"Our bloodline and constitution have many abilities, you'll discover them as you progress. There's no point in my explaining everything now; take it step by step. We'll start with the foundations so that you're not overwhelmed with everything."
Maximus conjured three floating objects that rotated in a circle above his palm: a gorgeous gate of swirling blues, gold and black, a plain ball of void, and a bridge. "These are the most foundational of the abilities, [Void's Gate], [Void Sphere], and [Void Step]. We're going to look over these in a month or so."
Maximus rolled up his black sleeves, his gaze fixed on Valerio with anticipation. "The main focus of today is for you to enter Vitaliy Awakening, the first body cultivation realm."
Vitality awakening was also referred to as the "Constitution Formation" stage, and today, Maximus would demonstrate to his dearest son exactly why that was. There were two ways to enter vitality awakening: through rigorous exercise and pain, or if you were born with a constitution, to simply trigger it.
"Sit down and relax your body and mind."
A mischievous grin appeared on Maximus's face as one hand extended towards Valerio and the other next to him. Simultaneously, the void in all its grandeur appeared next to Maximus
To most, the Void was a realm without colour, a ceaseless all devouring… void… and yet for the Augustine's eyes, its true majesty was all but borne before them, their bloodline allowing them the rare mutations in their eyes and the affinity required to truly see the void.
Unceremoniously, Maximus gripped Valerio's robes and flung him into the shimmering portal.
"Wha—" Valerio's words caught in his throat as everything around him blurred, then froze in an instant.
A realm of shimmering blues appeared before him, slight accents of purple and black seemingly coloring the sky in vestiges of sparkles that spontaneously appeared and disappeared.
It was beautiful.
Valerio cast out his thoughts of awe as his eyes widened and he gasped in panic.
He couldn't breathe.
A flurry of thoughts raced through his head as he focused.
'Why the fuck am I in the void?' he grasped his chest, the Void Lu around him had already started acting up.
He had no business being here.
A 6th Planer regions void was so incredibly far from the level of strength he held that it was a miracle he could form a thought at the moment. And that, he was sure was solely thanks to the quality of his bloodline, not to mention its purity.
He felt a prickling sensation on his skin as he felt the void probing him.
A singular circulation of his Void Lu bought him some time. His mind focuses on his breath.
He couldn't hold his breath for longer than a few minutes. Valerio would have chuckled if it wasn't for the immediate danger surrounding him; he most definitely did not deserve to be able to hold his breath for so long. It was his unawakened constitution and the high-quality upbringing his family had provided him with that granted him this bit of athletic ability. Of course, he had trained in some martial arts before, but never to improve his level of fitness; it had been solely focused on the fundamental principles of battle.
Valerio's face reddened.
If he was estimating his lung capacity right, he knew he had a few minutes at best before he started asphyxiating. Valerio glanced into the never-ending void in hopes of there being something to make use of, there were faint lights flickering in the distance, but they were too far away, too blurred for him to make out. He searched for anything he could use, trying to remember if he had anything useful in his pockets before he was flung here.
Of course, he didn't.
He looked around once more, patting the pockets of his robes out of hope and desperation, yet all he felt as the ridocusl soft material as he saw was the indigo-blue realm shaded in black as if the world had long forgoten aobut this part of existence.
His veins slowly emerged, his face turning a concerning red. He attempted to tap into his Void ring. Yet nothing happened, he hadn't opened his soul aperture yet so he couldn't use Spiritual Lu.
As the gravity of the situation settled in, fear and despair started to seep into his thoughts.
Would he really die here, in the vast emptiness where not a single soul saw his end? Wouldn't his dad fish him out?
'No he won't. No he would… no he wouldn't. Dad threw me in here, he believes I can survive. I'll just have to raw dog awakening my talent, how hard could it be.'
Valerio's thoughts came to a pause as he directed all his attention onto his heart. He couldn't even peer into his meridians without spiritual Lu. His temper flared, a surgeing feeling of helplessness pissing him off, he stopped the thoughts before they could distract him.
Suppressing his frustration, Valerio channelled all his Lu into his heart.
'The heart is the source of blood, and my constitution comes from my bloodline—so let's do it,'
Valerio squeezed all his Lu into his heart, worsening his condition by expending the little oxygen left in his bloodstream.
It would be do or die.
THUMP!
Suddenly, a single heartbeat echoed through the void, powerful and resonant, as if the emptiness itself had come alive. But a second beat never followed.
'I.... ran.... out... of .... Lu....'
Valerio managed to barely squeeze out the thoughts as everything started to fade, his eyes starting to close as his thoughts came to a crawl.
Valerio's eyes started closing on their own, the inescapable grasp of death had dulled his senses. His lungs screamed for oxygen, burning with desperation, but no air came to relieve them. A desire for strength sparked in him, for the first time, yet it was too late, his thoughts drowned out by the sensation of death.
'My eyelids—why are they so heavy?'
Valerio's mind struggled to grasp the weight pulling him under. The once vibrant heartbeats, full of life and promise, now echoed hollowly, fading into nothingness. A weak, almost mocking chuckle escaped his lips, the sound rippling through the void, grasping for particles that weren't there—only to dissolve into silence.
"Sorry, Dad, I couldn't do it at the end."
He smiled.
'Ah, I regret it. I regret it all.'
He had always chased after his passions, but in doing so, he had taken everything else for granted. Had he spend enough time with his family, with his friends? Had he truly not needed to cultivate at all? Did he really think he didn't need strength, that his last name would be enough?
'Curse it. I wanted to li—"
Those half-formed words were Valerio Augustine's final thoughts. All his pride, ambitions, joy, and sadness—everything that made him who he was—had vanished, returning to the void. Now, all that remained was a lifeless body, suspended in the abyss, stripped of its life, drifting further into oblivion. His once-lustrous black hair floated weightlessly in the void, his body drifting further and further away, swallowed by infinity.
The silent, empty abyss seemed to rebel against the intrusion of his presence, tainted by the stillness of his form.
Maximus stood watching, his gaze fixed on his son as Valerio's heart gave its last feeble beat. The passion burning in Maximus's eyes contrasted cruelly with the cold, indifferent void that now claimed his son. The vast emptiness cared nothing for his loss.
THUMP!
"There it is," Maximus murmured, his eyes seemingly ablaze with pride and relief.
A heartbeat, so powerful it reverberated throughout Fluxara, echoed in the void, breaking through the emptiness and resonating in the material plane. In unison, a surge of Void Lu erupted with Valerio at its core.
THUMP!
A second heartbeat followed, unleashing another pulse of energy, causing his body to tense and his spine to arch upward as if was possessed.
THUMP!
The third heartbeat arrived, soothing the chaotic waves of energy still radiating outward.
THUMP!
The fourth heartbeat reversed the tide, initiating the formation of a swirling vortex of Void Lu. This vortex began to pull in energy from the surrounding millions of kilometres, an insatiable force that even Maximus could not discern the limits of. The heartbeats quickened, each thump exponentially increasing the gathering of Void Lu, drawing power from the very fabric of the void itself.
Fluxara had come to a standstill, the echoing beats reverberating like a harbinger of the world's end. Each thud was dominant and fierce, resonating in every direction as if it came from all directions, as if it was all encompassing. For the weaker residents of Fluxara, it felt as if a bomb had detonated in their heads, drowning them in a cacophony of dread and adrenaline. For the stronger among them, the fear was even greater, not because the sound was louder but because they could grasp the significance of what they were hearing—the sheer force of life and power converged into each heartbeat. All living beings froze, captivated by the heartbeats echoing between the realms of the material and the void.
If it hadn't been for Isadora making a quick announcement that Maximus was working on a new craft, the citizens of Fluxara wouldn't have been able to rest easy.