Pass and Saltstream Town. Each of them travel with their own attaché from the Explorers Guild, sometimes even encountering our members on their way to the other Safe Zones."

"Raflea and Regulus on the other hand, seem to both enjoy tormenting Jon at every available chance they get." Wilheim wiggled his eyebrows, grinning as he watched his human companion groan, slumping down the length of his chair.

He free hand used to rub the bridge between his brows, sighing while shaking his head.

"… If I had known how much of a pain in the ass she would grow to become, I would have just accepted her initial proposal after she arrived within Springtown. Instead, now that she is bonded to Regulus through that outrageous Fragment Of Unification of hers, his rate of vein-development has skyrocketed, allowing him to form three veins in just half-a-year."

"Who would have thought that such abilities existed? Fragments Of Marriage. Fragments Of Unification… what annoying concepts to have to deal with…" Jon muttered, swallowing another mouthful of beer, reaching for the shared jug to refill his empty glass.

Wilheim just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I don't know. Say what you will about fragments and Mana Cores, but if I had the chance to spend eternity with someone that looked like Raflea…" Wilheim whistled, hiding his grin behind his enormous pint glass.

"Light. Beauty. Lust. Pride. Spell. Immortal. With that kind of combination of Mana Cores, you should have known what type of personality she would have. Fragments Of Perfection. Fragments Of Luxuria. Fragments Of Shape. Fragments Of Attraction. Despite her lacklustre combat strength for a Knight, she excels in both supportive buffs and social manipulation."

"I dare say that she could give Sariel a run for her money. Even knowing how effective she is as both a healer and supportive buffer."

Neither Shamael nor Jon showed any outward changes in their expressions. Although neither of them wanted to admit it, Wilheim did have a point. Sariel was consistently amongst the top three Knight Ranked supports that the Explorers Guild wanted on their expeditions.

Just losing out to both Maliq and Raflea.

Maliq was a Third-Veined Knight, the same Rank and Tier as both Jon and Amadeus.

Raflea was a Second Veined Knight, the same Rank and Tier as both Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael.

Each of them had experienced a tremendous amount of growth and development, pushing themselves well into the middle-Tier stages of Knighthood. Knights were required to form "spiritual veins", physical manifestations of their Mana Cores throughout their bodies.

Their shape and complexity of which determined circulatory efficiency of spiritual energy throughout the flesh, blood and bone. Individual spiritual veins possessed certain effects depending on their structure and configuration.

Some were more increase the effectiveness of a single fragment, reducing their mana expenditure or increasing the strength of its effects.

Others able to ignore the need for casting for specific abilities.

While some granted increased physical characteristics, such as strength and speed.

The successful formation of a spiritual vein would elevate a Veinless Knight to being a First-Veined Knight. Spiritual veins were unable to be changed after their formation, however, could be expanded upon at any given point in time after their establishment.

As such, most constructed their spiritual veins to be relatively simple.

Basic geometric patterns were the most common form of spiritual vein, although there were some Knights that used their natural circulatory system as the basis for their spiritual veins.

Wilheim lifted his glass up towards his lips, pausing before turning his head in the direction of his Memento Source Item. Located near his Knight Ranked Wonderous Citadel Dwelling, Dis; Dimension Dungeon Shadow, was the Memento Source Item he had obtained after creating his own Mortal Ranked Labyrinth Dungeon.

Born from a Shadow Mana Core and Fragment Of Dungeon, Wilheim had also used a Mortal Ranked spiritual ink to use as the basis for its physical manifestation. Although he did not admit it, Jon suspected that Ler Setanta had a hand in said decision.

"There is an argument going on near the entrance to Dis, Jon." Wilheim said, watching as Jon waved him off, cradling the pint glass in his hand. Fireworks exploding in the background seemed to illuminate the skies above their Safe Zone, dozens of Mortals and Knights alike lifting their heads and enjoying the colourful display of ingenuity and craftsmanship.

Jon did not notice Wilheim's expression turn serious.

Although he did note the change in his voice, dropping an entire register as he spoke.

"Jon… It's Avahni."

[Bestial Intuition] twitching, shadows and horrors stirring beneath his Mask Of Jade Lies.

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