“It’s called the Black Box.”

I was stunned. This was the first time that Kenji had told me really anything about my situation here.

“It’s a space between worlds, and a space between the folds of the universe. And Daniel, this space was made just for training you. You should feel special.”

My brain felt like it was churning. It had finally been given a drop of information in a dry desert of ignorance.

“The world does not function exclusively by the laws that you understand. Here, in this place, your mind and body have been brought to their human limits.”

Kenji continued.

“So it’s time to bring you beyond them. I said I would make you a monster, Daniel. And now, it’s time for me to make good on my word.”

Kenji clenched his hand, opening it a moment later. Inside it was now a pearl, perfectly white and round.

“This is a seed.”

Kenji started to approach me. My instincts told me to retreat. I knew there was no point in running from Kenji, but my body seemed to have forgotten. I started to push myself back in the sand as Kenji got closer and closer.

“It’s a fragment of my essence. It will grow inside of you and make you far more powerful than any training ever would.”

He held the pearl between his fingers, his hand moving towards my face.

“This will mark your servitude to me. Be grateful, Kenji.”

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The pearl was barely a centimeter from making contact with my skin. I could feel something sinister pulsating within it.

“Because you’re about to become a god.”

And then it touched me. A cool sensation passed throughout my body, like cool water was trickling between each of my cells. Pleasure, so intense that it became unbearable, slowly turned to pain.

Soon, my body felt as though it was being ripped apart from the inside.

I could feel tiny channels forming under my skin, all throughout my body, and gradually, the power that had been running wild inside of me collected and withdrew into my core. I could feel it, a warm little sphere in my heart.

In fact, it was like a second heart, with a second set of veins, pumping power into every muscle and organ. Once it had settled, I felt, for just a moment, an incredible amount of energy. And then, unparalleled exhaustion. Instantly, I blacked out.

Waking up, I felt better rested than I ever had in my life. Quickly, though, my memories of what had transpired before I passed out started to make my head spin. Holy shit. What the fuck was that?

I placed my hand on my chest. It was still there. I could feel the energy pumping out from my heart into its newly created veins. Holy shit. I didn’t even know what to think. Sure, I’d experienced some supernatural phenomena since entering the Black Box.

The space itself was bizarre, not to mention my innumerable resurrections. But even those were grounded. The Black Box was really just a physical space like any other, upon any examination that I could perform, and the mechanic behind my being brought back to life was unknown to me, but the principle of resurrection itself was something that could be understood easily.

This, however, was different.

It was raw, unbridled power that I could really feel and experience. There was no mental disconnect; it was a part of me, and could not be ignored as easily as the other strange occurrences.

I heard light footsteps behind me. There was Kenji, as always, smoking a cigarette and looking down at me.

“Alright, Daniel.”

He blew out a puff of smoke.

“It’s time for the final phase of your training.”

From that day forward, the only thing Kenji taught me was how to wield power.