In a plain grassland field, a young boy not older than 15 years appeared out of thin air. Filled with shock and fear he looked around not knowing where he was. Tall as he was, all he could see for miles in every direction was green grass and blue sky.
Grrr...
Two synchronized growls were heard as the boy sat on the ground, feeling a pain of hunger from deep within his stomach as he was reminded of the fact that he had not eaten in days.
Boy: "hmmm, am still hungry, but where am I going to find food in this place?"
Grrr...
Again, two synchronized growls were heard as the pain in his stomach intensified.
Boy: "I know, I know."
Grrr...
A single growl came this time and it was from behind him, sounding more aggressive than the first two.
Boy: "Fine, I'll go look for something to eat."
As he stood up from the ground a realization dawned on him.
Boy: "Wait a minute, that last growl didn't come from my stomach."
Grrr...
The growl came again as he turned to look behind him and froze in fear while all the colour was drained from his face. Behind him was a huge black tiger that had two black tails moving up and down in parallel motion behind it. Even on all fours, the tiger was as big as a normal human being and right at the center of its chest there was a purple crystal the size of a fist embedded. It gazed straight into his and deep into his soul as a different kind of fear erupted within his heart. His body started moving without his command as he made a break for it and the tiger gave chase with immense speed, catching up to him quickly and pouncing on him as it opened its mouth wide enough to cover the boy's head and was about to take a bite when a voice was heard.
Man: "Whow there, easy now Noir."
A man spoke as the tiger stopped it's attack and moved to stand next to the man.
Man: "Hi there friend, it seems that you are new around here. May I ask what your name is?"
He offered his hand to the boy who was still on the ground. The boy took the man's hand as the man helped him to his feet. After getting up, he scanned the man up and down while the man just stood there smiling, waiting for an answer from the boy. The man, not older than 30 years old, was tall and muscular, so muscular that he could pass off for a bodybuilder. He had a set of golden hair and a beaming smile of calm and intellect.
Man: "How rude of me. You don't talk to strangers. Hi, am Adam and I own the apparition known as Guardian Sanctum."
The boy was still hesitant to speak as he looked at the tiger beside the man.
Man: "Oh come on, don't tell me she scared you that badly, don't worry, Noir is a gentle girl who won't attack for as long as I tell her not to. Trust me."
Boy: "Umm, m-m-my name is Alsvid. C-can you p-please tell me where I am and w-what is going on?"
Adam: "I will but first, let's get you something to eat, you look like you could die at any moment."
Adam then lifted Alsvid onto the back of Noir the tiger and started moving in a random direction. A few minutes later, they encountered something that could only be described as a mutated bull with three horns and many legs peacefully grazing on the field.
Adam: "These mutated creatures are simply classified as spires with this specific one being a low grade spire called a Bullock. It's actually very easy to kill, watch."
Adam ran towards the Bullock which lifted its head to look at the approaching man only to be grabbed by the horns and have its head slammed into the ground. What followed after was stomp after stomp on the Bullock's head as blood splattered on the green grass and it was destroyed.
Adam: "See how easy it is, now you try."
Alsvid: "On what?"
Adam: "That."
Adam pointed north at something of in the distance. Alsvid looked in the direction Adam was pointing at and saw another Bullock not too far away.
Alsvid: "But I can't do any of what you did."
Adam: "Don't worry, I'll protect you. Trust me."
After looking at Adam's tiger and remembering how easily he killed the first one, Alsvid decided to go for it. He moved towards the Bullock painfully slowly as he tried desperately not to get the Bullock's attention. As he got closer, the Bullock lifted its head to look at Alsvid who froze in its gaze for a while before continuing to move forward. As soon as he took another step forward, the Bullock puffed out in anger and charged towards him. Alsvid jumped out of the way just in time, falling face first into the grass. Before he could get up, he felt the Bullock return and rolled out of the way just seconds before it trampled him. This time however, the Bullock didn't go far from him but instead stopped it's charge and aimed to stomp Alsvid who was still lying on the ground unaware of what was about to happen. In the end, the tiger came in and killed the Bullock before it could drop down on Alsvid.
Adam: "Okay, let's take it a little easier, take this."
He tossed a round bright object towards Alsvid who caught it in curiosity.
Alsvid: "What is this?"
Adam: "That is an origin core found at various parts of a spire. It serves as the heart and life force of a spire, it also sets a spire's grade as the more power it releases, the more powerful the spire is. They are large essence reservoirs due to their high concentration of it. The one in your hand is a low grade origin core, the weakest of all origin core grades. We'll discover more as we explore."
Alsvid: "What exactly is this essence you spoke of sir?"
Adam: "Please, call me Adam. Essence is the most basic yet most complicated energy source in this new world. It allows a person to use their apparition and improve upon their physical body. Normally, human beings can absorb atmospheric essence as soon as they are transmigrated but you are a special case. Your body is not able to absorb the essence in the air yet so you need to absorb the one in the core to familiarize yourself with it, from there you should start gaining essence naturally. Everyone has a limited essence storage but if you train yourself, you can increase your essence storage. Alternatively you can absorb origin cores to increase your storage.
Alsvid: "Sir, how exactly do I absorb the core?"
Adam: "Please, call me Adam. For now, you just have to swallow it.
Upon hearing this, Alsvid panicked.
Alsvid: "This thing is as big as my fist, how the hell do you expect me to swallow it?"
Alsvid took his eyes off Adam for just a few seconds to inspect the core and was about to say something when suddenly,
Pah...
Adam hit him in the head from behind, knocking him out completely.
**********
(Helpful information)
Special apparition: Guardian Sanctum
This is an apparition that allows its user to create and summon creatures from within their imagination termed as guardians to aid in various tasks.