Be it the seriousness in Geralt’s tone or the authority he commanded as their Headmaster, Brance, Selene, Gabby, Benny, and Melody all turned to face the man as he spoke.

Of the group, only Kurza was a little less unattentive since he had been a Tier-3 for almost two years, and this wasn’t new information to him. Still, since the Headmaster rarely gave lessons, he stopped scrolling on his Watcet to listen in on the teaching session.

“I will start from the beginning, and that is by explaining why there is a difference between SPN-Essense and Basic Essense. Over the years, numerous articles and studies have been done to determine why Basic Essence no longer affects the body of a being once they cross Stages, and these studies have only drawn one acceptable conclusion.”

“The higher a Being climbs on the Tier-Ladder, the more energy they consume to sustain essential life functions. As such, there needs to be an increase in the amount of nutrients we absorb if we wish to continue growing.”

“This can be observed easily in less evolved lifeforms in the mortal stage, where they draw their nutrients from a mixture of what they consume, such as food, or Mana, which is constantly acting on the body every minute of every day.”

“However, the more powerful a being becomes, the less they rely on consuming their nutrients and the more they lean toward external elements, such as XP. Now can anyone tell me what exactly XP or Essense is?” Leaning back on the couch and crossing his left leg over his right, Geralt met the eyes of each of the members of MyrkLys as he waited for someone to come forward.

Of course, the first to do so was Gabby.

“Essence, or XP as it’s commonly called, is a numerically categorized and easily transferable form of energy. Using our System, we can harness and distribute XP to increase our power.” Gabby stated without hesitation, but unlike what she had expected, Geralt shook his head, indicating she wasn’t correct, stumping her in the process.

“What you have said is correct but also incorrect. It’s clear to me that you have done quite a bit of studying, as what you just recited was undoubtedly from a textbook. However, that is only the fundamental answer to my question.”

The living room descended into silence for a short time while everyone tried to come up with an answer. It wasn’t until about a minute later that there was a soft *Thrum* sound as Cynrik finished welding the first batch of metal sheets to the condo’s walls and walked past the living room to retrieve another.

“XP is just the manifestation of lifeforce. When we kill something, we get a portion of their lifeforce and can merge it with our own, growing stronger in the process.” Cynrik said calmly as he briskly made his way back toward the front door, leaving everyone shocked at his short answer.

“Hey, I was asking them, not you, brat. I had a feeling you would have long figured it out.” Geralt said while shaking his head in disappointment.

*Thruum*

“Yeah, yeah, none of them have gotten that far yet, and the silence was annoying the hell out of me; anyway, continue with your lesson, and don’t mind me.” Dismissively waving his hand, Cynrik moved a metal sheet into position and began welding it into place.

“Sigh, what Cynrik said is the truth. All XP is, is a collection of lifeforce energy. Before the existence of the CSH, groups of beings had learned to control this energy and, as such, were able to manifest superhuman abilities.”

“Unfortunately, the creatures, beasts, and beings that figured out how to do so were very few in number, and overall less than .001% of the world’s population could utilize Essense. That is until the CSH bestowed Systems on every sentient being with a Soul.”

“Our systems help us determine how much XP we have and how much we need to advance through the levels. Anyway, back to why this is important; as I said, the higher our power rises, the more energy is required to continue advancing; thus, a method was necessary to generate a usable energy source.”

“That brings me to what is known as the Copenhagen Theory. The Copenhagen theory states that since Essence is indestructible and easily transferable, then if a method of compounding and condensing said Essence is developed, a higher form of energy can be created.”

“Headmaster, what you’re saying is that the only thing differentiating SPN-XP and Basic XP is one is a highly condensed and compact form created from the other?” Brance asked while scratching Milo behind the ears.

“Correct; however, saying that and proving the Copenhagen Theory are two very different concepts….” Geralt paused his statement and glanced at Cynrik as he walked by with another stack of metal sheets.

While watching the young man walk by, he was reminded of the incident several weeks ago when their Dorm was attacked. At that time, Cynrik had condensed a high-powered fireball, which had exploded relatively close to him.

“Perfect example; I am sure you have all seen Cynrik do some reckless display of lunacy with his Fire Affinity at some point or another, right?” At Geralt’s words, the members of MyrkLys turned and looked at their leader, who had frozen in place, like a cat whose tail just got stepped on, at the mention of his name and the word “Lunacy” in the same sentence.

“Think of what happens when he condenses one of his fireballs to the extreme. What happens if it goes out of control?”

“Boom,” Gabby and Brance shared a look of understanding and said in unison.

“Exactly, Boom, now imagine manifesting a visible and physical form for XP and then condensing it to the breaking point; the same thing happens. Straightforward in concept, nearly impossible in execution.”

“OI! Don’t use me as an example! I’ll let you know I do extensive testing before I EVER manifest such dangerous **!” Cynrik growled as he spun around and flung an orb of icy-blue fire at Geralt.

However, as if expecting this kind of reaction, Geralt reached out without looking, caught the fireball, and crushed it into particles with little effort, stunning every one of the members of MyrkLys as they knew how hot and explosive that attack could be.

“Tsk, don’t think that just because you got the drop on someone strong once, it will happen every time, Cynrik. Had you chucked that at anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have been able to stop your attack so easily, but you are far too inexperienced to injure me with such weak attacks.” Geralt said as he flicked his wrist, manifested a thin layer of Space Mana under Cynrik’s feet, and tugged, causing the young man to fall face-first on the hallway carpet.

Rubbing his face and pushing himself back to his feet, Cynrik snorted loudly and was met by a chorus of laughter before returning to the task at hand as if nothing had happened.

*Thruuum*

“Continuing on, with the Copenhagen Theory published for the world to study, hundreds of thousands of researchers from the many races on Vinestra set to work in an attempt to find a viable way to condense XP into a form that would allow for greater growth potential, but it wasn’t for many years before a breakthrough was developed. And that Breakthrough came by way of an Elven Researcher named Handa Aldon.”

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