Enigma of Sin

Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, days into weeks. Kayn eventually completely lost track of time after a while as the pain was too much for him. He had started counting in his head to keep it occupied on something other than pain, but he couldn't keep it up.

Every part of him was constantly being inflicted with an excruciating stabbing and burning pain. After all of the screaming he had done, sound no longer came out of his mouth for Chaos to hear, but that didn't stop him from trying. He wanted a break, just a little rest, but his begging eyes only prompted Chaos to inform him that if he stopped the process, it would mean death.

It was extremely difficult to maintain his Void Star technique through it all, but thankfully Chaos was able to supplement him a little bit by keeping his Demonic Dragon Heart's black hole functioning with whatever he was doing.

Eventually, there came a point where the pain started to feel normal to him and that this was just his life now. He was able to move his head and look around, and he was horrified as he watched his body disintegrate and reform in a sort of black mist fashion.

'Will I even be able to use mana the same after all of this is over? What about my mana circulatory system? What is he doing to me?!' Kayn was starting to panic and regret his decision to go through with this. He should have just asked for the knowledge and declined everything else, at least then he would be able to use mana the same as before!

The process continued steadily as Kayn once again started keeping track of time by counting. The pain still spiked to higher levels sometimes, but he was able to bear with it better now that he had been in this state for so long.

One month, two months, three, six, twelve, fifteen…eventually two entire years passed by according to Kayn's estimate based on his counting, plus or minus a month or two as he wasn't exactly sure how long he had missed when he couldn't count properly.

He finally started to feel something different at this point, he felt…good! He wasn't feeling any pain and the slight discomfort he originally felt in this space was completely gone, it was like everything was in his control, even if it wasn't.

Taking in a large breath, much like when he first breathed after creating his Demonic Dragon Heart, he felt a rush of energy and power much more potent than anything he felt before. He instinctively felt his tissues had changed on a cellular level. His core also felt a bit different, but before he could even begin to try examining himself, Chaos's voice echoed out again.

"Now for the knowledge."

The soft touch on Kayn's back then moved to his head. Information about the void element began to flow into his head and just as he was about to start processing some of it and start digesting it, he began to soundlessly scream again.

His brain felt like it was inside of a crushing machine, being compressed from all sides while the center was trying to explode outwards! However, this time it wasn't because something about him was changing, it was because he was gaining knowledge far above his level of power.

Being privy to information which shouldn't exist in the lower realms, which he currently belonged to, induced the wrath of the universe, punishing him and testing him. If he could withstand the burden of this knowledge, he would be able to keep and use it, much like he had before. If he failed to withstand it…then that was it for him.

Unfortunately, due to the quantity and quality of the knowledge that he was receiving via some kind of direct transfer, the accumulated burden would be much higher and that much more difficult to survive.

The other temples gave him knowledge, but actually digesting and incorporating it all into himself was a very slow process. The burden didn't come all at once due to this and Kayn didn't even notice that he was acquiring burden because of it.

The thing that gave Kayn a slight edge in this battle was the fact that his soul already entered the next stage, which wasn't supposed to happen until after one ascended to a Celestial world.

While it may seem that his mind was being attacked to him, it was actually his soul that was battling and resisting. The soul represented one's being and existence and was the major determining factor whether one lived or died during the process of combating overwhelming burden accumulation.

It was possible to permanently damage the soul during the process too, in which case one would become a cripple or even dull in the mind. This was why those who failed the third trial of the ascension tribulation were not the same as before. In order to ascend, one's soul needed to be on the precipice of evolution in order to pass the third trial and move on to a Celestial world.

Kayn's soul had already evolved, and in a much better way than most were able to as he also had minor evolutionary resonances between major realm changes. He didn't know it yet, but he would be able to breeze through the third trial of ascension when the time came.

After what seemed like forever to Kayn, the pressure and pain started easing up and he began to pant with sweat and tears dripping down his face. It wasn't just tears from his eyes though as he had been bleeding from his eyes, ears, and nose during the process without realizing it.

He looked like a mess and he felt the same. After so long of being both aware and unable to sleep, he reached his limit and fell asleep as soon as his head stopped hurting.

Chaos stared at Kayn, a mere infant in his eyes, who had been able to survive through the whole process so far, but his core and body still needed to adapt to everything. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if his distant descendant was able to wake up or if he would be lost to the void.

…

A pair of eyes slowly began to open, the eyelids blinking a few times as the owner of these eyes tried to orient himself to the situation. However, it was pitch black with very little luminescence in the area save for a few purple cloud-like objects swirling around here and there.

Panic began to set in as the individual had no idea where they were or what they were doing here. Their brain was hazy and their thoughts a jumbled mess. Much like when one sleeps too much, he felt very groggy and not refreshed at all after opening their eyes.

"What happened? Ugh." He mumbled as he tried to sit up only to realize that there was no support underneath his body to brace against.

Instead, he reached up to his face in order to rub his brow as he sorted out the messy thoughts, only to feel a bushy beard. Quickly reaching towards the top of his head, he ran his fingers down the length of his hair, only to realize it was well past his shoulders.

That wasn't right. The last he remembered, all of his body hair was gone, burnt off by lava and he hadn't bothered trying to regrow it yet. Just as he was struggling trying to piece together a timeline, a voice surrounded him from all directions.

"You've awoken, congratulations Kayn. With this, you may just be able to realize your goals while also achieving my own as well. How do you feel?"

"Who are-" before Kayn could finish asking his question, memories of meeting Chaos and agreeing to risk his life for a chance to go home flooded into his mind. Everything after that point was a blur, except for one thing, pain. All he knew after that point was pain.

Seeing Kayn's reaction, Chaos spoke, "Do you remember now?"

"Yes. As for how I'm feeling, disoriented would be the best descriptor. My body feels strange, there are thoughts and insights in my head that I never had. Lastly, I'm hairy, very hairy. How long has it been since we started?" Kayn asked as if it had been too long, would his Lara or Kinzie even recognize him?

What if it had been several decades or even centuries? What if he had missed Lara growing up into her own person? Or worse yet, what if she somehow died? If her core formed and she reached the 2nd stage, there would be no chance for her survival if the Celestials sensed her aura.

While Kayn was busy starting to overthink and catastrophize anything and everything, a deep hum resounded.

"Hmmm, I'm not much for keeping track of such a concept nor could I tell you how long it's been on your home world. However, if we go by the time keeping standards of the world known as Earth…three and a half, closer to four years have gone by since we began."

"Four years…I remember that I counted somewhere around two years before you said something about knowledge and then I don't remember anything. What happened?" Kayn asked.

"After you withstood the punishment of burden for the knowledge I bestowed upon you, you fell unconscious. You were asleep for a bit over one and a half years. Though not as much asleep as your body, mind, and core were trying to adjust to the changes. I honestly expected it to take you a while longer before you awoke." Chaos's tone was much like that of a teacher talking to their pupil.

"Right...so what did you do to me?"

"I'll let you examine your core for yourself. As for your mind, I simply gave you a bit of my knowledge regarding the void element and a few spells that should serve your immediate purposes.

"Your body, I restructured that. It seems that your other natures besides that of an Obsidian Void Dragon were holding you back and preventing you from utilizing the void properly. I merely gave you what should have been yours by birth. I also can't explain this fully as it wouldn't end well for you and might cause you to suffer another punishment. For that I apologize as you will need to figure things out for yourself.

"I recommend taking some time to adjust to how your body feels as well as understanding the difference in the mana flowing through you before anything else. I didn't remove anything from your former physique, such as your interesting constitution, I just added to and adjusted it. Once you are comfortable, then you may cast whatever spell you wish, but I would refrain from doing so until then."

Rather than responding, Kayn only nodded his head in understanding. If he was honest, his mana did feel a bit foreign to him and that made him nervous about trying to utilize it. Adjusting his body into a more meditative position while he floated in the empty space, he closed his eyes and began to breathe in the dense void mana that surrounded him.