Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

Holding the two fragments in his hands, Jon grinned as two familiar prompts appeared in front of him.

Fragment Of "Moss" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Mana Core?

Y/N

Jon selected "no" for the time being, remembering the mossy growth on the back and hind legs of the pig-creature. Even if his hypothesis that animals within the small realm were born with a Mana Core related to their species was correct, he did not want to take the chance and integrate something that could dramatically alter or mutate his physiology.

If his hypothesis was correct, then perhaps a human being would awaken a Human Mana Core after they were born, or after a certain age. However, due to the fact that spiritual energy, the substance that a Mana Core was created from did not exist in the 37th universe, Jon and other sentient individuals chosen to participate in the System Introduction were allowed to receive a Mana Core of their choice.

It made sense… but Jon still remained hesitant in wanted to integrate the Fragment Of Mouth and would decide at a later date whether or not to integrate the Fragment Of Moss that he just obtained.

The other fragment however…

Fragment Of "Mind" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Mana Core?

Y/N

Jon almost immediately accepted but hesitated for a second before pressing the "yes" on the screen. Once again, the same dilemma that the Fragment Of Moss, and the Fragment Of Mouth presented appeared to influence Jon's decision. However, this time, Jon decided to trust within his theory, believing that without a Human Mana Core, it would not dramatically mutate his physiology.

Jon did not have enough information to create a theory on the degree of compatibility between certain Mana Cores and specific Fragments. He could not quite grasp what manner of ability would be born if a Fragment Of Fire was integrated into a Water Mana Core, or even a Fragment Of Virtue into a Sin Mana Core.

Some sort of steam-related ability perhaps? Or some sort of strange amalgamation of the two concepts?

He did not doubt the compatibility between his Knowledge Mana Core and the Fragment Of Mind either. Perhaps only something like a Fragment Of Wisdom or a Fragment Of Truth would have a more synergistic effect.

Roughly a minute passed before another screen appeared in front of Jon, his mouth dropping as he examined the effects and description of his brand-new ability.

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

Effect (Mortal): Dramatically increases resistance towards mental-related damages, afflictions, and debuffs. Moderately increases the effectiveness of memory retention and memory recall. Slightly increases the effectiveness of Spells possessing the Knowledge Trait.

Accumulated knowledge, memories, information and experiences all pool within the depths of the subconscious mind, forming the foundations of a Sea Of Knowledge.

Jon blinked, making sure he was reading the ability description correctly.

"What the hell? I'm not dreaming, am I?", Jon muttered. His tone a peculiar combination of excitement and astonishment.

'Increased resistance towards a certain type of damage? An increase to memory retention and memory recall?! "Accumulated knowledge, memories, information and experiences all pool within the depths of the subconscious mind, forming the foundations of a Sea Of Knowledge… Is this a good thing or a bad thing?', Jon gulped, rereading the effect description once more.

He thought it was a good thing. The ability, [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] seemed to be quite a powerful enhancement to several of his mental faculties. The ability possessed the Passive Trait, just like [Monstrous Intuition], but had the added bonus of manifesting some sort of construct within his subconscious mind.

Glancing back down at the corpse of the strange moss-covered pig creature, Jon suddenly understood why the pig-creatures brain possessed such a strange, unfavourable mutation.

While the integration of a Fragment Of Mind into a Knowledge Mana Core produced something called a Sea Of Knowledge, the integration of a Fragment Of Mind into a Pig Mana Core must have manifested some other sort of mental construct which manifested itself physically.

'So, my theory on the compatibility between Mana Cores and Fragments isn't necessarily wrong either. The Fragment Of Mind also produces four effects while the Fragment Of Instinct produces only three effects. Is there something unique about the Fragment Of Mind or is that too a result of compatibility between Mana Cores and Fragments?'.

Shaking his head, Jon threw those thoughts to the back of his mind. He concealed his Fragment Of Moss alongside his Fragment Of Mouth, instead continuing to carve of chunks of meat, skewering them and leaning them beside his small fire.

"At any rate, I've received another powerful supportive ability. [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] doesn't have any offensive or defensive capabilities, so perhaps depending on the next fragment I manage to obtain, I should think about integrating the Fragment Of Mouth or the Fragment Of Moss", Jon said to himself, sniffing as the familiar scent of bacon filled the air.

If Jon had some sort of offensive ability like the fire-breathing duck, or even one that just enhanced his physical capabilities, he would have been able to strike down that green pig-creature in a single blow.

Although based on his meagre understanding of fragments, a basic Fragment Of Strength might increase the strength of his mental faculties, rather than his physical strength.

'Perhaps I should look for a Fragment Of Might? I feel as though the connotations should be closer to what I am looking for more than anything else…', Jon scrunched up his face in thought, feeling his stomach grumble as the scent of grilled meat filled his nostrils.

Jon flipped his strips of skewered meat around, letting the opposite side char while disposing of a few internal organs. Jon knew that he had to bleed the pig-creature out before skinning it and was thankful that he did not need the pelt in one piece.

He did destroy what would have been a valuable scientific specimen, although did not give much thought to such a thing.

The texture of the pig-creature was quite similar to pork, remarkably fatty and slightly chewy, albeit with a somewhat earthy taste to it. Jon had once tried lion manes mushroom at his friend Summer's house a couple years ago, the taste being somewhat reminiscent of that species of fungi.

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'At any rate, over the next few days I should try and build a few traps within the vicinity of this riverbank. The earth is quite soft, given in proximity to a water source, so perhaps a pitfall or two would reduce the chances of a predator wandering into this location. I cannot be certain that there are not any amphibious predators in the area either…'.

Jon made a note of all of thoughts, feeling them take root in the depts of his mind.

He had not quite felt the effects of [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] yet but found himself unable to close his eyes and clear his mind. Flashes of memory and emotions streaked through Jon's mind, the sensation of his spear piercing through fur, flesh and muscle sent an uncomfortable jolt of Jon's arm.

The taste of blood on his lips, after smashing in the head of the goat-creature beneath the cherry blossom tree, filled his mouth with the foul taste of iron. The blooming pain in his knuckles and fingers, bruised purple as the warm feeling of brain matter covered his tender hands.

Jon remembered the names of streets he passed while taking the tram from Trevor's house to the neighbourhood he wanted to rent in. The number of stops he passed between the moment he stepped foot onto the tram, and the exact moment he got off. The faint sounds of music emanating from the woman who stood over a dozen metres in front of him, blaring loudly enough that even Jon could hear it.

The expression on his father's face when he woke up this morning, his bags packed and placed at the bottom of the stairs. The empty smile on his mother's face when she waved him off, urging his brothers and sisters back to their rooms.

Jon opened his eyes, rubbing his chest as if trying to ease a pain that did not exist.

His eyes started to water, and the young man suppressed a sniffle, taking another bite of the meat skewer in his hands.

Jon had come to the realization.

That it did not matter whether it was on Earth, or in this strange foreign dimension called a small realm.

He was still all alone.

He fell asleep shortly after.

Break

Jon's newest ability, [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] melded quite well with his first ability [Monstrous Intuition]. Both improved memory retention, which allowed Jon to remember the details of his surroundings with a near superhuman accuracy. Even when he did find himself straying too far from his camp, his inhuman intuition always guided him back towards familiar landmarks.

Jon had not been able to experiment too much with the limits and the nature of his Sea Of Knowledge but could feel something inherently different about the ability that was separate from [Monstrous Intuition]. Every time Jon closed his eyes; he could feel his memories and feelings being pulled somewhere deep within himself. There was a subtle flow, almost a dull trickle of information dripping down into what he was sure was the Sea Of Knowledge.

Jon had tried to alter this flow of information within himself, but found himself unable to even reduce the flow, let alone halt or reverse it. Jon had a sneaking suspicion however, that the moment he was able to do so, he would complete his first mandatory task.

However, it did raise several questions in Jon's mind.

'Both [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] and [Monstrous Intuition] are considered passive abilities. However, in the event that I can control the flow of information in the former, I should be able to halt the effects of the ability. This means, that passive abilities are not necessarily constantly activated. By actively holding back, I should be able to turn the ability "off", in a sense'.

Jon came to this conclusion, after digging his second, three-foot deep pitfall. Jon started off with just using his hands but used another branch he had found to break up the chunks of dirt into smaller, more manageable clumps. He had done so without his shirt again, not desiring to see his clothes destroyed due to his carelessness.

If it meant he had to rough it out for a few hours, Jon would not hesitate.

The pitfalls were wide enough for Jon to stand in, albeit uncomfortably. Most four-legged creatures that fell in might not be able to get out, given that they did not possess some sort of spatial-displacement or enhanced physical strength or dexterity.

Jon placed his shovel-branch off to the side, sitting on the side of his newly dug hole reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, brownish-yellow rectangular gemstone. Holding the gemstone up to the sun, the jewel produced wonderful rays of prismatic yellow-brown light, illuminating the depths of Jon's pitfall trap.

Fragment Of "Dirt" discovered.

Would you like to integrate this into your Mana Core?

Y/N

Jon declined the translucent screen, enjoying the beautiful colours of the gemstone fragment for a few minutes, before placing it back in his pocket. At least he now knew how all these beasts he had encountered had managed to obtain their fragments. Fragments could be found in the wild, more than likely near locations matching their name or the concept they represent.

It encouraged Jon to explore the forest further, but not before digging a couple more pitfalls.

Jon had continuously glanced at the watch on his wrist every thirty to forty minutes.

While taking breaks in order to drink water and eat the cold grilled meat that he had prepared the previous day, Jon sat in near silence, with nothing but the soft rustling of leaves as company.

Jon was sure that he had spent close to, if not over twenty-four hours within this strange dimension. Between digging holes in the forest and eating bacon alongside his riverbank campsite, Jon felt that his time so far had been quite productive, letting out a small sigh of relief as he sat down next to his stretch of the river.

Jon just sat there silently, watching as the wind rustled the leaves and the smooth water's surface reflected the world directly above Jonathan. His eyes lingered on the soft flowing stream for a few moments, before closing them and letting the sound of trickling water fill his ears.

Jon had tried to suppress the flashes memories caused by his newest ability, focusing his mind solely on the stream of information which flowed into his Sea Of Knowledge. There was no established methodology or guidebook to the manipulation of supernatural abilities given to him by a near-omnipotent System, so Jon could merely rely on eliminating every single incorrect possibility before arriving at the single inalienable one.

Jon tried pulling or adjusting the movement of this stream of information. Pushing it to one side or adjusting the rate at which it entered his Sea Of Knowledge.

Nothing worked.

He tried to will the flow into something more manageable. Urging it to reduce itself to a mere droplet of information at a time. Pushing every single iota of willpower that he possessed into stopping the flow of information for just for one, single moment.

Nothing happened.

Jon took a moment to clear his mind of his previous attempts. Perhaps he was going about this wrong.

If the origin of his ability was the unification between his Fragment Of Mind into his Knowledge Mana Core, then perhaps controlling the latter would be the secret to controlling his ability?

Taking a deep breath, Jon formed the image of his Knowledge Mana Core within his mind, straightening out his breathing and slowing his heart rate. Jon felt the flow of air enter through his nostril and held within his chest for a few moments, before exiting through his mouth in a controlled extended exhalation.

A spherical gemstone of mana within his chest, reminiscent of the colours and textures of a fragment, but significantly larger, gleaming with a distinct grey-silver shimmer. Jon tried to imagine his Knowledge Mana Core as releasing a constant, steady stream of fog-like spiritual energy.

It was a rudimentary attempt at meditation and visualization.

Jon knew that his abilities were born and subsequently fuelled by spiritual energy. Even with the Passive Trait, Jon did not understand how he was able to possess such sharp senses or near-superhuman intuition without something fuelling his enhancement.

Instead of trying to directly control the ability, he instead wanted to start by eliminating the source of its power, making it unable to sustain itself.

Jon tried to suppress the generation of spiritual energy by reducing the amount of fog produced by his Mana Core. Adjusting the rate of release, the concentration spiritual energy of around certain colours, even the rotation of his Mana Core, trying to spin it like a gyroscope to force his spiritual energy into a particular-.

Jon felt a torrent of information flood his mind. Useless details regarding the temperature and humidity of the world around himself. The sensation of wind rippling through his hair, the feeling of how his clothes felt against skin, the number of times his heartbeat within the last ninety seconds.

His [Monstrous Intuition] alerting him to the distant eyes of some foreign creature across the small realm. The sheer distance between the two of them should have prevented either of them from visibly seeing one another, but intuition did not rely on ordinary methods of receiving or obtaining information.

Jon could not even tell where this thing was staring at him from. Only that the hairs on the back of his neck had been immediately raised upon the realization that was being watched.

Jon opened his eyes, immediately leaning forward and vomiting all over his picturesque riverbank. An immense sense of seasickness washing over Jon, his head spinning uncontrollably. He barely had any time to react, before colliding against the soft, slightly damp sands beneath him.

The last thing Jon remembered before passing out, was the image of his grey-silver Mana Core. It's once lustrous grey-silver appearance now completely devoid of any gleam or shine. It's exterior remindful of a dull, gloomy spherical metal, rather than the gemstone-like image that Jon imagined it to be.