Unsealing Emptiness

And if the stream of it was getting separated from the mass of foreign Mana, it meant that they were finally able to sense it too!

Moreover, it was not only one, but both Raven and Blaze had been able to detect the essence. He then noticed how the stream of Mana was actually moving away from their own Mana Core.

It was as if that reddish energy had its own mind, but it wanted to get into their Mana Core. As though it was restless after getting separated from the Mana.

However, Raven and Blaze were trying their best not to let it slip into their Mana Core because of Ozul’s advice.

Although Ozul did not know much about that reddish energy, which he called the essence, he was aware of what would happen if they absorbed that thing in their Mana Core. Just like before, after entering their Mana Core, the reddish energy would just become a part of their Mana or the Core itself.

It was also probably the reason for the increase in talent as people talked about.

.....

Raven and Blaze had already absorbed that energy in their Mana Core more than when any other person would absorb the drake’s Core, only because of this unconventional method from Ozul.

So, even when he did not know what would happen after they absorbed it into their blood instead of the Mana Core, he at least knew that it would be something different.

There was only one way to find out what would happen, and that was for the duo to absorb it first.

As for what if something went wrong with this process? Ozul would handle it at that time.

Raven and Blaze, unaware that they were literally just experimenting after listening to Ozul, followed his orders, and the stream of reddish energy started to move towards their arteries and veins.

When the reddish energy got into contact with their bloodstream, both Raven and Blaze hissed out in stinging pain.

Ozul did not worry about it after only hearing their hissing since he believed that if the reddish energy was really related to the dragons’ bloodline, then it was best suited to be absorbed in the blood!

He sat back while observing them go through the process.

Although unclear due to the fog, Ozul could notice that their skin color started to turn even redder after they had forced the essence to enter their veins and arteries.

Both of them gritted their teeth because the pain was getting unbearable as they directed all of the reddish energy into their bloodstream.

They were expecting it to require even more effort into making the essence or the reddish energy absorb into their blood. Still, out of their expectations, it suddenly latched onto their blood!

With force even stronger than when the energy had applied to enter their Mana Core, it quickly dissolved into their blood!

As they did that, Ozul noticed that the foreign Mana inside of the duo was now starting to get violent.

‘Is it because they have absorbed the essence?’ Ozul contemplated but also hurriedly moved closer to them without wasting a moment.

He directed another chunk of Ball of Purity in the gaseous state inside of them and instantly warped that foreign Mana before it got out of control.

Raven and Blaze were already exhausted, and he knew that if he didn’t help them here, they would probably die.

He forced that Mana to come out of their body and after taking it out, Ozul released it.

*Boom*

Ozul did not expect that the Mana was already in a violent state, so it suddenly exploded right after he had released it since it was compressed in the Ball of Purity before!

Although the explosion was small, everyone in the group promptly rushed towards their place.

Due to the fog, others could not see what had happened. They expected the worst-case scenario and rushed to the trio’s spot.

“What happened?!”

“I can’t see anything either, idiot!”

. . .

Ozul sighed after realizing that it had caused the commotion.

Raven was quick to recover, so she stood up from her meditative position, albeit with difficulty. Her skin still had a reddish hue on it.

Blaze, on the other hand, couldn’t do so since his body was still aching. He was only a Rank-4 Fighter while Raven was a Rank-6, so the difference was apparent between them.

The mercenaries all surrounded their spot in a few moments. As they looked between Raven’s appearance and Blaze meditating with the same exhausted expressions, everyone got confused.

Looking around, they couldn’t see anything other than the trio either. There was no beast in sight, but that could also be because of the fog and the night.

Fearing Ozul, no one stepped in to ask what had happened until Clive arrived there as well.

“Did some wild beast attack?” He asked, looking at Raven since he was not any less afraid of Ozul.

“Yes... It is dead now. You guys can go back,” Raven briefly replied.

She had yet to catch her breath due to the earlier exhausting experience, so she didn’t say much.

“Oh... okay. Yes. We should get back to our positions now,” Clive said before nodding toward other mercenaries. Despite wanting to ask more, he just couldn’t bring himself to do so in front of Ozul.

As everyone dispersed, Blaze finally stood up after being able to endure the pain. Of course, he had also felt the explosion, but since he was alive after that, Blaze knew that it was under control.

*Fuuu....*

Blaze exhaled deeply, his skin color already getting better since he was able to cool himself down because of the Ice Element.

“Do it to me too!” Raven said to Blaze after noticing his work of Ice Element.

Absorbing even that small part of the essence had caused their whole body to heat up to the point where their sweat had started to turn into steam!

It was pretty brutal. Raven and Blaze were only able to endure it since they had enhanced their bodies as a Fighter. If it were any other Mage, he or she would have been already dead!

“So, you guys were able to sense it, huh,” Ozul muttered after Blaze had helped Raven cool down as well.

“Yes!”

Raven replied with excitement while Blaze only nodded his head with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Hm... So absorbing that ‘essence’ in the bloodstream doesn’t kill you,” Ozul muttered to himself in low a voice.

But Raven and Blaze were both able to hear his words perfectly. They looked at him with wide eyes, their backs already starting to tingle with sweat again.

“Uhm... Hey, does that mean we could have died doing what we just did before?” Blaze whispered to Raven while Ozul was contemplating on the side.

“...Y-yeah. It seems so,” Raven replied.

“...We should probably be more careful from now on,” Blaze muttered as Raven nodded her head.

“So, what happened with the essence?” Ozul asked after a while. He was curious if they knew something more since it was their body that the red energy had dissolved into.