"Honestly, I cannot tell you how long I have been stuck here, but now that I have adapted my body to the power of the Void, I can no longer leave this place. Even with my powers of space I cannot leave. This is the price I paid for survival." Aether looked at Zane with reverence before a bright smile lit up on his face. "But as luck would have it, I have met you!"
"Me?!" Zane instinctively retorted. "King Aether I greatly respect you and the hospitality that you have shown me but what do I have that would make you so interested in a magic cripple. I have no affinity with mana and no big names behind me." Zane was shocked by Aether's words but knew he must stay polite since he was standing in the presence of a God.
"Good question. Yes you are mortal, you are also a magic cripple, but..." Aether paused as if to deliberately cause suspense in the room, "You have a heart that is compatible with the Void body!" Aether spoke like an excited child, gripping his armrests so hard that the white throne began to crack. "Hahaha, I am sorry I got a little excited." He settled back down in his chair before continuing to explain.
"Yes boy, you have a Void heart, that makes you fully compatible with the power of the Void. This is why you have never had an affinity with mana, why you have been able to strengthen your body to the peak without any magical assistance and why I am choosing you for my inheritance." Aether's grin stretched from ear to ear the more he spoke.
"The rest I understand, but inheritance?" Zane is aware of what an inheritance is, but what exactly could Aether expect him to inherit?
"Yes correct, my inheritance to be exact. As I have told you, I am stuck here until I die, which is nearing rapidly. Instead of dying without resistance I tried to find myself a successor, but without my space divinity, I cannot pass on my Godly powers.
However if someone was compatible with the Void powers I have learned over the years then I could give them them the inheritance of the Void instead." Aether's violet eyes stared at Zane with respect.
"Listen boy, you are weak and I wish to give you my power and my name. Your Void heart is invaluable and I can guarantee I will never have the opportunity to meet someone like you again.
I will make you my family, my heir, but to do so I must merge my soul with yours. So there are two conditions you must accept if you want my inheritance." Zane nodded to confirm that he is paying full attention to Aether's words.
"First, the merging required will make me no longer exist. Since I'm dying that is okay, but I will be integrating my soul with yours and the system I have set up will guide you through your journey.
This merging however, will take 1000 years and every second day you will suffer unbearable pain unlike anything you will have previously or will experience in your life." Aether looked at Zane expecting hesitation but was pleased to see Zane didn't show any signs of refusing.
"If that's the first condition, how terrible is the second?" Zane chuckled, he was smiling on the outside but actually trying to guess what could be worse than 1000 years of pain. 'I will do whatever it takes to get stronger and rise above everyone else, only then will I be able to find out who I truly am and where I come from.
"Smart boy indeed, yes the second is harder, but both conditions must be accepted to pass. So that being said, as my sole inheritor you will also inherit my grudge.
Once you are strong enough you will avenge my betrayal and slaughter the Gods that once banished me." Aether's cold tone expressed his seriousness with this matter, but Zane didn't flinch. In fact he had already expected this to be the second condition and after pondering for a few seconds, he was ready to give his answer.
"I accept your conditions, King Aether I will inherit your name and your vengeance." Zane paused briefly, 'Me a nobody, living a life of waste, but now I have been given an opportunity to be something. To be something powerful! How could I refuse?'
"Good then, allow me to explain to what's going to happen now." Aether stood up from his throne and walked towards Zane then stopped only 2ft away. "I'm going to merge my soul with yours, this will take 1000 years because you are a mortal and I am a God.
Whilst we merge, the reason your body will suffer unbearable pain is because my soul will be forcing its self into your smaller and weaker soul, forcefully expanding it to match my own." Drakul walked crawled forward and put his face meters away from Aether and Zane. Aether lifted his hand and ran it across Drakul's scaled head.
"Secondly, your body will need to adapt to the void energy I will be passing onto you. Since you have a Void heart, I'm sure you will have no problem with this and will even be stronger than I am now once you can fully wield my gifted power. But that's where my system will come in!" Aether cheered whilst petting Drakul.
"My system will slowly help you learn and utilize both my gifted power and the power of your Void heart. But let's not spoil the surprises the system will explain when the time is right."
Zane smiled wryly "I look forward to it." Zane was pleased that Aether was going to help him even through death, which made Zane admire Aether.
"Oh yes and Zane the portal to leave here will be set to open 1000 years after the process begins, it will only open once so don't miss it." Aether chuckled and walked straight up to Zane, bringing his mouth right to his ear "You will no longer be just Zane, you will be Aether Zane my heir, the future looks promising my boy."
When Zane looked at Aether he saw a single tear fall down his cheek, leaving a trail of burning purple energy on his face before his tear hit the marble floor and corroded a tiny hole in the floor.
A rune glowed purple where the hole was and the floor immediately fixed itself. "These are tears of joy, not sadness" Aether smiled softly while looking straight into Zane's eyes. "You remind me of myself as a young God, I have high hopes for you."
Zane felt like for the first time since the Inn Keeper who looked after him out of pity, he had found someone who saw him for more than a nameless person. "Thank you for this opportunity Aether. I promise I will not let you down."
"I know you won't." Aether nodded his head in response. "Here take this ring." Aether lifted his left hand and removed his white jade ring from his finger. Zane held out his hand and Aether placed the ring in his palm. "As an extra gift before I go, I give you Drakul. Drakul has been with me for many years and has shared the burden of my Void suffering, therefore the first and only Void dragon in existence."
"But you must understand that crossing realms is a taxing thing. So Drakul will not be able to carry all of his energy across, whilst feeding yourself you will also need to feed Drakul so he can return to his full power. He is a great asset and an even greater companion." Aether looked towards Drakul who was once again grinning. He then turned his gaze to Zane "An honour to serve you Master, I will give my life to you like I did for this Master."
"What does this ring do?" Zane asked curiously. Aether clasped his hand together and smiled. "The ring gives you control over Drakul and this includes storing him. As he is large and will be too eye catching to have out all the time, at least until you are strong enough. So the ring will store his physical body but you will still be able to communicate through telepathy."
Aether unclasped his hands and took out a white and golden painted contract. "The contract read "Soul Merge" and had a box at the bottom requiring a drop of each participants blood. "Let's begin, there is no point in waiting any longer." Aether lit up a small blade of purple from his finger tip before slicing his hand and letting a drop of lavender blood fall onto the clear white page contract.
Zane lifted his hand and Aether pricked Zane's thumb with the purple blade, then held the contract for Zane. Blood dripped from his thumb and splashed against the white paper, staining the second side. It was done, the contract had been signed.
"Good luck Aether..." Aether said these three words but before Zane had already started zoning out from the immense pain filling his mind and body. In his head it felt as if someone was hammering nails into his brain all over his skull, relentlessly without end.
The pain from his body also pushing him to the limit. His blood boiled and evaporated before condensing back into liquid but losing its vibrant red slowly. Everytime his blood boiled it burned his skin off from head to toe, not leaving a single patch.
The bones throughout Zane's body cracked and crushed into paste, before building themselves back from the paste. Each organ burst from the intense heat before once again reforming as if rewinding time. Only Zane's heart remained unaffected, slowly pushing purple energy throughout his veins to support the formation of his building body.
When Zane opened his eyes he was alone lying on the marble floor. Lifting himself up he found the room completely empty and the ring from Aether on his finger. 'I guess he's already gone, I wish I could've said more to him.' Zane was disappointed. He'd finally met someone so magnificent but barely got to speak to him about more than his new task.
'Damn I guess it's just me here.' Zane cursed inwardly. Before Zane could have another thought his mind was interrupted. 'No I am here Master.' A low recognizable voice sounded in his head. Zane only needed a second to realize that it was none other than Drakul through the telepathy link they now shared.
'Drakul I have something to ask, why does my body feel like it's absorbing constantly?' Ever since Zane woke up, he felt like energy had been constantly flowing into him, first through his pores, then veins and all the way to his heart. Although this process felt strange, with every minute Zane felt his body getting stronger and his power rising.
'The first of the two days is the Void body reconstruction, where your body reforms itself constantly whilst using the void energy stored within. Then on the second day, your heat begins to absorb the surrounding void energy.' Drakul explained to the best of his ability so that Zane could understand what was happening to him.
'Your heart acts a void battery that is charged up then used to help strengthen your body. With your unique Void heart the outcome will be greater than what would've been if someone else had ended up with Aether's inheritance.' Drakul was using the telepathy since he was inside the ring but it didn't limit the imposing presence that Zane could feel.
'Luckily surrounded by void energy you will be able to supply yourself with more than enough fuel.' Drakul explained nonchalantly. Zane understood what he meant, currently he had an infinite supply of energy to help with his 1000 year merger and the building of his void body. But this made Zane curious about a different thing.
'Drakul how do I supply myself with void energy once I return to the Fultra Realm?' Zane knew it was a simple yet important question and he was trying to plan ahead. 'Do not worry just yet, the system will tell you what to do once the time comes.' Drakul spoke vaguely as if trying to hide the truth.
However Zane knew that Drakul had given his life to Zane, so he had no doubts about his loyalty and came to the conclusion that the system would guide him in the future.