"The Essence Soul of the Will went to every country and every empire in every continent, and used its new sword to show a dominating power that was so extreme that people would fear it for ages to come," Ning explained.
"It told them what the sword was made up of. A continent destroyed in its creation. No one would be worthy of it and it would forever be a threat to the many empires and countries that tried to take it from him."
"It also told them that it would return if they ever did something destructive to the world and the innocent ones that lived in it. If it ever returned, it would kill them all," Ning said. "As it was no longer a Will, it could do that too if it wanted to."
"Did it return?" Emma asked curiously. "Did it go back to the countries that went on war?"
"No," Ning said, sighing. "It was a bluff. Even if it was the Will's Essence soul, it could not live for a very long time. Essence soul die very soon on their own, turning back to the Essence that it was made out of."
"As a result, there was no way for that Essence soul to ever go and attack the others," Ning said. "All it could do was come back to meet one of its oldest friends, talk with him for a while, leave the sword for him to look after, and die on his back."
"The island we're on is where the Essence Soul died," Ning said. "And that was the end of the Will of the world that formed many thousand years ago."
"Woah!" Emma looked in surprise. "It truly is a fantastical place. I couldn't have imagined such a world was possible. I look forward to learning more. Can I use Essence?"
"If you stay here for long enough, your body adapts to it by creating a core for you, but as it is now, no," Ning said. "But that should take a dozen or so years."
"Hmm," Emma got a bit sad hearing that. "Is there no way for me to absorb Essence?"
"I'm afraid not," Ning said. "You can do what I did though. Restrain your powers and only use what a normal Essence user can use."
"Use for what?" Emma asked. "You know I can't hurt people."
"Then… ah!" Ning realized. "I know the perfect way. We'll have to go to the Origin where the time flows differently."
"Oh, that's not a bad idea," Emma said. She turned around and looked at the trees. "We should gather these fruits as well. Can't let them go."
"Yes," Ning said. "I plan on taking them all this time around."
"What even are these fruits anyway? They seem so special," Emma asked.
Ning asked the system the same question and got an answer back within a second. He smiled at the answer. "That's because it is not a normal fruit."
"The fruits that grow on the turtle's back are normal coconuts that have mutated over the past centuries from absorbing the most purest Essence there is in this land. The Essence that comes out of the dead Essence soul of the dead Will of Astoria."
"It grows, falls down to the ground. Some get washed ashore, but most return to the sand, enriching it, growing more fruits of pure Essence," Ning said. "Most of the Essence that formed the Essence soul of the strongest being on the world lies in these very fruits."
"Which is why they are so special."
"Oh," Emma said excitedly. "Let's gather them."
She got up and tried to fly up but couldn't. She realized that her Qi wasn't working at all. She tried magic, but that didn't work either.
"I truly can't use anything huh?" she asked. Then, she tried using the pure Energy that came with being a Will of a planet. She used her own energy and took flight.
She could do whatever a Will could do. She could create stuff out of nowhere, empower others, and many more things.
Sometimes, Ning even wondered if the Energy System was in part modeled after the Celestial Wills. Of course, the System would never answer that question, so he could only guess.
The father and daughter duo went around the island, gathering every piece of fruit they could find. It was the most concentrated form of Essence, so they took every piece of it.
It took them a while to take it all down and by the time they were done, it was approaching evening.
Clara woke up from her nap and found them laying on their hammock too. "Are you guys sleeping?" she asked.
"No, just resting," Ning said.
"Oh… when are we going back?" she asked.
"Uhh… in a few hours," Ning said. "There are a few places we will have to visit before we return, so it will take some time."
"Oh… can we not go back right now?" she asked.
"Is it urgent?" Ning asked. "What do you have to do back there?"
"That… nothing," she said. She truly had nothing to do.
"You don't want your house back, do you? Or do you want to become the lord of Whiteowl region?" he asked.
Clara realized that she did not know what to do. On one hand, she did not want to return to that place, but on the other hand, she also wanted to maintain her father's legacy.
"I'll… have to think about it," Clara said.
"Do that. Take your time," Ning said. "There is no hurry."
Clara left back to her hammock to think for a while and soon enough the evening turning into night with stars glittering in the bright, open sky.
"Woah!" Emma said. "That's… so weird looking. Its like there are millions of explosions in the sky happening all at once."
Ning smiled.
Inside his Inner World, there was only Earth, Sun and a moon. In their absence, the world was filled with darkness.
As such, for the first time since she was born, Emma got to witness the starry sky in the night, and hearing her talking about it made Ning feel the happiest he had in a long time.
