All right, day fourteen of non-stop training in the void—or was it my home? The distinction felt increasingly meaningless. Stupid to even think about venturing outside this place anyway. But hey, any second now I'd master this concept, anything the mind could conjure.
The man smiled to himself, a weary expression that didn't quite reach his eyes. He concentrated, and high-quality weights materialized before him, their metal surfaces gleaming in the strange, sourceless light of the void.
"All right, let's see how many I can do now," he muttered, gripping the bar.
As he began to lift, a thought nagged at him. If you could create weights in the void without doing anything particularly strenuous, what was the point? He'd been here so long, isolated, believing he was making progress. The loneliness gnawed at him more than he cared to admit.
"You know what?" he said aloud, his voice echoing in the emptiness. "Let's see if I can conjure something really cool."
He closed his eyes, picturing a large, weighted object—something that would truly test his limits. When he opened them again, his breath caught. A car sat before him, solid and real.
"Why is that?" he wondered, his brow furrowing in confusion. Then he shrugged, a hint of defiance creeping into his posture. "Does it really matter?"
He approached the vehicle, rolled up his sleeves, and positioned himself to lift it. His muscles tensed, his arms bulged with effort, veins standing out against his skin. But the car didn't budge—not a single fraction off the void's strange, yielding ground. The weight was immense, far beyond anything he'd attempted before.
Frustration surged through him. "This is a bunch of nonsense," he thought bitterly.
The car vanished at his mental command, dissolving into nothingness. But as it disappeared, something else materialized far, far away—a presence, faint but unmistakable, somewhere deep within the recesses of his mind.
Arthur jolted awake. Where am I? He looked around frantically. One moment he'd been asleep, and now he stood in the void—the place he'd been avoiding. Last time in the void was in the classroom, and that had lasted only a few seconds. Now he was just... here.
He searched around, though he knew there was nothing. He'd spent too much time in this void to harbor illusions. Nothing would appear. Nothing ever did.
He walked forward and kept walking. This time he could actually feel his body. He wasn't floating anymore. He actually felt something solid beneath his feet.
Maybe I'll be able to leave here, he thought.
His first thought upon arriving had been about escape. Would he be able to leave? Or would the void just spit him out like nothing had happened?
He walked toward a figure that was walking toward him. Then he jumped back, his heart pounding.
"Who in the—" He was surprised. No one else was ever in the void. It had always been just him.
But someone could have appeared after all. When he'd been transported out of the void and left, three years had passed in the void while only a few hours had elapsed in the real world. During those three years, something could have happened. Someone could have entered.
The man walked forward. He had brown hair and a gorgeous face. He wore a bright blue jacket over an amazing white shirt. His clothing looked clean—too clean. His face was even more so.
"So this is how I felt," the man said, staring at Arthur.
Arthur stood frozen. He tried to create a magical barrier with his high-quality magic, but nothing worked.
"And you're a kid too. How old are you? Like seven?" the man said, staring down at Arthur.
"Sheesh, since when can a kid like you enter the void? Look, I can see if I can bring you out," he said.
Light ran out of his hand.
Arthur just stared. He could see why the older man might think Arthur was young and lost. After all, he was pretty young physically. Mentally, he was older than that, but the man didn't know that. And Arthur had been to the void plenty of times before, so it wasn't really his fault.
"Who are you?" Arthur said, staring.
"Lenny. My name is Lenny."
"That's your name?" Arthur said.
Lenny smiled. "Yeah. Anyway, why are you here?"
"This is my home," Arthur interrupted.
Lenny stared. Logic soon came over him.
"I guess you're right," he said internally. This is his home. He doesn't know that I've been here before, so I can see how he didn't know that I was here first.
"My name is Arthur," Arthur said.
"Arthur, huh? How interesting. Anyway, can you leave? I have training to do," Lenny said.
"I can't," Arthur said.
"You can't leave?" Lenny stepped forward.
"That's not a problem. I could just, you know, make you leave," Lenny said.
He created a portal. It looked dark in color.
"Step through this portal here and you'll be able to go back to your world. The original body, that is. You know, if you have one."
Arthur stepped forward and entered the portal.
His eyes opened. He was on the couch. He looked up from where he lay. The living room. Apparently his parents hadn't woken him for dinner, hadn't picked him up and put him in his bedroom.
"Are you seriously kidding me?" he muttered.
Looks like I'll skip dinner and sleep, I guess. I feel like I didn't get any rest at all. I'm so tired. I'll just go back to sleep. Hopefully I don't enter the void again. After all, I need some actual sleep.
He laid back down and closed his eyes.
But as sleep claimed him, a cold sensation crept up his spine. The void pulled at him, stronger than before. His consciousness slipped away, tumbling through darkness.
When awareness returned, Arthur found himself standing in the void once more. But this time, something was different. Terribly different.
Lenny stood before him, but his expression had changed. The friendly smile was gone, replaced by something darker, more calculating.
"Back so soon?" Lenny asked, his voice carrying an edge Arthur hadn't noticed before.
Behind Lenny, the void rippled. Shadows moved where nothing should exist. And in those shadows, Arthur glimpsed shapes—figures watching, waiting.
"What's happening?" Arthur whispered.
Lenny's smile returned, but it was all wrong.
"The real training is about to begin."