A thousand years flashed by in an instant. From the early revolution of magnets and electricity to the marvels of fusion power, the Aasvedan planet lived through a millennium of peace and prosperity.

No wars or diseases ever plagued their lands, no natural disasters or asteroids ever threatened them before they had the power to avoid them. Filled with great minds and leaders who pioneered incredible social structures and avoided catastrophic inventions.

Their understanding of the universe was near perfect, but a single final theory always eluded them—something to unite everything into one theory, a complete whole.

Then one day, that final piece came to visit them. Portals filled with beasts that all contained that final piece started appearing, ravaging the ever-peaceful planet. But even if it was staring them in the face, essence remained a mystery to the Aasvedans.

Faced with the threat of extinction, they tried to fight, but with such a long history of peace, it simply wasn’t part of their nature. They were a species of knowledge and kindness, unable to handle the invasion of brutal beasts.

But they never lost hope in understanding the final piece, hoping it would save them. So they sent their greatest leaders, minds, and explorers, equipped with all the tools they should need, through the portals.

If the mysterious essence were to be understood, it would be on the planets it came from, after all.

But alas, their eventual understanding arrived too late. As if it was taunting them, the nature of essence was opposed to technology and electricity. The very thing that pushed them forward and gave them the utopia they spent so long creating ended up being their downfall.

Even if they had been able to take advantage of it, it was too late. The connection to their home planet was severed, but not because the portal had closed. The planet was simply no longer inhabited.

The great history of the Aasvedans was reduced to dust. Every trace of their inventors, every great leader, every paragon of virtue, were all lost, never to be known by another living being again.

And so, the ones still inside the portal did what their species hadn’t done for centuries. They prayed.

And something answered.

Something that had existed since the first life was born.

But its true nature seemed erased from the memories. All that could be seen was an endless darkness, covering the memories in black.

The few Aasvedans accepted a deal, consumed by grief and rage.

And so the memories ended.

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“... Djan… Djan!... Djan!”

John opened his eyes ever so slowly, revealing Rain sitting over him with tears streaming down her face. He could feel himself crying as well, sensing the grief of the Aasvedans deep in his core.

“Ah… Rain? How long…” He tried to hide the pain by simply ignoring it, but he was unable to get over the visions he saw. Arms covered his eyes to hide his weakness from Rain.

‘Fucking… damn it. All that history, erased by cruel irony. All those… beautiful people.’

The lives of the Aasvedans had really made an impression on him, beyond everything else he had seen. Even in his own constructed world, there was no idyllic society like that.

But that was also why humanity was able to fight. Their trials and disagreements had trained them for desperate survival, not to mention the harsh environment of some places on Earth. Kill or be killed had been part of their reality since men first walked.

‘... Wait, what’s that?’

A deep and relentless hatred lay dormant in a corner of his mind. Instead of willfully consuming him, it was waiting, making itself available should he find a need for it. Black tendrils were slowly circling it, grasping the space around it harmlessly.

It was the rage, grief, and torment of an entire civilization. The lust for revenge would have been all-consuming if it had wanted to devour John, but instead, it bided its time.

‘That’s the last vestige? So they did learn hatred in the end… Only, too late.’

The necklace had somehow ended up on his chest, giving off a faint black glow. He could feel that it was some kind of essence making itself available to him, but it seemed extremely hard to manipulate.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

‘Black essence? So there were more than four types? I’ll have to test that once we get out of here…’

“Djan!” Rain cried once more, shaking his shoulder in desperation.

“... Yeah, I’m okay, Rain. Just…” He removed his hands, revealing his tear-stained face. They had stopped falling at this point, but the feeling of melancholy was still going strong. “Just give me a moment, okay?”

Rain went quiet, still staring at him anxiously. Her eyes quickly glanced at the necklace before turning back to him.

‘Is she still scared after what just happened? Or, did it happen a while ago? I might have been out for a while…‘

He pushed himself up from the ground, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her. “Don’t worry, the Aasvedans are good people. Even after death, they wouldn’t harm us.”

‘If she wasn’t here, I would probably be stuck crying for a while…’

The circle of corpses in the middle of the room had an entirely different meaning now. He knew all their names and personalities, and how much they had suffered before the end. It was like a dagger in his heart.

‘... They never did bury bodies, so I guess it’s fine to leave them… The last Aasvedans…’

The room itself felt different now, as it was the place where the final piece of a civilization had died. John even felt a reverence, scared to destroy or misplace anything.

“... Let’s get out of here, Rain. I doubt there’s anything left for us to find.” He turned and started walking to the corridor again, rather eager to leave this place.

“Ahm…” Rain replied, following after him quietly.

Once they left the room, the atmosphere felt lighter, as if a weight had fallen off his shoulders. The light at the end of the corridor felt strangely bright as if it was the first daylight he had seen for centuries.

‘... So technology is bad for essence? Then how come we can get it on Earth? We’re not as advanced as they were, but still… Is it because of the simulation? But that’s created with technology, how would that help?’

Ever more questions seemed to pop up as he explored this new world, while only a few were answered. This knowledge gave him another reason to get back to earth, along with everything else he learned.

‘Wait, Sage Full Blue said we were surprisingly advanced in technology! And that we had been lucky. That must be what he meant!’

It fit perfectly with what he already knew. The sage had offered that knowledge instead of knowledge about essence, so it might be equally important.

‘But what will Earth do once they know? Stop advancing? Or does it no longer matter since we already have essence unlocked?’

He shook his head, pushing the questions to the back of his mind and instead focusing on getting closer to home. They now stood by the crater again, so John gestured for Rain to get on his back.

With a light smile, she nodded and climbed up, wrapping her arms around his neck. And like that, they ascended back to the surface.

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Not much had changed; the centipede still lay there, unmoving, and the semicircle of light on the rest of the planet indicating the time of day had only moved slightly closer.

“Hah, I guess time slows down when you experience the history of an entire civilization. That felt like ages to me,” John noted, enjoying the breeze on his face.

“Abuwah, Djon,” Rain replied, calling his name for some reason. “Jam jam jam.”

“Huh? Are you hungry? I don’t know if centipede is the best… Well, I haven’t really tried, either.”

The plains appeared a lot less populated than the forest, so eating when they had the chance seemed like a smart thing to do.

John flew up in the air some more to scout the area, but he found no signs of enemies. He felt it would be fine to cook some of the meat properly, so Rain didn’t have to eat it raw.

Once back on the ground, he used the shortsword to cut a piece off of the centipede from where Larang had cut it open. It didn’t have much smell, but it was pale yellow—quite unappetizing.

“Mmh, I don’t feel very hungry honestly… You can have it all to yourself, Rain.”

“Mmidafee?” Rain tried, doing her best.

John looked at her in slight surprise. “Yeah! ‘Hmm, I don’t feel’, correct! Just need a bit more pronunciation!”

She smiled and repeated herself, more confidently this time; “Mmidafee.”

“... It doesn’t really mean much, but it’s a good start! Here, let me cook this thing for you!”

John used his essence to create a wide and flat flame over his hand, holding the meat over it with the shortsword. It would be repaired in his core whatever he did to it, so he didn’t mind using it as a skewer.

‘Larang is different, though. Even using it to fly is hurting me…’

He pointed at the skewer while looking at Rain and said, “Cooking.”

“... Kooki?” she asked, seeming to get the hang of the basics of the language. Even the intonation of a question seemed to be clear to her, ending with a high note.

John smiled and nodded, making his movements very clear. “Yes.”

“Jes!” she repeated again, nodding along with a smile.

John laughed, finding her actions to be very cute. Feeling that the meat should be finished, he handed it over to her on the shortsword, making it easier to eat.

She didn’t hesitate and immediately started eating, and looked to be enjoying it. Table manners didn’t seem like something she remembered, though; her face was soon covered in fat and grease.

John smiled again, but then he looked down at the necklace on his chest, feeling the curiosity overwhelm him.

‘Time to test this new essence, then? Can I even control it?’