•Chase•

I slammed my hand on the table.

"WHAT?!" I shouted.

"Chill down, Chase." Raine said to me.

"No way! You can't just remove me from being Bookmaster!" I shouted again.

Sol approached me.

"I understand your anger, Chase. But I need you to understand that I'm removing you because I need you somewhere else. All of you here are now Seekers." he said.

"And I can't be both?" I asked.

"No. To fulfill your duty, you must be focused on one. And being a Seeker is considerably more important than being a Bookmaster."

"I--"

I sat back down, and Raine gave me a pat on the back.

*I'm not happy about this. I'm really not. I earned that rank, and now it's just going to be . . . . . gone.*

"I am deeply sorry about this, Chase. Personally, I didn't want to remove you. But circumstances needed you to be a Seeker."

I just sat there and kept quiet. I looked down, and I felt a tear come down from my eye.

*This is . . . . not happening . . . at all. . . . *

"I . . . I worked hard to get that rank, Mr. Sol. How could you just take it away from me?"

"Well, you're a Seeker now. That means another person will be promoted to Bookmaster. You could probably guess who." Sol said.

I thought about it for a moment. There are lots of field researchers here in the Agency. But there would only be one other guy in here qualified to be a Bookmaster, and that would be . . .

"Verison." I said.

Sol nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Verison would take over as Bookmaster. He will also work on the Program as well." Sol said.

I sighed with dismay. Being a Bookmaster meant a whole lot to me. But there's nothing I can do about it now. Knowing that the title goes to someone like Verison. . . . . It puts me at ease.

"I have already given him a memo two days ago. He should be here a while later." Sol said.

He backed away from the desk. I felt another tear fall from my eye. I felt another pat on the back by Raine. I felt . . . . . . sad.

*Damn, this sucks.*

There was a short moment of silence after my talk with Sol.

. . . . . . . .

"So who's Verison?" Kellin asked, breaking the silence.

Sol cleared up his throat and straightened his tie.

"Well, Verison is a Field Researcher here in LUSCRA. He was one of the candidates for the Bookmaster title. Brilliant young man." he said.

Raine looked at me. I looked back.

"She's also Chase's boyfriend." Raine said.

"What--" I said.

*Goddammit, Raine. Not this again.*

I can see Sol chuckling and Raine laughing off like a madman.

"Really? Didn't know you had a boyfriend, Chase." Kellin said.

"That's cause I don't have one. Verison's just my best friend. There is nothing wrong with that!" I said, annoyed.

"Nothing wrong? Why you blushing then?" Raine asked, with a smug smile on her face.

*Gods, I'm gonna punch that smug face the next chance I get.*

"I'm not!" I said.

"Not to step over a line here, but yes you are."

Kellin said.

And they weren't wrong. I was blushing. Honestly, the thought of Verison being something more than a friend to me is mainly the reason why I'm blushing. But make no mistake. I do not have a crush on my best friend.

I think.

"Oh shut up, you assholes."

I couldn't help but to chuckle as well.

"Well, with Chase's lovelife aside-- " Sol said.

"I don't have one." I said.

"That only makes it sadder, Chase." Raine said.

"-- we can now move on to our second order of business. Kellin's Essence."

Kellin sat up straight and looked at Sol intently. I can tell he's eager to listen. I'd like to know more about him, too.

"Kellin, would you stand up for me, please?" Sol asked.

Kellin stood up and went to Sol, probably nervous, but I can feel that he is much too curious about his Essence.

"You guys know that there are three types of Essences, right?" Sol asked us.

"Yeah. Power, Vessel, and Trait." Kellin answered.

I was impressed. Not bad for a kid who dropped his CE.

"You know your stuff, Mr. Ward. Now tell me. Do you remember what happened to one of your bracelets on that night, two years ago?"

Kellin thought for a moment.

"Yeah. One of my metal cuffs glowed a bit. Dunno why, though."

Sol took his arm and inspected the bracelets he is wearing. There are 9 of them, I think. One bracelet and a watch is already too much for me, but I think it suits his style.

"Now, Mr. Ward. I need you to concentrate for now." Sol said.

"What do you mean?" Kellin asked.

"To activate your Essence, a great deal of concentration is needed, especially if it's your first time activating it. Now focus."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Sol opened Kellin's hands, palm out, then he let go.

"Keep those palms open. Now, concentrate. Activate your Essence." he said.

Kellin looked at us for a bit, then looked back at Sol. I could feel his cluelessness from here.

"Hey Raine, should we lend him a hand? You know, teach him how we do it." I whispered.

Raine stared at me for a while.

"If you want to, then go. I'm stayin' here." she answered.

*Argh, fine.*

I stood up and approached Kellin. I grabbed his left arm, and looked at him.

"Do you wanna know how we do it?" I asked him.

"Very." he said.

"Mr. Sol is right. Activating Essences need a lot of focus, but that's not all it needs." I said.

Kellin turned his head aside, which had the words 'I don't know' written all over his face.

"It's like this. Your Essence is your subordinate, and you are its master. And in order for you to command it, you need to will it to do so."

He thought for a moment.

"Hmmm . . . I kinda get what you mean but . . . . I don't seem to get the hang of it."

I gave him a smile. He can do this. I know he can.

"That's okay. There is always a first for everything. You can do it."

I let go of his arm and sat back down. I'm kinda excited to see what he has to offer. It's gotta be the reason why Mr. Sol asked me to take him here. I looked at Kellin.

He's clutching his arm, eyes closed, and concentrating. All of a sudden, one of his bracelets gave a faint glow.

"You're almost there! Keep it up!" I encouraged him.

His sweat are starting to drip from his forehead and his hands are obviously shaking. But he can pull this off.

"AAAAAGGGHHHH!" Kellin shouted, all of a sudden.

I jumped a bit after I heard him shout. It was certainly surprising. Honestly, I don't know if he is in pain or just frustrated.

His bracelet started glowing. Something blue was coming out of Kellin's hand. I couldn't tell what it is, but it kinda looks . . . . . transparent?

"What's happening? What's this coming out of my palms?" Kellin asked, rather nervous.

Sol aproached Kellin.

"That, my good boy, is your Essence. Keep focusing."

Kellin continued to concentrate.

I was astounded by this. There's still something coming out halfway through of Kellin's palms. And suddenly, he did it.

His cuffs glowed a bright blue color. It blinded me for a while. I looked at Kellin, and there it was. He's wearing a polo over a t-shirt and pants, and a lot of bracelets. But the most striking thing about him now is the fact that there is a hologram coming out of his palms.