Chapter 4: Attributes, Innate Talents, and Plans

January 2nd, 1984

Earth - ?????????

Somewhere in the mountains of China

Inside the Xu family compound, a family of 5 was seen surrounding a glass pod containing a small baby in what appeared to be a gymnasium sized sparring room. Swords, spears, axes, halberds, shields, and many other weapons and armaments could be seen adorning the walls.

After trying to get the glass case open to no avail multiple times no matter the method; including a diamond cutter, Xu Wenwu seemed to have come to a decision and promised his wife he'd get the case open. After disappearing for the night, he came back the next morning adorned with 5 metallic rings on each arm. The rings seemed to glow in a dark blue light, and lightning could be seen crackling from them occasionally.

"Stand back," He said, preparing to use the rings he thought he'd never use again.

"Be careful, honey," Ying Li quietly exclaimed. Her entire demeanor exuded worry. She was holding her daughter in her hands while she coralled her two sons to the back of the training room.

"Don't worry, I'll try to just crack the case and then gently break it open," He said, trying to calm his nervous wife. It didn't work, obviously.

After giving a placating look towards his wife, he got into position, ready to deploy his rings.

Jack, unaware of his surroundings, quietly opened his eyes. He felt like shit. Did he cry himself to sleep? He had a terrible nightmare that he was reincarnated and adopted by an immortal super villain terrori-

*Vriiiiing* *Vriiiiing* *Vriiiiing* *Vriiiiing* *Vriiiing*

Before Jack could process what was happening, 5 metallic rings crashed down onto the container Jack was in, like shooting stars.

*BOOOOOOOM* *SHATTER*

With a thunderous shatter, the glass container Jack was in shattered into several large pieces that were extremely sharp. Before Jack could get hurt, Xu Wenwu, with reflexes he hasn't used since his warring days, deployed a ring to shield little Jack from the giant glass chunks.

*Whew* Xu Wenwu quietly released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Little guy was almost skewered. Luckily, the container broke into larger pieces, or he'd probably be sleeping on the couch for the rest of his life.

*SLAP* With a thunderous slap to the back of his head, Ying Li yelled, "WHAT HAPPENED TO GENTLY BREAKING IT OPEN YOU IDIOT" Rushing past Xu Wenwu to the baby to make sure it was alright. His two sons giggled away behind him, little Xu Xialing was also giggling; even if she didn't know what for.

"Damn, a thank you would've been nice," Wenwu muttered under his breath.

Ying Li, completely ignoring him, looked down at the baby that had bulging eyes that looked oddly like ping-pong balls. Ying Li couldn't help but let out a laugh seeing his shocked expression. She picked him up from the ground for the first time and gave him a kiss on his forehead. She knew the moment she held him that she would love him forever.

"Hello, little one, you'll be okay now." Hugging the little baby close to her, she had his head resting in the crook of her shoulder and chin while she pat his back.

Jack, having clear sight to the Mandarin now, couldn't help but frown at him. With the Mandarin also starting to frown, Jack quickly stuck out his tongue at him and turned his head into his wife's neck, hiding his face from his view.

"Wha-? Ying Li! That little shit just stuck his tongu-!" Before Wenwu could even finish his sentence, Ying Li turned around and directed a glare so harsh at him, his balls retreated up into his body.

"I mean, that baby is very cute, my wife, would you like me to prepare dinner for tonight? A celebration is in order for the new member of our family after all," Wenwu said in a forced tone.

Wenwu, the wise immortal he is, knew that in the long run, giving in to his wife is the best option, so he pussied out immediately.

Jack started to feel sleepy again, basking the comfort of his new mother. "Is this how all babies feel? Why the hell am I so tired?" Passing away into dreamland, the last thing Jack heard was his mother pouting and walking away from his now disgruntled adoptive-father.

A few hours later, Jack slowly awoke in a beautifully designed crib. If he was a normal human baby, he wouldn't even be able to move by himself, but with his superhuman physique, he was able to at least sit himself upright.

After observing the beautifully decorated windowless room around him, Jack was lost in thought, thinking of the rollercoaster of a ride he's been on to get where he is.

Thinking he doesn't have time to waste, he quickly concentrates and thinks in his head, "A.I. Chip, please do a complete scan of my body." Not knowing what to scan exactly, Jack just asked for a complete rundown.

A light blue screen materialized in front of his vision.

[Ding! Request Received. Initiating Scan. Reading For: Current Status, Aspect Conversion Rates, Current Attributes, Innate Talents, and Health Deficincies.] The mechanical female voice sounded out in his head. He also felt something that started from the top of his head crawl down to his feet. It was like a cold shiver. If he had hair on his arms, he was sure they'd be standing.

[1%... 12%... 43%... 56%... 79%... 100% Completed Scan, Displaying Results:] After about 3 or so minutes of waiting for the loading bar to be filled, the mechanical voice sounded in his head.

At first, a 3D model of what Jack assumed to be himself as a baby appeared in his vision, and underneath that 3D model, various amounts of different information about Jack could be found.

[Name(s): Jack Worthington, Jack Frost]

[Current Status: Healthy, yet easily fatigued. You could use a snack, but energy from your X-Gene is keeping you healthy.]

[Aspect Conversion Rates:

Entertainment Progress: 0.000000000100%

Fun Progress: 0.000000000100%

Freedom Progress: 0.000000000100%

Winter Progress: 0.000000000000%]

[Attributes:

Strength: 0.3

Physique: 0.5

Vitality: 0.2

Soul: 100.5

Energy: 0.5/0.5 (Recover 0.05 energy a second, boosted by your X-Gene.)]

[Innate Talents:

Spirit of Winter: Blessed by the moon, you are able to conjure ice, snow, and wind; you are also capable of flight, telekinesis, and the ability to hide from mortals with the consumption of energy (The more energy you consume, the more your invisibility and constructs improve.).

Note: Full power will be unlocked with a specialized magical conduit.

-Sub-Ability (Passive), Magic of Fun: Imbue your conjured snow or ice with the Magic of Fun, causing great joy and an uncontrollable desire to have fun. No energy consumption is required; it absorbs energy directly from what seems to be the moon.

Winter Magic: You are capable of controlling the weather around you, causing snowstorms and strong winds; when in a snowstorm, your attacks and skills dealing with ice, snow, and wind will be boosted by 200% and your energy consumption will be reduced by 25% (+50% from [Sub-Ability, Reduction].

-Sub-Ability, Reduction (Passive): Layering on from the power of the [Spirit of Winter], your skills dealing with snow, ice, wind, and weather now consume 50% less energy. If in a snowstorm, consumption of energy will be reduced by 75%).

-Sub-Ability, Imbue Life: With the use of emotions and energy, you are able to grant your constructs with intelligence. The stronger your emotions and the more energy you consume, the smarter and more powerful your construct will become.

-Sub-Ability, Emotional Support: Unknown effects will be applied to your attacks, skills, and contructs depending on your emotional state of being.

Sub-Zero Avatar (X-Gene, Passive): Awakened by your powers of ice, snow, and wind, your X-Gene connected with an unknown dimension that is in a constant state of Sub-Zero temperatures. Channel more and more energy through this dimension through the improvement of your Physique attribute.

Sub-Ability, Sub-Zero Physique: Imbuing your physical body with the energy of the Sub-Zero dimension to allow for constant improvement to your Strength, Vitality, and Physique attributes. Your energy recovery rate will improve with your physique as well.]

[Health Deficincies: None]

Jack, having read each and every line of information that appeared in front of him, was in deep thought, formulating the questions he's going to ask the A.I. Chip.

Starting from the top of the list, he asks in his head, "A.I. Chip, why do my aspects of Entertainment, Fun, and Freedom already have progress made, yet the aspect of Winter has no progress made? Looking at my innate talents, I should at least have some progress in that area." He thought suspiciously.

[Ding! Host, that would be because Cicero is supplying you with the understanding of the aspect itself while in hibernation, and you're only able to have that understanding because of all the books you've written in your past life. You currently have no understanding of the Winter aspect, just the potential to. Your journey will be incredibly difficult.] Said the mechanical female voice.

After processing that, Jack thought it was reasonable. If mastering an aspect of nature was easy, there'd be Cosmic Entites everywhere and Thor would be the Cosmic Entity of Hammers. Still, it was depressing to think that he had nearly the entire Earth in his home dimension groveling at his feet for an autograph, yet the progress made on the meters was so low. He'll obviously have to leave Earth in the future, he thought.

Having satisfied that question, he asked the next, "What exactly do these attributes represent? How strong would I be in comparison to Thor?" Jack asks thoghtfully.

[Ding! Host, a 1.0 would represent a normal human's attribute. According to Cicero's database, an average MCU Thor would have a Strength Stat at around 1500, equaling around 100 tons of force (Be aware that Thor's strength limit theoritcally has no limit, along with the Hulk's). Spider-Man would have a strength stat at around 150 for around 10 tons of force. Your Physique attribute represents how strong your body is overall, and your physique stat also represents how much energy your body will be able to hold. Your Vitality attribute will represent how fast your body will be able to heal and stay focused. Your Soul attribute will allow you to have better control over the energy in your body and the amount determines the scanning distance and power of the [A.I. Chip]. Finally, the Energy attribute represents how much energy your body currently has available for manipulation.] The voice explained.

After processing that information, Jack was satisfied. With this Chip, his journey to the top will be so much easier. Looking over his stats one more time, he thought, "A.I. Chip, where is the [Infinity Castle] skill?"

[Ding! Host, that skill is currently under the skill tab, as it's currently the only skill you have learned, I didn't list it. Would you like to move it to your Innate Talents list?] The mechanical female voice asked.

"Hmmm, no, that's fine, but I'd like to see the general description it has," Jack said thoughtfully in his mind.

[Ding! Affirmative, displaying skill(s) now:]

[Skills:

Infinity Castle: A skill seemingly originating from your soul, it opens up a physical spatial dimension within your being. You are able to expand this space by imbuing it with energy of any type. You can enter this dimension by imbuing your energy into any doorway while thinking of entering.]

Satisfied with what he was shown, Jack fell into a deep thought about how he was going to become powerful enough to live freely until his day of ascension. Knowing that his biological mother in this world was in Mephisto's hands was also weighing heavily on his mind.

First, his main priority would be to train his powers enough to confront the strongest heroes in this world and then find a way to save his mother; after that, he can do whatever he wants. His main plan is to befriend Thor and ask for his help in getting to Mephisto's dimension, and if that didn't work, maybe Doom is in this universe, he thought with a smirk.

Jack definitely didn't want to ask the Ancient One for help as this is an AU, and he hoped the cloak that Cicero put on him could block him from the Time-stones prying eyes.

After hours of contemplation, Jack once again fell asleep, eagerly anticipating growing up.