"Not bad, per se."
Victoria stood triumphant, above the dead bodies of the clappers, looking down at Mikel on his knees gasping for breath.
"Huff…where…huff, you little-"
"Oh, come on now. They're nothing but a few bugs. Are you really out of breath, fighting these bums?"
"Huff, easy for you to say when-"
As Mikel looked up wanting to shoot some words back at her, he quickly noticed that she was covered in spots of black liquid.
Victoria, while Mikel was in his combat, was in a fight of her own - a bigger A-grade monster.
"The 'separator'. That's what they're called. I got pulled into their zone."
Victoria said, nonchalant, as she used spells to remove the filthy spots of black blood.
"Some of the Nether creatures, higher they go in terms of gradings, can separate their prey into their own little zones. They isolate and kill."
"Y-You mean, they can use mana like hunters?"
"Why are you surprised? Where do you think mana comes from?"
"Oh. Right."
Mikel quickly realised that he made himself look like an idiot with the question and Victoria giggled.
The hunters were awakened as the Gates to the Nether world was opened. Inside the Dome everybody learns in their history classes that mana isn't originally an 'Earth' thing, but the actual source was from the Nether world where the creatures were from. So of course Nether creatures can use mana.
Mikel thought that it was rather ironic - if not convenient - how humanity gained the ability to fight against the invasion at the same time as the invasion happened.
'Although, in my case, I guess I got unlucky with the powers.'
Victoria stared down at the tired out Mikel sitting down and trying to stabilise his breathing.
'He's not bad. But his stamina seems to need work.' Victoria thought to herself. A C-grade beating a B-grade monster indeed was quite a feat, but at the same time she knew from her senses that it was a bottom of the barrel B-grade monster that was only named B due to its sheer amount of heads instead of its strength, so she didn't think much of it for now.
"Let's go back." Victoria said, "You need rest, and our training here is done."
***
The warmth of the bath relaxed Mikel's muscles and he let out a sigh of satisfaction.
The steam in the atmosphere made it all a blur and he wondered if everything that happened was a dream.
It felt like yesterday watching his best friend die, and perhaps he was in a trance ever since.
Mikel was overridden by grief, yet for some reason wasn't consumed by it since Victoria embarrassed him in the bar, and everything became so busy that he couldn't really be introspective at all about his own situation. He sank himself further into the hot waters and blew bubbles on its surface.
He turned on the status screen again, and went to the log history to recall:
[Secret Mission accomplished: 20 Nether Essence received.]
'What is this?'
The notification that appeared when he defeated the Clappers bothered him quite a bit. He thought of talking to Victoria about it, but for some reason he was hesitant - and decided to keep it to himself for now.
'Secret Mission'
That phrase got him second guessing whether it was a good idea to open up about it. He didn't know what Nether Essence does, and it seems that there is no further data about it.
Knock knock
"Woah!"
The knocking sound to the bathroom made Mikel jump, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"W-who's there?"
"Who do you think it is?"
Victoria's voice was loud enough to reach him, and he suddenly fixed his posture. Mikel didn't know why, but whenever he sensed Victoria's presence it felt like he had to act all military. There was something about the Nether Witch that always put Mikel on edge.
"What is it?"
"You're hiding something, aren't you?"
"M-me? Oh come on, I…I wouldn't."
Mikel's words couldn't come out and immediately knew he messed up.
He never quite had a way with words, and when it came down to it he'd choke on it.
"How…how did you know?" The man didn't really put up a fight, but just surrendered himself to Victoria who clearly had the better of him.
"I didn't. Shot in the dark and you played yourself." Victoria chuckled.
"What a witch."
"That's what people call me."
"...I know it's weird to bring it up now, but why do people call you a witch?"
"They just…" Victoria thought for a moment. "They feel threatened, that's all. I don't really care what others say about me."
It was clear to Mikel that Victoria got her nickname of the 'Nether Witch' due to her rather cold, calculating way of doing things, and she had a reputation for being easily angered.
That being said, to Mikel, Victoria didn't come across as someone to be feared. Calling her a 'witch' to him was more of a cute insult rather than a label that should be taken seriously.
"Strange isn't it?" He said. "How they call a lady a witch because she's a little different."
Victoria didn't respond, and Mikel carried on.
"Be careful, they might burn you at stake."
"I'm way too strong to restrain. They wouldn't be able to if they tried."
Victoria's response had a playful tone to it; a voice melted in a smile.
A short silence followed through, and then she fixed her composure and opened her mouth again.
"If you get ready to tell me what you're hiding, then let me know."
"Nether essence."
"What…?"
"Nether essence. Do you know what they are, Victoria?"
***
"Every being has an essence to them. This probably goes for the damned Nether Creatures too."
Clanking of the cutlery, the dishes of deliciously smelling food were being placed by Maria, everything looked to be a feast and Mikel sat down quietly, like a boy waiting, as the tables were being set up.
Victoria continued her explanation.
"As I said the other day, as the Gates opened and the hell's ropes came down, poof! Mana was in the air and some awakened people could use it. Now I'll quiz you: What did I say about mana?"
She picked up her knife and fork and started slicing away at the juicy steak done medium rare.
Mikel gulped, but when he tried to pick up his utensils he got hit with the sound of 'uh-uh' from Victoria, signifying her disapproval.
The implication was simple. Answer her question if you want the food.
"Every being has an essence, and mana is the ink they're written in."
"Correct." Victoria gestured towards Mikel to start on his food, and he swiftly cut his beef into a big chunk to wolf it down. The juiciness sipped into him and every bite felt like a pop, the meat melting into him and the taste of protein oozing through his body.
"Focus."
"Y..yes I will…" Mikel has never tasted anything like this, and grinned so hard.
"So likewise, usage of mana is in the imagery and although 'gift' can overlap, the usage can be unique, and more personal and in touch with their essence the hunter gets, the more competent they become in their mana usage."
The whole thing sounded like jargon, but Mikel understood the jist.
'Weapon Master' - Mikel's gift - wasn't unique, but if he learned to use that gift in such a way that is unique to him, then that gift will flourish and he will become a good hunter.
"In that regard, Nether essence, is probably an answer to your power up."
"That means…"
"It means I have never heard of it before, and the fact that you can extract Nether essence is frankly, quite a feat."
"...but…"
Flint. Why didn't the monster he killed with his best friend give the same Nether essence?
"It's possible that you need to beat stronger Nether Creatures to cultivate your Nether essence."
Victoria spoke as if she read Mikel's mind, as she sipped on some tea.
"I don't know how to use it."
"How did you know you were a weapon master?"
"Well, I just…"
"Exactly. I can teach you how to utilise your power, but it is upto you to make your power yours."
Mikel put his utensils down and stared into the blank. It was as if he was inspired by those words, the idea of essence and imagery.
He closed his eyes, and let his manaflow.
Through the darkness, he still saw a blue screen, a status screen that said the following words:
[Would you like to invest your Nether essence?]
'Yes.' Mikel thought to himself.
From then, he saw a flash even though his eyes were closed, and he went into a trance.
In front of him, he saw a giant tree, and he immediately knew what to do with it.
A skill tree.
[How would you like to invest your Nether essence?]
He remembered Victoria's advice. That it was upto me to make the power mine.
It was only logical then, that there was no wrong answer to this.
"Summoning speed and weapon power."
[Summoning speed increased!]
[Weapon power increased!]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked a new passive skill: Polymorphism!]
"Polymorphism. Huh."
Poof.
It felt like an eternity, but the gravy was still steaming, and the steak didn't go stale. Time hasn't passed by much.
"So? Could you tell me your build?"
Victoria asked, and Mikel smiled.
"Let's get to sparring after the meal."
Mikel cleared his inventory as he was getting ready to use his new skill of Polymorphism.
He opened his hands, and let the mana flow, and the Nether essence appeared in an orb, black and glowing with purple light.
'Spear.'
He commanded in his head as he squeezed the orb, and it popped to the shape of a spear in an instant.
He spined it in a circle and held the spear in his back with the tip slanted pointing the floor.
"Interesting."
Victoria understood instantly what was going on, and inside her mind she was thinking about how it was peculiar that he was able to utilize Nether essence, an uncharted territory of mankind.
'Serendipity. Huh.' She thought to herself.
'I am glad I picked this guy up.'