Chapter 10: The konqueror's path and the call of the void

After his father finished explaining to him about the body of souls, he went to his desk, picked up a scroll, and handed it to him.

"Memorize the contents within this scroll and you may also wield great power and embark on the path of konqueror. But be warned, the path is filled with hardships. You must train your body to the peak for you to be able to handle the power of your soul. Don't rush it, boy; take it slow. Progress is not rushed."

Timothy took the scroll from his father, and bowed to his father. "Thank you, father." Timothy began memorizing the contents of the scroll. It took him twenty minutes to memorize the whole scroll. He returned the scroll to his father. "Thank you, father, for everything," he said with his head down.

"The path of a konqueror is not an easy one. Every day we resist the Call Of The Void, the urge to set the world ablaze. Only by having an anchor can you not fall in the void. Take me, for example; my anchors are you guys. But enough about that; I want you to have something." His father tapped on the glass that was covering his armor, and it shattered but didn't fall to the ground as it remained suspended in the air.

"Come over here." Timothy walked up to his father. "This is a runic soul armor. It belonged to me, but now I'm giving it to you. All you need to do is touch the eye of the Phoenix, and it will be bound to you. I have already removed my soul imprint on it, so it's basically ownerless," his father said as he made way for him.

The armor was black in color and had a red gem as the eye of the Phoenix coupled with a black cape. The armor seems to have no helmet. He touched the eye of the Phoenix, and there was no reaction. "It's not-" he found himself floating in a large hall with an ancient design. When he looked down, there was no floor, only darkness. The walls of this place had sculptures depicting a battle between a phoenix and a dragon. Timothy was still looking at the sculptures when the whole place shook.

"So you have also come to bind yourself to me?" A voice eerily similar to his own resounded out through the space. Timothy turned around in fear, and he saw a person that looked exactly like him in a cloak made of blood-red flames with one red eye and one black eye. Timothy was terrified beyond reason as he looked at the person or thing in front of him. His whole body was shaking with fear to the point where he could not even form words.

"What makes you think you are worthy to have a soul bond with me? The Rose bloodline? Many have equipped the armor, but they couldn't use the armor to its fullest extent because I deemed them not worthy. So whatever tricks you have prepared to forcefully bind me to you, do it. I won't fight you, but know this: you won't be able to utilize the armor's power." The boy in front of him smiled . The rose bloodline? What is this thing talking about ? Timothy asked himself in his fear striken state.

Timothy's head was pounding; he was only doing as his father said, but now he was stuck in this ancient place looking at a flaming copy of him. Timothy looked at the person or thing in front of him and sighed , shaking away his fear .

"How do I prove myself worthy to you?" Timothy asked with a look of dedication as he straightened up.

"By defeating me in combat, of course," the boy said as flames burst out of his right hand, turning into a fiery katana. Before Timothy could react, he attacked. Timothy didn't even have a weapon or anything to protect himself, plus his speed was so fast that he couldn't even react. The boy had his sword on Timothy's neck as he looked at him with a thoughtful expression.

"You're not even a konqueror? This was a waste of time; you're still too weak. Come again and challenge me when you have gained real power," the boy said, turning into a flame and then flowing into his chest, leaving a black phoenix mark on his chest.

"What the-" before he could process what happened, he found himself falling face first to the ground, but thanks to his good reflexes, he quickly moved his hands in front of him to protect his face, but his father quickly caught him.

"There, there, boy," his father asked as he helped him up. "What was that, father?" he asked as he looked around, noticing that they were no longer in the astral plane as he could see his father was no longer ethereal.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that the armor has its own consciousness. You were in its consciousness, and everyone who has worn the armor has seen different faces of the armor. I won't ask you what it is you saw, but all I can tell you is to get strong and challenge it again," his father spoke with a knowing smile.

"But father how di-" his father chuckled a bit. "It used to be my armor, boy. Even I couldn't fully get it to accept me, so I used an old method to steal its power for my use, but it wasn't a true bond, so I could not unleash the full potential of the armor ," his father said with a smile....

...

Later at night, Timothy lay in his bed, thinking about everything his father had told him. It was hard imagining his lovely yet strict parents being anything other than normal, but it turns out they were the most abnormal people ever. Letting out a long sigh he knew his life was going to change, and so was he.

Water flowed down the waterfall as a shirtless boy was laying down on top of the water without sinking. His eyes were staring at the sky without blinking, but his mind was occupied by something else. His eyes finally blinked, and he suddenly sunk, but there was no struggle from him as his body slowly sunk to the bottom of the plunge pool. He closed his eyes before slowly opening them again, revealing two eyes that had spiral-shaped green iris and pale blue pupils. From out of nowhere, blackish lightning struck towards him, tearing through the water as it headed towards him. But when it reached him, it stopped right before his face and transformed, revealing a man with pale white skin, devil horns, and two pitch-black eyes with ancient symbols covering his upper body. The lower half was wearing black pants with no shoes as he looked at the boy and bowed.

"Master, you have summoned me," the man said as he bowed his head.

"You're not going to complain about why did I summon you inside a plunge pool? Very well, go and tell father I won't be returning home anytime soon. I have found someone who interests me," the boy spoke with a light smile.

The man with devil horns nodded and asked, "Is he worth your time, master?" The boy merely smiled and nodded lightly. "Then I'll await your summon." The man with devil horns spoke.

With that, the man transformed back into black lightning and shot out of the water with unmatched speed. The boy closed his eyes again, and when he opened them again, they were back to their normal color. Then he floated back up out of the pool, floating on top without sinking.

"Don't disappoint me, my friend," the boy spoke looking at the starry sky.

"He will never accept what you are. Kill him now," he heard a child's voice in his mind, smilinghe disregardedthe voice in his head as he was now used to its hateful temptations....

.....

In the cathedral, two figures were kneeling before a man with black and red armor that had a dragon insignia on its chest plate. The man was facing the wall, looking at the sculptures.

"Lord Zaloz, we followed the Mesa boy back to his home, and they seemed like a normal family. But his friend, we lost him in the mountains; it's like he just disappeared into thin air. My lord, I believe he is the one we are supposed to be cautious of," the man reported.

Meanwhile, the man called Zaloz didn't even move or turn to look at them as he continued staring at the sculptures.

"You may leave," he said.

The two men bowed before leaving, leaving Zaloz alone in the cathedral.

"A normal family? I've never met normal Mesas," he said with a smile.