Chapter Five: Understanding

  After two continuous days of walking, Iron and Tayren stopped to rest. They would camp here for an entire day—not out of physical need, but for psychological respite.

  Somehow, Tayren didn’t need food or water. He never grew tired. Iron, on the other hand—despite being a swordsman who had reached the stage of Soul Reflection—sometimes showed subtle signs of fatigue. He ate the meat of Void beasts after cooking it, always saying it was wise to consume every avaible meal, in case they faced a long famine.

  Even a knight of his lofty transcendence once said:

  "If I go hungry for three months... I’ll begin to fall apart."

  It seemed the Void’s embrace was more merciful than Tayren had imagined.

  After Iron pitched the tent and sat down, Tayren followed and sat in the opposite corner, closing his eyes.

  Iron watched him and asked:

  "My lord… is something wrong?"

  Tayren didn’t need sleep; all his needs were met in the embrace of his mother... or perhaps his father — the Void.

  He growled inwardly:

  "Damn this stupid thing… I don’t have time for this nonsense."

  Then, in a quiet murmur:

  "I think I’ve found a way to lessen the Call of the Void."

  Iron opened his eyes, slightly surprised. Though he was at the Soul Reflection stage and could sense others’ intentions, he felt Tayren was sugarcoating something… yet still believed the core of his words. If the prince could reach his soul’s mirror, perhaps the Call would truly lessen there — making it technically not a lie.

  So, Iron didn’t worry too much.

  Tayren focused inward—on that strange existence, lurking outside existence, in a bizarre dimension within his body.

  He recalled what all the Transcended Ones said: when they tried to awaken their first mirror, they felt life, warmth, stability…

  But he… felt the Void.

  "All I feel is Void… no soul, just strange fragments of being."

  After several failed attempts to sense the living feeling others described, he realized something important: the Void responded to his will when he tried to assess himself through his soul’s mirror.

  So, he focused on the Void itself.

  He whispered:

  "This… is working."

  Iron, excited, said:

  "Very good, my lord! Congratutions!"

  Tayren exhaled in frustration, nearly responding with biting sarcasm—but he held back. Instead, he projected his emotions outward:

  "Damn you, Iron… you kind-hearted idiot I can’t stand!"

  The Void around them trembled in anger. Iron instantly drew his sword but returned it to its sheath when the small storm calmed.

  Tayren thought:

  "Bingo… so this does work."

  He noticed the Void responded subtly to his intentions. So he waited a moment, then tried channeling his anger outward again… and it worked.

  He smiled bitterly and said:

  "Iron, my dear and close friend…"

  Iron’s eyes sparkled for a moment—but then Tayren added with a sigh:

  "Could you please… just shut up?"

  Iron felt as if someone had punched his noble soul, or as if his very being had been deformed. The prince had never spoken to him like that before.

  He sarcastically thought how the king's order—to keep reminding the prince of the whispers of the Void—was as annoying as needing to pee.

  "What a stupid metaphor," he muttered to himself.

  In any case, he felt that the rest break had initially lifted the prince’s spirits, but now… he’d ruined that joy. And it had made him angry enough that even the Void reacted.

  So he bowed and said with discipline:

  "Apologies, my lord… it won’t happen again."

  Tayren ughed inwardly:

  "Perfect… that’s exactly what I want from you, oh loyal knight."

  And then, he finished his thought with a mocking tone:

  "Just shut up… and go to hell… and leave me alone."