Night descended on the city, and Aiden sat on the balcony. Genevieve sat in front of him, reading a book while he meditated. He glanced at her.
"Stop wasting time and generate more void energy," she scolded him. "What you have at the moment is too low for a successful cultivation session."
"I think what I have is enough," Aiden complained. "I can feel it."
"I know it feels overwhelming," she said while closing the book. "You have no proficiency in practicing this technique. If you meditate with the bare minimum, you'll end up hurting yourself because you are bound to waste some of this energy."
"I understand, it's just a little… boring."
"Cultivation was never about having fun," she said. "It's always about being patient and fighting your desire to stop. If you can't resist the temptation to stop, you'll never be a true seeker."
"I just hate going back to that feeling."
"That's why people avoid choosing this cultivation path as their main," Genevieve said. "No matter how bad you want something, it doesn't feel good to feel the weight of these desires. The case is worse for you."
"All my life I avoided these feelings," Aiden said. "But now, I have to confront them to get stronger. That makes me feel vulnerable."
"My master said that in order to be the strongest, you have to be the weakest first — she meant confronting what you fear the most."
"Can I just use my hatred of others?"
"But we've established that you don't hate others as much as you hate yourself," Genevieve said as she rose from the chair and walked toward him. Then, she sat down in front of him. "Let my voice guide you."
Aiden looked at her, and then sighed before closing his eyes.
"Think about the mistakes you've made, and how they brought you here — alone in a strange land," she began. "Use the hatred toward yourself to be the guiding flame that lets you evolve."
Aiden listened to her voice guide him through a sea of memories. He reviewed every mistake, and every time he didn't do anything when he should have. He found himself drowning in a sea of memories, until a hand reached out and yanked him out.
Aiden opened his eyes to find Genevieve sitting in front of him with a smile. Her aura was enveloping him, preventing him from accumulating too much of the void energy.
"You should now bind to the Voidheart Sutra."
Aiden nodded and retrieved it from his inventory. Genevieve didn't seem surprised that he had a storage space ability. Instead, she focused on controlling her aura to stabilize his emotions.
[Would you like to bind this technique to Aiden Valero? This choice is permanent.]
→ [YES: Begin the Voidheart Sutra]
→ [NO: Store in Inventory]
Aiden looked at the screen in front of him, making sure that Genevieve couldn't tell that he was looking at something other than the Voidheart Sutra.
"Place a hand on the technique and close your eyes," Genevieve said. "You will see a grand door in front of you. Walk into the door, and the technique will bind to your soul."
"This isn't just some elaborate plan to make me your slave, right?" Aiden asked with a little concern. "I would be happy to do it without getting magic involved."
"Trust me: I have no use for a useless slave," she said with a smile. "Take your time to make this decision. You cannot bind to any other technique once you bind to this one."
"I know," Aiden muttered and placed the book on the brick-layered ground, and then placed a hand on the cover. "I trust you."
Aiden saw nothing but darkness.
Then, a violet flame appeared in front of him.
It grew bigger with each passing second until it turned into a door. The flame died down, leaving an ancient double-door. On its violet metal the words were engraved:
[Abandon hope to seize your destiny.]
[Sever attachments to forge bonds.]
[Destroy your soul to achieve immortality.]
Aiden stared at the door.
He had no idea what those sentences meant — but he was willing to learn.
Not just to gain power, but to gain control of himself and his emotions.
He wanted to conquer his memories, not to simply forget them.
He wanted to defeat his demons, not to live beside them.
He stepped forward through the door.
Violet flames erupted to illuminate his path.
A stairway appeared in front of him, climbing to the sky.
On each step was a violet candle, illuminating his path.
Aiden took one step at a time.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The winding stair showed no signs of ending.
The gate could no longer be seen.
Aiden kept walking.
And after a long time, he reached the final step.
He found a platform with a mat in the middle.
A violet candle was in front of the mat.
Aiden sat on the mat.
The candle burned in front of him, illuminating the platform.
The longer he stared at it, the more he understood that it was his only light in the infinite void — it was hope. And then, he remembered the words on the door.
Abandon hope to seize your destiny.
Aiden blew the candle out.
The flame disappeared, scattering to invite the darkness.
And then, there was only darkness to surround him.
"We meet again."
A voice came after a long time.
Aiden was confused.
"I don't think we met before," he answered. "Who are you?"
"We met where all things cease to exist," the voice said. "You were the first in millennia to hear my voice and answer me."
It clicked in Aiden's mind.
"You were the voice who spoke to me on the edge of the world," he said with a dawning realization. "What do you want from me?"
"The void wants nothing but to consume," the voice answered. "But you are the one who sought me this time. You want something from me — state it."