That's not it

Isabelle then frowned and said, "What is it, Gen? Did I say something wrong?"

And Gen said, half annoyed, "Well, yes. I'm not a King."

Isabelle then laughed and said, "Pfft, there's no need to hide it, Gen. I know you're a King."

And Gen said, "I'm really not at the King level."

"Oh yeah? That's funny. If you're not a King, what was that power you used earlier today on the Harpoon? Because to me, it looked like the strength of someone at the King level."

Gen then widened his eyes and said, "How do you know that?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I knew that someone had used a King-level blow, but I didn't know who that person was. That is, until now. Thanks for admitting it so easily, fufufu."

Gen was briefly in shock, rested his forehead on the palm of his hands, and then said, "Damn! I have to stop giving myself up so easily like that."

Isabelle laughed when she heard that, and Gen asked, "Okay. You may have got it right that I am a King, but you are wrong about Anna and Balkan. I know them. They are both at the Natural level."

And Isabelle said, "Impossible. I met Rose once before, and at that time, I could see her crown. She's definitely King level."

"You must be mistaken. I've known them for about three years. We are very close. I'm even traveling with their daughter."

"Well, I believe you. They probably didn't tell you then."

"I doubt it."

"Fine. I won't keep insisting. Since you're close to them, you can always check with them later."

"I'll make a point of asking." 

"Okay, but enough about that. What did you come to do in Tólis?"

"I came after a ruin."

"A ruin? You mean the water temple?"

"Well, yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"I came to find a ruin that contains an ordeal."

"An ordeal? What do you want to find an ordeal for? You're already a king."

"Well, I have my reasons. And besides, I don't know why everyone always says the same thing. Even though I'm a King, that doesn't mean I can't have other essences of lower levels."

"Well, that's true, but people generally tend to focus on only one essence their whole life. Don't you think that having another essence might get in the way of you reaching the full potential of your main essence?"

Gen then got a little thoughtful and said, "Well, I don't know if it will get in my way or not, but I think I'm past that point."

And Isabelle said, "You're past the point? What do you mean?"

And he said, a bit flustered, "Well, I kind of already have more than one essence."

She then widened her eyes and said, "What? You already have more than one, and yet you want another one?"

"Well, I kind of need others."

"Why? Are your essences not meeting your needs?"

Gen then thought for a while and said, "Well, I guess you could say that."

"Too bad. What are your essences?"

"Well, my first essence, which is also the highest-level essence, is the spear essence."

"That's the King level, then?"

"Yeah. My second essence ... well, I can't talk about it."

Isabelle then frowned and said, "You can't talk about your essence? Why is that?"

And Gen said, "Well, I can't talk about that too."

Isabelle then laughed and said, "Fufufu, you're pretty mysterious for a person of your age."

And Gen said, a bit flustered, "Well, my friends say that too, hahaha ... but moving on."

"Moving on? What do you mean?"

"I'm not done talking yet."

"Hold on. Are you telling me that you still have more essences?"

"Yes, I still have one more."

"What is your other essence?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't talk about that one too? You could have just said you didn't have another one then."

Gen then laughed and said, smiling, "Hahaha, relax, I was just kidding with you."

She then crossed her arms and said, "I don't believe it."

"It's true. I really was only joking. My other essence is the essence of the Endless. It's a conceptual essence."

"A conceptual essence? You've just lost yourself in your lie."

"I'm not lying. I really do have this essence."

"Oh yeah? Prove it to me then."

"How am I going to prove it? I can't use some of these essences."

Isabelle then frowned and said, "You always have an excuse, don't you? You don't have to use the essence. Just show me their runes."

Gen then thought for a while and said, "Ok. I guess showing the runes is fine."

He then opened his hand, and after a while, two diagonal strokes parallel to each other appeared on his hand, and Gen said, "This is my endless essence rune. As you can see from the strokes, it's on the Outer level."

The rune then disappeared, and another rune appeared in his hand. This one had only one vertical line, and Gen said, "This is the essence rune that I cannot speak about."

Isabelle then said, "Wow, you really do have two other essences."

And Gen said, "I told you I wasn't lying, but anyway, this is my spear essence rune.", and then on Gen's hand appeared a six-stroke rune that looked like a 'V'.

Seeing this, Isabelle said, "It looks like you really weren't lying. I've never met a person with three essences before. How did you awaken them?"

Gen didn't respond to her and stood silently looking at his hand.

Isabelle then said, "What's up, Gen? Is there something wrong with your rune?"

And Gen said, with his eyes fixed on his hand, "That's not it."

"What do you mean?"

Gen then looked at her and said, "That's not my spear rune!"

Isabelle then frowned and said, "What do you mean, that's not it, Gen? It appeared in your hand."

"I know that. That's my spear rune, but it's not how I remember it."

"Are you saying it's changed?"

"Yes."

"Has anything happened since the last time you looked at it?"

Gen then thought for a while and said, "Last time, I wasn't a King yet. Is that what changed my rune?"

"Well, it's possible, but I've never heard of anything like that."

The two then heard a man say, "That's normal."

Gen's eyes then widened. He looked to the side and saw a man with a tray in hand.

Isabelle looked at the man with the tray and said, "Hi, Cetus. You still haven't lost that habit of approaching quietly, have you?"

And the man said, "Hahaha, I'm sorry Miss Isabelle."

Cetus had a slender body and must have been at least one meter and ninety (six feet). He had short black hair, and his eyes were blue. It was hard to tell how old he was, but the way he carried himself made him look older.

He put the tray on the table and then said, "Here are your orders."

He then put the snacks on the table, handed the coffee to Isabelle and the juice to Gen, and then said, "I hope you enjoy the experience. The show is about to start."

He then took the tray back and started to leave, but Gen reached out, called to him, and said, "Wait a minute. You said it's normal that my rune has changed. What did you mean by that?"

Cetus then said, "That's right. I forgot to explain. Your rune represents your essence. If it has changed, the only thing that explains it is that your essence has changed too."

And Gen said, "But my essence is still the same. It's still the essence of the spear. I used it earlier."

"I'm sorry. I expressed myself poorly. When I said that your essence changed, I didn't mean that it became another essence entirely but rather that your understanding of it changed. That means that you see it in a different way than you did when you first comprehended it, and so your rune has changed."

Gen then widened his eyes, stood in shock for a few seconds, and said, "You're right. I really don't see it as I did when I first comprehended it, but how did you ..."

Gen then looked in the direction Cetus was standing before and didn't see him.

He then turned to Isabelle, who was drinking some of her coffee, and asked, "Where is he? He left without me even noticing."

And Isabelle said, "I don't know. He has a habit of doing that kind of thing, but don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Again, I don't intend to get used to it."

Gen then went to take some of his juice, but everything started shaking, and he said, while looking all around, "What is happening?"

And Isabelle said, "Relax. The show is starting."