Unsealing Emptiness

“Their territory?” muttered Ozul, ‘No wonder there was a Rank-9 Mage in only a city.’

“What about your mission? It has been almost seven months by now,” he asked. There wasn’t much time left before Old Gu finally announced the start of the tournament.

“I...”

Raven hesitated to reply but before she could say anything, Blaze cut in, “We are almost done! Most of the dangerous guilds or organizations have already been infiltrated, only the average and low-level ones remain mostly.”

Instead of an approving nod, Ozul only hummed in response. He wasn’t particularly excited about having this task done now.

The more he found, the more he believed that his answers weren’t in this small world.

.....

But he nevertheless had Raven and Blaze infiltrate all reputable groups, no matter how big or tiny, just to make sure before he started looking for answers elsewhere.

As a result, he was irritated that the duo was willing to employ methods that could have resulted in their deaths for a task that he didn’t value as highly as he formerly did.

‘On second thought, I didn’t tell them...’ Ozul pondered.

“Let’s go to the main headquarters then,” he said to Raven, who only shifted her gaze slightly.

“What about the remaining groups?” Blaze asked with evident worry. He had previously learned from Raven that Ozul had created the whole organization just for this task in the first place.

The worried emotions directed at him caused Ozul to be dumbfounded. For a second, he didn’t know if or how he should explain the present situation.

Feeling that he didn’t have enough energy to narrate a lengthy story, he decided to make do with a simple, “The task is not more important than your life.”

While he only said this in order to avoid explaining the whole story and saving his breath, he didn’t know how much this single sentence impacted Raven and Blaze until he was hit with the burst of boiling emotions.

Ozul couldn’t see their crying eyes because they were ahead of him, but the maelstrom of emotions was more than enough to convince him that he had spoken something too good for them.

“Alright alright, will you stop already? It’s more annoying than the sunlight. Don’t ruin my mood now,” Ozul spat, clearly irritated.

Unfortunately for him, he was powerless to stop their mounting emotions. He could only give up in the end, admitting that it was his fault that he said anything like that in the first place.

*Sigh...*

. . .

Sometime later, the three arrived at the Desolate Borders of the Neutral Lands.

Raven had long ago received the report that the headquarters had already shifted just outside the borders, hidden in the misty forest.

It took them a few days longer to cross the Neutral Lands and get to the woodland on the other side of the Desolate Borders.

“Uh...”

Raven and Blaze continued to look about when they arrived in the forest, but they couldn’t uncover any indications of the headquarters. They hadn’t gotten the exact place on the map.

Seeing that they couldn’t even feel the presence of such a huge tower right in front of them, Ozul was satisfied with its defenses.

“It’s here, follow me,” he stated before he merely flew a few meters straight and the tower presented itself before their eyes.

The new formations were even stronger than before. If they did not want to be disturbed, even a Rank-8 Mage would be helpless.

Although they were embarrassed that they couldn’t find the tower despite the fact that it was right in front of them, the two pretended nothing had occurred and silently walked behind Ozul in the tower.

Instantly, quite a few guards ran out of the tower as they were alerted of some individuals having gotten past their invisibility formation.

In reality, even a Fighter or a regular human might get through the formation. However, it would be entirely dependent on their luck.

The guards were first baffled to see that the intruders were all flying in the air, which could only mean one thing; they were at least Rank-8 Mages!

One of them ran inside to inform the higher-ups and others firmly stood their ground. Just when one of them was going to shout, a female guard spoke up,

“Aren’t they- It’s really them!”

One by one, others also recognized the familiar image of their big boss and his two closest companions.

The imposing man in a plain white shirt, his face concealed behind the shade of the same old black conical hat, mingled with the one in their memory, the man who even most of the organization’s upper echelons had never had the opportunity to speak with.

All of them immediately took on a respectful posture and saluted before making way for the three to walk in. None of them knew how to properly address the three, so they could only bow their heads.

Not only Ozul, but most of them hadn’t even heard the voices of Blaze and Raven. They were only so talkative when alone. To the rest of the world, they didn’t seem any less cold and indifferent than Ozul.

Some rumors even suggested that they were siblings!

Ozul directly made his way to Haley and Irvin’s office on top floors. Not surprisingly, they were both out of their rooms and were about to head down towards the entrance; the guard had just reported the arrival of high ranked Mages.

As they came face to face with Ozul, surprise flashed on their faces as they immediately bowed and shouted at the same time, “Young Master! Welcome back!”

“You both have certainly improved,” Ozul commented as he noticed that both had been progressing steadily in cultivating their Mana Core.

The couple smiled happily and said, “It’s all because of you, Young Master!”

“Leave the formalities, and tell me there is nothing that requires my attention,” Ozul asked, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any troublesome task.

Irvin begin, “There isn’t but-”

“Good. Don’t disturb me then,” he brushed past him and went to the top floor.

He really needed some time to adjust to the fact that he wouldn’t be able to find what he was seeking for after all this time in this world.

As he lay on his bed, he clutched Jinx in his embrace as he thought about the future.

“Will I ever be able to learn the truth?” he muttered silently to himself.

He was afraid to think about the future where he died without ever learning the truth of his own existence.

*Meow...*

Just then, Jinx’s smooth and soothing voice reached his ears, causing him to redirect his attention to her.

He glanced at those bright eyes, which were looking at him contentedly, with worry seeping out of them, concern purely for his well-being.

Those eyes, despite their distinct color, reminded him of a few others. His mother’s eyes, which he had only seen once before she died, grandma Carol’s eyes, who took care of him without expecting anything in return, and Raven’s eyes, how she would silently stare at him from afar, fearful of hurting him further if she said anything.

“You all are such a pain...” Ozul whispered as he tightened his grip on Jinx, “... thank you.”

This time, he was certain that Jinx had simply spoken to console him. He couldn’t understand what she was trying to say, but those eyes conveyed everything that he needed to know.

‘Since I just have to be myself, it should be fine even if I die without achieving anything,’ Ozul reminded himself of the only request his mother and grandma Carol had of him.

The mere prospect of exploring all those vast and endless places made him reconsider. The idea of quitting began to enter his thoughts, and it was quite appealing to him, who merely wanted to spend his life sleeping in some dark corner of this planet.

But the concern of this black cat just now made him remember everyone who was there just to support him in whatever he did. All they asked of him was to be whatever he wanted to be.

If the question was what he wanted, then the answer was obvious; he wanted to find the reason behind his existence.

But, with such a tremendous impediment in his path to finding the truth, it became unclear whether he would ever actually succeed and not simply die for no apparent cause.

Now that he had realized that no one was forcing him to do anything. He could just go at his own pace.

The remarks of his mother and grandma Carol were not intended to compel him to seek answers, but rather to reassure him that he should not be concerned. Only he, together with his own drive to discover the truth, misinterpreted the meaning.

Having made peace with himself and clearing his clogged thoughts, Ozul gazed at the purring black feline in his embrace, a trace of warmth appeared before he closed his eyes.

And as if sensing his calmed emotions, Jinx also squirmed a little to find the perfect spot in his arms.

‘All I need to do is focus on getting stronger,’ with that, Ozul slipped off to sleep, leaving the future to his future self.

He had made the decision not to be concerned about what may or might not happen. He will try anything he can from now on, and if he fails... so be it. He’ll just sleep it off and try again later.

He hadn’t shown any signs of ageing after all those years, which comforted him that he’d have plenty of time to sleep and repeat.

Maybe the current him found the task almost impossible, but with enough power in the future, he could not predict what awaited him...