Jon had practiced using Assail as a makeshift javelin ever since he integrated the Fragment Of Spear into his Wood Mana Core. Ever since the first time he attempted to use a makeshift wooden spear against the fire-breathing duck, Jon had always made time to train both his aim and upper body strength.

After spending so much of his time safe near the riverbank that Jon had called his home over the past three months, the eighteen-year-old had developed certain areas around the campsite which were more suitable towards training specific abilities.

Targets constructed from leaves, twigs and branches used to test the accuracy of his Spells. Sections of the forest filled with potholes used to train his different Techniques. Places of a quiet solitude to help him meditate on the nature of his abilities and their different functions and Traits.

The past few months had transformed Jon.

He was no longer just a kid fresh out of high school. Fighting just to survive would change a person, even if Jon was unable to look himself in a mirror.

The Spear Of Verdant Cedar slashed a bright neon-green light through the space in front of Jon. The speed that it was travelling at would have broken several world records back on Earth, fuelled by the physical enhancement of [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits].

Although Assail did not have a "returning" effect under its description, Jon could dismiss the weapon and summon it once again if he threw it too far or overshot his intended, with a gradually increasing mana expenditure based on how far away he threw his spear.

Ashvattha Rana had given him a handful of tips regarding proper throwing technique and how to leverage his weight while leaning forward to throw Assail, and with the addition of Schwarz Eis, Jon no longer needed to waste wood natured spiritual energy to resummon it.

The Malum Goblin that Jon had aimed the Spear Of Verdant Cedar at did not have a single moment to react, the barred, metallic-wood tip of Assail piercing straight through its chest sending it flying backwards. The summoned spear buried itself in a patch of grass several metres behind where the goblin once stood, leaning backwards its eyes wide with fright and shock.

Jon noticed two of the weaker ashen-skinned goblins turn towards him, expressions of trepidation and fear evident on their faces. Despite this however, the stronger members of their group bared their teeth towards Jon, raising their hands and beginning to chant more Spells to throw at him.

Taking a deep and somewhat overexaggerated breath, Jon gritted his teeth, feeling his front foot carve a deep trench along the ground in front of him. Although the majority of his momentum had been transferred into Assail the moment it had been thrown, Jon managed to keep himself from tittering over, kicking off with his hind leg, sending up dark-brown clumps of dirt and grass as he chased after his Spear Of Verdant Cedar.

His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes tracked the form of Assail buried in the ground several dozen metres away, beginning to mutter the chant for [Temperance Of Wood, Imperial Wood Barrier]. Although felt himself stop halfway through, his [Monstrous Intuition] alerting him to approaching projectiles and dangerous sources of spiritual energy.

Jon crouched down low, lowered his centre of gravity, spinning on the balls of his feet as he narrowly dodged around an arrow-shaped amalgamation of darkness natured spiritual energy.

His Fragment Of Instinct warning him a faint ripple of earth natured spiritual energy beneath his feet, urging him to roll to the side and avoid a jagged eruption of rocks and stones near where he once stood.

Scrambling to his feet Jon dismissed his summoned weapon, before manifesting Assail once again in the palm of his hand. His fingers gripping around the length of his spear, feeling several percent of his wood natured spiritual energy vanish causing Jon to scrunch up his face in annoyance.

Wielding Assail more like a baton than a spear, Jon smashed another volley of crystal projectiles sent his way. Although Jon had killed two of the nine Malum Goblins, the remaining seven were pestering him at range, relying on their numbers to slowly whittle Jon down until he had no spiritual energy remaining in any of his Mana Cores.

'Knowledge is down to sixty percent, while wood is down to fifty percent. Spear remains almost untouched while War is down just below eighty percent its maximum. Ice is… down to twenty percent,' Jon suppressed the urge to grimace, not looking back towards Schwarz Eis trying to keep the Malum Goblin away from him.

Jon knew that he did not have too much time to mess around, knowing that it was a not a matter of if Schwarz Eis would use up the last remnants of his ice natured spiritual energy, but when. Even with her Memento Source Fragment and superb mana manipulation, there was a hard limit on Jon's total spiritual energy, something that the Knight Ranked creature had in spades.

Focusing on the faint bumps on his five Mana Cores, Jon knew that whatever changes he had made to the structure of his Mana Cores was not enough to make a difference during this fight. He had not spent enough time transforming their innate structure into something more closely aligned with his own desires.

If that was the case, then Jon could only rely on the abilities he had currently in order to defeat these ashen-skinned goblins.

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Placing his hand on the ground, Jon whispered the chant manifested from his Fragment Of Barrier.

"Theirs is the embrace that rejects the winds and rain. Theirs is the blessing that whispers truths of warmth and kindness. Theirs is the temperance, that rises against the surging destruction!".

Each of the remaining Malum Goblins felt a tremendous amount of wood natured spiritual energy spill out from Jon's form. One of them, who had integrated a Tree Mana Core unconsciously looked down towards the earth beneath their feet before screaming out something that Jon was incapable of understanding.

[Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier] manifested itself in the form of dozens of thick twisted trees bursting out in the straight line. Each as thick as a full-grown bull, trees adorned with crooked, spiralling branches sprouted from the space several feet in front of Jon.

Trees continuously sprung forth from beneath the dirt, bearing bright green-coloured veins of spiritual energy across their structures. Thick bushels of leaves, resembling those maple trees that Jon had once seen during his childhood littered the twisted and inverted branches stretching across the forest. Each of them fluttered gently in the wind, although hummed with a tremendous amount of spiritual energy.

Jon had carved a straight line through the battlefield, dividing the Malum Goblins into two groups of three and four. His barrier of malformed trees and branches stretched over fifty metres in length but was barely two metres in height.

Jon himself could see over the [Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier], although smiled, knowing that each of these goblins were all the height of children.

He sacrificed the height of the Spell in exchange for an extraordinary length. Overloaded with a third of Jon's maximum wood natured spiritual energy, Jon gambled an incredible amount of mana to separate the goblins into two groups.

Although it was not infallible by any means, Jon flourished Assail, not daring to channel a single droplet of wood natured spiritual energy towards any other fragment than his Fragment Of Spear. His Wood Mana Core possessed approximately fifteen percent of its maximum spiritual energy remaining, Jon even deciding to forgo [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] in order to keep Assail manifested.

Turning his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes towards the three Malum Goblins isolated from the rest of the group, Jon smirked charging forward towards, spear at the ready.

His figure crossing the distance between himself and the closest of the ashen-skinned goblins in a matter of seconds, leaping forward and gripping Assail in one hand. Jon did not show a single expression of disgust, feeling the sensation of flesh and bone being cleaved in two extend up the length of his arm.

The little goblin, who had possessed just two Mana Cores died in an instant, impaled upon the length of the Spear Of Verdant Cedar.

Jon felt his ears twitch, [Monstrous Intuition] alerting him to some approaching danger.

Lifting the corpse of the Malum Goblin still impaled upon Assail, Jon swung it in a wide arc, flinging the lifeless corpse towards the barrage of crystal projectiles. The bloodied Second Initiated goblin collided with the numerous shards of crystal, swiftly being enveloped in a thick layer of jagged clumps of quartz.

Jon did not remain idle either, one again throwing Assail towards the closer goblin. His instincts and intuition guiding his aim as Jon once again struck true, striking the ugly beast in the lower stomach, its screams echoing throughout the open forest.

Extending his palm outwards, Jon opened his mouth, muttering another Spell.

"Infallible spirit. Inviolable soul. Pierce through the infinity and penetrate through the source. Desecrated mind. Despoiled essence. Thou shalt reveal the truth, and nothing shall obscure my gaze."

[Thou Art The Monarch Of Spears And Truth] manifested a two-metre-long bident-shaped spear construct beside Jon. The young human overloading the ability with ten percent of his maximum spear natured spiritual energy, launching it forward with a flick of his finger.

The Malum Goblin did not possess any ability with the Sensory Trait or Perception Trait, so it was unable to perceive anything other than Jon's sudden release of spiritual energy from his Spear Mana Core. It looked around for any signs of a Spell construct around it, before feeling an incredible amount of force collide with its head, striking its undeveloped mind and piercing straight through any defences or resistances that it might have accumulated.

It was dead before it even hit the ground. Its lifeless form collapsing onto the soft earth beneath its feet.

Its spirit was shattered and its mind impaled upon [Thou Art The Monarch Of Spears And Truth]. It did not matter if there was no physical damage to its flesh or organs, its mind was incapable of remaining in one piece after Jon penetrated straight through its Source.

Through its Source…

Its Source.

Source.

His breath hitched, filling him with the sensation of something greater than oxygen.

Jon felt his eyes widen, not noticing that Ashvattha Rana had manifested itself behind him. The bodhi tree had ignored her earlier justifications, manifesting herself the moment she noticed the changes within Jon's mind. His figure bathed in the radiant golden-green glow of the Earthen Treasury Womb as the effect that had eluded Jon for so long activated in a moment of perfect clarity.

The combination of intense emotional and physical stress, in tandem with the fear that was born from his desire to survive above all else, caused Jon to inch closer towards a realm that Ashvattha Rana had obtained just once during their previous life.

His vision was overwhelmed with numerous System notifications. The completion of certain optional tasks, the awarding of Mortal Title Fragments, the transformation within his Sea Of Knowledge all paled in comparison to the understanding of what Jon had just achieved.

Gripping Assail in one hand; Jon released a slow, but steadied breath. His form loose, and dark-red haze of [Le Mat Avancement] slipped off his shoulders and arms, revealing the appearance of a blood-soaked young man.

Sweat caused his brown hair to cling to his neck and brow, although did not feel uncomfortable or out of place.

Everything was, and everything is just the way it should be. Not a strand out of place, not a single droplet of sweat not where it should be. Not a single thought too many, and not a single breath too few.

Everything seemed… different, yet not.

Jon was unable to put the sensation into words.

His dyed-golden eyes gleamed with a clarity that did not exist previously.

"… To think, the answer was right in front of me, staring me right in the face and I could not see it".

Jon turned his head, noticing the approaching figures of four Malum Goblins. He did not realize it at the time, but he was smiling. Smiling wider and without restraint as if a man who had not seen the sun once in his life had gazed towards the morning dawn.

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