Unsealing Emptiness

It wasn’t a secret to these people how dangerous these Lands were. They were strong, but the general cultivation level here in the Neutral Lands was especially high.

“Do not worry. You can take your time,” Ozul said, surprising Oliver, Irvin, and Haley. They had been trying to tell him that it would take a lot more than 10 years, but he hadn’t listened before. Now, however, he was giving them as much time as they wanted!?

What they didn’t know was that Ozul hadn’t taken into account establishing the organization in the Neutral Lands. Since they were only a weak organization as of now, they could only slowly integrate themselves in here.

‘Oh well, a little extra time wouldn’t hurt,’ Ozul thought while ignoring the trio’s surprised looks. It was his own mistake for not calculating everything.

“Even then, you are not going to do something dangerous. Don’t even try to get into the organizations. Only have our men observe what an everyday person would on the streets,” Ozul could feel a few of them sigh in relief while others were still tense.

It couldn’t be helped. They had been living in that part of the continent, only hearing stories about the Neutral Lands. Their fear wouldn’t go away with just words. It would take time.

.....

Others left the room, leaving only Oliver, Irvin, and Haley in the room. It was Oliver who voiced out his thoughts, “Would it be fine? If we do it at a safe pace, that might take another couple of years.”

Since Ozul wasn’t agreeing to give them more time, they had thought that it must be urgent and delaying it any further wouldn’t be accepted. So they were concerned now that he had given his permission so easily.

“It’s alright,” Ozul casually answered.

He wanted things to be done as quickly as possible, but not so fast that it cost them heavy losses at the start. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start a fight with some of the big shots already.

His answer made the three of them sigh in relief. This had made their task even easier.

In the first place, the Three-Eyed Strangers hadn’t even started sneaking their members in the important councils of the influential organizations. Haley had decided to put that part on hold until everything is set up without any loose ends.

It was risky for them to start incorporating their members into the prominent groups of their respective areas. Though they wanted to be called a neutral organization, the real pieces of information couldn’t be obtained without sending their spies to almost every organization.

For that, Oliver had suggested that they use the oaths system similar to the one mercenary guild used so that even if anyone would get caught, they wouldn’t be able to say anything.

Since it was so complicated, Haley had suggested that they only do it once they are done with the expanding factor of the organization. Needless to say, others had strongly agreed with her.

Everyone started to get busy again. Their main focus was to recruit more men discreetly. People wanted money or resources, and they had both of them.

Half of the people started working on expansion while the other half was busy regulating all the important information that they would receive from the side branches.

It surprised many of the members when only a few days later, a team of men and women, all of them Rank-6, came to ask for what they offered. It was surprising because their tower was hidden and according to Irvin, only the leading organizations would know about it.

The team of Rank-6 men and women silently left after a member told them that they sold information and that was it.

“Do not worry about it. Those bigshots wouldn’t send their strongest ones only to inquire about us. Even if these people were acting independently, that’s just good news,” Oliver assured the members that nothing was to worry about.

. . .

A couple of months passed while they were expanding smoothly.

Everyone had gotten another boost of energy when a constant stream of people started visiting the organization. The new ones still inquired about their services, while some came to test the authenticity of the information.

Ozul could tell that most of them were sent by the organizations to test them. After all, who wouldn’t want someone to regularly supply them with news all over the continent in a matter of minutes? Moreover, they had declared themselves to be neutral. Some were skeptical by their claim, but till now, their behavior had proved them to be true to their words.

More than half of the people coming to ask for information were rejected with the reason being that the Three-Eyed Strangers were still in the developing phase and their information sources weren’t 100% guaranteed yet.

It was because the things that these people came to ask about were either too sensitive, only known to the members of prominent factions, or it was from the other two parts of the continent.

Fortunately for them, things only improved in the upcoming months.

Their recruited men started to spread into the neighboring towns, slowly taking over the Neutral Lands.

However, things aren’t always so smooth.

——–

– 1 Year Later –

More than 11 months after they had started expanding in the Neutral Lands, a Rank-8 Mage visited them.

Now it wouldn’t have been a big deal if the person wasn’t from the mercenary guild, coming to ask questions about something else instead.

The person was only an early stage Rank-8, so Ozul only watched from a distance. If it was also a peak Rank-8 Mage, then he would have had no other choice but to intervene. Although Irvin could take care of it, if a fight broke out, then it would destroy the headquarters.

Irvin confronted the guy since he didn’t look like he had come for a casual talk, “How can I help you?” Although his words were polite, his tone had a certain strictness backing it up.

The man from the mercenary guild had a high masculine build with a long mustache. He didn’t cower in front of Irvin, knowing all well that he was way stronger than him.

He was from the mercenary guild, what did he have to fear from a newly formed organization such as theirs?

“I heard your organization collects and sells information?” the mustache man spoke. Irvin calmly nodded his head.

“I am just here to advise you to stop it,” he said in a haughty tone. The mustache man thought that Irvin was the person leading the whole organization. In his mind, this was only a weak organization, so he didn’t think that there would be someone above him. Meanwhile, the mercenary guild had many more peak Rank-8 Mages.

“Excuse me?” Irvin didn’t like the way he was speaking to him. Ozul had given them full permission to retaliate however they wanted if someone was here to cause trouble. He had made it clear that it wouldn’t matter if they suffered losses either.

“I am telling you to either stop running this organization or change whatever you are doing. If you don’t...” the man didn’t put anyone here in his eyes. He left his words hanging, knowing that he had made his point clear.

“Then what?” Irvin asked, narrowing his eyes. The man with the long mustache was stunned, he didn’t expect anyone to retaliate all while knowing that he was from the mercenary guild.

“It seems that you don’t realize the gravity of the situation,” the mustache man threatened. Irvin had been slowly putting pressure on it, so he was feeling a little apprehensive. But the thought of being from the mercenary guild gave him courage.

Irvin’s face turned grave, he was about to say something when they heard a voice, “We won’t change anything nor are we closing. You can do whatever you want.

Everyone turned towards the source of the voice. Everyone bowed their head in Ozul’s direction excluding the mustache man.

He looked astonished that even Irvin had bowed his head to him. It meant that Irvin wasn’t the one running this organization.

The mustache man tried to sense his cultivation base, but he couldn’t sense even a speck of Mana from him. With Irvin, at least he could tell that he was in the same Rank as him, but a higher stage. However, he couldn’t read anything from Ozul at all.

‘Don’t tell me...’ The mustache man couldn’t help but widen his eyes. Sweat was already starting to trickle down his back. He hadn’t thought of this possibility, ‘A Rank-9 Mage! Damn it!’

The mustache man unconsciously took a few steps back. Even a peak Rank-8 Mage was making him nervous. A Rank-9 was not something he could talk so brazenly with.

“Did your leader send you here?” Ozul asked, knowing full well that the leaders of the mercenary guild were famous for not causing trouble for others without any rhyme or reason.

“Y-yes...” The mustache man stuttered as he answered. However, his eyes couldn’t meet Ozul’s. Even Irvin could tell that the man was lying. It seemed that being in the presence of a Rank-9 had gotten the better of him.

“Alright. If they have a problem, they can talk directly with me,” Ozul said, motioning the mustache man to the exit.

The man didn’t have the courage to say another word before a supposedly Rank-9 Mage, so he scurried off as fast as he could.