Weeks passed in a mixture of broken bones and spilled blood.
Myra healed broken bones with the help of the other masked Sovran from the operation room, but some wounds not even her ethereal hand could mend, for they left scars too deep to perceive. Before he realized it, Aiden looked forward to every reading, writing, and etiquette lesson. It was a breath of fresh air amidst the daily violence.
After countless attempts and groveling on the ground with broken bones after failed strategies, the secrets of Dyad Vessel unveiled under Aiden's relentless experimentation. No matter how much he tried, the Providence, if completely emptied, would not activate again for a day.
But it never stopped gorging on the pain.
It thrived on suffering. It grew after each use, becoming stronger, increasing its capacity. It was hard to notice at first, yet the progress became clearer as the days turned into weeks. Dyad Vessel was expanding.
The Sovran trio had become hesitant to move against Aiden; none of them wanted to end up on the receiving end of his mysterious power. That gave him an advantage he was more than ready to grasp.
“What’s the matter, Fatso?” Finn roared a provocation from the safety of Aiden’s back. “You gonna shit yourself today? Wear a diaper for all our sakes, man!”
“Shut your mouth, you fucking brat—”
Their leader, the tallest of the trio, silenced Fatso with a glare. None of them had ever introduced themselves, and Aiden saw no need for courtesy—they fought each other, and that was all he needed to know.
Fatso, Skinny, and Boss, Finn had given them names of his own choice.
The three spread out in a line, each man equidistant from the others, and began their encircling approach. It was nothing new. Aiden understood they would lose if the trio surrounded them, Dyad Vessel or not.
If they remained on the defensive, defeat was assured. Aiden did not fancy the prospects of that. Without warning, he ran at Fatso. Finn followed behind in wordless synchrony. Pouncing at the man, Aiden threw a half-hearted punch at his face. Fatso stumbled back, eyes wide, his body inching away as if Aiden had the plague.
He was not wrong—all it took was a single touch for the Providence to work.
The first one to taste Dyad Vessel’s fury would fall to the ground, unconscious, which was nothing to be embarrassed about. A broken bone was excruciatingly painful by itself, but several broken bones singing their thundering tune all at once was more than most people could handle.
Aiden sidestepped, moving away from Fatso as the man broke their formation in panic. He leaped at the most dangerous fighter, Boss. With a snarl, the Sovran aimed a testing kick at Aiden’s knee. Playing it safe, huh? He had figured out long ago how the ability worked.
With a grunt, Aiden allowed the kick to strike true. Boss flinched in alarm, not expecting the blow to land. Too late! Aiden doubled over, grabbing the Sovran’s leg in a tight hold, and tore away the fabric of his pants with his bare hands.
“No! Motherfucker, not me—”
Raw screams replaced his words, sheer agony honing his pitch to resemble the grinding metal grinding onto the reservoir of Dyad Vessel, willing the Providence to not release its full capabilities—a trick he had learned the hard way. One-third of its capacity was enough to disable most people on the receiving end.
Two-thirds left.
Boss punched Aiden in the face with little strength behind the blow. This guy’s tough. But the damage was already done; that punch cost him his balance.
“Now, Finn!” Aiden shouted.
Finn leaped at Boss, kneeing the Sovran in the face and breaking his nose with a stream of well-placed punches. Aiden turned to intercept Fatso and Skinny.
“Fuck this!” Fatso rushed forward.
Aiden ducked under Fatso’s punch with practiced motion, stepping forward and planting his elbow into the man’s crotch. He grunted in pain but didn’t collapse. Aiden stepped back, taking care not to fully commit to a single attacker.
Skinny rushed at Finn. Sneaky bastard. Aiden rolled away from Fatso and tackled Skinny to the ground. Something hit him in the back of his neck, a huge weight smashing him against the ground.
Shit! How’s Fatso this fast? He felt pinned under an insurmountable weight.
“Hahaha! I got him, Boss,” Fatso roared, raining down backhanded punches.
I messed up. The plan’s as good as shit now.
Immobilized, at the mercy of Fatso’s revenge, Aiden had no choice but to use Dyad Vessel. It was a waste to use it against the slowest of their bunch, but it was that or be out of commission. Finn was strong, more skilled than him on all accounts, so he could hold off a weakened Boss by himself—maybe even beat him—but he would be helpless if Skinny reached him.
A giant fist clobbered Aiden in the eye, clouding his vision. He grabbed at the Sovran’s leg blindly, letting his fingers tear through the layer of protective clothes Fatso wore. Another, more desperate punch landed.
Aiden willed Dyad Vessel to action. One third left. He pushed Fatso off him as the man convulsed. Jumping to his feet, the dizziness faded with the aid of regained focus. He rotated his body, sending a kick at the Sovran’s temple.
Fatso went still. A pungent smell wafted in the air as his pants darkened a shade.
“Abyss take me,” Skinny grumbled on the side. “I knew we shouldn’t have accepted this job.”
Boss lay unconscious on the ground, as did Fatso. Only Skinny remained. A deep sense of fulfillment overtook Aiden. Weeks! It’s finally over. After grueling training, several days of pain beyond comprehension, they had finally won. It was over.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Nice job with the Gloom Touch!” Finn punched Aiden in the shoulder. “I gotta say, it feels good to win for a change.”
“Win?” The voice did not belong to Myra, their silent overseer. It was Helvan who spoke, his tone filled with disappointment. “One of your foes still stands, while all three draw breath.”
How did he get here?! Aiden swallowed dryly. Sovran magic.
“You can’t be serious, Helvan.” The implication of his words took Aiden aback. “Why would we kill—”
“Finn,” Helvan cut him off. “I’ve gathered some information regarding your father. Do you know what to do?”
Myra stood silently.
“Hey, hey! This is not part of the deal,” Skinny shouted in protest.
Finn walked toward their leader’s unconscious body, unfazed by the shouts in the room, and raised a foot in the air.
“Finn, stop—”
The foot crashed down on the man’s throat with a wet crack of broken bones. The Sovran twitched, his body jolted awake, then went still. His chest no longer rose to draw breath. Dead. Just like that, with casual proficiency.
“What are you doing?!” Aiden paled when he met Finn’s cold eyes. “You… killed him.”
“I sure as the abyss did. Didn’t take you to be softhearted toward these people, Aiden.” Finn frowned, his jovial tone frozen in ice. “Did they treat you well in your district? I’m proud of you, an educated little ratling.”
Without waiting for a reply, he approached Fatso with deliberate steps. “It’s kill or be killed, Aiden. I thought you knew this by now.” His foot descended once again, killing the Sovran instantly.
“We can’t—”
Aiden’s words fell dead as someone held him in a chokehold. Who? He looked from side to side, trying to find the missing Sovran to no avail. Finn crossed his arms, looking at him with expectancy. He said nothing, but words were no longer necessary.
“Take one more step, and I’ll kill the boy!” Skinny’s deafening shout spilled over Aiden’s ear.
“Very well.” Helvan’s calm sobriety overtook the man’s despair.
Relief filled Aiden as the elderly Sovran spoke. It was about time to put an end to the madness, to the unnecessary blood spilled in the training room. Aiden might hate the Sovrans, but he had never killed one of them. His new appearance might resemble theirs, and the strength he now wielded belonged to their kind, but he was not one of them.
“Kill the boy, and I’ll let you go,” Helvan said, shattering Aiden’s hopes. “Double the agreed payment added to what three have earned daily.”
The grip on his neck turned deadly. Aiden felt his neck pop as Skinny grunted in agreement. Fear jolted his body and mind awake like never before. The ridiculous idea of morality abandoned Aiden’s thoughts—all that mattered was survival.
He refused to die. It was kill or be killed.
Dyad Vessel unfolded into the world. The Sovran’s grip on his neck loosened. A primal instinct overtook Aiden’s body. When he came back to his senses, Skinny no longer moved—his body was cold.
What… Aiden looked at his blood-soaked hands. What did I do?
***
Aiden sat in silence.
Myra had escorted both trainees to a larger room with two beds and a set of desks, but the ample space only made him all the more conscious of his actions. Finn had been right. Kill or be killed. No fancy ideas remained once one’s life was in danger. Still, the reality of what he had become—or perhaps what he had always been—was daunting.
The door opened as Helvan strolled inside with two thin books tucked under his arm. His face was expressionless as usual, but the long look he gave Aiden glinted with approval. It made him sick to his stomach—the approval of a Sovran felt like a slap in the face.
“Congratulations, young men,” he said with a thin smile that never reached his eyes. “I think you’re ready for the next step.”
“No!” Myra, who had been quietly reading a book, stood up in alarm. “Helvs, they aren’t ready.”
“Were you ready?” He took her astounded silence as his answer. “No one ever is, Myra.”
He brought his hand forward, opening it to reveal nothing. For a moment, Aiden was confused, but that feeling soon turned to shock. Out of nowhere, a fist-sized transparent sphere appeared in Helvan’s palm.
“What the Abyss?” Finn blurted out.
The sphere was polished, flawless. It shone with an unhealthy green light that smelled faintly of death, but the color only lasted a fleeting instant. The emerald hue dissipated, replaced by a pure, swirling obsidian hue that reminded Aiden of the Az’Tenri Circlet. It was an all-consuming black.
“This is a Warpcrystal, a bridge between this world—”
“What’s a bridge?” Finn interrupted.
Helvan took a deep breath, but the message in his eyes was clear. Even if Finn were ten times the fool, he would not dare interrupt the man again. “A Warpcrystal is a connection between our world and the Sixfold Corridor—the place where all Heightened Sovrans, known as Empyreans, draw their magic from.”
“An endless corridor that loops within itself, without end, without beginning,” Myra muttered, her eyes distant. “If you think about it too hard, you’ll probably end up crazy. Stuff like that isn’t meant for people like us to understand, truth be told.”
Helvan nodded.
“Finn, Aiden, this is your final test.” Helvan looked at the Warpcrystal for a long moment. “If you are worthy, then you’ll walk the Sixfold Corridor and find your Path.”
“What if we don’t?” Aiden saw the hesitation in the elder’s eyes.
“Then you’ll never return.” Helvan did not hide the truth. “Unable to die, forever wandering the empty halls of the corridor… it’s not a fate I would wish upon others.”
“Nevertheless, within this Warpcrystal lies the secret to Empyrean power, the key to holding your fate in your own hands. Wealth, happiness, revenge—”
Finn burst to his feet and touched the Warpcrystal. The moment his skin came into contact with the mysterious, color-shifting material, he vanished without a trace.
Helvan continued as if nothing had happened. “All is within reach, if you succeed.”
“That’s normal?” Aiden swallowed the lump in his throat.
Neither Myra nor Helvan displayed any emotion at Finn’s disappearance, so the phenomenon must have been something they already expected. But Aiden could not get over the fact that his friend—if they were even close enough to be called that—had vanished into thin air.
“Indeed.” Helvan remained unshaken. “Time in the Sixfold Corridor does not flow like it does in the Haven. Years there might be no more than seconds here, sometimes minutes. It’s not… constant.”
“Yup,” Myra chirped. “But everyone… Well, most people know that if you’re not back in six hours, then you aren’t coming back at all. I’ll go grab something to eat while we wait. Want something, old man?”
Helvan ignored her as she left.
“Helvan, if this is the last test, when I come back, you’ll give me some answers.” Aiden stood, moving to stand face-to-face with the elderly Sovran.
Helvan paused.
The Warpcrystal was a gamble—it had the potential to provide a path to power, but it could just as easily lead to a fate worse than death. None of those paths were guaranteed. However, Helvan nodded to Aiden’s request as if he had not a shred of doubt in the young man’s return.
“I’ll be waiting, Aiden,” he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Your path will be harder than most, but I trust you’ll find your way… as I have.”
Aiden touched the Warpcrystal, and the world twisted around him. Darkness swirled into a vortex, the irrevocable pull of the unknown dragging his body into the Sixfold Corridor.
The pull came to a stop.
Aiden’s bare feet touched the coldest stone he had ever stepped on, but that was not what chilled him to the core. When he opened his eyes, he faced a man—a creature—with molten metal for eyes.