Half King

Gen then said, 'Well, time is short. Let's get it over with, Light.'

And Light said, 'Yeah, let's go.'

Gen then closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

Raja was sitting on the counter looking toward Gen when suddenly he said, "Oh no ... What is Gen going to do?!"

Anna was also looking at him from behind the counter and said, "He started using a different essence than before, but why are you worried? Do you know what essence it is?"

"Yes, from what he told me, it's his spear essence."

"Spear essence, hmm, well, I expected it to be his other essence. After all, he's always carrying that spear with him, but something doesn't add up yet."

"How so? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, during these years that Gen was living here, he used his essence a few times, but I remember it being different, and besides, the things he did, didn't seem to be done with a spear essence."

"Well, you must be talking about his other essence then."

"No. This other essence he just used was different, too. This one has some relation to distance. The one I am talking about has a different feeling. It is hard to explain. It seems that neither of these two essences fit with the essence that I saw. It's like he has another essence besides these two."

"And he does."

"What do you mean he does?"

"Gen has three essences, didn't you know? When I said you were talking about his other essence, I was referring to the third one."

"What? Does he really have another essence?"

"Yes, you didn't know?"

"No."

"That's strange. I thought Gen would have told you about that, but I can understand. From what he told me, he can't talk much about this essence. It has something to do with his brother, from what he said."

"Hmm, looks like I'll have to talk to Gen sometime. He has a lot of explaining to do."

"I understand you. Gen really seems to have a lot of secrets, but-", but Raja stopped in the middle and looked at his hand. It was shaking.

He then looked toward Gen and said, "This essence of Gen's scares me. I don't know what he's going to do, but I hope he doesn't overdo it."

And Anna said, "Don't worry, with me and Balkan at the bar, nothing will happen."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Anna then frowned and asked, "Hmm? Why do you say that? Do you think Balkan and I can't handle Gen?"

"I can't tell. This essence of Gen is too strong."

"Oh yeah? What level is it at?"

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say Natural level."

"Natural? Are you sure?"

"It probably is."

"Hmm, if it really is, things are going to be more complicated than I was expecting. I'll get Balkan, just in case.

Anna was starting to walk towards the kitchen when suddenly Gen opened his eyes, and then a half-silver mist, which carried within it some flashes of lights, began to stream out of his body in great quantity, quickly taking over the restaurant.

Gen was looking forward, but his focus was on the mist he was releasing, and as it covered the entire restaurant, Gen stopped it.

No one in the restaurant saw the mist except Raja, Anna, and Balkan. However, some people started saying, "What a strange ... feeling.", "Are you also feeling it? I can't explain what it is, but something is bothering me."

Lina was taking her orders and suddenly thought, 'This feels like bringing fog into your body.', she then looked at Gen and continued, 'Does this have anything to do with the way he is going to handle the situation?'

Balkan then came out from inside the kitchen and asked, "What's going on here?"

And Anna said, "It looks like Gen is going to do something using his essence."

Suddenly, all the mist that had spread in the bar began to return to Gen, and Raja said, "Whew! It looks like he's given up using it. I don't know what he intended to do, but I'm glad he stopped."

And Anna said, "That's strange. Why did he go to all the trouble of spreading the mist to do nothing? Did he really give up on what he was going to do? What do you think, love?", but looking at her husband, Anna noticed that he was wide-eyed, and asked, "What's wrong, Balkan? Why are you like this?"

Balkan then pointed in Gen's direction and said, "... It's nothing ... I just thought of something, but there's no way that's it."

"That's what?"

"Let's watch him for now. If it really is what I thought, you'll understand right away."

Gen saw the mist coming back to him and thought, 'What's going on? I didn't do this.' he was about to make the mist spread again when suddenly he stopped and thought, 'That's weird. I have the feeling that I shouldn't stop this. It's like this is my essence's wish.'

The mist then continued towards him, but it didn't return to his body. It was moving towards Gen's head and began to concentrate on a point in the middle of his forehead.

With each passing second, the mist on his forehead became thicker and thicker until it stopped, and then it started to focus again on another spot next to this one, and in the place of the first spot, something that looked solid was covering Gen's forehead.

The mist then began to concentrate on several points at once, and slowly, something began to form on Gen's head. The mist then ended, and as you looked at Gen's head, you could see something that looked like a piece of metal covering half of his forehead and the left side of his head. The piece of metal was silver, and sometimes, it gave the impression that it was glowing all by itself.

Balkan saw this and said, "It's not possible! He really is condensing his crown!"

And Raja, seeing this, said, "It can't be, Gen is too young! How is he already a King?"

Anna then said, "Calm down, you two. Although it is shocking to see that he is already in the process of condensing it, that doesn't mean he will complete the process."

And Balkan said, "You're right. I was just shocked to see it all of a sudden."

Raja then asked, "You guys have known Gen longer. Do you think he'll make it?"

And Anna said, "There's no way to know. You can get a sense of how strong his essence is from the mist, but there's no way to know how far along it is."

"And what happens if he fails?"

Balkan then said, "If he fails, he'll be weaker for a few months because most of the mist he's using now will be lost. Hopefully, he'll make it then."

And Raja said, "I think that will be difficult. I saw a person do this once before, and from what I remember, she had more mist than Gen has now."

Anna then said, "Well, let's wait and see what will happen."

The mist continued going toward Gen, but suddenly, it began to focus on the spot on his forehead where it had started the process. It then continued to concentrate for a while until, at one point, a light began to come out of the point where it was concentrating.

With each passing second, there was less mist around and more intensity of light, until at one point, the mist ended, and in its place, a silver gem that looked like a spearhead appeared, and it then fixed itself, with half of its body, on the half-crown that Gen had on his head. However, when it was finished attaching itself, the part of the gem that was not connected to the crown was absorbed by the other part, which caused it to start glowing much brighter.

Seeing this, Raja asked, "What happened? Why is there only half a crown on his head? Does that mean he made it or not?"

And Balkan said, "It looks like he couldn't condense his entire crown, but at least he stabilized half of it, which is already amazing progress."

"And half a crown changes something?"

"Yes, this essence of Gen is now at the Half-King level."

"Half King? This is the first I've heard of that level. Is that level stronger than the natural one?"

"Yes, much stronger. He is almost as strong as a king."

"Almost like a king? So what's the difference between Half King and King?"

"You don't have a difference in strength practically. The only real difference between a King and a Half King is the understanding of the essence they have because a person only enters the Half King level by choice."