The hum of ancient machinery filled the underground laboratory as Reven's fingers danced over the sigil interface. Sparks of aether flickered through the room, awakening dormant crystals, recharging mana cores, and reviving fragments of forgotten research. After over a decade of silence, the heartbeat of Project Black Sun had returned.
Kaen stood in the center of the control platform, his arms folded, eyes fixed on the pod before him. It was suspended above a magnetic ring, pulsing with faint Void energy. Inside floated a humanoid figure—featureless, formless, still incomplete.
> "What's the sync rate?" he asked.
> "87% and rising," Reven replied. "No rejection signs. The soul anchor is holding. You've chosen well."
Kaen nodded once.
This would be the first of many. But this one—the First Avatar—would become the template for the rest.
He extended his hand, and tendrils of Void seeped from his palm, coiling around the containment pod like smoke. The Avatar responded, its blank form twitching as Kaen infused it with a sliver of his consciousness—just enough to guide, but not enough to lose control.
It was like breathing life into a shadow.
And it obeyed.
---
Outside the Dominion's inner sanctum, rumors had begun to swirl.
A nameless operative was seen entering restricted ruins.
Void signatures had been recorded flaring in classified zones.
And whispers spread—Valcarys had returned.
In the noble courts, where power balanced on knives and secrets, Kaen's name was both a ghost and a prophecy. Some dismissed it as paranoia. Others began reinforcing their wards, reactivating old blood pacts, and calling in favors they had sworn never to use.
Because if it was true…
Then retribution was coming.
And no amount of gold or silence could stop it.
---
Back in the lab.
Reven activated the next sequence.
> "Initiating combat calibration. Shall I deploy the First Avatar to simulation room Delta?"
Kaen narrowed his eyes. "No."
> "I want to test it myself."
The construct paused.
> "Direct link synchronization is unstable."
> "Good," Kaen said. "If it breaks under stress, it wasn't ready anyway."
He stepped into the inner ring, raised his hand again, and whispered a single command in the Void tongue.
> "Resonare ad voluntatem."
(Resonate with my will.)
The pod hissed open.
The Avatar dropped silently onto the floor. It stood—slightly hunched, skin black like polished obsidian, no face, no eyes, no mouth. Only Kaen's mark glowed on its chest—a swirling sigil of Void and soulflame intertwined.
> "Follow," Kaen said.
And it moved.
---
The Simulation Arena: Sub-Level 6.
A vast dome of enchanted stone and mana-infused steel. Old Dominion testing grounds, abandoned after Kaen's "death."
But the enchantments still pulsed.
Kaen stood across from the Avatar, bare-handed.
> "Begin," he commanded.
The creature vanished in a blur.
Kaen sidestepped instinctively, the wind slicing past his shoulder as the Avatar struck. It was fast. Almost too fast.
He retaliated with a wave of force—a mix of Void pressure and soul resonance. The Avatar absorbed the hit, reforming mid-air before lunging again.
This time, Kaen smiled.
> You're learning.
He unleashed a surge of pure Void—dense, concentrated, and precise. The Avatar countered with a ripple of reflective energy—a skill Kaen had buried deep within the construct's matrix.
The clash of power echoed like thunder.
Walls cracked. The floor dented. But Kaen… laughed.
It had been too long since he felt challenged.
---
After ten minutes, the simulation ended.
Kaen stood over the kneeling Avatar, his breath steady.
> "You'll do."
Reven entered from the control booth, one hand on a slate.
> "Combat potential exceeds original projections. Reaction speed, adaptability, and resistance to aether-based interference… all optimal."
> "Still flawed," Kaen said. "It lacks instinct. It's still too bound to command."
Reven tilted its head.
> "Would you prefer it to become… autonomous?"
Kaen was silent.
> "Not yet."
> "But eventually… yes."
---
Two days later.
The First Avatar had been deployed—cloaked, invisible, silently moving through Dominion's outer sectors under Kaen's direct command. It wasn't there to kill. Not yet.
It was gathering.
Mapping networks. Tracing hidden corridors. Listening.
From corrupted archives to lost spell vaults, the Avatar returned with fragments of data that Dominion believed long buried.
Kaen studied everything. Rebuilt diagrams. Updated threat assessments.
> "They're hiding something," he murmured one night. "More than just my past."
> "A new project… maybe. Something large enough to require mass memory suppression."
Reven flickered beside him.
> "Do you wish me to extract deeper?"
Kaen shook his head.
> "No. We wait."
> "We let them think they're winning."
---
Meanwhile, in the Inner Court of the Dominion…
High Chancellor Vyrric paced in his private quarters, reading over a blood-stained scroll.
His eyes narrowed.
> "Kaen Valcarys lives."
> "That should be impossible."
A woman emerged from the shadows behind him—dressed in crimson robes, her eyes glowing faintly violet.
> "Shall we act?"
Vyrric didn't answer immediately.
> "We wait. Let the Arcanists dig their own grave."
> "If Seravin truly unleashed that monster again… then he deserves to be consumed by it."
He turned to the woman.
> "Send a Raven to the Obsidian Syndicate."
> "Tell them the Void has returned."
---
Later that night, in Kaen's private chamber beneath the lab.
He stood before a relic mirror—a cursed artifact that once belonged to a Void Seer. Its surface rippled not with reflection, but with memory.
Kaen reached out.
And saw his past.
The betrayal.
The chains.
The flames.
The eyes of those he once trusted, watching him die—not with guilt, but relief.
And beside them… stood a young man.
Unfamiliar. Yet central.
> "You weren't on the council," Kaen muttered. "But you were there."
He clenched his fist.
> "Who are you?"
---
Back in Facility K-XIV, Reven activated another vault.
> "We've located the remains of Subject Nine."
Kaen raised a brow.
> "The prototype?"
> "Yes. Barely functional. But its soul fragment is intact."
Kaen approached the sealed pod.
> "Let's rebuild it."
> "But this time… give it free will."
Reven tilted its head.
> "That would make it unpredictable."
> "Good," Kaen said. "We need wild cards."
> "Let the Dominion rely on chains and orders. I'll build an army that thinks."
---