A man with a hardened expression was walking in a dimly lit cave that was an abandoned path for an underground tunnel.
He was clad in a uniform of a green jacket and black trousers, signifying his status as a soldier.
Then he heard a noise from behind him, and his mana flared subtly. He whipped his head behind him and saw a husky man dressed corporately with a man clad in a black suit with glasses.
"Who are you!" the soldier asked.
The man dressed corporately raised his hands. "Just passing by. My name is Fredrick and this is my bodyguard, Al," he replied.
The soldier squinted at them, and the air of wealth Fredrick emitted clouded his judgment.
As the soldier was about to speak, the wealthy man brought out a handful of cash and gave it to him.
"I don't take—" the soldier was cut off by the rich man.
"This is just for your trouble. I need to cross. You don't need to accept this. It'll be a shame though..." he said, smirking.
The soldier grimaced, snatched the cash, and cleared his throat.
"Pass. I didn't see anything," the soldier said.
Fredrick passed with Al, then turned to the soldier. "I was just curious, but are you the only person here on duty? That's a lot of work!"
The soldier shrugged. "I am the only one. But I can handle it." Then his grin dropped when he noticed the bodyguard was gone.
The next thing the soldier realized was a cold and tight feeling around his lungs, and the air was squeezed out of him, unable to scream.
His vision blurred, and he gasped for air, but it was useless.
Fredrick took off a toupee, revealing the blond hair of Josh.
Behind the lifeless soldier was Weber, removing the toupee he wore disguised as Al.
Josh retrieved their money, and Weber took the soldier's uniform.
He squinted at it, then stretched his hand to Josh. "You have to disguise as the soldier. If I do that, they might notice me."
Josh took it, furrowed his brows, then looked at Weber. "Soldiers have to have mana essence. I don't have any," he replied.
Weber's eyes glowed white, and he could see sparkles of blue energy all over the uniform. His eyes went back to normal.
"I guess that's why it's called an essence. Similar to substance, it leaves itself behind at times."
Josh put on the uniform, and he could feel a strong sensation all over him. He couldn't control it, but he was sure the fabric had been tainted with power.
Josh threw a few punches in the air and noticed his moves were a bit stronger and faster.
"You're depleting its power, you know," Weber said.
Josh flustered, then stood erect and clenched his fists. "Enough!" he said, puffing out his chest. "You're talking to a soldier!"
Weber sighed. "You do realize that's the enemy country's uniform, right?" he said, walking forward.
Josh walked next to him. "What did you mean that the mana power is depleting?"
"Usually, it's not supposed to be clearly depleting unless being expelled. For some reason, you don't have mana, but you can expel it," Weber replied, looking side to side to be sure they were alone.
Josh smiled. "Does that mean I have latent power?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe having seen how mana works enough is why you can expel it, not necessarily manipulate it," Weber replied.
The difference between expelling mana and manipulating it is that the former is about removing it from a source, such as the body of a mana user. But manipulating it allows control over how what is expelled will function.
Be it in the form of light, blast, or aura.
"We can focus more on that later," Weber said as the exit to the tunnel was clear a dozen meters away.
"We still haven't gotten a disguise for you," Josh said, looking at Weber, who still looked like a civilian.
Weber put a hand on Josh's shoulder, patted it, and kept walking without a word. Josh gasped.
"What's with you? I thought you liked planning ahead!" Josh whispered loudly as they neared the exit.
"I have a plan. And besides," Weber looked at Josh, "they'll probably notice sooner or later you don't have mana, and what they'll be sensing is residue from the previous soldier."
Josh sighed and stopped walking. "Then, what might we do? Your plan?"
Weber smiled, and his form became intangible. "You'll be the soldier. And I remain the Spectre."
Josh's expression dulled. "I don't like where this is going."
---
Josh walked into the farm that had been captured by the enemy country, and the enemy soldiers had set up camps at different sides.
At every turn, it was clear mana blasts had been exchanged, with craters and chasms all over the area.
Josh knelt on one knee and saw the landscape stretching far off endlessly.
"An important farm for our economy, gone..." Josh trailed off solemnly.
He closed his eyes and imagined the soldiers of his own country falling and the farmers running for their lives.
Josh stood up and felt something at his feet.
As he looked down, he saw a person's head—but it was all that was left.
The rest had been incinerated.
And it wasn't just that one. There were several mounds of such remains. Josh clenched his fists.
Then a hand fell on Josh's shoulder, and he whipped his gaze to the direction, his expression hardened from the sight of the dead.
"What?" Josh roared.
The soldier scowled. "Watch it! You can't be staying here idly! It's time for training!"
Josh's heart dropped as he remembered he didn't have mana essence.
He looked around for Weber and realized Weber wasn't there.
Josh tried calming himself. "Sure. My apologies, I was just tired," he said with a smile.
The soldier shrugged and patted his black hair, then emanated a chilling aura that made Josh feel cold.
"No worries. How about we take the sparring to this place?" he said.
Before Josh could oppose, the man thrust his hand toward him, and Josh dodged just in time, faster than a normal human would have been able to.
"I think I'll pass. I need to go," Josh said and ran away.
Then Josh fell as he noticed the ground had become ice.
And in front of him was the soldier he was running from.
"That's odd. I noticed your power diminished significantly with that dodge. Even if exhausted, I don't think it should be that much," the soldier remarked.
Josh staggered to his feet. "No! Everyone's different! Leave me alone!" he said and ran off.
But as he was running, ice spikes appeared in front of him.
Josh ashened, then looked back. The soldier stared daggers at him and conjured another ice spike behind Josh, then at both sides until Josh was trapped.
Josh punched it, but it was far too solid, and his hand was feeling immense cold.
"Everyone!" the soldier that trapped Josh yelled, and other soldiers nearby came, sending a chill down Josh's spine.
"A non-mana user disguised as a soldier," a soldier remarked.
Unluckily for Josh, all mana from the uniform was gone.
"Someone get a camera," a soldier said, sending mana to his fist. "People need to see what happens when they impersonate the wrong side."
Josh's whole body shuddered, not just from the cold of the barriers, but from the bloodlust in the soldiers' eyes as they neared him.
Then the sky turned black, the sound of slamming hit the ground, and it felt like the earth shook.
Josh jumped and looked around the area pale, but he was terrified even
more when he realized the soldiers had the same expression.
"Wail of the Abyss," the cold, eloquent voice of Weber said, ashening everyone present.