Praxis looked for an empty area in the outer perimeter of where the demons were digging. He wanted to find a spot that was surrounded by larger demons so he could put some larger demons between himself and the head demon. The last thing he wanted was to have it constantly staring at him while he failed to do this task, whatever it was.
The head demon stood at the center, monitoring the rest of them. All the other demons were scattered around a good distance away from one another. They were at least ten meters away from each other, and from him, the head demon must have been at least more than 100 meters away.
Praxis needed to figure out what he had to do here. He was given a shovel, so he probably had to dig a hole. Was it to bury something? Or maybe dig something out. He looked at what the other demons were doing to get a sense of what his task was. They were all digging holes. That much was obvious, but what exactly they were digging for was still a mystery.
He noticed the method they were using was all the same. They appeared to be digging circular holes straight into the ground. The holes were narrow and went about three feet deep. Once a hole was that deep, they stopped digging at that location. They moved a few feet over and started digging another hole. Each hole appeared to be about two or three feet away from the others.
As he observed the demons, one of them crouched down and picked up a small round object. It placed it into its pocket and moved over to start digging another hole. Were those the soulrocks that he was supposed to be looking for?
He knew that he couldn't just stand there and watch them the whole time. He had to start digging. He grabbed onto the shovel, lifted it, and plunged it into the grass.
It didn't even make a dent.
He repeated the motion, thrusting harder this time. Again and again he tried, but still failed. He decided to try another method. He placed the shovel on top of the grass and tried to push it in with his feet. He pushed as hard as he could and still no penetration.
He began kicking it down as hard as he could, and nothing happened. He looked at the grass underneath and there wasn't even a hint that a grown man was trying to cut into it with a sharp shovel. "Am I that weak?" Praxis said, looking around at the demons who made it look like a cake.
"You have to imbue your magical energy to use the shovel to cut through the grass," a voice said.
Praxis looked towards the source of the voice and he spotted a demon yelling in his direction. It was one of the smaller demons in this area and it was about half the size of Praxis. Its upper body had a humanoid torso, a head, and two arms, but the lower half was like that of an insect with four legs.
"What was that?" Praxis yelled back.
"Imbue Essence into the shovel, else you can't cut through the grass."
"Sh*t," Praxis said out loud. Here came another hurdle Praxis had to overcome. The consequences of being an unwanted Prince in an Empire full of greedy, power-hungry individuals would follow him even to Hell.
On top of not being taught combat, Praxis was especially not allowed to harness magic of any kind. Magic and warfare, the two glaring weaknesses that followed Praxis everywhere he went. From the basic knowledge he knew about magic, there were three types of it: Contracts, Witchcraft, and the Essence.
Contracts, as he recently came to experience for himself, were deals made between two creatures. Usually between one powerful creature and another much less stronger one. The deal could be anything: exchange of information, transfer of souls, relinquishing possession of physical forms, or the bestowing of powerful abilities.
Witchcraft was used more as a tool for utility than a form a magic. Those who practiced it could give a move soulless object, create potions to heal, invent weapons to destroy, or enchant objects with new properties and abilities. The knowledge of witchcraft was, however, locked away from much of the 6 Realms and only harnessed by the Convent of Witches.
The Essence is the simplest to learn, but the hardest to truly comprehend. All the creatures of the Six Realms were born with a small amount of His Essence. It is what gives life to everything and the source of magic itself. It was the binding force behind contracts and the fuel that gave power to witches. For most people, it wasn't that much of a use. But soldiers and warriors were taught to channel it to gain strength and endurance during combat.
All Praxis had to do was imbue his Essence into the shovel, and that would give it the power to cut through the grass. Even though his family completely forbade him from learning anything about Essence, Praxis convinced Ralos and Karvin to demonstrate the basics to him.
He even managed to channel it out a few times. It was extremely unstable, and his output fluctuated uncontrollably. Most people are first taught to harness Essence when they are 5 or 6 years old. At this age, the body is still young, and the Essence is malleable.
The older you get without using it, the more hardened it becomes. The Essence is trapped and locked away by the body and needs to be let out. Praxis was 17 when he tried to first unlock it, but he ultimately failed to gain control of it.
He remembers a surge passing through his body as if he were being electrocuted. His body became hot and he felt as if it was about to explode. It kept getting hotter and the sword he tried to imbue his Essence into began glowing a bright white color. He felt so powerful at that moment, until everything faded to black.
After he woke up, Ralos and Karvin had worried expressions on their faces. They explained how he shouldn't try to use Essence again. It was already too late for his body and if the royals found out, then it would be certain death for everyone involved. Heeding their concerns, Praxis never tried to tap into his Essence again.
Ralos and Karvin were both dead now, and his family was nowhere in sight to stop him. He did have a disgruntled demon eyeing him, so Praxis decided to tap into his Essence once more.
Recalling what Karvin instructed him to do last, he pulled up the shovel and held it out as if he were holding a sword. He let out a slow, deep breath and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the follow of Essence inside him. He still remembers what it felt like from the previous time, he just had to find it.
For a minute, he couldn't feel anything. He did not let that deter him. He continued to concentrate and tried to locate the Essence within him. He suddenly felt a small jolt flowing over him, and he knew he was close.
Praxis maintained his focus and channeled that flow into his hand and the shovel. He wanted to keep the flow small, but suddenly he felt a large pulse of Essence pouring out of him. He quickly let go of the shovel and stopped his focus.
He took a deep exhale out trying to cool both his mind and his body. The Essence died down, and Praxis opened his eyes back up. He looked down and saw the shovel on the ground, but it was glowing bright white.
He never saw that before. He'd seen people channel their Essence into weapons and they never glowed. He looked around, and none of the shovels were glowing either. Did he mess up the channeling?
He looked over to the four-legged demon to ask it about his shovel. He turned to look at it, but it was already looking in his direction. He looked around and all the nearby demons were staring at Praxis.
They all had the same expression on their faces and it could only be described as horror.