Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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Void Exposure felt terrible. The Stormrider Brothers learned that the hard way.

Well, to be fair, it's not like they ever looked forward to it. From the moment they got their first glimpse of the void, they instinctively knew that they already hated everything that had something to do with it.

Fortunately, they can adapt. Their exposure for the first time certainly felt horrible. They never felt such a dreadful sense of crisis in their life before, and that has truly tested their mental fortitude. The brothers couldn't even last five minutes surrounded by a cloud of void before they had to terminate the session. Additionally, the void poisoning felt equally horrible. Luckily, their live evolution realms greatly help them alleviate the effects of the poisoning.

They were originally given an option to take medicine that would flush the residual poison from their body. However, they were informed that letting their natural immune systems solve the poisoning will significantly expedite their adaptation. Upon learning this, the boys chose to endure instead. Believing that they'd make it out just fine.

And they did. They certainly did. It only took them a whole day of suffering from the poison. Their immune system analyzed the foreign substance and began adapting to it. The moment it did, they instantly began feeling better.

When they recovered well enough, it didn't take long before they went for another round of exposure. This time, they lasted for an hour before giving up. And once again, they were poisoned, felt terrible, had their immune systems adapt to the void exposure some more, felt better, and repeated this cycle again and again.

In each cycle, their immunity against the void increased significantly, allowing them to extend their exposure. About a week later, the boys could last for an hour exposed to Void Level 7; they started at Level 5.

Their goal is to last for 24 hours exposed to Void Level 10—about the same density as the void present near the 'Point of No Return' in the Void itself. Only then could they move on to the next stage.

Cedric, who's been observing all this, admired his sons' progress.

One must know that adjusting to two whole void levels of exposure within a week was stellar progress. Typically, the fast ones take up at least a whole month of constant effort to pass through a level. Some would take more than a month; others take years, even. But his sons breezed through two levels in just a week, which was exaggerated.

But Cedric wasn't really surprised. Humans, while weak in the overall power scale within the alliance, possess incredible potential, which just needs time to unearth. Humans adapt fast...much faster than many clans and races out there.

Moreover, his sons benefitted from all the adventuring they did on their own. Through their travels, they visited many worlds, which primed their bodies to adjust much faster. Worlds that have stronger gravitational pulls, worlds that have fickle and harmful climates, worlds that are naturally hostile to creatures like humans, etc. All of these helped his sons adapt to many things, which in turn helped them greatly in adapting to void exposure as well.

Obviously, Cedric couldn't compare himself to them. His situation was different, after all. He was forced to endure everything at once because of the accident. He was lucky that he even made it out of that alive.

**

More time passed, and after three months, the boys could now comfortably exist in a Void Level 10 environment without being threatened or pressured. Their progress was incredibly fast, record-breaking, even. But neither they nor Cedric cared too much about that.

Now, they're onto the next step, which is the Refinement Practice. From here on out, they will need to bend the void to their will. And unlike concept laws that needed to be understood first before they could be controlled or manipulated, the same method won't work on the void.

The void isn't a concept law; therefore, it's impossible to comprehend it the same way as concept laws. And even if it could be comprehended, it wouldn't be their turn to do so; after all, it's their moral nemesis.

To practice refinement, the participants must truly enforce their will upon the void, overwhelming its natural instincts to make it do their bidding.

Many people got stuck in this step for a long time because the key factor in this step was one's willpower. Those with weak or insufficient willpower will have a very difficult time controlling the void.

Fortunately, this wasn't a problem for the boys.

Actually, they found this step easier compared to Void Exposure. Their willpower was strong enough that they easily overpowered the instincts of the void and managed to manipulate it to form various shapes mere minutes after their first attempt.

To them, comprehending concept laws was far more challenging than this. And with their rich experience with the Cosmic Furnace Spell, imposing their will upon the void came easily to them.

Of course, it will still take some time before they reach the appropriate degree of refinement to pass. And since these brothers were overachievers, they won't be satisfied with an 'okay' level. No, they will pursue perfection if they can.

The passing degree of refinement practice was 75%. The boys, however, clearly won't be satisfied with that, so they're aiming for a perfect rating, which is 100%.

Cedric could tell their plans from a glance, and he couldn't help but feel a little helpless. Well, he can't truly blame them. This nature of theirs came from him after all. He just hopes that they won't exhaust themselves too much.

He even had to remind them that they can take their time, hoping that they won't pressure themselves too much for the sake of achieving a breakthrough as quickly as they can.

**

Step two took them a whole year to complete...

The Stormrider Brothers indeed didn't disappoint. They attained a 100% refinement rating through their hard work, and it only took them a year to do so.

Was this fast? Hell, yes!

Usually, a year would only take most to the passing level, which is 75%. The last 25% towards perfection could be pursued, but the higher one goes, the harder it is to progress. Aside from Cedric, the Chancellors, and the Paragons, only his sons have managed to get this far. Others stopped at 90%, and it took them years to get there.

Now that that's over, they're onto the final step—Spark Searching.

This is probably the most mysterious and unpredictable step they had to take because it's too vague.

From the explanation of the system, they had to search for the spark of Chaos within them. They were told what to look out for and how to get to the mental space where they could find it, but there were no clear instructions on how to actually find it; they had to rely on themselves for this.

This step, as vague and confusing as it is, was probably the most important step they have to take if they want to reach the Void Refinement Realm. It wouldn't matter even if they could walk just fine at Void Level 10 or have a perfect void refinement degree. If they can't find the spark of chaos within them, everything else was useless.

The only reason why the Void Exposure and Refinement Practice came first before this was because the exposure and refinement allow the participants to commune with the mental space where the spark was located.

Cedric had no expectations for these boys at this stage. This isn't to say that he doesn't have faith in them or whatever; it's just that he wouldn't be surprised if they were fast or slow.

It was Gilderoy who found his spark first. It took him three months of constant meditation to do so. Following that was Gerald, who took four months, and finally, Godwyn on the fifth month.

The order didn't bother Cedric at all. And fortunately, it doesn't seem like his sons were affected either.

But now, since they all found their sparks and understood what they represent, they could now officially begin their breakthrough.

In the end, they decided to start their breakthrough at the same time. It occurred a month after Godwyn found his spark.

With a signal, the three of them unsealed their cultivation bases, and it exploded into activity. Their energies immediately impacted the barriers of the project, which barely resisted the overwhelming momentum of their accumulation.

And at the auspicious moment, the Stormrider Brothers began performing the Cosmic Furnace Spell on themselves.

First was the baptism and refinement of the five fundamental elements of fire, earth, water, wood, and metal. Each one destroyed and rebuilt their bodies, leaving them more perfect than before.

That was then followed by Lightning, Space, Time, Life, and Death refinements.

The boys persisted through all of this, barely reacting to the pain due to how focused they were. And once the Death Refinement was over, the boys called out for the Void and began the Void Refinement.

'Moment of truth, boys. Come on, you can do it.'