"Flux and Domain?" Samael asked, his brows furrowed as he looked at Nova. Even Ajax fell deafly silent.

  Nova raised his finger. "Let's take this slow. First, Domain."

  Ajax and Samael stared at the man.

  "Domain, by definition, is a place where you hold the absolute reins. As per the name, we are going to dig deep within you, specifically, your Dunamis," Nova said as he pointed his finger towards Samael's heart.

  "My dunamis? What do you mean, dig?" Samael's forehead creased further.

  "When humans are born, we are born with a dunamis. However, this dunamis is dormant until the events of Starfall happen, which awakens it." Nova paced around, hands behind his back. "Naturally, the dunamis adjusts itself to match the user's body to be able to release that energy in the form of elements."

  Samael's brows rose.

  He remembers a time when he had no element, way back when he was still in the mad scientist's cell. The event of starfall never gave him anything.

  Does that mean his dunamis was dormant then?

  Or is it still dormant?

  The Void gave him powers through physical contact with one of the seven shards. It felt more of a forced awakening rather than a natural one, as Starfall should have done.

  Samael slowly clutched his chest.

  Then what is inside me?

  Nova's brows furrowed. "Something wrong?"

  Samael flinched as he shook his head. "N-no, I'm fine. Please continue."

  Ajax stared at the boy for a moment before turning back to Nova. Nova did the same.

  It was impossible not to notice the shift in his demeanour. Just what did he realise to be this shaken?

  "W-well, I shall." Nova cleared his throat as a lone bead of sweat trailed down his forehead. "As I've been saying, once those dunamises are awakened, it is almost instinctual for the dunamises to pump out power like a generator."

  Samael's hand tightened further.

  "In doing so, a dunamis does not possess any form of sentience, so it takes the path of less resistance, allowing us to wield the elements." Nova raised his finger. "This is also why stronger people have better control, as they are now more used to the way their dunamis flows."

  Samael's lips parted as his voice echoed.

  "But what if the dunamis remained dormant? Does that mean it is hollow or that there is indeed an element but it remains inactive?"

  Nova's brows furrowed. "Well... that's a rather strange question to ask, but I am sad to say that no one really knows."

  Samael's brows furrowed in return. He wanted to ask the codex, to confirm and to understand, but he feared the answer it may give.

  Noticing Samael's pale face once again, Ajax and Nova exchanged swift glances as Nova cleared his throat once more, luring Samael's attention.

  "Returning back to how the dunamis functions, as I've said, it takes the path of least resistance, as that is the easiest path it can take," Nova resumed. "But through years of study, I found a different method, a path, if one may say so, one that is far more efficient than the first road the dunamis takes after awakening."

  "Is that not dangerous?" Ajax asked. "The dunamis is the energy core of a person; if something goes wrong, it could incur dire consequences."

  Nova's smile wilted a little, something Ajax caught.

  "Yes, yes, it does in fact do so," Nova nodded. "But do not worry; I have found a much safer option after countless trials and errors."

  Ajax nodded at the man.

  "Now once the path has been changed, you will immediately take notice of how much faster your essence circulates and how much stronger your elements will become," Nova resumed. "That is where Flux comes after."

  Nova paced once more. "Flux is knowing how to efficiently circulate the essence within you. By taming the raging currents within your body, you will be able to more efficiently release and use your essence, avoiding waste and making yourselves more powerful than ever before."

  Raising his hand, multiple green discs rotating at varying speeds would occasionally speed up by 3x.

  "It is the reason I am able to do this – because I am efficiently managing the burst of essence leaving my vessel." Nova closed his hand as the discs vanished. "But the question remains, how?"

  "First we begin with Domain. To find the most optimal paths for your dunamis, you must first learn to enter your spiritual chambers. It can be through meditation, sleep or any other way you find fit," Nova explained. "From there, you must carefully and slowly thread the flow of essence within you. Be observant; there will be moments that the flow may slow down or take sudden hiccups."

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  "When that happens, expand your senses, for an alternative path lies close. Once you have located it, slowly direct the essence will flow to it." Nova drew a diagram on the dust in the ground. "Repeat the process until the end of the flow."

  Signalling for the two to sit down, Ajax and Samael followed.

  "Try to first enter your spiritual chambers," Nova tasked as he too sat down.

  Releasing a deep breath, Samael closed his eyes as he tried to calm his disturbed heart. It took some time and a few attempts, but he eventually began to fall deeper and deeper.

  As he did, he recalled his journey through the dark when he fell into a coma during Ishkar's training. He knew that that was his spiritual chamber.

  As he drifted across the vast void, time seemed to slow down as Samael opened his eyes only to find himself standing in the middle of darkness where pitch-black water reached up to his ankles.

  He had arrived.

  Outside, Nova had waited for at least 30 minutes as his brows rose in surprise. Samael had entered the spiritual chamber fast— no, fast was an understatement.

  He himself took weeks of nonstop meditation to gain even a sliver of access, but the boy had done it within moments.

  Looking at Ajax's struggling expression, Nova shook his head.

  The kid was simply insane.

  As Samael pushed forward into the dark, he navigated without fear as though he knew where he was heading.

  For a while, he simply walked as he did before, aimlessly. Yet, he soon felt another presence take form.

  Turning around, he saw a glowing white figure standing a few feet away from him. Staring at him intently.

  "Why have you come here?"

  Samael stared back. "You don't know?"

  The figure fell silent for a moment.

  "I did not—at least a few moments ago. I had been hiding; he has become a lot more paranoid with what happened last time."

  Turning to the side, Samael chuckled as a blackish-purple spectral figure formed at the side.

  "I made you worry, didn't I?"

  The Void appeared inches from Samael as it struck him by the shoulder with a light punch.

  Samael's chuckles echoed louder in the vast emptiness of the place.

  Currently, he has distinguished that there was a difference between this one and the other Void. If Samael would compare it, this one felt more similar to the Codex, while the other felt more akin to the Void.

  "Stop playing around. That is not how a sovereign should act."

  Samael turned to the side as he saw another Void figure form, one that looked closer to him.

  "Hey, long time no see. I'm surprised you're awake," Samae said.

  The figure looked blankly at Samael for a while.

  Samael shifted his gaze around, searching for one more person to appear. "Where's he?"

  "Asleep." The white figure replied. "He is like that until you need him most."

  "I see," Samale muttered. However, what the Void said shut him down.

  "You are troubled by your origins. You do not know whether my interference was what gave you power or whether you had it in the first place."

  Samael stared at the endless darkness in front of him. "Yes, yes, I am confused." Stepping closer, he stood eye to eye with it. "If you knew my troubles, then will you reveal the truth?"

  The Void remained unmoving for a brief moment. "...Follow us."

  The white figure led the way as the Void trailed close. Samael's jaw stiffened as he followed them behind, the codex hovering near him.

  As they traversed through the vast abyss, Samael's eyes began to pick up something in the distance.

  As they closed in, his heart began to pound louder by the second. Each step he took felt as though it was heavier than the last.

  But he needed to know the truth.

  Soon, they stood before it. His Dunamis. He knew it was his dunamis. Yet, Samael's face began to contort, emotions brewing behind his pupils as confusion, pain and anger whirled within him.

  Yet, what stood out the most was... relief.

  There were 2 titanic orbs floating before him. They almost looked akin to stars hovering inches from the ground.

  One of them was pitch black with purplish, nerve-like etchings glowing in its surface, extending outwards like clockwork.

  But the other was vastly different.

  The second orb was... dead.

  It was rough, and its colour was pale.

  Yet, Samael could feel a sense of loneliness and somberness to it.

  His original Dunamis.

  This was his original element. The first and the one he was born with.

  For years he believed there was no hope for him. That he had no powers because he was weak and undeserving.

  He believed that for YEARS.

  All the doubt, self-hate and frustration he held... Yet here it is now. Bare and before him.

  The one thing he always wanted.

  A tear slid down Samael's cheek as he stared at the inactive core.

  "...We could reignite it."

  Samael shifted his gaze towards the Void.

  "It will take some of my powers; I will be inactive and sleeping for a while, but I can make it work."

  Samael stared at the face of emptiness.

  There was a chance. A chance to see who he originally was.

  Shifting his gaze at the dead core, Samael remembered how he prayed at the cell for each passing moment. How he cried in rage and asked for mercy when he was given nothing.

  Slowly reaching for the orb, Samael's hand hovered inches away from it.

  Yet, this wasn't him.

  Not anymore.

  "If you could revive it, then that means you can absorb it."

  The Void visibly flinched.

  "What are you talking about?"

  Samael looked at the Void. "I'm saying that I am letting it go."

  His spirit simply crossed its arms as it nodded. However, the Void stepped closer.

  "You don't seem to understand, Samael. This, this is what you wished for all those years ago!"

  For the first time in a very long time, Samael heard a tinge of emotion within the voice of the depths.

  Yet, to him, it sounded almost... in pain.

  "This is who you were supposed to be!"

  A soft smile made its way to Samael's lips.

  Yes, this was who he was supposed to be. Who he truly was. But... that was years ago. He has a different family now. A family he wasn't going to ever betray.

  This was the child I never became...

  And yet, I would not trade the silence that held me when the world turned its back on me.

  Seeing Samael's smile, the Void's face shifted as it's tensed shoulders slowly relaxed.

  "...Are you truly certain...? Are you truly going to give it to me— an outsider?"

  "No." Samael's voice echoed. "You are not an outsider."

  "When the world turned its back on me and I sat in that cold cell, the only thing I had was you."

  Samael smiled. "You're not an outsider. You are me, and I am you."

  "You are family."

  The darkness shifted upon hearing Samael's response.

  He did not wish to be who he was meant to be. Fate showed him otherwise. Instead, he chooses to become the Void as it chose him in his darkest moments.

  Finally touching the dead orb, Samael smiled as a lone tear slid down his cheeks.

  "Goodbye, old friend."