The underground chamber was full of silence.
Not peaceful silence.
Tense silence.
The kind of silence that settled after hours of trying… and failing.
At the far corner of the underground chamber, Zil sat against a cracked stone wall, breathing heavily with his greatsword tossed beside him. Sweat rolled down his forehead as irritation spread clearly across his face.
"...This is stupid," he muttered under his breath.
Nearby, Marie stood with her arms crossed tightly beneath her chest. Her crimson eyes stayed fixed on her own hands, annoyance flickering across her expression every few seconds.
And in the center of the room—
Gray stared silently at his palms.
Waiting.
Expecting something to happen.
But nothing came.
Absolutely nothing.
"Again."
Blood's calm voice echoed through the underground chamber.
Zil's eye twitched instantly.
"What do you mean 'again'? We've been doing this for hours."
"And you've spent hours proving you don't even understand your own body," Blood replied without emotion.
Marie covered her mouth slightly as a quiet laugh escaped her.
Zil pointed at her immediately.
"Hey, don't laugh. You haven't done anything either."
Marie clicked her tongue in annoyance.
At her feet, faint crimson strands briefly appeared before disappearing just as quickly.
"...Damn it."
Blood walked slowly between the three of them, his crimson eyes observing each carefully.
"Essence isn't strength," he said calmly.
"It isn't rage."
A pause followed.
"And it certainly isn't instinct."
His gaze shifted toward Gray.
"Essence is life flowing through the body."
Gray frowned slightly.
Life flowing through the body...
"Every race calls it something different," Blood continued.
"Humans call it Soul Essence."
"Witches call it Arcane Essence."
"Werewolves call it Beast Essence."
A faint crimson aura slowly appeared around Blood's fingertips.
"And vampires..."
The crimson energy flowed like liquid around his hand.
"...call it Blood Essence."
Marie stared carefully at the flowing aura.
"So essence is basically energy?"
Blood shook his head immediately.
"No."
That answer surprised all three of them.
"Energy can be exhausted."
The crimson aura wrapped itself around Blood's arm smoothly.
"Essence is existence itself."
The atmosphere in the underground chamber deepened slightly.
"It flows through your blood."
"Your bones."
"Your Core."
"And eventually..."
His crimson eyes sharpened slightly.
"...your soul."
Gray's eyes narrowed faintly at the mention of Cores.
Blood noticed immediately.
But continued anyway.
"The stronger your circulation becomes, the stronger your body naturally becomes."
Zil frowned.
"So if that's true... why can't we use it properly?"
Blood looked directly at him.
"Because you've spent your entire lives surviving through instinct."
Then his gaze shifted toward Gray.
"Especially you."
Silence filled the underground chamber briefly.
Then Blood crouched slightly before placing his palm against the ground.
A second later—
BOOM.
Crimson essence exploded outward beneath him.
The stone floor cracked violently.
Wind burst across the underground chamber.
Marie's eyes widened.
Zil immediately stood up.
Gray's pupils shrank slightly.
Yet Blood himself hadn't moved an inch.
The crimson aura surrounding him remained perfectly stable.
Controlled.
Compact.
Not a single movement wasted.
"That," Blood said calmly, "is essence control."
Silence settled once more.
Then—
Gray suddenly felt something strange.
The shadow beneath his feet moved.
Slightly.
Like something hidden underneath it had opened its eyes.
Gray froze.
And across the room—
Blood noticed immediately.
But he said nothing.
Instead, he slowly straightened his body.
"But before control comes circulation."
His gaze moved across all three of them.
"What you were doing earlier wasn't circulation."
"It was manifestation."
Zil frowned slightly.
"...There's a difference?"
Blood sighed quietly.
A faint crimson aura covered his body from head to toe before slowly fading away again.
"A large difference."
He raised one hand slowly.
"Manifestation is forcing essence outward."
Then he clenched his fist.
"Circulation is moving it through every part of your body willingly."
The pressure in the room shifted slightly.
"Every vein."
"Every muscle."
"Every bone."
"Until your essence flows naturally like blood itself."
Gray listened carefully.
Marie remained unusually focused.
Even Zil looked serious for once.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do?" Gray asked.
Blood looked toward him calmly.
"Concentrate."
Zil groaned loudly.
"Seriously?"
Blood ignored him.
"You expect essence to obey you... yet you've made no effort to understand it."
The words settled heavily in the room.
"Stop forcing it."
"Feel it."
A brief silence followed.
Then—
Blood's body slowly dissolved into crimson mist.
"Try again."
His voice echoed through the chamber as the mist disappeared completely.
"And this time..."
A faint crimson glow lingered briefly in the darkness.
"...do it properly."
Silence returned.
Zil stared at the place Blood had disappeared from before sighing heavily.
"Man... he's definitely enjoying this."
Marie sat down quietly against the wall.
"He's annoyed because we're failing."
"Yeah," Gray replied quietly.
"But I don't think he's the type to give up on us."
Zil grabbed his greatsword before standing again.
"Good."
He rolled his shoulders slightly.
"Because I'm not losing to floating red smoke lectures."
Marie snorted quietly.
"Idiot."
Zil ignored her as he planted the greatsword beside himself and closed his eyes.
"Fine then..."
A faint blue aura flickered weakly around his body before disappearing.
"I'll figure this stupid thing out."
Marie glanced toward Gray before quietly closing her own eyes.
"...Guess we should too."
Gray nodded faintly.
"...Yeah."
He slowly looked down at his own hands again.
Then closed his eyes.
At first—
Nothing happened.
Only silence.
Then slowly...
Gray began feeling it.
Something warm flowing beneath his skin.
His heartbeat.
His blood.
The faint movement of something traveling through his body.
And beneath it—
Darkness.
Cold.
Watching.
Gray's breathing slowed slightly.
The shadows around his feet shifted unnaturally.
Like living creatures responding to his presence.
Time passed quietly inside the underground chamber.
Minutes.
Maybe hours.
Then—
Crimson mist suddenly appeared near the corner of the chamber.
Blood stepped out from it silently.
But the moment his eyes landed on the three of them—
His body tensed slightly.
The underground chamber had changed.
The air itself felt heavier.
Around Zil—
A faint blue aura pulsed wildly around his body like a raging beast struggling to awaken.
Around Marie—
Thin crimson strands moved calmly around her arms like flowing threads.
Controlled.
Elegant.
But around Gray—
The shadows themselves had begun moving.
A dark crimson aura spread faintly around him as the floor beneath his feet slowly darkened unnaturally.
The torches flickered violently nearby.
And for the briefest moment—
Blood saw something massive move behind Gray's shadow.
Ancient.
Monstrous.
Watching.
Blood's crimson eyes narrowed slightly beneath his hood.
"...Huh."
A faint grin slowly appeared across his face.
"So I guess these kids really are monsters."
The shadows behind Gray shifted once more.
And this time—
Even Blood felt slightly uneasy.