Zenon opened his eyes, greeted by an unknown environment.
The first thing that he saw was the purple color, literally. The sky, the ground, and even the sand were purple. Zenon looked at his body, confused by the tingling sensation all over his skin, and got startled by the amount of Runes written around his body.
His right arm was full of them, and for some reason, he could understand them but couldn't read them. If he tried to read them in his mind, a massive headache would assault him.
The next thing that Zenon saw when he lifted his head, was the humanoid floating in front of him while in a sitting position - legs crossed.
It was completely purple and transparent, made of a fine weaving of veils that made a humanoid body. His two eyes glowed a mesmerizing pink that seemed to analyze the atoms themselves.
"So, is this the future Unseen carrying Void's Lineage?" The being talked to itself, "I'm surprised, to say the least. Escaping Fire's subordinates is not something easy... even harder carrying such an important power."
"W-Who are you? Are yo-" Suddenly, the humanoid moved instantly and placed his hand on Zenon's mouth while bringing a finger to its mouth.
After some seconds of silence, he muttered, "Fire hears everything…You shouldn't mention any name, even if you are incorrect. It could be anyone, after all. It's more than probable that Fire is seeing red right now, wondering who dares to take his turn.
If I get caught, I'll receive my punishment with pride. We just couldn't let this opportunity go away."
"We? Who are we?!"
The humanoid took a white ball out of his chest. He lifted it up in the air and said,
"Prepare yourself. The further you get, the stronger you'll be. Don't worry, the Lineage inside of you is special as it belongs to one of the Seven Angels. Perhaps the strongest of them all. Void didn't lack off during these eons... and Fire is scared of that."
The white pearl started floating until it disappeared into the sky...
"Hope you are ready."
When it became almost indistinguishable, a surge of white energy covered his Soul and an unbearing pain took over him.
"GAAAAGHHH!" Zenon screamed his lungs out with the first wave of pain.
It was something he never endured before in his life. A mixture of hotness and coldness traveled his body at the speed of sound, and the piercing pain in his chest didn't make it any easier.
His limbs felt sore, his muscles smashed and cut into pieces, his bones as if they were made of jelly. His blood pressure began increasing to the point Zenon thought he was going to die from a heart attack.
Everything hurt - even thinking - but he couldn't just stay still. He took a step forward while biting his lower lip, drawing some blood from it.
One step, another, another, another. Slowly but surely, Zenon worked on getting a steady pace. It started slow - very slow - but his movement slowly increased and before he could realize it, he was running as fast as his legs could.
Now there were two options, either focus on the pain and let his body work automatically on running, or focus on running and trying to ignore the piercing pain.
Swallowing his screams, Zenon tried to get a steady breathing, and when he got it? The race was on.
It was so on...
—
How long has been Zenon running? How long has it been since he started? He already went through several different types of environments.
Firstly a plain, with no slopes whatsoever. Suddenly a forest appeared, filled with dense trees and vegetation. Then a desert made running a living hell, constantly falling down the dunes. A river with the strongest current he has faced. A jungle with annoying bees. A small mountain with steep slopes and now?
He was climbing a never ending mountain. His legs screamed for mercy, his fingers had blisters and cuts because of the constant climbing, his chest was asking for a breather... But his brain? He was commanding him to continue. Despite the neverending pain, his rationality and desire were stronger.
Zenon stopped caring about the pain long ago, perhaps after getting away from the river.
It was as if his body was working on an auto-pilot. Perhaps, an entire day went by already? He didn't know, but he managed to stay awake for four days straight some time ago, so that's something.
His eyes were giving up, tempting Zenon with the sweet pleasure of falling asleep. But Zenon continued climbing.
'Climb, climb, climb, don't fall, don't fall, climb.' His thoughts ran rampant, encouraging him to climb another meter more. Before he knew it, he reached the summit of the mountain.
He tried to get up on his legs to continue running, but the exhaustion was already too severe to ignore it. As if a shock traveled through his entire being, every muscle stopped working and Zenon fell to the ground.
"No more… no more…" He muttered these words over and over again.
Opening his eyes, Zenon found himself in a different place.
It wasn't at the summit of the mountain, but rather in the same position he was summoned at first.
All of the exhaustion and pain disappeared as if it was nothing but a bad nightmare. His eyes no longer felt tired, and the blisters and cuts in his fingers disappeared. A refreshing sensation took over his body before dropping to his knees in relief.
Suddenly, two legs appeared in front of him, making him look up. There that purple Angel, who's been following him for the entire time, stood still with his arms crossed.
"I must say, I cannot comprehend how your sanity is still intact. Most of us can't. If only you had an idea of how long you were running… You don't realize how lucky you are, because this is no different from winning the lottery."
Zenon just lowered his head while taking deep breaths. The remnants of the pain were still piercing his body, almost like a phantom sensation.
"You are one hell of a monster... This is the moment where we part ways. The last part of this Awakening is for you to reap your rewards, so my job here is done. I wish you the best for the future, Unseen."
With those last words, the Angel bursted into purple particles, leaving nothing of itself behind. Zenon remained on his knees for a while. Memories of the past hours flooded his mind, and to be honest, he had no idea how he managed to survive.
'I'm insane… fucking hell.'
Getting up, Zenon was suddenly assaulted by a weird sensation.
It wasn't painful at least, but his body felt rather massaged. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber of his body was being caressed, stripping them from soreness. Not only that, but he felt how his body grew stronger. Infections or viruses that may be hidden in front of him were taken away along with any other problem with his body.
It felt as if he was rebirthing.
The sensation slowly shifted into hotness, yet again. It traveled all around his body, starting from his legs and ending on his chest. When it reached the center…
*Rumble!*
The place he was standing started shaking. Everything violently moved up and down, like an earthquake.
'Agh, what is going on now?!'
Slowly, the purple sky started concentrating on a specific zone in front of Zenon.
It started small, similar to a pebble you'd find on the ground, but with time, it grew up until reaching around four meters in radius. When it ended growing, the sky was deprived of any color, now taken by the purple sphere in front of him.
Suddenly, a surge of violet energy exploded from inside it and it filled the sky with beautiful purple and pink colors, and the sound of water made its way into Zenon's ears.
Looking behind him, Zenon's eyes widened when he saw the massive beach formed in front of him. It was wide enough to cover the horizon - almost infinite.
"What the hell…"
The sensation slowly disappeared, leaving the usual uneventfulness of the human body. Just as Zenon took a step forward,
"Congratulations Unseen, you have successfully survived the Awakening!"
A feminine voice appeared out of nowhere, startling Zenon for a moment. The last thing he expected to hear after enduring hours of piercing pain and a sudden earthquake was a voice speaking right inside of his mind, to say the least.
'Unseen…' Zenon remained still before a smile subconsciously formed, 'It feels good to be called something that's not Carrier for once.'
"The Awakening Seal has been broken. Your Element and Soul are converging together into an Elemental Soul."
Zenon subconsciously clutched his fists, widening his eyes. This was it. This right here was what could either make his life a living hell again or make him strong enough to survive on his own.
To be honest, he was at least expecting a Third-Tier or perhaps a Fourth-Tier for his efforts. He had no idea how long he had to endure to get to this tier, but it is said that the leader of the Fire Keepers managed to persist for five hours, giving him an Omniscient Elemental Core, the Fifth-Tier.
And to this day, no one has gotten another Fifth-Tier, making him the strongest Enlightened - Tier based - that has ever existed. Maybe he endured as much as him… or maybe not.
"You have endured nine hours, seventeen minutes, and thirty-one seconds of the Awakening process and cleared every environment!"
Zenon's legs stopped working, making him kneel as his jaw dropped.
"The Angel Void is extremely pleased and impressed with your results, and has decided to name you the Void Bringer! You are the first of his kin to be Named from Void itself!"
"The Angel Void is proud of having such a worthy carrier of his Lineage. The Angel Void has bestowed you with a Supreme Elemental Core!"
Zenon's eyes completely opened as his mouth began twitching.
"Your Lineage is violently revolving around your Soul!"
"The Angel Void is delighted with your results, and expects the Void Bringer to carry his Supreme Void Soul with pride!"