The atmosphere in the small room was full of a dense, bicolored fog. Green and orange swirled around, the two colors oddly never mixing.

Chaos seemed to run rampant here.

Random distortions appeared, tearing open space. These tears lead into a stormy, dark abyss. Occasionally, a random limb from an unknown creature would reach out before the portal closed, severing the body part from their body. Even more mysteriously, the dismembered parts would dissipate into the atmosphere in a cloud of black.

The air rumbled with thunder and an oppressive weight bore down.

Amongst it all, Emil sat calmly on a thin futon with eyes closed. His legs were crossed and his hands were gripping his knees. His red hair blew in the chaotic wind, whipping around madly, but he remained serene.

It was evident from the paleness of his skin and the dark bruises under his eyes that he was not well. There was a small stream of blood flowing from his nose and mouth, but he didn’t make any attempt to stop it.

Inside of his body, the raging storm was even more fearsome.

He was absorbing the anima in the air at an alarming rate, forcibly condensing it into a core at the center of his circuit. All of this rampant energy would burst out occasionally, shattering his bones and crushing his organs. These pieces of him would begin to heal because of the natural restorative properties of anima, coming back stronger than they were before--only to be destroyed again.

In addition, he was was assimilating the core of energy he absorbed into his mana circuit, which was causing it to swell and expand. On occasion, it would suddenly shrink down once more as if it had devoured all of the overflow.

Emil was not concerned about any of this.

The only thing on his mind was controlling the laws of time and space. No, at this point, all he could do was attempt to learn them. True manipulation would come at a later time.

The unseen world was unsurprisingly complex.

Even the books could not explain the sensation of looking where no mortal had ever been. He felt himself reaching deeper and deeper into something that he could never return from. But this didn’t stop him.

There was a heavy thump with every heartbeat.

Something was waiting for him to go further. He didn’t know what it was, but there was a strong desire to reach that point. It was absolute necessary.

That was what he felt.

Today, after a year had passed, he felt that he was close.

The year blurred into one year and a half. And the days kept passing by.

He was still reaching. Stretching out his every part of his existence in hopes that he could see just a glimpse of it.

What was it? What was it that willed him so powerfully?

He was right at the edges of enlightenment.

It made his entire being buzz with excitement and he didn’t even care about the state of his corporeal body. He had even stopped paying attention to the flow of time, only focused on delving deeper and deeper into himself. This required intense focus and he felt himself merging with space itself.

Because of this, he didn’t realize that the once chaotic atmosphere had began to calm.

It was as if everything was becoming in sync and only moved together as one. Upon paying closer attention, the pulses matched with Emil’s steady heartbeat. If anyone else were to see, their minds would have struggled to comprehend how one had achieved such unity.

Emil took in another deep breath, his mind far away from there.

The feeling was growing more intense.

He could hear voices beginning to whisper in his ears, reminding him of when he had first formed his anima circuit. But just like then, he struggled to understand what they were saying.

What was it? What was it that they wanted to tell him?

A warm sensation overcame his body and he felt as if he was dropping. No, he was sinking. It felt like sludge had been poured on top of him, blocking off all of his pores and not allowing him to breathe.

Emil, right then, became certain that he was going to die.

What did death mean? He thought about this often. But, right now, he felt very close to what that was.

The voices became clear at that moment.

“Boy,” they called.

Emil grunted, feeling something within himself shattering. “Who are you?”

“You…”

There was a strange power that filled their voices. He could tell that they originated from something. If he went deeper in, he would know what that was. Even now, feeling their touch, he felt his soul strengthening. But Emil felt as if that would come at a great cost--so he rejected them.

“You are not me.” His tone did not leave room for argument.

The voices grew silent at his proclamation. Then, all at once, they began their whispering again, “We are… the Ancient… One… You.”

We? No, there was just him. All along, there was just him.

There was no “we”. This body was his.

“Selfish…”

Was he? Maybe so.

That sealed power… He desired it. Emil could tell that it was the source of his current strength--which was only a small piece of it. If he gained all of it, how powerful would he become? He wasn’t able to comprehend that, yet. But he knew what their price was now:

It was everything.

“I am Emil,” he told them calmly.

“No,” they hissed. “We are nameless… Ancient Ones… You…”

“I am Emil,” he repeated, not wavering. Now was not the time. He had to wait… yes, he had to wait until he could fulfill their demands. There were still things that he wanted to do. He would not forsake everything.

“A fragment...”

“No.”

It was still too much.

“Accept…”

“No.”

“A gift… we give…”

He was ready to decline again, but they had not allowed him that option. Emil felt a small wisp of something merge with his soul. The sludge on top of him grew heavier.

Emil felt his mind tearing. He had reached the point where he could endure no more. What he had done was already far outside of his power. He wouldn’t be able to stay here any longer unless he gave in.

“I’ll come back again.” He paused. “And maybe then, I’ll be willing to give up this name. No, that is not what you want.” Emil let out a dry laugh. “I’ll give up this existence.”

The voices grew quiet. Whether or not they had accepted his claim, he didn’t know. Perhaps, that had been his only chance to ever meet them.

He did not mind. He would go stronger on his own.

His eyes opened slowly, his consciousness descending back into his body.

His once hazel irises had turned into pure gold. In their swirling depths, there seemed to be an endless and fearsome void. When he blinked, the danger disappeared and was replaced with a gloomy haze that fell over his entire being. It was obvious that is meeting with the Ancient Ones had even affected his real body, their touch lingering on his soul. He sensed that this was a mark left by them and would not fade.

Emil sighed, rolling his neck.

There was nothing he could do about it, really. Their power was too great.

That was one thing… and his time was up. Two years had passed in what--to him--felt like the blink of an eye.

“Guess I’ll get going.”