Control

The light from the altar was blinding, so intense that Lin Jian had to close his eyes against the onslaught. The air around him hummed with an almost unbearable pressure, as if the very fabric of the world were being torn apart and remade. He could feel the mark on his palm burning with the force of the ritual, and for a moment, it felt as though his very soul was being pulled into the center of the light.

He forced himself to take a step forward, his hand reaching out toward the altar. The runes seemed to stretch and twist as if alive, and the power within the chamber surged, filling him with a sense of both exhilaration and terror. His heart raced in his chest, the pulse of power in time with his own.

But just as his fingers brushed the surface of the altar, the light flickered, and a voice—soft, almost imperceptible—whispered in his mind.

Do you truly understand the cost of your choice, Lin Jian?

He froze, his hand hovering over the altar. The voice was not the woman's, but something older, deeper, and far more ancient. It spoke to him in a language he didn't recognize, but he understood it all the same. It was the voice of the curse, the voice of the power that had marked him from the very beginning.

The woman stepped forward, her presence a calm contrast to the chaos in the air. Her eyes locked onto Lin Jian's, her expression unreadable.

"You have chosen," she said softly, her voice almost a reverent murmur. "Now, you must accept the burden of that choice."

Lin Jian swallowed hard, his hand still hovering over the altar. He could feel the power stirring beneath his fingers, as though the altar itself were waiting for him to make contact. The woman's gaze was unyielding, her silent encouragement almost a command.

He reached down and touched the altar.

The moment his skin made contact, the world exploded into a torrent of light and sound. The runes flared, and the air seemed to ripple and warp around him, bending reality itself. Lin Jian's vision blurred, and he felt a sharp, searing pain shoot through his chest as if the very essence of the curse was being woven into his being.

He gasped, his breath catching in his throat. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced—raw, primal, as though his very soul was being torn apart and remade. He stumbled back, his vision spinning as the energy flooded through him.

The woman's form wavered in front of him, her voice distant as though coming from far away.

"The curse," she whispered, "is not just a power—it is a living thing. It grows, it feeds, and it is tied to you as much as you are tied to it. The knowledge you seek comes with the price of this bond. Now, you are both the master and the slave of the curse."

Lin Jian's knees buckled beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground, his head spinning. The power inside him was overwhelming, flooding every inch of his body, sinking into his very marrow. He could feel it—dark and twisted, yet undeniably potent, crawling through his veins like liquid fire.

The woman's voice broke through the fog in his mind once more. "It will take time for you to learn to control it. Time and patience. But be warned—there are forces in this world that seek the power you now hold. They will stop at nothing to claim it for themselves."

Lin Jian gritted his teeth, forcing himself to rise to his feet. The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't afford to fall now. Not when he was so close to understanding, so close to mastering the power that had been thrust upon him.

"What do you want from me?" he spat, his voice rough from the agony. "You gave me the choice. I accepted it. But I didn't ask for this."

The woman's gaze softened, but there was no pity in it. Only a quiet understanding. "You may not have asked for it, Lin Jian, but this is your fate now. The power you have gained will shape you. It will change you. But it is not just the curse that will change you—it is your own choices. What you do with this power, how you wield it, will define who you become."

Lin Jian's breath came in ragged gasps as he struggled to steady himself. The weight of her words pressed on him, but the power inside him fought against it, urging him to give in, to embrace the darkness that had been awakened. He could feel it stirring within him, hungry and restless, like an animal craving freedom.

"I will control it," he muttered, his voice low and fierce. "I will make my own path."

The woman nodded slowly, her eyes thoughtful. "We shall see. But remember—power is a double-edged sword. It can protect you, but it can also destroy you. You are no longer the same man you were. What you were before... that is gone. You must learn to live with what you are now."

With those final words, the woman turned and began to fade into the shadows, her form dissolving into the darkness of the chamber. Lin Jian stood alone in the vast, empty space, the weight of her words pressing heavily on him.

He looked down at the mark on his palm once more. It still glowed faintly, pulsing with an energy that was both alien and familiar. The power was his now. But at what cost?

The questions that had haunted him since the beginning were still unanswered. The woman had spoken of others, of forces that would come for him, but what did that mean? Who else shared this curse? And how long would it be before he had to face them?

But more than that, the most pressing question of all lingered in the back of his mind.

Could he truly control the curse, or would it eventually consume him as it had consumed so many before him?