VOID PRIME, Eclipse Of The Lunaris Pack

CHAPTER 7: SHATTERED VESSEL, AWAKENING OF A LEGEND

Victory over the Elite Abyssal Stalker did not last more than a few fleeting minutes before absolute destruction knocked on the door of Aroan’s consciousness in the most agonizing way imaginable.

As soon as the pitch-black aura from the massive monstrosity was entirely absorbed, solidifying into the Dark Iron Bones beneath his flesh, the intoxicating surge of power instantly mutated into a lethal double-edged sword. Yes, his skeleton was now as impenetrable as obsidian steel, capable of withstanding devastating physical trauma. However, a fatal flaw lay hidden within something entirely invisible: The Meridians.

[System Warning! 'Soul Vessel' capacity critically exceeded!]

[Energy density of Entity 'Nyx' violently surpasses the tolerance limit of Host's Rank-F Meridians!]

Aroan’s body was a biological anomaly forced together by sheer desperation. His meridian channels—the microscopic, invisible pipelines that circulated mystical energy throughout the body—were still horrifyingly narrow, fragile, and inherently stiff due to his cursed Rank-F genetics. It was like forcing boiling, radioactive liquid metal from a nuclear reactor to flow through a flimsy plastic straw. The massive, primordial Void energy radiating from Nyx did not flow naturally; it detonated violently, slamming against the walls of his blood vessels with the pressure of a thousand atmospheres.

"Ugh... khh!"

Aroan’s knees violently struck the stone floor. His vision abruptly blurred, quickly obscured by a terrifying red mist seeping from the pores of his face and the corners of his eyes. Thick, black blood smelling strongly of rusted iron began pooling beneath his desperately trembling fingers.

Beside him, Nyx let out a heartbreaking, agonizing shriek.

That shriek did not stem from physical injury, but rather from a tortured soul resonance. The Shadow Primal Wolf residing within the pup actually carried an ancient, far more terrifying bloodline: The Shadow Fenrir, a primordial apex predator known for swallowing moons. Yet, because the creature was tethered by a Soul-Bond to a Rank-F human, its overwhelming power was forcefully shackled.

Nyx was essentially a cosmic titan crammed into a fragile glass cage. Every single time Aroan’s fragile meridians violently rejected the energy, the contract violently reversed the flow, choking Nyx’s own energy core to prevent the master’s body from exploding. Aroan was unintentionally butchering his own wolf from the inside out.

"Look at your pathetic pet," Sargon’s emotionless voice echoed. The towering giant stood with his arms crossed, watching the boy thrash on the ground like an executioner observing a dying insect. "You are slowly strangling it to death, Aroan. Nyx is an ancient legend trapped inside a garbage vessel. Your Rank-F meridians are a prison that will drag the beast down to hell with you."

Aroan desperately tried to stand. He clawed at the unforgiving stone floor, but every time he tried to draw breath, it felt as though thousands of venomous glass shards were coursing through his veins. He could physically hear a faint cracking sound deep within his chest—the sound of his meridian channels beginning to tear open.

If left unchecked for another five seconds, his heart would detonate into a mist of blood.

Sargon stepped forward, his massive shadow completely engulfing Aroan’s blood-soaked body. Without a hint of warning, the giant slammed the heel of his palm directly into a primary meridian point at the base of Aroan’s neck.

The Umbral Tranquility Twist.

A massive surge of pure, neutralizing energy pierced through Aroan’s flesh, violently severing the Soul-Bond synchronization temporarily before it was too late.

Thud!

Aroan collapsed face-first onto the rocks. His consciousness was instantly snuffed out.

***

He violently snapped awake, overwhelmed by intense nausea, as if his chest had just been smashed by a steel sledgehammer.

The very first thing his senses registered was a biting, freezing cold, quickly followed by a suffocatingly sharp aroma. The pungent scent of roughly crushed herbs—the rotting-earth smell of Void Roots mixed with the spicy sting of Cobra Leaves—assaulted his nose.

Aroan quickly realized he was lying inside a narrow, hidden alcove within the cavern. It was Sargon’s temporary camp. Cramped, suffocating, and illuminated only by the dying embers of a small, red energy stone. His aching back rested against the harsh, jagged rock wall.

"Do not move, or you will vomit your own internal organs," Sargon commanded.

Sitting cross-legged a few paces away, the giant was methodically crushing something inside a heavy stone mortar. The reddish glow from the embers danced across his rusted iron mask, casting a demonic shadow against the cavern wall.

Aroan immediately glanced to his side. Nyx lay motionless. The wolf’s fur, usually as pitch-black as the abyss itself, was now horrifyingly dull and faded, resembling a shadow violently bleached by blinding light. The pup’s purple eye was half-open, staring at Aroan with a soul-deep vibration filled not with anger, but with tragic resignation.

"Why... why is he breaking down too?" Aroan asked hoarsely, his chest tightening painfully at the sight of the only creature in the world that had tried to defend him.

Sargon continued grinding his mortar without bothering to look up. "Because you are the master. In the realm of Beast Cultivation, a soul-bond is a two-way street. Nyx’s bloodline is slowly awakening into a Shadow Fenrir. A power of that magnitude requires a massive highway to flow properly, but all you possess within your body is a muddy, clogged dirt path."

Standing up slowly, Sargon approached holding a stone flask filled with a boiling, viscous, dark-purple liquid.

"Your skeleton has indeed evolved into Dark Iron," Sargon continued coldly, staring down at the boy through the slits of his mask. "But your meridians are complete trash. Every time Nyx attempts to unleash its true power, your channels crack under the pressure. And because your destinies are bound, Nyx’s energy is violently forced back into its own tiny body, destroying it from within. You are no longer its protector, Aroan. You have become its absolute burden."

Those words struck Aroan far harder than Valerius’s brutal kick in the Grand Hall.

Aroan clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. Searing shame and absolute hatred for his own weakness set his chest ablaze. He wasn't thrown into this hellish abyss just to inflict the exact same suffering upon the only creature he cared about.

"How do I fix it?" Aroan asked, his voice low but vibrating with lethal determination.

Sargon aggressively shoved the boiling stone flask toward him. "This is an Abyssal Meridian Elixir. I brewed it using the blood and core of the Elite Stalker you just slaughtered, mixed with highly toxic Velmora root extracts."

Sargon’s tone grew heavier, carrying a grim warning. "This concoction does not heal. It is pure torture designed to forcefully expand your narrow meridians by violently tearing them open from the inside, and then patching them back together. The failure rate is ninety percent. If you fail, your blood vessels will detonate. You will die instantly, and your wolf will suffer a slow, agonizing death right beside your corpse."

Aroan did not look at the boiling flask. His eyes remained locked onto the trembling form of Nyx.

Without a single second of hesitation, Aroan snatched the stone flask and downed the boiling, toxic liquid in one vicious gulp.

"AAAGGGHHHH!"

Aroan’s body arched backward so violently his spine loudly popped. The stone flask in his grip shattered into dust. The liquid did not feel like medicine; it felt exactly like swallowing thousands of ignited razor blades.

[Critical Warning! Meridian Expansion Elixir Detected!] 

[Initiating Violent Energy Channel Expansion: 10%... 30%...!]

Aroan physically felt his internal energy channels being brutally stretched, rupturing at dozens of vital points, only to be savagely stitched back together by aggressive Void energy. He violently clawed at the cavern floor, biting his own lower lip until fresh blood cascaded down his chin.

Simultaneously, Nyx let out a muffled howl. They were sharing the agony of this forced regeneration. Yet, alongside Aroan’s screams, Nyx’s shadowy muscles visibly began to harden and densify. As Aroan’s meridians violently expanded, they finally provided the necessary space for Nyx’s primordial energy to breathe.

"Endure it, boy!" Sargon roared, his suffocating aura forcefully locking down the small cave to prevent Aroan’s volatile energy from exploding outward. "If you surrender now, you prove that Valerius was absolutely right! Remember the faces of those who spat on you! Use that boiling hatred as an anchor so your soul does not shatter!"

Elina’s disgustingly cynical smile and Valerius’s arrogant, booming laughter violently flashed across Aroan’s mind.

'I refuse to die as trash!' Aroan roared internally.

The torture lasted for a grueling hour that felt like an eternity burning in the lowest circle of hell.

When the excruciating pain finally began to recede, Aroan lay completely paralyzed, his entire body drenched in a pool of cold sweat. But something was fundamentally different. The suffocating tightness in his chest had completely vanished. The foul, sulfur-rich air of Velmora he inhaled was now instantly converted into pure energy that flowed seamlessly and violently through his newly forged veins.

[Meridian Expansion Process Complete!]

[Congratulations! Host's Meridian Rank has evolved from (F) to (D+)!] 

[Soul-Bond capacity massively increased. Backlash effect permanently nullified.]

Aroan slowly raised his hand. The thick veins pulsing beneath his skin now radiated a stable, powerful, dark-purple glow. He turned his head. Nyx was already standing tall. The wolf’s shadow-fur was now as black as a starless void, its body visibly larger and radiating the suffocating, domineering aura of a true Shadow Fenrir.

"I will never be a prison for you again, buddy," Aroan whispered, a faint, genuine smile touching his lips. Nyx responded with an affectionate, rough lick across his master’s bloodied cheek.

At the cave's entrance, Sargon crossed his massive arms, perfectly concealing his utter shock that the boy had actually survived the ordeal with his sanity intact.

"You survived today," Sargon stated flatly, turning his broad back to face the pitch-black abyss outside the alcove. "Rest for a few hours. Because later, we descend into the Third Tier of Velmora."

Sargon glanced back, his solitary golden eye gleaming dangerously behind the rusted iron. "From this point onward, our enemies are no longer feral beasts driven by blind hunger. We will be slaughtering entities possessing cunning malice and high intelligence... the Shadow Doppelgangers. Prepare your mind, boy. Because they know exactly what your deepest, darkest weaknesses are."

Under the watchful gaze of the ruthless, masked executioner, the Exiled Prince finally understood one absolute truth: To master an ancient legend, he had to viciously sever his own weaknesses by the root. And starting tomorrow, he was fully prepared to slaughter his own shadow.