Valerius led Kael and Thorne out of the aetheric training field, his face set in a grim, determined line. Thorne looked shaken, occasionally glancing at Kael with a mixture of fear and awe. Kael just focused on walking carefully, trying to process everything that had happened. His Aether was a bomb, and his Void was a mystery.
They didn't go back the way they came. Instead, Valerius pressed his hand against a section of the stone wall in the hallway. The wall slid open with a soft grinding sound, revealing a dark, downward-sloping tunnel. The air that flowed out was ancient and cool, smelling of deep earth and stone.
"Where are we going?" Kael asked, his voice quiet.
"To the heart of the fortress," Valerius said, stepping into the darkness. Lights flickered on as he entered, revealing a long, spiraling staircase carved from the living rock of the mountain. "To a place older than the Kaelen family itself. A place built to contain power, not to measure it."
They began to walk down the staircase, their footsteps echoing in the deep silence. The modern, polished stone of the upper levels gave way to rough, natural rock. It was a long walk, and it gave Kael time to think. The biggest question in his mind was about his second affinity.
'System,' Kael thought, focusing his mind. 'When I used my Void affinity, it didn't seem to do anything. The sphere was just… empty. It had no power. Why?'
The System's familiar text appeared in his mind.
[The host's perception is incorrect. The Void affinity is not an element in the traditional sense, like fire or water. It is a conceptual power.]
Kael frowned. 'Conceptual power? What does that mean?'
[The Void is the manifestation of Nothingness. But it is also the wellspring from which all things are born. It is a paradox: it contains every element, and no elements, at the same time.]
The explanation was confusing, but it resonated with a part of Kael's mind he didn't know he had. It felt connected to his 'Conceptual Comprehension' talent.
'So, the black sphere I made was the 'Nothingness' part?' he asked.
[Correct. The host manifested a sphere of pure absence. It had no energy signature because it was the opposite of energy. It was a hole in reality. This is the Void's default state.]
A hole in reality. The thought sent a shiver down Kael's spine. That little black marble could have been incredibly dangerous.
'How do I use the other parts?' Kael asked. 'The part with every element?'
[To draw a specific concept from the Void, the host must use their intent and imagination. The Void is a canvas. The host's will is the brush. If you wish to create fire, you must not simply think of fire; you must comprehend the concept of 'fire' and pull it from the potential of the Void. The same applies to ice, lightning, shadow, time, corruption, blood—every concept that exists is dormant within the Void, waiting to be given form.]
Kael's mind was blown. He didn't just have a Void affinity. He had an affinity for everything. But it wasn't easy. He couldn't just throw a fireball. He had to understand what a fireball was on a deep level. It was a power that was directly tied to his Intelligence and his unique talent.
As they reached the bottom of the long staircase, they came to a single, massive door made of a dull, grey metal that looked even tougher than the training dummy. There were no handles or hinges.
Valerius placed his palm in the center of the door. "Valerius Kaelen," he said, his voice firm. A deep, resonant hum echoed through the chamber, and the massive door dissolved into a thousand tiny cubes of light, which then faded away.
They stepped into a room that was unlike anything Kael had ever seen. It was a perfect sphere, about the size of the training field above, but it was made of a strange, crystalline material that seemed to shift in color, from deep blue to soft violet. The air inside felt different, heavy and still, as if time moved slower here. There was nothing inside. No dummies, no glowing lines, no furniture. Just a vast, empty space.
"This is the Chamber of Echoes," Valerius said, his voice losing its echo as soon as he stepped inside. The sound was absorbed by the strange walls. "It was built by the people who lived here before humans. No one knows what it is made of, but we know one thing: no power can escape it. It absorbs everything."
He walked to the center of the room, his black robes a stark contrast to the shifting, colorful light of the chamber.
"Your first lesson in control was about holding back," Valerius said, turning to face Kael. "Your second lesson is the opposite. It is about letting go."
Kael looked at him, confused. "Letting go? But if I do that, I could…"
"You could destroy the training field above. You could level this fortress," Valerius finished for him. "But you cannot harm this chamber. Here, you are safe to unleash your full power. And you must. You cannot learn to control an ocean by only ever touching it with one finger. You must dive in. You must feel its true depth and strength."
Valerius's eyes were serious, but also filled with a teacher's patience. "I want you to use your Aether again. But this time, I don't want you to channel one point of mana. I want you to channel ten. Form it into a ball in your hand and hold it. Do not throw it. Just create it, and hold it. Learn what that much power feels like."
Kael's hands began to tremble. Ten points of mana. After what he saw one point do, the thought was terrifying. But he looked at his grandfather's steady gaze and the strange, safe walls of the chamber. He was right. Hiding from his power wouldn't help him. He had to face it.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached for the sea of bright energy inside him. This time, he didn't just take a drop. He opened a faucet, letting ten points of pure, potent Aether flow from his core, down his arm, and into the palm of his hand.
[A/N: I hope you all the story so far the next updates will be from next week so till tell be about your thoughts in comments ...]