What is the essence of the short story by Thomas Aldrich?

'The world we live in is a world of essences. Everything has an essence, animals, plants, elements, concepts. And only those who can understand them, can see the world as it is.' Gen ended up losing his essence, and after trying everything and not being able to get it back, when he was just about to give up, he meets a man at a pub who after hearing his story, says to him, "Have you ever heard of Dahji? He was the emperor of the greatest empire that once existed in this world. The legends say that every year he would hold a tournament, giving the winner a wish of his choice." "But the empire doesn't exist anymore." "Who said that? Have you ever heard of a desert south of here?" "Yeah, the desert of ..." "Dahji." Gen then decides to go to the desert, and after three years living there, Gen finally leaves towards a ruin that could be the solution he was looking for. but little did he know that this ruin wasn't the end of his troubles, but the beginning of his journey. Follow Gen on his journey in this world of essences, making friends, finding unimaginable places, and dominating the essences.

You find yourself before a shrouded figure standing behind a table. On the table are many potions, choose as many as you want or none. The choice is yours. In addition pick additional CYOAs or none to add on to this if you want some adventure. Each one infuses you with a variety of effects which cannot be taken from you unless you willingly allow it.  Note: exact effects in different ones such as perfect memory, intelligence, etc. do not stack. XOXOXOXOXOXO Essence Meta Hub https://docs.google.com/document/d/16ZpXKLI5su2v_9sAOzxZxMw_7hblTpIjyjyzDA5Z3TA/edit?tab=t.0

Just now, a female sword immortal flew past you on her sword, and you looked up. You caught a glimpse of the female sword immortal from a hundred years ago who slew a demon dragon in the Boundless Eastern Sea. She was at the pinnacle of her power in the mortal realm, and you felt something in your heart, condensing the essence of time into the technique of "Dragon Slayer." Just now, an old beggar passed by you, and you glanced at him. You caught a glimpse of the old beggar from three hundred years ago who knocked on the tightly closed gates of heaven with his dog-beating stick, laughing at the immortals in the sky. You condensed the essence of time into the technique of "God Beater." Just now, a scholar asked you for a sip of wine, and you squinted at him. You observed the scholar from five hundred years ago who studied the sword by lamplight at night, dressed in white. On the battlefield at the border, he decapitated countless members of the enemy race, his aura engulfing the vast land like a ferocious beast. You condensed the essence of time into the technique of "Enduring Spirit." ...... An Le traveled through time to this chaotic world, where life was fragile and worthless. Fortunately, An Le could see the past experiences of others, whether glorious, sorrowful, or helpless, and then condense them into the essence of time to make himself stronger. As a young practitioner, he cultivated his spirit and accumulated the essence of time. With a calm and peaceful heart, he quietly knocked on the door of cultivation, peacefully becoming a sage.

Short stories to accompany you.. STORY-1: Falling For The Antagonist, Mr. Choi! Seeing her father getting killed right in front of her eyes, Na Ae Ra swears that she will avenge her father. 12 years later, she finds the person who killed her father, was none other than her first love, Choi Yu Shik. What will Na Ae Ra do? Will she avenge her father or not do anything? STORY-2: Love Me Harder Song Yu Qi, a high school graduate gets married to a man whom she barely knows. Without knowing much about him, she soon falls in love with him. Since then, a cute give and take relationship starts in between the two. STORY-3: The Promise Baek Ji Ah and Kang Minhyuk were living happily married for a year until, Baek Ji Ah's long-lost childhood friend, Lee In Joon appears and their married life crumbles. Will Ji Ah be able to amend her broken heart by finding love in her childhood friend's embrace or get back with her husband? STORY-4: An Unexpected Proposal Han Sora always had a crush on Lee Yi Kyung since high school and she even encourages herself to propose him on the graduation day but instead gets proposed by Yi Kyung's elder brother, Lee Junsu... Will Sora's heart melt with Junsu's flowing love? Or Does Junsu's heart gets broken into pieces? STORY-5: Love Amidst Investigation Park Ji Hyun is a detective who has been framed for killing her own brother. While running away from being caught, she meets a handsome young man, Han Seo Jun, who helps her all the time. She falls in love with him and investigates the murder of her brother. STORY-6: I Travelled Into A Comic and Made The CEO Fall For Me Son Mina is a young university students who gets body shamed for being fat and ugly. One day while reading her favorite comic, she travels into that comic world. Her soul gets swapped with the comic's female lead's body. And with that she makes the CEO fall for her.... STORY-7: I Hate You, I Love You Park Ji Sang always loved Kim Yeon-Ah but never expressed his feelings towards her and they remain friends. Due to a certain incident, Yeon-Ah slaps him and starts to hate him. Five years later, they meet again and this time Ji Sang tries his best to express his feelings towards her. STORY-8: Forbidden Relationship Despite of being married, Choi Ah-Yeong cheats behind her husband’s back. Not because he is a bad person but because she again has feelings for her ex who returned back. Will Ah-Yeong leave her husband, Jung Sang Hoon for her ex, Kang Dae Hyun? STORY-9: Feelings Rekindled Byeon Da-Jung and Yang Woo-Jin were married to one another but they divorced soon after four years. Four years later, they meet again due to some circumstances and realize the mistakes they did and that they still have feelings for one another. Will they get back with one another or go separate ways? NOTE: This book is still under progress so, I apologize to make you all wait! Thank you for your love and support! Stay safe and take care y'all!!!

A series of short stories, of different genres. Simple yet thought-provoking reads.

Liam is a typical spoon-fed rich guy who tossed it all out the window. Well, he wasn't exactly specific as he could control the world… that is if he wanted to do that. He was more into adventure and learning. You could call him the curious cat, as his curiosity brought him a lot of trouble. He is the only person who can see and interact with the condensed forms of matter. He calls them Avatars of the World, but they call him a World Reader. It's a name they didn't come up with; instead, they knew what he was without any idea what it meant. They also felt the need to protect the child of the worlds, which brought them the Worlds Readers anger as he didn't like being protected to this extent. The trouble came searching for him, and that trouble would come at him every time… Fortunately, Liam decides to explore the trouble that one seed brought him, as it seems he has no other choice. He lands on a new planet and decides to learn more about it. Then, finally, starting to feel excited by all the strangeness and meeting some terrifying things and humans with strange kinds of social hierarchy. At least he won't be bored anymore, is what he thinks. '**' There will be a tiny mention of a system later, but that is just a small part. And that would happen after he completes an assignment he does not know about. **** Art, not mine. I don't know the artist either. Sorry. If the artist finds this and doesn't like that I'm using it, please let me know, and I'll take it down.