His final unlock wasn’t something that had been listed in his menus at all, but a term that he had seen mentioned several times now. Often enough that Nick was certain the concept was vital to understand sooner rather than later. It wound up costing far more points than any of his other choices, which he hoped would directly correspond to its value.
Eager to discover what the System would reveal, he entered his question into the custom kp prompt with a flourish. “What is essence?” With a grin, he opened his journal to a fresh page, picked up his pen, and got busy reading.
Essence
As the myriad creatures inhabiting the multiverse advance in levels, they develop a concrete understanding of themselves and the path of power they desire to walk. Over time, advancing down this path generates a transformative energy known as essence.
Essence is the precursor to the advanced characteristic known as concepts, which are used at higher tiers to develop unique classes and builds. Essence can be gained by completing quests, raising skills, and killing other creatures. Unlike experience, essence must be compatible in order to be absorbed. Normally, only a small fraction of a slain opponent’s essence can be absorbed, even when its nature is highly compatible.
Essence has a wide variety of uses. The most common application for low tier beings is the advancement of spells and abilities. Accumulating sufficient essence (combined with a fundamental understanding of the ability in question) will allow abilities to rank up, becoming more powerful or taking on novel aspects at key milestones. Certain items and relationships are powered by essence as well.
Nick read the description three times before copying the entry into his journal, trying to wrap his head around everything that had been revealed before lowering the book with a grin. The information contained in the entry had been even more valuable than he’d hoped, although it might be some time before he could take full advantage of the knowledge he had gained.
He closed the journal and set down his pen, mulling over the words that he’d read. In the end, Nick was deeply satisfied with how he had chosen to spend the last of his knowledge points. It seemed that essence was even more important than he’d thought, and he had gained some information on concepts and abilities for free as well. The more that he thought the matter through, the more certain he became that he had uncovered a vital component of his future advancement, even if it didn’t have any obvious applications just yet.
Regardless, he was convinced that understanding essence and concepts would be of critical importance during the days ahead. Knowing about them early on was certain to offer advantages that he could benefit from as he continued to level.
For one thing, Nick suspected that the transference of essence was the missing piece to the puzzle of his wand. The reason why the device only regained charges after defeating certain creatures and completing System quests. The ratmen must have released a form of essence that was compatible with the wand. Maybe I can learn how to generate some manner of force related essence as I advance. Then I’ll be able to recharge the wand all by myself and start using it more freely in battle.
It was relieving to learn that essence could be gained by completing quests and raising skills, in addition to killing various creatures. Nick was certain to do his fair share of fighting as he progressed, but he was glad to know that he wouldn’t be forced to slaughter intelligent beasts simply to fuel his own advancement. Let alone other people.
Finally, the information provided in this entry implied that he would have increased control over the direction of his development as he grew more powerful and advanced his tier. That there was a way of customizing his class and abilities at critical milestones, influencing the manifestation of his powers beyond the options offered by the System. It was even possible to create unique abilities and classes at higher tiers, although it would be long years before he was anywhere near that stage.
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It meant that Nick wouldn’t be locked into a specific path based solely on his early experiences, although he was certain that they would play an important role as well. Whenever he made it back to civilization, he would try to see if anyone had acquired more information on tiers, which had seemed almost as useful as essence but was more of a long-term thing at this point, since he would have to be at least level fifty before that could happen and there were likely additional requirements that he wasn’t aware of yet.
Armed with a wealth of new information, he put his journal into his pack and stepped away from the display, ready to begin his final preparations to leave the safe room and begin the first stage of the Fate of Earth quest chain.
While he was sad to see the last of his knowledge points go, Nick was thrilled by what they had taught him. The information he had gained today was invaluable, a true beginning of learning more about life as part of the System and the multiverse. But it was only the first step, and his education was far from over.
Whenever he ran into other people, he could trade the knowledge he had gained for other pieces that he hadn’t been able to afford, expanding the entries in his journal into a comprehensive guide over time. By the time that he arrived at the base of the Tower of Rizzen, Nick hoped to learn about all the terms listed on his profile along with whatever people had gleaned from their custom kp queries. Swapping kp unlocks would help to counter the restriction on information that the Mad God put into place when he had stolen the Earth, improving humanity’s odds of surviving over the long haul.
But that was a worry for another day. Now that he had accomplished his key goals for his time spent in the safe room, he was ready to move on and ready himself for the challenge ahead. He would keep on training and exercising during the time he had left on the clock, as well as revise his various plans and contingencies.
Although he doubted that he could raise the skill now, Nick decided to spend a few hours practicing with his wand while he had the chance, including some drills involving using his wand and sword together to take down powerful opponents.
While he was still in the middle of working out the details of exactly how the wand was powered, he had eventually developed a solid sense of what his wand skill did. In addition to helping guide his aim, the skill was able to point out ideal times to use the force-flinging tool in battle. It helped him notice when an enemy was off balance, or when the blast would disrupt an incoming attack.
With that goal in mind, he continued drilling with the device, using his shadow boxing visualization to practice firing the wand against various opponents. Over time, he wanted to learn how to use it to bolster both offense and defense in a range of potential circumstances.
While he wasn’t able to increase the wand skill without actually firing it off, Nick felt better prepared for a range of contingencies. Until he could refill it at will, his plan was to save the wand’s charges for repelling ambushes, escaping from monstrosities like the lurk, and taking down opponents more powerful than himself.
Done with training for the day, he slid the wand into its beltloop, then sat down in his chair to watch the sunset, enjoying some alien music playing over the speaker. Since this was his last full day in the safe room, he put in some extra effort just to relax and unwind. To shed the layers of stress he had built up over the last month, before he leapt back into the thick of it.
In a little less than a day, he would be risking his life once more, fighting alongside the other volunteers with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance. He would finish steeling his resolve and inspecting his gear in the morning. But not right now. Not tonight.
Tonight was Nick’s to do with as he pleased. To remind himself that even now, not every aspect of his life revolved around fighting and killing, surviving in a multiverse filled with incomprehensibly powerful beings. That there was still some space to enjoy good music and good food. He paired his newfound optimism with the anticipation of working alongside other people. Something that Nick was greatly looking forward to after his long, lonely weeks on the island.
Before he was ready to call it a night, he decided to end his day with an intense workout. Nothing as deliberate as training his skills, just simple exercise while taking in the beauty of nature. It felt good to put his body through its paces. To think of nothing beyond the uncomplicated burn of his muscles. The simplicity of lifting his body until his arms gave out.
When he was done, he took a long shower, running the water nice and hot, enjoying the sensation of being clean and safe for the last time in who knew how long. He slipped beneath the covers, savoring the soft mattress and silky fabric caressing his skin.
Nick was fast asleep less than a minute later, dreaming of an Earth that was so far away.