"Wait… what? Sovereign Candidate? Who?" Rafael muttered, his voice trembling. The words hovered before him, faintly glowing. "Candidate for what? Am I… supposed to rule something? Or… be ruled by it?"
His thoughts spiraled. Why would someone like him, a powerless, debt-ridden nobody, be called a sovereign? And how? The black shadow he'd sensed before flickered in his memory, its silver eyes shining in the darkness of his mind. What was that thing? Was it truly inside him, coiled and waiting, or had he been dragged somewhere else entirely?
He had no answers. Only questions that grew heavier with every breath.
"What… what am I supposed to do?" he whispered in a barely audible voice. His finger twisted, and the mist rose in response, rising slightly, coiling around his hand without touching it. It was alive - but not alive like a human. Something older, sharper, and aware.
He remembered the silver-eyed shadow, the way it had watched him in the void. Its gaze had been cold, hungry, patient. And now, somehow, he could feel it again, inside him, or at least very close.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with it?" Rafael murmured. His Core flickered weakly in response, a tiny spark of black mist twitching along his skin. "I don't… I can't make sense of this."
"Maybe… maybe this is my only choice," he muttered, jaw tight. "Maybe I have to figure it out… or I'll be nothing."
The hovering words faded, with new ones appearing.
[SPEAK "INTERFACE" TO SUMMON THE SYSTEM.]
Rafael blinked. "Interface…?" he repeated, hesitant. His voice alone made the letters pulse in response, as if they had been waiting for him to acknowledge them.
The letters pulsed once, twice, then exploded outward in silent waves of black light.
The mist rushed up from the floor, wrapping Rafael in a cool shroud without weight or warmth. His Core throbbed like a second heartbeat. A panel of shifting symbols flickered in front of him, settling into words he could finally read:
[INTERFACE: ACTIVE]
Black lines and silver glyphs spiraled outward like veins, framing a translucent screen in the air. Information scrolled across it, too fast to follow, then slowed as if aware of his gaze.
[VOID PROTOCOL – PRIMER ACCESS]
[HOST: RAFAEL]
[RANK: 0 – FLICKER STATE]
[POTENTIAL PATHWAYS: LOCKED]
[SKILL ACQUISITION: UNINITIALIZED]
Rafael's throat went dry. This wasn't some cheap holo overlay. The letters had depth, like looking into a pool of ink. Every glyph felt alive, pulsing faintly to his heartbeat.
"…This is insane," he muttered. "This… this can't be real."
But the mist coiling around his arms felt real. The cold air biting his lungs felt real. The faint echo of the shadow's voice in the back of his skull—Good… we begin—felt far too real.
A new line appeared at the center of the screen.
[Choose: TEST / QUERY / WITHDRAW]
"Now, what the fuck is this? Choose... ?" Rafael was getting really uncomfortable with the texts. He doesn't even know how they appeared. Now, it's telling to choose a test? What kind of joke is that?
He swallowed hard. Every instinct told him to shut this down, to "withdraw" and pretend it never happened. But the image of his mother's trembling smile and Raven curled beside her cut through that instinct like a blade.
This could be his chance. Maybe the only one he'd ever get.
Rafael licked his dry lips. "I… I want to know what this is," he whispered. "Query."
The glyphs twisted, forming an endless black corridor of text. His vision swam as the mist whispered along his skin.
[QUERY ACKNOWLEDGED.]
[THE INNER VOID IS OLDER THAN MEMORY. IT WAITS. IT CHOOSES. IT DEVOURS… AND REWARDS.]
Rafael swallowed hard, his fists tightening. The words felt alive, almost aware of his hesitation. The air around him thickened, mist curling at his ankles, climbing as if testing him.
[YOU ARE CHOSEN. HOST OF THE INNER VOID. A VESSEL FOR WHAT LIES BEYOND.]
"WHAT!! Why me? Of all people? I am not even the strongest; rather, it's the opposite."
The symbols pulsed again, sharper this time, and a new line appeared:
[YOU ARE HOST. NOT LIKE OTHERS.]
[YOUR VOID IS AN ENTITY. IT LEARNS, HUNTS, AND WAITS WITH YOU.]
"Wait... Do you mean that thing... that creepy shadow is inside me? Wow! Along with weakness, I got a parasite inside me. Isn't that great?"
The screen rippled like water struck by a stone. For a heartbeat, the silver glyphs thinned into claws before reforming into words.
[PARASITE: NO.]
[ENTITY: YES.]
[CONSUME, GROW, SURVIVE.]
Rafael blinked, then gave a short, bitter laugh. "Right. Not a parasite. Just an entity. Totally different thing. Because that makes me feel so much better."
The mist had risen to his chest now, cool tendrils curling under his chin. It didn't choke him, but it felt like a weightless chain. The panel brightened again, the choices reshaping before his eyes.
[CHOOSE: TEST / WITHDRAW]
No "Query" this time. No room for more questions. The corridor of text had sealed behind him.
He could almost hear the silver-eyed shadow breathing somewhere just past his shoulder—steady, waiting, as if it knew what he'd decide.
His pulse thundered in his ears. He thought of his mother again. Of Raven asleep under a threadbare blanket. Of himself, bent over oily machinery for a handful of credits.
He drew in a slow breath, tasting metal and cold. "Fine," he whispered. "Let's see what this test is."
The mist around him surged like a tide. The panel's glyphs shattered into black sparks, vanishing into the air.
[TEST INITIATED.]
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 0%]
[HOST STABILITY: LOW]
The black mist swirled around Rafael like a living shadow, tugging at his limbs, pressing against his skin without weight. The endless black expanse stretched in all directions, silent, still… and testing him.
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 0%]
[HOST STABILITY: LOW]
A line of silver glyphs appeared in front of him:
[ENDURANCE TEST: PHASE ONE]
[STRENGTHEN CORE. EXTEND MIST. CONTROL RESISTANCE.]
The mist from all around surged at him, making him lose his balance for a moment. He muttered, "Control… resistance…"
He raised his hands, palms outward, and forced his focus inward. The mist didn't respond; instead, it pulsed, as if mocking him, flickering away when he tried to grasp it.
Every twitch of his fingers made it shimmer, then recoil, resisting control. He gritted his teeth. "Come on… stay… just… cooperate…"
He raised his hands higher, forcing his focus deeper into his Core. The tiny spark of black energy inside his chest pulsed, sending waves of pressure through his veins, the pain in his chest swelling. The mist curled, thickening along his arms, then it seemed to have a will of its own.
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 3%]
"I'm not failing," he muttered, voice hoarse. He clenched his fists and willed the mist to stretch further, to coil tightly around him. It resisted, trembling and twitching at the edges, but slowly, a thin layer began to respond.
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 6%]
Muscles burned, lungs burned, heart hammered in his chest, but he kept pushing. Each pulse of his Core sent waves of black energy into the mist, and with effort, it thickened, darkened, and hovered around him like a living cloak.
[HOST STABILITY: LOW–FLUCTUATING]
A whisper slid through his mind—the silver-eyed presence, calm, deliberate: Push until it bends. Push until it obeys.
"I'm… I'm pushing," Rafael whispered back. Sweat dripped into his eyes; his knees trembled. He flexed his fingers experimentally. The mist flickered at first, then thickened slightly, responsive, but still raw, untamed.
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 7%]
The mist finally began to stabilize slightly, hovering around his arms like living armor, responsive but still raw. His Core pulsed painfully with each beat, forcing him to maintain focus, to hold the mist together against its own restless nature.
Rafael sank to his knees, chest heaving, sweat soaking his shirt. The mist lingered, twitching but obedient enough to give him a faint sense of control. It wasn't strong yet. It wasn't perfect. But it was there.
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 10%]
[ENDURANCE TEST: PHASE ONE COMPLETE]
He whispered hoarsely, "10%. First phase… barely scratches the surface, but… I can feel it. I can feel it moving, responding."
Silver glyphs flickered above him, awaiting his next decision. The entity stared silently, its presence coiling at the very edge of his awareness, patient, hungry, and unwavering.
[PROCEED TO NEXT PHASE? YES / NO]
Huff... Huff... Huff
"Huh… what…? Next Phase?" His voice cracked into a dry laugh. "No… not today… I'll die if I keep pushing…"
He reached toward the screen, fingers shaking, and whispered, "No…"
The glyphs faded, the words merged into specks of black light. The mist around him loosened like a lingering breath, freeing his body in soft waves. For a heartbeat, the oppressive coldness of the void diminished, replaced by a strange, weightless silence.
[TEST PAUSED]
[VOID SYNCHRONIZATION: 10% — RECORDED]
"You push…" the whisper came again, faint but clear. "…and you live. Stop…and you remain prey."
He gritted his teeth. "Shut… up…" He wasn't sure if he'd said it out loud or only in his mind. Either way, the entity didn't answer.
The darkness started to fade, and the mist retreated. The last of the mist dissolved. Rafael blinked—and he returned to his small room. The dim ceiling light glowed softly; the familiar hum of the cooling unit filled the air.
His heart was still pounding, but the cold weight of The Void was gone. On his desk, a small black crystal with silver veins shimmered faintly. He picked it up, feeling a soft pulse through his fingers.
[REWARD ACQUIRED: PHASE ONE COMPLETION]
"You pushed. You endured. This is yours," a quiet voice whispered in his mind.
Rafael pressed the crystal to his chest. "Not much… but it's something," he muttered, finally letting himself relax. For now, he was home.