The world

Following Ingrid's back, she leads me through long corridors within the same building until we reach a rather rustic birch wood door.

Why is this building so large? Never mind.

When I open the door, what follows is a look of astonishment from me to see a huge library, perfectly arranged.

A room of about 100 m2 with shelves, each 2.30 m high, reaching all the way to the back of the room.

Everything seems well organized.

"Ingrid, find me books on the basic use of the essence. Also bring me any information you have on Mana. I could also use a map and a history of the races and the world."

Ingrid looks at me with her now characteristic strange look.

Stop looking at me like I'm an exotic animal. Should I punish her? Forget it.

I walk over to a large desk nearby while I wait for Ingrid to bring me what I need.

Why is there no librarian? Strange.

I hear footsteps and turn my head to see Ingrid walking around with 15 books that are thick enough to scare me.

I just have to read them, don't I?

Ingrid puts the books down and I immediately start reading "Fundamentals of Essence", "Existence of Mana" and "The History of Empire".

Almost half a day later.

Even I, whose mind has been strengthened since my days as a mage, have trouble reading all this.

Anyway, I already have an idea of the big picture of this planet and its resources.

Where to start...

First, I will make comparisons between the mana of my past life and the essence I am forced to use now.

Well... First, the mana is purple and the essence is red.

I need to explain more, right?

As Decrea said, mana is a lesser version of essence.

Essence and mana exist in the air, in the form of the vapor that can be seen in spiritual vision.

However, there are fundamental differences.

For one thing, all existing beings have a certain amount of essence that forms the soul when we are born, and the amount of essence one absorbs in the embryonic stage determines one's talents. Elves, however, absorb essence through the pores of their bodies throughout their lives. It is an insignificant amount if absorbed passively, but otherwise it can create longer-lived warriors with superior physical bodies.

Everything the elf absorbs is refined in the essence core, the spherical organ next to the heart.

The color of the essence core determines the combat range of the elf.

Mine is the lowest, violet.

Basically, my essence is not even refined, and there is very little essence I can use from the energy I absorb.

The order of range by essence is:

Violet, Blue, Light Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. With the red core, you are basically using the essence in its purest form.

Now for the answer to the important question. Why is essence superior to mana?

Basically, because of its nature.

Essence is creative energy. An essence wizard can build an ice castle in the middle of a waterless area. The essence wielder can make things without the need for materials. Only the final product appears. Of course, there are limitations. You cannot create life directly, and you must have a complex idea of what you are trying to create.

Unfortunately, anything created with a person's manipulated essence is temporary and will fall apart without a source to sustain it.

Mana has no such creative quality.

If I want to cast a water spell, I need moisture in the air to use.

If I'm in the air, I can't use earth magic.

Mana manipulates the existing, moving it and adapting to the element it needs to make it react.

It can replace the oxygen supply while you are burning something, or it can become a pure pushing force if you try it.

Sounds powerful, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, it has one fatal flaw. The rate at which it converts mana into whatever you want to use it for is very inefficient. That's where wizards and human warriors come in.

Range 1: 1% to 10% conversion

Range 2: 11% to 30% conversion

Range 3: 31% to 50%

Range 4: 51% to 70% conversion

Range 5: 71% to 98

Range 6: 99%.

Theoretically, a 100% conversion rate could only be made by a god.

I used to have a 92% rate.

The point is that mana is inferior in its basics, but when trained to the maximum, it can become very powerful.

Someone at 70% can create a firestorm without too much trouble.

I don't need to think much more about this if I still don't use mana.

Now let's talk about the Empire.

Everyone knows that the human and elven worlds were created by the goddess Decrea.

But they are also fundamentally different.

The human world is called Earth. It has many biomes, lands, and waters that are much more conducive to producing life. Logically, the Earth has much more possibilities for subsistence and allows for the development of several races.

The elven world, called Drynear, was originally a world with many sun hours in the east and west, dry and barren lands, few bodies of water, and rivers. The air contains methane in addition to oxygen, making it difficult to breathe for those who have not adapted. Fortunately, elven bodies have already adapted, but it is difficult for humans to fight effectively here.

There are basically rocky and semi-desert biomes all over the world.

Decrea, seeing that this world would not work to create stable life, gave them a gift.

The Tree of Essence.

A massive tree planted in the north center of the continent, which fed the land of life, constantly producing essence.

The lands around the tree became fertile for 2000 kilometers, and the essence refined the bodies of those who inhabited it.

Before the tree was planted, several life forms had already evolved. Among them were the Drysicc.

Due to their evolution in the constant struggle against the sun, lack of water, and adaptation to the air, their skins were dark and cracked, like the earth itself.

They were generally a nomadic species and wouldn't get much further.

After the tree appeared, many surrounding Drysicc species settled there and appropriated the resources the tree produced as well as the land.

These Drysicc eventually transformed into dark elves and then into pure elves.

With the tree's resources and superior intelligence and talent, they created a domain system in which the unevolved Drysicc were enslaved.

That was thousands of years ago, and today the Drysicc are still in a low social class, but they have citizenship rights.

But still, this world is based on a caste system, where the subaltern sectors work for the master races.

I, as a dark elf, am in the middle class. Middle class because my family belongs to the nobility.

I currently live in the mansion of my father, Count Runa, in the heart of the Empire.

This is the royal capital, where the royal lineage lives around the Essence Tree.

Around the capital, there are many acres of land for cultivation. It is here that all the food production for the entire realm is born, and the shortage of water no longer has problems due to the wizards of the essence.

If the world has become habitable enough, why are the elves still trying to conquer the earth?

It's simple. This world is dying fast.