First Ring (Part 2)

"This damned withered branch seems to be the same as Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. But if they at least have seven rings, this piece of work only gave me three! Really? Could it be me twin spirits will stop developing after the third ring?"

= That conclusion seems to be accurate.

"Accurate, my ass!" – Aiden scowled in indignation. – "Nexus, change of plans. The first aging of spirit rings, it should be easy enough to develop. Then all resources on evolution and growth."

= Acknowledged, master.

"Well, it's not that bad, actually." – he sighed. – "By the way, what was that creature, and what age? Not like it really matters."

= It was a plant type spirit creature known as Snow Glazed Lotus. As for its age, it barely stepped past one hundred years. But fret not, it was actually ideal for a master to absorb due to weak body foundation. Oh, but now your body is quite powerful for a boy, you already have a strength of an average teen.

Looks like the mark gave him a lot. And he didn't feel that cold anymore. So that's the prowess of purple mark. Great!

He stood up and looked around finding only speckles of blood here and there. After a moment with a thought, he summoned both spirits out. His snake spirit didn't change him much, only his sky-blue eyes became deeper and developed vertical pupils and a slight amount of silver scales emerged on his temples, intertwining with pitch-black hair in a very natural manner, painting part of them in silver.

Well, Aiden transmigrated into a future lady killer for sure.

"Let's check that little snake." – he infused spirit power inside the ring that shone in yellow color and realized that this breakthrough brought him directly to the fourteenth level.

Suddenly a petal from thin ice with vessels inside filled with sparks of lightning appeared in front of him. Aiden knew that he can move it however he wanted. It can be used in many ways, however, the primary function was not defense, but restriction through electrical shock.

"Good enough!" – next came withered stick.

A golden symbol, full of the mystery of life lit up in front of his forehead. That was the only manifestation of that tree spirit. And then he felt clarity. It was like a revelation, his mind became tranquil, emotions came and go in a slight breeze and the world presented itself with more details.

"Wow, although it is not a perception ability, it really calms the mind and can even shatter illusions. Well, for it to be effective I really need to age my ring at least by several hundred years. Better to make it purple. But now I can finally hunt for food. I just need to kill one and using Divine Forge Tools creating proper weapons will be easy. As for what weapon? That goes without saying, Nexus found only one battle codex with both ice and lightning affinities that furthermore was one of the Seven Sacred Weapon Arts."

Storm Reaper Divine Art.

'Ultimate sword art with style-focused both on power and speed. Well, that stuff is for the future, anyway. One must first learn the basics to at least be able to control it properly. As I read through the art, I understood one thing – it's too destructive and violent. So yeah, survival and basics top all.'

Now there is only one problem. Where to go after all the blizzard died down? Aiden looked around and all that entered vision can be explained with one simple word: snow.

"Well, Nexus, do you have GPS feature?" – he joked without laughing.

= I don't, but master, why not use a compass and go south?

Aiden finally hit his forehead. He took out a little knife and extracted a little metal, creating an arrow as thin as cicada wing with little to no mass. He then summoned pure spiritual energy while circulating it through the lightning nature of the snake spirit. It rained down on the layer of eternal ice and created a little cup of boiling water out of melted ice.

Arrow was laid gently and made a spin.

"South it is then." – he said while following the direction of an arrow with his firm gaze. – "Let's hope I didn't screw up in polarity."

* * *

"North pole, if anything, surely has its own way around landscapes." – It didn't take long for him to stumble out of the snowy plain into an unfamiliar environment. Crystal forest of enormous proportions where one can't see its end was scattered densely over canyons and mountains of ice.

It was like an everyday mountain range but lacked a feeling of vastness with its twisting paths and low altitude that on another thought changes quickly, creating a natural labyrinth.

= Please note, master, that information I can procure based solely on your senses and special feature of Nexus – scan. But the scan needs a discharge of spirit energy. You wanted a map. I can give you one at risk of attracting every single spirit beast out there.

"No need in that case." – Aiden was only half worried because all he could think about now is food. Three days without eating created headaches and a deep feeling of powerlessness in his limbs. Sometimes he thought if it will be possible to hunt and kill even a regular beast that way. – "Let's find a cave."

= Master, I must warn you. Any shelter in this place has a high possibility to be already taken. Tread carefully, we both don't want you dead, right?

"You are one hell of a downer, Nexus."

= I'm just been vigilant.

"Noted." – Aiden nodded while stepping inside not so spacious cavity in the ice wall.

Darkness descended after just several steps and constant noise from the never-ending wind died down right after. The eerie atmosphere surrounded him and pressed mightily on the nerves, which made him all tense inside. Step by step a kid about three years old traveled through a narrow passage. And if even he thought that way, one can imagine that no adult can be here.

Soon crystal walls widened revealing an amazing view on the interior of a small cave. It was brightly lit, which forced Aiden to look above. The top of the ice was as transparent as a glass of utmost purity, letting the sun pierce through it and illuminate the cave. It was really beautiful in a unique way.

The very center of it has a strange, almost surreal mirage, a true natural oddity and the most beautiful site Aiden had ever seen in both lives. A dancing light in hovering shards of ice. It was an array of floating crystals that were connected with each other by strings of golden energy, acting as a channel or, if it might be more appropriate to say – energy circulation system akin to a bloodstream.

And what really drawn attention is a little pool of silver liquid below. It sparkled with power, but the shards greatly restrained its aura, forming some kind of loop in that hurricane of energies.

"Nexus… what is that?" – stammered Aiden with a face full of shock. Its beauty was that astounding.

= Judging by the aura, it is a dragon's heart. A broken heart of a dragon.

"That… did I really hit a jackpot?"

= If you want to die, feel free to act on that jackpot, master.

"Did I hear a sarcastic remark just now?"

= You did not.

"Damn, you are learning to be naughty." – facepalmed Aiden in deep indignation. – "So, I presume this thing is too potent for me?"

= Of course. And you can't use it to cultivate, you are a human after all. As for your spirit evolution, that is a risk. I recommend taking it all in Lonzaik and let me study properly before ensuring master safety. However, my primary scan told me that your snake spirit is compatible, but the power is too huge. Contrary to someone's shallow thoughts, dragons' blood will never strengthen the human body if drunk or injected through spirit power or even rings. It will only create instability and conflicts in genetics.

= The only way is to directly feed it to your snake spirit which is for now… impossible feat.

"What kind of dragon is that? Heart made of crystal."

= A one with just a step to godhood.

Aiden shook his head bitterly. Every piece of flesh of such an entity is really not what it seems. He willed and Lonzaik took it all to a single drop.

"But I'm still hungry." – He made a round around a cave, creating ice furniture with Divine Forge Tools and suddenly revelation dawned on him. It was really cliché thinking of his previous world that limited his possibilities! That's right, he is not on Earth, he can apply many more means for survival.