Chapter 23: Ether Core
Casimir returned to his room quietly. His communication device buzzed in an attempt to get his attention. Oscar had sent him a message asking him to join him when he returned from Officer Evelyn's office. He probably needed a sparring partner but Casimir was busy right now. He wanted to organize his inventory. Their field assignment was in four days and he was aware of where they were going. The land that made up Cestane was not entirely claimed for the most part and some of it was yet to even be ventured into. That much held for the other three nations on the continent. Although it wasn't safe for rank ones to be going on missions as frequently as they offered in the military, Cestane's military and governing bodies had come up with several measures to minimize the risk involved.
The Abyssal creatures usually came through rifts that would open in their plane of reality. Although they didn't know why, they had come to be able to predict where rifts could open. That was probably due to the advances they made in the spatial field. Rifts themselves had limits on the calibre of terrors they could spew out, thus leading them to receive gradings based on the highest tier of creature that would come out from it. Such monstrosities were dealt with by the awakened folk. The military for example had a monthly quota they would need to meet to ensure built-up areas were not overrun. As a result, most cities were fortified against sieges. There was much the public didn't know about the things that came from the abyss that Casimir thought was probably kept from them for their own good.
The area region they would have their field assignment was called the Blood Savannah. It was a battleground where the only recorded tier-five gate occurred and where the only two Imperials in this nation slaughtered the rift champion. After Imperial Cohen and Imperial Delroy fought the Primordial Archfiend, the plentiful blood that flowed from its gargantuan body dyed the land around it and by extension laid waste to life that existed before its appearance. Its blood destroyed the once-agricultural plains and they became plains from which dreadful things grew. The grass grew red and not a single tree emerged as far as the eye could see. The sky seemed to pick a red hue remains of its skeletal structure formed a landmark of sorts at the heart of the plains. Around it, abyssal creatures made nests and fought for the sovereignty of the heart of the plains.
Casimir began absorbing ether from the crystals he received. The absorption process did not take long and it did not require any external instrument. The crystals he received this time were brighter than the ones he received last month and most likely a better quality. He wondered what the output of ether mines would be since the crystal seemed so much more plentiful regardless of their lofty prices. He knew they were expensive because compared to their salaries as cadets they barely could afford to buy crystals worth five ether of whatever glyphs counted. Casimir paid attention during their finance lectures so he had a pretty good idea of how currency worked in the awakened world. Because of his impressive performances, Officer Evelyn had also given him some advice regarding finances which included saving enough to buy property in the much better residential areas of Cestane's capital. She also mentioned buying some in the commercial areas of Mospria and explained a little bit about investments to Casimir. He did not understand much of it, but she said they would learn about that in their second year.
Casimir finished the rest of the crystals and then checked his Glyph
Name: Casimir Nagid
Fable: Gedeon's Last Prince
Aura: [Destroyer]
Soul Core rank: I
Origin [Primus]: Arcadia's ruin
Abilities: [Hearth of desolation]
Artifacts: [Iron maiden][Gedeon's ichor][Tranquility][Gedeon's tome][Cestane Spear][Brilliant crescent]["Deceased Crow" Core]
Heritage: none
Ether: [183/1000]
He had absorbed his crystals and they brought his ether counter up to 183 at this rate he would be able to enter his second trail and ascend again by the end of their training without any issues unless he met circumstances that would obstruct that. Things, however, rarely ever went as planned so Casimir would just hope the changes if there are any would be for the good, but he was never optimistic about things. Fate had a knack for screwing him over and he was supposed to believe it was nothing personal.
He focused his attention on the core, he had already decided he would try his luck and absorb it. He didn't expect much but if he could get a weapon from the core directly, he knew it would be of a much better quality compared to anything he could get crafter for himself.
Artifact[Consumable][Core]:"Deceased Crow" Core
Tier[superior]:II
Descriptions: [Core of a Superior Monster "Deceased Crow" …]
After Viewing the core he summoned it and in his hand was a dark orb. It was cold to touch and it had a glossy surface. The core had two layers signifying the abomination was a superior grade abomination. They had learnt this in the Lore lectures, the number of layers a core possessed correlated to the grade of the creature. They were yet to have records of humans with more than one layer but that was probably because if there was, they hadn't let it be known to the public and how to obtain the layers. Usually, an awakened could tell the rank of a monster by the number of soul signatures it possessed. These signatures were distinct for every single abomination so more than one exact same signature meant more than just a single layer around a core.
The dark and glossy core in his had begun to glow as he started the process of absorbing. He made sure to remain in contact with his glyph.
[Artifact has been consumed…]
'Is that all?'
Casimir held his breath in anticipation.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone