Chapter 3 - A Costly Mistake

Elias exhaled sharply as he tightened his grip on the scalpel, his gloved fingers steady despite the gnawing exhaustion. The Void Orb rested before him, its surface an abyssal black with faint ripples of violet energy swirling beneath the glassy exterior. Unlike conventional Aether Cores, which pulsed with a steady rhythm of contained magic, the Void Orb was utterly silent—its energy unreadable, its nature an enigma.

The room was dimly lit, save for the sterile glow of overhead fluorescents reflecting off the polished steel surfaces. His Earthside laboratory was a stark contrast to the warm, rustic charm of his Elysian potion shop. Here, everything was measured, calculated—variables reduced to equations and chemical compositions rather than the mysticism of Elysium's magic. And yet, as Elias examined the strange core before him, he couldn't deny the unease coiling in his gut.

"No recorded magical conductivity," he murmured, scribbling notes in his worn leather journal. "Null reaction to standard Aether infusions. Physical structure intact despite direct exposure to energy discharges. Composition… unknown."

He had tested it against everything. Light, heat, cold, electricity—nothing triggered a response. It was as if the Void Orb existed outside the natural laws governing Elysium and Earth alike. Even Dawnbuilders, with their advanced understanding of Aether-core technology, had dismissed these orbs as anomalies—radioactive, unstable, and ultimately useless.

But Elias had never been one to accept limits.

He reached for a thin needle, dipping its tip into a vial of purified Aether extract. His previous tests had been external, but perhaps the core required a different approach. A direct sample, something invasive—

The moment the needle pierced the Void Orb's surface, a shockwave pulsed outward, rattling the glassware on his workbench. Elias jerked back, his breath caught in his throat as the inky substance within the orb reacted. The swirling energy within twisted, coiling like a living thing, and before he could react, a droplet of the viscous black fluid leapt from the needle—onto his bare wrist.

Pain.

Not the sharp sting of acid or the burning of fire, but something deeper—something that gnawed at the very fabric of his being. His veins darkened, tendrils of blackness spreading up his forearm as if the Void itself had taken root beneath his skin. The sterile air of the lab became thick, suffocating, his vision blurring at the edges as nausea twisted his stomach.

Elias stumbled back, knocking over a stack of notebooks, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. His Aether—his very essence—was unraveling, distorting under the foreign influence. He could feel it, the way his body rejected the Void, the way it fought against an invasion it couldn't understand. His limbs trembled, muscles spasming as though something inside him was shifting—changing.

Desperate, he reached for the counter, his fingers knocking over a half-finished Aether restorative. The glass shattered on impact, the shimmering liquid pooling at his feet—useless. He tried to summon his strength, to force his body to push through the corruption spreading within him, but the darkness was relentless, consuming, drowning him in a void beyond pain.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the sensation stopped.

Elias collapsed to his knees, chest heaving as sweat dripped from his brow. His hands trembled as he looked down at his arm. The black veins remained, faint but present, pulsing with an eerie glow beneath his skin. He flexed his fingers, testing them—still responsive, still his. But something was different. He could feel it in the way the air around him seemed heavier, the way the world itself felt… wrong.

His mind raced. This was more than contamination. More than simple Aether corruption. This was something new. Something no one had ever documented before.

And he had no idea what it would do to him.

Swallowing hard, Elias forced himself to his feet. He had made a mistake—a costly one. But there was no undoing it now. Whatever had just happened, whatever had begun within him, there was only one thing left to do.

Find out what he was becoming.