Chapter 1: The Cifer
"What is Essence? Essence is around us every day. It surrounds us and it embraces us, even infusing with us. Because Essence is in everything, if only we knew how to use it." The lecturer, merely a Low tier Origination expert herself, droned on. She knew nobody in the class of 25 was listening... except HIM.
Despite being the most attractive lecturer, or perhaps because of it, the curvaceous young woman could never keep the class focused on what they were supposed to be learning. It didn't help her cause that her students were just getting into puberty. Since they were only 14 years old and stuck listening to her for an hour, the boys were too busy staring while the girls were too busy being jealous. This was a waste of her time! Nobody here was bothering to actually learn from her.
Apart from that one kid at least. HE was trying to read her lips to learn even a second faster instead of dreaming of kissing them. HE was hanging on her every word with a death grip, even though she knew he'd eventually analyze all the emotions out of it.
Which was actually a bad thing, because at least half of truly understanding an Essence was feeling it. 'That's good, Akemi, focus on the lesson.' The red haired teacher encouraged herself. The last thing she wanted was a trip down memory lane.
"Essence is power." Akemi continues, trying hard to pick up her earlier thread. "With the power of Essence we can extend life, protect loved ones, enforce justice and enhance beauty." That got the girls attention at least. It almost made Akemi want to cry how HE was the model student. Would it kill the rest to stop making HIM look good!?
Inevitably, her gaze returned to him. Why did nobody else pay attention? At this rate she'd accomplish nothing! Furiously, Akemi changed to asking questions to distract herself, starting with a simple one.
"What are the seven Stages, Tiers and Realms of Essence Cultivation?"
HE immediately raised his hand. That damn little know it all! She waited to see if anyone else would before simply barking, "Speak up already!"
"There is the Initial, Early, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Transformation and Perfection Stages within each Tier. Which are ordered Broken, for having only just broken through, Bottom, Low, Mid, High, Peak and Pinnacle Tier. As for the Realms, there is Originiation, Skeleton Foundation, Arterial Refinement..."
She tuned him out. HE was right of course. HE was always right when he volunteered to answer a question. Akemi shuddered from his presence, his eager gaze, excited babbling and most importantly his mystery. As he continued to discourse on the subject for her, Akemi mentally went back to when she was his age and everything was still right in the world. Before HE came. Before everything went wrong.
They had been a powerful, prosperous Clan. Their former Clan Leader was able to meet with the King whenever he felt like making a trip to the Royal City to report about the dozen odd cities that fell under the Clan's authority. Back then they had the power for that. The former Clan Leader was a powerhouse at the Bottom Tier of the Skeleton Foundation Realm, while they had 7 Grand Elders who had reached Broken Skeleton Foundation. One had to know that the King himself was only at Low tier Skeleton Foundation, and even the Royals only had a total of 20 Skeleton Foundation experts!
And then, on that day 14 years ago, a baby boy had been dropped off at the former Clan Leader's doorstep along with 3 notes. The former Clan Leader had been an ancient grandfatherly man who'd already survived over 300 years. Yet that powerful Clan Leader had opened one of the notes, felt the Essence Residue of the author and died of a immediate heart attack. The last thing he said was "Brother!"
This led his son to think the child was his nephew, and he wanted to allow him to join the Clan with that status. The Clan's Grand Elders disagreed with him, thinking the child was part of the plan of a rival and that the former Clan Leader's last words were voicing his only regret in life. So, the Grand Elders killed the son of the former Clan Leader before he could take his father's place because he would not budge. Claiming he was going to lead them to ruin.
The next day every single Grand Elder was found dead. From the top positions in a prosperous country, the Clan no longer had the strength to even rule a single small city unrivaled! Whispers started as they left their vaulted heights for a humbler abode. Whispers that the Grand Elders had been right. That it was a Royal conspiracy and the boy had to be eliminated!
Every day those who talked about killing the boy would die, no exceptions. Some days would be assassins were even found dead near his crib, not a drop of blood near the baby boy. The Clan was in ruins and even a stiff breeze could shatter them, but nobody dared say even the slightest thing bad about him anymore.
Amazingly enough, once they accepted him their luck completely changed. They found an Essence Vein that was filled with an immense amount of Death Essence. Normally experts would avoid this Essence almost as much as they would avoid Evil Essence, but the Clan was desperate. Plus the amount of death and loss they had suffered recently truly made it easier to cultivate the Essence of Death. Multiple people broke through Tiers, and one through to the Skeleton Foundation Realm. It stabilized their position and safety, with the new Skeleton Foundation acting as Clan Leader.
Ultimately, nobody could figure out what the notes said. One was a Cultivation Technique so advanced that people were unable to even say for certain if it wasn't instead a unique Ability to be released in a fight or maybe the rarest kind of Power instead. The other two were written in something close to the Clan's secret script, but in some kind of code... a specific cifer. And over time that had come to be treated as the boy's name and title. His Legacy from infancy.
The Cifer.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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