Chapter 2: Essence Stone

Edwin had always considered himself as a genius, the strength he possessed was proof of that. He had long left his younger brother inherited the title of duke, meditations and training not giving him enough time to take care of a territory.

Every year he found himself here in this courtyard, in front of a group of children ready to embark on the warrior's path.

Becoming a warrior was not easy. Where a wizard has a mana core from birth, a warrior must create it himself.

Even with the demonic crystal he possessed, it was admittedly easier to create a core, but many would fail. Some will give up this path, while others will take potions and try to start over.

The year before, only 5 of them had succeeded in creating their core that day, but none of them had succeeded in opening their first meridian in one day. Later, four of them became rank 1 Beginner Warriors while the last one was unsuccessful.

And although he was the son of a nobleman, potions cost far too much for his family, thus sealing his future.

Five more of this group later became rank 1 Beginner Warriors on their own with the aid of potions. But it had taken almost a year for each of them. And not a single one had become a rank 2 Beginner Warrior.

And here before his eyes, a genius appeared. The day wasn't over yet, but not only had he created his core, he had also become a rank 1 Beginner Warrior.

Certainly, he had heard of real geniuses coming from neighboring empires who managed to open two or even three meridians in a single day. But these geniuses were supported by alchemicals products far too rare for the empire in which his kingdom was located, let alone this small duchy that even the king had abandoned.

It was the first time he had seen such talent with his own eyes, with the right potions, this Rohan could rise through the ranks quickly, and maybe this young man will eventually overtake him one day.

Either way, this child had to survive. If time was allowed, he would become a real force.

But he knew it. This time, unfortunately, will not be given to him. War was decided years ago, it affected the lives of millions of people. And he will be sent to the battlefield as a warrior.

He couldn't change that fact. But the thing he could do, however, was to personally train this genius, and make sure he had enough power to protect his life.

He took out a bronze plate from his pocket, and patted it. A voice came out.

"Yes, General Chrisfold? What can I do for you?"

"Lin, come into the courtyard and pick up the young warrior Rohan, and give him an Essence Stone."

"I'll be right there, general Chrisfold."

Edwin put his plate away, and after turning to Rohan who was getting up, beckoned him to approach.

Lin was an Intermediate Warrior, and was one of the few commanders of the duchy. He knew perfectly well what it meant to give an Essence Stone. It was a magic object that even he could only possess after being promoted to an Intermediate Warrior, so he hurried to the yard to see which lucky lad will have one, and why.

When he arrived, he saw a young man next to the general Edwin. As he had only just risen in rank, waves of mana emanated from him. So Lin knew right away that he had become a rank 1 Beginner Warrior, his eyes widened in shock. What a genius !

He approached, and after saluting the general, he turned to the new warrior, and bowed to salute him. He knew he was a nobleman after all.

"Is that him general? Do you want to give him an Essence Stone?"

"Yes"

Without elaborating further, he turned to Rohan.

"Young Master Rohan, please follow Commander Lin. You don't have much more to do here, and at the moment I'm stuck here watching the rest of the candidates. So I'll ask that you be escorted home. However, I would like to talk to you and your father, Count Sharkan, so I'll drop by tomorrow if you don't mind. "

"Not at all general Chrisfold, I will await your passage"

Then, after bowing in the nobleman's way, Rohan turned to Commander Lin, and bowing slightly again, asked him to guide the passage.

As Rohan followed Commander Lin, he decided to ask him the question that was gnawing at him.

"Commander Lin, what is an Essence Stone?"

"Young master Rohan, it is a very precious stone allowing us to describe the qualities of the mana and the body of the one who uses it. It is generally used when a warrior rises in rank to note it on his personal plaque and formalize his rank. The general wants to give you one personally, so you will be able to follow your progress much more easily. It is undoubtedly a treasure. "

His eyes were bursting with envy when he spoke of it, as it wasn't always easy to realize whether his efforts were rewarded or not. Having this stone which was able to put statistics to describe a person was undoubtedly a divine object for him.

He felt jealousy for this child who had barely become a warrior and could own his own stone. If he himself could have it when he became a warrior, his training would be easier to programm. But he understood General Chrisfold.

If he could become a rank 1 Beginner Warrior in a day, he would surely rise through the ranks pretty quickly. And doing him a favor was probably a good deed.

Rohan was guided to the heart of the castle. On the way, they passed many guards who, on the way to the commander, all stopped to greet him. Not all of them were warriors, there were only so few warriors in the duchy after all. On average, there were at least twenty new warriors each year, it shows how tough it was to become one.

They came to a heavy door, guarded by two armored warriors with a round shield in their arm and a sword in the scabbard.

"Open the door"

"Yes, Commander!"

They opened the door quickly, then alighted to the side, glancing curiously at the young man who entered with Commander Lin.

It was not the most important room in the castle, but some rather rare and precious objects were still inside.

The room was filled with shelves, with objects or books on them. Different chests rest on the side giving the room a storage room effect rather than a treasure room.

They walked towards the back, and arriving in front of another door, the commander took out his medallion to insert it in a slot. The door opened with a click.

"Please wait a moment here young master Rohan, you do not have permission to enter this room."

Rohan waited behind the door a few minutes before the commander came out with a black plaque in his hand.

It was much faster than he thought for something so precious it would almost make a commander drool.

"Isn't it too easy to go in and grab an item from this place Commander Lin? Aren't you afraid someone will steal it?"

The commander let out a small laugh before answering.

"Don't worry young master, only the duke, the general, the duchy Protector wizard and a commander can enter this room, and the commander with this permission changes every month. Plus every item is magically marked, if they walk out of here without permission, everyone would know. "

Then he held the object out in his hand.

"This is the Essence Stone, you just have to put your thumb on this mark and the stats will be displayed on it. This item was made by the wizards of the empire specializing in runes, it is not something ordinary that's for sure!"

"Thank you, Commander!"

He took the object and looked at it. It was a rectangular object, the size of a hand and the thickness of a finger, black in color. The material was unknown to Rohan, but it was rough, like stone. There were also some runes engraved on it.

He followed the commander's instructions and put his thumb on an engraved circle.

Suddenly, data in red appeared on the black stone.

Race: human

Age: 13 years old

Constitution: 1.64

Mana: 1/10

Spirit: 11

The commander approached to explain the meaning of these stats to him.

"A constitution of 1 represents the strength of a normal adult, usually an adult who is a rank 1 Beginner Warrior has a constitution of 2. For your age, such a value is very good."

"For the mana you have, 10 is the limit that your core can withstand, creating more meridian makes the core more stable and allows it to store more. As you should know, after using your mana, you will automatically recover it with time, at the moment you only have 1 mana point. Usually for a new warrior of rank 1, he recovers one mana point per hour. "

"Spirit is how easy you are to manipulate mana and focus. You can think of it as a description of your potential. A person reaching a mind of 1 is already out of the ordinary, your future is already… already… "

He couldn't finish his sentence, his eyes fixed on the number characterizing the young man in front of him. He couldn't believe what he was reading there.

At first glance he had thought it was a 1. Even he himself had a mind of 0.8, so he thought it was already exceptional. But 11? This value is simply not possible. He could only think of one reason, but it would require an investigation from a wizard.

Either way, the person in front of him is a genius among geniuses.

"Young Master Rohan, please never divulge these numbers, such a value is way too high, it might freak out many people and attract attention, something we don't want at this time!"

Rohan slowly moved away from the man in front of him who was looking at him with bloodshot eyes.

"It's only a few numbers on a card Commander Lin, no one will care about it. I have no reason to divulge these numbers to anyone anyway. "

* cough cough *

Lin bowed slightly to apologize.

"Please excuse me for my behavior, young master, I got carried away by seeing this number. I will report it to the general, it will not change anything for you except maybe give you more resources. My task is now finished, I'm going to ask for a carriage to take you home right away."

"Thank you very much, Commander Lin"

Rohan bowed back and put the precious item back in his pocket with a smile.

It has been a very good day for him. With the help of a red crystal he became a rank 1 Beginner Warrior and without doing anything he acquired a rather interesting magic item. How could he not be happy ?