Chaos Carrier With A Broken Talent

In the next few days, everyone in Orsire City who wanted to find the Essence of Rotten Forest would realize that the Essence was gone. They were too late, and all they could do was wait for the next Essence to appear.

This will be easy to understand—the energy density at the Rotten Forest will become slightly higher, and the number of Anomalies and Remnants will increase for a while.

This will happen because most of the energy will no longer accumulate in one spot, as that spot will simply not exist until the next Essence appears.

This free energy was not enough to cause changes comparable to the Essence Impulse, but it certainly could not go unnoticed. The first Carriers would realize what had happened in just a few hours.

Usually, no one tried to find those who took the Essence because everyone understood that it would not be an hour before that person or group absorbed the Essence.

This time was no exception, and Ethan and Menir were about to leave both the thorn wall and the Poisonous Field itself.

"Wait!"

Leyla's shout rang out behind them.

"Are you just going to leave?"

"Hmm?"

Ethan turned his head over his shoulder.

"If you want, you can stay here, but I don't think being surrounded by poisonous fog is a good idea."

In response, she clenched her fists and ran towards them.

"Fuck, Ethan! Give me at least some of that Essence! I don't want a third, but I fought alongside you! Don't I deserve anything at all?!"

Strange as it may seem, Leyla's claim made sense. Sure, she and Ethan had a run-in at the ceremony, and her behavior wasn't the best, but she contributed to the victory over the Wooden Warriors.

However... Was that enough considering everything they had been through?

"We made a plan, prepared, bought the necessary Product, killed that predatory plant, most of the wooden guards, and I stopped the Essence when it started destroying everything around us."

Ethan turned around, meeting Leyla's gaze.

"Of all that, you only helped with one thing, and for that, you want a share of the Essence? You should think carefully about your next words, but before you say anything, remember—today I saved your life."

In a heartbeat, Leyla's eyes widened as she remembered how the root was supposed to pierce her. She would hardly have had time to dodge, but Ethan was quick enough.

Lowering her head, Leyla muttered.

"Thank you... I have no objections. Just let me return to the city with you!"

Ethan waved his hand as he stepped forward.

"That'll do."

Unnoticed, Menir removed her hand from the hilt of her sword. If the negotiations between Ethan and Leyla had gone differently, there would have been a new corpse at the Poisonous Field. There was no doubt about that.

This time, by backing down once, Leyla gained much more than a portion of the Essence—she gained her life, twice in one night.

'Hmm, she was lucky this time. However, it is unknown what actually happened to her companions. She must be watched.'

Menir shook her head and followed them.

...

By dawn, as the sky slowly changed from black to white, the first rays of the sun were about to appear.

In the distance, several Carriers could be seen, having risen early in the morning to set off for the Rotten Forest. They turned off the road and disappeared into the forest. Most likely, one of them would be the first to realize that the Essence was no longer at the Rotten Forest, but it would be too late.

"Alright, let's go." Ethan nodded. "I hope I don't have to tell you that you must never know about the Essence?"

Leyla nodded weakly. Keeping the secret of their battle was in her best interest as well. She needed to come up with a story so that no one would question her about her dead mates. Like her, they were True Carriers from fairly wealthy families.

Wealth did not mean that a Carrier could simply sit around and enjoy life. Technically, that was true, but without progression and battles, it was impossible to become stronger. Therefore, even if a Carrier had wealth, he still had to explore the world and face threats.

However, it was better to have money than not. It gave easy access to the Products and Artifacts that could help or even save a life. It was an obvious advantage that could not be ignored.

Leyla shook her head and pulled herself together.

'Maybe Ethan is right. If I died, nothing would make sense.'

She was about to leave when she noticed something strange. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

'What? They're walking down the same road? Do they live together?!'

Unaware of Leyla's thoughts, Menir and Ethan returned home. Behind them lay a difficult battle, a lot of time and money spent, but the result was worth it.

There was a crash.

First, a white crystal fell onto the table, their small reward—the Energy Core. Then, Ethan slowly pulled out a large green orb that lit up the room.

"Shit, just touching it, I can feel how much energy there is in this Essence. It's a completely different level compared to the one at the Grim Peaks."

Menir nodded slowly as she sat down on the sofa. Her eyelids fluttered; she wanted to sleep more than she had expected.

When her eyes were ready to close and sink into darkness, Ethan touched her hand, standing directly in front of her.

"Hey, don't you dare fall asleep, not now. You said yourself that we had to absorb the Essence first so that no one would be able to connect us to it."

"This..." Menir whispered. "Yes, let's do it."

It seemed that Ethan should have been the one who wanted to sleep, considering how much he had done, but it took Menir too much strength to pull the second root away from Leyla and Ethan, more than she had expected.

Without any preparation, they used Revolve as their Circles simultaneously began to move. They touched the Essence, putting pressure on the orb.

Soon, a single crack ran through the orb, splitting it into two pieces—one for each of them. The pieces floated in front of them, ready to enter their inner spaces.

The process would be long, but when it was over, they would fill the First Ring and take the first step toward true power.