Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 342: Absorbing Mana Core.

“Now, whoever wants to absorb their Mana Core, hurry up!”

Hearing the old man shout with such a stern voice caused Zier’s body to jolt in alarm. The Elder finally seemed to have lost his patience.

After hesitating a little, the man who looked a little too young came forward. He didn’t feel like there was anything more left to be discussed now. He went ahead and stood before the Elder, looking at him fearlessly.

Although that tournament seemed nothing more than a sick joke, they were still the best of the best people who Old Gu had chosen very thoroughly. They didn’t survive until today without taking any risks.

“Good! Good!” The Elder nodded approvingly and motioned towards that young man beside him. Taking the hint, the young man nodded, “Create some space.”

The room wasn’t small by any means, but they were all standing in the middle and the Elder needed some space.

Everyone flocked to the corners to watch as the Elder sat down with crossed legs and instructed the young-looking genius to do the same. They were facing each other, scarcely an arm’s length away.

.....

“Close your eyes,” the Elder spoke and brought his palm to meet the other man’s chest.

“Empty your Mana Core. Don’t leave even a wisp of Mana in there.”

The man did what he was told. Because he had spent himself at the competition, the amount of Mana in his Mana Core was insufficient to endure even a few days.

“Whatever you’re feeling, don’t try to suppress it. Allow it to flow. Try to help it if you can instead.”

The people on the side could only hear the Elder’s instructions, they didn’t know what was going on inside of that man right now.

After a few minutes, the man opened his mouth to exhale the foul breath but instead coughed up blood!

To everyone’s surprise, who had assumed that something had gone wrong, the man suddenly stood up and smiled brightly. He excitedly jumped in the air a few times and even threw a few punches to feel his power.

“Don’t get too excited. You have only begun on this path, there is more explanation later. You can wait outside for the time being,” the young man beside the Elder led him outside and before coming back to the Elder’s side, almost acting as if he was his bodyguard.

Seeing the satisfied expressions on the face of the man washed away everyone’s unease and before long another participant stepped forward, ready to absorb their Mana Core as well.

They’d only seen someone cough up blood when they were seriously injured or made such rapid progress that they had to spit out the impurities. This simply meant that whatever these men had told them was not a lie!

One by one, people quietly approached the Elder who repeated the same instructions to everyone.

Aakal, Sarah, Berk, and even the Sovereign made no fuss about it, apart from Ozul noticing her seriously deliberating on her decision.

Except for the Sovereign, no one received special treatment from the Elder. Although he had previously been harsh, his tone softened significantly after examining her body using his technique. This didn’t even escape Blaze’s notice, let alone the attention of others.

After the Sovereign was done, only Zier, Blaze, Raven, and Ozul were left in the room.

Originally, Zier wanted to be the next one, but after seeing that Blaze and Raven didn’t go, he decided that he, too, should wait.

Raven and Blaze both looked towards Ozul at this point, their eyes silently asking for permission that they didn’t need but decided to ask for anyway.

“Go ahead,” he answered solemnly.

With that, Raven went ahead and sat down before the Elder as well.

“Hmm, you have a good constitution,” the old man commented before injecting a stream of energy through his hand.

The energy entered Raven’s body and she kept a close eye on it. Although all others who went through the same process seemed to be satisfied, she couldn’t just place her trust on the Elder because of others. She had learned better from Ozul.

The stream of foreign energy channeled through her bloodstream and slowly made its way towards her Mana Core.

Just when the stream of energy touched her Mana Core, a wisp of something dark was suddenly released and it directly attacked the Elder’s energy!

*Cough! Cough!*

Raven coughed violently as her whole body shook with extreme pain!

As she opened her eyes, Blaze noticed that they were bloodshot!

Something had definitely gone wrong!

He sped towards the Elder when the young man suddenly disappeared from his spot and came before him, “I will not let you interfere!”

Just as Blaze was about to strike a blow at his despicable face, the Elder coughed a little with a breathless expression.

“That was not your Mana... What was it?”

Raven realized the seriousness of the situation and even knew that this was related to Ozul. However, her eyes didn’t waver one bit as she replied with an indifferent face, “It’s my first time seeing that.”

Technically, she hadn’t lied. Although she was aware that it was connected to Ozul, this was the first time she had noticed this wisp of dark matter in her Mana Core.

The old man stared at her for a solid minute as if determining whether she was lying or not before he shook his head and said, “Hmm... I was caught off guard. Let me try again.”

In the corner of the room, Ozul was the only one other than the Elder and Raven to realize what had happened. His ‘Scent’ inside Raven didn’t let the energy sent by the Elder to do whatever he pleased.

Such a collision inside Raven’s body disrupted her entire state of being. If it was anyone with a weak base, they could have died!

But seeing that Raven didn’t even let it appear on her face, Ozul sighed. Raven never disappointed him, though this made him feel a little guilty, ‘Blaze shouldn’t cause too much of a fuss if I take her side a few times...’

When the Elder inserted his energy into Raven’s body this time, all Ozul had to do was concentrate to instruct it not to destroy the foreign energy. He had no idea why or how, but he seemed to understand that he could do it.

Everything went smoothly this time around, much to the surprise of the Elder who was preparing to destroy or at least probe that unknown wisp of dark matter. He had dealt with many things in his centuries-old life but he never came across a substance like this.

His interest piqued and he reminded himself to specially report about this girl as well.

Raven’s Mana Core slowly melted to a dense liquid as if the ice was melting into water. The Elder then directed that energy to rotate around Raven’s body which slowly absorbed that liquid.

What the Elder failed to notice was how the wisp of the dark substance he couldn’t find anymore was also mixed in with the Mana Core as it was absorbed into Raven’s body.

Raven stood up as the old man opened his eyes and returned to his thoughts. She, too, clenched her fists as an unexplainable surge of power coursed through her body.

Though instead of leaving the room, she went towards Ozul and stood by his side. She didn’t say anything and quietly watched as Blaze took her place now.

“Mhm! Good,” the Elder nodded as his eyes locked with the crystals embedded in Blaze’s forehead. This was the first time he had praised anyone! Even the Sovereign had only received slightly better treatment.

“A Child of the Ice Element... Indeed, this time we have got good seedlings,” the Elder nodded approvingly to himself with a light smile.

“Child of the Ice Element? What do you mean?” Blaze asked. This was the first time someone had recognized the crystals embedded on his forehead!

He would have his answers after all!

“No one told you yet?” the Elder assumed that the person overseeing their broken world had already told him.

Seeing the cyan-haired young man shake his head sideways, the Elder sighed in annoyance, “Just know that it’s something very important. Later, you will have the chance to learn everything about it.”

He quickly put his hand on Blaze’s chest and started the process before the latter could ask any more questions.

Seeing the impatient behavior, Blaze could only clench his fist, barely stopping himself from experimenting his strength on the old man’s face.

A few minutes later, he also stood up with a satisfied expression on his face and went to stand next to Ozul in the corner.

When the Elder and the young man saw this, they couldn’t help but frown. Those geniuses chosen from the broken worlds were almost always alone or with a companion. They’d never seen those haughty young masters submit to others before. So it was interesting to see them standing obediently next to that aloof and strange man. The Elder’s eyes twinkled with schemes, but no one noticed until Zier took his place in front of him.

‘Hm? I must be seeing things,’ Zier shook his head and cleared his thoughts.

The same process repeated and a few minutes later, he also stood up with the brightest smile he could muster.

“Woah! I wasn’t even a Mage though!” He couldn’t help but shout in delight. The others weren’t so far ahead of him now!

He happily strode towards Ozul who stopped leaning his back on the wall and began proceeding towards the door.

‘The next part of the explanation must be outside...’ he could guess that much.

Raven, Blaze, and Zier followed behind when a voice rang out from behind them,

“Are you certain that you want to do this, young man?”