“Vessels”

-The brave warriors who venture purgatories. Cleansing the potential dangers of the world and taking in its benefits. To become a vessel, one must be strong but… what if you were already born a vessel yet you were as if a jar with a lid; hiding away the potential you never knew you had, in a world of chaos; would you cower or rise up?

“HAH! HIYAH!... huff huff… still nothing much, huh? Phew, that was tiring. Time to head back.”

…

The arc is the core of power in the body. Arcana gathers around it, rotating and regulating everything. Arcana gathers together creating powers like gusts of wind, bursts of fire, storms on a hot day or even conjuring weapons out of thin air. My name is Lantern Venick, I was born with a small arc. Arcana is normally used with distance from the skin since even if we could harness this power, our body was not immune to it. However, I was different. I may have been born with a small arc but… did you think I was something amazing after saying “however”? No, my body directly releases arcana but to the extent that calling it “weak” would be an overstatement. I am not as strong as vessels, I may even be weaker than an ordinary man but I have a family that needs me. I have to fight. I have to-

“Ah, hey big bro. Mom and dad already went to work. They left a note behind for ya” [Ember]

“Hmmm?” [Lan]

[Go get em]

Sigh~

They’re always like this. Oh well, I guess I should be thankful for their support.

“Thanks Ember” [Lan]

Ember… my sweet little sister. Since our parents are always at work, she’s been in charge of chores, she rarely goes out since that’s my job.

“You ready, big bro? It’s today isn’t it” [Ember]

“Yeah, I’ve waited a long time for this.” [Lan]

And as I was staring at the distance tryna look cool, my sister’s deep gaze pierced through me.

“Hmmm?” [Lan]

My sister put up a fist, along with a concerned smile saying-

“Go get ‘em” [Ember]

I let out a smile of reassurance-

“You bet I will.” [Lan]

Moments later after our little sibling pep talk, I went and prepared for my assessment. Assessments are tests to see how qualified I am to be a vessel. As I’ve said, my arc isn’t great so I can’t rely on arcana. Through the years, I’ve trained with martial arts and handling a dagger that my father; Khalil, gave to me. This dagger was supposedly something that was passed down generation through generation in our family, it’s gotten rusty but today I’ll be using it to kill some monsters.

Finally, I’m setting out my first step as the supposed “breadwinner” of the family. I really hope this ends well-

“You okay big bro?” [Ember]

“I’m fine, hold down the fort while I’m gone will you?” [Lan]

“Like I have any other choice” [Ember]

We both let out a glee chuckle-

“Well then, I’ll be going” [Lan]

“You don’t want me to wish you luck?” [Ember]

“I don’t need luck to win” [Lan]

-Or so that’s what I said but I actually need a tremendous amount of luck to even just stay alive. Oh God, I hope I do make it out alive. No one’s ever died from these tests, I don’t want to be the one that breaks that record.

And so, I set out.