Essence Awakened


Sakura meditated within Szoreny's forest.

It was silent, not a sound came from the trees around her.

If she were to open her eyes she would see the branches still waving as Szoreny moved slightly but it was his will for there to be silence here and now.

Sakura breathed in and dived down. The world faded around her until there was only darkness.

Her Coadjutor found her and led her along the paths of her power towards her soul.

It sat in the darkness. Her soul glowed in different colours to show it's nature to her. The top layer shifted between multiple colours. One moment it was brass covered in a green sheen and the next moment it was black with spots that she could see deeper into her soul through. That top layer would be her exaltation then. Her nature as a divine entity. A green sun prince of the Fiend caste.

Below that was two sections, upper and lower. The two still seemed to be attached together but between them was a gradient of colour. Nearer the top was lilac and white. Near the bottom was black and red. This would be her "Original" soul then? Damaged when she was Exalted?

The truths of her nature. She was good and evil.

"Most people refer to them as the hun and po. The upper and lower souls. I didn't understand why you had yours fused together at first. The Exaltation needed space between the two to fit in so it broke them apart."

Her Coadjutor was beside her in it's original form. The form it had possessed when Sakura agreed to the Exaltation.

Sakura had been told what to do, if she wanted to weaken the Yozi's grip over her she needed to grow in strength first. She wasn't strong enough yet to force their hooks out of her soul. Instead she just had to improve her Essence flow.

She found a path leading from her Exaltation out into her body. It was much larger than the others and Sakura imagined it was something like one of the arteries of her soul.

Streaching out, she touched the pathway and felt a tingle in her hand and back.

She thought back to how Szoreny had explained this process to her before.

"Normally, the Exalted get stronger over time. It would take most Exalted around two hundred years before they began to touch the strength that you are aiming for. Luckily you have two advantages that they didn't."

"And those are?" she had asked

Szoreny had laughed before answering "You know of the shard of power within you? I don't understand it's nature but it is acting to support your essence flow to a higher level than normal for your age. That alone would allow you to refine your power to the target within half the time it would take for most. On top of that you have me or rather, my blessing."

At her questioning look he had continued "I am a Yozi my dear, one of those who shaped the world. I can refine your essence by pushing and pulling just a little at your soul."

That had scared her until he had given her a binding oath not to manipulate her soul in any way that would control her. She still didn't trust him but she needed the power now.

In the present she opened the metaphorical door to her soul. A moment passed where it felt like a vacuum was slowly draining her away, then the hole was plugged.

A great pressure entered her "soul room". She knew that it was just a small piece of Szoreny, Likely a third circle demon he had taken direct control over.

A rumble filled the room and Sakura covered her ears as the pressure went up. It took a moment to notice that It was Szoreny's voice as he whispered to her.

"Sorry about this, look on the bright side though. If you hadn't done all that training you might already be squashed. Now the hard part."

The idea was simple, A refined version of the charm that created Akuma. Normally this charm would do nothing to an Infernal Exalted so a specialised version was made for soul surgery. Szoreny had explained that when an Akuma was created, the Yozi in charge could sacrifice part of their being to improve them in some other aspect. If for example you had a dragon-blood with skill with the sword and with medicine, A Yozi could destroy the knowledge of medicine to improve their sword skills.

What was being done here wasn't that different. She felt the first cut being made and wince. That would be some of her strength, she could train again later to make up for it but she felt physically weaker after that. The second cut was made quickly after and she winced as her eyes lost focus for a moment. Her perception in general would be able to supply a large part of the cost. Last to go was some of the knowledge her Exaltation had given her on how to control vehicles. She didn't need it and so it was a good trade.

Those three cuts made she felt her essence spike. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

She was still sitting in the forest. Her arms felt tired as did her eyes but in return she felt the paths of power within her glow with power.

"You are now ready to learn the required charm, I wish I assist with that too but there is a bigger issue that needs your help." The breeze through the twigs carried Szoreny's voice.

Sakura slowly got to her feet as the Yozi continued "From the perspective of creation you have been down here for over two months. It would be preferable if you could safely finish your training but your lover needs your help."

Sakura looked up suddenly panicked "Shirou is in danger? What happened."

A small laugh could be barely heard before the Yozi continued "He did what heroes always do, he lost an important fight. You must go to him to prevent his execution or something worse from occuring."

Sakura took a breath. She would be able to track him.

As she began to leave the forest she heard Szoreny's parting words "Know now, that you are now among the most powerful Infernal Exalted. Train and grow strong. I will have need of a favour one day."

Sakura smiled a perfect smile and set off for the edge of Malfeas.


End of chapter

Sakura is now effectively Essence level 6. This is the sort of power held by the ancient Solars who once ran the world held.

At the current time, the most powerful Infernal Exalted are around Essence 4-5 but they have more charms and higher stats. So from a certain perspective Sakura is now the most powerful Infernal Exalted. She would still probably lose most fights though. Her soul is also exhausted right now (Her EXP is in the negative) so she won't be learning those powerful Charms for a while.

And Sakura now owes Szoreny quite a few favours. That will be fun when he finally calls them in.