The Voidling was entranced by the fragrance emanating from the tiny stones in the human's hand. In all its existence, it had never encountered anything quite like this. The aroma was intoxicating, promising something essential, something its body craved on an instinctual level it couldn't fully articulate.

Unable to resist any longer, the Voidling reached out with its will and space simply... changed.

One moment, Liam stood on the flight deck of the Voyager, protected by a kilometer of advanced hull plating. The next, he existed in a completely different reality. There was no sensation of movement, or transition period. It was just instant relocation from one state of being to another.

He was standing in space now, directly in front of the Voidling, at eye level with those massive yellow orbs that dominated its face like twin suns suspended in the void.

Liam's mind struggled to process the transition. This wasn't teleportation as he understood it. It was like reality had simply been rewritten, the universe deciding that he was here instead of there, with no intermediate steps required.

He looked down at himself, confusion mounting. He was still in his casual clothes, with no exosuit, no protective gear of any kind. His chest rose and fell with normal breathing, though that should have been impossible. Space had no atmosphere, no air, nothing to sustain human life. Yet here he stood, breathing comfortably, as if the vacuum surrounding him didn't exist.

More disturbing still, he was standing. Not floating, not drifting in zero gravity, but actually standing on something solid. His feet pressed against an invisible surface, feeling resistance, bearing his weight.

It didn't take Liam long to realise that the Voidling had created a localized pocket of reality around him. Breathable atmosphere, artificial gravity, stable ground where none should exist—all maintained effortlessly by the cosmic entity's will alone.

He looked up at those eyes again and felt his breath catch.

They were enormous beyond description, each one easily the size of a large building, maybe larger. But it wasn't their size that arrested his attention. It was their depth.

The yellow irises glowed with internal light, as if stellar fusion occurred within their depths. But the vertical pupils—those were worse. They weren't just black. They were absent, like looking directly into a void that existed beyond anything normal, into some fundamental emptiness that predated reality itself.

Liam found himself staring, unable to look away. The darkness of those pupils pulled at him, drew his consciousness toward them like gravity wells pulling matter into event horizons. The sensation intensified with each passing second, his sense of self beginning to blur at the edges, his identity dissolving into that infinite black.

It was like falling into a black hole, but instead of spaghettification destroying his body, it was his mind being stretched across impossible distances, his consciousness being pulled into something so vast and deep that he was losing control of himself.

The Voidling noticed what was happening and blinked.

The effect shattered instantly. Liam gasped, stumbling backward though his feet remained planted on the invisible ground. His heart hammered in his chest, adrenaline flooding his system as his mind snapped back into coherent function.

"Are you well?" The Voidling's telepathic voice carried genuine concern.

Liam took several deep breaths, forcing his pulse to slow. "I'm... I'm fine. Just wasn't prepared for that."

"You just keep surprising me, don't you? You are the first," it said, its telepathic voice taking on a contemplative quality. "The first among all the myriad races scattered across this universe to meet a Void Beast face to face. The first to stand before one as you do now. The first to look directly into our eyes and maintain your sanity afterward."

Liam gave a small, strained smile. What could he possibly say to that? The achievement—if it could be called that—hadn't been intentional. He'd simply been too shocked to look away.

The Voidling didn't seem to expect a response. Its massive eyes studied him with renewed interest, as if he'd transformed from a minor curiosity into something genuinely worth its attention.

"So," it said, its tone shifting to something more businesslike despite the telepathic medium. "What is it you want from me, human?"

This was it. The moment everything had been building toward. Liam straightened, forcing confidence into his voice despite the overwhelming presence before him.

"I want to learn how you absorb dark energy passively. How your kind sustains itself on the fundamental force that permeates the universe."

The silence that followed was absolute and heavy. It stretched on, seconds becoming uncomfortable, then nearly unbearable. The Voidling's eyes remained fixed on him, unblinking now, as if it were looking not just at him but through him, examining something deeper than his physical form.

Liam maintained his posture, refused to fidget or show weakness. He'd come too far to falter now.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity compressed into perhaps thirty seconds, the Voidling spoke.

"Another surprise." Its telepathic voice carried notes of what might have been resignation mixed with something resembling respect. "You continue to exceed my assumptions about what beings from young races should be capable of understanding."

It seemed to sigh, though the sound transmitted as a low-frequency vibration that Liam felt in his bones rather than heard with his ears.

"Unfortunately for you, that is something I cannot help you with. It is fundamentally impossible. The laws of the universe are absolute. Dark energy absorption is restricted to entities like my kind specifically because it requires a physiology that transcends normal matter."

The creature's eyes narrowed slightly, studying him with uncomfortable intensity.

"Your body, as advanced as it appears to be for a human, cannot handle dark energy's potency. Even if I explained every detail of the process, even if you somehow managed to initiate absorption—which itself is astronomically unlikely—you would detonate, literally."

Liam nodded slowly. The system had already explained this to him. It had told him about the restrictions built into his home universe's fundamental laws. But he also knew something the Voidling didn't—that the system had provided a workaround, a method to bypass those restrictions.

And the Voidling was the first step in that process.

Rather than explain, Liam decided demonstration would be more effective. He released his hold on the spirit stones, letting them drift from his palm, then seized them with his telekinesis. The stones began to orbit around him in a perfect circle, their movement smooth and controlled.

The effect on the Voidling was immediate and dramatic.

Its entire body went rigid, those massive eyes widening until Liam could see the edges of the irises clearly. "That's... impossible. How..."

The creature fell silent, studying him with newfound intensity. Then understanding seemed to dawn.

"You've awakened," it breathed, its telepathic voice barely a whisper. "You've somehow achieved superpower manifestation. But that's... the criteria are absurd. The conditions impossible to meet. No being in recorded history has—"

It didn't finish what it was saying, as the space around it was locked instantly.

The change was instantaneous and total. Liam found himself frozen, unable to move anything except his eyes, but still being able to breath. The spirit stones stopped their rotation but remained suspended in the air, held in place by whatever force now gripped him.

His first instinct was panic, but he forced it down. The Voidling wasn't hostile—he could sense that much. This was shock, confusion, perhaps even fear. The creature was reacting to something it hadn't expected, and something that has challenged its understanding of the universal law.

More importantly, struggling would achieve nothing. If the Voidling wanted him dead, he would be dead. His powers were meaningless against something operating on cosmic scales. His only chance was to remain calm, demonstrate that he wasn't a threat, and hope the creature's curiosity outweighed its caution.

Besides, he trusted that the system won't send him to his death.

Minutes passed. Liam remained frozen. The Voidling stared at him, its massive eyes unblinking, its attention so focused he could feel it like physical pressure against his consciousness.

Finally, after what might have been three minutes or thirty, it spoke.

"I am curious about many things," it said slowly, carefully. "About how you achieved this. About what force or entity granted you capabilities that defy universal law. About what your existence means for the structure of reality itself.

But I will not ask. Because I suspect the answers are beyond what even I should know. Beyond what the elder Void Beasts, my parents' generation, should contemplate. Someone or something is attempting to alter fundamental rules. Whether this is beneficial or catastrophic, I cannot judge."

The spatial lock released, and Liam let out a small breath of relief. The spirit stones resumed their gentle orbit around him, responsive to his telekinetic will once more.

"I have existed for millions of your years," the Voidling continued. "I have witnessed stars being born and dying. I have seen civilizations rise from primitive tool-use to span multiple systems, then collapse back into darkness. Change is the only constant in this universe. Whether this change you represent is good or ill, time will reveal."

Its massive eyes seemed to focus more intently on the orbiting stones.

"Besides," it added, and Liam detected what might have been humor in its tone, "I really cannot resist the fragrance of those remarkable stones you're offering. My curiosity about you pales before my hunger for whatever energy they contain."

Relief flooded through Liam, so intense it made his knees weak. "Then you'll accept my request? You'll teach me about dark energy absorption?"

"On one condition," the Voidling replied immediately. "I will tell you everything I know about passive dark energy absorption. I will help you adapt the process to your unique physiology, though I cannot guarantee success. But in exchange, you must bring me more of these stones. Many more. Frequently."

Liam didn't hesitate. "Agreed."

The value of what he was about to receive couldn't be measured by any standard. It was priceless beyond calculation.

The Voidling's mouth opened, revealing depths that seemed to extend beyond its physical form, an abyss that drew the eye and refused to release it. "Then give me the stones you carry. We shall seal this bargain."

Liam released his telekinetic hold, and the spirit stones drifted forward, like tiny motes of concentrated spiritual energy falling into that impossible darkness. They vanished into the depths, insignificant as dust particles against the creature's cosmic scale.

But Liam wasn't done. He reached into the Dimensional Space and withdrew hundreds more spirit stones. Then thousands of mana crystals followed, each one glowing with concentrated magical energy, creating a luminous stream that flowed into the Voidling's mouth like a river of light pouring into an ocean of darkness.

The creature swallowed, and Liam sensed profound satisfaction radiating from it, pleasure so intense it was almost physical.

"Exquisite," the Voidling breathed. "Beyond anything I've tasted before. Yes, human. You've made a bargain that will benefit us both greatly."

Its eyes focused on him with renewed intensity, but this time the gaze carried no threat, only anticipation.

"Now," it said, its telepathic voice carrying notes of something that might have been excitement, "let me give you what you came for."

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