"...think of essence as a powdered juice and mana as water. Mana on its own is just free-flowing energy, untappable, and unreachable, that's where essence comes into play. Essence influences Mana on how it should behave, take people that are born with Mind Essence as an example, once their essence manifest, there are certain chances that the ambient mana would be absorbed and stored in the brain, improving their neural pathways and psionic capabilities thus giving them the ability to fuel their abilities with mana and cast spells of their respective Essence, giving them the chance to become a Mind Mage"
from "Road of Magic Volume 1: The Basics" by Baron Teyulop Ghaal Nepol
"...and that concludes everything that I said. Mr. General Secretary, please supervise everything."
"Yes, Archduke, a few tweaks here and there and some sound system can be arranged immediately."
"Excellent. Now, shall w-"
"Wait a min, what do you mean by sound system?" Lyle asked the General Secretary, an ounce of shock can be seen in his eyes.
"...are you even listening to what I've been rambling since you ENTERED THIS ROOM?!" Archduke shouted, a vein can be seen popping from his head.
'Damn, this geezer made being angry a hobby' Lyle thought while covering his ears. 'He even used his essence for that, what the...'
"I'm sorry! I'm just very nervous because of the coronation"
'A lie, by the way, I stayed up late last night'
"Seems like you stayed up late huh?"
'Oh shit'
"Uncle please stop reading my mind!"
"I'm not reading your mind, you lass! Look at your eyes! It looks like someone punched you with those saggy eye bags!"
"Cut me some slack uncle, I can't sleep last night because of everything that would, will, and can happen today!"
"Here are you again with your excuses, bear in mind that when you became the absolute ruler of this kingdom, trillion lives of Epsilons and various others are under your mercy, you can't keep making excuses and I hope you know that." the archduke grumbly said with a frown.
"I know uncle, it's just that it's a little bit overwhelming you know?"
"Overwhelming? Aren't you taught since the day you were born about your duties as the sole heir to the throne? You should instill in your mind that this is your destiny, to lead our race to prosperity."
Lyle contemplated this 'destiny', is it his destiny to be reincarnated in someone who is a crown prince of a kingdom spanning over 4 planetary systems?
'Who am I even? Am I an Earthling who got reincarnated as an alien prince? or an alien prince who somehow got memories of some alien dude from this planet Earth? I don't even know anymore..'
"For a recap since you're not paying attention, aside from media coverage of the event, I decided to change the location of the Coronation, instead of the Throne Room of the Royal Castle that you suggested, the coronation would be held at the Basilica of Garond the Wise and the Pope would be the one to crown you, I already contacted the media about this and they are already on the way to set up. After the coronation, you will deliver your speech on the central balcony to thousands of spectators."
An inkling of surprise and despair can be seen as Lyle's face changes from a calm one to something akin to a crumpled paper. "What? we already cleaned the palace and everything is already set isn't it? Why are we changing it at the last minute?" 'A live speech? with thousand people watching me? God damn kill me instead.'
The archduke sighed, visibly annoyed. "As I said a while ago when you've chosen to daze off instead of listening, Its for calming the masses, The last King, may Gaus shines his rays upon his majesty's soul" he paused for a second, and continued. "have some quiet tension with the Church. Even if the Gaus Church's power is stagnant throughout the decades, almost everyone in the kingdom still practices the Gauss Religion. This is a perfect opportunity to cull the people's anxiety towards the relationship of the church and the kingdom."
'A sound argument, seems like I have no choice but to oblige, even if I don't want to'
"Fine then, I'll try."
"Don't "try", do it!" The General Secretary instinctively covered his ears with the shout.
"Geez uncle, stop shouting! Our ears are already bleeding." Lyle jokingly said.
"I'm not shouting, this is merely the way I talk!" 'What a typical geezer excuse'
"Yeah yeah whatever, so are we going to this or not?"
"No, not yet until we fixed those eyebags of yours, a few makeup foundations or whatever that is would suffice, go back to your room, and ill have your makeup artist tend to your face." The Archduke said as he stood up. Mr. General Secretary and the Prince took this as a sign to stand up too.
"Before I forgot." The archduke starts patting his robe's pockets, he took something out and threw it at the prince.
Lyle used his telekinetic power to catch it mid-air, he inspected it for quite some time.
"An amulet?" Lyle said. The blue amulet is very glossy and cold.' made of mithril I presume?' It also has various inscriptions; in the middle, it has the image of the Gauss (the equivalent of the Sun).
"The late King wants you to have that, he gave that to me days before his passing. Make sure that you're wearing that, for him." Archduke said as his facial expression suddenly became solemn.
"I see..." He held the amulet in his hand and carefully wear and fasten the clamps.
An unbearable silence took over the whole room,
*CLAP*
""?!"'
The silence was broken by the General Secretary, who was eager to scurry off and leave these two bickering men and their drama.
"I think it's time, Your Majesty and Your Excellency."
"Ah yes! Falk go back to your room and wait for the makeup"
"Yes, uncle."
Thus, the Archduke accompanied the General Secretary left the room to finish up the preparations, while the Prince left for his chambers.
[Breaking news! Our new king, Prince Falkran Ferrino Loi Epsilon, coronation would be held in the Great Basilica of Garond the Wise. Aside from the Gauss Church, other vassals church's popes like the Aplosart Church and Manutvre Church have spoken about their invitations for the said event. In the coming minut-]
The sound of the television is drowned by the noise of various people in the tavern, from commoners starting their day with some ale to merchants gossiping about their profit the other day while gulping worrying amounts of wine, the place is certainly lively, and loud.
On the other hand, a gloomy atmosphere can be felt in the corner of the tavern where a man is currently sitting.
The man has messy short green hair, a southerner from the equator, his short and pointy horns give away his youthfulness, he stands 5 foot 7 inches tall, above average in today's standard. His physique is thin, but with ample muscles for a short burst of movements. He wears a full black studded leather attire, up to the vest down to his boots, on his waist, a scabbard sporting inside a short steel sword, and a strap on his chest for daggers. A typical adventurer, in all of its glory.
"What's with the long face, Martin?" someone said in a gruff voice.
Martin looked up, his somber expression suddenly turned to glee as he saw the man who spoke.
"Uncle Vernon! Took you long enough, I thought you've ghosted me!" He stood up and hugged his uncle tight.
Vernon is his uncle from his mother, which is what they called "pure blood" Epsilons since their heritage can be found in the main continent. He has unkempt white hair and a horn much like a tamaraw. He's 2 inches taller than Martin and has muscles bulging from his cotton shirt.
"Not at all, Martin! I'm watching the television for the upcoming coronation. It's not that often that we're going to see The Shrouded Prince Haha." Vernon chuckled.
"The Shrouded Prince?" Martin asked, as an adventurer, he's mostly traveling all the time with his teammates, thus he barely knows about anything that is happening to the outside world. He also found buying a Module to access the news a burden since it costs a lot and has a monthly subscription fee that even a middle-class citizen in and near the capital will have a second thought of purchasing.
"Prince Falkran, he's called The Shrouded Prince since he never goes outside his palace, well that changed a year ago when he's found downtown buying some streetfoods and his bodyguards chasing him, a sight to behold." he chuckled "Still, the nickname sticks so it never left him."
"Anyway, what about you? What's with the sudden visit to the capital?" He asked. It's been a long while since they both met, the last time is when Martin had an escort job to the capital.
"Ah, Uncle, I have to talk about something to you-" Martin didn't even finish what he had to say when his uncle interjected.
"Wait a min boy, I can see that this is going to be a pretty serious conversation, so before everything else..." Vernon whistled and raised his hand, a waiter approached the two.
"Hey boss, what can I get for yah?"
[ A few minutes later ]
"Fwahh! A freshly squeezed Clavero pulp is just what I needed." Vernon said as he downed a whole pitcher of alcohol.
"Anyways, speak your mind." Vernon looks at Martin intently as he grabs a handful of roasted nuts.
Hesitating, Martin stared at the wine he ordered to avert Vernon's gaze.
"You see Uncle, I'm thinking of quitting adventuring," Martin says with a mix of conviction and nervousness. He looked up to look at his Uncle.
*Crunch* Vernon stared at Martin as he slowly consume the roasted nuts.
"Why?" Vernon asked as he look Martin in his eyes, the gruffiness in his voice seems almost passive-aggressive.
"It's just that, the essence of being an Adventurer has faded, there's no real adventure anymore where you'll discover new lands with different and unique kinds of animals and intelligent life, the adventuring that my father and you told me when I was younger is no more..." Martin said with a frown, after that he slowly gauged his uncle's reaction, Vernon is an adventurer decades ago but chose to settle down to make a family and a small business.
Vernon sighed "You don't have to tell me that, ya know? It's your life to live, Martin." He took a sip from his pitcher. "But, it's a big decision, you don't live for centuries like those noble bastards so you should think before anything else. You're also a B-rank adventurer, you'll be in demand for the coming years."
"In-demand? What do you mean?"Martin took a sip of his wine as he asked.
"Well, even if your old man is a retiree, I still have some connection to the higher-ups of the Association," he said with a grin. "It seems that monster activity in the Main, Coralla, and Geleo continent is becoming erratic, undead [Essence] is currently spiking up, and the ambient mana levels are also rising slowly."
A look of shock washed over Martin's face. "What? That's serious stuff, what's the kingdom's response?"
"Nothing of course, with the coronation of a new king, it would take at least a couple of weeks for some briefings, and we can't really rely on the government, can we?" Vernon said with a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah, damn right. The only thing that the nobles know to do is milk us dry with taxes, and use it for some parties and orgies!"
"AHHAHAHAH you nailed it!"
And thus, they caught up about the happenings of each other's life for almost an hour. Their conversation suddenly came to a halt when the reporter on the TV says something.
[His Majesty, Prince Falkran Ferrino Loi Epsilon has arrived.]
