The morning sun had barely begun to peek over the horizon when Hinesia and I stepped out of the Fast Travel Room in the Great Pyramid. Standing there waiting for us was Seirath Rameses.
"Morning, Master. Why this early? The sun's barely awake."
"Discipline doesn't wait for convenience, Phaser."
"Right, but I'm still human, you know."
"I see. Back to the topic, this will be the final phase of your training under me. It will take exactly nine days."
"Final… phase? What do you mean final?"
He ignored my question.
"On July 20th to the 22nd, the world enters the Days of the Departed. I won't be here for that."
At that, my tiredness vanished instantly. The Days of the Departed huh. Of course I remembered them. Even in Masquerade of Dreams: Shattered, those days were special, not for gameplay, but for lore.
During those three days, it was said the Goddess of Death herself roamed the world. Her chariot, pulled by beautiful black horses wreathed in mist, descended across continents. As she traveled, every soul that had died within the past year would rise from the veil, granted a tangible form to meet their loved ones once more. For three days, the living and the dead could share one last conversation and a final goodbye. After those three days, the Goddess would summon all the wandering souls to her cauldron and each would be judged. Some would be sent to reincarnation. Others… to oblivion.
But if someone died during those three days, their soul wouldn't get that reunion. They'd have to wait until the next year's Days of the Departed. And a soul could never experience the event twice. I memorized that whole section when I played MoDS. It was a hauntingly beautiful quest called The Black Chariot's Descent.
When I looked back at Seirath, he had a calm expression.
"In the afterlife, some souls don't choose reincarnation. They wait. They linger in the afterlife until their loved ones join them so they can pass on together. My wife... is one of those souls."
That made me freeze. Hinesia went still too, her eyes flicking to her father.
"The Goddess of Death, allows her and others like her to visit for a few moments, even though her three-day time has long passed. She will be with me soon. And I will not have interruptions during that time."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. So that's why he was pushing for nine days of training now.
"We'll train until the Days of the Departed begins. For nine days, you'll be pushed to the brink of death, perhaps beyond it. Each day will strip away another layer of hesitation until only instinct remains."
I exhaled slowly. "So basically, you're trying to kill me several times."
"If it means you'll learn Augere properly, then yes."
I chuckled, though my voice came out a little shaky.
"You're a terrifying man, Master."
"I take that as a compliment."
Hinesia finally stepped forward. "What do you want me to do during all this?"
"Stay out of it. There will be no interference, no matter what happens."
Her jaw tightened. "What if he—"
"No matter what happens, daughter. If you interfere, you will ruin everything."
She clenched her fists but nodded. Then she turned toward me, her tone changing from restrained obedience to worry.
"Understood. Then you better not hold back, Phaser. If you do, you'll die. I mean it."
"I know. You're not exactly inspiring confidence here."
"I'm not supposed to. I'm telling you the truth. Not even I can beat my father."
Seirath extended his hand and the air rippled. A vast, circular portal flared to life made entirely of void.
"This will be our arena. This is the Crucible of Khonshu, one of the most important relics of the Rameses bloodline. It will amplify your body until you get used to Augere. It's also where I'll transfer my Void to you. Come along."
I waved goodbye at Hinesia and walked with Seirath. The moment I stepped inside, the world changed. I was in an infinite concrete floor with dark clouds. Seirath stood at the center.
"Phaser, for nine days, you will learn what it means to expand yourself. That is what Augere means. I will break your body until it shatters and reforms stronger."
I took a deep breath and summoned my strings.
"Understood. Let's begin."
"Good."
°°°°°°°
Phaser barely had time to notice the shift in air pressure before the world itself moved. A howling gale slammed into him from nowhere. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he dug his heels into the floor of the domain, summoning his strings. Dozens of dark threads burst outward, anchoring into the environment to stabilize him.
But Seirath wasn't aiming for stabilization. He was aiming for overload.
The wind pressure spiked again, hurling Phaser off his feet. His body twisted in midair as instincts kicking in. His strings latched onto the ground, snapping taut to redirect his trajectory before he landed. He barely found footing when a sudden crack of thunder split the silence.
A bolt of lightning as wide as a tree trunk struck him dead-on.
The blast hit him before he could even raise a defense. His nerves screamed in agony as the current tore through him, burning away the outer layers of his Xana. The impact flung him across the ground hard enough to shatter the surface.
When the smoke cleared, Seirath was already there.
He didn't teleport. The air bent around him and before Phaser's eyes could even focus, the older man's fist was already swinging toward him. Phaser brought up his arms instinctively, invoking Roborare, the defensive Xana technique he had mastered from Hinesia. It should have been strong enough to deflect even artillery.
The shield shattered the instant the impact connected. It was like watching glass meet a meteor. The force blasted through his defense, through his chest, and out the other side. The shockwave alone ripped up the floor and launched Phaser backward like a rag doll.
He hit the ground hard and coughed up blood. Every breath was agony. His ribs ached. He forced himself up anyway. Using void on him was useless on his master. He had to rely on his own techniques.
Seirath didn't slow down.
The ground split open and massive stone fragments erupted around him like orbiting moons. Each boulder rotated in perfect sync before he flicked his hand forward.
The boulders shot toward Phaser at supersonic speed.
He dove sideways, strings shooting out in every direction embedding into the floor, pulling him into zigzagging patterns to evade. The boulders crashed one after another, each impact sending shockwaves that shattered the ground and filled the air with dust. Seirath's voice carried through the storm.
"Your strings lack decisiveness, Phaser. You're hesitating!"
"I'm trying not to die!"
"That's exactly your problem."
And then he disappeared.
Phaser's instincts screamed. He spun but it was too late.
Seirath reappeared behind him, a blur of light and dust. His palm connected squarely with Phaser's sternum. The sound was horrifying.
The punch went through his chest. Phaser's entire body folded around the blow, and the force propelled him backward. Phaser couldn't breathe. His chest was caved in.
He collapsed to one knee, wheezing, his eyes wide. His strings flailed instinctively around him, twitching like dying nerves. He reached for for anything that could stabilize his form.
He tried using his Void Barrier.
A circular patch of pure nothingness swallowed the debris around him. It was beautiful in its horror but Seirath's energy overpowered even that.
The moment Phaser tried to direct the Void toward him, a wave of heat surged through it. Colors bended into impossible hues as the energy destabilized and collapsed. The feedback threw Phaser backward again, this time smashing him through one of the stone pillars he didn't know were there. He lay there in the rubble, barely conscious.
Seirath walked slowly toward him.
"You're trying too hard to control it. You can't tame the Void by will alone. It must recognize you. This is why you're not strong yet. You're afraid of the void."
Phaser tried to reply, but all that came out was a wet cough. Blood splattered the ground. The metallic taste in his mouth grew thicker. His fingers trembled as he tried to push himself up again even though he had a hole on his chest.
Seirath raised his hand once more. A swirl of fire and lightning formed above his palm, merging together into something incandescent. And then, in that frozen moment before impact, something inside Phaser snapped.
The world slowed down. The lightning froze mid-arc. The air crystallized. The sound died. His vision darkened into a field of endless stars.
A voice — not Seirath's — whispered from within him.
"You are not dying. You are remembering. Welcome me to your own self."
His Concept Flux activated. Seirath's eyes widened for the first time.
And then, everything went black.
°°°°°
When Phaser's vision returned, he was lying on the cold ground, staring up at the dark skies. The taste of iron filled his mouth. His limbs felt weightless, like they didn't belong to him.
He turned his head weakly. Seirath was standing a few meters away, unharmed, though his cloak was torn and his expression was in deep thought .
"Welcome back. You survived."
Phaser tried to speak, but his throat refused.
He didn't even remember what happened after his Flux activated. He only saw the echo of that voice, the cold embrace of the Void, and the faint realization that, for a moment, he wasn't himself.