Chapter 11: Chapter 10: Essence of Essence (1)

As the sun set on a new day, Rene stood exactly 3 meters away from his desk while holding a pen. Beneath his feet were two footprint-like drawings, the profiles of which perfectly matched his soles. The footprints were drawn in red and seemed as though they had been traced around his feet with a pen.

Bending his knees and aiming the pen as if it were a dart, he threw it. The pen soared through the air gracefully in a perfect arc before its tip collided with a piece of paper on the desk. Its momentum reversed, the pen bounced off of the table; a clattering noise was heard as it landed into a prepositioned cup.

Rene left the two foot outlines to examine the paper: it was stained with a single red dot.

No change…

This was the tenth time he had thrown the pen, it had landed in the exact same spot once more. Rene sat down in the chair, and with a hand under his chin, he went through the results of half a day’s worth of experimentation.

It’s not that I can throw the pen anywhere I want with perfect accuracy, but I can only perfectly recreate a series of actions. That’s why in order for the pen to land in the same spot, I also must stand in the exact same spot.

Rene picked up the pen from the cup and, with a flourish, signed his name upon the parchment before him. He studied it closely, then signed his name once more, this time to the left of the first signature. The difference between the two was clear to see.

However…

He shifted his chair slightly to the right, then assumed the same posture he had when written the first signature. The third signature he drew was identical to the first.

Tapping his pen, Rene leaned back on the chair.

As I thought.

I wasn’t able to recreate my signature since my arm was slightly extended. However, once I shifted my position, the starting conditions matched when I first drew the signature. For this strange power to work properly, it seems that the starting conditions must be the same.

This ability… allows me to perfectly recreate a series of actions I performed before. However, I can’t alter anything; the only control I have over the result is through modifying the starting conditions.

Hm? Wait a minute.

Rene tried again, but this time he crossed his legs, tilted his head, and closed his eyes. Once again, he drew a perfect signature.

That’s good, it seems that not everything has to match; only the parts performing the action. As long as I don’t change the posture of my arm and torso, I’ll be able to write a perfect signature every time.

Looking at the flawless signatures before him, Rene couldn’t help but sigh; if only this power presented itself while he was still on Earth.

I was able to draw circles free handedly and perfectly straight lines while I designed the toilet. The explanation is that I’ve drawn perfect circles and straight lines before? I guess it’s plausible… I’ve drawn plenty of circles and god knows how many lines, it’s not impossible that I’ve accidentally drawn a perfect one of each before.

Hold on, why did this power manifest in him now? Because of his head injury? Rene shuffled around in his seat in deep thought.

I’ve heard of people gaining a new talent or skill after suffering head trauma—but there’s also another possibility: the red light.

The two red lights allowed him to gain knowledge regarding speech and literacy, but could he have also gained something else?

The red lights… assuming that I’ve gained something else apart from speaking and reading, which light imparted this ability? Did this power only manifest after absorbing the second one? Or perhaps this ability was indeed given to me by one red light, and I’ve yet to uncover the second ability?

Rene froze, and his eyes widened, he had neglected asking a very important question: Why was he able to absorb the red lights in the first place?

Why indeed, the recorders were made of some sort of shape-shifting material that formed from his palm. Considering the other superhuman abilities he demonstrated, such as flying and turning invisible, it didn’t phase him at the time.

He had originally thought the suit he wore gave him these powers, that’s why he lost them after being abandoned and when he was no longer wearing the suit.

However, he now realizes that this isn't the case, as his hand was ungloved and he could feel the sensation of something globbing out of his hand when the recorders were formed.

But his hand was ungloved, and the recorders were formed from his bare, ungloved palm. He could feel the sensation of something globbing out of his hand, which seemed to suggest that it was something innate to him, rather than something external like the suit.

Rubbing his temples with his singular functional hand, Rene tried to recall everything that happened before he had been sent to this planet.

After accepting Lorn’s offer, I was teleported to their secret space station or whatever. The next suspicious thing was when that disembodied voice told me to go into an empty room, so that I could be “reasonably equipped”...

After just—sitting around for two hours or so, I was able to hear Saffry’s voice, and this was before they gave me any fancy suits…

Rene clicked his tongue, Why didn’t I question this before? Did they teleport a chip into my brain while I was there? Were other parts of my body altered when I was there? Am I a cyborg now? Bloody hell… I hate these mysterious sci-fi organizations…

Looking towards his palm, Rene discerned no difference to when he was still on Earth. Going to the bathroom, he stared at himself in the mirror; squeezing his cheeks, pulling down his eyelid, Rene inspected every inch of his body. Nothing was different, flesh felt like flesh, sensations remain sensations, his wounds still hurt.

Recalling his experiences of how he arrived on this planet once more, Rene focused on the sensations he felt this time; he detected something peculiar.

When I stepped through that portal, I felt an indescribable feeling, like somehow my face wasn’t my face; flesh was missing from where it was supposed to be, it also felt like I didn’t have a nose?

Hm? But I regained my usual state of being a few seconds later, like I had—shape shifted… The recorders were also capable of shape shifting, and they came out of my palm…

A chill went down his spine, the Rene staring back at him in the mirror appeared like a stranger. If his body was made of a shape shifting material, then his wounds, his broken arm, could they be ‘mimicked’?

Wait wait wait, he still had to eat and poop, his hair and fingernails still grew, to what extent was his body artificial? What about his brain? Is it still natural, or has it also been…

He gave a sigh.

Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic indeed…

Too scary… Far too scary… Rene rapidly shook his head and used the pain from the concussion to wipe his mind clean of these thoughts.

The last time I tried to deduce things resulted in me almost declining the contract… I’m clearly not very good at this.

Rene took a glance at the third red light before forcing himself to focus on other things. He picked up the white pawn shaped figurine from the bathroom sink.

31.24 grams precisely…

Or rather, it feels like this thing weighs 3.124 times heavier than a 10 gram weight. I’ve picked up and felt how heavy 10 grams is, so through this ability, I’m applying my prior knowledge to this new sensation?

I suppose I should name this new power of mine—“Echo”, that’s pretty fitting.

Examining the pale white pawn in his hand, Rene was reminded of something a certain drunk had said last night.

Stelle called this the ‘catalyst essence’.

He placed it within the white circle, the tap promptly turned on. Rene fiddled around with the pawn, the water would only run if it was inside the white circle; he also found out that turning it would make the water hot or cold: a luxury he regretted not discovering yesterday.

I see, so it acts like an ‘on switch’ for this tap—no wonder she looked confused after I said the toilet didn’t have any.

Catalyst I understand, but what does ‘essence’ mean? I’ve heard this word many times before…

Once he finished with his morning routine, Rene sat down and opened the dictionary to satiate his curiosity.

[Essence: Popularized by Aspeiral Monad Eternal Recurrence, it is the modern word for ‘Ether’.]

He flipped to ‘Ether’.

[Ether: The archaic word for ‘Essence’.]

Rene’s lips flattened into a straight line. He gently placed the dictionary on the desk in front of him and buried his face within his hand.

More childrens’ books? But what kind? What category of books am I even searching for?? AHHHHHH!!!

The sounds of footsteps filled the room as Rene paced around in a circle with his arm behind his back.

Bloody hell—I have to reveal it: my ‘amnesia’... That’s the only way I can ask my dumbass questions without appearing like a dumbass.

He took a deep breath.

Alright… alright… I should be fine, the toilet has been completed and I’ve already signed the contract. As long as I keep producing profitable designs they should let me off.

Grabbing the map of Cessa on the windowsill, Rene stepped out of his room to find a maid sweeping the halls.

“Ah, Mr. Spring, I hope you’ve had a good night's rest, lunch has been prepared downstairs.”

Rene flinched upon hearing ‘Mr. Spring’.

Don’t call me that, this ‘Mr. Spring’ is about to get fired for keeping his mental health issues a secret.

“Uh, thank you. Also, please call me Rene.”

“Understood Mr. Rene.” The maid bowed as he spoke.

Mr. Rene breathed a sigh as he waddled down the stairs. Stelle was at the dinner table reading a book while munching on some bread-like object. The drunk’s disheveled appearance from last night had been erased, replaced by that of prim and proper Miss that Rene knew from yesterday—morning. She greeted him as the latter walked down the hall.

“Morning Rene, food has already been prepared, please critique it as you wish.”

Rene responded with an awkward wave with map in hand. He sat down across from Stelle and placed the map beside him.

What a coincidence, the food’s still warm.

“Unfortunately, my father won’t be joining us for the time being, he’s currently working on adapting your ‘toilet’ design to our facilities. Hopefully, I myself am sufficient in fulfilling your requests.”

Such politeness made him want to vomit, making him nearly miss drunk Stelle.

“Um, could we please talk more casually towards each other? I’m not used to such formalities,” He pleaded with his eyes.

“Sure.” She said with a nod and a smile. Rene silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Much like yesterday, the food was bland in flavor and smell. But as if he could ever complain about it. The chef was so intricate as to place a flower in his meat—thing. Wait, was he supposed to eat the flower?

Taking a bite out of the flower, Rene couldn’t help but notice Stelle giving him a strange look, “O-oh, please don’t eat that,” she stammered, “it’s just decoration.”

Rene hurriedly placed the half bitten flower back in embarrassment. But now he looked at it in yearning; the flower had tasted better than the food.

Planning to eat the rest while no one was looking, Rene observed the person sitting across from him before he noticed a discontinuity in her appearance. On Stelle’s face was make-up, obvious, powdery, and badly applied.

Could she be insecure about her appearance? She’s good looking enough to be a model on Earth—I wonder if beauty standards are different here. Wait, if such an attractive person considers herself lacking, then what am I…

Stelle interrupted his train of thought, “Is that a map I see? Do you have any plans for the evening?”

“Uh,” Being awoken from his haze, it took a moment for Rene to comprehend what Stelle had said, “Y-yes, the place circled in red.” He handed her the map.

The third red light was placed in a lecture hall of sorts and so last night he painstakingly marked every school, theater, any location that might contain a lecture hall. This process left him with a map filled with red dots. However, using the location of Mr. Siluvar's mansion and the Sublime Symposium as a guide, Rene was also able to triangulate the direction of the third red light relative to the map.

With these two pieces of information in hand, he was able to isolate one single location from the rest.

“New Cessa Academy?” Stelle asked Rene, who was currently chewing on something, after examining the map.

Initially, he had planned to visit the library to quell his ignorance and ignore the red light for now; knowing how to write wasn’t that important for the moment since he could just copy words from the dictionary.

But after discovering the dictionary’s uselessness, he realized he couldn’t rely on books alone. His ignorance wasn’t ordinary after all, it was literally otherworldly in magnitude. Only a person could fill the gaps in his knowledge.

There was also the possibility that ‘echo’ might come from the red lights, now, absorbing the lecture hall camera had become his first priority.

“For what reason would such a place warrant your interest?” Stelle curiously asked. *Ahem* “I mean, this place is pretty big, I can give you a tour of the entire campus, but is there anywhere in particular you want to visit?”

How kind of her, to accommodate my requests so quickly. After re-evaluating Stelle in his mind, Rene was forced to think of something for her question.

No one can see the red light but me, and it’s not like I know the name of the lecture hall the red light is in either…

“A full tour is fine.”

“Alright, it was built after I graduated, but my father has given speeches there before. I consider myself just barely qualified to guide,” she gave a wry smile, compelling Rene to flash his own awkward grin. “Should we set off immediately after lunch?”

“Sure.”

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********

Rene sat in the carriage with his eyes closed while holding his breath. It was just he and her, no maids and no butlers where to disturb them. Supposedly, now was the perfect time for his confession.

“What are your thoughts on the toilet?” He changed his mind, the success of the confession depended on the success of the toilet. If the toilet was a failure on this planet, the amnesiac that designed it would also be tossed out alongside his trash.

“The toilet huh?” A voice came from the driver’s seat, “ah, I see what you mean.”

What? What did I mean?

“Father took it with him this morning to showcase it to the other board members. No consumer tests yet, but the general consensus is that your product has great potential. No catalyst essence—how innovative!”

He felt slightly guilty being praised for stealing toilet designs, but this was good news, he could move on to the dreaded next step.

This is the only way…

“S-Stelle, I have something to confess.” A wavering voice spoke from the back seat.

“Hm?” A pair of dark eyes piqued up in the rear view mirror.

“I first want to assure you that what I’m about to say has no effect on the contract, but it’s something I feel like I have to mention.”

Silence from the driver seat.

Bloody idiot—Why didn’t I prepare a script beforehand??

It was too late to stop now, he could only go all in.

“Uh, I’ve noticed in the last few days I’ve arrived in Cessa that there’s something wrong with my memory. I can’t seem to recall certain basic things, like what essence, strand, or whatever are. I promise this won’t affect my designs in the future but I felt like I had to let you know.”

Thump Thump Thump Thump

His loud heartbeats filled the silence within the carriage. Rene didn’t know whether he wanted Stelle to reply or not as he sat with his head spinning out of his mind.

“Is that so…” Stelle spoke without any changes to her driving. “Does this mean the designs you produce in the future all don’t involve—essence related things?”

Wait–

What had he just confessed to? He didn’t know anything related to essence? Wasn’t this knowledge so foundational that even the dictionary didn’t care to include it?

Catalyst essence. The sink needs catalyst essence to start. The sink runs on essence. The bathtub needs catalyst essence to start. The bathtub runs on essence.

Oh no. Oh no no no.

The taps and bathtubs of this world ran on essence! Everything ran on essence!! Did he just confess that he didn’t know what electricity was after being hired by an electronics company? What had he done???

The carriage window beside him didn’t have the ability to open, if it did, the mechanism probably ran on essence. He couldn’t jump out even if he wanted.

Closing his eyes. Rene awaited his death.

“Like the toilet, yes?”

The toilet! The toilet! Of course! The toilet has zero connection to essence, and didn’t she say it had great potential? There is hope after all!

"Yes!" Rene spoke loudly before catching himself and lowering his volume. "Ahem, y-yes, just like the toilet."

“I see. I appreciate that you spoke your mind, you’ve become a more trustworthy person in my eyes.” The driver said with no hint of anger.

What? She accepted it so easily? Was the toilet that amazing? Rene breathed a sigh of relief.

“Could I ask you some questions?” It’s been so long, was it finally time for his ignorance to fade?

“Regarding phenomenology? Ask away, I’ll try my best to answer.”

“Phenomenology?” Rene inwardly clicked his tongue, he hadn’t even started asking and yet there was something he didn’t understand.

“Aye, the study of the various essences of the world. Their meaning, their secrets. Everything you mentioned earlier: essence, strands. They all fall under the term ‘phenomenology’.” Stelle spoke with a scholarly tone.

So like physics, but for magic…

“What exactly is ‘essence’?”

“Haha, I was afraid you might ask that, that’s a question all of us are chasing after, but no one knows the true answer to.” Stelle replied with a wry chuckle. “It’s like asking ‘what is the meaning of life?’ Depending on what strand you specialize in or what rank you are, ‘essence’ might mean something different. But that means there’s also no universal definition for what ‘essence’ is. Perhaps only the Monads truly know.”

“I suppose to begin explaining it I have to start from the very bottom: our world is formed from myriad sources. Wind blows, water flows, fire burns and earth remains firm. Of course, these aren’t the only ones, there are an uncountable amount of these ‘sources'. Sources are responsible for all of the world's wondrous phenomena, they make up every crevice and fill the skies.”

“From sources stem essence. Sources of fire stems essence of fire, sources of water stems essence of water, etc. This is the most basic understanding of what essence is.”

Essence of fire stems from a source of fire? So it’s like heat? Or is it smoke? There’s plenty of different types of fires though. What the hell stems from water? Water vapor? Steam?

Rene shuffled around in his seat, Why do I feel like analyzing things with a scientific perspective is going to get me nowhere?

“What are strands then?”

“Strands categorize the different types of essence, so anything related to the essence of fire would be within the strand of fire.”

I see, so there would be strands of water and earth and such. But how does this relate to me?

“Could you tell me what my strand is?”

Stelle’s response arrived delayed for just a moment, “Do you remember what rank you are?”

Rank—I’ve read this in the dictionary, they go from rank 0 to 7 and apparently it's a measure of essence density. I see, so ‘essence’ is basically magic, and the higher someone's rank, the more magic they have. That’s why the Monads are rank 7. Hmm, I remember one of the police officers saying Mr. Siluvar is rank 5, is he really strong then?

I wrote down rank 0 on my identity documents, and since I don’t know how to use magic, I assume this is correct?

Can’t use magic in a world of magic, I already revealed I’m an amnesiac, it can’t get any worse.

Praying that he wouldn’t be kicked out of house and home, Rene decided to wholly believe that the contract he signed would hold firm. “I’m rank 0… I think.”

“Then you haven’t decided upon a strand yet, choosing which strand to focus on is a privilege given only to people who’ve cultivated to rank 1.” Stelle was excellent in masking her disappointment, there was no detectable shift in her tone.

You can increase your rank? Rene silently shook his head in. Duh, stupid, of course you can, the Monads weren’t born at rank 7.

Then… There’s hope for me yet? Could I also become a Monad? To move the continents like puzzle pieces…

A bump in the road shook Rene out of his daydreams and back into reality, where I was presented with his ignorant self.

‘Cultivate’, does this word refer to how someone can increase their rank? I’ve heard of it once or twice before–

*SCREEEE*

Rene twitched as a deafening shriek echoed through the air behind him.

Twisting around, he fell agape at the bizarre sight that met his eyes. A tree, a moving tree, with leaves, branches, and a stocky trunk.

It was making its way towards them with alarming speed. Its numerous exposed roots acted like legs, shifting and writhing in a disjointed rhythm that gave the tree the appearance of a spider with a hundred legs. The trunk of the tree was unnaturally thick, as if someone had taken the top and bottom of a large tree and fused them together. This...thing, this creature, was casually ambling down the road behind them. Peering closer, he managed to discern an Aphelian carrying an angry expression through a translucent portion in the tree’s front. This was a vehicle, the strangest he had seen so far.

“Tsk, fucker.” Rene nearly couldn’t believe his ears as he heard what Stelle had muttered under her breath. “Hold on, we’re taking the side entrance,” were the last words she said before the carriage suddenly swerved around a corner.

Perhaps such a warning would be appreciated if said earlier. Rene, who was kneeling on the backseat and looking out the rear window, had absolutely zero stability; he flew in the air as he was tossed aside like a paper in the wind. A squeak was heard as he landed on his broken arm.

“Sorry about that, some idiots never learned how to drive.” A pair of eyes looked at the rear view mirror, “Hm? Are you alright? Why are you covering your eyes?”

“Y-es, yes I’m—alright. Are we almost there?” Rene, who now sat on the opposite side of the carriage said with a sniff.

“...Yes. In fact, we’ve already parked.” Stelle said as she stepped out of the carriage.

The passenger on the other hand, struggled furiously at the door, “Shall I open the door for you?” Rene looked up from the confounding door and locked gazes with a smiling lady through the window before quicking looking away, “P-please.”

“Your eyes are a little red, are the contacts alright?” Stelle asked as she easily opened the door, “Y-yes, the contacts, I’m still not used to them.” Rene spoke with a quiet voice.

“Next time, just press your entire palm on the door and hold it steady for a few moments. It’ll unlock itself upon sensing your essence.” Stelle gave advice with a smile.

********

The architecture here appeared to be a mix of the Victorian style of New Cessa and the brutalist Old Cessa, but the buildings of New Cessa Academy were distinct in one way. Nearly all of them were decorated in accordance to a specific color. Making their way to the parking lot where they were now, Rene had walked past a few green buildings and a singular blue one. Of course, they weren’t solid green or blue, that would be ridiculous. These colors integrated themselves well enough as to look natural, but they were still distinct enough to be identified.

The duo strolled through the busy streets swarmed with people rushing from place to place, thankfully, Rene had the foresight to request for another silver hat beforehand. As they walked, the cobblestone ground beneath them inclined upward.

Was this school built on a mountain? Rene mused.

“Neat architecture ain’t it?” Stelle suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, “Districts in the periphery of the academy are well known for their rich and vibrant colors; the residents here have decorated their homes and shops to mimic the academy’s style.”

“Mimic?” Rene asked while following closely behind her.

"You'll see," Stelle replied mysteriously without turning around. Even so, Rene could still see the smile on her face from behind.

Rene continued to follow Stelle as the incline of the ground grew steeper. The surrounding buildings disappeared as the slope turned into stairs, but finally, their destination came into view. At the top of the hill stood a giant silver gate, with the words "Side entrance B-3" etched onto it.

As the duo made their way through, Stelle turned to Rene with a smile. "Welcome," Stelle announced, gesturing towards the resplendent campus. "To New Cessa Academy!"

Making his way up the last few steps, Rene stared with widened eyes, awestruck at the academy campus before him.

The roofs of the academy buildings stretched out before him, shining brightly in the sunlight with a brilliant array of colors. The buildings were arranged in neat rows lined up side by side, and when viewed from a distance, the slew of buildings appeared like the shadow of a rainbow. Black wall lay between each row, separating the lanes, but such a disruption was hardly enough to interrupt the buildings’ vibrancy

Similar to a rainbow, each row was a different color, ranging from bright reds to deep purples, as well as the black and whites. Rene counted 20 different hues before giving up. The formation of buildings also curved to the right, so the inner row was much shorter than the outer row. After the curve, the slew of buildings slowly converged to a point, at the tip of which a ruby light pulsed with unparalleled luster.

Unlike a rainbow, there was no clear pattern to the organization of the colors. A discordant mess, this ‘rainbow’ resembled less of a rainbow and more like the pride flag of some niche sexual orientation.

Rene slowly took in the sight before his eyes trailed to the red light at the end of the rainbow, his destination was there.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Stelle commented while leaning against the gate, also taking in the sight. “I had the same reaction as you the first time I saw it as well. I suppose that the moron forcing us to use this entrance was a blessing in disguise, this view is a cut above the rest.”

“I get what you mean by mimicry now… It’s—a unique design, to say the least.”

“Oh, no no,” Stelle shook her head after a slight hesitation, “The colors aren’t meaningless, each of them represents the research, study, and cultivation of a specific strand. The curving design of the campus is also quite ingenious. You see, due to the nature of a curve, the inner rows are shorter than the outer ones, meaning that there are also less buildings and resources dedicated to strands on the inside.”

“This means that from afar, it’s possible to see the relative popularity of each strand in Cessa—look:” She pointed to the black stripe on the outer edge of the rainbow; it was multiple times thicker than the others. “Naturally, the strand of darkness is by far the most popular in Aphelion, that’s why it’s the longest.”

Strand of darkness? Isn’t darkness just the absence of light? Rene’s eyes trailed along Stelle’s gloved finger, her arm, and he saw her abyssal black eyes. Next, he had the urge to slap himself.

I almost forgot how dark this place was because of the contacts. Temperance is nearly identical to Earth in every way, yet Aphelion remains abnormally dark. Is this related to the strand of darkness somehow?

“After black is brown, this represents the strand of earth—hm?” Stelle, after discovering Rene was staring at her, turned to face him. “Yes? Do you have a question?”

Rene hurriedly looked away before she could lock eye contact with him, “O-oh, yes.. uh, why is the strand of darkness the most popular here?”

This was likely also a colossally stupid question, he felt thankful that he couldn’t see Stelle’s reaction.

“Are you familiar with the 5th Aspeiral Monad?” She asked after hesitating for a moment.

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