Raine lay on the hard ground, his body aching from another brutal day of training. His breath came in ragged gulps, his muscles twitching from exhaustion. He had spent the last week pushing his body beyond its limits—Kael ensuring that he grew stronger, faster, sharper.


    But none of that compared to what was happening inside him.


    The first time he felt it had been subtle. A whisper at the edge of his senses, a flicker of something deeper than Essence.


    Now, it was becoming impossible to ignore.


    Raine sat up slowly, his arms trembling as he pushed himself off the ground. Across the clearing, Kael watched him with his usual unreadable expression, arms crossed over his chest.


    “You’re feeling it now, aren’t you?” Kael’s voice was calm, but there was something in his eyes—something wary.


    Raine hesitated before nodding. “It’s… different. Not like Essence. It doesn’t flow. It pulls.”


    Kael exhaled, stepping closer. “Describe it.”


    Raine frowned, struggling to put the sensation into words. “When I use it, it’s like—like everything around me has layers. Normal magic is on the surface, woven together like a thread. But beneath that…” He clenched his fists. “There’s something else. Something deeper. It’s not a force. It’s… absence.”


    Kael studied him for a long moment before finally speaking. “And when you reach for it?”


    Raine shivered involuntarily. “It doesn’t just break magic. It consumes it. The more I pull, the more I feel like it’s part of me.”Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Kael’s gaze darkened. “That’s because it is.”


    Raine stiffened. “What does that mean?”


    Kael turned, motioning for him to follow. “You need to understand something. You’re not using Essence. You’re not manipulating the natural forces of this world. You’re tapping into something that shouldn’t exist.”


    They walked to the center of the clearing, where a row of wooden training dummies had been set up earlier that morning. Most of them were in ruins from Raine’s earlier exercises, but one remained intact.


    Kael gestured to it. “Show me.”


    Raine swallowed, then raised his hand. He reached—not for fire, not for wind, not for the natural elements that governed magic.


    He reached for the Void.


    Something answered.


    The air around his fingers rippled. A formless black mist flickered at his fingertips, barely visible, like a shadow cast from something that wasn’t there. He focused, drawing more of it out.


    The wooden dummy didn’t burst apart. It didn’t burn.


    It simply vanished.


    A perfect sphere of empty air took its place. Not destroyed. Not broken. Just… gone.


    Kael exhaled slowly, his expression tightening. “You’re getting stronger.”


    Raine let out a shaky breath. His hand still tingled. The sensation was growing stronger each time.


    “Why am I different?” he asked. “Why does my power feel like this?”


    Kael was silent for a long time before finally speaking. “Because you’re not just unraveling magic.”


    Raine frowned. “Then what am I doing?”


    Kael’s gaze met his. “You’re touching something older than magic itself.”


    A chill ran down Raine’s spine.


    Kael stepped closer, his voice lowering. “I told you before that the Arcanum wouldn’t let someone like you exist. That’s because they know what happens when people like you get too strong.”


    Raine’s pulse quickened. “People like me?”


    Kael’s expression darkened. “Void Users. But even among them…” He hesitated, as if weighing his words. “You’re something else.”


    Raine clenched his fists. “Then tell me what I am.”


    Kael exhaled sharply. “Not yet.” He motioned to the ruined training dummy. “For now, all you need to know is that this power will consume you if you don’t learn to control it.”


    Raine narrowed his eyes. “And if I can’t?”


    Kael’s gaze was unreadable. “Then you won’t live long enough for it to matter.”