Osiris huffed heavily as he followed closely behind his master, “MASTER!”

"Shush, child," Hermes whispered while covering Osiris's mouth. "If we are caught here, we will face a dire punishment."

“Then why are we doing this,” Osiris whispered back, pulling his hood further over his face.

“We need to see the Goddess of Blaze, and unfortunately for us, this is the only way,” Hermes whispered, slowly walking forward.

Osiris turned back to look at the vast wall of thin crystal and gray metal beams that was Divine Gate, whimpering that this seemed like a bad idea.

Weeks turned to months and months to years before Hermes said they had arrived.

“Uhm, Master, are you sure a goddess lives here?” Osiris said, looking at the old cave with large and small ash crystals everywhere.

“Yes, well,” Hermes looked strangely at the cave, “The source was only slightly questionable, so it might not be.”

“Uhh,” Osiris looked strangely at the cave and his master, “Mas…”

“Stop with the blabbering and hurry inside.” The sound of an annoyed feminine voice echoed around the duo.

“Yes, right away,” Hermes said, grabbing his student as he entered the cave.

Hermes ambled through the dark cave, his hands gliding along the stone and ash crystal laid wall. He could feel his student holding onto the back of his robes with a shivering hand. Feeling the shake of his student's hand brought some semblance of peace to him as he walked, unsure of what would happen when he met the goddess.

Osiris followed closely behind his master, terrified of the dark and dampness of the cave. How could a goddess who uses fire essence be in a place like this? It was more suited for a god of darkness or something like that. Suddenly, he heard that same voice wafting into his ears.

“That is far enough,” The feminine voice echoed around the duo again.

The world around the duo lit up as flames danced around the large circular room. Osiris twirled around, looking at the beautiful flames dancing around the room. It was amazing that something like this could happen and that he could see it.

“Why are you here, children,” asked a woman with dark skin, long ash-gray, almost white hair, deep red eyes, and a blazing orange dress flowing like a dancing flame. She sat on a gigantic dark crystalline throne leaning cozily against one of the armrest, her head lazily propped on her fingers and her feet tucked neatly under her. She looked at the duo with dull, bored eyes, silently waiting for one of the children to speak.

Hermes, seeing his student, who was usually so bright, act so stupid at a time like this, quickly grabbed his head and pulled it down into a bow before the goddess grew angry at them.

“G-Goddess of Blaze, we, the humble servants of the Divine Race, have come to ask you in your infinite kin…”

“Enough flattery; look at me when you are talking and just be blunt with it,” The Goddess of Blaze looked at the pair, and an annoyed sneer spread across her face, “I care very little for your flowery words and your actions.”

Osiris slowly raised his head, curious as to what a god or goddess looked like, but when his eyes finally made his way to the woman on the throne, “Beautiful,” he whispered, and his eyes grew wide at his comment, quickly covering his mouth.

The Goddess of Blaze moved her lazy eyes to look at the child, her face like a stone carving, “I thank you for your words, child, but appearance and the flattery that come with it means very little to me. Now, why have you come here without notifying me beforehand.”

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Hermes tried to bow again before speaking but feeling a strong heat under his nose, he decided against the bow, “I would like to train my student, Osiris, in life essence and how to use it under your supervision, Goddess of Blaze.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” The goddess looked at Hermes, the emotions in her eyes never changing.

“No, Goddess of Blaze, I had concluded that you would find this child interesting, but…”

The duo watched as the Goddess of Blaze stood up and began to walk toward them, her steps were slow and evenly paced, and the embers of fire she left behind flowed into her ever-changing dress. Osiris could only see the sultry steps the goddess took and the orange dress shifting colors like a moving flame, only to realize the path of fire the long dress was leaving.

“It is a path of pure fire essence! How?” Osiris screamed in his head as he watched the dress grow in size with each of her steps, “Could I do something like that?”

Before Osiris realized it, his chin was in the fingertips of the goddess, and his green eyes were staring directly into her burning red eyes. His breathing had entirely stopped, and his throat instantly dried as he stared into the alluring eyes.

“I do not like your eyes,” The goddess said slowly, her voice fluttered in the air after each word, making Osiris gulp in response. She stared deeply into Osiris’s eyes, making him feel like all his thoughts and secrets were laid bare.

The goddess walked between the master and the student, “I will allow it,” Her voice flew into their ears, but Osiris's dazed eyes only stared at the burning dress and the goddess that was walking away.

“Master…”

Hermes chopped his student on the head, “Do not touch!”

The next day, inside the residence of the goddess, the duo gathered in the large room under the eyes of the goddess.

“Osiris, what do you know of essence arts and how to move essence,” Hermes said, glancing between his student and the uninterested eyes of the Goddess of Blaze.

“Nothing,” Osiris’s voice had a hint of innocence and yearning.

“Lies,” The goddess said, her lazy eyes staring at Osiris.

“Yes, did you not heal a man when you were still very young?”

“Did I,” Osiris’s eyes grew as he looked at his master.

The goddess’s eyes squinted as she looked at the young student, “Continue your lecture,” she said lazily.

“Yes,” Hermes gave an embarrassed cough as he recollected his thoughts, “Since you know nothing, we will start from the basics then.”

“Understood!”

“Essence is the core that makes Genisis; it is the wind, the water, everything, and all things, including the gods, are made of it.” Hermes took pause to glance at the Goddess of Blaze upon seeing her lazy gaze still on his student; he continued,“ Normally, all life is born with a stagnant life seed; this means that its only purpose is to let the natural flow of life essence through it, thereby keeping us Seedlings alive, we refer to this as a normal Seedling or a Zero-Star Seedling.”

Osiris had so many questions just based on this little bit, but he could tell by the gaze boring into the side of his head that he should keep silent.

“On rare occasions, some Seedlings will begin to turn this life essence into what we refer to as Racial Essence, more on that later; after this racial essence starts to form, that is when a Seedling is officially a One-Star Seedling such as yourself.”

“Wait,” Osiris’s eyes grew confused at the last statement of his master, “I have life essence, not racial essence it should be…”

“Divine Race is an exception to this, and in time, I will tell you, but first, the basics.”

“No more basics,” The goddess’s lazy voice boomed from her throne, “Start!”

Hermes stared in confusion, “Start… but there are many things he needs to know before we can start on anything else.”

“You should have done that while you hid and ran to me, now you are out of time, and I may only be able to keep you hidden for a short time. So teach him!” The goddess said in a demanding tone, much different from her usual laziness

Hermes balled his fist and bit his knuckle as he thought about what the goddess had said, “Arghhh, I’m a fool! I was so concerned about getting here that I never took the time to lay any groundwork! I’m such a fool!”

“Master!”

“Osiris, we are skipping this. You can learn it later.”

“Master!”

“I’m such a fool!”

“Master!”

“Alright, Osiris, we will start with this…”