Kiran woke up.
He barely remembered anything from the eleven lives he had lived.
Yet, he still remembered all of the emotions he had felt, and the key aspects of his past lives were still there.
He wasn't sure who he was anymore.
For a long time, he just sat on the floor, looking at the dark tiles below.
He was thinking about the lives he had lived.
Who was he?
He noticed that more and more of the details vanished.
His real memories became more pronounced.
His real family.
His wish.
His purpose.
After an unknown period of time, he looked up.
And for the first time, he could actually see where he was.
He was in a grand hall, and in the middle of the hall was an imposing statue.
"You have survived," the voice spoke.
This time, Kiran could feel that it was the statue that was speaking to him.
Kiran didn't answer.
"Everyone has a purpose," the statue said. "Everyone has desires and wishes."
"Survival, love, companionship, revenge, food, luxury, money, hatred, happiness, rage."
"This is what a human life is."
"You strive for a goal."
"Yet, without power, this goal becomes unreachable."
"It becomes an exercise in futility."
"But power without a purpose leads only to tragedy."
"A powerful businessman who focuses on amassing more and more riches for his family will find his family estranged from him."
"The love of his life was with him because of him, not because of his money."
"In trying to provide for them, he has amassed power but forsaken his purpose."
"Power and purpose."
"As humanity's Emperor, you need both."
"You are still young."
"Your choices are not yet made."
"Your past does not dictate your future."
"Your present dictates your future."
"What will you choose?"
Silence.
Kiran looked at the statue before standing up.
He remembered his family.
He remembered the city he had been born in.
He remembered the constant conflicts.
He remembered the suffering the Specters inflicted on humanity.
"I want to help humanity," Kiran eventually said.
"I want to make it so that no human ever has to suffer again."
"And I am willing to give my life for that purpose."
Then, Kiran knelt in front of the statue.
"Thank you for teaching me."
The statue remained silent for a while.
"I am the Duskbringer," the statue spoke.
Kiran's heart shook when he heard that.
"I am the Sun's enemy."
"My purpose is not to help humanity."
"My purpose is to kill the Sun."
"That is why I need you."
"Your purpose is to help humanity."
"You are the one who will lead humanity into freedom."
"I will just be the weapon you will use to achieve that goal."
"You have inherited part of my power."
"Learn about your newfound powers."
"Learn about the world you now inhabit."
"Power needs a purpose, but without wisdom, power will not lead you to your goal."
"You must learn."
"Over the next years, I will summon more people."
"I will only speak to you."
"It is your duty to lead humanity."
"Everything will be up to you."
The next moment, Kiran could feel the presence vanishing.
The statue was still there, but it somehow felt… lifeless.
It was just a statue.
"I will not disappoint you," Kiran said.
Nick watched Kiran.
'Humanity's Emperor has been born, but he is still young and inexperienced,' he thought.
'I need to prepare appropriate trials.'
'He must go through many instances of adversity.'
Over the next days, Nick watched Kiran searching the empty underground city.
He was in an unfamiliar world.
A lonely and endless world of cold steel.
Eventually, he found the water condensers and could quench his thirst.
He also found individual farms that grew food.
Yet, most of all, he found closed doors with no way to open them.
Over these days, Kiran had already familiarized himself with his new powers.
The ability Nick had granted him.
The power of darkness.
The darker the surroundings were, the more powerful Kiran became.
In a world without light, Kiran's powers were improved fivefold.
Naturally, Nick was very similar to the Null, but he was also very similar to the Nightmare.
Because of that, this new mix of abilities happened.
Kiran's powers were not based on perception but on the surroundings.
And in this lightless world, his power was always at its maximum.
As long as he kept training and learning, with such a powerful ability as a baseline, he would never lose against another human in a fight.
Kiran spent his days exploring, learning, and training.
He had found many weapons, but he couldn't lift any of them.
He needed his own weapon, and for that, he needed to learn how to create weapons.
There were pieces of knowledge and wisdom scattered throughout the city that taught basic things.
Kiran absorbed the knowledge.
He also learned what he needed to open the first set of doors.
He needed to create an electrical device that would transmit a code to the doors.
There were also many other doors and chests that needed electricity to work.
And when they finally worked, they would ask questions related to any kind of field of study.
All the answers could be found in a big library that Kiran hadn't found yet.
Kiran learned diligently for months, and finally, he managed to create his first weapon.
A long rod made of metal that was slightly treated with Zephyx.
Just in time, because the next day, he found out that he wasn't alone.
There were Specters here.
Hatchlings of different powers.
When confronted with his first real fight, Kiran became terrified.
But that was normal.
Everyone was terrified when coming face to face with their first Specter.
With difficulty, Kiran managed to suppress his first Specter.
The weakest Containment Units only needed a code to be opened, and Kiran had found that code already.
Yet, just when Kiran managed to suppress the Specter, he realized something horrifying.
There were not only Hatchlings in this world.
There were also Adolescents.
And he couldn't fight those yet.
He needed more power.
But he knew how to attain power.
He had to work with Specters to grow stronger.