Lowly Ascent

Seeing as Cain didn't entertain the Counselor's words, he left, leaving Darla to her duty.

With everything peaceful again, Cain's mind went into overdrive.

'So I have four days left...and I've yet to find a purpose...'

In his anxiousness, Cain started to pace around his cage and think.

'How do I find purpose now, I can't gain it under pressure like this....purpose should be found through effort but not the active kind. I can't come up with something in four measly days, damn it, I waited too long.'

Cain stopped, 'No no, a few weeks wouldn't be enough either. I'm not in an environment that can bore purpose anyhow; unless I gain inspiration. But it's not smart to rely on a maybe.'

Purpose was hard to find, some people went their entire lives without it, and others had false purpose leading them to a cliff. Purpose was like a diamond mine, people could find the mine but inside they might find flawed gems and stones, and very few come out with something special.

'If I could make this situation easier I would. I would give an arm and a leg just to get the answers I seek.'

The world around Cain vanished. There were no signs, everything just ceased to exist.

He was suddenly in a void. Looking down, Cain didn't see his body either, it was like he was part of the void he now found himself in.

Immediately, he felt something narrow on him, like the entire void found him foreign. 

A voice echoed, at first confused but it slowly seemed to understand everything like some omniscient being.

"Oh? What's this?" The voice paused before laughing, "Haha! What an interesting development! To think that Path of Sacrifice still had such power in it, the seed I planted is growing well! I wonder which one will harvest it!"

Cain felt fear, he only felt this once before, facing the Primordial Beings. Yet, this voice gave off an even stronger reaction.

'What's going on?!'

The voice laughed again, "Haha! You don't know what you did. Well, don't worry about payment, I'll make sure you're fine once you go back. In the meantime, let me give you an answer you'll find adequate."

Cain felt himself being pulled, and before he knew it he was on a chair floating in the void, but without a body to sit in it with, it felt quite weird.

The voice started, "You need purpose, that much is obvious. If you wish to get the power hidden in this realm as well, you will need a purpose that will allow you to accommodate such power, a purpose that's filled with ambition. I recommend conceptualization."

Cain's mind jolted. 'Conceptualization, you mean like the concepts?' His fear was overshadowed by his curiosity. He didn't even mind how this voice could hear his thoughts.

"Yes, though you don't only have to become a concept itself, you can conceptualize it in other ways. Becoming the concept itself is just the most efficient and powerful way to harness conceptualization. And if you don't wish for that, there are other ways to gain strength, conceptualization has just been the most popular due to the Greater Will supporting it."

Cain had so many questions, but the present was of the most importance. Using a great amount of willpower, he choked out the words, "Please continue." Not asking a single question.

The voice abridged.

"Well, conceptualization is the process of conceptualizing something. Anything and everything is a concept, some concepts don't exist anymore, and others concepts have yet to be. Some concepts can be harnessed in a single word or multiple, some even creating sentences. But in simple terms to explain their power, concepts are the amalgamation of laws.

"However, remember, concepts are not the laws themselves but have power over them. I'll use the Concept of Death as an example.

"In the past, there was another concept of death, the one born from Order. Mind you, the Order I'm referring to in this case is not a concept, it is a sort of transit point for the Greater Will, the Creator. Though I don't expect you to understand so I'll just continue.

"The first Death had power over laws like decay, death, degradation, and darkness. With command over the concept of death, it made it so death was the end, nothing coming after. This made souls dissipate after they lost their bodies, astral body creatures and such had no way to exist, with no way to stop this process.

"However, the Greater Will did not like this and soon a new death rose and took over, wielding similar laws. Yet now, death is looser, souls can become stronger, they can linger, and only until something purposely destroys a soul does it enter true death and cease to exist. Of course, that's just a summary. There are places the dead can go, realms they can wander into, or even cases of ghosts and possession.

"Do you get it? Laws are eternal while concepts are forever changing as existence matures. I also require you to remember that Concepts cannot control the laws entirely, it's like drawing water from a well, like a medium.

"This is how Concepts control the world. See now why I say conceptualization is the strongest? But that doesn't mean people aren't outside concepts, there are other ways to reach an equal level of power as I hinted earlier."

The voice stopped its rant, and this queued Cain to speak.

'I understand, but how does this help me?'

The voice happily obliged, "Well if you want purpose, conceptualize it. Simply summarize yourself as a concept through your life until this point and think of where you wish to go and desire. Maybe you're life symbolizes freedom, hope, faith, or hate. I've seen many humans go that route, the current concept of Faith being one of those humans."

It went on, "This foundation will allow you to take the path of conceptualization as well as help your current predicament. Remember, have some ambition, don't worry about time either."

Cain was confused, 'Why not worry about time?'

The voice became a little eerie as it spoke, "Because time doesn't exist where I exist."

...

Cain was left in the void without a guide. After the voice answered him it didn't come back, he was left to contemplate the concept of himself.

'So what am I?' He thought.

'Sad. I guess sad.... after all my entire life I've been used for one end or another, it's only been until recently I have been able to be on the other end of the string. However, I've still survived through it all, even if used as a puppet I lived or outlived those who tried to make use of me, Numineer is an example.'

'I started with nothing but ended up strong, so that's something.'

Cain was taking his self-contemplation very seriously. Although he would check himself from time to time, he's never sat down and thoroughly criticized his life, and thus, finding all the amazing achievements he's made.

'Now that I think of it, I'm like a bug that somehow escaped under the threat of the boot. I grew, and now I'm the one with the boot, but I still want more, I know I'm weak, and reaching this point it is apparent how much of a bug I still am. There are things like concepts, the Will of this Universe, and that thing in the World of Chaos....so what's my goal?'

Cain thought for a long while, his mind almost falling asleep but he forced himself awake every time.

'For some reason, even though I'm weak, I want everything, I want to know everything and not have to worry about anything. Even though I understand peace is a lie I still want to have such a foolish thing, but if possible, who wouldn't want it?'

'To wrap all these things up, it would be freedom I guess, the True freedom I crave. But....true freedom is childish, it's not possible, like peace. It's foolish to think there aren't chains no matter if you have nothing or everything.'

Cain's sight rose, from looking down below to up above. It didn't matter though, he was surrounded by darkness nonetheless.

'So, I'll just pick my chains instead.'

Although time didn't exist, Cain still thought and moved. After his last remark, it was "a while" before he had another. 

'If I were to sum myself up, I am Nothing. But even so, I crave for Everything.'

A loud laugh bellowed, "Hahaha! Interesting, I don't know what laws you would have to grasp to become such a concept but it is very ambitious! I like it! From Nothing to Everything, being both at the same time, a transition to greatness! An easy path to walk but even easier to fail! Haha! To think an ironic human like you can strive for such a thing! But unironically, that also summarizes all humans, so, will you be the one to succeed in the end?"

The voice rebounded in the vastness of the absence of all things.

Cain was seemingly proud, he felt something deep inside him become whole, 'And why do you think I'm ironic?' It was time to see if he could question this voice successfully.

The voice unexpectedly answered Cain, "Every prisoner in this place is, of those with real power, half of you serve your captor while the other half think they are free while not seeing the strings above your heads. Not to mention, this prison is made from- well, I don't like spoiling surprises. I'm sure you'll find out eventually, maybe I'll even tell you eventually!"

Cain felt an unknown force affecting him again.

'Wait! Can't you tell me more? I have questions!' Cain no longer cared for holding back his curiosity, he openly craved for all things.

The voice boomed, "You have a long way Vessel, I hope you become unique now that I've set you on the path forward. I knew sending this segment of myself here would be entertaining!"

'Wait!'

Cain tried to reach out, but he only saw his wing stretched out. He was lying on the floor of his cage. He was back, the transition was faster than instantaneous, and it was scary.

'So I'm back to being a bird....but, everything seems so different.'

Looking at the world, Cain felt everything shifted, his senses were enhanced to a point where he could grasp anything just by looking at it, figuratively and physically. It was like he had an outer sense that could gain information like his 5 senses could.

But excitement didn't come across his mind, only hunger for a higher power and an estimate of what he gained. 

'Now I can use a lot of those spells, plus my soul energy is so dense I can use it for telekinesis.'

He evaluated his new options before his curiosity set in. 'But...who was that, they seemed to know a lot, far too much. At least I have purpose now, and that being hinted at power hidden here, I should start looking for that as well.'

People were often a step away from finding purpose, they only needed a proper process to find it. Humans were their limiters, and a third party was needed, another reason humans are social creatures.

External help is crucial in realizing oneself even if no one would admit it. The mind and body are one, and so are the internal and external of thought.

All internal thoughts are made from external ones, all knowledge was first made from the outside. Humans adapted through their external environment to advance their internal one.

To summarize, no one can think of something without taking inspiration from somewhere. Humans first learned from nature, and then themselves.

Often, people overlook answers to their problems because they don't look outward at the resources available to them first, getting trapped. It was best to not be like that, to take a step back, and use everything outside before turning inward and shutting oneself off from external growth.