Nature's canvas—the sky—gleamed with stars, as her brush—the earth—caught the glow of Luio, Fluxara's moon, and cast it gently upon the fields of the Augustine. Under these glorious skies stood Valerio, fiddling with his index finger as he smirked.
'If I cultivate enough, wouldn't I be able to bring my house anywhere with me?'
Said house was situated in the middle of the Augustine fields. A cabin carved out of high plane birch wood. There were two black lanterns lit at the entrance of the house, their fires flickering and illuminating the small patio. Valerio had insisted on having this house built in the fields, for inspiration to paint. Though the silence was much apperocated as well. There was something about the atmosphere of the fields that gave him peace. The feeling he got as he watched the grass dance to the rhythm of the same wind that lightly flowed past him, was truly refreshing.
Stepping onto his patio, Valerio made his way inside and set his silk jacket on the coat hanger behind his door. His house wasn't very big, a living room with masterful wooden tables and chairs at the entrance with the bathroom and bedroom being situated on the left side of the house. Valerio made his way to his bed after taking off his shoes. Slipping into his pyjamas, he laid onto his bed and slowly drifted asleep.
'6 more days till I'm 18.'
He dreamt of a man carrying a plastic bag in his right hand, the bag constantly scraping the floor on his left hand with his right hand in his pocket. With dark circles under his eyes, he treaded the streets step by step, making his way into a sleek skyscraper.
The youth seemed to have forgotten about his plastic bag as he went though multiple security checkpoints and made his way into a secret compermentalised tranig room, glancing about routinely.
Just as he was about to commence his training program, time seemed to stop as space fractured. Directly above him was an eerie distortion, an abyss that seemed never ending, crackling with unnatural energy. And just as fast it formed, it expanded, sucking the youth in.
***
Augustine Fields, the morning after.
'Again?'
Valerio stood in front of Isadora, staring at her palms.
'Come on, pick one!' she insisted while waving her palms in front of Valerio.
Valerio tried to focus but his strange dream lingered. He remembered a young man entering a portal—but it wasn't the act that disturbed him. But the the aura the youth gave off, it was almost like he was staring at a master illusionist, no that wasn't quite right, a master…bastard, like a fraud. Everything from his dark sunken eyes to the idiotic plastic bag that he had carried, it all screamed "fraudulence" to him. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to entertain his strange dream as his mom urged him on again.
He shook his head, instead starting to concentrate on the decision in front of him.
It wasn't easy at all, even though both the treasures on her palms were of incredible quality, their potential wasn't even close. On one hand, she held a [Void Star Seed] and a [Soul Lily Seed] on the other. The void star was exclusive to the void itself, and a [Void Star Seed] would have to be harvested directly after the supernova of a void star, an incredibly rare event even in the endless void. On top of those conditions, the harvester would have to endure the gravitational field of a void star as well as the energy outburst from its supernova, an impossible feat for anyone other than his grandparents.
On the other hand, his mother didn't know anything about the [Soul Lily Seed], it was found by the first Augustine. Due to its unknown effects, it had yet to be used, yet his mother was offering it to him.
"Mom… then why did you bring it out for me? Did you figure something out?"
"Yes but not much, I was experimenting on it years ago to find out its use when a small critter invaded my lab. It was a 3rd Plane Soul Diver, basically a fluffy Wyrm tha—"
"Yes mom I know what a Soul Diver is."
"Of course you do. Anyways, the baby tried to invade my soul sea for multiple days on end. After realising it wanted something, I let it in. It instantly jumped out and tried to devour the [Soul Lily Seed] whole, it basically went rabid. If I hadn't had it in a void container, it would've disappeared there and then. Therefore, the [Soul Lily Seed] is likely extremely beneficial for soul cultivation, at least definitely in the earlier planes. If you pick it you'll have to wait till you reach Tier 7, since you haven't opened your soul aperture yet.'
'The [Void Star Seed] would be great for his Void Lu. But what would the point of that be? It wasn't like he needed help with Void Lu, he was the scion of the Void clan.
"I'll take the [Soul Lily Seed]."
'I've got no idea how I can utilise my soul talent anyways, at least this thing should help with my soul somehow.'
Valerio reached out and took the void container with the [Soul Lily Seed] inside.
Grabbing a void container with their bare hands wasn't something anyone without a connection to the void could do. A void container was as good as storing something in a spatial pocket, just a more secure one.
Isadora closed her palm and the [Void Star Seed] disappeared, "If you earn enough merits, I'll let you exchange for it later." she added while fixing Valerio's collar. He'd surprisingly worn the family's traditional clothes. A black loose fitted robe with gold and indigo accents decorating it. Valerio noticed his mother's gaze and explained "I thought it'd only be right to wear these when I talk to father about my physique."
Isadora's eyes widened as she pulled Valrio into a bear hug, "I can't believe you looked at your talents!" Valerio couldn't see his moms face but he could feel her smile.
"Yes yes Mom, I am serious, now let go so that I can find Dad." his words come out in a wheeze as he started tapping his mom's shoulder, he could feel his rib cage fighting for survival under his moms hug.
***
Augustine Manor, The Traning Grounds
On the deepest floors of the manor stood Valerio and Maximus. This was the sturdiest training area in the entire planet. Located half a kilometer below ground level, the ceiling reached a height of 200 metres. There were hundreds of deep azure pillars, crafted out of void ore, each pillar had hieroglyphs and depictions written in languages he didn't recognise.
"Alright son, today, I'll show you what our physique can do," Maximus said as he vanished, his words echoing throughout the huge training grounds. "This is called [Void Shift], the nature of our physique allows us to shift between the void plane and the material plane. Once you awaken your physique, half of your body will naturally exist as void." Valerio couldn't see his father but he could hear his voice, it was…all-encompassing.
"Do I have two bodies, one here and one in the void?" Valerio muttered in amazement.
"No. Think of it as turning your body into the void, an awakened physique will let you maintain a half-void, or half-shifted state indefinitely. The reason you never noticed the oddities about my physique is because I always go out of my way to shift towards the material world, it's a great method for training [Void Shift]. Once you've trained enough, you'll be able to shift instantaneously, if you increase your mastery you can attempt to shift specific body parts as well." Two unfathomably deep pupils manifested in front of Valerio as the rest of Maximus slowly followed suit and rematerialised. It looked magical, as if someone had erased his dad from reality and was now painting him back.
A grin emerged on Valerio's face, "What more can we do?"