Mythara twirled through the endless nebula until he collided with something solid. He turned to see The Wanderer's hooded figure standing there, upside down—or was he upside down? The Wanderer floated past him and twirled his hand, and Mythara was turned right side up again.

He now felt himself standing on solid ground, but when he looked beneath him there was nothing but the void of space. He couldn't tell if this was an illusion or reality, or a mixture of the two. Mythara took the time to look around him.

"What is this place?" He heard his own voice echo.

"Nowhere, and everywhere," The Wanderer responded, his voice echoing from the surroundings.

"Oh…" Mythara rolled his eyes, not bothering to try to get him to clarify what he meant.

The Wanderer chuckled as he stared off into the void.

"Look," The Wanderer instructed Mythara, pointing ahead.

Mythara stared at The Wanderer's back before he began to stare off into the nebula. As they stared into the void, neither of them spoke a word. Mythara entered a trance as his pupils turned into slits and his eyes glowed rose-gold. Images of Earth rushed into his mind. He saw every living thing. Every blade of grass, all their emotions and desires rushed into his mind.

It all happened faster than he could process. Their sadness, their joy, their fear, their desire. All of it entered and struck him but faded away like falling sand, forgotten as quickly as it came. Mythara's eyes then roamed toward a massive boiling pool of blood, his consciousness racing toward the bottom of it. He saw a figure sitting at the bottom of its dark depths. The figure's eyes opened, meeting Mythara's gaze.

Mythara let out a gasp of air and took a step back. Mythara looked over at The Wanderer who was still staring out into the void.

"See? Everywhere and nowhere," The Wanderer responded.

Mythara was barely processing what The Wanderer was saying—everything happened too fast. His breathing was ragged as the Wanderer placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't fight it, don't try to understand it, just let it be," The Wanderer instructed him.

Mythara's breathing began to slow down, and he then stared back out into the endless nebula. Once again, everything everywhere on Earth rushed into his mind. Mythara didn't try to process it, he didn't try to understand any of it—he just let it be.

"Now, just think about what you want to see," The Wanderer commanded.

An image of Amaterasu on the phone with her parents was presented in his mind.

"Yeah, they asked me to assist with some super secret stuff, so I won't be able to contact you guys for a few years… If I could tell you it wouldn't be super secret, Mom… They already worked something out with the University, and they said my work there will transfer to my major if I do satisfactory work… Yes, he'll be there too… No, Dad, we're not eloping I promise. Renegade Tech will send you guys a message explaining everything… Yeah, well it's Renegade Tech, so even if…"

Mythara smiled as the vision of Amaterasu faded away, and Mythara was overcome with information again. He let everything flow through him and then the image of his parents came into view. The two of them had just finished sparring and were resting.

"Is all this really okay?" The Bone Collector asked.

"What do you mean?" Roratha asked.

"He's just a kid, Ro. This is a lot to put on a kid's shoulders."

"He's not just a kid, he is Auranthos' Threnos," Roratha responded.

"Is he? Or did you just make him that?" The Bone Collector had a concerned look on his face as he stared into his wife's eyes. Roratha opened her mouth, only to say nothing. She sat in thought and then continued,

"Legends are made, not born," she finally responded.

The Bone Collector looked up at the ceiling.

"I hope this is right."

"If it isn't right, we'll make it right." Roratha looked at her husband and then rested her head on his shoulder.

"Then I'll need to be stronger… no time to rest." The Bone Collector got up from his seat and Roratha smiled.

His parents' figures disappeared and he was once again bombarded with information from all over the world. He focused as he found himself back in that boiling pool of blood. The figure at the bottom of the pool opened their purple eyes once again. Mythara found himself staring into Cefketa's purple pools and Cefketa stared back at him. Mythara felt a strong pull as he dove into the depths of Cefketa's consciousness. He wanted to know what that darkness was that he had shown.

However, once he dove into Cefketa's consciousness he saw an endless black void. There was nothing there, nothing he could perceive, but something was pulling him further into this black abyss.

"That's enough." The Wanderer's hand grabbed Mythara by the shoulder, bringing him back to reality. Mythara gasped and hunched over on his knees.

"You shouldn't stare too far into the abyss. You'll lose yourself," The Wanderer warned Mythara, who found himself exhausted.

"What is he?" Mythara asked.

"Something that shouldn't exist. But luckily for Earth… so are you." The Wanderer floated off toward the center of the nebula.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"What? What are you talking about?" Mythara didn't understand. He understood that maybe he shouldn't exist how he is now, but he believed Gteju to be the cornerstones of life. If they weren't meant to exist then what was?

"It's a long story that you don't need to know right now. Just know, you are exactly what you need to be, to resist what he is." The Wanderer then turned to face Mythara, who was still in deep contemplation.

"Is this why you asked me to come here? To show me that?" Mythara looked up at the Wanderer.

"Yes. You aren't strong enough to fight against Cefketa, and there are only three years to help you close the gap. The first thing we needed to do was rewire the way you process information," The Wanderer explained.

"What do you mean rewire? And I think I put up a decent fight with him already," Mythara protested.

"The way you processed information was too human. You're a Gteju now… or close enough to it… so you need to process information like one. How you just experienced the information of Earth flowing through you, is how you should be processing the information when you speak to creation." The Wanderer explained.

Mythara frowned as he digested this information. He thought he was making tremendous strides in that department, at least more than Cefketa. He looked at the Wanderer and then cleared his mind as his tattoos began to glow. Then a single simple thought entered his mind.

"Fire." At that thought a massive orb of flames appeared behind him, it looked like a miniature sun had manifested. The heat radiating from it was immense. The orb of fire disappeared and Mythara started to breathe heavily once again. He then grabbed his chest as he felt a terrible pain come over his body.

"Congratulations, you spoke with creation for the first time. Cefketa has been doing that for some time now," The Wanderer explained.

Mythara's eyes widened in understanding. He thought he was "speaking" this whole time, but because of his Nanites and Program, all he was doing was little more than light mutterings. He now understood why Nina spoke of his body breaking down. If he hadn't activated the system in his body, he couldn't imagine what kind of pain he would be experiencing.

"Those tattoos are cute. They helped bear the weight of your mutterings but even then you were slowly eating away at your body. Even if it was just baby babble, you were speaking quite a bit. It's starting to catch up. And when you truly speak, these tattoos will be little more than pain relievers," The Wanderer explained.

Mythara shook his head. Cefketa could "speak" and not only could he "speak"—his body was highly over-trained, so he could speak loud and often. But he hadn't really used any abilities in their fight, outside that weird darkness he couldn't control.

"He was holding back, even in that situation?" Mythara asked.

"All of this, his revenge, his battle against Selistar, and his scuffle against you. It was a limit test. When you fight next, it will be Earth-shattering… literally. So I brought you here to help you prepare."

"Are you god?" Mythara asked as he squinted.

Nothing about The Wanderer made any sense. He wasn't Gteju, otherwise Mythara was sure he would feel the same draw to him as he did Nina and Cefketa. He wasn't a Gteju but had the power and influence to deal with them on equal footing. The way he looked at the world, and his vast knowledge. That was the only thing that made sense. The Wanderer began to laugh.

"God? No… but to the Persequions I am."

"You're Heka…" Mythara surmised.

"Yeah, that was the name they gave me. I'll tell you what. If you can finish the training regimen I have slated for you within the three years, I'll answer all the questions you have… well within reason." The Wanderer cut off any more questions that were floating around in Mythara's mind. Mythara scoffed, as there were an endless amount of questions that he had, but only one mattered at the moment.

"What training regimen?"

The Wanderer snapped his fingers. Part of the nebula around them swirled and condensed, forming a humanoid silhouette. The Wanderer reached out and tapped the entity's forehead. Its eyes snapped open, revealing swirling galaxies within their depths. Turning back to Mythara, The Wanderer asked,

"What do you think your biggest disadvantage against Cefketa is?"

"My body's too weak," Mythara responded.

"No… it's experience. Cefketa lived the first 26 years of his life believing himself to be a powerless human. Under that assumption, he worked himself to the bone to survive and defeat opponents several times stronger than himself. Now he has all that experience packaged in the strongest body in the galaxy."

Mythara nodded his head in understanding and looked at the humanoid nebula in front of him.

"I'm guessing I have to fight this thing until I defeat it?" Mythara asked.

"Yes, this is a simulacrum of Cefketa that contains all his experience and skills that he has exhibited until now. Kill it… you have three years," The Wanderer commanded.

"That's it? That's your training regimen?"

"Don't use your Program or Systems. Just your body and your wits. How's that?" The Wanderer chuckled as Mythara's face fell. He immediately regretted opening his mouth—The Wanderer was indeed fickle.

There was no point arguing why. "Zac" had fought creatures with just his body and wits. If he was to match him, he would need the same experience. This could also work to help him strengthen his body.

"I can't stay here for three years," Mythara responded as he looked at the simulacrum.

"I'm not asking you to. This room will be available for you to use as much as you need, and you can tell the simulacrum to stop whenever you need it to. Now if you'll excuse me." The Wanderer began to turn around and walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"To do a couple of favors for an old friend," The Wanderer responded.

"When will you be back?"

"When your friends wake up. They'll need my help. And they'll only have about a year. And I find the possibility of what they will become far more interesting than a couple of weird Gteju." The Wanderer waved off Mythara as he vanished into the nebulous void.

"Wait, how do I get out?!" Mythara asked.

As the thought entered his mind, he felt a jabbing pain in his chest and looked over his shoulder as a door appeared. He had called out reflexively. At least now he knew how to leave, but the sharp reminder of his body's fragile state wasn't lost on him. He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the simulacrum. He might as well test it out before heading back.

"Yo… let's start," Mythara called out. The simulacrum's head immediately turned toward Mythara. A scythe appeared in its hand, and Mythara smirked. He entered a fighting stance, feeling naked without any weapons.

Mythara blinked, and the nebulous figure vanished. Mythara looked down at his chest and saw a diagonal line across his torso, with the figure standing behind him.

"I cannot kill you with my attacks. But you will experience the pain of every death. Brace yourself," the simulacrum spoke in a monotone mechanical voice. The shock was plain on Mythara's face, and then an unbearable pain racked his body.

"ARRRGHHHHH!!!!" He shouted into the endless nebula. Mythara doubled over. As he gathered himself, the simulacrum stood there waiting for Mythara to tell him to proceed. Mythara stood up and looked over at his opponent.

"How many deaths do you wish to end on?" the simulacrum asked.

"Shut up!" Mythara shouted in annoyance.

"Understood, I'll keep track until you wish to stop."

Mythara charged forward, faster than any human or most Chasers could keep up with, propelled by the power of his body alone. The simulacrum vanished from sight and appeared next to Mythara, who now had a nebulous line across his neck.

"Two," the simulacrum counted.

Several hours passed, and the sounds of Mythara's death wails continued to echo through the endless nebula.

Book 2, Program Zero: Overclock, End

Thank you everyone who has been reading so far. There will be no break. Book 3, "Program Zero: A Feast of Gods" will be released with the regular schedule, on the 22th.

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