Rain soaked the training ground. Cold, heavy drops pattered across the torn grass and the splintered wooden sword lying beside Harian's trembling hand.
The massive boulder in front of him the one that had mocked him for months was finally split cleanly down the center. Its two halves rested apart, a thin line of smoke rising between the cracks where the void essence had seared through.
Harian stared at it, chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. He'd done it. After 1,243 attempts, endless failures, injuries, bruised bones, sleepless nights, mental breakdowns he finally did it.
Shadow Ascend.
The technique he thought he would never grasp.
His vision blurred as he slumped backward, landing on the cold wet grass. His entire body felt like it was made of broken glass. He was exhausted past the point of pain yet a smile forced its way onto his lips. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to scream.
All that came out was a shaky exhale.
The rain blurred everything into gray, but even through the haze he sensed someone approaching. Wet footsteps that were slow and measured.
His master.
A towering silhouette stood in front of him unmoving, unshaken by the storm. Harian squinted, trying to make out his features, but all he saw was a dark figure framed by the gray sky.
Then the familiar voice came. Deep, calm, steady.
"My student," Master Vixen said, "you have done well."
Warmth filled Harian's chest. He tried lifting his head, but his muscles refused to obey. All he managed was a twitch.
"Now," his master continued, "with a clear spirit… you can use the void essence to its full potential."
Harian's blurred gaze drifted to the destroyed boulder. For a moment his heart swelled pride, joy, the relief of triumph after relentless torment. He did it.
He finally did it.
But then....
"But…" Master Vixen's tone shifted.
Harian blinked up, confused.
"My student, this is only the beginning."
The rain felt colder suddenly.
"The void will call to you, It will mold you as it molds itself. And it will grant you what you desire most."
Harian's lips parted. He wanted to ask What does that mean? What will the void make me into? But his throat had nothing left to give. His voice cracked into silence.
His master stepped away, turning his back to Harian as the rain washed over them both.
"Worry not, my student," Vixen said softly. "The void's trust is omnipotent. So give your trust in it as well."
Harian forced his aching eyes to track the silhouette.
"And you will see…" Vixen's voice echoed strangely in the storm.
"…a world reshaped in your image."
The silhouette blurred. Light swallowed it. For a brief moment, Harian felt something an immense, indescribable weight settle on his soul. Then, as if he were never there at all, Vixen faded into the gray.
But before he vanished fully, he spoke one last time.
"Harian," he said, voice distant but firm. "I'll be waiting."
And then he was gone. Harian lay there alone on the soaked field, staring at the place where his master had stood. The rain continued to fall while the boulder continued to smoke.
And the boy who would one day be called the Nightmare King whispered weakly into the storm:
"…Master… what did you mean?"
He received no answer.
The rain hadn't stopped when Harian finally collapsed onto the wet grass. His body throbbed from exhaustion, but there was pride in his chest. After one thousand two hundred and forty-three attempts, he had finally cleaved the massive boulder in two. Even if his vision was blurry and his limbs refused to move, he felt victorious.
Then the pain hit him.
It wasn't a gradual ache or a warning throb. It slammed into his skull like a hammer made of pure lightning. Harian jerked violently, a raw scream ripping out of his throat as he clutched the sides of his head. His body twisted on the ground, his back arching in agony.
Something was being forced into him essence, but nothing like he'd ever handled before. It wasn't gathered, it wasn't absorbed. It was shoved into him, crammed into every corner of his body until he felt like his veins would split open. His eyes burned, his lungs felt like they were filling with fire, and his whole body steamed in the cold rain.
He rolled on the ground and screamed until his voice cracked. Through the sheer overwhelming pain, a voice appeared.
A whisper.
Monotone.
Mechanical.
Completely emotionless.
"You have the soul that is worthy."
Harian froze for half a heartbeat, stunned not because he understood, but because the pain somehow grew worse after the voice spoke. His fingernails dug into the mud as he tried to breathe.
Then the voice echoed again, louder and clearer.
["User acknowledged. Establishing soul connection. System integration successful."]
"What! No! Stop!" Harian gasped, but the voice didn't care.
["Welcome, user. Your name?"]
The demand pierced his mind so sharply he answered without thinking, only trying to make the agony stop.
"H-Harian Liche!"
["User identity acknowledged. Harian Liche. Owner of Void Essence. VEX fully integrated."]
And the pain vanished.
Just like that.
Harian lay on the grass, shaking uncontrollably as cool rain hit his flushed skin. His breaths were shallow and rapid, his throat dry as if he had swallowed embers. Slowly, very slowly he pushed himself upright. His limbs trembled, but he managed to sit.
"What… what was that?" he whispered.
His whole body felt different. Heavy but powerful. Sensitive to the slightest flicker of essence in the air. He clenched his fists, and a faint vibration of unfamiliar energy pulsed under his skin.
Then the voice returned, calmer this time.
[VOID ESSENSE FULLY SYNCHRONISE. SOUL CONNECTION ESTABLISHED]
Harian stiffened.
[HELLO USER, HARIAN LICHE] the voice said.
[I AM VEX, THE INCARNATE IF THE VOID ESSENCE]