We are Void [Litrpg x Law cultivation + Kingdom Building]

“Cheh.. it isn’t the time for your snide remarks. I’m here on important business,” she replied with a proud face.

“Did they catch on to you?”

“What do you take me for? As if those old bastards would catch me.”

“What’s so important then?”

“It’s about the cube,”

“About time we talk about it.” Zyrus grinned and took out the cube.

“By the way, did you like the clothes I gave you?” Aurora’s expression eased a bit as she changed the subject.

“You mean these rags?”

“What? You want something better? As if that would make you less ugly,”

“Go on, you wanted to say that from the beginning, didn’t you?”

“Wow! I’ve never thought that a lizard would be this smart.”

“That’s racist. Besides, I’m a Sylvarix.”

“Same thing,” Aurora replied with a mischievous grin. She knew that Zyrus had to keep up with her not-so-pleasant remarks if he wanted to know about the cube, and she wasn’t going to waste such a heaven-sent opportunity to bully this old friend of hers. The two bickered for a minute or two before Zyrus decided to address the main topic.

“You done now? Spill it.”

“You’re no fun.”

“…”

“Fine, I’ll tell you. You should go back right now.” Aurora spoke in a grave tone unlike before.

“Did something happen on earth?”

Zyrus became cautious at her changed expression. It was as if she was trying to lighten the mood before giving him a bad news.

“There are aliens on Earth.”

“…”

“…”

As far as bad news went, this one was pretty bad.

“What the fuck! Don’t bring that up casually in a conversation,”

“I know what you’re thinking, it’s not bad news per se,”

“Too late for that! I’ve never heard about it.” Zyrus had lost his bearings after hearing about the aliens. It wasn’t surprising that intelligent life existed on other planets, but for them to be on Earth would mean that...

“As you might’ve guessed, humans discovered their traces when they were a few light-years away.”

“Is that why they abandoned the earth and ran away? I thought it was because of pollution,”

“That was part of the reason as well.”

‘Phew…’ Zyrus exhaled a deep breath as he massaged his temple. Even with his thousand years of experience, it was too much to take in. The sanctuary, his regression, and the aliens… everything seemed to be connected somehow.

“Don’t think too much about it, I won't say anything else as it’ll affect your judgment,” Aurora spoke to him in a comforting tone.

“Haa…Alright.”

There was no point in thinking about events that were out of his control.

‘I have to get stronger, that’s all that matters for now.’

Zyrus clenched his fists and looked at her with a resolute gaze. She shouldn’t have come here just for this.

“Good. Long story short, you’ll encounter them if you follow the cube's direction.” Aurora pointed at the cube as she flapped her butterfly wings,

“Don’t underestimate them, they’re strong. Fortunately, those on the earth are of the lower rung of their society.”

“I see, I suppose you want me to wipe them out,”

“That’s the plan. All you have to do is complete the missions on Earth. Of course, you’ll get rewards in return.”

“Now we’re talking,” Zyrus grinned at Aurora who was hovering in the sky.

“Hehe, you’ll love the reward for sure. However, I’m here for another thing. Remember how I told you it’s not a particularly bad situation?”

“Mhm.”

“Take this with you.”

“What is it?” Zyrus was curious as he observed the flask-like object in his hand.

However, there was no one left to answer him. Aurora had left as if she was never here to begin with.

Zyrus clicked his tongue and placed the flask near his chest. Inventory was something he could only use in the sanctuary, so he had to rely on the cube to take it back.

“Anyway, I’d better get going,” Zyrus muttered to himself and walked back to the newly conquered, half-burned campsite.

As for the aftermath? He left that for Ria who was glaring daggers at his back.

…

The crimson sunlight was blocked by a canopy formed of giant trees. Zyrus breathed in the humid air and walked ahead while sinking his claws into the slippery ground.

It had been a week since he arrived at this swampy forest that sprawled across more than 300 kilometers.

This place was quite suitable for the current him. His vision was unobstructed and he was able to easily move across the swamp with his clawed limbs.

“Kyuu~”

“Yeah, I’m bored as well,” Zyrus replied to the flying squirrel who was yawning on his shoulder.

When Zyrus emerged from the spatial crack at his previous location, the poor creature was so scared it threw away the acorn in its paws. Only after recognizing his familiar scent did it let down its guard.

At first Zyrus was pumped up for an exciting fight, but to his dismay, all he had done after coming back was to go left and right in this godforsaken forest.

‘Well, not everything was bad,’

Zyrus smiled as he looked at his clothes with satisfaction. They never failed to amaze him no matter how many times he observed them.

He was wearing a dark blue hoodie with beige pants that miraculously fit his scaly legs. At his waist was a bronze belt that had a lot of pockets attached to it. Most importantly, they had a layer of protective glint that repelled the dust and swamp water.

He didn’t need any of that with his scales, but it felt nice to wear some proper clothes. He took out the cube and began his regular activity: Reading and Practicing.

Apart from giving him useful items, the cube had also added a new Void tree interface.

A miniature hologram of a reverse tree appeared on the screen. Rather than the common branching-out structure, the way it functioned was different. The tree didn’t have any roots and instead its trunk was grown from the pitch-black darkness. Most of its body was hazy, but Zyrus was able to make out thirteen branches which were most distinct.

The sole glowing part of the reverse tree was its two leaves, growing on one of the black branches. Zyrus clicked on them to check his progress over the past few days.

﴾ Concept of Gravity ﴿

▐ Comprehension: 3.4%

﴾ Concept Of Collapse ﴿

▐ Comprehension: 0.8%

Zyrus had no idea what other meanings the Void Tree had, but he was satisfied as both numbers had gone up by a bit.

There was also another section where he could read and check his progress on the knowledge base.

֍ Knowledge base ֎

[Available Sections]

An Introduction to Laws -> (15%)

An Introduction to Concepts -> (35%)

Example and Application of Laws -> (6.5%)

A practical guide on ‘Source of Existence’ -> (2.6%)

“There’s a long way to go, ay buddy,”

“Kyu.” The squirrel gave him a bored nod and went back to its newfound favorite activity: Looking at the sky from the gaps of trees.

Zyrus placed a dried biscuit in his mouth and opened the second chapter. His current goal was to improve his progress to 50% and then focus on the last chapter. There was no set order on what he had to do, nor any percentages he had to reach before he got a new skill. Everything was up to him.

The reason he decided on the current plan was due to the two leaves on the branch. He believed that as long as he had a decent mastery over the two concepts, he’d be able to comprehend a trace of void laws.

He placed the cube away and held out one of his arms. Blue tendrils of mana circulated through his whole body before forming a miniature vortex on his outstretched palm. This was the simplified version of his mana circulation method. He didn’t have enough mana to use his original method, but this was enough for the task at hand.

Next step was crucial. Instead of using spell models via mental imagination like he would for normal skills, he did something different. He thought about the concept of gravity and used his willpower to manifest it into reality.

1 seconds…2 seconds…3 seconds…

Nothing seemed to have changed on the surface, but if one looked down from the canopy then they’d notice that more leaves were falling down compared to before. It was a minuscule amount of power, but this was just the start.

Zyrus thought deeper and deeper about what gravity was. What was its purest and simplest form? What was the intangible idea behind it?

Any object with mass or energy could warp the fabric of spacetime. In his case, the more mana he used the more spacetime would be warped. The warp could be a curve or a dip caused by a gravitational well. This phenomenon of gravity interacting with reality would be the manifestation of the law of space.

But that wasn’t Zyrus’s goal. He wanted to erase the space itself by causing the implosion of matter and mana.

There was a long way to go before he achieved that, but he was one step closer.

The squirrel hopped in excitement as a beautiful pattern of orange and green was woven above their head. The swamp which was muddy seconds ago was now covered with thousands of leaves.

…

Two more days passed as Zyrus walked according to the cube’s directions before finally, he noticed the change in environment.

His surroundings remained the same but the ground beneath him had changed. It was hard to notice at first, but with his enhanced senses he could feel the ground ten feet below.

Just as he was about to check directions again, the cube floated up from his pocket and flashed with a red light.

[Mission: A relay across generations]

[Find the traces left behind by your ancestor, the first human who had come in contact with the sanctuary]

It was the same mission he had seen the first time. Zyrus clicked on the completion message to receive rewards and the new mission.

What happened next was something he didn’t expect at all. The inventory that he wasn’t able to use outside the sanctuary suddenly appeared in front of him. And before he could think of anything further, a black object flew out on its own.

It was the class selection scroll he had acquired after defeating Nidraxis’s clone.