Damien did just that. The book was written in a mix of runes and the common language, but it was written as if the author was just showing off. The words were long and often needlessly complicated, and many of the rune drawings were incredibly complicated. It went into great detail about how to mentally reach out and connect with the Ether permeating the world.

Much to Damien’s annoyance, the runes weren’t even required to connect with the Ether. They were simply incredibly complicated examples. Of course, he didn’t figure that out until nearly two hours of studying the old paper.

Luckily, it didn’t appear that the actual concept was particularly difficult. In order to connect with the Ether, one had to essentially train their body into recognizing its presence. Since humans aren’t naturally capable of doing such a feat, a companion would essentially guide their partner to it.

Once contact had been established, the cultivation method trained a human’s body and mind into recognizing it on their own, so their companion didn’t have to find it each time. However, the Ether could be accessed in nigh-infinite ways.

Companions, who are inherently magical creatures, can access only the Ether in a specific way. According to the book, this is what determined types of magic. Therefore, since the companion was the one who guided the human to the Ether, humans could only learn the same magic as their companion.

Damien closed the book and let out an exasperated sigh.

“That’s a whole lot of theory and not very much useful information!” he exclaimed. “The book just says my companion will guide me. It’s got instructions for using the Ether to teach my body how to adapt, but that comes after connecting with the Ether, so it’s not useful yet. So all I’ve really learned is that you need to do all the work!”

“Hardly,” Henry said. “It’s important to know your end goal before you attempt anything, or you’ll never get the results you want. Now you know more about the Ether and what you’ll be cultivating to make your control over it stronger.”

“I suppose,” Damien agreed, shrugging one shoulder. “You can guide me to the Ether then?”

“I can,” Henry said. There was a long pause. “In a way. It won’t be me that guides you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Humans have absolutely no sense of the Ether. You need it to be lit up like the sun for you to first notice it. I, unfortunately, do not have the intricacies to do such a feat. It will not be Henry that shows you how to access the Ether. It will be all of me. Do you understand?”

It was Damien’s turn to pause. Finally, he nodded. “I do.”

“Good,” Henry said. “Sit down on your bed. This is a process that can take up to several weeks. I do not know how much your mind will be able to handle, but expect to be at it for an hour at the least.”

Damien followed Henry’s instructions, ignoring the worried voice within the back of his mind that warned him of what could happen if his companion betrayed him. The contract wouldn’t let Henry harm him. In fact, he realized he was actually starting to almost like the eldritch creature. That was a sobering thought.

“Ready?” Henry asked. “Close your eyes and enter the mental space where I reside within your mind.”

Damien drew a deep breath. His hands were trembling with a mixture of fear and excitement, and his stomach was doing flipflops. He pressed his lips together and gathered his focus as he shut his eyes.

He sent the probe of mental energy out towards Henry. A shiver ran down his spine as it touched something incomprehensibly cold – which shouldn’t have been possible. The probe was energy – it couldn’t feel things.

That logic was, of course, more human foolishness and idiocy. Damien couldn’t see it, but his breath started to come out in puffs of white air and his lips turned blue. His teeth started to chatter.

“Relax,” Henry ordered as fear billowed up within him. “You must be in control of your emotions.”

Damien tried to swallow, but his mouth was utterly dry. He pressed his lips thin, ignoring the pain as they turned stiff and cracked, and gave a jerky nod.

Something brushed across Damien’s back. Dozens of miniscule pinpricks spread across his body emanating from the base of his spine. A dot of light blinked into existance. Another followed it. It started slowly, but they appeared faster and faster. Within minutes, the darkness had been replaced by a sky of dim stars.

Damien went to open his eyes – but they were already open. He looked down at himself. His body was gone, replaced by a glowing blob of yellow light that was vaguely humanoid. His arms and legs ended in curved nubs instead of hands or feet, and his entire body felt lighter than normal.

“Where am I?” Damien asked. The voice didn’t come from his mouth, but instead echoed out from his entire body. The glowing lines that he was now composed of wiggled and rippled at the noise.

The sky above him contorted. The stars shifted through the darkness, forming lines and shapes until an enormous inhuman face appeared. It wasn’t just part of the horizon – it was all of it. Thousands of eyes made of twinkling stars stared down at him.

Only now did Damien truly realize what Henry had meant. This was It Who Heralds the End of all Light. The eyes watched Damien – utterly alien and incomprehensible. It gave no sarcastic comments, nor did it even speak. There could be no communication between a mortal and this creature.

It was at that moment that Damien understood the magnitude of the monster that he held within him. As he stared up disbelievingly at the planet sized entity above him, he knew that it held nothing but contempt for him. He knew that, one day, it would be the inevitable end of humanity, and he was nothing before this creature. It was about time he realized his place.