The city

As Lucas began to slowly and dramatically walk away from the bench he had been cultivating on, he felt a sudden rush of essence enter his essence pool. This essence had not been cultivated by him, and because it was unfiltered and undiluted because of the Lucas knew it did Originate from him. the moment it joined the rank-one section of his essence pool another torrent of memories flooded Lucas's mind but this time it was of the drunk man who had tried to rob him before succumbing to a heart attack.

This time, instead of sealing away the unfamiliar memories, Lucas had decided he would choose to fuse with them. He sought out the important parts of the memories that he could utilize. Although he did not fully understand how the man had met his tragic end, he felt responsible For the essence to directly enter he's essence pool I must have accidentally indirectly assisted in he's death. So he decided to give him a proper burial as an apology to him for indirectly harming him. 

Lucas envisioned a framed picture of the man, accompanied by a cluster of flowers and a coffin. For a moment, he grabbed the mental image of a shovel but quickly tossed the idea aside then using his essence he created a crimson replica of all that he had envisioned the crimson replica slowly changed from crimson to the original color he had envisioned. Lucas then focused his energy, at his feet kicking the ground with determination. forming a crater as he prepared to lay the man to rest. 

After burying the man, he meticulously covered the crater, transforming the raw earth into a peaceful resting place. Finally, he conjured a Tombstone leaving it blank.Lucas placed the man's picture and flowers atop the grave. Lucas knew The empathy he felt with the man was only because his memory fragment was unsealed in he's sea of consciousness but he still decided to continue with the burial.

With the burial complete, Lucas quickly browsed through the man's recent memories. Unfortunately, they yielded little insight, leaving him feeling frustrated. Resolute, he opted to completely fuse the memories with his own. As the tiny memory fragments collided with the vast sea of his consciousness, they shattered, sending ripples of pain through him. Lucas gritted his teeth, enduring the discomfort, knowing that once this was over, he could continue his exploration of the city and perhaps uncover more about himself and the world around him.

As the shattered memory fragments began to merge with the ocean of Lucas's consciousness, they gradually assimilated, becoming intertwined. Each fragment that merged was a piece of the man's life—a life that had now become part of him.

Arthur Cola. The name resonated within Lucas, bringing with it a flood of clarity. He could remember everything as if he had been there himself—every vivid detail, every fleeting moment. Arthur was a twenty-six-year-old man who had once left the comforts of his parents' home. He had been an ordinary man working an average job, but everything had changed two years after he was unceremoniously fired. His life spiraled into chaos as he found himself mixing with the wrong crowd. 

As memories came flooding in, Lucas felt the depths of Arthur's struggles watching as Arthur began losing touch with his aspirations and ambitions. Just two months after connecting with newfound friends, Arthur found himself devoid of resources, his finances stripped away by addiction and carelessness. Ashamed to return to his parents, he made the desperate choice to live on the streets, clinging to a thread of hope to piece his life back together. Instead, despair consumed him; his friends abandoned him, and he resorted to stealing to survive.

Lucas's heart sank as he relived that fateful encounter. Arthur had spotted him on the street—dressed well, an emblem of what he had once aspired to be. Fueled by desperation and the longing for freedom from his own suffering, Arthur dared to try his luck robbing Lucas. But the eyes of a man in turmoil, filled with fear as soon as he had seen something he shouldn't have seen—something that would ultimately lead to his demise. In that moment, the weight of shock and panic faltered his heart, causing it to falter.

Lucas now understood why the he had received essence from Arthur and was disappointed but he had gained what he wished to gain by fusing with Arthur's memory fragment.