As Rahkim voiced his question he was met with only silence to answer him. Sighing Rahkim sat back down without bothering to move to a part of the roof that wasn't covered in ice with the everything that happened finally beginning to sink in. For what seemed like hours he sat there in total silence staring at the slowly melting ice all around him as he processed everything. When he finally moved again the ice had completely melted away, and whatever water it left behind had begun to evaporate returning the roof to its previous desolate look.

Walking to the far side of the Rahkim looked back towards the ruined tower and scanned the street where he had entered from to check for any signs of pursuers. Strangely enough there was nothing there, not even guards positioned on the walls around the tower or at the gate in front of him as if they had been ordered not to chase him …

Looking at the odd scene Rahkim finally decided on his course of action as he left the roof, and went down to the floor below. Taking one look at the ruined room Rahkim quickly started to clear some of the stuff out of the way as he moved the more intact shelves towards the door way. After a long struggle as he pulled and shoved a handful of the shelves into place the door was completely blocked off by half a dozen shelves.

'Not exactly a masterpiece, but it should slow anyone who wants to get through down long enough for me to get to the roof, or attack them. Since master is the one who gave me this chance then I'm going to make the most of it. I will find out who caused this city's fall, and then I will make them pay for my death and the price master had to pay no matter how long it takes.

However, if I want to do that I need to regain my strength and learn more about what this city has become. Master said I have an immortal's lifespan so I might as well make the most of it, and it all starts with this …'

Rahkim thought as he set down his makeshift sack and pulled out the pitch black stone to hold it in his hand. The moment the stone touched his palm Rahkim could feel a small thread of strength start to flow into his Life Well as whatever method the stone used to restore strength began to work automatically. Ignoring this Rahkim started to focus as if to cast his senses inward to connect to his Life Well, but instead of that he cast it towards the black stone in his hands.

Somewhat unsure of what would happen when he did this Rahkim began to gently probe the black stone with his mind as he was hesitant to stretch to far in, and it to turn into a trap. However as he began to probe the black stone's surface he could clearly feel that interacting with the stone was right, and that he and the stone were a match for one another. As he relaxed into this sensation and started to go deeper into the stone he quickly realize that what he thought was a uniform black was actually three separate powers existing in a form of harmony.

On the outside was a darkness that felt as if it could only exist in this presence of light, and its surface seemed to shift slowly and smoothly as it roiled around the other two powers protectively. This first power seemed to represent the very essence of shadows and as Rahkim connected with it he could feel his senses expand.

Before he could see the room around him, but now he could feel it as if every shadow in the room was a part of him as they fed him the information they could sense. Rahkim could not enjoy the feeling for long as soon after it started he could feel his Life Energy begin to drain, and so he sadly cut his connection to the first power.

Delving deeper into the stone Rahkim came into contact with the second power, and he was quickly overwhelmed as a sense of pure maliciousness washed over him. Almost as quickly as it started the maliciousness turned to comfort and Rahkim could sense the form of this second power, it looked like a stream of black that was almost grey as it gave off an aura of death. Like the darkness before Rahkim formed a connection with this power of death, and like before he felt a change though this time in a far different manner.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As Rahkim's sight turned outwards to the room where he sat he could see a familiar black light covering his palms though this time his mind seemed to tell him that it was different. He instinctively felt that with enough strength he could cause life to be extinguished with only a slight touch, and the will to wipe it from the world. Unlike the first power he could tell that the second would only use Life Energy when he wielded it against something living though the stronger their Life Energy the higher the price.

Rahkim relinquished his connection with the second power in the stone, and paused to stare at it for a moment as he muttered.

“This stone is truly a godly treasure with just these two powers let alone a third, and yet until now it has sat in what was likely a minor store gathering dust for who knows how long. Is it my ability to connect to this somehow related to my unique soul, or is it simply an act of fate?”

Leaving the question unanswered Rahkim cast his senses into the stone for a third time and he quickly went deeper as his desire to interact with the third power grew. However compared to the other two powers the third was truly startling as its form was so vastly different from the other two. While the first two powers attempted to exist in harmony the third struck wildly outwards at the other powers as tendrils of what can only be described as the void lashed out.

Whenever these tendrils of void struck at the second power the death like aura would seem to fall apart, and then quickly be consumed by the void. However no mater how wildly the third power tried to devour the death aura its opponent would always seem to restore whatever it had lost to the void in moments. Seemingly drawn to this void Rahkim forged a connection just as he had done with the other two, and his senses quickly returned to the outside world as the third power immediately took effect.

With the connection made Rahkim could feel a sudden pressure on his mind as something seemed to scream at him to destroy, to devour everything in sight. In sync with this feeling the air around him began to ripple as his Life Energy started to be used up rapidly to fuel his connection to the void power.

Rahkim watched in surprise as the stone floor underneath him began to disintegrate at a rapid pace, the air around him turned to a void of nothing, and then he could truly feel it. While the void power seemed to consume everything around him at a rapid pace he could feel his own body being devoured along with it. Startled Rahkim cut the connection to the void power and suddenly the world turned upside down as his body collapsed backwards with the stone still clutched in his hands.

Rahkim's vision blurred and his mind seemed to slip for a moment only to be brought back into focus as a surge of energy flowed into him from the orb in his hand. Sitting up Rahkim looked down on the black stone with a mixture of joy, confusion, and fear as he realized just how strong this could be if he used it correctly. Lifting it up in front of his face Rahkim started to talk,

“Any true treasure of worth should have a name, and certainly this qualifies as one, but what to call it … How about the Void Stone, after the strongest of the powers inside of it?”

Pondering over it for a moment Rahkim decided that calling it the Void Stone was truly fitting, and with a sense of satisfaction he cast his senses into the Void Stone once more. Sitting in silence Rahkim watched the powers inside the Void Stone curiously as he began to meditate over just what the Stone could be as his Life Energy slowly grew. Once he had gathered enough Life Energy he would move on to the next stage, scavenging.

With a renewed sense of purpose Rahkim quickly fell into the paces of his meditation, and time began to pass without the notice of the undead mage.