Enigma of Sin

Currently staring at the various new sections that had opened up to him now inside of the Void Loop, Kayn's look became frustrated as there was nothing that would help him become stronger.

The 4th stage cores he had previously collected did next to nothing for him, and even the single S-rank rune beast core stone he had left didn't help him much after he devoured it. Yvaris Earthborn didn't leave a single SS or SSS-class rune beast core stone behind and the Void Loop didn't contain any cores either.

He was hopeful that it would since it was technically one of the few storage items the clan had and according to what he read from a book that he found, they would stash most of the clan's belongings into it. Unfortunately, it seemed that any rune beast core stone or mana core they collected was kept elsewhere, probably long lost by now.

Even after consuming the 4th stage cores and the S-rank core stone, he was only about half-way to the 2nd stage, if even that. It made sense due to how powerful his core had become now, but he was still disappointed. A new core at the 1st stage absorbing an S-rank core stone would usually result in becoming at least a 2nd and sometimes even a 3rd stage mage.

Granted, no one at that level could feasibly absorb the entire core stone properly but he still wasn't happy. There was nowhere on Earth left for him to absorb mana from. He would now have to attempt to cross the void with a measly 5% chance of living.

Then words spoken by Charlotte a few years ago before she left echoed in his mind, telling him that there may come a day when his father could help him out one last time.

Kayn brought his mind out of the Void Loop and back to reality where he was staring at the insides of the Villa's, or rather his treasury. He solemnly walked out of the door and to his own bedroom where a small box was sitting on the nightstand just beside his bed.

Without opening the box, he picked it up and set it on his lap as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Is this really my only option? Is this what he would want me to do?" Kayn questioned himself as he was finding it quite hard to convince himself that using his father's core was the right thing to do.

In order to use it, he would need to consume it. He already had a difficult enough time swallowing down the cores of people he had killed, so would he even be able to eat his father's core?

Kayn had placed the other cores in the preservation array of the treasury, but the small box he was holding was doing that on its own for his father's core. He wanted to bury it at the site of their estate to honor his father after all was said and done, but now his best choice was to use the core for himself.

He felt sick just thinking about it. A few hours of staring at the box later, Kayn steeled his resolve before opening the box and grabbing his father's bright red core.

"Thank you for this one last gift Dad. I promise I'll do better. I'll keep Lara safe when I get back home. I'll give back all the pain they gave us tenfold, I just need your help one last time."

Kayn closed his eyes as he shoved the entire core which resembled a massive jaw breaker into his mouth and began to chew down on it. He had to resist the impulse to throw it up a few times, but he managed to swallow the entire thing after a few minutes.

Immediately, a rush of power began to flow through him. It was much more potent than the S-rank core stone and he could feel the elements that formed his father's core, which only left him stupefied.

The amount of mana inside of a 5th stage core shouldn't have been that much or that powerful. There was also the fact that he could feel that his father's affinity for the fire element was even higher than his, even after all of the fire related inheritances he absorbed.

"How is that possible? I should be far stronger elemental-wise than he was by now. Was it because of the injury he suffered that he couldn't fully bring out all of the potential his core held?"

Kayn couldn't believe how powerful his father should have been had he not suffered a setback while saving his mother. Not wanting to waste anything, he quickly began to use the Void Star technique which at this point needed adjustments, but he didn't have time for that or a way to improve it without there being mana in the atmosphere.

It took him longer than he expected, but an entire day later he felt his core compress and then explode outwards, quickly reforming itself into a quasar form.

Much like how a real black hole contained an astronomical mass at its center, Kayn's core was the same, except that instead of mass it was mana. He could instantly tell that he had arrived at the 2nd stage of whatever his core was now.

His mana felt stronger and he had access to far more of it than just a day ago. He could also tell that his affinities for fire and light rose to new heights. Absorbing his father's core had done something similar to what Chaos had done, only on a much smaller scale.

Much like Chaos had fully unlocked the strengths of his mother's side for him, his father's core had also helped him to tap into his High Elf and Progenitor Demon sides.

Although it was a much smaller boost than what Chaos had given to him, he couldn't help but let a few tears slide down his face. His father had truly given him so much, even in death he was saving him and watching over his progress.

Kayn marveled at the amount of power he now felt coursing through his body. If he had to guess, he should be able to fight any average 6th stage core mage who was nearing the middle of their progress towards becoming a Celestial, one versus one anyway.

Fighting a peak 6th stage individual would still be a challenge though. Even with all of the power he gained, that was just the difference and gap between the beginning and peak of the last stage of the lower worlds.

However, if Kayn fully utilized his elemental advantage? Then he was confident he could kill or at least drive off anyone he met in Talgonoth, save for maybe the Celestials that would still be looking for his family. He didn't know there were only two left looking now, but he still couldn't face them with his current strength.

It would take time once he made it back, but he figured that by the time he got back to the 4th stage he could fight them. If he was in the 6th stage? They should be no more than play things if his power increased how he guessed it would, at least he hoped.

Unfortunately, confidence didn't mean he was right and would soon come to realize the power scales within the 6th stage were far more extensive than he imagined.

Focusing back on his current task, he closed his eyes once again in order to meditate and study the spell he was going to use. He wanted, no he needed to memorize and understand it in and out so that he could mitigate any potential problems while also being able to stave off the void that would be trying to erase him from existence.

He still barely had more than a 10% chance of success, but now there was truly nothing more he could do. Flying through space to find it? That would take him far too long and he would eventually run out of mana, not to mention having no clue where he needed to go.

Even if he had the knowledge to create teleportation scrolls like the one that sent him here, he didn't have the resources for it. Honestly, him somehow teleporting to Earth was a massive fluke in the scroll and he knew that it also used up the rest of his strength and then some to get him here.

That made him wonder if Charlotte made it back intact or if she was closer to death than she already was since teleporting between worlds should by no means be an easily achieved feat.

Kayn spent an entire month just focusing solely on the void element. Even if he spent hundreds of years trying to digest what Chaos gave him, it wouldn't be enough. If this was only a fraction of his knowledge, just how deep was his understanding of the void?

Sure, Kayn could use the spells properly for the most part by using the knowledge directly given to him, but that wasn't knowing what you were doing, only performing spells with a monkey see monkey do attitude. If he truly wanted to give his all to succeed, he needed to actually understand what he was trying to do, even a little bit of understanding would help.

He was growing increasingly impatient, but it wasn't until two months, Earth's time, passed that he stopped what he was doing and began to make some food to eat before getting a good rest.

He wanted his mind and body in top shape before he attempted to tear into the void and while food wasn't strictly necessary for that, it helped. The sleep was much needed though as he had been overworking his mind, and clearing it out before he made his attempt would surely help him.

After Kayn awoke from his sleep, he used some of the mana the Villa naturally contained in order to shower after trimming his beard down to about a centimeter in length. He liked how the beard looked if he was honest, so he planned to keep it, at least until Kinzie said otherwise.

Thinking of Kinzie caused him to yearn for home. He wanted to hold Lara in his arms, to kiss Kinzie again, make jokes with Rowen, and everything else he could think of that he missed. He had spent a bit under 10 years on Earth, even if he didn't remember half of it due to being unconscious or in a meditative trance.

He couldn't help but lament that he missed all of Lara's childhood as she would be a teenager now. Hell, for all he knew she could have already formed her core! With his determination to get back home at the forefront of his mind, he packed the Villa up into his soul and stood on the edge of the mountain he settled on.

He took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air as he formed claws with the Tethers at the tips of his right hand's fingers.

"So long Earth, I hope to never see you again."

Kayn spoke as he brought his hand down in a swiping manner. A long black line formed in the space in front of him before a suction began to pull in all of the air around and Kayn himself.

He sent all of the mana he had outwards to defend against the harsh void he was about to enter. When his body fully crossed the threshold and his presence disappeared from the Earth, the portal to the void closed, returning the area to the usual appearance as if nothing had ever been there in the first place.