Chapter 20: 20: Darble and Darlac

"But first things first," The Queen said after a moment, slightly feeling awkward as she looked a Compass Carburettor, "Let's introduce ourselves first."

She got up, making a mild bow, "I am Ephemella Entropica, Queen of the Entropica Kingdom. I became Queen when I turned 32, and am the strongest Puppeteer and Warrior of this Kingdom."

'She became Queen recently. So…' Compass Carburettor thought as he stood up in return and bowed, "I am Compass Carburettor, Prince of Plottopia. I managed my Kingdom's wealth."

"Follow me, Sir Compass," The Queen, Ephemella said once they finished eating.

Compass Carburettor didn't know what he had eaten. It seemed edible, so he consumed it in a daze. He followed the Queen and arrived at another room where there was a sphere situated on an altar of sorts.

Pointing at it, the Queen said, "This is Darble, a material that's used to harness the energy in our bodies. It also stores the same energy in it and is the basic material in the creation of a Puppet or an Armament."

'So, that's why she found out before. I didn't know about Darble. And, it is a common fact everyone in this world ought to know.' Compass Carburettor nodded in understanding.

The sphere had a radius of 20 centimetres and pulsed with a mysterious feeling. It was transparent like glass but swirling within it was a faint haze of some sort, varying in all colours of the visible spectrum.

"Place your hands on the Darble and close your eyes. Try to feel it." The Queen said, watching Compass Carburettor execute it exactly, "And, just remain in such a state patiently. Allow the energy from it to flow into your body and circulate through it. It will eventually cause your body cells to begin generating this energy too. As long as you're a human, you can obtain this power."

Compass Carburettor closed his eyes, keeping his eyes on the Darble sphere as all he felt was the sense of touch. He couldn't feel anything else. 'Focus, and perceive it.'

He remained standing there for almost four hours before his arms began to sweat as he felt a prickling sensation all over them. The prickling sensation traversed up his arms and headed to his back, passing through his thighs until it reached his feet.

It then continued up his body, passing through his neck before reaching the top of his head, causing him to shudder once. The prickling sensation then headed down his head, arriving at his chest before traversing up his shoulders, returning to his hands before vanishing.

A couple of minutes later, the prickling sensation repeated the same course, vanishing once the cycle was done. The process continued to happen continuously.

The Queen had been staring at him all along without missing anything. When she noticed his hands begin to sweat after four hours, she nodded in surprise, 'His perception is extraordinary. It takes people days if not weeks to reach this state. He got it at almost the same time as me.'

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She then noticed goosebumps appear on his hand before travelling over his body. She observed it when the goosebumps passed through his neck and headed up, and watched it return to his hands before vanishing.

She mentally kept count of the number of cycles it happened, thinking, 'This process will determine his affinity towards Darlac. It only took me 20 cycles before my body began to generate Darlac on its own. An average person needs around 600-800 cycles before attaining the same. I wonder how many cycles you need, Compass Carburettor.'

Darlac was the name of the energy present within the Darble and their bodies. It was what they used to control a Puppet or wield an Armament. At first, the Queen was enthusiastic, but when the number of cycles touched the three digits, she was mildly disappointed.

Finally, after more than 300 cycles, Compass Carburettor felt something in his body had changed. He felt more nourished, like his stamina was being condensed into a quantizable form. Soon, he could feel something flow through his blood.

The pulse felt different as he observed it.

"You can open your eyes now." The Queen said. Compass Carburettor opened his eyes and noticed a ring had appeared atop the Darble. The colour was somewhere between white and yellow, the same as the energy weapons of the soldiers he had witnessed in action the previous day.

The ring had a radius of 15 centimetres. And, he also observed that the Darble was floating a centimetre above the altar now. He didn't know exactly what it signified.

"You can remove your hands now." The Queen said as he removed his hands, watching the Darble slowly land on the altar as the ring atop it vanished.

He looked at her, "What does the final action mean?"

"When a ring appears atop the Darble, it means you have talent in wielding an Armament. And, the larger its radius, the greater your affinity to this craft. On average, a person's ring has a radius of 10 centimetres. Yours had 15 centimetres, so you are better than the average. The size of the ring also varies on the size of the Darble. If the radius of the ring had been 20 centimetres, as this Darble has a radius of 20 centimetres, your affinity to this craft is deemed maximum." She said, 'His affinity to wielding the Armaments is pretty high, almost on the level of a General. Even I only have an affinity of 18 centimetres.'

"Similarly, when a Darble floats in the air, it means you have an affinity towards wielding a Puppet. Usually, everyone only has an affinity towards either one. Cases with an affinity towards both crafts are incredibly rare. There are less than 10 such people in this kingdom." The Queen smiled, "You'll have a maximum affinity to this craft if this Darble floated to a height of 20 centimetres. Yours floated to a centimetre in height, so, you still have some talent in this craft."

'I thought he would reach my level considering his disposition and temperament. Still, it's a pretty good result considering his kingdom hasn't harnessed this energy before. It means his potential is high.' The Queen thought. She had never revealed her result to anyone in her Kingdom, for that would threaten her position since foreign kingdoms would try to kill her before she grew to become too strong.

Publicly, she had an affinity of 5 centimetres for a Puppet. But in actuality, she had an affinity of 20 centimetres, the highest for the craft.

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