Despite killing a General, Kai had failed to accumulate even half the points he needed to unlock the... the Systems' reward.
More troubles were waiting for him, though.
Selfless Breathing had beco an Advance Ability, but then it refused to buzz at all.
Not to ntion, after raising his most prized Abilities to Master level, their Proficiency hadn't gone up by a single percentage...
... even after another hundred years.
Kai had known that Master Abilities' Proficiencies would pose problems.
But it would be this hard? That he had failed to take into account.
So, with the threat of General Dracarys looming over him, Kai did the only thing he could do on Island X after losing his White Serpent Empire.
He hid.
Moreover, the Mindscape, Ad Infinitum, was nothing like Kai had ever attempted or thought of.
It wasn't a problem he could solve with ti and thinking over it again and again.
No. It was harder; more complex.
Not to ntion, with him killing even one soldier in the future, the four armies were bound to know that he was still alive.
Tis had changed.
The experints had succeeded.
Now, they did not need to probe around, testing Kai's strengths and weaknesses.
One abomination could already kill Kai. More were bound to co into existence.
Last ti he had survived by tily leaving for the Samurai's Hut before getting lted away under the boiling, draconic breath.
What about next ti?
So, yes, hiding, and that too for a long ti, was the best option.
The only issue was that Kai had thought he would get less ti to hunt, barely reaching the count to go to the Samurai's Hut and buy the Life Half Capsules.
He was prepared for that.
Things, however, turned out to be worse than his expectations.
And they kept becoming worse with every sudden change of seasons, with the passing of years, and with the fall of decades.
A decade by the end of which he was supposed to have accumulated enough Points to teleport to the Samurai's Hut and buy Life Halt Capsule beca scarcer.
More often than not, Kai was forced to make last-ditch, desperate attempts at the decade's end, just to reach the number.
That ant going out of hiding, getting chased by General Dracarys' level abominations and other Generals, and almost losing his life.
As ti kept slipping by, this ti of making last-ditch efforts also kept becoming longer.
It wouldn't have mattered much in a few decades.
But, with centuries, so changes were bound to make themselves clearer.
However, so changes were far more crucial, and more intriguing, than others.
Changes, not physical, but spiritual.
Changes, not overt, but covert; hidden deep in hearts, emotions, and gazes.
When Kai had arrived on Island X ages ago, he had been like a sea of lava, ready to burn the entire world under his wrath.
To kill had always looked like the best option.
The only option, perhaps.
When Kai had spent 300 years on Island X, it was then he had gotten the Occluncy and Legilincy Mindscape, Ad Infinitum, from Samurai Jack.
He had been just over 35, then.
In those years, he had already beco a volcano containing, constraining the boiling lava inside him in its open mouth.
This lava, though seemingly held back, had turned out to be more dangerous than the sea of lava.
When this volcano exploded, it shook the entire earth, burned the skies and air, and killed all beings.
However, it burned him, too.
It hard him enough for Kai to know that being a volcano wasn't the end.
Upon coming back, Kai had only one thing in mind — Training and Constant improvent in both his physical and ntal state.
With Ad Infinitum on his hands, all training and ti felt elusive, making him latch onto the tiniest progress he could make.
That progress beca hope; sothing to look forward to.
Like this, two more centuries passed.
When Kai had spent 600 years on Island X, he began losing emotions.
Willingly.
Deliberately.
The first emotion that left Kai was—Anger.
With ti, this emotion beca the most useless to him.
Neither did it help him with training, nor did it help him comprehend Ad Infinitum. It didn't help him survive, either.
Moreover, aside from training, comprehending, and surviving, Kai had nothing else to do, to begin with.
When Kai had spent 700 years on Island X, the second emotion that left him was—Angst.
All feelings of fear, anxiety, and insecurities just failed to stir his heart.
So what if he would age another year? So what if he missed the ti limit? And so what if he lost another White Serpent Empire?
Things didn't last. Ti didn't last.
Then, was there any reason for his anxieties to last, stirring the strings of his heart?
No. There was no reason.
Shockingly, in the 800th year, the third emotion that left Kai was the one he had never expected would leave him. Ever. But it did.
This emotion was—Apathy.
Kai had given up on caring about anyone after the death of his mother at the hands of Brock Valeheart.
That betrayal had scarred him for life.
It had turned him into Blood Demon.
There was no running away from such an identity; such a fate.
Live for oneself.
Kill for oneself.
Die for oneself.
These had always remained Kai's principles; the directive on which his existence operated.
He still strongly believed them to be the truest.
Just not at the expense of suppressing his emotions.
Not by becoming indifferent to all. Not by running away from feelings.
It was then, after centuries, that Kai learned that he wasn't as alone as he had thought himself to be.
The thing was, Kai wasn't the only one who had been changing in these years.
There were others with him—Selene. Cersei. Petyr. Rintaro.
800 years...
This ti was long enough to dilate the gaps between these five, turning them from apathetic individuals to... friends.
Still, this was only the beginning; the first step.
Doubt and Depression. Grief and Guilt.
Hatred, Resentnt, Sorrow, and Suffering.
One by one, all the useless emotions got hacked by the sword of ti.
If there was anyone else in Kai's place, then he wouldn't have gone under these drastic changes.
But Kai was cursed with an ingenious mind and his way of thinking was already vastly different and astounding than others.
He was the sa Kai Stormborn who had Comprehended the essence of his Reality Marble within two hours; an impossible feat, even for the greatest Contestants in the history of the Primordial Tower.
So, it didn't co as a surprise when Kai progressed not only with his training like a possessed beast but spiritually as well.
When all the unnecessary emotions had left Kai, the first things to return were the teachings of his mother.
Those words that he had discarded as futile and aningless, finally began making incredible sense to him.
Acceptance ca second and Affection followed it.
Curiosity had always been a part of Kai's life, but Empathy forced its way into his heart, though taking the longest ti and after much struggle.
When Humiliation found him, it brought Joy along with it.
Kindness and Loneliness ca hand in hand, kicking out the last traces of Sadness and Suspicions.
When things settled down; when the storms of emotions coming and leaving finally abated, what was left was—
Calm.
Dead Calm.
A Calm, unlike anything.
A Calm unlike any emotion or state of mind anyone, any sane person, could achieve in one lifeti.
A Calm, devoid of even the faintest sight of lava or heat, like a tranquil sea or noiseless breeze.
A Calm, profound, and grand enough to turn a volcano into a mountain — Eternal. Resolute. Impervious.
In his 999th year on Island X, Kai unlocked the Blood Essence.
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