Energy was precious, it's what fueled the mechanisms and powers of the world.

Even when I was a lowly Poor Citizen of Volunterra I was aware of that.

Although carriages still remained by and large the main long distance transportation method, a citizen of Volunterra could consider himself made, if he gained ownership of the beloved Autoroller.

Autorollers had existed for a long time; they were said to be ancient technology that managed to endure into the present day.

Despite Volunterra’s horrible infrastructure, the main roads to most big Cities remained in relatively good condition for Carriages and Autorollers to travel in. Once one gained access to the mobility, convenience, and independence of an Autoroller the gates of any of Volunterra’s major Cities were open to you.

Autorollers came in all shapes and sizes and ran on all types of energies.

Most of them were manufactured to be adept at off road driving so they were quite reliable as well.

The only reason Carriages retained their popularity was because of their affordability, and the fact that there were some carriage beasts, and carriage manufacturer’s that offered many more benefits to a traveler of dangerous lands.

But even so it wasn’t uncommon to see Autorollers traveling the land.

The cheapest type of energy it ran on was a fuel called Petrol.

Volunterra practiced a very Pluralistic philosophy when it came to the country's energy needs.

Depending on what City, Town, or Region you lived in, different types of power sources would be more available.

It was said our very own Mystic City ran mostly on magical energy, similar to the City’s from the United Kingdom of Magic.

Still Magic wasn’t a kind of energy that was very common amongst Volunterra’s citizens, back in my hometown Petrol, Gas Fuels, Refined Oils and especially Coal were what met our energy needs.

My Hometowns giant energy Generator that supplied electrical energy to the whole community ran on Coal.

The Town’s citizens were encouraged to rely less on the City’s fuel supply and to try to meet their own needs, through their own means, so as to not put a strain on the Town Infrastructure.

For the most part that's how much of Volunterra’s Energy culture functioned.

Very rustic, pragmatic, and rural; enjoying a simpler life, and for the most part preferring a countryside lifestyle over a City lifestyle.

As far as I could tell this City was no different, Petrol, Gas, and Bio-processed fuel powered Autorollers scattered the City.

Petrol, Gas, Coal, Wood, and Oil; stoves, chimneys, and generators were integral components of Martial Citadels homes.

I saw battery powered technology, but for the most part the City was just a bigger version of my Hometown.

It seemed to treasure its old fashioned, classical Martial Culture, and aesthetic, and shunned a high technology or high energy society.

But in my opinion that was part of what was holding the City back.

Despite Martial Arts profound mysteries and paths, the Martial Philosophy didn’t make for good civilization building energy.

Autorollers, generators, lights, heat, and citywide mechanisms couldn’t be powered up with Martial Arts Manuals.

From word of mouth, I heard, Mystic City’s micro-culture, obsessed with the Magical Arts, could power their dreams and endeavors with Magical Energy, Neuvolt City was the country's leading expert in Battery and Electrical Technology, Animaeus City ran on Spirit Energy, and of course Will City was the epitome of top tier Energy availability.

For a so-called “Large City”, Martial Citadel was severely lacking.

It was no better than mid-sized, Ignition Technology powered Cities.

In my point of view that shouldn’t be the case, for one simple reason, the existence of an energy that many experts in the City could wield; Inner Energy.

Inner Energy was the key to saving the City from its impending economic doom, and it was also the key to elevate its Expert’s power levels.

Why fight for the magic powered scraps of more wealthy Cities and Nations, when the power of Inner Energy was right in front of your doorstep.

I knew I wasn’t some Inner Energy Genius or Sage, who had access to the secrets and keys to unlock its full potential, but something I did have was the Toltemics very adaptable Energy Imbuing Secret Method.

I surmised the reason Inner Energy hadn’t become a staple civilization driving fuel source, was because of its elusive and intangible natural state.

I could find and harvest Magical Energy within small magical creatures, and there were obviously greater sources of such energy, but as far as I knew I had yet to find a physical equivalent source of Inner Energy that I could readily harvest.

If it weren’t for the secret method, I would never have had access to anything like the Inner Energy Blood I created, and be able to make Inner Energy Infused Items.

Even the closest thing to an Inner Energy Market within the City, the Inner Energy Weapons weren’t truly trading in Inner Energy.

What they were trading in, was the ability to temporarily harness and channel Inner Energy in a consistent physical form.

But those weapons only allowed you to do that temporarily, requiring someone with the ability to detect and control Inner Energy, to pump the weapons full of the energy.

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And this was the crux of the issue, only the Experts known as Practitioners, and not the pure Martial Artists had access to this energy.

In a better timeline where Practitioners overcame their deadly power cap limiter, the City might’ve been called Practitioners Citadel, instead of Martial Citadel.

But as of right now, all those limitations have set the path of Inner Energy to become nothing more than a niche filling Combat Class, for those looking for immediate power, at the cost of a low ceiling.

Being relegated to a semi-popular, optional, status, completely stalled any innovation or research that would’ve worked to the benefit of Inner Energy and Martial Citadel as a whole.

Yet if my experiment project turned out to be successful, the role Inner Energy has within the City could completely transform.

In the corner of the yard I had a wooden barrel full of Pure Glass.

It was a transparent Crystal that could be found all throughout Potestera, even in zones without volcanoes or crust faults.

It was rumored to be the remnant evidence of a massive catastrophe that happened in the past.

I had learned from the Guider that the Glass was great at channeling and temporarily holding energy in small amounts.

I had used it to make some knapped stone Spearheads, for both the magical and non magical weapons.

The Pure Glass actually turned out to be the best material of the three minerals when it came to making magical weapons, as it infused the best with the magical blood, and had an excellent energy channeling function that no other spearhead material could rival.

The only problem was that it was not as durable or sturdy even after Magic infusion.

The only other material with similar traits was the Grounds Will Wood; which also had another espectacular trait once infused with Magic.

I had been wrapping my mind around this idea for quite a while now trying to think of the best way to approach such a project and achieve success.

I grabbed the blade of my Inner Axe and tried to see if I could carve notches into the glass.

After shattering a couple glasses I finally found the right pattern and technique in order to create grooves that ran deep into the glass without breaking it.

The only way I could carve the glass so efficiently was by delicately using Inner Energy.

I was an extreme amateur at using Inner Energy through a medium in a more precise fashion so it took me a while to gain proficiency at the task.

I then proceeded to grab a beast hair brush and slather the Crystal in Inner Energy Blood, and thereafter roll it in the base powder mix.

I repeated that process three times.

After the third slather of blood I let it dry for a little bit before covering it with Inner Energy Resin.

The Crystal got a faint glow but that was hardly the result that I wanted.

I threw the Crystal into the Fourth bathing compartment, and after throwing some more base powder mix, I proceeded to pump Inner Energy into the bath.

I did that every time I bathed an Item, because although the Inner Energy blood was full of Inner Energy, I knew since becoming a Practitioner that Inner Energy was most potent and reactive when it was in a constant flow.

By pumping Inner Energy into the blood, not only did I replenish any energy that was being absorbed by the Crystal, I also kept the blood at its highest potency making the process more efficient.

Eventually I noticed the Inner Energy Blood start to glow brighter, that gave me the signal that the Crystal wouldn’t absorb more energy, and that I was oversaturating the blood.

I left the Crystal for some time before I finally took it out.

The Crystal glowed with a Reddish Gold hue, similar to the Inner Energy healing liquid except much prettier.

I was excited and eager to see what uses I could get out of the Crystal, but I remained patient as I still needed to test one more thing out in order to consider the Experiment a success.

I planned to leave the Crystal out in the open for a couple days and see if any changes occured to it.

During that waiting period I focused on making more Yellow Seals and Inner Energy gloves.

After having the infusing method more or less mastered, it wasn’t difficult for me to multitask, but making every one of the close to five hundred thousand papers I had bought into a Yellow Seal was definitely a tedious task.

I wasn’t quite sure my appreciation for the City went that far.

After some days passed by, I checked up on the Crystal, and as far as my sight could tell, the glow of the Crystal hadn’t diminished, and nothing about it had really changed at all.

I ripped up a Yellow Seal and analyzed the Crystal in more detail; within its center I could see a concentrated amount of Inner Energy fluctuating in and out of a physical state.

A surprising amount of Inner Energy resided within the Crystal, and the traces of the blood were no longer found, only dynamic energy was within it.

My hard work had paid off, I had created a solid accessible state for people to gain access to Inner Energy.