Victory

Malik dragged a hand down his face as his patience wore thinner than thread.

This had to be the thousandth try. Or at least close enough.

"What a fucking joke."

Time had lost all meaning.

Days, weeks, months, years. 

The cave became his prison, the Aether Core his merciless tormentor.

He tried everything: slowing his breathing, focusing his thoughts, whispering desperate prayers, cursing the True Sultan, and even some other gods he made up on the spot.

Nothing...

Just nothing worked.

Every time, the sequence was practically the same.

The whining hum. The burning heat. The implosion.

Another Blink. Another reset.

Back to nothing. Back to square one.

And yet, it wasn't all bad amidst the endless loop.

It was 'practically' the same. Practically.

Because in truth, with every death, he learned a little more, gained another sliver of understanding.