Looking down at the hand extended towards him, Jon nodded, accepting the handshake without a single shred of worry on his face.

"Uh, yeah! Wilheim, Avahni, Shamael and Sariel are all my companions," he said, watching as Mael smiled in response to his words, "Although Aerilayna was suspicious of us at first, my Fragment Of Contract allowed us to reach a level of understanding. We promised not to harm her, and she answered some of our questions about Springtown and the Safe Zone in general."

Jon spoke in near-perfect Nain, surprising Anthony and David standing beside him. Mael, seeing this youthful human speak his language with such a degree of fluency could not help but smile, nodding his head several times.

He noticed Avahni standing beside Aerilayna in the corner of his eyes, making the connection between Jon and the other faces he had not seen before.

"I thank you again for bringing Aerilayna back to us. I… I will spare you the details, but after she was taken, I feared the worst for her," Mael turned towards the blonde-haired woman, seeming to not notice her cheeks flush pink in response.

Giving Jon a wide grin, Mael thumped his chest twice before placing his open palm over Jon's heart. Although he could feel Rana, Eis and Song all twitch in response to his action, he did not feel a single reaction from his [Monstrous Intuition].

In fact… despite having fought Mael not even two days prior, Jon did not concern himself with the Fifth Initiated Mortal standing in front of him.

If he felt even a sliver of spiritual energy spill out from any of his Mana Cores, he would have to restrain a certain ice devil spirit from killing this man, rather than rush to dodge whatever blow he intended to land on him.

"Although Aerilayna does not follow the old ways, there are still quite a number of lutin who still worship the Mother and Father. If you, or any of your companions require assistance in anything that does not involve exploiting the young or the weak, then I will stand by your side and assist you."

"All of you," Mael declared, turning his head towards Avahni and the others.

His blonde-haired companion merely rolled her eyes, ignoring the slight twitch of her ears.

Avahni on the other hand, seemed to almost swoon, glancing between Aerilayna and Mael with a star-eyed expression on her face. Although only about one-in-every-three lutin continued to worship the Mother and Father over their descendants, all lutin invoked their names during a ritual of binding.

Where the end result would be a child, born from the union of a mother and father.

It was not a piece of lutin culture that Avahni had taught Jon or the others.

Mostly because she found it too embarrassing to explain the details of said ritual.

Anthony, David and the other humans beside Jon and Mael seemed somewhat out of place before one of them slung their arms around Jon's shoulder, winking at the younger man.

"So a Fragment Of Contract eh? Interesting. If I am not mistaken, there are only two others throughout all of Springtown that have integrated such a fragment." Anthony chimed in beside him, replying in English although clearly able to understand Nain beyond just general conversation.

Jon nodded.

"Yeah it is a fairly recent addition, all things considered at least. Although I've only used it once since integrating it," he said, telling nothing but half-truths rather than the full picture.

One of the other humans half-slapped, half-patted Jon on the shoulder, giving him a small wink before gesturing to the buildings half-scattered about in the distance.

"If you are willing to visit the Vanishing Palace, you might find that your Fragment Of Contract should be able to earn you a bunch of fragments if you are willing to share the details of said ability. Businesses and trade agreements between food suppliers, inn keepers, fragment traders and even local guards are quite sought after."

"If you are willing to share more ability details, you might even receive rewards from Amadeus, Delila or even Maliq, if you get the chance to meet them!"

Jon just nodded, going along with the man's words but not giving a definitive answer. There was no chance of him willingly give up the details of his effect descriptions, regardless of whatever benefits Springtown had to offer.

Forget a selection of whatever fragments or Mana Cores he wanted to integrate, even a complete set of Knight Ranked spiritual items would not suffice. Not even Wilheim or Avahni knew the exact descriptions of his Mortal Ranked abilities.

Other than [Thy Name Shalt Be Written In Blood And War] and [Threads Through The Loom] Jon was quite sure that he had never spoken his other effect descriptions out loud to his friends. Although Avahni often shared hers at times, Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael all refrained from being too open with the exact details of their abilities.

Mael just turned towards Jon, half-glancing towards Avahni, Shamael and the others.

"If the five of you need anything while staying within Springtown, please do not hesitate to ask. We are always looking for more people to map out the surrounding landscapes and explore the area for Dungeons or Wonders."

"At the same time individuals with specialized or unique abilities are always welcomed here, regardless of your Race or Mana Cores. Fragments Of Storage or Fragments Of Bag are always needed whenever Sampson and others travel towards the Vine-Ocean Of Grog, Sinful-Rain Palace Of Jezel or the Lai's Forest Of Purple-Reeds, the Dungeons located closest to Springtown." Mael gestured towards the train-shaped spiritual construct in the distance and the waves of fire natured spiritual energy it released.

Stolen novel; please report.

Just at a glance Jon could see several humans, floresiensis, lutin and satanas all exit the train, carrying an assortment of crates filled to the brim with fruits, vegetables, animal corpses and even small collections of fragments and Mana Cores guarded by several Fourth Initiated Mortals.

There had to have been at least a few dozen different fragments, and more than twenty different Mana Cores from all the spiritual energies each one passively released. A small crowd had already started forming behind them, following the group of Fourth Initiated Mortals, hoping to score or even peer into the crates containing said fragments and Mana Cores.

Despite the incredible value of said fragments and Mana Cores, Jon was instead more focused on Yuma. His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes able to pierce through the almost paper-thin defences of non-independent spiritual construct.

[Fragment Of Vehicle] [Behold Thy Resplendent Wheels, Born From Hopeful Coals] (Fire, Vehicle, Summon, Train, Ability, Technique, Construct, Spell, Buff)

With the natural senses of a Knight, Jon could tell that this was a type of summoned vehicle, in a similar manner to how Luin and Assail were his summoned weapons, and Glaucus his summoned armour.

Although Jon wanted to investigate the summoned vehicle, he noticed Mael continue gesturing to the rest of Springtown. Pointing at several different locations while explaining each of their respective purposes.

"There are a total of eight residential-type building summons within Springtown. Although each of them offer about the same level of comfort and buffing effects, Brahmal Hall and Nara-kyo Springs offers perhaps the greatest amongst them although are always busy from what their summoners tells me."

"There are also a handful of private residences within Springtown, by those who have manifested other house-type building summons so make sure not to get confused by which is which. If any of you happen to possess such a summon, please inform one of the representatives located down at the Vanishing Palace."

"The Vanishing Palace is the Memento Source Fragment owned by Nestor; Strategos Of Eyes And Words. It is located at the centre of Springtown and is always filled with his echoes willing to assist anyone with their problems."

Mael started walking in the direction of the Vanishing Palace, prompting Aerilayna to gesture towards them, urging them all to follow him. Avahni and the others swiftly followed behind her, leaving Jon behind with Anthony, David and several of the other older human males.

Turning towards him, Jon gave the older man a smile speaking to him in English at a speed and fluency he had not done in almost half-a-year.

"Thanks for the Fragment Of Swift! I've been holding onto this one for a while now, but I think you might be able to get a better use out of it!" Without even asking the older man, Jon reached into his Red Archives and placed a Fragment Of Flood in his hands, seeing that he had integrated a River Mana Core.

"Thanks again! Hopefully I'll see you guys around!" Jon shouted, rushing back to trail behind after Mael, Aerilayna and the others. Anthony just stood there, stunned by the System notification that manifested before him.

Fragment Of "Flood" discovered!

Would you like to integrate this into your Rain Mana Core, River Mana Core, Dream Mana Core or Moon Mana Core?

His eyes glancing between the fragment Jon had placed in his hand and the figure of the young man who put it there. Despite his initial surprise, Anthony could not help but show a slightly bemused expression, shaking his head from side-to-side.

Gaze lingering on Jon as he caught up with his fellow companions.

"… Brat. And here I was thinking I was looking out for him…" Anthony did not hesitate to integrate the Fragment Of Flood into his River Mana Core, manifesting an ability with a surprising amount of flexibility.

[Fragment Of Flood] [Destructive River Art; Flowing Flood Burst] (River, Flood, Spell, Debuff)

David, Michael, Damien and a few of his other companions glanced towards him, wondering what type of fragment Jon had passed him. Anthony just shrugged his shoulders, gesturing towards the Firestorm Express and the group of explorers who had already started lining up for the next Dungeon run.

"Don't worry about it. The kid- or Jon rather, is interesting so say the least. Did anyone probe him or any of his companions?" Anthony asked, glancing towards Michael and David in particular.

The former shook his head in response. While David on the other hand…

"I couldn't feel anything from that green-haired lutin or that floresiensis. That blue-skinned satanas is at the Sixth Initiation though. The other one was still at the Fifth Initiation. As for that kid…"

David just shook his head, unable to discern even the slightest emanations of spiritual energy from Jon. It was as if he had not integrated even a single Mana Core. The effects of his Fragment Of Perception passing harmlessly through him as though he was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

There was not even the familiar resistance of a Fragment Of Mind blocking his view.

His probe of sun natured spiritual energy seemed to just pass through Jon before disappearing somewhere within the depths of his imaginary mental construct. His Mortal Ranked perceptions unable to discern before being swallowed by the lightless depths of Guf, Tehom and Hadal.

David's control over his Fragment Of Perception paled in comparison to Jon's mastery of his Fragment Of Mind. Lowering the shield effects of his ability and letting the wisp of sun natured spiritual into his Sea Of Knowledge allowed Jon to sever its connection to David mid-activation, dispersing the spiritual energy before he even realized what had happened.

Although a more discerning eye would have noticed such a thing, Jon could not help but smile, trailing behind Aerilayna, softly smiling as he listened to Mael's explanation.

"… A remarkable amount of focus and resources have gone into forming a stable and working economy within Springtown. Nestor is mostly to thank for that, although all summoned companions have been asked to contribute their knowledge in discerning the value of specific fragments and Mana Cores."

"Anyone within Springtown is free to open up a stall or a shop, provided that they inform the representatives within the Vanishing Palace. There is no taxation on trade or bartering within our Safe Zone although delvers and explorers are asked to donate Fragments Of Creation, Fragments Of Smithing, Fragments Of Weave and other creation-type fragments to those who aspire to be creationists…" Mael paused for a moment before turning his head, clarifying his terminology.

"Ah, those who desire to create spiritual items. As I can see, most of you have come into contact with such things through task rewards and whatnot."

Aerilayna did chirp in at this point, raising one had to her chest and gesturing to herself with a small smile on her face.

"As a matter of fact, I happen to be a member of both the Explorers Guild and Creationist Guild! Although I have yet to create my own spiritual item, I have integrated a Fragment Of Creation!" Said the blonde-haired woman, grinning before placing both hands on her hips as if the achievement was something amazing to behold.

"Have you made a spiritual item yet?" Jon could not help but ask, causing Aerilayna to pause, her expression growing twisted as Mael chuckled beside her.

"Aerilayna joined the Creationist Guild that Nestor and Celadonis formed while Springtown was still in its infancy. This was before the Creationist Guild required someone to create a spiritual item before joining. Despite how long she had had the ability for, she had not yet managed to create a-." His words were cut off, as Aerilayna placed a hand over his mouth. Her smile obviously strained as she gestured towards the Vanishing Palace in the distance.

"That's enough about me right this moment. Let's go meet Nestor! Alright everyone!"

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