Chapter 298: Zach

Chapter 298: Zach

Cry

His will churned and boiled, his body and mind a chasm filled with the might of an ocean of fire. It had only grown stronger, every day, every month, every year that passed. Improving his willpower was the reason he existed. There was nothing else that mattered. The hunger and thirst were trials, obstacles to overcome. Silence was his greatest friend, it wrapped him in its arms, held him close with warmth. It kept the wildness beneath the surface of the ocean from spilling out, from raging and burning everything down.

He was he didnt remember his name, if he even had one before. The only thing he remembered were two names, Ryun and Naha. Nothing else. He was will made manifest, he was a god trapped. He reached out to the wall around his mind, gently, reverently. He touched it, didnt push. His will pulsed, wanting to rage and smash through it. He hated that wall, it had been there for all of his life, keeping him from something, he had no doubt about that.

But this time, he didnt push. He looked for something else. His skill trembled, even though the world around him struggled to keep up with the lie. He didnt need it and its words to understand. Reality was what one believed in, and his world liked to play tricks on him. It was a mother and a father to him, it taught him how to see through it. It helped him and made him strong. Even though, at times like this one, it could be overbearing. He ignored the lies and looked for the flaws, his mind focused.

He could see them, yet he knew. They were so small, so insignificant, that no matter his might, he would never breach the wall.

He pulled his will back once the knowledge settled in. The ocean of fire calmed with his sorrow. Something inside of him was near to giving up. But he didnt give up. He didnt break. Never.

He stood up and glanced at his mountain, filled with notches and writing. There were secrets there that he had forgotten. He resolved himself and went looking.

He searched across the mountain, the writings carved in stone that always remained the same. He didnt know why he found that strange, and it didnt matter. He paused in front of one section with piles of stone arrange around it. Graphs and ideas were carved into the stone, theories about the Mind Essence, what it all could do. It was unorganized, chaotic. Random thoughts strung together with no logic. He focused on a few pieces that were underlined.

Mind related to Will?

Mental fortitude =/= Will?

I am certain, Mind can provide the building blocks for greater Will.

Mind over matter, Will over reality.

I understand.Folloow current novÊls on nov/3lb((in).(co/m)

He tried to remember, but it had been so long since he had written this. Since he had tried to understand the Mind Essence. Some of that knowledge remained, only after so long, it was instinctual. Buried deep within of him.

He moved along the wall, reading. There was a lot of information buried within the ramblings of a crazy mind. A couple of steps after, he paused, looking at another section of the wall with underlined text.

I am a Soul and body linked. My real mind is part of my soul, my memories, my intelligence. The body is just a conduit. The Wall is outside of my mind, surrounding it, cutting me off from my body. But the soul

The thought was never finished. He didnt remember writing this, it had to be very long ago. Yet something about it clicked with him. He only had to try and figure it out.

He found a cave that he had no memory of. He had to had forgotten it long, long ago. Its walls were covered in hurried writing, a story carved into stone.

He read and wanted to cry, to weep for what it was. This was the story of a man by the name of Zacharia. His short life on a world called Earth. Then his life after. He was intrigued, because the writing spoke of the two names that he still remembered.

This were his words. He had carved his memory into the stone, because he had known that he would forget. There wasnt enough room to write down everything, only cliff-notes.

One of the names, Naha, was mentioned more than anything else. He him of the time when he wrote this, wanted to remember. He wanted to never forget that she was the reason that he needed to get out. That she needed him.

He, the Zach of now, who he had become, he didnt know. He didnt remember. The words said that he loved her, but perhaps some part of him did. He had remembered the Name after all.

He moved away from that section, reading on. Looking for parts that were highlighted.

Yeti, Raazel Equinar - Dangerous, untrustworthy. Enemy.

He read that section, learning about a prisoner, like himself. A being of great power and will. A being that had waited in solitude and patience for the right time to strike. The right time to escape.

That was all that he could do too.

It burned his eyes, his ears, his nose and mouth, and his skin. The world around him was real, and he saw

|I Focused And Saw All Flaws|

He saw it all, the cracks in the black stone, the body that was weak. He tried to move and howled at the wrongness of his muscles moving. He was bound, unable to move nearly at all, unable to get through to himself. Black tendrils that misted with smoke held him tightly, keeping him upright.

He was imprisoned again.

He focused, bent his will against his skill, forcing it under control. It lessened the effects. His mind was still focused, it still looked for flaws everywhere around him, and he tried to ignore it.

Then, a voice broke through to him. Zach, you are awake, it said the words that sent him spiraling back down.

The voice was wrong, flawed. He closed his eyes and tried to move his arms to cover his ears, the bounds around his limbs preventing it.

Voice flawed. No air passing through the vocal cords, sound generated at the back of the throat, coming from nothing, transmitted through still air, wrong, flawed.

He grimaced, and took a moment to gather himself. The voice kept talking, but he ignored it. It only made things worse. Zach then realized part of the problem.

His body was weak, it was tired. His mind was tired. A weight of thousands of years lived. He couldnt handle the price he was paying for his skill always working. He could feel himself slipping into sleep, unconsciousness. And no matter how much he wished to experience that again, he resisted.

He focused on his body, he bent his will, and the world obeyed.

|Perfect Tireless Body|

His body changed, his will dominating it, and the fatigue was gone. The world cleared, the flaws still apparent, but He could listen.

He opened his eyes and met the eyes of the voices source. Blank eyes that couldnt see, flawed, dead flesh stretched over bones. A corpse, animated by something inside. A vessel.

Zach? Quick, can you break the chains? You need to release us? the corpse said.

It knew his name, the name that he had in the dream.

Zach looked around, saw the night sky, saw the grand courtyard covered with black stone. There were other people around him, all strung up by black tendrils that grew out of the stone, misting with black smoke, holding them all. Black lines pulsing beneath their skin, crawling beneath the surface. Beyond, he saw a throne, and figure in yellow sitting on it. Hatred welled up inside of him, the words on the wall coming to his mind. The name, title, something. King in Yellow, enemy.

It was turned away from him, he needed to

Zach, the corpse pulled his attention away. The flawed voice that was wrong. He looked at it, and narrowed his eyes.

Are you real corpse man? Is this world real? Zach whispered, his own voice making him shiver. Gravely, stiff, coming through a throat that hadnt spoken in a while, dry. How long had his body been here he wondered. He glanced down saw that he was wearing armor, flawed. He saw where a blade could strike, widen and break through the micro crack in the metal. It would need to

Zacharia, the corpse said again. I dont know what happened to you, what the Dome Leader has done to you or the others. But I know that there isnt any time. Weve been here for three days, the others will not last for much longer. If you can, you need to set me free, it is our only hope.

Zacharia didnt understand, not really. But he hated being trapped, imprisoned. He looked down at the tendrils holding him. They were perfect, not real as everything else around him was, but They were forged of will, a will that he recognizedthe wall that had kept him all alone.

He reached out with his will, and nothing happened. He frowned, he should be able to His will bending reality itself, it was his right. The Mind over matter, Will over reality. It wanted something from him, the thing that made rules, the Framework. Zacharia understood. He focused his will again, and created what it wanted. Gave a conduit to his will.

|Perfect Telekinesis: My Will, Made Manifest|

The Framework wanted to give him something, for him to choose. Zacharia didnt care, he let the Framework chose, as it had for the skills he made before. His will manifested in the world, and squeezed the tendrils around him, he pulled and ripped them apart.

His body hit the ground as he was no longer held.

Quick, the corpse said. The others are still wearing their amulets, I can break them out. You must hurry, before the monster wakes.

Zach grimaced at everything around him, all the flaws, his focus shifting from one to another. Everything was so he shook his head and stood up, walking over to the talking corpse. He raised his hand and focused his will on the tendrils holding it prisoner, pulling them apart.

Good, the corpse said once it was free. There is hope still.