Unsealing Emptiness

Arrogance because of Intelligence.

The next morning, Ozul woke up and again felt something beside him. Picking up the blanket, he saw that Raven was hugging his arms like a Koala!

‘Will she keep doing it from now on?’ Ozul thought as he sighed.

He picked her up, brought her to the room, and dropped her on the bed. He then went into the other room to take a nap.

The clouds were gone, and the Sun would rise any minute now. Ozul would rather not stay to see that sight.

Anyways, today Ozul had decided to hunt alone. He brought Raven with him yesterday because she needed to have some idea of her limits, at least.

But today, Ozul just wanted to hunt for Rank-4 Beasts and increase his strength fast. Trouble was already getting in their way; he needs to get stronger.

He will have to explain it to Raven when she woke up, though.

Ozul did not have to wait for long when he heard the sound of the door opening. Raven came in from the door while eagerly looking towards Ozul.

.....

She was anticipating what they will do today. But alas, she would be disappointed.

Ozul bought breakfast from outside, and while Raven was eating, he said.

“You will stay at home today.”

“What? Why!?”- Raven was startled. Did she anger him somehow?

“You need to improve. At least have an Original Spell in your arsenal.” He then continued,

“I will only take you with me only every other day if you cannot be of help.” If Ozul just keeps helping her, how will he find the time to improve himself?

Raven was dejected when she heard that. But she could also guess that at the moment, she was only a burden to Ozul.

Instead of losing confidence, Raven used this rejection to fuel her determination to get stronger!

Glaring at Ozul, she went outside to train. If getting more powerful is the only means to be with him, then she will just have to get stronger.

Becoming a Fighter is easier for Mages because they can fuse the refined Mana with their bodies, which caused it so they would need less time for the process.

Furthermore, because their bodies are fused with refined Mana instead of the raw Mana from the atmosphere, they are more potent than a usual Fighter.

Even if it will take Raven less amount of time to become a Fighter, it does not mean that she can do it in just a matter of days! Otherwise, why would people reject this path if it becomes much easier?

Furthermore, in higher Ranks, this time consumption truly becomes a headache. Many people lose their will to continue when they make so little progress after so much time.

That’s the reason for needing a determination that surpasses others to continue on this path!

It will take at least a weak just to become a Rank-1 Fighter for Raven. So, she chose the other option to improve her combat strength—Which is to create an Original Spell.

Only after a Mage creates his or her Original Spell, do they qualify to be called a Mage.

Raven was not a genius, but the more she could comprehend the Element, the more her potential will grow!

And grasping the knowledge regarding darkness was as easy as a pie when Ozul was teaching you about it.

Before learning from Ozul, like others, she also thought that darkness is just the absence of light.

Ozul changed her whole view on Darkness Element when he said;

“If it’s just the absence of light, why can a Mage produce it even in the light? Now you may say that they remove the light from that specific area, but even you know that the Mages produce things with the Mana, they cannot directly remove something.”

“If you keep thinking that Darkness is just the absence of something, you will never be able to do something with an absence,” Ozul did not directly tell her the answer. He will just give some hints so she can find the answer herself.

Even an idiot would understand that what Ozul said made a lot of sense. Raven just had to comprehend his words to increase the understanding of her Element to a whole new level.

Raven immersed herself in the creation of her Original Spell, and Ozul went out for the forest.

Before leaving, Ozul informed Raven that he might be late.

As Ozul walked towards the woods, he did not forget how the Shop Owner had sent some men to bother him, but for now, he was too lazy to do anything.

‘Just a small fry.’- Ozul thought it unbefitting of him to go out of his way just to crush a fly.

When Ozul meets him again, he will pay him back then. Sunlight was just too sickening for Ozul so, he hurried his footsteps.

When Ozul arrived in the forest, he kept his alertness at maximum. One or two Rank-4 Beasts could not threaten him, but what if a herd of Rank-4 Beasts or a Rank-5 Beast ambushes him? Leaving unscathed would be difficult.

Ozul ignored all the Rank-3 and below Beasts; he would not gain anything by killing them.

After four hours of hunt, Ozul only obtained 2 Rank-4 Cores. He was thinking of just ending the day, but walking back, he faced something he did not want to.

‘I just had to jinx it...’ Ozul was happily thinking of how he did not encounter any difficulties as of yet.

But now, the atmosphere turned solemn as there stood a 3 meters tall monkey-like Monster in front of Ozul.

This Beast was, in fact, called Lightning Fist Monkey—a Rank-5 Beast. As the Ranks of the Beasts increased, their intelligence did so too.

Experts say that an ordinary Rank-5 Beast has the intelligence of a 12 years old human kid.

Ozul began to formulate a plan, but the opponent, this time, is also intelligent.

‘Sigh... I will have to look for his weakness if there is any.’- Ozul hoped that it had some sort of weakness that he could exploit. But so far, the Beast did not show any vulnerability.

The monkey charged at him as electric sparks began to swirl around its arms. It became apparent as to how it got the title of “Lightning Fist” from this gesture.

As it arrived before Ozul, it sent a punch to him. Ozul generated a shield from the Ball of Purity. He did not know if it could survive the attack, but it was his only option.

The shield did not get damaged, but the impact from the force pushed Ozul a meter back as he began to cough. Just the energy from that Beasts attack had damaged his internal organs.

Ozul knew that it was not the time to show gaps as he braced himself for the upcoming confrontation.

The only way Ozul could win was to outsmart the Beast somehow. This was difficult as the Beast did not just have the instincts, but also the intelligence to make the correct decisions.

The monkey was glaring furiously at Ozul because he survived its earlier attack. It could not understand why a puny human could sustain his life after its strike.

Ozul knew that he would not be able to even penetrate the hide of the Beast with just single strikes.

He had to think of a plan as the Beast stared at Ozul with his big round eyes.

‘Wait, Eyes! That’s it. I just need to create an opportunity to strike its eyes,’ Ozul eventually found a weakness that he could exploit.

‘The next time it punches, that will be my chance,’ Ozul waited for the Beast to throw the punch.

The monkey was already enraged so this time, it put even more power into its punch. It expected the human to deploy that strange black shield again.

But, Ozul decided to dodge the attack as he created blades from the Ball of Purity and sent them to the Beast’s right eye.

The Beast was stunned by the sudden attack, but with his right hand, it quickly blocked the blades.

After the block, the Beast should have been fine, but instead, it fell onto the ground! The Beast had protected his right eye, but he did not anticipate the thin-black needles that struck its left eye and into its brain!

Ozul defeated the Rank-5 Beast! It was only because of the Beast’s intelligence. More accurately, because of the arrogance brought by its knowledge. If the Beast were not so arrogant and defended properly, It would have been alive.

How could intelligence bring arrogance? It was simple, really. The Beasts survived in the jungle only because of their instincts, but when they gain just a small bit of intellect, they forsake the very instincts that saved their lives up until then.

The Rank-5 Beast underestimated Ozul because it thought that Ozul was no threat due to having no Mana. If he trusted his instincts, though, the battle could have turned out differently.

It was difficult cutting the chest of the Beast, but with some effort, Ozul saw the gains of the life-threatening battle. The Core of a Rank-5 Beast!