Weightless Load
The forest was quieter the next day, but not in the way that signaled danger.
It was the kind of quiet that followed revelation — like the hush that settles after a secret has been whispered too loudly.
Kaiden stood on the ridge crag where Voidspace had first awakened, breathing in the misty hush of morning. Below him, the fire had dimmed to low embers, but the world hadn't gone still.
Something stirred.
Nik's head rose first — ears sharp, even in drowsy silence. His fingers twitched toward the hilt of his knife as he scanned the treeline with the calm readiness of someone who'd lived too long to flinch easily.
Kaiden sat nearby, cross-legged. Still staring at his hands.
Then he felt it.
A wet tug in his gut.
Not pain. Not fear.
A calling.
From the shadows between the trees, something pulsed. A faint, blue-green glow — oozing, unstable. It slithered forward slowly, deliberately.
A slime.
But not like the ones he'd cataloged before. This one shimmered strangely, iridescent ripples within its gelatinous core. It didn't bounce like a typical slime. It glided.
Not over the terrain.
Around it.
Branches twisted away from its path. Roots curled back as if repelled.
[ Kaiden ]
"...Pops?"
Nik was already up, stepping between Kaiden and the creature, blade drawn. The slime didn't react. No shift in shape. No sign of aggression.
It glided past Niklaus, straight toward Kaiden.
[ Niklaus ]
"...That's new."
Kaiden rose, uneasy. His heartbeat quickened.
[ Kaiden ]
"It's not... attacking?"
[ Niklaus ]
"It's not ignoring you either."
The slime pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
A low hum resonated — not from the slime, but from within Kaiden. From the Voidspace.
The ripple of empty storage echoed outward.
The slime quivered, vibrating like a struck bell.
A ripple passed through its core — like a lens refocusing...
Before it lunged.
Not for his throat.
For his satchel.
...Or where it used to be.
Instinct took over.
Kaiden raised his hand.
[ Kaiden ]
"Identify!"
The skill activated — no flicker, no failure.
[ HEART ]
[ Slime: Lumi the Hollow Seeker - Unique ]
Classification: Voidbound Aberration
Behavior: Drawn to unstable dimensional magic. Absorbs relics to evolve.
Weakness: Isolation. Memory-based tactics.
Note: Will ignore non-targets. Interaction with Voidspace = Trigger.
[ Niklaus ]
"It's bound to your Voidspace now."
"Cut it off, it starves."
"Even monsters need a root."
[ Kaiden ]
"...It's drawn to my Voidspace?"
Nik growled under his breath, circling.
[ Niklaus ]
"You finally open the door..."
"And something answers."
The slime rippled again.
A new pull formed — this time from the debris around Kaiden.
Pebbles. Leaves. Even the feathered claw fragment that was still in his hand.
It wanted his loot.
[ Kaiden ]
"...No!"
He stepped back.
Voidspace responded. A flicker of pressure formed at his back, like a hand bracing him.
He felt the pull.
Not from the slime.
From within.
[ Niklaus ]
"You can't outrun it."
[ Kaiden ]
"Then I'll beat it at its own game."
He focused. Reached inward. Not just to use inventory, but to command it.
A relic surfaced in his thoughts. A marble. Dull. Insignificant. +0.00001 RES.
Worthless to anyone else.
But to Kaiden?
A cornerstone.
He summoned it.
The marble hovered in the air between them.
The slime lunged.
Kaiden thrust the marble forward and opened Voidspace behind the slime.
There was no light.
Only silence.
And pull.
The slime twisted midair, confused. It's instinct to absorb collided with Kaiden's instinct to store. Two hungers crossed.
It shrieked in silence, the ripple shimmered like tearing silk.
For one breathless heartbeat, the world held still.
Then the slime was gone.
Not splattered.
Not burned.
Just... consumed.
Voidspace shimmered. Then sealed.
Kaiden stumbled back.
[ Kaiden ]
"...Did I just... store it?"
[ Niklaus ]
"You didn't just store it, I think."
Nik stepped forward, brow low.
"You redirected it. Redirected instinct."
"Looks like you're not just a user."
"You're a wielder."
Kaiden's knees buckled.
He dropped to the earth, shaking.
Not from fear.
From realization.
[ Kaiden ]
"...It's not just storage."
"It's... choice."
Nik crouched beside him.
[ Niklaus ]
"And every choice you make from now on... will echo louder than you think."
Kaiden glanced down.
His satchel was gone.
Not shredded.
Not torn.
Just... gone.
Only the ghost of weight remained.
The feeling of straps that should've been there.
[ Kaiden ]
"Still feels like I'm cheating..."
He summoned a relic — a twisted fangleaf root. It shimmered faintly... then faded. No glow. No feedback.
Just junk.
[ Niklaus ]
"Then cheat better."
Nik walked toward Kaiden, calm as always. No pack, no pouch. Just presence.
[ Niklaus ]
"This world doesn't play fair..."
"Why should you?"
[ Kaiden (grinned) ]
"Hehe..."
"I thought you were going to say something about discipline or something."
[ Niklaus ]
"Hah!"
"Discipline is knowing when to cheat."
He smirked and tossed Kaiden a jagged piece of obsidian.
[ Niklaus ]
"Here."
"Old shard. Dug it up near the mines north of Rattleback."
"Let's see what those fancy new eyeballs of yours say."
Kaiden caught it.
Closed his eyes.
[ Kaiden ]
"Identify."
The skill shimmered sharper now, stronger than Analyze had ever felt. Data surged through.
[ HEART ]
[ Obsidian Fragment (Resonant) ]
Durability: 50/50
Market Value: 10 copper
Grade: Common (Attuned)
[ Passive ] +0.0008 Toughness
Note: Unstable memory signature detected. Voidsync suggested.
[ Kaiden ]
"Voidspace sync?"
Nik chuckled.
[ Niklaus ]
"Sync?"
Kaiden focused. Willed the shard into his Voidspace.
It vanished.
No light. No swirl. Just... gone.
But something settled in the back of his mind.
Like a pressure taking shape.
Then, he summoned it again.
[ HEART ]
[ Obsidian Fragment (Stable) ]
Durability: 100/100
Market Value: 1 silver
Grade: Uncommon
[ Passive ] +0.008 Toughness
Note: Void-Linked Durability (Dormant), Æstheric Decay Nullified
[ Kaiden ]
"It changed."
[ Niklaus ]
"It adapted."
"Looks like Voidspace doesn't just store..."
"It remembers. It learns."
Kaiden's fingers trembled.
For the first time...
He wasn't just finding value.
He was creating it.
The rest of the day became a testbed.
Kaiden roamed the forest like a wandering spirit — collecting, storing, summoning, refining. Some relics gained new passives. Others fused into stable states. Items he'd discarded two weeks ago now pulsed with quiet resonance.
Voidspace didn't just hold his items.
It responded to them.
It valued what he valued.
By nightfall, they'd made camp in a hollow of stone roots. The fire crackled gently. Kaiden sat cross-legged, Ki Card hovering beside him like a silent observer.
[ HEART STATUS – UPDATE ]
Trait: Void of Aena (Active)
Skill: Identify
Passive Web: Dormant
Storage: Infinite
[ Kaiden ]
"Pops..."
"If it keeps changing like this, what happens when I can't keep up?"
[ Niklaus ]
"Then you're thinking about it wrong."
"You're not chasing Voidspace."
"It's following you."
[ Kaiden ]
"Feels backward."
[ Niklaus ]
"Growth doesn't wait for your permission."
He stood, eyes drifting toward the darkened horizon.
"You ever wonder why the System calls it the Void of Aena?"
[ Kaiden ]
"Because... it belongs to the world?"
[ Niklaus ]
"Maybe."
"Or maybe it's the world's way of watching itself."
Kaiden blinked.
[ Kaiden ]
"What does that even mean?"
[ Niklaus ]
"You think you're storing items..."
"But maybe, just maybe..."
"...Aena is storing you."
The fire cracked again.
The night deepened.
And somewhere behind Kaiden's eyes, Voidspace stirred.
For a moment, Kaiden wondered if he was really carrying the Void…
Or if the Void was carrying him.
He pictured all the fragments he'd saved — the worthless shards, the broken teeth, the faded cores — he felt them, not as burdens…
But as proof he was worth remembering, too.
If the abyss needed a keeper, then so be it.
He'd be the boy who crowned the dark.
Not hungry.
Not full.
Just...
Waiting to be crowned.