The Sigeur clan's basement was a crypt, its stone walls sealing Kai in darkness. Six years had passed since his coming-of-age ceremony at ten, when his Level 1 soul essence had branded him worthless. The memory of that day—the elders' disdain, Lysara's mocking laugh, Mara's cruel sneer—burned in his mind. Back then, a strange pulse had stirred his hourglass, a fleeting void-like hum that vanished as quickly as it came. It had sparked a flicker of defiance, a feeling he couldn't name, but the years of isolation had dulled it. Now, at sixteen, the basement was a deeper hell, its cruelty sharper than ever.
Lysara, his stepmother, had once taunted him with words, but now her orders were cold efficiency: "Keep him alive, nothing more." Mara, the housemaid, took it as license to torment. Food came every two or three days—moldy bread, watery gruel, sometimes kicked over before Kai could reach it. Her blows were frequent, her boots bruising his ribs when he was too weak to move. The chains on his wrists, added after he'd clawed at the door at twelve, bit into his skin, rusted but unyielding. Alfred, his father, a peak Grandmaster, was a shadow, his absence a wound that festered. The basement, once merely harsh, was now a crucible of despair, stripping Kai of hope, of time, of self.
Curled against the damp wall, Kai's emaciated frame shivered in rags. The world beyond felt like a dream, disconnected, as if he were a ghost haunting his own life. Elyse, his sister, was his only tether—her Level 12 essence, revealed at her ceremony, had made her the clan's pride, the apple of Alfred's eye. But Lysara had banned her visits, and Kai hadn't seen her in years. His hourglass, that obsidian frame with its pitiful trickle of black sand, was his sole companion. He whispered to it in the dark, his voice hoarse: "I'll prove myself. For Elyse. For me." But the words felt hollow, his connection to the world fraying.
One night, despair swallowed him whole. The void-like pulse from six years ago—the strange, defiant feeling that had surged during his ceremony—stirred again, a faint hum in his chest. It was the same sensation, raw and unyielding, that had flickered when Mara fled his chamber, spooked by an unseen force. Now, it surged, a tidal wave that tore through his mind. Pain seared his soul, and the basement dissolved.
Kai stood in a starry void, vast and endless—the Transcendant Realm, though he knew not its name. Hourglasses floated like constellations, their sands glowing with cosmic hues, some shattered, their light long faded. The air was heavy, pressing on his heart, each breath a struggle against an unseen weight. At the realm's core bloomed a flower, its petals a shifting abyss, devouring light itself. The Void Flower, imperceptible to those below Soul Emperor, pulsed with a presence that dwarfed Kai's understanding.
Where am I? Kai's mind reeled, his disconnection from the world complete. The flower's whisper slithered into his thoughts, soft and insidious: "Release your pain, your hate, your sorrow." the world though not audible,Kai immediately understood.
Memories flashed—Lysara's venom, Mara's kicks, Alfred's cold silence. The flower's tendrils, felt but unseen, coiled around his soul, seeking to erase his emotions, to leave him empty. It was a force meant for Transcendants, not a broken Initiate, yet it pressed with relentless hunger.
"No!" Kai snarled, his voice a raw wound.
His resentment, his bitterness, were his lifeblood—proof he could still fight, still dream.
The pulse from six years ago roared within, that defiant feeling now a blazing fire. The flower's power intensified, its voice a chorus of shadows: "Cling to your darkness, and you will be erased." Yet again Kai felt as if he could understand it's will.Its tendrils tightened, pulling at his essence, threatening to unravel him.Kai stumbled, his body trembling, but his will held.
Six years in the basement had forged his mind, each moment of cruelty sharpening his awareness. He'd endured Lysara's scorn, Mara's blows, Alfred's neglect, all while clinging to his vow: to rival Elyse, to prove his worth. That vow was his anchor, his defiance a blade honed in solitude.
"You won't take me!" he roared, his voice shaking the void. The pulse surged, a storm of will that dwarfed the flower's might. He saw Elyse's smile, her belief in him, and his awareness sharpened, cutting through the flower's pull.The Void Flower quivered, its petals fracturing. Kai's will, refined in isolation, surpassed its ancient power. Designed to purify or destroy, the flower—corrupted by the Usurper's tampering—was unstable. With a soundless wail, it broke, its essence collapsing.
A wisp of golden light—Kai's meager Level 1 soul essence—drifted from his hourglass. The flower's remnants lunged, trying to consume it, but Kai's will held firm. Instead, the flower merged, its void-black essence fusing with his own.Agony tore through Kai's spiritual space. His hourglass cracked, reshaping into a brass clock, its twelve hands shadowy and erratic, pulsing with sand darker than black, as if consuming light itself.
The All-Devouring Clock was born, a pseudo-void artifact binding Kai to the cosmos...It's presence hinting at its name. His soul essence, once a faint gold, turned into an abyss, a light-devouring void.nothing could escape the void...yet he did
Kai collapsed, his breath ragged, unaware he'd achieved a breakthrough no Initiate should. The pulse, that defiant feeling from six years ago, hummed within, now a permanent fire.
Morning crept into the basement, though the darkness hid it. Kai stirred, the clock's hum a steady beat in his mind. His chains felt heavier, his body frail, but the void-black essence coursed through him, a spark of power he didn't understand. The Transcendant Realm, the Void Flower—they were mysteries, but the pulse, that surge of defiance, anchored him. He'd prove himself, not for Alfred or Lysara, but for Elyse, for the boy who refused to break.
The door creaked, and Kai flinched, expecting Mara's cruelty. Instead, Elyse slipped inside, her auburn hair a faint glow in the gloom. At nineteen, she was a vision, her Level 12 essence marking her a Grandmaster in training. But her eyes were wide with fear, her hands trembling as she knelt beside him. "Kai," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I couldn't come sooner. Lysara… she forbade it."Kai's throat tightened, Elyse's presence rekindling his connection to the world. "Elyse," he rasped, his voice broken from years of silence. She was Alfred's pride, the clan's star, yet here she was, risking everything. Doubt gnawed—why now, after years of absence? But her warmth, her tear-streaked face, silenced it.
"I'm getting you out," she said, producing a stolen key. Her hands shook as she unlocked his chains, the metal clanking free. Kai stared, his heart torn. "You'll get in trouble," he croaked. "Lysara… Father… they'll destroy you.
"Elyse's eyes glistened, a war raging within. Obedience to the clan, to Alfred's will, clashed with her love for her brother. She'd seen Kai's suffering, heard Lysara's orders to cage him, and the guilt had shattered her silence. "Don't worry," she said, her voice firm despite the tears. "Just go. I'll deal with it." Her choice was a sacrifice, trading her status for his freedom.
The chains fell, and Kai stumbled, his legs weak. Elyse steadied him, her touch a lifeline. "There's a passage behind the eastern wall," she whispered. "It leads to the slums. Hide there. I'll find you." Kai's chest ached, gratitude and guilt warring. He wanted to protect her, but the All-Devouring Clock hummed, urging him forward.
At the passage, Kai turned, memorizing Elyse's face. "Thank you," he said, his voice thick. She nodded, tears spilling, and pushed him gently. "Run, Kai." The door slammed, her footsteps fading as she faced the clan's wrath.
Kai staggered through the passage, the clock's void-black essence pulsing. The slums loomed, a world he'd forgotten. But as he emerged into the night, the pulse—that defiant feeling from six years ago—flared again. A shadow stirred nearby, a presence he couldn't see. Had his All-Devouring Clock awakened forces tied to the Void Flower?