Finally, Kaen was able to see the pickaxe and the other items that had been taken from him after he had passed out. They were all stacked on a wooden stool beside the desk.
"An alchemist? Why would an alchemist live down here, isolated from everything else?' he asked, trying not to appear threatening. "Even people like me know that alchemy is one of the most cherished arts among wizards. Are you a Mage?"
Kaen and Theryn's eyes met. The old man tried to look deep into his visitor's soul, as if searching for answers.
Theryn sighed and turned away, leaning on his cane with his back to Kaen.
"I used to be. I was a promising apprentice; I could have become an Archmage if I had wanted to."
Kaen's temples began to throb and he felt a sudden surge of anger. After Theryn's words, the Void claimed the blood of the mage.
"And after that? What happened?" Kaen asked again.
"Knowledge is power, and wizards fear power more than anything else. It is both their desire and their greatest fear. I challenged someone I shouldn't have and was punished for that" Theryn replied, his voice full of pain. He turned back to Kaen.
He lifted the sleeve of his threadbare cape to reveal his forearm. A symbol depicting an eye with a dagger thrust into it had been branded into his skin.
"I fled down here because I wanted to abandon magic, but not alchemy. Alchemy is all I have left." Theryn brushed the symbol on his forearm with a finger. A disgusted expression stained his face.
What was that symbol? Was it stopping Theryn from using mana? Kaen found it hard to concentrate because of the Void craving for blood. It was controllable, but it pulsed constantly.
"It's the symbol of the renegade mages, and it connects me to my previous life. If I tried to cut off my arm, it would grow back. Believe me, I have tried many times. I cannot waste my knowledge! I cannot betray alchemy!"
Theryn's sadness began to turn to anger and a desire for revenge. His fate had also been decided by powerful wizards, but that did not make him different in the eyes of Kaen. He was no different from the people who controlled the world, deciding who lived and who died.
He was no different from those who had killed Riven.
Theryn approached Kaen and placed the staff on the stone crib before beginning to undo the straps holding his feet bound.
Kaen remained motionless, waiting for the right moment.
"I don't know what drove you to this forgotten place, boy. But if you too have turned against the wizards, I suggest you stay here" he explained. He undid the last strap. Kaen was now free and rose to his feet.
Before Theryn could grab his staff, Kaen, who had been quiet until that moment, lunged at him, grabbed his neck, and slammed him against the wall.
The old wizard was immobilised. He could not touch the floor with his feet, and he no longer had his staff in his hands.
Theryn squinted in pain as his old bones creaked. Kaen's eyes were fixed on him.
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[Mana Density Nearby: LOW]
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The same text appeared again on the Void System's HUD.
"Ehehe!' Theryn began to laugh, blood dripping between his teeth. It was the kind of laughter you might expect from a crazy old man who had spent years cooped up in his lab mixing strange herbs and other chemical reagents.
"Do you find it funny knowing you're going to die?" Kaen asked.
"Dying is not a punishment for me, lad! Fate wanted me to save you, and now you're going to kill me. Everything is already written" he replied. "I have one request before you break my neck."
"What is it?"
"Show me your power again."
Kaen's gaze expressed his anger. "Why do you want to see it? Do you think it's a fucking game? Do you think I wanted this? I am not a monster, I am not some strange experiment and I'm not one of your bloody ingredients!"
Without being able to control them, angry tears flowed from Kaen's eyes.
"You bastard Mages believe that fate is already set in stone! If you are born Nullborn, you will die Nullborn. It hasn't! I will prove that destiny can be changed! I will show you that even a Nullborn can bend the laws that you wizards have been writing and controlling for centuries!"
The black veins of the Void began to spread across Kaen's eyes. Slowly, his hands were also enveloped in darkness.
"It can't be! This is excellent!' Theryn yelled, spitting out blood. His eyes were wide and fixed on Kaen. "We can get out of here now!'
Kaen realised that squeezing any tighter would probably break his neck.
He thought about the Void System interface and his stats. Immediately, the HUD appeared.
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[Fragments of Mana: 10]
[Fragments of Null: 4]
[Humanity: 98%]
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He did not pay too much attention to the percentage of humanity, but focused only on the ten Fragments of Mana he had earned by killing scorpids one after another. Once again, the HUD reacted to his thoughts.
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[New skill unlocked: Null Sense – Cost: 5 FoM]
[Remaining Fragments of Mana: 5]
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Kaen had just unlocked a new skill and was eager to try it out.
He resumed looking at Theryn up and down as he held him pinned against the wall. A buildup of mana in the form of thin blue filaments was visible on the strange arcane symbol on Theryn's forearm.
The 'Null Sense' ability was working!
Without saying a word, Kaen turned to look at the staff on the side of the crib. There was no movement of mana inside it or in the rest of the old alchemist's body.
The only places where small accumulations of those blue filaments could be seen were inside the cases containing parts of magical beasts.
At that point, Kaen figured that Theryn was unable to use magic. Neither could he nor his staff.
The Void's killer instinct subsided, and Kaen left Theryn's neck. Theryn knelt on the ground, coughing.
"Cough! Cough! We can get out of here! Haha! Thanks to you, we can get out of here!" Between coughs and more blood spitting, Theryn repeated that sentence like a mantra.
"What are you babbling about? Do you know the way out?" Kaen asked. "I need to escape from Drosven Hollow. I can't go back up there. They're looking for me. " After making sure that Theryn had no mana, Kaen began to see him as a poor old man with no strength.
"I had a good look at you while you were fighting! Your power devours mana, feeds on it, consumes it! We have a chance!"
Theryn's eyes were happy, even if bloodshot. He clung to Kaen's trousers, looking at him with hope.