Where… am I?
Lucien thought the words quietly, his mind still foggy from the edge of unconsciousness. He stood frozen in place, staring into an endless abyss. The darkness stretched forever in every direction, and it stared right back at him with a weight that pressed against his chest.
In this empty void, Lucien was utterly alone. He faced the blackness directly, unable to look away. Slowly, the darkness began to move. A thick, cold fog rose from nowhere and wrapped around his legs, then his waist, creeping higher. It felt heavy, like wet cloth soaked in ice water. The fog clung to his skin and pulled at something deeper, as if it wanted to drag his very soul into its depths.
***
Outside, in the real world, Onyx stood over Lucien's motionless body.
This kid has slipped into a deep meditative trance. Eight minutes left. Maybe he will actually manage it.
Lucien sat perfectly still in the lotus position on the hot floor near a volcano, as the earth continued to quake around him. His eyes were lightly closed, his face calm, his breathing so shallow it barely moved his chest. Onyx felt a strange tightness in his own body, a tension he could not name. He kept his expression cold and distant, giving nothing away.
What kind of node will he awaken as his foundation? Especially now, with death breathing down his neck.
A faint amusement stirred in Onyx. He let out a soft chuckle and cupped his chin with one hand, fingers absently stroking a beard that had not grown in centuries.
In all the lives I remember, I have watched many grasp Nexus. Never in so little time.
"You have little time left, kid," Onyx murmured, the words slipping out before he could stop them.
***
Deep inside the abyss of his soul, Lucien was completely surrounded.
Grandpa…?
He could not believe what his eyes showed him. A familiar figure stood ahead in the darkness, tall and kind, just as he remembered. His grandfather, the one whose funeral he had just been to.
Are you truly alive?
The thought echoed through the empty space, bouncing back louder than he expected. Lucien took a step forward. The figure grew clearer with every heartbeat. He reached out, hope rising in his throat.
WHOOSH!
The image vanished like smoke in the wind. Nothing remained but floating shards of glass that caught faint light from nowhere. Each shard held a piece of his life: a memory of laughter, a moment of pain, a quiet evening by the fire. As Lucien walked closer, the shards drifted together. They fused into one tall mirror that stood directly in his path.
He looked into it.
The reflection showed only a small child, face streaked with tears, shoulders shaking with sobs. It was him.
…
Lucien felt the air leave his lungs. Words failed him. Thoughts scattered. He could only stare at that pathetic sight and feel immense disappointment in himself.
CRACK. CRACK. CRASH!
The mirror shattered after only a few breaths. Pieces flew in every direction. One sharp shard sliced across his cheek, warm blood welling up at once. He did not flinch. He stood in a daze, mind blank, the cave air cold against the new cut.
DRIP. SPLAT.
Blood hit the invisible ground and made a soft sound that finally pulled him back.
Master oneself and understand the world…
The thought drifted through his emptiness. Just as he felt the edge of true understanding, the brink of Nexus, everything broke apart again. The abyss shattered like the mirror. The scene changed without warning.
Now Lucien stood beneath a vast, clear sky. His feet rested on an endless sea of water so still it looked like polished glass. The surface reflected the empty blue above, making him feel suspended between two infinities.
What happened..?
Confusion washed over him, cold as the fog from before. He forced himself to breathe steadily and gather his scattered thoughts.
SNAP.
A sharp sound cut the silence. His body began to fracture. Fine cracks spread across his arms, his legs, his chest. Pieces started to flake away like dry clay. The raw fear of death rushed back, the fear he had pushed aside in the trance. It flooded him now, thick and choking.
The broken pieces tried to pull themselves back together. They floated closer, reattached for a moment, then cracked again. Over and over. Survival instinct fought against terror, but the breaking happened faster each time. He watched in horror as his limbs dissolved quicker than they could reform.
Soon only his torso remained whole. His heart pounded so hard he felt it in his throat.
No other way.
Lucien turned every fragment of his mind inward. He searched desperately for understanding of himself and the laws that governed this world.
Who am I? Just an elf? Just another living creature breathing air and eating food? Do I serve any purpose at all? Does life need meaning to keep turning? Does the world make sense? Does it have to?
The questions burned through him. His pulse thundered in his ears, refusing to quiet. He knew the truth: realize Nexus now, or vanish forever.
Then understanding came, slow and heavy.
I am only a cog in an endless cycle. Everyone is. We turn and turn. Emotion is the fuel that keeps us moving. The mind is the motor that directs us. The body is the engine that carries us forward. Our feelings, our prejudices, our joys and hates, they make true equality impossible while we live. But death comes for every cog the same. In death, all are equal. No titles. No strength. No weakness.
The realization settled deep. Only his torso floated now in the calm sea under the clear sky.
He pushed harder, reaching for more.
Superiority and inferiority are nothing but shadows cast by emotion. To rise higher, a person must accept every feeling that comes and still hold the reins. Sail with the wind. Flow with the current. Fight them and you only drown in exhaustion.
The final piece clicked into place.
The trance shattered.
Lucien opened his eyes and found himself staring straight into Onyx's calm face.
The quiet of the inner world faded, replaced by the rough quakes of the earth as hot air from the nearby volcano hit his face.
"Kid." Onyx spoke softly, almost casual. "I did not expect you to pull it off."
The words felt strangely flat after the storm Lucien had just survived.
"Time to test your Nexus," Onyx continued. "First, feel what you have gained."
Onyx studied him. He realized that Lucien was different now. The wide-eyed, open naïvety had softened, tempered by the new control over his emotions. Yet, he still felt the naïvety which was still in him, just not dominant anymore.
***
Lucien closed his eyes again. He let his awareness spread through every part of his body carefully. He then felt it, a faint yet unmistakable connection between his mind and heart. What he felt had always contrasted was finally absolved. His heart and mind were one.
Whoa! They're in sync now. It's… thrilling..!
A quiet excitement stirred in his chest. He opened his eyes and focused on that new flow. His irises turned from a deep amber to a soft purple.
His vision had widened. He saw not just the landscapes in front of him, but also what ran beneath them. Although faint, he could see traces of Nexus all around him.
Yet despite everything, he was still immensely disappointed.
He had expected some grand, earth-shattering power, yet all he got was enhanced vision which he himself felt and knew instinctively, was incomplete. He realized that his foundations right now were immensely unstable and incomplete.
He understood what he had to do.
He must find the missing piece of the puzzle. The things he could not grasp with his mind, he knew that he must understand them soon, in order to consolidate his foundation.