Secrets of the Universe

Jake was also intrigued by the existence of such an item. He had to admit the allure was real. Even he was tempted on consuming the item.

When he first found it in his possession, Jake had no idea what to do with it. Luckily, he was able to think about future uses and prohibit himself from using them right away.

Now, it was time to reap the fruits of his act of patience.

Without waiting for a reply from Kaleyx, Jake brought out the only silver ruplix he had and threw it in his mouth.

In his mouth, he tried to bite it into tiny pieces, but the crystal gem proved to be tougher than his teeth.

He was in a dilemma, 'Hmmm… Swallowing this will surely have repercussions. Most specifically, my throat will tear, but I'm sure I would be able to force it down.'

After coming to a decision, he sighed, 'What a sad life?'

Instantly, he ingested it with one big gulp.

The searing pain of his throat making way for the crystal hit him immediately.

From an outside perspective, his neck became discoloured….a proof of internal bleeding.

Jake could feel the sharp edges of the crystal cutting apart the stubborn throat bones that refused to bend.

A scream threatened to escape from his mouth as the throat descended slowly towards his stomach.

However, Jake couldn't risk injuring himself by expressing his pain 

He clenched his fist and used his sharp nails to inflict more pain on himself. Jake always believed one can conquer pain by creating another pain.

Just like he expected, his mind couldn't decide between the two sources of pain and tried to react.

He then sat on the floor and tried to calm himself.

His mind echoed the words that always made him feel at peace.

'One begets two.

Primordial Chaos is the source of all life.

Without Order, its perpetual twin, Chaos cannot bloom.

Two begets three.

Chaos and Order are a cycle, a duality destined to eternally chasing one another, not understanding that there is always a part of themselves in the other.

Three begets four.

Chaos flows in a rhythm beyond comprehension but hidden deep in it is a beauty that transcends all.

Four begets five.

Primal. Origin. Chaos. Order. Me.'

Those words reached the depth of his existence as he suddenly found himself swimming alone in a large sea.

Occasionally, he would feel tingles on his skin, but it wasn't enough to cast him out of his meditation state.

He was at peace… a self-induced peace, but nevertheless, it was peace.

Inside his body in the real world, the crystal gem finally found its way into Jake's stomach after much torture.

Jake was only granted a minute or two of sobriety before the true terror began.

As he said, the crystal gem started dissolving like a cube of ice under the hot sun. 

It bubbled like a hot tub near a volcano resort.

Slowly, the crystalline liquid spread to all parts of Jake's body. It expanded like a great river that connected everywhere.

Before he knew it, the river encroached on his energy core. It tried to burn it up, but the core was too strong for it.

The energy core successfully resisted the river and redirected it to the other parts of his body.

They squirmed in pain as Jake found his body breaking apart like a stale biscuit.

It was definitely not like what he expected. In fact, one could even say, it was way worse.

He had to experience the feeling of holes appearing in his heart and cracks appearing on his bones.

Ruthlessly, his meditation state couldn't ignore the status of his body anymore and forcefully ejected him.

He became akin to the leaves facing a tornado. 

It wasn't a good story at all. Every part of him was torn apart by the vengeful river. 

It pulsed in waves. Each wave was infinitely greater than the other.

However, Jake didn't give up.

He knew perfectly it was a test of endurance. A horrendous test played by nature and its allies. Nonetheless, he had to play by the rules. 

A soul tearing pain coursed through him again as blood began to pour out of his orifices. His stature was deformed and his skin rusted.

Yet, Jake couldn't give up. 

He couldn't deny having the thought of doing that, but when he remembered his goal, he quickly banished the evil thought.

His red eyes watched as his only ally, Kaleyx, sat comfortably on her chair and watched as he bled out.

Obviously, she found the whole thing funny.

In her mind, she was witnessing the spectacle of the decade, which she made sure to enjoy.

She munched on her large apple as she smiled at Jake.

The latter realized nothing good would come at looking at her. Hence, he faced the floor again.

Suddenly, he found peace in examining the design of the floor tiles despite the tremendous pain coursing through him.

Like a boat in a storm, Jake's body spasmed multiple times. Each time, his body threatening to shut down.

He was getting closer to the underworld.

The piercing nature of the liquidized crystal tried to expel all physical substances from his body.

This was the point where Jake's willpower failed to keep up with his body reaction.

He didn't understand what happened at all. All he knew was that in one moment, he is enduring the pain. In the next moment, he lost his consciousness…...blacked out!

Inside the room, a young man laid on the cold floor, all bloodied up.

His breathing pattern was stable, indicating he was still alive.

Sometimes, his body would vibrate like a fish out of water. It would go on for a while until he became stable again.

After a while, a miraculous scene occurred.

His broken skin and bones began to patch up as black liquid substances could be seen constantly being ejected from them.

It was a gradual slow process that seemed to still have a long way to go. Like a snail that had just begun its journey to the riverside.

Sadly, the only person that got to watch this was a young lady sitting in her comfy chair.

She sipped a drink as her thoughts tried to assess Jake's situation, 'Should I forcefully awaken him?'

However, she decided on letting things naturally play out.

Standing up, Kaleyx figured it was the right time to take a bath.

She freely stripped her clothes and entered the bathroom.

After what felt like an hour to her, she came out of the bathroom smelling like the fresh scent of nature.

As she was all alone, she took the time to clean off Jake's bloodstains on the floor and arrange the room.

It was said that some people become responsible when they are alone. Kaleyx reckoned she belonged to that particular group.

She changed Jake's clothes and placed him on the bed.

At least, that was what she thought...

In actuality, she horribly stripped Jake and threw him on the bed. His position on the said bed was truly too sad to imagine.

Also, she took his towel and used it to wipe the stains on the floor. After that, she sprinkled a few natural herbs on the floor, and voila! She was done with her "cleaning"! 

From the way she confidently smiled, it seemed she was quite proud of her cleaning skills, which was, by itself, scary.

Kaleyx then focused on herself.

Just like Jake, she had some self-reflecting to do. She looked at her hands and she released her innate powers.

The dark silver energy that erupted from it dashed around the room before settling back on her hand.

She was possibly the only one that could stare directly at the energy without feeling unnerved.

After all, it was the power she was born with. The same power that caused her to be ostracized by the other celestials.

The power of the negative force.

She took a second look at it and smiled.

It was the power that saved her also.

Kaleyx's story was innately linked to her power over negative energy.

Back then, she had not told Jake the truth about the nether wars.

Her home, the third dimension, was once the forefront of the war.

Her race, the celestials, also happened to be extremely involved in the war.

At that time, Kaleyx was just a young celestial, boasting of powers enough to destroy a planet and possibly a solar system.

However, that was not her full strength back then. She was forbidden by the celestial council to never use her negative powers.

She was above average and that was enough for her. Despite being ostracized, Kaleyx grew to be a fine celestial.

Unfortunately, it was during the warring times and she was mature enough to participate. It didn't take long for her to be thrown into the battleground 

She fought and fought, killing countless of netherans.

Time went by relatively fast and slow at the same time.

To a being like her, she never really related to time. Nevertheless, she was hit by time when she realized the many centuries she had spent on the battleground...