After un-summoning the dumb turtle, I pulled out my basic world map. Looking over the marked danger zones, listed natural resources and countries, I decided our next destination because while this danger zone was perfect for the princess it was almost useless for me. We essentially had four choices, going to the Isle of Mages to raid the tower dungeon, sailing across the interior ocean to reach the Free Trade Republic and seeing if we could acquire the materials for another ritual, heading west into the dracon controlled Cazith dynasty to visit their mid-level danger zone or heading to the south most high-level danger zone in the princesses contested wind spirit kingdom.

After discussing with Emily we decided to head to the Isle of Mages tower dungeon. This strange dungeon had a core formed from a human that became a monster. It had the intelligence required to make a deal with the local elves in its infancy and agreed it would act as a training site for them under the provisions they would not destroy it. This deal was backed by the system and forged limitations into what the dungeon could do in exchange for obtaining other methods of gaining power.

As it grew larger and more powerful the elves tried harder to restrict it while it tried to rebel both against the elves and the system. The end result was a draw as the elven forces would be stalled and run out of manpower and supplies before reaching the core but the dungeon lacked the strength to kill them. This all changed when an elf supported by the system used his life to launch a last-ditch spell targeting and destroying the dungeons mind since they could not physically reach its core.

Without consciousness to guide it the core reverted to it's most common actions digging deeper and trying to eliminate the invaders as any other dungeon would. However, due to instincts developed from living so long as a training location and the system bindings, it naturally limited the strength of its monsters based on the depth as it had in the past. The system as retribution for the betrayal forced it to start producing rewards which the dungeon's vicious instincts abused by using the treasures to lure the invaders deeper or into traps.

The created treasures were either replica of possession lost within its walls or dungeon specific bioforms and plants. An example of the produced bioforms would be the life pearl. This small milky white orb when liquified was capable of healing even the most life-threatening physical wound in an instant but was ineffective on toxins. If the princess could find and ingest this incredibly rare object, she would be able to produce one portion every three days with Venom Talons ability to create 10ml of potion or poison from raw mana.

Despite what it may seem the life pearl is not some perfect miracle elixir and would at most equal a normal healing potions potency in the 6th layer. As the layers get higher the mana density and gravity increase meaning that a strength stat of 100 in the 7th layer would equal 10 in the 6th and 1 in the 5th. The very fact that the life pearl is equivalent to an item from a higher layer is still impressive and reason enough to seek it out.

Other bioforms include living weapons and armour but they are only about as impressive as their steel equivalent with their only inherent benefit being self-repair. They can be abused to form a much more powerful tool with the use of rituals, potions and reforging but I would only attempt to do so if I had access to multiple pieces due to the high failure rate.

Having decided on our destination the princess and I began stockpiling berries and nuts while separating some of the nonpoisonous parts of the local animals. Abusing magics ability to extract water from the flesh while heating it was incredibly easy to turn this meat into jerky for the journey. During one of our forest walks, I decided I would ask the princess a few questions regarding the system.

Stopping in a clearing I called out to the foraging girl. "Hey princess, I take it you have been educated about the system"

She turned to me with her hands on her hips and responded with an air of superiority. "I'll have you know I studied under both my father and the royal magician!"

Wanting to see if she was bluffing I countered, "Ok, then princess. What is health?"

Looking puzzled she replied, "The thing that keeps you alive."

Taking a moment to process the sheer stupidity of her answer I clarified my question. "No, I mean physically what is health? How does it operate? What are its limits? And what can bypass it?"

With a slightly red face, she yelled, "How the hell would I know any of that?" Before storming off into the forest.

I quickly realised my problem, to this world health is just another part of everyday life. With the complexity magic adds to the equation, the scientific method had never really developed in this world. These people had never really studied the hows and whys of the system and instead focused on understanding how to operate inside the system.

Tracking down the moping princess, I found her Playing with her familiar. Deciding I would gain some goodwill by teaching her and appear more intelligent if I passed the pheonixan knowledge off as my own conclusions, I approached and spoke softly. "Sorry princess, on my world we constantly try to understand the rules behind reality. Would you like to know what I have discovered about health?"

Looking up at me with puppy dog eyes she whimpered, "Sure"

Treating it like a lecture I began narrating. "Well you see princess, health is a type of invisible shield that exists one millimetre above the skin that reacts to harmful intent. This is why an attack won't hurt you but I can poke you like this." Stretching my hand forward I poked her on the cheek.

"It is designed to block weak attacks but also has limitations. If you are attacked by something weak it will have to wear down the barrier before it can harm you, just like I had to do to the Horned Rabbit in the cave." Looking at her, I made sure she understood before I continued. "However the same thing does not apply to strong attacks. Any attack with damage that exceeded ten percent of your health will breach the shield allowing it to cause harm. I think you might call this something similar to a critical strike."

After thinking for a while the princess replied "I think I remember being told something about powerful attacks hurting you regardless of heath. So at least on that point, you are correct."

Having been validated by the princess I recommence my explanation. "There are also certain things that can breach your health shielding without being strong such as higher elemental magics like space or lightning, attacks focused on a small area and poisons"

I explained the reasoning behind my theories, that were actually examples listed in my knowledge, and began to reveal the scientific method of researching to the princess during our journey to the coast.

The trip to the port town of Alva on the west coast of the Holy Dragon Empire took around a month and was subsequently in the vicinity of where I found the princess after the oath call. From all this travelling it became apparent this was a relatively small planet because according to my map it would take about a year to travel from one side of the world to the other even when hunting and training as we had been doing.

Why train you ask? Because knowing how to fight or cast spells is one thing but being able to cast them instantly in a moment of stress is another and the only way to get to that level is repetition. A wise man once said swing your sword a million times in practice so you only have to swing your sword once in a fight. Who was this sage of infinite wisdom you ask? Well not to brag but it was me.

After arriving we booked a room aboard the next ship travelling north towards the Isle of Mages. Seeing as it was scheduled to leave the following morning we chose to stay in one of the nobles lodges. Where did we get the influx of money? We had happened upon an empty mine that had become a lair for monsters while hunting during our journey. After killing the Wind Wolves inhabiting the location, we discovered that it had been the hiding place of some rather unlucky bandits.

Their bones were littered around some crates containing their pillaged goods, primarily trading materials such as silk, precious gems and gold jewellery. One forgery ritual later and the few plain rings, bangles and hoops had been converted into three hundred gold coins that when added to the brigands stash it totalled 316 gold, 853 silver and multiple bags of copper. The princess made sure I did not destroy the objects worth more than the coins they could produce and pocketed the silk to have someone make some clothing later.

Despite the price, the room was rather sparse containing two beds, a storage cupboard and an offset alcove hidden by a folding screen that housed a shower. The few things in the room, however, were made from expensive wood and decorated with intricate patterns. This kind of display was definitely in the dracon style of form over function.

As the sun set beyond the horizon we tallied our gains with the princess gaining fourteen levels while I added another six to my levelling pool bringing it to nine. Since the princess lacked the luck stat she could not withhold them and had been forced to progress one step at a time. Since I was only I level away from reaching my cap I decided to cash them in. Placing one of the two brass rings on the ring finger of each hand I activated the system and once again distributed the free stats into luck.

These were not the original brass rings I created months ago but a newly made set created while displaying the method to the princess. It was ridiculously funny watching the princess repeatedly fail to make her own set, constantly striking too hard and having to start again. I sware if I did not tell her what they did she would have given up a hundred times before she succeeded.

The paired rings unlike the other items I had made had no effect on stats their ability was to double skill point gain while working only once and only for a specific level, In the case of brass this was level ten. There was a silver pair for level 20, a gold pair for level 30, a platinum pair for level 40 and lastly a Mythril pair for level 50.

Name

Jack

Age

0

Level

18

Statistics

Strength

116.6

Dexterity

63.8

Constitution

63.8

Mana Sense

61.8

Mana Control

61.8

Magic Resistance

102.6

Ki Sense

61.8

Ki control

61.8

Physical Resistance

102.6

Healing Affinity

61.8

Space Affinity

61.8

Luck

169.6

Status

Health

638

638

Stamina

638

638

Mana

618

618

Ki

618

618

Alignments

None

Class

Resurrection Seed

18

Rebirth of a myth

Class Skills

Proto-Dragon Skin

Passive - Doubles stat gain on Resistance

Active – invalidate one magic attack every 24 hours

Proto-Phoenix Wings

Active – Flight, Doubles spell potency while active

Dragons Blessing

Doubles stat gain on Strength

Phoenix Blessing

Gain bonus Affinity for each 25 levels

Cultivation

Seven Chakras Scripture

1st Chakra - Root

+2 strength, dexterity and constitution

Cultivation Skills

Strengthened Skeleton

1

Increase the strength and resilience of bones (Iron rank)

Skills

Offensive Casting

2

Increases the damage of all spells by 2 level

Energy Syphon

1

Draws any available energy from the area increasing regeneration

Triggered Spells

1

Allows spells to be stored at the cost of 1 level of damage

Fusion Spells

1

Allows for advanced spells to be cast through fusions.

Natural Regeneration

1

Increase natural health regeneration can be boosted with energy

Blessing of growth

1

Increases stat gain on levelling [0.1]

Blessing of growth II

1

Further Increases stat gain on levelling (requires previous) [0.2]

Blessing of growth III

x

Maximises stat gain on levelling (requires previous) [1.0]

Child of luck

x

Doubles stat gain on luck

Familiars

Mirage Turtle

15

Active – magic reduction sphere every 24 hours

Active – sensory shrouding every 24 hours

Titles

Reborn Human

Reborn through a magical ritual

Bonus skill experience

Behemoth Hunter

Gain stat points for consuming the heart of boss monsters (0/5)

Stats gained 0

Perusing over the pale blue screen I realised an anomaly, I was still 0 years old. Considering my exactly one-year-long dirt nap it seemed out of place. Looking over my knowledge, I came to the conclusion that suspended animation must not count as “living” in relation to age. It also confirmed why there were no crazy “be the youngest to achieve X” titles as the truth was that it was far too common an occurrence. Every summoned being would be age zero as would anyone being reborn from a phylactery. Pheonixian exploits were technically available to everyone so they had to make them obscure enough that people would not normally stumble upon them lest they are used against them.

Take the negative levelling for example, without changing specific runes in its standard structure it was impossible to go into negatives. Who would test millions or billions of rune combinations on a level zero when any alteration could have disastrous consequences. Other pheonixian secrets are further hidden by needing to enter a combination of mana and Ki in a sequence like a password while having the non-pheonixian identification skills actively lying to you. Despite all these precautions, I'm sure some of the exploits have been found by others but those who know them probably guard them as their legacy.

Finally prepared for our oceanic adventure I retired for the night. Wrapped in the comfortable silk sheets while laying on the cloud-like mattress I wondered, should I just steal this bed? Eventually, I made my decision, I was going to steal the bed! Before falling asleep I prepared the mana crystals I would need to accomplish the petty task, subsequently drifting into slumber with a dumb grin.