The adventurers finished getting into formation, and then Gerald spoke, "Good, let's go."
The group then left the city, and after a few minutes, Raja asked, "Do you know where they should be, Gerald?"
"No, but don't worry, no matter which way out of the city, the grunars always show up to attack."
"Really? The city has three different exits. How do they know which way people leave?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter. As of today, there won't be any more herds of grunars in this desert area."
After a few minutes of walking in the desert, Karin approached Gen and said, "Hey, Gen."
"Hi, Karin, right?"
"Yeah. I wanted to ask you about your essence."
"wh-, What is it that you want to know?", Gen said as he thought, 'That was a close one. I almost said, *Which one?*'
Karin then asked, "You said you've had it for less than a year, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, since it's such a short time, you must remember what it was like when you first awakened it. Could you explain to me how it was and the situation you were in?",
Gerald then said, "I would also like to hear how it was, Gen."
Gen then said, "Ok, but you need to understand that each essence is different from the other, and their methods may vary. Furthermore, each of us has a different level of understanding. So even if you find the same essence and go through the same things that I went through to awaken it, it doesn't mean that you're going to be able to do the same as me."
Gerald then said, "We understand, Gen. You don't have to worry."
"Ok, so let's take it from the beginning."
Gen was about to start telling the two of them how he got his essence when suddenly he heard someone say, "Excuse me, do you mind if we listen too?"
Gen then looked back and saw five diamond adventurers approaching.
Gerald then said, "Gen, these are the five diamonds that are going to take care of one of the red diamond grunars."
And Gen said, "It's fine with me if you listen, but remember, these are my experiences. Don't try to copy them because even though they worked for me, it doesn't mean they will work for you."
"No problem, Gen, we understand."
"Great, let's start then."
Gen then opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, he heard Raja call him, "Gen."
"What is it, Raja?"
"Do you mind if I listen?"
"Why would you want to listen? You've been through the awakening process once before."
"Well, I'm feeling kind of left out since everyone's going to listen."
"... Okay, be my guest."
Gen then said, "Well, let's start.", but again, he heard someone call him, 'Gen.', and then he said, "What now?"
Everyone then looked in Gen's direction, and Gerald asked, "What do you mean, Gen? Nobody said anything."
Gen then scratched his head with one hand and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm a little tired. I thought I heard someone say something."
"Oh, I understand."
"Just give me a minute to remember the details."
"Sure."
Gen then thought, 'What is it, Dehji?'
'You better not mention me in your story.'
'Why? What's the problem.'
'The problem is that only some doors of understanding have a guardian, so if you mention me and they end up finding a door with no guardian one day, they might waste time looking for one, and time is always essential within doors.'
'Hmm, okay, I won't mention you in the story.'
Gen then began to tell them why he went to the ruin of sands, how he found it, what the challenge was like, and how was the moment that he understood the essence, excluding only Dehji from the story.
When they finished listening to him, the diamond rank adventurers began to ask several questions, "Do you have another essence? What is it?"
"Did you conquer the ruins of the sands?"
"How strong were those stone beasts you spoke of?"
"Were you trapped for a year inside the ruins? How did you survive?"
"What level is your essence at? What can you do with your essence?"
Gerald then said, "Easy, guys, one question at a time."
And Gen said, "There's no problem.", and continued, "Well, let's talk about the ruins first. Well, first of all, this kind of ruin has a certain name, which in this case is Door of Understanding."
"Door of Understanding? Why that name?"
"In my case, to enter the real challenge, there really was a door, but I don't know if all of them are like that. As for the understanding part, it's because the purpose of the place is to help understand essences."
"I see. That makes sense."
Gen then continued, "About the animals, they were very strong. Their strength was diamond level, but what was worse was their intelligence, they didn't fall for the same blow twice, and they knew how to work as a team."
"If they were that strong, how did you manage to fight the lion in the beginning?"
"It's quite simple: even though I lost my essence, it's not as if I lost my knowledge of it. It makes me able to use some of it, even if it's with a little difficulty. After all, essences are not something we get when we awaken. They are around us all the time."
Gen then said, "The way I am at the moment, I can be considered a half-awakened, or if you prefer a red diamond rank."
"So it really is that what qualifies someone as a red diamond.", said one of the diamonds.
And Gerald then said, "Yes. Every red diamond adventurer has to be able to use an essence by half."
"What's yours, sir Gerald?", asked another diamond.
And Gerald said, "Well, if I knew what it was, I'd be an awakened one by now, hahaha."
"What do you mean?"
"Well ... why don't you explain, Karin? After all, you are far more advanced than I am."
Karin then said, "Fine, but pay attention. This is the only time I will explain it to you guys."
"Okay."
"When an adventurer reaches diamond rank, it means that he is among the best of the best. That is if you don't count people with essences, of course, but after some time in this rank, everyone reaches a point where they realize that the only way to get stronger is through essences, and so they start looking for clues on how they can get some."
"The easiest way is through time. The adventurer keeps on doing quests until, at some point, he can understand a part of an essence naturally since, as Gen said, essences are always around us. Hence, it's to be expected that after so much time in combat, one inevitably learns something."
Karin then continued, "Another method would be to look for ruins scattered around the world, or even insist on an essence, like fire, for example, and try to understand it by studying it."
"I get it, but then why don't you say what the feeling you are having is so we can think together what the essence should be."
"That's because-"
"Let me continue from here, Karin.", Raja said, interrupting her, and then continued, "No one does that because it would just get in the way."
"It would get in the way? Why is that."
"Well, you guys need to understand something before it's too late. There is no shortcut to understanding an essence."
Raja then continued, "You asked why not share the feeling to find out what the essence is, so let's do a test. The feeling that I get when I am using a part of it is a cold feeling all over my body, and sometimes even inside, and this makes me feel everything around me emitting heat. Some places emit a lot of heat, and others emit little, and nothing can stop me from feeling this sensation, not even walls or water. Well, what do you think it is?"
One of the diamonds then said, "I think it is the essence of heat. You said yourself that you can feel the heat from everything around you."
Another diamond then said, "I don't think it is heat. If it was heat, why would he feel cold? I think it is the essence of temperature. He is feeling the temperature of everything around him."
Another diamond then said, "I think the heat he is feeling must be the life force of the living things around him, so I would say it is the essence of life."
"If it is the essence of life, why would he feel cold when using it? It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe he's reducing his life force so he can feel the life force of others more easily."
"I think that's exactly what it is, but it's not the life force he's feeling. It's temperature."
The discussion continued for a moment until Raja interrupted them, saying, "Enough, you want to know who is right?"
"Yes, please."
And Raja said, "You are all right."
"What?"
"What do you mean, Raja?"
"Each person has their view of the world. If I stand facing you, my right will be your left, and even though they are two different directions, they are both right. There is no right or wrong when it comes to essences, but rather what you understand from them."
"Got it, but then what do you understand from the sentence you just spoke, Raja?"
Raja was quiet for a while, looking at the horizon, and then said, "Unfortunately, I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"It is for your good. I can see that if I speak, many of you will take my answer as the right one, and as I said, there is no right when it comes to essences."
Everyone was then quiet and said nothing more.
Raja then walked a little further ahead of the group and said, "Gen, come here."
Gen then came forward and said, "What is it, Raja?"
"Do you want to know what I understand from what I said?"
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't."
"Haha, well, I was talking about my essence."
"You mean the mirage essence?"
"Yes."
"Wow, I never would have thought it would be that".
"It's simple. When I use the essence of the mirage, I feel as if I have become a mirage, so I feel cold as if I am ceasing to exist. While I am in this state, I can see a 'heat' in the things around me, but for me, this heat is not the literal sense of the word, but the degree of existence of a living being."
"For example, lost people, without a certain goal, have a low heat, but people who know what they want and are determined to achieve it have an extreme heat."
"I see, that's pretty cool."
"Well, you could say that. The only problem with this is that when I look at myself, I can't see my heat, and this makes me wonder sometimes, is it an effect of the essence, or do I not exist? It's kind of hard to explain, but what do you think?"
Gen was quiet for a moment and then said, "It's definitely the essence effect."
"Why do you say that, Gen? I might just be an extremely realistic mirage."
Gen then reached out a hand towards Raja and pinched his belly.
Raja then said, "Ouch! What's that for Gen?"
"Yeah, you look pretty real to me."
"Gen, that doesn't mean anything. It's not because you felt that you touched my body, that you actually touched it. Sometimes, our brain completes that kind of sensation. You should-"
"Raja, none of that matters. It's like you said earlier: each person has their perception of the world, and in my world, you exist, and I would even say you exist way too much."
"Hey! What do you mean?!"
"Pftt, hahaha."
"Hahaha."
Gen then said, "Come, let's join the group, ghost boy."
"Hey, this has to stay between us."
"I'll think about it."
"It's not thinking, I need you to promise."
Gen then kept walking towards the group, and Raja then said, "Damn, he probably won't tell anyone ... ah, now there's no use thinking about it."
Raja started walking towards the group, and halfway through, he began to use his essence. He began to see and feel the heat from each of them.
Gerald and Karin had some of the greatest heat in the group, but the greatest of all was undoubtedly Gen. Looking at him, Raja felt as if there were two suns in the desert.
Raja then continued walking towards the group when suddenly he felt something he had never felt before. He began to feel a warmth within himself, and then he thought, 'What happened? I've never felt heat in all this time. Why has it changed now?'
He then looked in the direction of the group, and seeing Gen, he understood and thought, 'It's obvious. If Gen, who has such a strong existence, says that I exist, how can I not exist?'
As he finished thinking this, Raja went into a trance, and everything around him began to blur and generate various unknown images.
When Gerald saw this, he got scared and asked, "What's happening to Raja?"
Gen then said, "It looks like he's having an enlightenment."
"Right now?"
"It can't be helped. That's not something that you can choose the time to experience. It looks like we're going to have to stop here until he's done.", but suddenly, everyone in the group heard a noise, 'ROAR!', and then Gen said, "Damn, there was no worse time for them to find us."