“That ability…” Saith said when he recovered, “you must never use it, you understand?” He hadn’t even realized it, but he was gripping Gust hard by the shoulders and shaking him. The memories resurfacing were almost too much for the old soul to bear.

“What? Yeah, sure, I’m not even sure I could use it again! Can you stop?”

Saith pulled his hand away and gripped his head. “Apologies. The mages whose souls created the Void Essence Elixir which saved your life used such an ability. The Voidflame, it is called, for no one can see it. Except you,” he trailed off.

Gust’s hand idly climbed over his abdomen as he thought of the maroon core in his soul. It was simple to realize the core gave him this strange ability. “What is it?” he asked.

The old mage spoke slowly. “The Voidflame is an ancient, poorly understood phenomenon that was brought here from… somewhere else.”

“Else?” Gust raised an eyebrow and felt himself growing very skeptical of this story. “And how long ago is ancient to someone like you? Was this a part of your childhood or…?”

The old man shot Gust an offended look and shook his head. “This version of myself has lived a mere three thousand years. My true self was already half that age when he created this place, but yes, Augustus, the Voidflame was ancient even when I was young. The Patrons have been using it for tens of thousands of years, but even they did not create it. They cannot. Instead, they hold a small bit of flame within themselves to use for battle. There have been quests in the past to extinguish all sources, that the flame would be gone forever, but it always returns.”

“What’s so dangerous about it?”

“Nothing can stop it, Augustus. This is why, even if you were to master it, you could never take any chances. Void cultivators are known to set the flame on their enemies and just… wait as it consumes them entirely. Body, qi, and soul. They devour the remnants through special techniques which prevent the flames from harming them, then slowly purify it.”

All Gust saw, however, was a source of power. His core purified the maroon qi as quickly as he could cycle it. If the Patrons, and some of their disciples, were already using the Voidflame, how else could Gust reduce the vast power gap between them?

“So, I’ll be careful with it!” he offered. “How can I pass up an opportunity like this? It could save me years!” Gust thought of his family. Even if there were risks, wouldn’t he be failing them if he didn’t do everything possible to get home?

“It will cost you everything,” Saith shot back with a fury. “Once you begin to cultivate using the Voidflame, the world will never be the same. Everything you lay your eyes on will become another potential source of qi. Everyone you meet will be a candidate for the flame as long as your own power keeps growing. I’ve seen it before, Augustus. Everyone who uses this power becomes fuel for it eventually. If something went wrong, I couldn’t help you. There might be a dozen people on this layer who could put that fire out and that’s if they caught it in time.”

Saith paused just to emphasize his next words. “You could destroy this world, Augustus. And if you think I exaggerate then perhaps I should just take over now.”

That sent a jolt of fear through Gust’s heart. “T-take over?” His mouth went dry as he realized what that meant.

Saith took a few steps closer, and the room seemed to grow darker. “What do you think I’m doing here? Do you think I enjoy being trapped in this space acting as no more than a tutor? Do you think I like having no power over the world? If you cannot handle the quest I’ve shared with you, what do you expect me to do? Give up and wait for another candidate?” He shook his head slowly.

Gust didn’t know how easily the old man could take his body, but he didn’t doubt it was possible. He thought again of how weak he was in the grand scheme of things. Pathway Establishment or Qi Condensation were just the beginning, but Gust had done everything asked of him so far. Was it not enough?

He thought of the father who had always been disappointed in him. This asshole who had just threatened to steal Gust’s body was just another version of that man, and Gust was only beginning to understand his desperation. If his father had been so concerned with the Patrons, why hadn’t he shared his worries with his family? Or his eldest son? Wasn’t that what sons were for, to complete the work of their fathers?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

More than anything else, Gust wanted to do that which his father never thought he could. He would prove to the old man’s memory, and his soul sliver, that he could be strong enough to succeed where they had failed.

“There won’t be another candidate,” Gust said slowly. “I’m all you’ve got left, and if you think I’d just let you take my body, then you’d better be ready for a fight! This sword, this quest, this fate… its mine now. If you could have done this alone, you would have. There’s a reason I’m here, and it’s not to give you a second chance. I’ve been working my ass off every day! What are you even doing in here?”

“Making plans.” Saith intoned the word, dragging it out. “You’ve no idea what you are up against, boy.” An image appeared in the abyss outside the window. It showed a skinless abomination of muscles, eyes, and mouths. It towered, dozens of feet tall, grotesque and horrifying. Saith stared Gust down as the young man’s face twisted in disgust. “That is the true form of what too many call the Omnipotent Shen. The Mongrel Titan.”

Blood seeped through the skinless mass and dripped down its body as countless eyes latched onto Gust’s form. He felt deep, primal fear take hold of his chest as if this creature looked to him as its next prey.

The worst part was that Gust felt like he recognized it. He had assumed his sister’s strange taste in art was related to her obsession with H.P. Lovecraft, but perhaps the inspiration came from somewhere else…

Saith continued, “Eons ago, the Titan was a savage cultivator. One of the first. He fed upon the souls and bodies of beasts, spirits, and worse. Over time, he absorbed their powers and became a grotesquerie himself.” His voice grew angry and disgusted. Saith lifted one arm and the image outside transformed into something much smaller, with a field of purple light around it. “The Violet Eye,” Saith growled.

Gust’s jaw unhinged. He stepped close to the window, pressing his hands into the glass as he leaned in. As he expected, it was a perfect recreation of the eye he had seen when he tried to go home. Gust felt cold. Any part of him that hoped it was just a nightmare was dashed away.

Without pause, Saith continued in a low voice. “She was known to send her enemies wonderful dreams. Perfect, beautiful futures where everything was right. Meanwhile, she would possess their bodies and slay everyone they ever loved. She took a sleeping King and strangled every member of his family, while he was blissfully unaware. He did not watch, but he always remembered.”

Saith’s hand flashed in another direction and the image changed to that of a simple man with dark eyes. His voice was thick with ice. “Zhenya Po. The Upstart God,” he sneered. “When he reached Core Formation, Po made a deal with a being from the depths. Together, they concocted an elixir that made his body resistant to a new form of power. The Voidflame. He only ever had one friend, you know,” Saith said in a sudden, low voice as he stepped closer to Gust. “And do you know what Po did to him? He needed a rival, not a friend. So, he created one.”

When he reached Gust, Saith kept walking until the young man’s back pressed against the wall. There were tears in the man’s ancient eyes. “He worked with the Titan to burn and devour every one of our master’s disciples. Then our entire sect. And finally… my family.”

Saith pushed away with a growl and swept a hand across the room. Papers flew out of countless drawers and formed a wall of information. Some bore pictures, others descriptions. “The Patrons will. Not. Stop. Every one of them and their champions must be eradicated, or the world will become nothing but a resource for them to exploit.

“Everyone will suffer. Make no mistake about that, Augustus. There is no other way out, there is no other option. We must succeed. If you will not, then I must do it for you. For us all.”

Gust gritted his teeth and stared at the mass of gathered papers. Then he nodded and bowed his head. “I promise… I won’t use the Voidflame,” he muttered. Until I’m sure I can control it.

Saith let out a long breath. “Good, good.” He seemed to calm down as his posture straightened and his gaze become much softer. He cleared the air and clenched his jaw as he stared at his gloomy disciple. Saith wasn’t exaggerating, not in the least, but he still felt for the boy who had no idea what fate had in store for him. The man thought back on someone he used to know. Someone else who regularly got in over their head but would never admit it. “Did I ever tell you about my second oldest friend? He has the same name as you, in fact.”

The sudden change in tone and topic caught Gust off guard. His jaw fell open as he stared out the window at something very different. It was a man in robes of purple and gold, with a large bow in his hands. It had an arrow nocked, and it glowed with golden flames.

“N-no. I didn’t realize you ever had friends,” Gust said without thinking. Neither version of his father had ever offered much in the way of personal information. Gust remembered his dad as a fount of scathing criticism and cold philosophical wisdom. He couldn’t imagine a younger, happier version of such a man, never mind friends.

Saith snorted. “Of course I had friends. You can’t live as long as I have without a few people to watch your back. In fact… Augustus was the best man I ever knew.”