Unsealing Emptiness

The only ones who had seen this were Raven and Blaze, but they knew better than to speak about it.

Even the men hidden together with Rufus overlooked this scene since they always moved a little ahead of the convoy, scouting the path first.

The rank-7 mages included, everyone in the group was a little tense. They already had to fight against two rank-6 Beasts. Though they knew that encountering rare creatures like drakes was highly unlikely, they did not want to relax just because of the low chances.

The group continued advancing, and Clive constantly had to deal with bushes and the tree vines. There was just not an end to them.

“Keep up your focus, and always stick together!” Clive would occasionally shout out an order.

No one talked in the group, and except for the noises of Beasts and animals in the distance, all they could hear was their feet stepping on some twigs and tree roots now and then.

.....

Clive had it the most difficult since the forest seemed like a maze the further they progressed. Just when he would think that this is the path, some giant tree or jumbled mess of vines and bushes like the earlier wall would block the way.

He would then have to take a big turn, wasting their time even more.

Although all of them were powerful, their minds would also start to get weary after the fight earlier and the constant vigilance.

The group of more than 70 mercenaries and the Silver Knights continued to progress further until it was night time.

Unfortunately for them, they could not find an area suitable enough to set up the camps. There was just not enough space anywhere. Even when there were some areas with fewer trees, it would be filled with plants or bushes instead.

The night had fallen, so the roars of triumph and pain from the Beasts echoing through the forest had stopped long ago.

It caused the group to suffer from the awkward silence that got on their nerves.

Unlike what some thought, the forest was always more dangerous when it was night time. It was the time for the silent killers as they called them to come out and start hunting.

The Beasts which hunted at night were referred to as the silent killers. Compared to the ordinary Beasts, they would usually be weaker in terms of strength or mana.

However, they were always more threatening than regular Beasts. All because of their skills.

Since they were usually weaker than the ordinary beasts, they had started to develop the skills to hunt silently without making a ruckus. The hunted would not even realize after their death who killed them.

Hence, everyone in the group was on edge except for Ozul. He had already experimented; as long as something was alive, he would be able to sense it under a few meters radius from him.

Even after all this while, only Jinx was the exception from his innate sensing ability.

Since the group could not find any suitable place to rest for the night, Clive decided that they would have to make do with what they had.

It would be difficult for them because of all the trees, vines, and plants. But it was still better than traveling all night.

Being a rank-7 mage, anyone could instantly level the area around them in a few seconds, but the commotion would attract all the beasts. And that would only make their task harder.

So the group started to secure the perimeters of the area. They did not light up any fire since Clive instructed them that it was too troublesome to do so in this forest.

Clive had received detailed instructions on how to cross through this forest known as the Old Whispering Woods. All they had to do was not attract attention and stay on a particular route.

He was informed that this forest was actually way bigger than they imagined, unlike what others thought. The route which he was instructed to take only passed through the outer boundaries of the forest!

It was both good and bad news. Good because it meant that they would probably not encounter the real dangers of this forest. Bad because it also meant that there were still chances for them to stumble upon something they couldn’t handle.

But Clive did not explain this to any of the mercenaries since it would only pressure them.

That was also why Clive took extra caution and did not allow the group to light up any fire since it could attract unwanted attention from the beasts.

Taking Clara as the center, the mercenaries took their positions. Some climbed the trees and rested their backs against the trees’ trunk while also keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Even if they did not have enough space for the whole wooden cabin, Sir Hanry made enough space by cutting away some vines and wild plants to make the area suitable for a tent.

Clara and Venessa rested in the tent guarded by the Silver Knights and Sir Hanry, who all stayed at an appropriate distance from the camp.

Ozul also climbed up a tree with Jinx following him up. The tree branches did not have enough space, so Raven had to climb up a different tree while Blaze chose to stay on the ground.

Suddenly when Raven was about to jump up the tree, Blaze stopped her, “Hey, I wanted to ask you. I still don’t know why is a drake’s core so valuable?”

Almost all of the mercenaries in the group knew about it, but since Blaze had lived in the village for all his life, there was no one to educate him.

“Ah, yes. You still don’t know, tsk tsk.” Raven taunted while Blaze could only smile at this while his eyes twitched.

“There is only one reason why they are so valuable. And that is... the Mana Core from a drake can improve one’s talent!” Raven explained to him.

“Wait, talent?! But how?” Blaze was not able to digest this piece of information so easily.

Talent in this world was something that was thought to be decided on birth. Blaze knew the importance of talent after comparing himself to Raven, who, unlike him, had been provided by all the resources, yet he was near the same tier as her.

“Why do you think drakes are rumored to have the bloodline from dragons? It is because they say that dragons also have a special affinity to mana. So the drake’s cores being able to improve one’s talent became the main reason people linked the two together.” Raven even explained the reason for the rumors.

“Hmm. So dragons do exist!” Blaze muttered after listening to Raven.

“They may or may not. Who knows. Unless we see it with our own eyes, we cannot confirm,” Raven shrugged. Why care about something that they would probably never encounter?

“How does it improve our talent, though? Do we make some pills with them?” Blaze had finally gotten his chance to clear his doubts, so he wasn’t letting Raven go without asking everything.

“No. We just devour it,” said Raven nonchalantly. However, Blaze’s expressions changed hearing that they would have to devour a Mana Core!

“... What will we do with a little more talent if the cost is death?” Blaze squinted his eyes at Raven.

As far as he knew, eating a Mana Core was akin to suicide since the dense and compressed mana would suddenly start to rampage inside the body, resulting in the mage’s death in a few seconds.

“There is actually a way to absorb the Mana Core of a drake,” said Raven as the expressions on Blaze’s face began to change.

“What?! Since when could we absorb Mana Cores?” Blaze asked while trying his best to keep his voice under control.

“We can’t just absorb any beast’s Core. It is the specialty of the drake’s Mana Core. But there are still some things that we need to help in the process, and we don’t have them right now,” Raven poured the cold water on him.

Blaze knew that even if they could absorb the Mana Core of the drake to improve their talent, the items used in the process surely wouldn’t be cheap.

“Heh, don’t worry. If Ozul wanted us to consume the cores, then he surely has a way to get the other items,” Raven assured him.

However, right after saying that, she muttered under her breath, “...I think.”

Due to no one making any sound near them, Blaze heard her murmur and smiled wryly, “Yeah, probably...”

It couldn’t be helped. They already had the Cores, so it was just a matter of time before they get the other resources.

Raven went up the tree after that, leaving Blaze to his own thinking.