Behind the mist

"Happy birthday!", said Lina.

"Thank you.", said Gen.

"How are we going to celebrate?" Lina asked, looking at Gen.

"I'm out of money to celebrate!" said Gen with a firm tone as he looked forward, avoiding her gaze.

"Oh, no problem, you can pay me later, but we can't let this date pass without celebrating it. I've already talked to Stanley, Marco, and Lapis. Tonight, we're going to Oasis!"

Hearing the name 'Oasis, ' Gen was startled and said, "Are you crazy? Have you seen the price of the food there?"

"Geez, Gen, it's your birthday. How can you think about the price of things on a day like this.", said Lina reprimanding him.

"How can I NOT think about the price? How many times have you said the same thing, and I've come home without a coin in my pocket? If you want to spend all your money, be my guest, but you have to stop wanting to spend mine!" said Gen nonconformist.

"You see, it's because of this kind of attitude that you can't find a girlfriend. No girl will want to go out with a stingy man.", said Lina, looking at him with a look of disapproval.

Hearing this, Gen got a little irritated and said, "I'm not stingy! You are the one who completely loses it after a few drinks and spends everything in your and my pocket!"

"Oh Gen, you really don't know how to enjoy yourself, you should be thankful that a beautiful woman like me let a boy like you accompany me, but you only know how to complain. And it's not like I'm forcing you to go out with me and the others.", said Lina with a superior air as she fixed her hair.

"First of all, I don't know how many more times we'll go through this, but you're only a year older than me, and it's not even a whole year. Second of all, you do make me go out with you.", Gen said staring at her.

"That's not true, I don't force you to do anything!", Lina said with an expression of being wronged.

"Oh yeah?", asked Gen.

"Yes.", said Lina with a serious expression.

"Then I'm not going out today, have fun.", said Gen.

"You know that's not an option. You're coming with us.", said Lina with her arms crossed and a serious expression.

"And where is my right to choose?", asked Gen staring at her.

"What choice? How are you going to choose something if you only have one choice?", said Lina confused.

"But ... ah!!!", Gen gave up speaking and turned to face the counter again, propping one of his elbows on the counter, holding his head with an open hand, palm on his forehead, while thinking 'There's no point in trying to argue with her, nothing's going to change, and it's not like I can accompany them today anyway.'

"Remember, as soon as you arrive, come straight here.", said Lina seriously as she looked at him.

"... okay.", said Gen in a half-tired voice, looking forward.

Soon after that, the two saw Anna coming back from the kitchen with Balkan.

Anna was carrying a plate with Gen's food, and the bottle of blue rose cedar, while Balkan was carrying two backpacks completely full.

Anna put the food in front of Gen and the bottle in front of Lina and bent down to get something from the counter. Meanwhile, Balkan put the backpacks on the counter and said to Gen, "Here is everything you asked for. Along with the food, it will cost one thousand eight hundred and twenty bronze coins."

Gen looked at the backpacks, picked up two silver coins from a bag he carried with him, and said, "Thank you, here is the money, I don't need the change."

Balkan took the coins, approached Gen, and said low so Anna wouldn't hear, "Okay, next time you eat here, I'll give you a real drink.", And then he walked away laughing.

"Thanks.", Gen said.

Anna took what she wanted from the counter. It was two glasses and a container with a chain.

She set them down on the counter and opened the bottle of blue rose cedar. Soon after she poured some of the drink into the glasses, put one in front of Lina and one in front of Gen, and said with a smile, "Enjoy."

At the sight of this, Gen and Lina were startled.

Gen then said, "You don't have to do that. I know it's not easy to make an essence amber, especially from a conjoint essence. It's much more work than other types of essence because you have to use the right amount of each essence that makes it up, even more so if it's a special essence like 'Desert Rose'. Besides, it is much more effective for you two, who already have the essence."

"It's true Mom. Gen won't be able to enjoy even half the effect of the amber.", Lina said.

"It doesn't matter. Consider it my birthday present.", said Anna with a serious expression.

Gen thought about refusing, but as he looked at Anna, he realized that she wouldn't let him, and decided to accept.

Lina wanted to protest, but seeing her mother's expression, she also gave up.

The two of them looked at their glasses. Lina was practically drooling in hers, and Gen looked at his with admiration.

An essence amber is essence itself in a liquid form. With it, it is much easier to understand the essence it was made from. For example, a fire elixir is usually made from flammable materials, whereas a water elixir is generally made from colorless and tasteless materials. The quality of the elixir varies with the quality of the materials, how well they represent the essence, and the creator's level of mastery over the essence.

Looking into the glass, Gen could see images of a rose alone in the vastness of the desert, but they quickly faded. But to Gen, those few moments seemed like hours.

In the middle of the desert, there was a rose with blue petals. Gen couldn't understand what she was trying to convey to him, but then Anna began to speak.

"A blue rose in the desert. Its color shows its determination to resist the worst of environments and also challenge it as if to say, 'No matter how much you want to throw me out, and how much you want to change me, here I will remain, blue as always.', it's thorns show everyone that despite appearances, it is not fragile, and if provoked, it will retaliate! Her appearance clouds the thoughts of those who see her, making them think only of how beautiful it is."

"Resilience, Lethality, and Beauty. These are the three essences that make up the essence of the Desert Rose."

Upon hearing what Anna said, both Gen and Lina went into a trance. After a minute, Gen woke up, looked around him, and realized that Lina was still in a trance.

Gen turned his face to Anna and Balkan and said, "How long was I in the trance?"

"A little over a minute.", Anna said with a smile as she picked up Gen's glass, which was empty. Unlike a regular drink, the amber of essences is not meant to be drunk but to be understood. After the comprehension is over, it simply disappears as if it were evaporating.

"Thank you, Anna, without your help, I don't think I would have lasted even 15 seconds.", said Gen to Anna.

"Don't be modest, Gen. Even without my help, you would have lasted at least 30 seconds.", Said Anna.

"Still, thanks for the help.", said Gen.

Usually, when a person takes an amber from an essence they don't possess, they are in a trance for ten to sixty seconds, this time varies with how much understanding they have about the essence.

The trance is a state that everyone who has an essence went through the moment they obtained it.

There are many ways to understand the trance state, but it is usually described as a mist. To a person who has a low understanding of the essence, the mist will appear to be all the same color. In contrast, a person with an average understanding of it would see it in different colors but would hardly be able to tell what each color represents, which is something that those who have a high understanding of it can identify.

The words Anna spoke while Gen and Lina were in a trance is a rare process called 'Enlightenment'. It aims to help people with an average understanding to reach a high understanding by explaining what each 'color' means, but this explanation does not come only through words. When explaining each of the 'colors', it is necessary to influence the target with the 'color' that is being talked about at the moment.

For example, the essence of the Desert Rose is composed of three essences: Resilience, Lethality, and Beauty. Let's say that Resilience has a blue-colored mist, Lethality a red-colored one, and Beauty a pink-colored one. When explaining Resilience, it is necessary to surround the target with the blue mist that corresponds to it. In the case of Lethality, it would be the red mist, and for Beauty, it would be the pink mist. Still, it is not enough to surround the person with the mist; it is necessary to make it affect the person's body, and this is something that only someone at the level of Influence can do, but it is extremely difficult to find someone at this level.

After understanding what each 'color' means, based on the understanding of each one, the mist begins to disperse, and after dispersing all of it, that is the moment when you can see the essence. This moment when you see the essence is called 'Awakening'. The act of moving the mist in front of you and finding what has always been there, but that, until that moment, you have never been able to see.

The great reality is that the world that everyone sees is nothing more than a big mist that keeps them from seeing how everything really is. Those who can see a little through it are considered special and are able to use what they see to stand out from the rest. These special people are called 'Awakened'.