“He’s a bloody demon, Acu!”

Acu turned to Rebellion nodding; both men standing in a room adjacent to where Arson was being tested. All the walls around the men flickered displaying different rooms filled with Tested facing various levels of difficulty, excluding the one they stood before that showed Arson’s progress.

“Wanna place a bet?”

Rebellion glanced at Acu, who laughed, shaking his head slowly.

“Not a chance, you probably already know how far he will make it, any kind of bet with you knowing how much you watch these screens is just a waste of money or time.”

“Ah you're boring, what about a bet over his starting realm?”

“I already know his starting realm. He’s related to Carter in some way.”

“Hmm, he’s a StormBorn, I would have placed him in a much higher realm than that, maybe Prism or Primus, Solaris even,” said Rebellion, rubbing his chin.

“Agreed, but he’s stronger than any I have ever met his age, and to be going through the trials of Endless is absurd for someone so young…”

“Yeah, that is for bloody sure. Do you think he knows that everyone of note within Origin was once a Tested?”

Acu shook his head.

“No, and I’m trying to keep it that way. I can see the draw of Origin already pulling him to stay, but I believe he is meant for more than even we can offer. I guarantee he’s completed more than a few thousand trials already, if not more.”

“Well, he’s more than welcome to train here for as long as he wants, he passed the entry requirements a few hundred opponents ago,” responded Rebellion, glancing at another of the walls inside the large octagonal room.

“I’m sure he will be excited to hear that,” said Acu, chuckling.

The pair went silent. Hundreds of unspoken words kept within, as both men struggled with how their own lives had turned out in Origin.

Both warriors at the pinnacle of power, once filled with unending amounts of promise, only to become stuck in a place that predated the creation of time, lured to stay and waste their potential in a place fated to be destroyed. Over and over and over again.

Acu, followed his father’s path, becoming a Tested of Endless after both his grandfather and father disappeared from the realms only to find both his family members and his first love living new lives in the city of Origin.

He’d once told himself that he would leave, but the dread of entering the trials in the Endless skyscraper of Survival was daunting, leaving Acu more than pressured to stay.

None of those he’d met thus far who’d been brought to the ancient city through the trials of Endless had even entered the same skyscraper he had, but all had one thing in common. They missed home, and needed a break from the trials, and had been blessed with no more perfect a place to breathe, than Origin.

Acu knew the same occurred with Rebellion; the master once entering the skyscraper of Martial Combat within Endless. Only to stop his climb after becoming a teacher within the City, learning from a master who’d disappeared long ago.

Acu’s own father had disappeared, leaving him to hope that he’d returned to the trials, but as he’d not been seen without a word spoken to indicate that the man was moving on to continue his journey, Acu assumed the worst.

Origin had a way of draining those who chose to stay of their life-force. Additionally, the time that passed there seemed fractured from the normal flow of time completely, making Acu wonder how a place filled with such grandiose advancements was able to continue existing without war and strife touching its citizens.

Among these details, along with many others Acu had come to fear that the city itself was feeding off its occupancy, keeping the city outside the normal flows of time and space.

“We should all leave, you know…”

Acu looked over at Rebellion at his words, beginning to nod slowly as he looked back toward Arson, sighing.

This was another belief that Acu couldn’t escape, knowing that Endless would often tempt its Tested with places filled with a perfect blend of thrills to keep them from progressing. To Acu, being faced with a destination filled to the brim with challenges and enough mana to make any Tested grow at incredible rates was proof enough that Endless would only accept those with the drive to push onward.

He knew his people needed him, as many of the other masters within Origin were needed, yet still the place had settled anchors on his soul that weighed him down more and more everyday.

Acu looked at the screen that held both Arson and his score of 1371, and for the first time in a long time, felt a tug in his mind, body, and soul, to press onward.

“Unfortunately… I believe you are right…”

…

Troy thrashed. A nightmare had taken her ability to wake, causing her to react violently in her sleep.

She’d been beset by terror filled dreams for half a fortnight. Each one more dreadful than the previous.

Throughout the dreams, she saw Arson. The young boy growing older in each of the dreams, forced to experience a terrible deluge of pandemonium and havoc, just to take a single step forward on his journey.

However the dream shifted, showing Arson in a place Troy’s sleeping mind could only describe as Eden. A place filled with bliss, magnificent culture, ingenuity, and an awe inspiring level of challenges consistently being overcome by its populous.

Her tossing stopped, but a new pain could be felt growing in her chest.

A line of energy linked directly to her very soul was being frayed at the edges by laws of creation pressing upon the link as the one she was tethered to became more and more grounded in a place separate from reality. A different dimension constructed to steal entities potentially dangerous to the continuation of life across the realms.

“No…”

She murmured the words over and over in her sleep. Unconsciously using her soul to envelop the link with her own mana, strengthening the bond even further.

In normal circumstances, the bond between the linked souls was already unbreakable, yet as Troy struggled to keep the connection alive, an impossibility never before seen in creation occurred.

Troy’s body started to glow, her veins illuminating vibrantly in the dark of her room. Though she could not fly herself, the thrum of her mana lifted her from her bed. The sheets she’d laid beneath sliding off her as power pulsed out of her in a burst.

The bond drew on the mana that flowed endlessly where her link was currently. Where Arson was currently. Forcing the link to use aspects of the lands Arson was exploring as a foundation to create something new.

Where their bond was once just a connection of souls, it was now becoming a living thing. Able to learn and grow as she and Arson learned and grew.

The dream only became more vivid as the link grew in power, breathing literal life into their bond, making Troy able to see everything Arson could see, feel everything he felt, and even pass thoughts between them.

As Troy was sleeping, and Arson wasn’t receiving his notifications as he would normally, neither Troy nor he saw the prompt that showed the changes brought on by Troy’s unconscious actions.

*Forever and always: A linking of souls unlike any before has been formed. A new bond with the power to span dimensions has been created. Though you may have entered the realms alone, you will not die without the union you have now formed. For true friendship is eternal.*

The image of a man with his back to her filled her mind; the figure turning to face her. Arson’s face then filled her vision. His matured visage burning their near adult features into her subconscious as he made direct eye contact.

An entire realm could be seen in his irises. A place so fathomless and unpredictable, Troy felt she may be consumed by the power she felt being channeled through the gateways of Arson’s very soul. He then spoke and the realms vibrated at the very might of the spoken words.

“It is time…”

Troy’s eyes shot open, and she plummeted to her bed, bouncing off her mattress in a moment of weightlessness that took her breath away.

She screamed as she dropped back down, flailing in an attempt to figure out what was going on.

She blinked, looking around her room as the suns rose in the sky, pushing light into every corner of her room through the handful of floor to ceiling windows of Jade’s villa.

A knock came at her door, and she sat up, trying to remember what she’d just been dreaming about. Not a single clue as to what her sleeping mind had been processing returning to the surface as she thought.

“Come in,” said Troy as the knocking continued at her door.

Jade strode into the room, Troy’s heart began to thump in her heart rapidly, hoping that she’d be about to be told that Arson had finally returned.

“Is he—“

Jade raised a palm toward Troy, stopping the young woman.

“No, I’m here to check on you, child. A strange power that felt like Arson’s own was just blooming throughout the villa, and I wondered if he was here, but it vanished suddenly, as you to start screaming. I just hoped…”

“Oh, no, I think I was just having another bad dream, I’ve been having them a lot. I don’t know if I’m just pushing myself too hard or what, but they’ve just been getting worse.”

“How long have you been having them?”

“In all honesty, they started when Arson disappeared. I think I might just be stressed that he is gone and we don’t know where he is, or if he is even alive, and I’m doing my best to keep up a strong appearance with everyone in the guild, but honestly I’m scared, not only that I’m not good enough to lead in his absence but even more that without him that you may not want all of us around all the time and—“

Jade raised her hand in a dismissive manner, closing the distance to sit on the edge of Troy’s bed.

“You are family Troy, even if Arson never returns, nothing will ever change that. You stood by my son’s side for nothing more than to be a good friend to him in a time when his future was without a path, and for that alone I will never abandon you.”

Tears filled Troy’s eyes, and slid down her face.

“I miss him so badly, and feel powerless to help. What if he needs me, what if I’m not being a good enough friend right now by not tearing through the realm corner by corner to find him?”

“You are doing your best, child. You are doing what he needs you to do, you mustn’t lose faith in that. Just use this pressure to become stronger as his trials force him to do the same, as I am sure it is all of us, you especially that Arson is fighting to return to.”

Troy wiped at her face, feeling a strange twinge of suspicion that Jade knew more about where Arson was than she had been letting on. She gave the woman a nod contemplating her words.

You can’t think that way about Jade, Troy. This is Arson’s mother now. Just because your adopted parents betrayed you doesn't mean that his will.

“Thank you, sorry I’m being so emotional. There is just a lot on my plate and Arson was truly the one to help me balance all my crazy with… well, I guess, just more of his own insanity.”

Jade wiped at a tear of her own, smiling as she chuckled.

“I miss the rascal too, but I know that he is okay, I can feel it. I just hope that we can keep up with his growth when he comes back. I’m sure he is going to stir things up that much more as soon as he is back.”

“Of course, I can’t wait to show him everything the BHC and the builders have accomplished in such a short time... in fact, I should probably get ready. I have to meet the others soon for the planning meeting for my fight tonight,” said Troy, quickly pulling herself out of bed. A new energy inside her, pushing her to grow stronger. The power unidentifiable, and still intangible to her senses, more subconscious than an accessible resource for her to draw on in its infancy.

“Good, breakfast is ready anyway, and you know—“

“You don’t like people eating your food cold, I know, momma Jade. I’ll be right there I promise,” yelled Troy as the woman vanished, teleporting from the room.

Troy rushed to put on clothes, gathering everything she would need for the day. On her way out of the room, she stopped at her wall mirror, checking her appearance, wanting make sure that her crying hadn’t left her face puffy.

“Hair, check, wings on fleek, check, outfit straight pressure, che—“

She caught sight of a figure in her mirror, a man with eyes filled with the magnitude of time and space staring into her own heterochromatic gaze, freezing her in place as he spoke.

“It is time…”

She screamed, dropping her bag and everything else she held, jumping to turn around. Only no one stood in the room with her.

Her heart pounding, she checked the entire room for the man she thought she’d seen, finding nothing but clothing underneath her bed, and an empty closet in the end, taking a deep breath as she stepped out the room, looking over her shoulder once more.

Her mind raced, feeling as if she may need to take a break from her constant fights. She’d been pushing herself rather hard, but remembering Jade’s words, she dismissed any thought of slowing down for any reason.

She was a part of a quickly growing guild. She’d overcome a darkness from her childhood that she thought that nothing would ever outshine, and woke up excited for life every day thanks to her friends. No, her family. A group of people that she’d die for.

She had more reasons to live than ever before. She wasn’t as fearless as Arson, but she would fight her fears for him and all her other loved ones. She prayed for Arson’s safe return and trusted Jade even though her mind pushed intrusive thoughts to the surface of her conscious, hoping that her gut was wrong, and that she had nothing to worry about.

Everything is going to be okay, Troy. You're fine, just breathe…

She frowned as the mechanical door slid closed behind her, mumbling underneath her breath as she glimpsed the disarray she’d left behind.

“And clean your sparking room, you slob…”