Tremors able to split the eight worlds apart.

Fires able to scorch ranks of the holiest of angels.

Nine Gods parting the worlds in their frenzied battle.

Two of those Gods, each a half of the other, fighting an eternal battle over our world.

And yet when a God is concerned, even an eternity can end.

"With my flash, the clouds shall be this world's shield, the sun- a paradise for the damned. Now all I need of you is to prepare. Prepare for the world after."

With these words as warning, the god of holy light, Eupholus- gave his most sacred knight, Barceu- a holy duty. And yet not even the words of a god would help a single knight with a duty as heavy as the world.

"Gray. Pink. Blue. Green. Orange. And of course, white. Six pieces of the essence of creation, six pieces of me. Make white a part of you, with the rest, create angels, ones who will help fulfill your sacred duty."

"And thus, a god once thought a savage beast, redeemed himself by giving this world light.."

"..At least that is my creative interpretation of what they would put here."

Unafraid of the retribution of a dead god for referring to him as a savage beast, I sank in my seat and looked at the giant book I've just read from in disdain.

'Are you still trying to make sense of that thing?'

As a dark glob of a demon lazily lay on my bed, he thought it prudent to question me.

"I wouldn't need to read this broken, unfinished mess if you had told me who that all seeing god was."

'You wouldn't need to do anything if you didn't force yourself to do it.'

"Khh…"

'Oh, What's wrong? About to puke? Do it somewhere else please, I'm having my beauty rest at the moment.'

Calm down.. Calm down Dhaar. What did Mel always tell you? Right, anger only causes more anger. The first step to stop my anger is- gah -my head hurts.. maybe I should go to sleep already?

The pain in my head directed me to look at the clock. [6:38]

Or maybe I should go eat my breakfast..

I furrowed my brows at the desk in front of me, and the four large books perched atop it, one of which was the scriptures of the sun. I thought I would be able to reason what I was reading by using some more modern books to lead me, and while I was indeed right.. It was only partially.

To think I would need seven whole hours to read so little.. My head boiled at even the thought. And I need to find time to return these books later too. Perhaps the army wouldn't mind a few books missing? I am probably going to get new ones in a few days though, so I shouldn't worry about returning them until then.

Surely they wouldn't bar a prince for not returning books on time, right?

With that decided, I prepared to go out.

**********

On two sides of a wide podium, stood two young men.

Staring at each other, they were dripping sweat from all over.

One had an arrogant smug as he looked at his opponent. The other, a slight frown.

Although it looked as if a serious battle was about to ensue, the last five minutes of their spar already told the audience what this was about. …pride, mostly.

If there was one person who did look a bit serious, it was Sper, the person who allowed this little "battle" to happen.

The stares directed at them did nothing to stop them, as the two men leaped from the ground.

As the frowning man: Ray, approached his opponent, his skin turned darker and darker as his body grew larger.

It looked as if he was donning a large suit of armor, made only of the finest metal, but a closer look dismissed that thought entirely. His ears, hair, and eyes grew larger and longer together with the dark skin overtaking his body.

He looked more like a crude machine than a human now. Quite an interesting effect of his brown essence affecting his yellow, it was even more surprising if you'd consider that it was only a week since he started training.

The ever smiling man: Leo, did not care about his opponent's form however. Growing faster by the second, his body started blurring as a strange light outlined him.

Suffice to say, his green essence had something to do with his speed, but unlike the giant Ray, who clearly only had the power to grow his body, Leo's power was almost impossible to figure out.

As if in tandem with my thoughts, the two men clashed, and again. And again.. Although Leo should've been toppled instantly by the giant in front of him-

"Gah.."

"Where is all of that determination from earlier! Why don't you-"

"Ugh–"

"-put that size to use?!"

Every time they touched, Ray groaned in pain as he backed off of his own volition. Leo meanwhile, was clearly enjoying this, murderous intent was emitting off of his every pore as Ray was slowly, agonizingly, forced to shrink back to normal size.

When the battle seemed to finally be done, Leo drew closer to the heaving man before him, to exact the winner's prize, his opponent's head. A prize Sper didn't seem willing to deny. Yet before he could finish off the act, he sneaked a look at Sper, and backed off.

"Haaa…"

I could not help but let a tired sigh escape my lips. It was an insincere performance, one that should not have flown past Sper.

But why would he act as if he was going to kill Ray? A show to the other nobles? A message to Sper?

Either way, I wouldn't expect a chronic liar to have much reason behind his actions.

So there is no need to think about it too deeply.

'His little group of admirers don't seem to think of him as a liar though.'

As the voice of an insect buzzed in my head, I turned to look at the group of three congratulating Leo for his win.

The first to reach him was Art, considerably less gloomy than he was at the start of the week, he enthusiastically started using healing essence on Leo before even asking him if he was hurt anywhere.

The other two showered him with praises, watching their hero with stars in their eyes as he got sapped of his essence by Art who likely healed nothing in return.

'What's with the prickly look, do you hate them that much?'

"Hate..? I have transcended past such trifling emotions long ago. I simply hope they would stop being so loud, even a holy knight such as I would be a bit bothered by it considering I've barely slept the past few nights."

'A holy knight? ..Don't you give Sper the same look though? He doesn't look the loud type.'

"His case is a bit different: When first meeting me he said I would be learning more than training the first day, and yet that day went by with eight hours of training and not a second of learning. In other words, he lied to me- a prince. An ascended holy knight! Is an avatar of justice such as myself, wrong in disliking someone like him? Nay! I'd say I'm more right than even the most righteous saint in my hate of such evil!"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

'...That book really got in your head huh?'

"Hush now, Par. It would do you well to not disrespect a knight."

'Or is it the lack of sleep, talking..?'

"Today's session is over. I might not be here tomorrow morning, so be sure to start basic essence separation before I arrive. Dismissed. Leo, stay here."

Before I could give Par the spanking only a holy knight could give a demon, Sper dismissed us.

Oh? Then that performance was for Sper? Or did he notice something else?

"What- did he do anything wrong, sir?"

"Just wait for me in the dining room, Art."

"But-"

"You too Zot, Mal. Make sure you save me a seat."

"Of course Leo."

"Come now, Art."

"Ah.. okay…"

Lagging by a bit behind the quickly leaving trio, the rest of us leave the hall.

"Ahhh.. so much anger going around lately huh?"

A loud, usually enthusiastic voice greets my ears as I walk alongside the group of nobles.

"Is it not only natural, considering our circumstances? I would even say there is less conflict than I expected."

The voice answering him comes from an ever frowning, curly haired youth, maybe a bit younger than me.

"Oh come on Dor, show some optimism! In conflict you find friendship and joy, no?"

"It's Dorian! And speak for yourself, Serf."

"Dor is always so negative.. What about you, Dhaar? What with your relationship with Led, some of that anger is on you, you know?"

"What are you talking about? I have no anger in me. Led is just doing whatever he pleases."

"...Don't think we don't see those angry stares you give Sper. Nobody here likes Sper very much, but I doubt anyone is as obsessed with him as you are. Considering that, I would put Led's hatred on something you did as well."

'Hahaha! Maybe he just couldn't accept someone as dull as you having the same essence as him?'

"..."

"Oh? Is that anger I see? As expected of one with orange essence, the emotions never leave your face."

Are they working together to piss me off?

"..Wouldn't people with orange essence be better at hiding such things?"

"You are asking me this..? Well maybe in theory, but they say that the one thing someone with orange essence can't hide is their emotions. ..It really is strange though, that he hates you like this. What happened between you two?"

"Ask him."

"Can't. He bolted the moment he saw you."

"..What do you want me to say then? I just met him this week, I wouldn't know what goes on inside his head."

"Then are you from a branch family? Maybe this is why he hates you? Though I couldn't guess why a Brigas would hate his own."

"Brigas.. head of the inquisitors department?"

Corneas Brigas. I think I've seen surface level reports from his department, and according to stories I heard from Mel, despite what his job entails, he is the most respected knight in the kingdom. Is that why everyone who knows my essence is the same as his, looks at me so well? ..Hm?

Both Serf and Dorian, and some of the nobles who overheard me had weird expressions on their faces as they fell silent.

Is that.. pity? Did I say something wrong? Serf came closer to me and spoke in a soft voice.

"He might just be your grandfather, Dhaar."

"...Grandfather?"

"I'm sorry for the loss of your mother, she must have been a wonderful woman."

"...Mother?"

"Wait, do you not have a mother too? Or was she the one from the Brigas side?"

"Why would any of my parents have to die?!"

"They had to have found you somehow for you to be here, right? Though it's surely a wonder they kept you unchecked for twenty years, considering how strict they are about having blood outside of the family."

Serf's answer was so nonchalant it cooled my head a bit.

"Haaa.. And why do I have to be connected to Brigas of all families? And if they are so strict with their blood, why am I here?"

"Well unlike gray essence, which is just as rare, orange can only come from Brigas, while gray just springs around wherever the first prince-"

"Hallowed be his name."

"-goes.. Right, you were religious Dor. Hallowed be his name. As for why you are here.. probably for the same reason Led is here. For a public execution. To show the other families the Brigas honor stands strong, even outside of their head's generation."

"...what about you and the others, then?"

"..I can't really speak for the others, but only my father would've wanted me to stay in the family. But since a while ago, it became much too stuffed for me there, so I decided to take my leave- whichever way that would lead me."

Did they send him here because he was an unwanted variable then? Or did he turn to crime outside of his family?

"And your father had nothing to say about it?"

"...If he had anything more to say then he had surely shouted it to the dirt above his head. Oh, sorry Dor. He might have shouted it to his friends up in paradise."

"..It's fine."

As silence sprung between us, I had time to digest the information I'd been given.

So Brigas has a sort of monopoly on orange essence? I think it would be safe to assume that Corneas has it as well then, which means…

Soaring into my packed head, I arrived at what I could only imagine a giant library chock full of books. Whether most had anything in them didn't matter much as I reached for the first book I saw, labeled "Essence types".

From what I learned over the last week, there are ten essence types in total, with yellow being the essence of creation that every person– alive or dead –has.

Purple. The one Sper has, can control gravity, plain and simple.

Red. While clearly a "healing essence", with it being able to forcefully use others' essence, it has much more potential for harm.

Brown. According to today's fight, it can grow its user's body, perhaps even strengthen it? And according to that same fight-

Green.. I think Ezekiel has it? Let's just say it can modify the body.

Blue. Rogier has it. Able to interact with the world better, heat and sap heat from its surroundings, according to Mel, Rogier can even write runes in the air. Much more suited for combat then for whatever Rogier is doing warming that man's seat back home.

Gray. My oldest brother, aged some thousands of years above me, has it. It should have something to do with time.

Pink. My second oldest brother, Mellow, has it. He had always prefered telling me stories of his travels rather than of himself, but he did say that pink was somewhat similar to orange in its uses, which brings me back here-

Orange. Other than being able to sense others' emotions, if I can assume I share the same type as Corneas, it means I will be able to use illusions? Whatever that entails, only time will tell.

Now for black and white, the most well known ones.

Black. Essence of chaos. Essence of control. Demonic essence. Despite having so many names, the only two things truly confirmed about it are that: All demons possess it in some form, and can use it to assimilate their victim's essence into their body, making their own essence reserves larger in the process.

White. Purging essence. Holy essence. Sunlight. It truly lives up to its name, if our peaceful kingdom is anything to stand by.. In its crudest form, sunlight can't do much to even demons, but focused by runes, it does indeed become purging essence. Other than runes, the only person I know in the whole world that is able to use the power of that essence, is the king of Draxus, the holy pope, and my father, Barceu Draxus.

Tsk.. Every single time I remember that damn name-

"Ah."

As if my soul was cut out of my own body, I came to. Ignoring the conversation that started in my absence, I looked around me, trying to navigate my vision around the groups of soldiers walking all over the wide hall, before eventually arriving at the source of my disturbance.

A tall soldier was walking with urgent uncertainty, his every footstep unorganized, making me think he was gonna fall multiple times. But his way of walking was not the only indicator to his worry, his voice was loud enough.

"Hang in there Lu! It's gonna be over after this!"

Another soldier, a much shorter one walked next to him, and answered much too quietly for me to hear. But after seeing him, it wasn't their voices I was focused on anymore.

"Can a human really live with this many burns..?"

"Hmm? What burns?"

"Serf? Is it not clear enough… Ah."

My mind froze.

Both soldiers were fully suited in their uniforms, and although there were tears here and there, none were large enough to expose any burns.

My eyes moved everywhere in a frantic search.

The walls? Nothing.

The floor? Nothing.

The ceiling? Nothing there either. Nothing reflective.

"..Dhaar?"

My head turned at the question. My feet seemed to have stopped moving at some point. Serf, Dorian, and behind them two other curious nobles, were looking at me with concern.

"It appears I am far too tired for dinner today. I will be going to my room now. Excuse me."

"Oh. Sure."

Although a few more words followed my departure, they sounded unimportant, so I discarded them, and hastened my pace.

The way back was pure torture.

Every face I caught a glimpse of, every word that was uttered, they were all so familiar. So nerve racking.

Thankfully though the way back was not too long, and before I knew it, I was already in my personal washroom.

An occasional twitch of the mouth, cloudy orange eyes and a full head of white well groomed short hair, the color only a noble could have.

My body sank to the ground with relief.

It was me in the mirror, not a worried soldier, nor a pleading servant.

I know I've been searching for something that would take me out of the boredom that was this base, but an experience like this was certainly something I did not want while here.

Though perhaps I overreacted a bit. It wouldn't just happen over anything, right?

I looked in the mirror, nothing changed.

I should really sleep.. A sleeping nightmare is much prefered over a waking one after all.