345 World's Essence
The turn of events took Arthur by surprise. He never expected the strange turtle down there to be one of the four legendary creatures! Not that he knew much about those beings, but Ikarus was one of them, and Arthur knew him.
“If I can somehow break the barrier, would you reward me with something?” Arthur asked.
“Well, I don’t believe you can unless you have the moon essence, but that’s impossible. So, hypothetically, if you break the barrier, I can grant you the world essence.”
“You swear? No going back on your words?”
“Are you doubting me? Brat, I can give you the world essence right now, as it will not matter if you can’t leave this place.”
The turtle did not like someone doubting its word, so it decided to give Arthur the world essence before they even tried to escape!
It did not matter, as even with the world essence, Arthur would not be able to leave, and if Arthur broke the barrier, then the turtle was automatically free too.
“I can sense you have two great bloodlines on you, so I believe you can easily absorb my world essence, but I don’t think you have the power to use it properly.”
Arthur could not hide his smile after gaining a new mysterious essence from one of the four legendary creatures, plus information about how to break the barrier, which was using the moon essence, something he already had! A win-win situation for him.
A bright ball came out of the turtle’s brain, and it flew toward Arthur, entering his body. He felt extreme pain when his body tried to absorb the world’s essence, just like when he got the moon essence from Ikarus, but it was way more powerful, at least one hundred times!
But, unlike when he got the moon essence, Arthur was now a rank three mage, making his body worlds apart from what it was, so even though the pain was way higher, it was still within his capabilities to withstand it.
“Wait,” the turtle said, realizing something while transferring some of the world’s essence. It realized something, but it was too late, as the world’s essence was already inside Arthur’s body.
“Y-You have the moon essence, brat! How do you have it? Even I can’t find Ikarus; he vanished long ago!”
It seemed that Ikarus was well hidden inside Arthur because not even that powerful turtle, his brother, could sense him there.
“I met him once, and he liked me, giving me the moon essence. Now I have the world’s essence, too, hahaha!” Arthur said.
He was unsure about the powers that essence would grant him, but it was from beings far stronger than the Monlog Giant or even the lord of dragons himself! It had to be something good, and even if it took Arthur a long time to use it, it would still be worth it on his path to the peak!
“You pranked me, brat, but it means we have a chance to leave this place; I cannot believe it!”
“I am called Turquoise, and you?”
After knowing Arthur possibly had the key to their freedom, the turtle treated him more respectfully than before. Arthur did not mind the change of attitude and was happy to get another power to his arsenal.
“Arthur. Where will you go if I can break the barrier when the next eclipse happens?” Arthur asked.
“I will leave this planet and finish some unfinished businesses. Don’t you worry; I am sure we will meet again in the far future.”
Arthur hoped the turtle would not cause any trouble, but it was not as if he had a choice. He had to break the barrier to leave, automatically freeing the turtle.
“I see. Do you have any clues on how to use the moon essence? I never trained with it before.”
Turquoise was Ikarus’ brother, so it probably knew at least something about the moon’s essence.
“Just like the name suggests, you should try to feel it during the night. Also, you have to be outside, feeling the moon on your body, and Ikarus once said if you are starting, being naked help.”
“Let’s see if it works. The next eclipse is in a few months, so I need to get good at it before it happens.”
After that, Arthur returned to the surface, to his cabin near the shore. He did not want to wake his wives, so he stayed on the coast, one hundred meters away from the house.
The moon essence matter was urgent, and because of that, Arthur wanted to start training as soon as possible, beginning that night. So he took off his robes, putting all of them near a tree, using it to hide his magical pouches, as he could not lose those.
“Being naked in the open is… strange, but good at the same time. I feel free and connected to nature.”
It was not something that frequently happened, as Arthur only got naked inside private places with his wives, and he was almost always inside cities, not a good place to get naked in the wild.
But inside a desert island? That was one of the few perks Arthur saw in being trapped there.
He placed a towel on the sand to sit without worrying about crabs pinching his parts. Arthur looked to the moon, which was not complete but crescent, and concentrated on it as hard as he could.
Arthur could hear the sounds of all the animals who lived on the island. The roaring of the tribe members could not escape his ears too.
“So beautiful,” Arthur said, looking at the moon.
People often never took a moment to see the moon, fell its moonlight, see the sun, and feel its heat. Small animals or big ones, small trees or big ones, everything around had a unique beauty, yet some people never stopped to realize it.
Just like how people only cared about cellphones and the internet back in Arthur’s world, in this world, some people only thought about magic, training to get stronger, not stopping for a moment to feel the incredible nature around them.
“It does not matter the world, the universe, people are always the same, it seems. Giving more attention to what does not matter and forgetting the things right in front of their eyes.”
Arthur was there to train, but a moment alone in such a quiet and beautiful place made him think about many things. He had nothing back on Earth, but in that new world, he got lovers, friends, and, more important, a goal!
People counted on him. Entire continents could end without his braveness to explore the unknown and fight against the planet’s most powerful beings.
It was up to him to fight against the demon continent, so no matter what happened, Arthur had to find a way out of that island!
“Only those who see the moon can use its essence!” Arthur thought.
With just a thought, one of his eyes changed as he activated the Emperor Eye. He could see the auras of all creatures, of all things.
The moon did not escape his gaze, and Arthur focused all of his vision toward the moon, zooming it so much he could almost see it clearly, like a telescope.
Arthur sat cross-legged in a meditative state during the night. It was like a daydream, and he did not see the hours pass. He only returned to reality after the moon was gone and the sun rose in the sky.
“I did not feel the moon’s essence, but I believe I was in the right way.”
Jane, Wisa, and Sybille were still sleeping, so Arthur wore his clothes again and went there to see them. They slept like babies on the soft bed.
“I should prepare a breakfast for them,” he thought, leaving their house to look for food.
What could they eat? Arthur searched for a source of meat, and the easiest to get was fish, so that was what he did. So with the help of magic, getting those fishes was easy, and Arthur filled a basket of them.
After that, he ventured inside the forest, tasting all the fruits and vegetables he could find to see if they were poisonous. It would be a dumb move if it were someone else, but Arthur was immune to those poisons.
He filled one basket with fish and another with fruits and vegetables, which were safe to eat. It was the best one could find inside that island, and even though Arthur wanted to get the potatoes the tribe had, he would never steal from them.
“Would they give me some so I can plant them?”
That was something for him to do at another time. So he returned to his house and got some wood around the area to rebuild the campfire, which fire had long extinguished.
The next time was to clean the fish, which was not a difficult task for him, and it took him fifteen minutes to clean all the fish he got. Then, he put them on the fire and went to wash the fruits and vegetables.
Arthur then used his wood magic to create a table with some chairs right in front of his house. His wives woke up while he did that, but by that time, the fish, fruit, and vegetables were ready to eat.
He even made wooden plates, knives, and forks for them, looking like a rustic breakfast.
“Good morning,” Arthur said when his wives left the house.
“Did you make all of this for us? Thank you, honey. It seems like we will have to repay you this morning, hehehe,” Jane said, and the three of them had lewd smiles on their faces.