Training

The next morning didn't begin with warmth.

Nysera's boot hit Raen's shoulder like a hammer.

"Up."

Raen rolled off the cot, hit the floor, and barely caught himself before his chin slammed the concrete. The egg pulsed once behind him—dim, content, untouched.

Nysera didn't wait.

She walked out, her voice trailing behind.

"You've got eight and a half days to live. Or evolve. Same thing, really."

---

The training chamber she chose wasn't the usual sparring room or tactical simulation bay.

It was a beast cage.

Cylindrical. No walls—just energy rails that flickered with containment force. Several were cracked, others flickered faintly, as if barely holding power.

"This," Nysera said, tossing him a black cloth wrap for his hands, "is where the Forgotten used to break rogue bonded."

Raen raised a brow. "You're going to break me?"

She smirked.

"No. You are."

---

Phase One: Endurance Collapse

It wasn't combat.

It wasn't form training.

It was collapse drills.

Raen ran until his lungs tore air. Jumped until his calves cramped. Held stances while his legs gave out. Every movement Nysera demanded was designed not to build strength, but to shatter his current limits.

He didn't question.

Didn't protest.

Because every second the timer blinked in his Codex, he saw Alarin's smile.

---

> [Codex Training Subsystem – Active]

XP Gain (Physical Reinforcement Tasks): +4 XP

Mutation Strain: +0.7%

Core Sync Progress: Stable

Voidbeast Response: Passive

Stat Adjustment (Pending Review):

Strength: +1

Agility: +1

Trait Reinforcement: [Thread Reflex – Integrating]

Current XP: 32 / 200

---

Midway through the second day, he collapsed hard.

Fell flat on the mat, sweat soaking through his shirt, arms shaking, breath wheezing.

Nysera crouched over him.

"Dead?"

Raen rasped, "Give me three minutes."

"You've got two."

He let out a pained laugh.

"You do know how to inspire people."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I'm not here to inspire you, Raen. I'm here to make sure when he drives a blade through your gut, you don't fold like the last one."

He blinked.

"The last one?"

She stood.

"Didn't last three strikes. They cleaned him off the arena walls."

---

That night, the dreams came.

They weren't dreams.

They were memories.

But not his.

In the vision, Raen stood beneath a broken sky where stars bled red and smoke curled like roots through the air. Great shadows moved across the horizon, shaped like beasts—but wrong. Fluid. Eternal.

And somewhere nearby, he stood.

Not himself.

Not Raen.

But a version of him wrapped in bone-threaded armor, eyes like dying galaxies, holding a blade that breathed.

The Voidbeast stood beside him.

Not in a cage.

Not asleep.

Alive.

Fused.

Together.

---

Raen woke with a start.

The egg was glowing softly.

> [Codex Message – Memory Thread Synchronization Detected]

Category: Void-Inheritance

Trait Potential Awakening: [Phase Instinct – Fragmented]

Description: Allows reflexive action beyond conscious delay. Tied to Core Will.

Sync Condition: Mutation ≥ 15% | Combat Imprint ×2 | Willpower ≥ 15

Raen rubbed his eyes, heart hammering.

It wasn't a hallucination.

The beast wasn't showing him power.

It was showing him future.

---

The next few days blurred into exhaustion.

Nysera's training grew harsher.

Weighted drills. Sensory denial. Pressure adaptation chambers.

Raen bled twice. Vomited four times. Blacked out once.

Each time, he rose faster.

And each time, the Voidbeast responded.

Not by speaking.

But by sharpening him.

---

> Codex Update – Day 4

Ascendant Tier: 1 – High

XP: 162 / 200

Mutation Factor: 14.6%

Core Sync: 45.2%

Traits:

Flicker Step [Unstable]

Shadow Respiration [Basic]

Thread Reflex [Basic]

Shared Instinct [Basic]

Trait Imprint Detected: [Phase Instinct – Locked]

Stat Growth:

Strength: 9

Agility: 12

Endurance: 10

Perception: 13

Willpower: 15

Aether Resonance: 2

Warning: Mutation threshold approaching 15% – Evolution Event Incoming

---

On the fifth night, Nysera didn't wake him.

She let him sleep.

And even in rest, Raen's body trembled—not in fear, not in pain, but in anticipation.

Something inside was ready to break.

Not as failure.

But as evolution.

---

Raen's heart raced, even in sleep.

It wasn't a nightmare this time.

It was a signal.

A drumbeat through his bones. A pull in his blood.

His Codex activated without command.

> [Codex Alert – Evolution Event Detected]

Mutation Factor: 15.0%

Status: Critical Threshold Reached

Host Thread: Stable

Coreline Sync: Sufficient

Evolution Path: Null Ascendant – Primordial Corebound

Initiating Trait Bloom…

Raen's back arched.

A shockwave of cold flooded his spine.

It wasn't pain.

It was rewriting.

Something in his nervous system unraveled—then rewove itself tighter, cleaner.

He couldn't scream.

He didn't need to.

The Voidbeast was with him—guiding.

---

> [Trait Awakened: Phase Instinct – Basic]

Class: Reactive

Description: Grants subconscious predictive reflex.

• +15% reaction time during direct threat

• Short-term foresight bursts (0.4s max)

• Enhanced response during high-speed movement

Trait Bond: Symbiotic

Warning: Trait may conflict with baseline neural response. Overuse can cause temporal blur.

---

Raen sat bolt upright, drenched in cold sweat.

The egg pulsed once.

Not violently.

But firmly.

An affirmation.

His Codex updated in real-time:

> Mutation Factor: 15.4%

Core Affinity: 47.8%

Ascendant Tier: 1 – Peak

XP: 174 / 200

Trait Upgrade Path: Phase Instinct – Ready for Mastery Route (Locked until Tier 2)

Stat Boosts:

Agility: +2

Perception: +1

Willpower: +1

Raen exhaled shakily.

He had changed.

Not on the outside.

But deep.

His body no longer moved purely by command.

Now, it moved by design.

---

When Nysera entered an hour later, Raen was already standing in the center of the training pit.

Sweatless.

Still.

Different.

She tilted her head.

"You crossed it."

He nodded.

"Fifteen percent. The first break."

She stepped forward slowly, eyeing his stance.

"You feel faster?"

"Not faster," he said. "Earlier."

She smiled faintly. "Good. You're going to need that."

---

By the sixth day, Raen completed every training module with time to spare.

On the seventh, he fought blindfolded and dodged three strikes before Nysera's staff even finished moving.

On the eighth, he vanished behind her with Flicker Step before she could finish her sentence.

> [Trait Compatibility Update]

Flicker Step + Phase Instinct → Combo Trait Unlocked

New Ability: Phase Flicker

– Auto-triggers Flicker Step under high-pressure threat

– Uses Phase Instinct's foresight to enhance placement

– Cooldown: 5s

Note: Trait Sync Pending Full Core-Sync or Beast Merge

Raen felt like the line between reaction and motion had vanished.

He didn't move toward danger.

He moved before it.

---

That same night, the air shifted across the entire sector.

It wasn't a tremor.

It was attention.

The Codex hummed.

Then flashed:

> [Broadcast Node Activated – Arena Contract Publicized]

Challenger: ALARIN STRONE

Affiliation: Tower Spire – Tier 4 Inner Ascendant

Opponent: RAEN VIRELL

Affiliation: Unknown / Class: Null Ascendant

Status: Corebound Irregular

Match Conditions: Death Optional

Stakes: Status Recognition + Territory Claim

Broadcast Coverage:

– Spire Duels Feed

– Grid Arena EchoNet

– Black Registry Watchlist

Audience Estimate: 2.4 million

---

Raen stared at the message.

It wasn't a private fight anymore.

It was an event.

And now?

The world knew he existed.

Nysera stood behind him, arms crossed, watching the same projection blink.

"Well," she said. "Now it's real."

Raen's hands were calm.

Too calm.

"…Good."

She raised a brow.

"You're not afraid?"

Raen's eyes glinted faintly in the dark.

"I was."

He turned to the egg—now pulsing steadily with a low, eager heat.

"But it's not just me anymore."

---

Somewhere in the Central Towers, dozens of viewing platforms updated.

Clans.

Beastmasters.

Faction lords.

Codex crafters.

A name began circulating.

A title.

Not official.

Not earned.

But whispered like fire:

> "The Null That Walks."

---

The night before the duel, Raen couldn't sleep.

The air had grown cold in the outpost. Not physically—but spiritually. The walls hummed with anticipation, every conduit vibrating faintly like a creature holding its breath.

Even Nysera left him alone.

No training. No last words.

Just a nod.

As if she knew whatever came next wasn't hers to guide.

---

Raen sat in silence before the egg.

No firelight. No Codex interface active.

Just breath.

His.

And its.

Slow.

Synchronized.

Then, without fanfare, the egg pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

The world blinked.

---

He wasn't in the chamber anymore.

He stood on a cracked obsidian platform beneath a sky of violet ash. Great pillars of bone arched around him like the ribs of a world-eating god.

In the center of the platform stood a mirror.

It wasn't glass.

It was him.

A version of Raen, but… wrong.

His eyes were black and endless. Veins of silver light webbed across his skin. His katana was fused to his forearm—no hilt, no sheath—just flesh turned weapon.

The reflection spoke first.

> "You will die tomorrow."

Raen didn't flinch.

> "Unless you break. Unless you become."

Raen clenched his fists.

"I'm already becoming."

The mirror's eyes narrowed.

> "No. You're balancing. That's not enough. He won't fight you. He'll end you. Unless…"

The reflection stepped forward. No sound. No echo.

> "Unless you stop pretending you're human."

Raen stepped back.

"Who are you?"

The mirror didn't answer with words.

It transformed.

In a blink, it became the Voidbeast—taller than any man, cloaked in threads of midnight and stars, with an eye that opened vertically across its chest and looked into him.

> "You are the last. The thread-walker. If you won't bind fully…"

The beast leaned forward.

> "Then let us take you instead."

---

> [Codex Interface – Mental Duel Triggered]

Trial of the Corebound: Fusion Resistance

Win Condition: Maintain Sovereignty

Alternate Victory: Submit and Awaken Merge State

Risk: Death of Ego / Core Dominance Reversal

Time Dilation Ratio: 1,000:1

Real-Time Duration: 3 seconds

---

Raen didn't run.

He drew the katana—not from his side, but from his chest, where it had been forged in the dream.

He and the beast clashed.

And it wasn't steel against claws.

It was will against existence.

Every slash he made cut away doubt.

Every strike from the beast tore through his assumptions.

He remembered the moment the Grid labeled him a Null.

He remembered the empty look in his father's eyes when the crystal failed to light.

He remembered being told he was meant for nothing.

---

And in that moment, Raen understood—

It wasn't about taming the beast.

It wasn't about surrendering to it either.

It was about choosing to walk with it.

To fuse, not as slave or master—but as equal errors in the system.

---

Raen stepped forward.

Unarmed.

The beast lunged—

And he didn't dodge.

He placed a hand on its chest.

> "You're not my power."

> "You're my proof."

---

The beast stopped.

Then knelt.

And vanished.

---

The mirror shattered.

The world burned.

And Raen awoke.

---

He was still seated in the chamber.

The egg had cracked.

Not open.

Not broken.

Just a single fracture, glowing with violet light.

The Codex activated instantly:

> [Fusion Trial Complete – Victory: Shared Sovereignty]

Fusion Status: Pending Stage One

New Trait Unlocked:

— Void Pulse – [Passive Burst Reflex]

Grants a single-use phase burst when suffering fatal damage.

Cooldown: 24 hours.

Codex Tier: Upgrading…

Ascendant Tier 2 – LOW Achieved

XP: 200 / 200 → Reset

Mutation Factor: 16.8%

Core Sync: 53.1%

---

> [Codex Interface Announcement – Trait Synergy Achieved]

Flicker Step + Phase Instinct + Void Pulse → Phase Shatter

Trait Class: Rare

Description: Instantly displaces user across vision-based angles, bypassing speed limits.

Cooldown: 15s

Overuse may induce memory distortion.

---

Raen stood slowly.

He looked at the cracked egg.

And spoke softly:

"Let's go."

---

At the surface, Nysera was waiting.

Raen didn't speak.

Nysera nodded.

"I felt it. The fusion trial."

Raen's eyes glinted.

"I didn't fuse."

She raised a brow.

"I shared."

And for the first time…

Nysera smiled.

---