Once it is enchanted, I put the essence into it and release my mana, letting the enchantment take over. I made it out of glass so that I wouldn’t have to open it to continue studying the essence. I am glad to see that the enchantment works the same way and that none of the essence dissipates.

  After making sure that the jar works properly, I try putting it into my pouch to see if it works. It does, which means that even though it is made of life force it doesn’t actually count as a living thing. That actually makes sense since it is only a single component of a living beast.

  It also means that I am not going to have any problems storing essence, I will just need more jars. However, since all that I need is some glass, I will just pick some up in the next city we visit. That will allow me to store a bunch of different essences and study them.

  I am hoping that if I get a bunch of different essences and increase their sizes that I will be able to learn more. If I can figure out what makes them different from each other, that will help me make what I need. It will also help me to separate out what I want to use to enhance my wives.

  I put the essence away, sit down near Lizzy, open up a soulscape, and invite everyone. Myria is still unreachable, but the rest of my wives and all of my kids show up quickly. Since nothing has really happened yet, I don’t bother giving anyone an update.

  I move straight to having everyone practice their attacks and defenses while I watch. They have the basics down fairly well by this point, so I start encouraging them to be imaginative. I give them all some examples of more advanced attacks and defenses so that they know what is possible.

  After a bit I set up my own defenses and then have everyone practice their attacks against me. I keep them at it for a while and then end it when I notice some of them getting tired. However, I don’t end the soulscape, instead I spend some time playing with my kids.

  I don’t want all of the time I spend with them to be practice, I don’t want to be that type of parent. I keep playing with them until they are showing signs of exhaustion and then send them out. After that I spend some time with my wives, but after they leave I invite Mulan back.

  Mulan says “Father, did you need something?”

  “Yes. I wanted to talk to you about when you took your essence for me to give to Lin. I am not asking you to do it again, I just want to know how you did it and how much you know about essence.”

  Mulan says “I know quite a bit, but me being able to offer some of my essence was possible because I am a phoenix. Almost any other beast who tried that would cripple themselves. As a phoenix my essence is stronger and recovers faster than it would for other beasts. A strong enough beast, like a dragon, could also split their essence, but it would seriously weaken them for a long time.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “I understand all of that. I am more interested in the technique you used. I have only been able to gather essence by cracking the core. Did you crack your core? Or do you know how to move the essence without that?”

  Mulan says “I used a special technique to remove part of my essence. It works because it is my core and essence. It wouldn’t work if I tried to use it on another beast’s core.”

  “That’s alright. I would still like to learn it, along with anything else you know about essence. As long as it isn’t some secret that you aren’t allowed to share.”

  Mulan says “Actually, it is a secret of the phoenix clan, but you are also technically a part of the clan, so it is alright.”

  “Wait, how am I a part of the phoenix clan? Lin I could understand, but me?”

  Mulan says “You and Lin are both technically part of the clan. Lin because she shares my essence and you because I acknowledge you as my father.”

  “While I am proud that you still call me father after recovering your memories, is that really enough for me to become part of the clan?”

  Mulan says “It is. Just adopting me and keeping me safe until I recovered is not enough to be acknowledged. I have lived for a very long time through many lives and you are the best father that I have ever had!”

  Mulan’s statement leaves me speechless and even as it makes me blush, I grab her up and give her a bear hug. I have been constantly feeling like I am not doing enough for my kids and that I am failing them. What Mulan said goes a long way towards banishing those feelings and the guilt.

  Mulan whispers “Dad, can’t breathe!”

  “Well, luckily for you, this is the soulscape and you don’t actually need to breathe. Sorry, I just got a little emotional. I have been constantly feeling like I am failing as a father.”

  Mulan says “You are not failing! You are great and we all love you! Who else but you would not only adopt a bunch of monsters, but show us so much love?”

  “First of all, you are not monsters! Secondly, I am sure there are other people out there who would have adopted you if they were in the same circumstances.”

  Mulan says “I highly doubt that! Even if they did, I am sure that they would have been more interested in raising us as weapons.”

  “Oh, there are no doubt a lot of people like that, but there are still some good ones out there. Even in my old world, as horrible as it was, there were plenty that loved animals more than humans.”

  Mulan says “Possibly, but there is a big difference between seeing us as your children and seeing us as pets.”

  “I can’t really argue that, but there are bound to be both types out there. I am not unique in that regard.”

  Mulan says “I think you underestimate just how unique you are, but we have gotten way off topic. Since you are technically part of the clan I can teach you everything I know about essence. Although, I really have no idea why you don’t have any essence.”

  “It has to do with my summoning. Technically, I started out as a type of undead, just one with a heartbeat. At least, I am pretty sure that is why I don’t have essence. I just don’t know if a lack of essence is required to make an undead, I never studied that part of it. Considering undead don’t normally have cores, it might be.”

  Mulan says “I don’t know either. I’ve never been interested in undead. I normally just destroy them when I come across them. Since it might be useful, I can tell you that phoenix fire is really good at purifying undead. That is something else that I would be willing to teach you.”

  “You mean that I could use phoenix fire?”