Phaser sat on the cracked ground. Every muscle screamed, every vein. He looked down and saw his reflection in a pool of his own blood. The sight didn't shock him anymore. After all, this was the second day.
"Phaser, do you know anything about the Concept Flux?"
Phaser looked up at his master as tendrils surrounded his body, healing him.
"I… I know it rewrites reality. That's what we Argemenes always say."
"It doesn't. The Concept Flux doesn't rewrite reality, Phaser. It controls it."
"What's the difference?"
"Rewriting reality means changing it, like destroying what exists and replacing it. Controlling reality means bending it. It's taking what already is, and making it obey your idea of what should be. You, Phaser, hold the power to control a Concept of Sealing, Absorption and Corrosion. A Fluxer with your level of affinity doesn't change those concepts. You command them. Then do you why does the Concept Flux only activate when you're about to die?"
"It's tradition."
Seirath shook his head. "That's what everyone believes. But there's a reason it became tradition. And what I'm about to tell you, you must never tell anyone. Understood?"
Phaser nodded once. Seirath leaned back slightly, looking up toward the dark skies.
"Fluxers existed long before the Fluxwave Phenomenon. Before nations, before technology, before the idea of borders. Five thousand years ago, in the age of the first Pharaoh around 3100 BC, the Egyptian Empire rose. The world was still young then, and the first to command the elements was the Pharaoh himself. He was the first bearer of the Elemental Flux."
Phaser's eyes widened. He knew that Fluxers existed when cavemen came to be but weren't the Houses made during the Fluxwave Phenomenon? Either way, he had to pretend.
"You mean Fluxers existed back then?"
"Yes, hidden among the rulers, priests, and scholars. There were three families that ruled the ancient world through their Flux. The Rameses Bloodline, the Ling Bloodline, and the Argemenes Bloodline. The Rameses built Egypt with fire and storm. Their Elemental Flux turned desert to kingdom. The Ling united China under their shadow for centuries and manipulating the world's balance from the unseen corners of history. But the Argemenes stayed in the dark. They didn't want thrones. They didn't want temples. They wanted to live their lives freely. After all, Concept Fluxers are always human."
Seirath's expression softened before he continued.
"The Argemenes acted as the equalizers between the three great Flux bloodlines. They kept the others from devouring each other. But then, they discovered something terrible. Concept Flux wasn't bound by natural limits. It could control memory, truth, anything the Flux blessed them with. It was too much power for a single being. The Argemenes realized that if one of them ever used the Concept Flux recklessly, the world would burn."
"So they made rules?"
"Not just rules. They forged a tradition. The Concept Flux would only awaken when the wielder's life was in danger. It was their failsafe. It's not 'tradition,' Phaser. It's protection against themselves."
Phaser stared at him in silence. He thought back to the times his Concept Flux had activated, the moments between life and death, when everything blurred and the world itself seemed to yield to his will.
"But can it be altered?"
"Only once. The Argemenes found that with enough control, a Fluxer could choose when to activate it. But doing so meant burning through their own self. You'd lose what made you… you. That's why no one does it. The risk is too high."
"And what about… Nairobi?"
"That's why the Argemenes and the Rameses hid your rampage. When you went beyond your limits, the Concept Flux corroded 357 people. You created your very own Fluve Field."
Phaser froze. "That's impossible."
"Is it? When the Concept Flux acts through fear of death, it bends everything to preserve its wielder. Do you know why the Concept Flux is considered the rarest of the five Flux types?"
Phaser stayed quiet, his body swaying slightly from exhaustion.
"Because it's hard to control? Or because it can control a concept?"
Seirath smiled faintly, shaking his head.
"No. It's because it's alive."
This time, he didn't expect that answer.
"What?"
"You've heard of Alteration, Psyche, Elemental, Combat and Concept Flux. The first four are predictable. They obey will, training and focus. But the Concept Flux is the only sentient Flux. It chooses its wielder. It decides when to awaken and when to stay dormant."
Phaser's eyes widened. The ground seemed to shift beneath him, or maybe his legs were just giving out. This was not in the lore of MoDS at all. Maybe this is why the Vecrias and the Acrievs existed.
"You mean… it's aware?"
"Deeply. It knows fear. It knows desire. It knows who you are, Phaser. That's why it only activates when you're close to death not to save you, but to judge you. It wants to see if you're worthy of its power."
Phaser's heart pounded. He remembered the blur of consciousness, the collapsing world and the impossible calm when his Concept took over. He'd never felt in control during those moments.
"Your mother understood that better than anyone. When I talked to her about the proposal of my daughter and you, she told me something about Xaessiarerich. She said that Xaessiarerich endured training harsher than anything the Argemenes had ever allowed. She was forced to confront her Concept Flux head-on with no protection or limits. Through that suffering, she accessed fifty percent of her Concept Flux without restrictions."
Phaser blinked hard, trying to process that.
"Fifty… percent? That's… impossible. That kind of exposure would kill anyone."
"Exactly. But she survived. That's why she can use her roses so effortlessly. Even with her Flux sealed, she manipulates her Concept like second nature. She met her Flux. She understood it."
The void shuddered slightly as if responding to Seirath's words, and a gust of unseen wind swept across the endless space. Phaser clenched his fists, staring down at his trembling hands.
"So what's your plan?"
"Simple. I'm going to bring you as close to death as possible, again and again until your Concept awakens by will, not instinct. You'll face it, talk to it and see it. Only then will it stop controlling you."
Phaser's mouth went dry. "You mean… I have to meet it?"
"Yes. Face the sentient Flux inside you that decides whether you live or die. Once you do, you'll be strong enough to withstand the transfer of the Void Element."
Phaser looked up sharply. "The Void Element? You mean—"
Seirath raised a hand to silence him.
"Not yet. The Void will consume anyone unprepared. The only reason your body hasn't collapsed already is because your Concept keeps repairing the damage. But until you understand it, you'll never master it. The first step is staying conscious when it awakens. You have eight days to learn."
He extended one arm, and the entire arena shuddered. The distant horizon cracked open like a mirror, and energy poured out, turning the flat expanse into a storm of floating platforms and spinning concrete pillars. Lightning danced between them like silver veins.
"Ready yourself. From now on, every strike I make will kill you if you hesitate."
Phaser exhaled slowly, feeling the adrenaline burn through his veins. He steadied his footing, blood dripping down his chin.
"Then I won't hesitate."
"Good."
Wind slammed into Phaser first. It threw him backward, but he caught himself mid-air, strings bursting from his fingertips, anchoring him to a floating block of stone. Sparks of light followed, then a flash of blue lightning that cracked the sky open and tore through the air toward him. Phaser swung away, landing hard on his side, but before he could breathe, the ground shifted.
Seirath was already there. His fist blurred through the dark. Phaser barely raised his arm when the impact crashed into his ribs like a sledgehammer. His entire body lifted off the ground and flew, bouncing against the concrete until his spine screamed.
He coughed, blood splattering across the ground. The sound echoed endlessly. Seirath's voice carried through the void.
"You're still too slow, Phaser."
Phaser gritted his teeth and forced himself up. His strings lashed out, hundreds of them, weaving a glowing web through the air, sharp enough to slice the floating debris in half. Seirath didn't flinch. He simply extended his hand and the strings froze in midair, crystallizing in an instant before shattering like glass.
"You still rely on precision."
Phaser barely had time to react before Seirath swept his arm and a wall of fire erupted from the ground, curling into a spiral of molten wind. Phaser dodged through the inferno. A lightning bolt caught him midair and sent him crashing into a pillar.
The world went white.
Pain tore through him but somewhere inside that chaos, a pulse began to beat. The Flux was watching him, waiting for him to fall unconscious. He tried to stand, blood running from his mouth.
"Not… yet…"
Seirath raised his fist. "Then rise."
Phaser did. His strings wrapped around his arms, pulling his broken body upright. His legs trembled but held. He charged forward, faster than he thought possible, and for the first time, Seirath moved to defend.
Concrete shattered beneath their feet. Fire and void collided. Seirath's elements twisted together. Water, wind, lightning and flame converged into one chaotic storm. Phaser cut through it with Void Strings.
Seirath's fist connected straight into Phaser's chest again even though he used Roborare.
For a moment, everything stopped. The impact was silent, but the sound that followed was wet. Seirath's fist had gone clean through his torso. Phaser's breath caught in his throat. He could feel the cold void creeping in, eating away at his senses. The world blurred, colors draining into gray.
Seirath let go and stepped back.
"Now, don't black out. Stay conscious. Meet it."
Phaser fell to his knees, clutching at the wound. His heartbeat slowed. The air trembled. The arena dissolved into white light.
He heard a voice that wasn't a voice.
"So… you've finally come to see me."
And before the light swallowed him whole, Phaser realized Seirath was right. The Concept Flux wasn't his to control.
It was alive.