Aaron reached out, and the moment he touched the darkness, he felt himself falling into the void. Immediately, as he felt the cold darkness envelope him, countless echoing laughs seemed to bounce off the walls all around him, mocking his descent into its madness.

  This void… it was different. A departure from the fear he had felt the first time. Not necessarily as strong, but neither as empty. Like it had been claimed.

  Slowing his fall with a thought, he suddenly found himself on solid ground. The void was messing with his reality, and with a calming breath, he tried to meditate. To find his center and make sense of it all.

  But just as he did, and the cloudiness invading his mind started to calm and clear, he felt something. Through the darkness, there was something else. And a second later, an energy source began to materialize before him.

  The huge, roundish figure with purplish-black skin, dark, beady eyes, and a huge, laughing mouth lined by massive fangs formed.

  “AHAHAHA. You. Mortal. Are you really foolish enough to enter the void? To enter my void? AHAHA!”

  Aaron looked up at the mocking figure. It was intimidating, sure. But there was something else. A weakness. An insecurity. And it made his brow furrow as he tried to understand its nature.

  “I’ve been wondering about something,” Aaron said, thinking as he closed his eyes and kneeled before the giant being.

  He kept his eye on the threads of fate, ready if Maverick attacked. But he didn’t sense an immediate will to strike, and the meditation was helping his mind focus in the perverse and invasive void.

  Maverick titled its monstrous body curiously, as if it looked down at the meditating form of Aaron, clearly intrigued.

  “This is the void,” Aaron said calmly. “I know that much, I’ve been here before. And I know you’re not a god. So, does that mean you’re one of these so-called tarnished?”

  A massive, mocking smile crept up the monster’s face, somehow widening even further, twisting into a wicked caricature of a smile. “You know what I am? Perceptive for a little whelp. How’d you learn such things?”

  “Oh, just through an experience with an actual god. Can you tell me what the tarnished are? Or what the void is?”

  “You enter my realm and ask questions of me? Ahaha! So insolent! Who do you think you are?”

  “My understanding,” Aaron said casually. “Though admittedly limited, is that the void represents something in between everything. Like the barrier, or maybe it’s what connects the universe, or rather the multiverse, with other realms like the divine realms. And maybe other realms? A place where unexplainable things like the trials can take place.”

  “Not far from the truth,” Maverick said. “Maybe I underestimated you. Yes, the void is a realm between realms. But it is so much more. The void is power. A means of ascension. Tell me, why waste a millennium fighting through a million near-death experiences to reach godhood when you can embrace the void?”

  “Ah, so that’s it,” Aaron’s eyes shot open as he wagged a finger. “It’s a cheat. A means of skipping all the hard work. Damn, so that’s what it was this entire time. That was all the promises of power that I felt last time. I didn’t realize it was so pathetic. To think, I thought there was something scary about this place.”

  Aaron dusted himself off and got to his feet. Cheating trials were one thing, but he wasn’t about cheating ascension. Yendal had taught him the proper way. True strength had to be earned, and this was an affront to everything she had taught him. A cheap ladder to the top, and that no doubt meant that the power it provided was deeply flawed, and ultimately very weak. For nothing so easy could ever come without drawbacks. And Aaron was starting to understand that everything within the multiverse was part of an equilibrium.

  “YOU WHAT?! You insult the power of the void? The great horrors of the multiverse? The endless plague of the tarnished? AHAHA! Foolish mortal. You shall see! You shall see truth!”

  The entire void began to shake and tremble as Maverick became more enraged, and the echoing laughs that bounced off the darkness soured and turned to taunting roars and insults. But through inner-peace, Aaron ignored it all.

  This void seemed weaker than the one he had met with Oozagh. But it was being controlled, and that made it dangerous.

  Maverick’s tantrum escalated, and the world around him felt like it was being torn apart, but he ignored it all, allowing his spirit energy to flow out from him as he meditated.

  There was still something else about the place that intrigued him, though. There was something about how his spirit energy had cleansed the void in his previous encounter. And it brought his thoughts back to the spirit well he had seen in the jungle, guarded by the wendigo.

  He felt there was a truth connected to it, hidden not far from him. Something that connected the void and spirit plane. Maybe not directly, but perhaps inverse of one another.

  Needless to say, another confrontation with the void had sent his questioning thoughts spiraling, and he was desperate for more answers. He would have to prepare himself, as this experience made him want to seize that treasure more than ever.

  But he still had a task ahead of him, and Maverick’s shouts grew louder and more agitated. They sounded impatient and almost scared as spiritual energy spread out across the void, fighting back the darkness, and after a final screeching roar, Aaron felt the monster’s energy source ripple and explode with furious anger.

  Gone was the impenetrable darkness all around, fought back by an aura of spirit energy pouring out from him, but black flames and darkness licked at its edges, threatening to fight it back and to consume it all.

  However, that wasn’t all. Before him, the monster was gone, and in its stead stood a man. He was a simple, wrinkled man with sunken eyes and gaunt features.

  “What have you done? What have you done to the void?”

  “So, is that who you really are, Maverick?”

  “You… you have some weird power. But do not think me so easily defeated. This is still my realm. And I am still the master here!”

  Maverick [ Level 150 ]

  Titles: [ Tarnished ]

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Despite the massive level imbalance, Aaron wasn’t particularly afraid. Not only had he easily broken down at his tarnished veil and the void surrounding them, but this man was… he was weak.

  Maverick’s only Title was "Tarnished." Considering he was halfway through D-grade, it was really quite pathetic. This man truly was mediocre. A weakling that couldn’t gain a single Title on his own, and Aaron suspected that he had given himself to the void in hopes of gaining some actual power.

  He almost felt bad for the man before him. Stripped away of the void, his aura felt desperate and needy. Perhaps a truly powerful person giving themselves to the void would be something to fear, but this?

  Aaron shook his head. “You really are nothing, aren’t you? Just a weak nobody desperate to steal some power. Tell me, how did you even find the void? How did you reach my world?”

  Maverick’s expression twisted with absolute rage. His face was red and white, color leaving the area around his mouth as he gritted his teeth so hard and his gaunt fists balled up.

  “C’mon,” Aaron poked. “Cool your jets and humor me. How’d you get here? Can you just go anywhere with the void? Was Julius just easy pickings, or was there more to it than that?”

  Maverick didn’t answer. Tendrils of void energy shot out, sizzling as they darted into the spirit energy surrounding Aaron, but continued regardless.

  The purplish dark shadow that had enveloped Maverick was gone, but his eyes were still of pure black, and he rushed forward with a cloud of the dark energy as the void assaulted Aaron from all directions.

  He dodged the first attacks that came incredibly fast, and met Maverick face-to-face, careful not to underestimate the power of the void energy.

  But before they met, Maverick raised his hands, void missiles shot out, followed by black flames that continued to burn after the Skill had ended.

  But if there was one archetype that Aaron had always had an edge against, it was the spellcaster, and through unmatched Skill, he dodged and avoided the spells with expert precision.

  However, there was more to this than raw power, and Aaron could feel it. He could strike Maverick down a thousand times within this place, and it would do little.

  The actual concentration of void energy itself was weak, but it had more than enough power to fuel the life of someone like Maverick, or Julius, for that matter. It could bring them back and fuel their Skills countless times before it ran low on energy, and Aaron knew the only true way to fight him was to fight the void itself.

  So, instead of diving straight into an attack, he called forth his [ Soul Vortex ], but he didn’t use it to inspect his surroundings. He pushed aether into it and forced a dome of spiritual energy out to fight against the creeping darkness.

  Then, he used [ Spectral Rush ], flying around as fast as he could, avoiding Maverick’s attacks and pouring aether into his Skills as he spread his energy.

  His [ Reverse Cycle Faux Core ] was on overdrive, and his minor adipose reserves were drained as he used everything in his power to produce aether, expelling it in spiritual energy cast out by his Skills.

  As he flew around, he ate. And slightly regretted not cooking more of his meat, as his reserves were starting to run low, but that didn’t stop him. He needed every ounce of energy he could get, and he needed to funnel it all out and into aether.

  And gradually, as he poured his concentration and energy into the task, he painted back the void, extending his own spiritual taint over the place inch by inch.

  “What are you doing? Face me, coward!”

  Despite his power, Maverick truly was weak. He was limited in what he could do and didn’t seem to have much of an answer for anything. It was the void that powered him, and without it, he was a nobody.

  However, this encounter was a serious warning. Had a truly powerful being possessed this void energy, his decision to enter it would have been ill-advised, and he took note to think twice before trying such a thing in the future.

  And to be fair, he hadn’t really known what exactly to expect when entering, and Maverick’s presence within the void had been somewhat of a surprise.

  The void he experienced with Oozagh must have been unclaimed. Tainted energy source hoping to ensnare somebody and turn them into their tarnished host.

  But what happened next was even more surprising. As the void was beaten back, it reached out to him. It offered him power, just like the pool of void energy had back in the cave. But not just any old power. It was offering him this void. It was offering him Maverick’s place.

  It wanted to discard its weak host and latch onto another, more powerful one.

  He turned it down, of course, but it was a curious revelation. Was all void energy somewhat conscious? Were they all out amongst the stars of the multiverse in search of powerful hosts to corrupt? Or had it simply realized that Maverick had a few tricks or tools up his sleeves, and now it was reaching out to him in the hopes of saving itself?

  Whatever the answer, it meant little in the backdrop of their confrontation. And the battle only became more desperate as it dragged on. Maverick weakened further still as the void receded, and his body became frail and stickly thin. Soon, he was trembling and unable to even raise his arms, looking like a desperate walking corpse unable to fight back.

  And by the time the last ounces of darkness had fled back, cleansed by dense spiritual energy, he had fallen to the ground, heaving and coughing.

  “You really are pathetic, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Maverick groaned, too weak to hold up the facade any longer. “I'm nobody. I always was. I couldn’t even survive my own Tutorial… but I found this. This void. It gave me hope. But once more I am reminded of all my shortcomings.”

  Aaron almost felt bad for the shriveled-up man. Had he been so weak and desperate as this man was, would he have taken the void’s offer of power? He didn’t like to think of himself as desperate, but if he was in a situation where his options were death, or accepting this… he probably would have taken it too.

  No longer did he feel anger towards Maverick. He felt pity, and honestly, he didn’t want to kill the man. Not when he was no longer a threat. But it was too late. The void had stripped Maverick of everything, and now that its tainted power was stripped back, he was dying, and there was nothing to be done about it. His spirit had been essentially destroyed by the void, bound and twisted by its dark energy, and one could reverse such perversions.

  “Kill me. At least let my failed path fuel yours. Let my pathetic life mean something.”

  Aaron sighed. He’d have much preferred the man to have fought to the end. This was just depressing. But he wouldn’t deprive him of what he asked, and slammed his heel into the back of the man’s neck.

  You killed: Maverick [ Level 150 ]

  Bonus Experience rewarded for killing a creature of a higher level than yourself!

  [ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

  58 → 64

  Purchasable Skill Available!

  Even six levels couldn’t entirely wash away the bitter feeling he had. He would have much preferred Maverick to fight to the end. But he wouldn’t linger on it. He had a feeling that this victory had been far more important than just beating Maverick himself.

  He had mentioned the great horror of the void and called it an endless plague. That hadn’t sat well with Aaron, and he had a feeling that it was far more than just a parasite that infected people on an individual level.

  Well, at least it’s gone now.

  The void was already collapsing around him, the pillars of dark energy that had held it up too weak from the cleansing energy he had pushed into it, and it was fading away by the time Aaron turned to step out of it.

  Like a fading dark cloud, it all sank away to nothing, and he was once more standing in the vault.

  A couple of meters away from him, Julius was on his knees, staring down at his hands as if he had committed a terrible crime.

  Talia and her avatar stood over him, its giant sword held only inches from his neck, but she had stayed from killing the man. And a couple of meters back was Zero, lips curled back to expose deadly fangs as it growled furiously at the man.

  But Julius was not fearing for his life. He was mourning his actions.

  “Julius, are you here with us now?” Aaron said, taking a step toward the broken man.

  “I… I am… And I’m so terribly sorry. What have I done? What did I invite into our home?”

  Patreon!