Unsealing Emptiness

He had a lean build which was almost too skinny for his age. Although he appeared rather good-looking, there were hints of exhaustion and sickness on his face. It felt as if he wasn’t taking good care of his physical health at all.

Such an appearance in this world was rather rare for Fighters or Mages. It was because advancing in the ranks of either Fighter or Mage not only increased one’s lifespan but also eliminated common health issues.

Other notable features of Zier were short purple hair and his energetic eyes that had a peculiar gleam in them.

Although he wore a sickly look, there was nothing peculiar about him that would betray his weakness.

‘Ha... I am already getting tired. I’m only a Rank-5 Fighter, it will be a miracle if I could survive in the end,’ Zier quietly thought in his head while advancing forward with a slower pace than before.

Although he had flashed his best smile for his grandfather before departing, he himself knew how hard it was going to be to survive. If his mental exhaustion was anything to go by, his thoughts were already proving to be true.

.....

Currently, his goal was to get out of this eerie forest and find higher ground. He would have fewer chances of being ambushed if he could find himself a better hiding spot.

Unlike many others, he had no thoughts whatsoever of facing those strong Mages and actually hoping to win.

Being with his grandfather since he was just a child, he had learned countless survival skills. It was time that he actually put them into use.

Since he was the one moving, his greatest fear right now was that he wouldn’t stumble upon any other participant.

As of now, he hadn’t set up any traps and had no means of sensing others except for his basic instincts.

Regretfully, as if he had cursed his own luck, Zier suddenly found himself having to face the only situation he hoped to avoid now of all moments.

“Uh... hello?” he barely managed to mutter while forcing himself to squeeze out a smile to ease his own nerves.

He had abruptly found himself being stared at by two pairs of eyes. He was walking on the ground and the sudden appearance of these two people indifferently looking down at him from atop the trees managed to ring all types of alarms in his brain.

Zier forced himself to keep up the harmless smile while pondering on his situation, ‘Heck! I didn’t sense anything at all! It’s just like... just like with grandfather!’

At the same time, his hand at once had stiffened for some reason. One would assume that he couldn’t move his body due to the intense fear.

Just when one of his fingers had twitched, he heard the two people converse with each other and stopped himself from doing anything reckless.

“What do you want to do with him?” asked the man with azure hair, completely ignoring his harmless greeting.

There was a peculiar chillness around him. Zier, for a moment, even felt that he could see water vapors condense into fog around that man’s body as it does around ice itself.

His question brought a chill down his spine as well since he could feel that the answer from the other person could decide his fate. Instinctively, his hands stiffened again.

At the same time, his eyes shifted to the black silhouette of the woman, vigilantly staring at her. The sunlight was shining just behind her head, so he couldn’t make out her facial features. Yet, her presence was just as or even more overbearing than the man with azure hair.

There was a moment of silence after the man’s question before it was broken by a sudden noise.

“Urh...”

The sound felt exactly like when a person stretched his arms after waking up from a night’s sleep.

Curious, he shifted his head towards the sound at the same time as the two people on the trees.

“Leave him. He is harmless,” a voice came from the same direction.

These words left Zier speechless for a moment. Not only because he felt hope reigniting in this almost hopeless situation, but also because of how clear that voice had been just now.

It was like listening to a waterfall in the middle of a forest surrounded by lush green bushes, singing canaries, and sleeping animals under the shade of giant canopies of the surrounding trees – it was just that refreshing.

Shaking his head to clear out his thoughts, Zier decided to think about it later and focus on his current predicament. He again shifted his eyes to the two unusually powerful people and their eyes betrayed a feeling of hesitation.

They were clearly unconvinced to leave him alive. Yet, they didn’t take any action to harm him either.

“Do you want me to deal with the other group?”

The voice came again, this time there was even a hint of displeasure laced within those words.

It seemed that Zier wasn’t the only one to sense it. In front of his eyes, the man and the woman didn’t wait for another moment before disappearing from the trees. They left him just like that!

‘That... was it?’ he thought to himself before relaxing his hands instantly.

Though his posture remained in a defensive stance for a couple of seconds before he reluctantly dropped his guard.

The other party obviously didn’t think of him as any threat!

While this thought brought a strange sense of distaste in his mouth, it was also a relief that he wouldn’t have to die here, “Well, I would have taken at least one of them down with me.”

Just as he muttered that out aloud, his eyes widened as he realized his trail of thoughts just now. ‘No! What am I thinking?! I don’t want to die yet! I have yet to explore the whole world!’

‘Tch! To think that in the heat of the moment, I even forgot my own dream...’

Zier suddenly felt displeased with himself for losing his own aim.

Though he couldn’t be blamed for what happened. Any sane person in his shoes wouldn’t even have been able to stand their ground much less keep their head straight.

After getting ahold of himself, Zier was left with a predicament.

He wanted to immediately leave this place and run in the opposite direction since his instincts told him that he was no match for the people he had encountered just now. Their presence alone screamed of danger!

Yet, he could not bring himself to move his feet, to flee.

No matter how much he wanted not to, he found himself stepping forward, albeit reluctantly. He had a strong urge to find out who that calm yet imposing voice belonged to.

‘Just... who could it be?’

The question clouded his mind, rendering him unable to think about the consequences of his curiosity. He only had to take a couple of steps!

What are you doing?! He is obviously a dangerous man! Don’t go there!

Something inside him kept yelling to stop at that instant and turn away. Yet, it wasn’t his instincts but fear talking.

‘There... there are other people around this area too. Hadn’t those two people gone to deal with them? There must be others around here too. This person at least spared my life... yes... this is the safest approach...’

Zier convinced himself with these thoughts. Nonetheless, he himself understood that this was not, by any means, his safest option.

He could only guess there was another group. They would currently be busy fighting the earlier two people. The chances of another group being in the same area were slim. His best bet would have been to run away.

As he passed the tree with a giant trunk that was mainly blocking his vision to the voice, he found himself witnessing someone live the very dream he had dreamt of since he was only a child.

There he was, a man with a loose white shirt, unkempt hair which would have ruined the aesthetics if they were styled in any other way, and a face so flawless that gave Zier an urge to avert his eyes lest he ruined its grace.

Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

The man had his eyes closed, seemingly unbothered by all the dangers that lurked in this forest. It didn’t look like the man was in a competition where death was the only rule.

He was the freest man Zier had ever come across in his life!

“This...”

Zier found himself unable to utter a word. This was his dream!

That nonchalant way of living life, that attitude which exhibited that no amount of opposition would stop him from doing whatever he desired, that noble aura which surrounded him even while he was merely sleeping – This was all Zier’s dream!

Since he was a child, he had remained chained to his little island under his grandfather’s care.

He hardly ever felt the absence of his parents who had both passed away before he became aware of the world around him. While he had absolutely no trouble since his grandfather was so strong, Zier remained dissatisfied with his life.

Growing up watching those birds fly in the air, he wanted to see the world, he wanted to be unrestricted, he wanted to be free!

Just as he was thinking all of that, the man who was living his dream abruptly opened his eyes and glanced at him with bored eyes, “You are still here?”

“...”

‘Come on! What are you doing!? Say something!’ Zier shouted in his head. Still, he couldn’t utter a single word from his mouth.

“...whatever...”

“...”