Unsealing Emptiness

Ozul muttered as he released Ball of Purity out of his body in the gaseous form.

Irvin and Haley were both creeped out of the black gas exuding out of Ozul’s body. They were sure that it was not a Mage’s Spell since Ozul didn’t even blink all this while.

Everyone was aware of casting the Spells without chanting, but even that required a Mage’s complete focus on the Mana to guide it as such.

Moreover, the old couple felt no Mana fluctuations at all! Though they had lost their cultivation, they still retained their senses.

Sensing the fluctuations of Mana wasn’t any difficulty for them. However, no matter how Irvin thought, he still did not back away. He felt that even if Ozul wanted to harm them, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Though Ozul could sense most of the things, he did not have a particular skill for this. That’s why he wasn’t even able to detect if they had any Core at all.

.....

For such reasons, Ozul would have to use his Ball of Purity. It acted as an extra organ that others did not have. It served as his weapon, support, eyes, ears, and anything that he wanted it to be.

The only limitations that it had was Ozul’s imagination and his control over it.

So he had to first send the Ball of Purity inside Irvin to assess the situation. It would greatly benefit Ozul if he could somehow help the old couple return back to their peak.

Unlike most people, Ozul knew that the old couple might be crafty, but they weren’t someone who would forget others ‘kindness’.

When the Ball of Purity entered Irvin’s body, Ozul somehow had a clear vision of everything that the black gas passed by.

It didn’t take long for it to reach where a Mage’s Core is supposed to be. However, instead of finding the crystal-like ball, all Ozul saw was a ball of filth! At least that is what he sensed from afar.

Only when the Ball of Purity closed in on it did Ozul feel the familiar feeling of disgust. It wasn’t that Mana itself was something that he loathed since it was at least better than most of the other things.

The only annoyance he had with Mana was the glistening, which was not any less annoying than the sunlight.

Now he only needed to check if the Ball of Purity could remove that layer of blockage.

The only reason this poison was considered almost incurable was due to the risks that it brought to cure.

The Mage’s Core, on the one hand, was a sturdy container for the Mana while, on the other hand, it was also a delicate ‘organ’ of Mages.

Even just a little mistake and this delicate crystal ball would shatter like glass. And that would cause all the condensed Mana inside to rampage inside that Mage’s body!

In the best-case scenario, the Mage’s body would not burst like a water balloon.

That’s why in fear of making even a slight mistake, people would not try to temper with a Core inside living people.

It was a different situation with blacksmiths using the Cores to make magical items, though.

There were various tools used to handle delicate objects like Magical Cores, but not even one of them was usable inside living creatures.

Hence, Irvin and Haley did not have any hope for Ozul to be of any help. They were just letting him check since they were indebted to him and a small request such as this was not a problem.

*Swooosh...*

Only when the blinding light shone for a moment, and Irvin felt the sudden Mana waves from inside his body did both he and Haley had their hopes reignited.

“Y-you! You dispelled the effects of the poison!?”- Irvin could not help but shout out loud.

He could not believe that it was even possible after all those decades of hiding and searching for a cure!

Only after checking inside his body did Irvin confirm that he could use Mana again! With a swift movement of his hand, he focused all of his attention on it and suddenly;

*Bzzzzzz*

*Crackle*

Electric sparks began to form around his hands! This scene in front of Ozul indicated that Irvin used the Lightning Element, and he was also very proficient in it.

All the talented Mages would already start to build their affinity with their respective Elements around Rank-8.

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

Just then, Irvin started coughing as the filth that had previously covered his Core came out of his mouth.

After looking at the filth that Irvin had coughed up, even Haley understood that the kid before them had performed the miracle.

After processing everything that had happened in the last few minutes, Irvin had tears started to form in his eyes.

Though he did not care about losing all of his power, he still felt guilty of getting Haley implicated in all the mess.

Decades had passed, but the thought of him being responsible for Haley losing her powers still haunted him to this day.

Though Haley always reassured him that she was okay with that as long as he remained with her, Irvin’s guilt did not lessen one bit.

Now that he had finally seen the hope, Irvin did not want to lose it. He hurriedly collected himself and cleared away his tears.

“You... Can you do the same with Haley?”- Irvin asked with pleading eyes.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to, and I’m fine, anyways.”- Haley hurriedly waved her hands.

It was not that Haley did not want her powers back. She just thought that it must have required Ozul to go through extreme pain just to help Irvin and so she did not want to be a burden.

Ozul had already helped them so much, and now this. The couple did not know how they would ever be able to pay him back.

Unknown to them, Ozul already had many plans for them to pay him back.

“...Kid, I will never forget your kindness if you help my wife!”- Irvin did not want to let this chance go and was almost begging Ozul.

” *Sigh*... Stop your drama and get up.”- Ozul said to Irvin, who was already kneeling on the floor.

He acted as if it was a bother for him to help them since this would leave an even better impression on them.

“Thank you! Thank you!...”

Irvin started chanting thank you’s as Ozul approached the old lady Haley.

Just like before, Ozul only required a few seconds before a Mana wave was released from Haley’s body, albeit on a smaller scale.

*Swoof~*

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

“Hahahaha...”- Irvin’s mad laughter sounded out in the room when he saw the same process happening with Haley.

Though they were already past their prime, being Mages at Rank-7 and Rank-8 gave them decades of more time to live. In which if they want to, they could still advance in Ranks!

“We will never forget your mercy, uh... young man.”

Irvin said before he bowed towards Ozul as Haley followed his example and performed a small bow.

“I don’t even know if I will ever be able to repay your kindness.”- The old couple had a look of awe as they gazed at Ozul’s handsome face.

Irvin forgot all the previous times that he wanted to plummet this kid on the ground and beat the shit out of him too. All he had in his mind right now was that this kid had given him and his wife a new life.

He wouldn’t need to worry about any of their pursuers since he was almost back to the peak of his power.

Though both Haley and Irvin were again Rank-7 and Rank-8, respectively, their Ranks had degraded. Haley was a Middle-Stage and ended up as Initial-Stage while Irvin was an End-Stage and had ended up as Middle Stage.

This downgrade happened because it had already been decades since their Cores had not replenished or refined Mana.

“Oh? You wanna repay me, right?”- Ozul asked with an amused tone, but his face remained impassive as if he didn’t care about anything.

Irvin suddenly had chills on his back when he saw the cold eyes examining him as if he was just a toy.

*Smack!*

“Ouch! What was that for!?”- Irvin rubbed the back of his head and looked at Haley with annoyance.

*Smack!*

Another smack followed right after when Irvin had just asked the reason for the previous one.

“Okay, Okay! Sheesh. I won’t ask!”- He again rubbed the back of his head, but the earlier annoyance had disappeared into thin air.

“He has already helped us so much! What are you still hesitating over!?”- Haley, being the alpha wife she was, had realized that it was her duty to make Irvin understand.

She looked towards Ozul as if he was her own child and gave a motherly smile.

“Don’t listen to this old man! we will repay you however you wish us to.”

‘But I didn’t even say anything...’- Irvin thought as he was also forced to smile, but due to the earlier smacks, it came out weird.

“Well, I won’t make things too difficult for you.”

Irvin sighed in relief but hearing Ozul’s next words caused him to smile wryly.

“You will just have to manage a whole organization for me...”