[A/N]: First chapter of Book 2! We're jumping right into things!

The aftermath of the battle against the Knight Ranked Malum Hobgoblin left the riverbank that Jon once called his home for over three months a desiccated wasteland. Puddles of dark-yellow mud littered the landscape, saturating the earth and surrounding environment with a foul corruption natured spiritual energy.

Dozens of different types of flora started sprouting up across the sands, and near the tree line where many multi-coloured shrubs, bushes and grasses once grew along. Crimson-coloured flowers with petals more vibrant than sin. Delicious familiar-looking berries with a scent so seductive an uninitiated Mortal would have long since devoured the whole plant.

The trees were no exception either, the vast majority having strange, almost flesh-like textures to their bark and wood. When some trees oozed sap, the thick almost gelatine-like liquid within was often ashen and produced a nauseating scent which repelled even the most gluttonous of beasts.

All of them either possessed the Blood Trait or the Flesh Trait, which was obvious to most even just at a glance. The presence of an overwhelming amount of blood natured spiritual energy, and flesh natured spiritual energy was repulsive, to the point where those with more acute senses would feel uncomfortable just walking past the area.

Those plants that did not possess either of those traits often had grey, ugly-looking fungi and mushrooms developing across their form, each of which not-so-coincidentally possessed the Fungi Trait. Fungi natured spiritual energy was just as prevalent in the area, although did not seen quite so out of place amidst the natural flora and shrubbery.

On the other hand, shadows did often appear darker across certain sections of the riverbank. Fear natured spiritual energy saturated the earth and air, causing the natural flight-or-fight responses of the animals and creatures that attempted to use this riverbank to relieve their thirst or clean themselves amongst the flowing waters.

Deep trenches in the sand could be seen where spears or hatchets had slashed through the earth. Pillars of stone and rock littered the landscape, appearing akin to archaic monoliths or ancient steles. Broken wooden tendrils emanating traces of various different types of spiritual energy laid in pieces across the riverbank, and even after seven days, the scent flesh and blood still lingered in the air, often attracting flies, carrion birds and beasts that scavenge for food.

Despite five Mortals battling the Malum Hobgoblin all at once, it merely took the effort of a single summoned companion to become the final decisive factor which ended the conflict. The strength of the Incarnation Of The Hunt was overwhelming, especially when compared to other Mortal existences.

Creatures that awaken Mana Cores are often less intelligent than the average sapient. This difference in wisdom, foresight, and capacity for thought allows humans or lutins to hunt and kill predators far stronger than themselves.

Weapons became the fangs and talons that these species lacked.

Armour became the think hide or the scaled muscle that satanas' and floresiensis' lacked.

But what would happen, if an apex predator possessed the same level of intelligence as a human did? Something perhaps unrivalled within their natural environment, with no predators or threats save perhaps members of its own species?

Clad in thick, indomitable, aegean scales capable of resisting conventional mortal weaponry. With a monstrous size and an overwhelming mass that would ignore the vast and dangerous depths of the oceans? With talons capable of rending a man in two, and teeth beyond number capable of shredding through flesh and metal with trouble?

That was the Incarnation Of The Hunt.

That was Ler Setanta, before reached the First Initiation.

How is someone supposed to resist such a might?

'How could I even go about defeating such an opponent?'

Jon took a deep breath, leaning against the enormous form of Ashvattha Rana. The eighteen-year-old bathed beneath the Earthen Treasury Womb's golden-green light, ignoring the sounds of chatter and occasional laughter coming from the campfire in the corner of his eye.

It had been one week since Jon and the others had fought against the Knight Ranked Malum Hobgoblin. Since the ten-foot-tall ashen-skinned beast that launched an attack on their campsite, almost killing Jon and the others in the process.

There was no doubt in Jon's mind that if he was not present, Avahni, Wilheim, Sariel and Shamael all would have died. None of them possessed the same physicality or number of physical enhancements that would allow them to escape the Malum Hobgoblin in the event that he was killed.

Perhaps Avahni might have been able to escape through the usage of her various summoned companions. Titus Claudius would have been able to withstand a few blows before breaking under the strength of the hobgoblin, and Metzli would have been able to prevent the fire swarm beetle from dying, giving more time for Avahni to escape.

The Shade-Seeking Shield Moss was not that effective given that Xochitl devoured the majority of Avahni's wood natured spiritual energy. The Voracious Wood-Swallowing Mangrove was powerful in its own right, given its incredible size and ability to withstand damage and afflictions, although lacked the same level of intelligence that both Schwarz Eis and Ler Setanta possessed.

Wilheim used his Fragment Of Transcendence which possessed some outrageous effect to it. Avahni was not able to use [That Which Is Born Through Fire] due to her continuous casting of [Thou Art The Monarch Of Ash And Life], in addition to Ru Luan Di and Titus Claudius both drawing upon her fire natured spiritual energy.

Shamael was almost useless during the fight, although the blue-skinned satanas lacked the fragments and Mana Cores needed to make a difference in such a fight. Sariel on the other hand, had quite the number of abilities, including targeted cleanses for willing targets and the ability to manifest shields which devours spiritual energy.

Jon glanced towards the green-skinned satanas, chatting with Avahni and Wilheim with a slight green-blush to her face. Jon was unsure if it was the presence of the fire in front of her, or the attention of the lutin and floresiensis that made her look ever-so-slightly embarrassed.

Jon felt his gaze linger on Sariel for longer than what was appropriate, the individual in question noticing his eyes sate at her from beneath the Earthen Treasury Womb, giving the human a small smile in response.

The human felt his cheeks grow warm seeing that he had been caught staring, the familiar sound of laugher emanating throughout his Sea Of Knowledge.

"Has a young maiden caught your eye Jon?"

Ashvattha Rana teased, while adjusting the position of several roots.

Jon, who was once leaning against the enormous golden-green leaved bodhi tree, had not been moved across over half-a-dozen feet and was now facing the rest of the group. The movements attracted the attention of Avahni, Wilheim and the others, Ru Luan Di and Titus Claudius similarly lifting their heads and gazing towards the human with curious expressions on their faces.

Avahni, with ever the smile on her face could not help but lift her arm, waving towards her human companion.

"Jon! Have you finished brooding yet?" the lutin asked in Pluntian, grinning as she glanced towards Wilheim. The floresiensis gave his elfin-companion a small thumbs up, causing the smile on her face to grow even larger as a result.

The eighteen-year-old rolled his eyes, letting out a small sigh before flicking Ashvattha Rana's roots. The action was inconsequential, although the amount of force behind it might have broken an uninitiated mortals finger.

"We will have words about this Rana. I can assure you of this," said Jon, stepping off the bodhi tree and placing his bare feet onto the damp sands.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The sound of laughter once again echoed throughout his Sea Of Knowledge. The Earthen Treasury Womb could not help but feel pleased with the fact that Jon had regained a sense of normalcy, despite his intense battle with the Malum Hobgoblin several days ago.

Jon had fought against a Knight Ranked beast who excelled in inflicting debilitating debuffs and damaging afflictions upon its targets. Although the physical enhancement abilities of the Malum Hobgoblin were subpar in comparison to Jon's, the fact that it was a Knight meant that it could outperform Jon in terms of endurance and spiritual energy.

Jon had fought against something that would have killed him in a single blow and even managed to cut one of its arms off. Ashvattha Rana watched as the human danced amidst an earthen forest, the Thulian Spellspear in his hands a wondrous blur of neon-pink and dark-yellowish blood.

There was the growing sense of perfection within each of Jon's movements. Each step Jon took encapsulated over a dozen different movements, producing an amount of force beyond what humans should be capable of and pushing the limitations of what his enhanced musculature was able to achieve.

Jon's understanding of what the physical form encompassed had expanded over the course of multiple battles.

His fight against Han Of The Red Wind allowed Jon to touch upon the surface of his physical boundaries. His Seir-Glacial Heart and Murmur-Glacial Marrow pushed Jon towards something "more" than human, the manifestation of his Hades-Sagacity Shadow and Minerva-Sagacity Eyes even more proof of this not-so-gradual shift.

After Jon fought against those nine Malum Goblins, the nascent form of enlightenment given to him through the effects of Ashvattha Rana granted Jon a level of mastery over his physical body that went beyond a Mortals understanding of movement. The image of himself within his Sea Of Knowledge was repeated with perfect clarity in reality.

Thought became synonymous with movement.

Movement produced actions parallel with his thoughts.

And the process repeated itself, until whatever Jon was fighting was dead.

The conflict against the Knight Ranked Malum Hobgoblin was the catalyst which birthed Jon's ideal form of combat.

An overwhelmingly fast and destructive notion of battle formed within his mind. Jon found himself enjoying the sense of superiority he had over the Malum Hobgoblin, evading its blows and punches with mere inches between himself and the Knight, while simultaneously launching thrusts and slashes with Luin, inflicting his own debuffs in return.

[Crying Fool].

[Cedarwood Bane].

[Orchid Dream].

These three debuffs stacked up more times than Jon could count, [Crying Fool] transforming into [Inversed Smile] multiple times before the end of the battle.

Jon went into the fight without possessing all of his spiritual energy. Without Archetype Avarice to support him, and with half of his lifeforce drained to manifest Archetype Green. With the dozens of buffs given to him by Avahni, Sariel, Wilheim, and Ashvattha Rana, Jon was able to fight without care for a few minutes before his Fragment Of Incarnation was annihilated, and he was forced to bare the weight of his afflictions all on his own.

The Malum Hobgoblin had inflicted Jon with over a dozen different debuffs and afflictions, each one rotting, devouring or corrupting Jon's flesh, organs and spirit.

Even with Ru Luan Di periodically cleansing Jon of various debuffs and afflictions before they could take root within him, the Liver Of The Ginseng King was constrained by a mortal spiritual energy reserve.

After the battle, it took the combined efforts of Ru Luan Di, Wilheim, and Sariel to remove all of the debuffs and afflictions wreaking havoc on his innards.

Avahni even decided to use one of her task rewards on a [Mortal Ranked Purifying Flower] which helped alleviate some of the weight placed on Wilheim and Sariel.

'If it was not for these people… I might not be standing here today.'

The human smiled, sitting beside Wilheim and Sariel, giving the former a small nod as he received his portion of the beast Avahni had hunted. The venison-looking creature was as flavoursome as the hound-faced bear he had fought several weeks ago, causing his smile to widen as a distinct herb-like taste filled his mouth.

Glancing towards the corner of his vision, Jon ignored the several notifications that littered his field of view, keeping himself focused on the presence of Wilheim and Sariel beside him.

Jon joined in on the conversation that Avahni was having with Shamael in Nain, the former trying to teach the blue-skinned satanas the difference between "respectful" and "honoured" variations of the same sentence.

"With more of a "thou" sound rather than a "though" sound, okay!"

"Like this?"

Jon heard Sariel giggle when she heard the response that Shamael gave, causing the male satanas to turn dark-blue in the face waving his hands towards the lutin.

Things were… getting back to normal, to say the least.

After his fight with the Malum Hobgoblin, Jon knew that he had received a plethora of rewards but had refrained from seeing just what the System had awarded him with.

Jon had a feeling that he had completed at least one other mandatory System task but did not feel even the slightest inclination to check since he awoke two days after the battle. Jon had not felt his reserves of spiritual energy completely full until this morning, [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] regenerating some of the lingering external wounds that Ru Luan Di had not healed.

The little ginseng king had told him that obtaining a certain level of mastery within his Fragment Of Regeneration would allow him to heal wounds within seconds of receiving them.

Without an understanding of his physical body, and how the processes within it occurred Jon would be unable to develop his self-recovery ability further, limited through his own ignorance and unwillingness to understand.

Clenching his fist a couple of times, Jon felt the lingering soreness in his muscles vanish after circulating some of his wood natured spiritual energy into his Fragment Of Regeneration.

'Although I still have quite a ways to go, things are coming along quite nicely all things considered.'

Jon did glance towards his status page, noticing how long it had gotten after integrating so many new fragments.

Name: Jonathan Randall Guilliman Age: 19 Rank: Mortal Tier: Sixth Initiation Title: N/A

Mana Core(s):

[1]: Knowledge [Fragment Of Instinct] [Monstrous Intuition] (Knowledge, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Sensory, Perception)

[Fragment Of Mind] [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] (Knowledge, Mind, Passive, Ability, Enhancement, Resistance, Self)

[Fragment Of Tree] [Ashvattha Rana; Earthen Treasury Womb] (Knowledge, Tree, Summoning, Spirit, Spell, Buff)

[Fragment Of War] [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] (Knowledge, War, Spell, Enhancement, Buff)

[Fragment Of Shadow] [Thou Is But A Shadow Of Oneself] (Knowledge, Shadow, Mutation, Enhancement, Ability, Spell, Perception, Resistance)

[Fragment Of Eyes] [Eyes Through The Looking Glass] (Knowledge, Eyes, Mutation, Enhancement, Ability, Spell, Perception, Sensory)

[2]: Wood [Fragment Of Regeneration] [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] (Wood, Regeneration, Passive, Recovery)

[Fragment Of Eruption] [Wrath Of Green, Piercing Wood Eruption] (Wood, Eruption, Spell, Curse, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Spear] [Behold Thy Luminous Spear, Clad In Green Radiance] (Wood, Spear, Summoning, Ability, Weapon, Buff, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Barrier] [Temperance Of Green, Imperial Wood Barrier] (Wood, Barrier, Spell, Shield, Buff)

[Fragment Of Incarnation] [With Thou In Hand, Wood Shalt Live Forever] (Wood, Incarnation, Ability, Technique, Spell, Construct, Buff)

[Fragment Of Prana] [Green Shall Become The Ode To Eternity] (Wood, Immortality, Mutation, Ability, Passive, Enhancement, Buff)

[3]: Ice [Fragment Of Destruction] [Requiem Of The White Star] (Ice, Destruction, Technique, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Heart] [Lamentations Of A Frozen Affection] (Ice, Heart, Mutation, Ability, Passive)

[Fragment Of Hunt] [Rhapsody Of The Cold Star] (Ice, Hunt, Technique, Buff)

[Fragment Of Marrow] [Ours Is The Blood That Births Winter And Ice] (Ice, Marrow, Mutation, Ability, Enhancement)

[Fragment Of Summon] [Schwarz Eis; White Lady Of The Winter Castle] (Summon, Ice, Spirit, Spell, Defensive, Shield, Spell, Memento, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Annihilation] [Frozen End Art; Envelop Seas And Mountains In Ice And Snow] (Ice, Annihilation, Spell, Technique, Ability, Curse, Debuff)

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

[Fragment Of Trap] [False Spear Art; Concealed Spear Detonation] (Spear, Trap, Spell, Technique, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Eradication] [Imperial Spear Art; Divine Spear Extinction] (Spear, Eradication, Technique, Spell, Ability, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Weapon] [Behold Thy Phantasmal Spear; Enveloped In Thulian Grace] (Spear, Weapon, Summon, Ability, Spell, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Ira] [Wrath Is The Paradise Whispered On Thou Lips] (Spear, Ira, Spell, Technique, Buff, Debuff)

[5]: War [Fragment Of Stealth] [The Fools Advance, Inversing Life And Death] (War, Stealth, Spell, Ability, Technique, Enhancement, Sensory, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Avaritia] [With Thou In Hand, Even War Will Be Dyed Yellow] (War, Avaritia, Ability, Technique, Spell, Construct, Buff)

[Fragment Of Armour] [Behold Thy Heretical Armour, Adorned In Chalk Light] (War, Armour, Summon, Ability, Defensive, Shield, Buff)

[Fragment Of Invidia] [Envious Is The Beast That Lurks Within] (War, Invidia, Spell, Technique, Buff, Debuff)

[Fragment Of Contract] [Thy Name Shalt Be Written In Blood And War] (War, Contract, Spell, Ability, Binding, Buff, Debuff)

[6]: Weave

'I forgot to mention that bit didn't I?'

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.