The Essence Core

Ista, Mariin Territory

Fort Ista stood on a rise of ground that overlooked the town that surrounded it's base. It had served as the stronghold of Emperor Noran before the colapse of the Mariin Empire over twenty years ago. The fort itself was an imposing massive structure built from thick stone blocks with wide ramparts and battlements to allow for archers or catapults to fire down below upon would be attackers. Commander Hennet looked out at the town below through one of these embrasures in the wall. He wore a dark green coat lined with silver brocade, his red hair pulled back into a tight tail which fell past his shoulders.

"Commander!" A young man came running up to him and saluted smartly.

Hennet nodded at the lad. "What is it soldier?"

The youth stepped closer and handed him a letter sealed with wax.

"A message has been sent to you sir from Head scout Arien!"

With gentle fingers he broke the seal and read the contents;

Sir Hennet, as per your instructions me and my men have scouted the northern border in search of the remnants of our enemy. We had found no traces of them on our side, so I eventually made the decision to extend our search into Andan. Alas, we have found them there. At least three war camps have been spotted by my scouts. There locations have been marked on an adjacent map that I'll send with this letter. But do be warned Sir Hennet, we have seen Andan troops supply the enemy with weapons and food. We believe that they aid our enemy. If they are indeed allied then we must go about this carefully, we wouldn't want to catch the wrath of the Beast king. As such, please send word on further orders, my scouts will remain hidden until told otherwise.

yours respectfully,

Arien

Hennet held the letter tight as he stared at those words again. 'We have found them.'

Finally, after years of searching, they will finally have the chance to exact justice against their enemies.

Hennet turned to the soldier, "Send word to my lieutenants soldier, I want them gathered in my office."

"Yes sir!" the soldier said as he saluted. Then hurried off to relay his commands.

Once alone Hennet stared back out at the town, lost in thought.

***

Evran stood in the open field next to the shack. In front of him Gilderick stood lazily with hands in his pockets. Marie leaned against the wall of the shack next to a young bald man who Gilderick introduced as Dyrk. The bald man's scowl towards Evran seemed deep enough to cut steel.

"So what are you planning on teaching me first?" Evran asked.

"Well since you already know how to use a sword, we should start with something else, what do you know about essence?"

Evran raised an eyebrow, "Essence? What is that?"

Dyrk snorted loudly, "You don't even know the basics syrn?"

"Oh come now Dyrk don't be rude!" Marie interjected as she slapped him gently across the arm.

Gilderick gave him a stern look but carried on, "Essence is the life energy of an individual being, one can't live without it."

He then pointed to the right side of his chest, "the essence core located usually in the right side of a person is what produces a person's essence."

"Does it do anything else? You wouldn't just bring it up if it just did that."

Gilderick smiled wryly. "Yes, it does do something else. If you let essence permeate throughout ones body like this…" A soft golden glow started emanating from his body. "your physical abilities will greatly increase." He then raised his foot and stomped down hard on the grass. The ground beneath them suddenly began to shake violently. Dirt flew everywhere as the ground rumbled and cracked apart. Evran, Marie and Dyrk all stumbled around frantically as they tried to keep their footing. After a while the trembling slowed down and stopped entirely.

"Wow..." breathed out Evran as he took a step forward and put his hands on his knees.

"Did you really have to do that?" Dyrk said with annoyance in his voice. Marie glared at Gilderick. "Yeah! You could have torn down the house again!"

"I didn't put that much power behind that." he replied nonchalantly.

"So how do I use essence?" Evran asked. He was excited by the thought of gaining more power.

"It's simple really, I'll just have to remove your limiters. Since your body already uses a minimum amount of essence, by removing them you'll gain access to all of it. Now are you ready?"

Evran nodded enthusiastically.

Gilderick then raised his arm. Slowly a golden Aura emerged from his palm and flowed through the air towards Evran. He felt a warm sensation, like warm water, as it entered his body. He felt the faint pounding sensation coming from his core as it started to beat more quickly. Evran's eyes closed briefly as he focused on the sensation. He felt the pulsing become stronger and stronger until suddenly the core stopped beating and instead compressed tightly in his chest. He felt no pain however but rather a euphoric feeling of warmth as his own essence flowed from his core. His body started to feel strong and invigorated as his essence flowed throughout his body consuming Gilderick's lingering essence.

When he opened his eyes, a light black aura surrounded him. It was a vortex of darkness, which danced and swirled around him.

Marie clapped her hands in glee, but Dyrk however looked enraged by the sight of Evran.

"Hmm, yes I should have expected that..." Gilderick said calmly as he watched Evran. His usual smile was gone, replaced with a solemn frown.

"Expected what? "Evran asked as he flexed his forearm. He felt unbelievably powerful and agile; every muscle in his body seemed to move effortlessly.

"That your essence would consume mine."

"And is that bad?"

"Yes. Black essence consumes other essences, if you are not careful you could consume the essence from a person leaving them dead."

A slight smirk formed on the corner of Evran's mouth, "That's useful."

"Useful?" Dyrk said angrily, "It's dangerous! That's what it is! You have no idea how dangerous you syrn all are!"

The anger in Dyrk's face made Evran grin, "Do I intimidate you? Do I really scare you so easily baldy?"

"Shut up syrn! You don't scare no one."

Oh really? Then why don't we prove it." Evran said as he put a hand to his sword. "Come on, show me how tough you are."

"Enough." Gilderick interrupted as he placed himself between them, "I don't want my students fighting. You're here to train and learn, not bicker with each other."

"But sir!" Dyrk protested, "You can't expect me to just let him talk to me like that!"

"And you can't expect me to weather his shitty attitude towards me just because I'm a syrn."

Gilderick sighed heavily, "So, what do you guys want me to do then?"

Marie's hand shot up

"How about we make a bet?" she suggested.

"Huh? What kind of bet?"

"Well, since both of you seem intent on getting on each other's nerves, why don't you instead fight it out in a sparring match? We could even throw in a prize for the winner." She added excitedly.

As he pondered on the suggestion, Gilderick decided it might be a good idea after all. They were going to spend time training anyway, why not go ahead and test themselves against one another.

"Alright, do you guys want to do this?"

They both agreed immediately. "Okay then, you'll fight until first blood has been spilled. Now both of you draw your swords."