The day was young, and I was just about finished with all that I had planned to do for Martial Citadel.

The only problem I had ran into, was trying to figure out a way to make the amount of Focus Shards I needed, in a quick and efficient manner.

During the last few days I had solely focused on accumulating as much Pure Glass, animal fat, and Spirit Berries as I could find.

After which I had taken my time to prepare an extremely large bath filled to the brim with Inner Energy Fat.

After doing all that it still took two whole day's worth of work to prepare each and every Pure Glass, in a manner to which they became receptive and capable of permanently holding the Inner Energy.

After having set up everything I needed for what I had in mind, I went over towards Yupow in the most respectful manner I could.

“Old Yupow, I was wondering whether you could help me out with something.”

“What mischief are you up to now boy. You’ve already caused me enough annoyances.”

Nothing serious, nothing serious old Man, it's but a small matter, and it will help me further advance in my Inner Energy training.”

*

Old Man Yupow finally sighed he had no intention of obstructing Gusos motivation.

*

“I know you’re working hard on your training Guso, if i'm completely honest with you whenever I saw you messing around with your little projects, I thought you foolish for wasting valuable training time. But as its’ come to my attention your creations have caused quite the ruckus in this City. Perhaps I underestimated your talent, young Guso.” What he said caught me off guard.

I had no idea Old Man Yupow actually cared about any of the projects I had focused on.

To me the level at which my projects were at, were not worthy of an Expert of his level.

And what did he mean by “Ruckus in the City”?

“What is it that you mean Old Man, my crafts are decent enough but nothing spectacular enough for the big wigs to care about. I'm just catering to your average Martial Expert.”

Yupow raised an eyebrow and only slightly chuckled.

“Seems you’re just as clueless as I was when I received the news. Indeed I still don't see much value to your Crafting Arts, but that’s mostly because I've undertaken a Hermit Path in life, devoid of most material attachments, aside from those I need in any particular instance. But as it turns out something about your creations has attracted the attention of many powerful Institutions in the City. I'm not sure how or to what extent you will pursue the Path of Magic but know this; there is no one in this world that doesn’t value it. To use it, is to always bring unwarranted attention to yourself. My only advice to you in this regard is to remain vigilant and wise to your surroundings, you are no stranger to the dangers of the Ranker World.``

All I could think of was the Magical Weapons I had sold.

I knew being a creator of such weapons would increase my clout and reputation, but never did imagine important powerful figures would target me.

This City was more resource starved than I thought, and this was coming from a country bumpkin.

“I see Old man, thank you for your warning I’ll keep it in mind “

“Well now that that business is done, what is it that you wanted to ask me?”

His question brought my attention back to what my original plan was.

But what he had revealed to me suddenly changed everything.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to make my crafting abilities known, my Inner Energy creations perhaps could be more alluring since they had much more of an impact to the City as a whole.

But I had already put in so much work so I could hardly go back now, besides the Path of a Ranker is that of risk taking, I steadied my gaze and decided to proceed with my request.

“Get a look at this old man!”

I took out two of the modified Pure Glass Shards.

One a pale transparent red gold, the other a transparent silver with a yellow tinge.

They were the two types of Focus Shards I had created, one with the blood and one with the fat, but I had drained them of all their energy on purpose.

Yupow looked perplexed, he took the items from my hands and looked at them for a while before finally giving up and looking at me.

“Surely you don’t expect me to know what these are! Even with my little understanding of materials I can tell they look similar to Pure Glass except they feel radically different. And why is it that I sense a tinge of Inner Energy surrounding it? Hurry up tell me what is your intent with these items that you must ask me for help.”

Master Yupow was indeed a wise old man even without me telling him anything, he came close to revealing the true nature of my item.

“I call them Focus Shards, they are my newest invention, try injecting some of your Inner Energy into them and tell me what you think.”

Suddenly the old mans face changed to that of caution and surprise, and with a skeptical demeanor began to slowly but steadily begin to inject some of his Inner Energy within the Shards.

Soon the color and glow of the Shards began to liven up again, until they were almost as bright as when I first originally made them.

During my studies of their potential uses, I had discovered that they were indeed rechargeable and reusable, but only for a limited number of times before they shattered, the red one being more durable than the silver one.

But still that feature of the Shards was like adding a cherry to the top of my already delicious cake.

Suddenly, Yupow’s face became livelier than any other expression I had ever seen in him, since all the time I had lived with him.

“Boy! What is it that you have done?! What is this contraption? If it's what I think it is, then indeed I have sorely underestimated your potential, and will declare that today I have known what it means to be humbled by a junior despite all my years of experience.”

“It is as you think Old Man, I call it a Focus Shard, and these are capable of storing limited amounts of Inner Energy for an extended period of time, until the Energy itself is made of use in any number of ways.They are my gift to this City for being the birthplace of the awakening of my Inner Energy, and a nurturing center for my maturity as a Ranker.I know the City has its faults, and that most of its citizens are jerks, but in the end i've come to appreciate them for what they are, and want to add some contribution in aiding their plight. Hopefully this will help.”

***

Old Yupow looked at the boy with a feeling of amazement and reverence.

Not in his many years of life had he seen anyone with the qualities and shortcomings this boy had, it made him feel so inferior, as without a doubt he was much more noble than he had been throughout his life.

He felt honored to have contributed to his rise, and felt an urge to witness how far this boy could go, and what he could accomplish.

Just with the little ability he had accrued, he was just about to make an impact on society many could never achieve even after a thousand years.

This was not an exaggeration, he himself being perhaps the strongest user of Inner Energy, among all the Inner Energy Expert’s throughout Potestera, knew best of the limitations Inner Energy suffered from, and what a boon condensed Energy in a transportable, convenient, and accessible form really was.

It was in fact why Magic Energy or Mana had such a hegemony throughout Potestera as the premier Energy form.

Throughout the land it could be found naturally, not only in the atmosphere but in plants, animals, and most importantly the land, in its most potent form, in the wildly coveted Magic or Mana Crystal.

This was something Inner Energy could not boast.

In fact, other than Platinum, Mana Crystals were perhaps the primary, unofficial, de facto form of currency used in the Ranker World.

It's only fault being that it was actually too popular and valuable for its own good; as the rival Countries of the United Kingdom of Manafort, worked to constantly undermine its potential as a currency hegemon, since if that occurred it would be to their detriment and the UKM’s benefit.

But there were other forms of similar popular currency throughout the world, and they all shared one common feature: they were the manifestation of high amounts of energy in a tangible, compact, easily transportable, and universally exploitable form.

Perfect for trading, asset hoarding, and convenient energy needs among many other benefits.

These resources became the economic and mercantile backbone of many Countries and Cities demonstrating the importance of Energy as a geopolitical resource.

Not only that, the exploitation of these energy sources was unavoidable if one wanted to climb up the Ranks.

Anyone who lacked reliable access to these energy resources suffered greatly in their ability to survive in the World.

Unsurprisingly this was perhaps Martial Citadels greatest shortcoming, as it lacked the ability to produce any of these items, in addition to also lacking the ability to attract trade of these items, dooming it to a never ending negative feedback loop that exacerbated all of the other problems they also suffered of.

What Yupow saw right in front of his face was perhaps the solution Mayor Lofen was desperately looking for.

He didn’t know what to think of the situation.

This would not only bring unprecedented fame to the Boy, but also massive amounts of unwanted attention, and he was getting ready to give this treasure away!

He didn’t know if the Boy was the biggest fool in Potesteras history, or one of its great saints.

In the end Yupow concluded that the best he could do was to help the boy in all his needs, and aid his endeavors in whatever way he could, hoping that Guso knew what he was doing.