"Before we begin, I will need you to remove your upper clothing so that I can have direct access to your body. I'm no healer and what I'm about to do is going to be extremely painful." Kayn nodded and removed the half-robe, tunic, and gloves that he was wearing fully revealing his arms to Chaos.
"He is dead then…"
"Who's dead?" Kayn asked in response to the sorrowful tone Chaos had taken.
"My son, the original Obsidian Void Dragon. An item that you carry inside of your body used to belong to him. I gave it to him as a gift a long time ago. It's a noumenon artifact which binds to the user's soul. Usually they disappear upon death, but I formulated it to return to its original and less powerful form if it was ever unbound, otherwise there is no other way to unbind such an item."
"Are you talking about the Tethers of the Void?" Kayn asked as his curiosity was peaked.
"Oh? The name I came up with is still remembered after all this time? But yes, I am. The things they will allow a void element user to do are simply untold, probably one of my finest works during that time. I'm assuming you know how to properly use them then?"
"I'll be honest, I don't know a lot about them. I can use Mana Threads now with them, but if they have some other functionality, I'm unaware of it." Kayn answered as honestly as possible. If he could figure out a bit more of the item that had bound to him before he knew what soul bound items were, he may be able to bring out even more power.
Chaos scoffed as he answered, "If it just helped one realize Mana Threads, I wouldn't praise them so highly. However, as I did for my son, you must discover their uses on your own as I will not tell you. Once this is over and you understand a bit more about your nature, maybe you'll be able to come to a few realizations on your own, in time."
"Thank you for the guidance then. I'm ready whenever you are." Kayn spoke aloud as he resolved himself to be drenched in pain, though he wasn't exactly sure what kind of pain it was going to be.
"One last question, how powerful is your core? What rank is the world you came from before you arrived at this one?" Chaos asked as this was important to how he went about things.
"Um, I come from what is referred to as a lower world. My core was previously at the 4th stage, but after some changes and improvements, I'm back at the 1st stage with my mana potency around high to peak 5th stage I would guess." Kayn answered.
"What? A lower world? How were you able to traverse space as a mere infant? I had assumed you at least came from a Celestial rank world. This might be a bit trickier than I imagined. Not to mention, unless you can somehow perfectly integrate with what I bestow, your chances of getting back to your world will still be close to zero."
Kayn began to sweat profusely at this point, his one shot at getting home was looking more and more like a pipe-dream.
Chaos sighed, "Haaa, I don't have any spells to examine you as I only control the void and space elements, but I do have a simple core examining spell, I'll use that on you quickly in order to get an idea of what I can do for you."
Kayn felt a gentle and warm hand press up against his back. He was tempted to look behind him to see what Chaos looked like, but he assumed that perhaps there would be nothing there. Not that Kayn would be able to see anyway as even he couldn't see through this darkness. He then felt a strange energy enter him which felt like mana but at the same time not.
"What? What is this?" Chaos spoke with a questioning tone as he seemed confused or flabbergasted by something he found.
"Hmm? Oh, my core? I fused it with my heart." Kayn stated matter-of-factly.
"You did what? How did you achieve that? I don't even know if that bastard would be able to do something like that, and he can use the base form of every element!"
Kayn was honestly surprised that Chaos found it so odd and extraordinary. He didn't think he was the only one in the entire universe to be able to control all of the elements in order to utilize pure mana.
"I can use all of the elements as well. I ended up using pure mana in order to succeed in the procedure. I'm sure the one you are talking about could do the same, but I would assume the stronger you are the more dangerous it would become." Kayn really didn't think it was that big of a deal, but Chaos thought otherwise.
"What do you mean all of the elements?"
"You know the basic six elements and their deviant forms like lightning, shadow, or even the void element. Though as I've said, I have succeeding in fusing the void element with others, but I can't use it by itself yet." Kayn started to have the feeling that he was mistaken on something here, he just didn't know what.
"You don't get it do you child? That man, he can use the six basic elements and maybe a few combinations such as the space element, but not all of them. He's quite good at mixing elements to get the effect he wants and is most definitely the most powerful being in the universe, but he can't use all of the elements. For example, my void element.
"Do you know what that means? He can't control pure mana like you can. Even if I've been holed up for millions if not billions of years, I am fairly positive you're the only one capable of this feat." Chaos stated with awe in his voice.
However, Kayn was doubtful. "But he instructed me on how to use the mana around me to sense what was going on, I don't think he would be able to do that if he couldn't use pure mana."
"He uses all of the elements in combination to do what you're describing, which is probably why he recommended it to you once he discovered you could use them all. I can also sense what happens around me similarly by purely using the void element.
"You're quite young it seems and unlearned on the vastness of the universe, but in time you will come to understand just what the elements are capable of in the hands of those who have mastered them." Chaos spoke in a teaching sort of manner.
"So, what does all of this mean for what you want to do with me then?" Kayn asked as he was already nervous about not being able to get home even after he risked his life with whatever Chaos wanted to do with him.
"How do people evolve their cores on the world you came from?" Chaos suddenly asked after few moments of silence.
"Peoples' cores evolve naturally as time passes by and their core absorbs the mana without them consciously focusing on it. I wanted to go through the stages faster though, so I used my unique nature to create a technique which allows me to absorb the mana and convert it to my own while I compress and add that mana to my core."
"Show me."
Once Kayn felt the odd flow of energy enter him once more, he began casting the Void Star technique. This place was filled to the brim with the void element and Kayn wasn't positive that he would be able to take it in properly, but he was wrong. As soon as he started cultivating, he could feel something stirring within him, wanting to push his core just a little bit further.
"Marvelous! Hahaha! You mimicked a black hole with the void element as the center focus! Unbelievable…wait your core stays that way once you stop your technique, correct?" Chaos seemed quite excited by Kayn's core, and he was starting to become nervous that Chaos would keep him here to study him.
"Yes and no. Appearance wise it remains similar to what it looks like while I use the technique, but functionally not so much. I can only go through the compression and expansion stages while I'm actively using the technique. Otherwise, it functions as any other core would on Talgonoth, albeit at a slightly increased pace."
Kayn tried to explain in a simple and concise manner the things he understood about his core, but there was always more to explore and improve in his opinion.
"Knowing you most likely won't be able to get home for centuries or millennia without some sacrifices, how far are you willing to go? How much pain are you willing to endure?"
"I made plans for my family before I left, but I also made a promise that I intend to keep. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it back, as long as I can live through it, pain means nothing to me." Kayn answered his questions with a firm determination.
He knew that he wouldn't have much chance of ever making it back if he didn't receive Chaos's help. Even if he could somehow figure it out on his own, it would take far too long. He believed in Charlotte, but sometimes unforeseen events happened, much like him being teleported to Earth.
"I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to return to my prime, but vicariously through you…maybe you can do what I couldn't…"
Kayn remained silent while he waited for Chaos to finish thinking and to start with whatever he was going to do.
"I'm going to push your body and core to their limits. Once that is done, I will directly inject a very small portion of my expertise of the void into your mind. You will suffer a backlash, just know that I'm doing this for not only you, but my own selfish desires. If you can pass through the other end of this alive, you will eventually reach a peak that even I'm not able to see. Brace yourself, I'm starting."
Kayn blinked a few times not fully understanding what Chaos was talking about, but then he felt it. Like a torpedo launching itself into him, Chaos's void touched mana pierced inside of his core. Then the feeling of thousands upon thousands of repeating explosions began within his core and from there, the pain expanded out into every tissue of his body through his mana system.
He wished that he would just pass out, but the pain kept him awake and conscious. Finally, not being able to withstand the pain, his eyes rolled back while he was still conscious and a pained wail erupted throughout the zone.