Jon was brought face to face with the imaginary space that dwelled within himself. Standing atop his Sea Of Knowledge, Jon completely disregarded the wellspring of infinite possibilities that manifested themselves all around him.

Having seen this familiar sight twice now already, the human was more focused on discovering the nature of this imaginary mental landscape. Jon knew that it could influenced by both the integration of specific fragments, such as the Fragment Of Mind, or through the integration of a new Mana Core, which ultimately allowed him to peer into this space.

Unlike his previous two instances here, Jon felt as though there was a much more subtle change to the nature of this imaginary space. The faintest traces of ice and snow floated downwards from some unknown source, gently landing over the Sea Of Knowledge, lingering over the surface of his mental construct.

The patches of ice and snow clumped together through the push and pull of the surrounding waters, forming small platforms of ice and large iceberg-like constructs across the entirety of Jon's Sea Of Knowledge.

Looking upwards, Jon thought that he could see the faintest glimpses of a whiteish-blue star hanging in the colourless void above him, before it vanished, his observation of its existence causing the light to dim and disappear.

'This entire mental space is my own. Or perhaps it would be correct to say, that this imaginary space is "me". With certain fragments, I can colour this strange and empty landscape, as if a painter giving form to what is in his mind,' Jon thought to himself, extending an arm outwards, manifesting Assail in one hand.

The introduction of Assail; Spear Of Verdant Cedar, caused the space surrounding Jon to become saturated with various shades and tones of light and dark greens. As if water droplets on sheet of blank paper, an innumerable number of green splotches appeared across the mental landscape.

The scent of pine, oak and cedar filled Jon's nostrils. The vibrant colours of life and growth littered his vision and the faint rustling of leaves and flowers in the breeze filled his ears with a sense of vivid woodland, balanced and nurturing.

While Jon could not deny the sensation felt weird and distracting, as more and more patches of green appeared that Jon had no name for, the young man slowly started feeling more and more at home amongst the concepts of life and growth.

'It feels… as if I'm changing. Or adapting or evolving. The Wood Mana Core within me is slowly adding new colours and concepts to this mental landscape. And considering that this mental landscape is "Jonathan Randall Guilliman", it means I am having new things added to me,' Jon placed a hand over his chest, feeling the faint rhythm of his Seir-Glacial Heart.

The rhythmic beating of his [Lamentations Of A Frozen Affection], also produced changes within himself. While the mutation was primarily physical, the nature of his heart had transformed and become a pseudo-spiritual organ.

The half spiritual nature of his heart resulted in it being able to influence this imaginary landscape within himself.

'If that is the case, the perhaps other mutations should be able to affect this imaginary world as well!' Jon's expression brightened, before he muttered the invocation for one of his Knowledge Spells.

"Hark! Mine is the shadow of knowledge, the sweet ignorance within thou ambitious daydream. Hitherto, and awaken from thou fantasy, lest your eyes become mine own, your fingers, feet and heart all too."

Jon felt his vision shift, his shadow expanding, stretching fifteen feet in every direction around himself. An enormous blob of near-pitch black shadow appeared on the surface of his Sea Of Knowledge, another strange occurrence manifesting around the edges of his reflection.

Dozens of vaguely familiar letters and characters appeared at the edges of his Hades-Sagacity Shadow. Coloured silverish-grey, an amalgamation of various languages and tongues manifested themselves all around Jon, colouring the green and white world around his shadow with hues and tones and silver and grey.

These words and characters originated from all sorts of native Earth languages. While Jon was not a fluent speaker in anything other than English, words that he had seen briefly on the internet, or heard someone speak while walking down the street appeared all around himself.

Their meanings unknown, but the information remained deep within the depths of his memories.

Unlike the strange sensation of life and growth that once bloomed all around him, the accumulated knowledge and wisdom he contained within himself seemed to comfort Jon's mind. Perhaps it was his Sea Of Knowledge, or his Hades-Sagacity Shadow or Minerva-Sagacity Eyes.

Or perhaps it was something else, something much closer to home.

In the corner of his eye, Jon thought he saw something.

Something that he did not notice before.

The young human felt his breath hitch as he glimpsed towards the origin of this imaginary landscape. His grasp over his three active abilities [Lamentations Of a Frozen Affection], [Thou Is But A Shadow Of Oneself] and [Behold Thy Luminous Spear, Clad In Green Radiance], did not falter, as the world around him was dyed in patches of green, silverish-grey and whiteish-blue.

Of in the distance, across the churning waters of his Sea Of Knowledge, Jon could see a single luminescent construct of collapsing white-black light. Everything around this construct folded in on itself, absorbed and integrated into it.

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Colours. Light. Shapes. Knowledge. Form. Wood. Fragments. Mana Cores. Ice.

No matter what came near this white-black construct, everything around it was swallowed whole, or rather, integrated into itself. Jon's eyes widened as he saw three spherical gemstones floating around this impossible composition of white and black, before lifting his head, watching a spear-shaped shooting star slash an arc through the infinite possibilities around him.

Realizing what this shooting star was, Jon immediately turned back towards the impossible construct in the distance, activating every physical enhancement ability within his repertoire and sprinting across his Sea Of Knowledge.

His [Dance Of The Cold Star] propelling him more than a dozen metres forward, before the image of the spear-shaped shooting star above him was caught within the influence of the perpetually collapsing white-black light.

The human unconsciously stretched his arm out forward, as if trying to reach the star, before the world around him shifted, and Jon was returned to the physical world.

Jon could feel the swift beating of his Seir-Glacial Heart within his chest, alongside the concerned shouts of Wilheim and Avahni from the shoreline behind him. The eighteen-year-old slowly turned around, only now realizing that he was half-submerged in water.

Despite the paleness of his expression, Jon could only give the lutin and floresiensis a half-hearted smile before waddling his way back to shore.

The image of that impossible, luminescent construct of collapsing white-black light burned into Jon's Sea Of Knowledge. Feeling his hand tightening into a fist, Jon looked up to the sky, as if trying to stare at something beyond this self-contained world.

'Next time… I'll uncover what secrets you contain,' the human smiled, watching as Avahni extended Ru Luan Di towards him, gesturing towards one of the ginseng's root-like limbs. The poor creature was shaking its head from side to side, as if fearful of Avahni, looking towards Jon with a pleading expression on its face.

The human could only laugh, seeing the plight of the infant ginseng king.

Break

"Spear" Mana Core successfully integrated.

"Knowledge" Mana Core detected. First Mana Core detected.

"Wood" Mana Core detected. Second Mana Core detected.

"Ice" Mana Core detected. Third Mana Core detected.

"Spear" Mana Core detected. Fourth Mana Core detected.

Spiritual energy has reached the maximum threshold for the Third Initiation.

Increasing Tier from Third Initiation to Fourth Initiation.

Increasing maximum spiritual energy capacity.

Increasing rate of spiritual energy regeneration.

Increasing compatibility with associated mana.

Congratulations individual! You have taken your next step towards Knighthood!

The familiar grouping of System notifications filled Jon's vision. Seeing that there was no difference between his Third Initiation notice and Fourth Initiation notice, Jon gave the notifications a quick glance, before dismissing them, adjusting his form to the presence of an additional source of spiritual energy.

Although his Spear Mana Core possessed no abilities which his spear natured spiritual energy could fuel, the metallic-grey wisps of spiritual energy still flowed outwards from the mental image within his mind.

It had been roughly thirty minutes since he awoke half-submerged in the river, the integration of his Spear Mana Core resulting in some of his faculties being compromised as he attempted to move through his imaginary mental landscape. According to Wilheim and Avahni, Jon abruptly manifested Assail in one hand and expanded his Hades-Sagacity Shadow in every direction around himself.

The presence of his spear and mutated shadow seemed to scare Ru Luan Di quite a bit, but the ginseng king seemed to calm down after examining Jon's shadow for a few moments. He communicated with Avahni informing the lutin that this was a type of observational Spell, one which used his shadow as a conduit.

Despite Jon still learning the Nain language, he managed to grasp what Avahni was trying to say especially when he remembered casting [Thou Is But A Shadow Of Oneself] within his mental landscape.

The human at least had the modesty to scratch the back of his head, giving Ru Luan Di a small pat on the head at Avahni's urging.

Despite their attempts to wake him up, Jon seemed unresponsive to any sort of verbal or physical stimuluses. Jon then began walking towards the river, forcing Avahni to try and stop him from moving forward, but without much success.

Without his Seir-Glacial Heart and Murmur-Glacial Marrow, Jon's physical capabilities exceeded that of both Wilheim and Avahni. Neither of their species possessed particularly strong musculatures, at least in comparison to humanity, and after the passive physical enhancements his two mutations brought him, Jon had exceeded even the greatest of human athletes.

'I should be more careful the next time I integrate another Mana Core,' Jon rubbed his chin, hanging up his soaking pants on makeshift clothesline he crafted from a bunch of twigs and branches.

'Although, now that I possess a Spear Mana Core, I can now integrate an additional six fragments in addition to the five empty slots my Ice Mana Core and Wood Mana Core still have. Considering I still possess my choice of four fragments, perhaps I should use one now on my Spear Mana Core?' Tapping his chin, Jon let out a small hum before nodding, manifesting a small, diamond-shaped gemstone in his hand.

The sudden appearance of a fragment did not surprise Wilheim or Avahni, although the former was somewhat curious about the name of said fragment. Ru Luan Di did unconsciously lean forward, gazing at the Fragment Of Spirit in the human's hand for a couple seconds, watching Jon accept the integration notice.

Fragment Of "Spirit" discovered.

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

Y/N

Selecting the third option, his Spear Mana Core, Jon watched as the Fragment Of Spirit dissolved into tiny motes of golden-bronze light before flowing into his chest, settling within his Spear Mana Core.

Waiting for another System notification to appear in front of him, Jon thought that he felt the faintest echoes of a tremor from within his Sea Of Knowledge. The surface rippling through the effects of some unknown force, rather than through his manipulation of [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge].

The sensation vanished as swiftly as it appeared, and the effect description that Jon was waiting for appeared before his eyes.

[Fragment Of Spirit] [Thou Art The Monarch Of Spears And Truth] (Spear, Spirit, Mutation, Ability, Spell, Curse, Debuff)

Effect (Mortal): Transform the mortal nature of one's spirit into that of Longinus-Lancea Spirit. Dramatically increases maximum mana and mana regeneration. Dramatically increases resistances towards spirit-related damages, afflictions and debuffs.

Chant, then suffuse your spirit with the unstoppable force of a transcendent spear thrust. Manifest an invisible amalgamation of spear-natured spiritual energy capable of piercing through mental defences and inflicting spirit-related damage. Inflicts an instance of [Tainted Spear Curse].

[Tainted Spear Curse]: Reduces the effectiveness of all healing-related abilities on the Self. Additional stacks have an additive effect.

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