The sensation of traveling through the masked man's mist was nothing like the clinical, cold "Void Step" Ren had experienced moments before. This was a suffocating, oily transition. It felt as though he were being dragged through a swamp of crushed memories and bitter incense. When his feet finally hit solid ground, the transition was so violent that he collapsed to his knees, retching.
He was no longer in the rain-slicked alleys of the Outer Districts. He was underground. The air was thick with the smell of damp earth and something metallic—old blood or rusted iron. Dim, flickering lanterns hung from chains in a vaulted stone chamber that looked like a forgotten catacomb from an era before the Aethelgard Empire was even a dream.
"Breathe," the masked man said, his voice echoing off the damp walls. "The Displacement Mist takes a toll on those with... unstable foundations."
Ren wiped a trail of dark blood from his lip and looked up. The man was leaning against a pillar of black basalt, cleaning his bone-carved dagger with a piece of silk. "Where are we? And how do you know about my father?"
The man paused, the iron mask glinting in the low light. "We are in the 'Sub-Strata'. The veins of the world that the Sun-Priests tried to cauterize centuries ago. As for your father... General Valerius Thorne didn't just 'lose' a fortress, Ren. He was looking for what you now carry in your chest."
Ren's heart skipped a beat. He stood up, his legs still trembling. The "Void" inside him was quiet for the moment, but it was a predatory silence—the kind of quiet a beast keeps before it lunges.
"My father was a traitor," Ren said, the words tasting like ash. "That's what the scrolls say. That's what the Emperor told the world."
"The Emperor tells many stories," the man replied, stepping into the light. "Valerius found a prophecy. He found the 'Seed of the End'—the Primordial Void. He realized that the Empire's power, the Sun-Forge Stone, was actually a parasite. It wasn't giving mana to the people; it was harvesting their potential to keep a dying sun alive. He tried to stop it. They labeled him a traitor to cover the truth."
Ren felt a surge of heat in his chest. Before he could respond, the blue interface of the System flickered back to life, more aggressive than before.
[WARNING: VITAL SIGNS DROPPING]
[HUNGER LEVEL: CRITICAL (92%)]
[Soul Armament 'The Eater of Heavens' has begun 'Passive Sequestration'.]
[Current Effect: -1 Strength every 10 minutes.]
A sharp, stabbing pain blossomed in Ren's heart. He gasped, clutching his chest. "I don't... I don't care about the past right now. This thing... it's killing me. You said you could stop it."
The masked man walked toward a heavy stone sarcophagus in the center of the room. With a grunt of effort, he slid the lid aside. Inside lay not a body, but a collection of glowing, blue crystals. They pulsed with a rhythm that felt like a heartbeat.
"Mana Vein Clusters," the man explained. "Raw, unrefined energy from the earth's core. To a normal mage, this is poison. It would burn their circuits from the inside out. But to a Void-born..."
"It's a meal," Ren finished.
He didn't wait for permission. He reached into the sarcophagus and grabbed the largest crystal. The moment his fingers touched the glowing surface, the Void Orb manifested above his palm. It didn't wait for a command. Dark, gravitational tendrils lashed out from the sphere, wrapping around the crystal like the legs of a spider.
[FEEDING INITIATED]
[Target: Unrefined Mana Cluster (Grade: Rare)]
[Conversion Rate: 65% (Inefficient Source)]
The crystal didn't just break; it dissolved into a stream of blue mist that was sucked into the black hole. Ren felt a rush of cold fire through his veins. The agonizing weight on his chest lifted, replaced by a terrifying sense of euphoria.
[Hunger Level: 45%]
[Level Up! 5 -> 6]
[Void Points gained: 50]
"More," Ren whispered. He reached for another, then another. He became a blur of motion, his eyes glowing with that same abyssal light he had shown in the Grand Hall. One by one, the Rare-grade crystals were extinguished, their light stolen and stored within his dark core.
The masked man watched in silence, his arms crossed over his chest. There was no pity in his eyes, only a clinical curiosity. "You eat like a King, but you fight like a peasant. If you leave this chamber now, the Duke's Bloodhounds will find you within the hour. They can track the 'after-scent' of a feeding like that from miles away."
Ren dropped the last empty crystal, which had turned to useless, clear glass. He felt stronger, his senses sharpened to a razor's edge. "Then tell me what I need to do. If you're a friend of my father, give me a weapon."
"I am not your friend," the man snapped. "And I won't give you a weapon. You are the weapon. But a sword without a hilt only cuts the hand that holds it."
He threw a heavy, leather-bound book at Ren's feet. The cover was blank, but the pages felt as if they were made of human skin.
"That is the Codex of the Hollowed," the man said. "It contains the first three forms of the Void Arts. Learn them, or the next time you use 'Gravitic Collapse', you'll implode your own lungs along with your enemies."
Ren picked up the book. As he touched it, the System chimed.
[NEW SKILL TREE DETECTED: VOID ARTS]
[Would you like to sync the 'Codex of the Hollowed' with the System interface?]
[Cost: 40 Void Points]
"Yes," Ren thought.
[Syncing... 10%... 50%... 100%]
[New Abilities Available for Purchase:]
Void Blade (Form 1): Shape the void into a physical edge.
Shadow Mantle: Dampen your presence to the point of invisibility.
Devourer's Touch: Drain mana directly from living targets through physical contact.
Ren looked at the options. He had 25 Void Points left after the sync. He was still weak, and the entire Empire was hunting him.
"The Duke mentioned something," Ren said, looking at the masked man. "He said he would execute the students of my year. My sister, Lia... she was there. She got an A-Rank Armament. They won't kill her, will they?"
The masked man let out a short, barking laugh. "The Thorne name is a disease, Ren. The Emperor doesn't care about 'A-Rank' talent if it comes from a tainted bloodline. In their eyes, she is the lever they can use to pry you out of the shadows. By sunrise, she'll be in the Iron Spire. By noon, she'll be on the block."
Ren's vision blurred. The stone chamber seemed to vibrate with his rage. The Void Orb above his hand grew, its edges becoming jagged and unstable.
"I'm going back," Ren said, his voice a low growl.
"You'll die," the man replied simply. "You're Level 6. The guards at the Iron Spire are Level 40 minimum. The Captain of the Guard is a Level 60 'Sun-Knight'. You are a flea jumping into a furnace."
"Then I'll just have to eat the furnace," Ren said. He turned to the System interface.
[ATTENTION: QUEST TRIGGERED]
[Quest: The Blood Bond]
[Objective: Rescue Lia Thorne from the Iron Spire before the execution (Time remaining: 10 Hours).]
[Reward: ??? / +10 Levels / Evolution of the 'Eater of Heavens']
[Failure: Death of the only remaining blood relative. Permanent Sanity Loss.]
Ren looked at the "Shadow Mantle" skill. It cost 30 VP. He was 5 points short. He looked at the masked man. "I need more mana. Now."
The man stared at him for a long beat. "There is an old drainage pipe that leads to the sewers beneath the Imperial Barracks. The refuse there is rich in discarded mana-waste from the knights' training. It's disgusting, it's dangerous, and it's full of 'Mana-Rats' that will try to eat your face. But if you want power quickly... that's where the filth is."
Ren didn't hesitate. He headed toward the dark tunnel the man pointed to.
"Wait," the man called out. Ren stopped. "My name is Malachi. If you survive the night, come back here. If you don't... I'll make sure your sister's body gets a proper burial. It's more than your father got."
Ren didn't thank him. He plunged into the darkness of the tunnel.
The sewers were a nightmare of green-glowing sludge and narrow walkways. But for Ren, it was a buffet. Every time he encountered a Mana-Rat—beasts the size of dogs with glowing blue eyes—he didn't just kill them. He used his new, unrefined instincts to grab them, letting the Void Orb strip the magical energy from their bodies before they could even squeak.
[Kill Confirmed: Mana-Rat (Level 4)]
[Absorbing Essence...]
[Void Points +2]
He did it again and again. Twenty rats. Forty rats. He was a shadow moving through the grime, a predator that didn't leave a trace. By the time he reached the end of the line, his level had ticked up again.
[Level Up! 6 -> 8]
[Void Points: 110]
"Purchase Shadow Mantle and Void Blade," Ren commanded.
[Skills Purchased.]
[Allocating remaining points into Strength and Agility...]
[Current Stats:]
Str: 25 | Agi: 30 | Int: 40 | Vit: 20
Ren felt his body change. His muscles became leaner, more efficient. His footsteps became silent, even on the wet stone. He reached the rusted grate that led up into the courtyard of the Iron Spire. Above him, he could hear the rhythmic clank of armored boots and the distant, haunting sound of a whetstone sharpening a massive blade.
He looked up at the moon through the bars of the grate. It was a pale, uncaring eye in the sky.
"They think the sun is the strongest thing in the world," Ren whispered, his hand gripping the cold iron of the grate. "But the sun eventually sets. The dark is forever."
He activated Shadow Mantle. His form blurred, the light of the moon passing through him as if he were made of smoke. He pushed the grate aside and climbed out into the lion's den.