Essence Mode

I held the wound tightly, focusing the rest of my mind. I had been training for this very moment, conserving my energy for the exact moment of my near death.

Sky always had another trick up his sleeve, no matter where we were at...and I wanted one too. I saved a trick, telling absolutely nobody when I figured it out.

By channeling the Essence Strands in my body, I could clump them together and reinforce them against themselves. If Asterio Strands were the spear, Essence Strands would be the shield. However, the reverse could be true. If they were the shield, I would be the spear. 

Essence Strands are extremely versatile in their own regard, separate from the Asterio Strands. There is latent power from within, locked by the lack of an individual's ingenuity. 

Essence Strands started to coat the outer surface of my body. The green and yellow coloring that followed started to create layers underneath my skin. The wound was sealed. With my body reinforced by a feeling of heavy, viscous liquid, I ran forward toward Arthur with the ax hanging off my hip. It was now the size of a hatchet.

"I don't care what kind of cool powerup you have, it's pointless. This isn't a tv show." Arthur said. He rose his hand up with his fingers straightened, ready to chop down at me when I jumped to attack.

I kicked my feet into the ground, raising them up and getting ready to pull the ax behind my head. I let Arthur's eyes connect with mine, when I finally unveiled my big secret.

Arthur took a hit in the back of the head so powerful that bits of his skull were launched in a blast around the point of impact. My ax had vanished and transmitted itself directly behind his head, causing him to be stunned from the impact. The Essence Strands swirled around my fist next.

Connecting the punch to the base of Arthur's skull was the most simple hit, as he was only falling over. I slammed all of my power into his being, and Arthur's skull exploded as he fell to the ground. Nothing remained of his brain.

The Essence Strands in my body, still looming and waiting for another attack, successfully saved me from a punch coming from my back side. Finlis struck me with his fist and kicked me, moving me back around ten feet from Arthur's body.

Instead of crying like I expected him too, Finlis picked up Arthur's brain with his hands, like a little kid would pick up sand. I winced in disgust as Finlis moved it close to his mouth, and consumed his raw brain.

"You killed him..." 

"So I did. You attacked first," I replied. I waited for Finlis to make another move.

His body became wrapped in a weird energy that pulsated like what I imagined waves of gravity to look like. His clothing rippled in the wind around him, and before I could even blink, he was gone.

I swung the gun behind my back and launched myself forward, watching my armor of Essence Strands float away from a sharp sickle that almost cut my head off. They blossomed into the atmosphere and left me.

My body was covered once more as the pulsation of armor around my body followed my heartbeat, but Finlis's speed was insanely fast...almost too fast. He was warping from location to location, not even leaving behind a trail like Boo normally would.

Blocking his hits completely relied on luck. With the large sickle he wielded, it was only a matter of time before I was hit and probably killed. I was already weakened, unable to focus at full capacity like I did to kill Arthur. I felt myself dwindling...until the viscous liquid around my body filled my head.

It was like dunking my face in water, but I could see and breathe. I felt heavy and collapsed to the ground as Essence Strands tickled every ounce of my brain. I cried out, as it began to hurt.

[Come on...you're freeing all embodiments of Strands...why not let me play too?]

Words in my right eye appeared, reminding me of the past on the beach. Shit...shit...was I becoming Corrupt?!

[For every positive action, there is a negative reaction.]

[For every exertion of power forward, there is an equal exertion backward.]

Words repeated themselves in my vision. I was worried about being taken against my will, yet oddly, as Finlis warped into the air once more, I felt no resistance. The voice in my head wasn't budging.

[The Asterios have Avie, Hikari, and Umbra.]

[You have Soul.]

I winced one last time as time came to a standstill. From within my own mind, an image appeared.

It appeared to be a girl with long, luminous hair. I couldn't tell what color it was, but it was blinding. In addition to her fairly pale complexion, she smiled, standing up straight with a hand held out.

"You'll help me if I take your hand? You'll help me beat this foe?" 

"Of course." Her voice was soft and serious. She sounded truthful.

"I'll be honest...I'm afraid of this one. He moves fast, almost too fast."

She smirked. With a flick of her wrist that calmly led me closer, I could finally see her bright green eyes through the brightness of her hair.

Her outfit appeared to be solid metal plates all around her skin, with the occasional gap within to glow several different colors. When I told her I was afraid, the color between the plates became blue. When I got closer, it reverted to green once again.

"From the third most powerful bloodline that's existed within the confines of Survival Evolved, I am the pinnacle of the Eternias. Just as the pinnacle of Asterios had split into three, I had done that as well, but my pieces were put back together by Cecelia Eternia," Soul said with smile.

"Fear not, Carl. Fear stands no chance when courage wears a smirk."