First Ring (Part 1)

Aiden did as was told. Manipulating Horont was as easy as breathing, almost as if it's part of him. Bright and clear aura poured inside and attacked cocoons relentlessly yet orderly. Aiden immediately felt an influx of tremendous amounts of energy and his level spiked in a matter of minutes helping his body out.

During the normal course of an awakening, a sizeable amount of spirit power would be discharged in the atmosphere, thus resulting in waste and many natural phenomenons. In some sense, his way now was way more efficient. Still, it wasn't right, to begin with. In course of two hours, his spirit power reached the pinnacle and stopped there, while his spirits quietly awakened.

He looked at them in dismay.

"Well, that's just outstanding." – he said in a grieving tone. – "A sick snake and a dried twig. Nexus, I feel cheated."

= Master, I detect ancient powers from both of them, so you might jump to conclusions here a bit too early. Didn't that dried twig heal you the moment it awakened?

"Oh… speaking of which! I'm really healed. And that's troubling. I haven't noticed the difference." – Aiden frowned and looked at himself. As he thought, his limbs were freezing! He needs a warm place and to move as much as possible.

= Right now your body condition went to peak state, but with exposure to low temperatures, your health and body heat will get worse fast. Recommend finding shelter.

"Easier said than done." – he looked around the endless blizzard in dismay. – "By the way, what are my attributes? Can I use fire or something alike to warm myself?"

= Your first spirit is Silver Horned Snake. It's a dual attributed spirit beast with ice and lightning affinity and is known for its ferocity. It is suitable for battle and control paths. As for the second, information about it is scarce and I have no way to determine tree type from just this, so I don't know.

= Take into consideration that it has three buds of yet to be developed flowers. What are those I don't know as well, but judging by its ability to heal it should be a tool spirit of support category.

Aiden was already digging inside the eternal layer of snow and ice with a little crude knife – one of the meager tools he had with him. It was small even for his hand, almost looked like an amulet than the actual thing, but made from iron it was better than trying to shatter ice with bare fingers.

His stamina hit rock bottom really quickly, making three years old kid pant. Spirit power didn't warrant a stronger body, at least not on his level. In-depth he was still a regular boy until he gets his first ring, but that's a troublesome matter.

The killing wasn't easy and killing a spirit beast even more so.

"Nexus, what knowledge about body refinement do you have?" – he finally felt sheltered against the wind. Endless snowing helped in forming natural walls around his improvised hideout, but it did little to no effect on preserving heat.

Aiden rested for a bit and continues to dig.

= This world in its infancy had many cultivation methods that went on an original path compared to current spirit masters. They used qi, ancient bloodlines, and mastery of combat to ascend to Godhood. But for that path, one needs a suitable meridian network. Naturally, Eternium Library has all knowledge of long-gone civilization.

"Pass me a method I can use to strengthen my body. And a battle training one will be good too." – Aiden hid amidst the snowfall and curled to preserve as much heat as he can. – "Well, I only have a piece of bread left, and that was because the previous person received it from a guard who threw it in the last moment. That's kind of… sad."

He bit on it. It felt cold and hard, like a stone.

= There is only one, but essentially, it's a pinnacle creation of a long-lost path. You can only train in it because the first step has zero requirements for the influx of qi, neither does it need you to exert yourself in training. On the contrary – the weaker you are, the easier it is to reach the first stage – Mark Convergence.

= I will now transfer knowledge to you.

Immediately a vast amount of knowledge poured inside his head, but essentially the process felt like a resurfacing of memories, almost as if he knew it all this time.

Nexus was right.

The weaker you are, the easier it will go. The first step was to condense all your bodily inner force in a single place and create a mark, that will later start nourishing the body and can be used as a qi attraction amplifier.

Later on, the cultivator only needs to create more marks in order for his body to enhance itself, and that process can lead to unimaginable results. All in all, there are twelve types of marks, each has its own unique purpose. One category increased strength, another toppled all else in promotion of endurance, third excelled in defense, and so on and so forth.

Pity though Aiden had to decide what mark to make according to current circumstances and there was no way to cultivate multiple marks, as they were not compatible with each other. Well, he thought just a fraction of a second, the choice was obvious.

Immortal Elemental Body.

What it gives is resistance to all elements. Although the actual immunity will come at the very end of a path which is a hell of a long run, even the ability to ignore a bit of this damned bone-chilling coldness will be a blessing. He sat then and there, and the entire process went unexpectedly smoothly.

"I feel strange like my body is a bit different."

= What color is your mark, master?

"White."

= That's the very basic one. Later when you train you not only need to create many more but enhance their quality.

Aiden already knew about that. Each increase will give a significant boost. What made him happy thou. Despite this mark specializing in resistance, other aspects of the body increased.

The bread was finished, food is gone, and he never stopped to feel this annoying hunger.

"It really gets on my nerves and forces to do anything."

Perhaps only the ones who had gone through famine themselves will ever understand how it really feels to starve in the middle of nowhere. Somehow, his resentment for mother disappeared with the last piece of bread. Now he felt distant, cold, and void of any emotions.

Now he thoroughly felt abandoned.

With that in thought, he suddenly has fallen asleep.

* * *

"W-What… is… happening?" – he felt numb and inside his head Nexus was going in alarm mode, waking him up. – "I don't… feel… good…"

= Master quickly wake up and roll to the left.

"What… roll?"

= Master, roll to the left if you want to survive!

That really woke him up slightly and he rolled, but with great difficulty. Something sticky was everywhere, but it felt half frozen.

= Master, take out your knife and hit the ground near the left of your face, do it now, master!

Aiden could barely move his hands. The knife fell from his unstable grip on a hilt, but he soon found it again and finally saw that his arms were full of blood. That sticky sensation is his own blood!

= Master! Hit! The! Ground! Now!

And he took all the power he had in that little body of his and plunged it right under his nose. His body jerked immediately and something emerged through the frozen surface.

= Scanning soul ring in accordance with research procedures in the development of spirit ring's aging program. Scan complete, data stored. Master, that's your only chance for survival. Absorb the ring now.

Aiden was bleeding and felt weaker and weaker. Thus, he again had no choice in the matter. All for survival, everything else just stupid banter and unnecessary lyrics.

"H-How?" – his voice was hoarse.

= No time to do it the regular way. Use Horont to dissolve it and Krondan to recreate inside your body, but you must do it simultaneously.

Actually, that task wasn't as hard as he thought, it's like copying book from one place to another while erasing the original.

Under the guidance of Divine Forging Tools yellow ring easily transferred into his body and when the process was done, he shook from within as majestic aura covered vicinity of snow desert. Withered branch trembled, snake shifted its tiny head, and all seemed to notice descending spirit ring, all seemed to welcome connection with it.

Both spirits established channels at the same time, giving birth to one ability each.

The snake went to sleep while slightly enlarging in size, but the withered branch came to life. One bud on it twisted in a surreal dance of emerging life and white lotus flower bloomed in splendor and beauty. It's momentarily unleashed a colossal amount of life force.

It went everywhere.

More than half of it traveled straight for his second spirit, enhancing its growth by over three times! Now it resembled an actual ferocious predator it meant to be. Another fraction healed him, but what left entered his Immortal Elemental Body Mark and made it purple, while the mark sent a wave of power and comfort throughout the entire body in response to evolution.

That was a thorough upgrade on all fronts, however, Aiden didn't feel happy at all. He suddenly had a kind of realization and a hunch about this not so withered branch and realized tremendous foreboding feeling lingering inside.

= You seem to be right, master.

As part of him, albeit AI, Nexus analyzed all and came to the same conclusion.