Unsealing Emptiness

Grandma Carol had eaten, and now she was sewing white shirts for Ozul.

Ozul quickly finished his food and went out of the house. He was wondering why the Raven girl was not present during the dinner.

But he received his answer when he walked outside to see her in a meditative position sitting just at the side of his favorite spot.

‘She must be practicing to become a Mage, huh. Is that how you do it? Whatever...’ – Ozul wondered before he pushed the curiosity out of mind and sat at his usual spot.

Just as Ozul was watching the sky, from his side, Raven opened her eyes. Raven got startled when she saw that he was lying just by her. Only a little bit of movement from any party and their shoulders will come in contact.

Raven looked at Ozul’s face that was staring at the faraway stars, or was it something else?

She was in a trance after looking at the epitome of perfection. Raven felt her heart beating faster. Ozul was not wearing the hat; nothing was stopping Raven to stare at the flawless being in front of her eyes.

.....

At least for Raven, there was nothing more perfect than Ozul in this world.

Getting out of her daze when Ozul glanced at her, Raven suddenly spoke out.

“H-hey! I am close to creating my Magical Core. Maybe in a few days, I will be a Rank-1 Mage!”

“Oh.”

“Then, I can come with you, right?” – Raven asked expectantly. She was not bothered by Ozul’s dull reply.

“Maybe.”

“What?! But... but you promised me!” Raven was nervous that Ozul might not take her at all.

“Why do you even want to come with me?” Ozul was curious as to why Raven was so intent to join him.

“T-that... You don’t need to know! I can do everything that you order me! I can be very helpful!”- Raven began to persuade Ozul when she thought that he might reject her again.

“Anything?... Okay,” When Ozul gave it some thought, he found it interesting to just sit around and have others do work for him.

Anyways, Ozul never liked to work himself. He does it out of necessity.

‘Now that I think about it... I can just make people do my work... Hmm... It’s decided then.’- Ozul thought of making a group of people that can do work for him while he just sits around doing nothing but sleep.

‘Only... where can I find such people to work for me?’ It was the only problem Ozul faced.

Raven, who had heard Ozul, was lost in her thoughts about what Ozul meant when he said “Anything?”

But she just dismissed her thoughts when she saw that Ozul had again closed his eyes.

Raven kept looking at Ozul’s face as hesitation appeared on her face. It was like she was contemplating doing something or not. After a while, as if Raven had resolved herself, she spoke out.

“Ozul... Oh, Can I call you that?”- Raven suddenly remembered that she had never called him by his name.

“Hm.” Ozul just nodded his head and opened his eyes.

“Can I ask you a question, Ozul?”- Happy that he did not reject, Raven now wanted to ask her original question.

Ozul again just nodded his head.

“Why do you like darkness so much?”- This question was bothering Raven from when she realized that Ozul always likes dark places. She was observant, alright! In just two days, Raven could tell what Ozul liked the most.

“Why, indeed?” Hearing her question, Ozul asked himself if he knew the answer. All this time, he was wondering about himself, but he never asked such a simple matter to himself.

Giving it a thought, Ozul always just feels more comfortable and secure when the nothingness envelops him. When there were no impurities near him, or at least when they were kept minimum, Ozul felt protected.

It was just like Raven wanted to be near Ozul to feel secure. Only when alone would Ozul understand more about himself.

“Maybe it’s because... here in the darkness, I just know myself... know myself a little more...” Ozul muttered to himself. His words flowed through the wind as it felt like a melancholic melody was sung from a flute.

Raven, who heard Ozul, suddenly felt a jolt of pain pass through her heart. She suddenly wanted to wrap the innocent being in front of her into a warm hug and let him express all his grievances.

She got out of her stupor when she heard the footsteps that belonged to Grandma Carol.

She was standing at the doorsteps looking over Raven and Ozul with a warm motherly smile.

Raven hurriedly stood up and went towards Grandma Carol.

“It’s getting late, young lady. Go and sleep. I will give him the blanket,” Grandma Carol had come here to remind Raven that it was almost midnight.

Grandma Carol gave Ozul the blanket before she smiled at him and went back inside.

. . .

Waking up the next morning, Ozul again saw clouds in the sky.

But he was not planning to hunt for the day. So, Ozul just ate breakfast, and before leaving, he assured Grandma Carol that he was just going to go for a walk on the streets.

Actually, Ozul was planning to sell the Rank-3 Cores that he had obtained yesterday.

Ozul arrived at the shop for Magical Items. He entered it, but this time, there was an unusual amount of people in the shop.

He did not mind them and went straight towards the Shop Owner. Ozul put the Rank-3 Cores on the counter before he asked for the money.

The Shop Owner seeing the four Rank-3 Cores in front of him went wide-eyed. He was surprised not because of the Cores, but because it was a kid that brought them! But that surprise suddenly turned into something else...

‘Hmm? Malicious intent?... Oh. Greed, huh,’ Ozul, who was sensitive to the emotions, immediately knew what the Shop Owner was thinking. But he did not pay any heed to it—he was pretty confident to deal with small problems like these.

The Shop Owner also just gave Ozul 40 Silver Coins; his thoughts were unknown as he gave a fake smile to Ozul.

“Here you go, kid. Have a beautiful day,” The Shop Owner said to Ozul before moving on to other customers.

Ozul, who received his money, was just about to leave when he suddenly heard a conversation between some of the people in the shop.

“Haha... See this? This new Potion costs 50 Silvers!” said a short guy, while showing a glass vial in his hands. There was a purplish liquid inside that vial.

Gazing at that purple vial, Ozul suddenly had a sense of familiarity from it!

‘It’s familiar, wait... familiar... my parts! But how?’- Ozul suddenly had this thought that the purple vial was somehow related to his parts.

Ozul’s senses had never lied to him. So, he became interested in their conversation. Listening closely,

“Huh? Is it a new potion? But why is it so expensive?”- the fat guy asked curiously.

“You don’t know, fatty? Are you living under a rock? This Potion given by the Church of Light is like another life!” the short guy said to the fatty in wonder. He then continued,

“This is a health potion! It can instantly heal any recent small injury! It is a life-saving treasure for mercenaries like us!”

“What!? Heal recent injuries? When did such a thing happen!”- asked the fatty in disbelief.

“This is only a downgraded version though! They do not circulate the better ones to people without connections.”- the short man said as he was unhappy, not to be able to get a hand on better ones.

Ozul did not listen any further. He already guessed what those despicable people were doing with his ‘parts’.

Somehow, those filthy humans had extracted the essence of healing from his parts! They probably did that regularly to be able to create so many of these potions!

‘Church of Light... Sigh... it’s gotten more complicated.”- Ozul had heard about the Church of Light. Apparently, they worshipped some God of Light.

From what Ozul had heard, the Church of Light was one of the top powers in the Mainland! All the people in the Church of Light were Mages who focused on the Light Element.

Ozul was just confused as to why and how did his ‘parts’ get in their hands.

‘If they have my part, then there is also the possibility that somehow my ‘parts’ are in the custody of different powers...’- Ozul had to keep that possibility in his mind. It did not make any sense for his ‘father’ who was a Duke in the Silverbird Kingdom just to give his parts to other parties.

The standing of the Silverbird Kingdom in the Mainland was not any lower than the Church. It was just that the Church had its influence all over the Mainland.

‘Something must have happened...’ Ozul thought that something unexpected must’ve happened for the situation to get this complicated.

Ozul again sighed in his mind before he left the store to go back home.

He had done too much thinking in just this short amount of time. Only sleep could cancel out the ‘negative effects’ of his thinking.

Even though he did not show it on his face, Ozul was in a bad mood. He did not feel right whenever he thought that those filthy humans were experimenting on his parts.

In a bad mood, Ozul just entered through the gate and laid under the tree. He did not bother with anyone else. Dark clouds were already above his head. So, there was no sunlight bothering him.

Only a second late, Ozul fell asleep.