Enigma of Sin

After several hours of enduring the torturous process of replenishing his blood cells and fluids in his body, the control orb finally started showing signs of slowing down. Kayn became exhilarated as he had quickly become annoyed at the process. Feeling your blood being sucked from your body continuously for hours was taxing on the mind.

The control orb stopped pulling the blood from Kayn's body a few minutes later before suddenly releasing a burst or light that blinded even Yvaris.

Once the light in the room returned to normal, Kayn and Yvaris both looked in shock at the control orb's new appearance. To Yvaris, it resembled what he imaged a black hole that was constantly absorbing all six elements represented as colors would appear, and to Kayn it looked almost exactly as his core did!

"While I have no idea about what changes this will bring to the artifact, they will almost certainly be extraordinary! Anyway, do you feel a connection with the artifact? If so, just say the words 'control panel' in your mind and an information panel should show up in the air in front of your eyes. It will tell you the options and how exactly you can manipulate the artifact." Yvaris stated as he wanted to know if anything had changed. He couldn't check it himself as he was no longer connected to the artifact.

Kayn quickly followed his instructions, and sure enough an information panel that resembled what would pop up when he used Analyze on something appeared.

[Wanderer's Villa – Currently in process of evolution: 0.4% (All customization options will be unavailable for the duration of the evolution. All functions will perform as normal.]

Seeing Kayn staring at the air in front of him, Yvaris realized he could see the information panel. "So, what does it say? There should be a button saying customize, click on that and tell me what all options you have!"

"Uhhh, it says that it is currently in the process of evolving and that I can't change any settings until it finishes. It looks like it will take at least a few days too considering that it's only at 0.4% and hasn't moved yet."

Yvaris quickly became downcast after learning that he wouldn't be able to know the changes that occurred as he didn't have much longer to stay in this world before being forced to take on his challenge and ascend to the Celestial World.

Sighing, Yvaris reluctantly made a concession, "Well, when you eventually arrive in the Celestial World, I expect you to come find me and tell me all about what you've done with this artifact. You'll find all of my notes and the creator's instructions in the library on how to control it. For now, let's rest as you must be tired from the constant use of mana and draining of blood."

Kayn and Yvaris soon left the control room and returned to their respective rooms after agreeing to meet in the dining area before dawn.

…

Kayn woke up early the next day, picked up Lara from the portable crib he had prepared back when he lived with Horace and Est, then made his way to the kitchen. Lara was still fast asleep, so he utilized a combination of mana and his free hand to prepare a big enough breakfast to satiate the appetite of two dragons.

Yvaris entered the kitchen shortly before the breakfast was ready. "Smells good, you must be quite the cook if I think something you made smells good. Though, that could also just be because I only stored the best quality ingredients. I see you took it to heart when I said everything inside belonged to you now."

Kayn turned only to see Yvaris Earthborn with a satisfied smirk upon his face. "You know that you can take anything else you want from this place, until you leave, I will still consider it as yours."

"Bah, nonsense. I'm only giving you a hard time kid, don't be so stiff. Today you'll be witness to something not many are able to observe in their entire life. It's called an Ascension Tribulation. No one in this world knows the true meaning behind it or how it occurs, but I intend to learn this knowledge once I enter the Celestial World. Once it begins, prepare to witness me in my full glory!"

Hearing this peaked Kayn's curiosity as he was also very interested in any form of knowledge that he could get his hands on. In fact, he was itching for Yvaris to leave just so he could spend a few days if not weeks in the library studying before continuing his journey.

But first, he might as well learn about Ascension Tribulations from one who had been preparing for it for the last few hundred thousand years whenever he wasn't sleeping.

"So, what happens during an Ascension Tribulation Elder?" Even though Kayn was told to not act stiff, that didn't mean he was going to disregard the etiquette his mother taught him.

"It's actually not very complicated," Yvaris replied. "First of all, a portal will appear fairly high into the sky and a staircase will descend with the first step appearing before the challenger. If you try to start the tribulation in the sky to reduce the number of stairs, it will force you to the ground to ensure you start from the bottom.

"The first part of the trial is to climb the stairs with each step increasing an invisible pressure that will try and force you back to the ground before squashing you into oblivion! The stronger you are and more potential you have as an individual, the more steps you'll have to take and the stronger the pressure you must endure. I'm expecting around 500 steps myself."

"That sounds tedious if you ask me. What's the point? To prove that you are living up to your potential?" Kayn asked because if the trial wanted to test your strength it could just do 10 steps or 100 for everyone and increase the pressure accordingly.

"You can think of it that way. It is also ensuring that you can utilize your mana efficiently so that you can endure all of the steps you are given. But to be honest, even I'm not positive as the information that we have in this world is provided by those that have failed their tribulations, but managed to keep their life. You could say that their reflections on the trials could be wrong as they didn't pass them."

"Ah, I see. Maybe I'll be able to gleam something from watching your tribulation then." Kayn began to ponder on how to best utilize this opportunity as he was being given the chance to witness something that little insightful knowledge was available on.

"Possibly. Continuing on, for the second part of the tribulation, your mind will be invaded by an outside force and you must resist to keep your mind from collapsing. Many survive if they fail this part of the tribulation, but their mind is no longer there and most will commit suicide within days of failing.

"There is a third part to the trial, but to be honest I don't know what it entails. However, it should be something to do with being set ablaze as witness statements say those who failed at this last trial combust into flames and turn to ash soon after. Seeing your questioning look, I'll answer the question you must have.

"Yes, we know that it is a separate third trial as after every test the challenger is allowed to rest for a small amount of time. You'll read this in the library, but the statements say that the challengers were witnessed resting for a second time before stepping towards the portal, abruptly stopping, and then being set aflame and perishing."

"That…sounds horrific. And no one in our realm knows what this part of the trial is testing?" Kayn asked as it seemed unlikely that no one had even a clue about what it was testing.

"Hmmmm, one record theorized that the third part of the trial tested one's soul. But that makes even me nervous as I have no clue how one can strengthen their soul or if it is just a natural process as one grows. Some have speculated that as you increase and widen your breadth of knowledge that your soul will expand as your knowledge expands, but there's no proof to any of these claims.

"Truly, we just know far too little about the intricacies of how things work, but I'm hoping to find the answers in the Celestial World. Too much of the worldly occurrences here are written off as 'that's just how it works' with no other explanation." Yvaris responded to the best of his ability as a yearning expression began to form on his face.

It was quite obvious that Yvaris wasn't satisfied with the knowledge he had gained thus far, and his only option to gain more was to ascend. Quickly shaking off his thoughts, Yvaris spoke, "Now, let's eat before all of this food you prepared gets cold."