Unsealing Emptiness

“Whatever,” he muttered and suddenly the Ball of Purity transformed into a flat surface, floating in the air. Under everyone’s scrutinizing eyes, he casually sat on it.

The Elders narrowed their eyes at his behavior and one of them moved to attack him, but the Elder who had spoken previously stopped him. It wasn’t just him, some others had also realized that the man before them wasn’t so simple.

He didn’t want to take any risk since according to the bald Elder, they couldn’t even see what happened before his colleague was brought down.

He was still contemplating on what to do when from behind them, two other Rank-8 Mages approached.

The Elders were surprised a little since these two were none other than Raven and Blaze themselves!

Because of the crowd, the duo didn’t notice Ozul and Raven directly asked one of the Elders, “What is going on here?”

.....

The duo didn’t see anything in the surrounding that they could assume to be the reason for the commotion and neither were there any signs of a fight. The Elder swiftly replied, “There is some guy looking for you. He has knocked Elder Chan unconscious!”

Raven squinted her eyes. She didn’t even have the time to think who it could be when Blaze bolted through the Elders and arrived in the open.

“Disciple Blaze! Don’t approach!” The Elders tried to stop him from going near the man, but he only had to glare at them before all of them promptly made way.

Getting past the last Elder, Blaze saw the figure of the man sitting mid-air with a conical hat on top.

“Master!” Only a single word escaped his mouth which confused everyone but Raven who widened her eyes before rushing towards the center as well.

The two didn’t show any courtesy this time and threw themselves at Ozul who casually moved to the side, making both of them fall face down on the ground.

*Thud*

Blaze fell first and following him, Raven head-butted his back.

“Ach! That hurts!” Everyone heard Blaze shout in pain.

“It seems that both of you have yet to grow up...” following their dramatic enthusiasm, Ozul took off his hat and muttered quietly. Though it was heard by everyone because of the still surrounding.

. . .

Unknown to him, the Elders and other disciples watching from afar all had their mouths hung open. They doubted their eyes and ears.

They couldn’t believe that the sight in front of them was of the same Raven and Blaze who were already strong enough to fight against the Elders!

“Hey. Did you hear, disciple Blaze called him Master!”

“But he never called anyone Master before...”

“Even disciple Raven! She appeared just as enthusiastic as disciple Blaze.”

...

Most of the disciples in the distance and some Elders also started to whisper about the current turn of events. However, a few of the Elders became apprehensive of the situation.

It was famous in the Nine Petals Sect that disciple Raven and Blaze, although geniuses, never accepted any other Elder as their teacher. It had come to the point when even the Sect Leader had offered them to become their direct disciples, but they both refused the offer.

And if what their eyes showed them was true, it could only mean that the newly arrived person was the reason for that. The problem was; they had probably offended this person who could be a peak Rank-8 or even Rank-9 Mage!

The Elder who had previously asked Ozul questions motioned his colleague and whispered something in his ears. That man nodded his head before slipping from the crowd.

Meanwhile, Raven and Blaze both had a bright smile on their face as they greeted Ozul.

‘They didn’t start fighting after Raven dropped on Blaze... Well, they might have grown up a little bit after all,’ Ozul thought as he watched the two blabber about things that he didn’t care enough to listen to.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind the stunned crowd, “Big sister Raven! Haa! I finally caught up... Hm?”

Alda looked at the man standing before her big sister. It wouldn’t have been weird if it was the man trying to talk to her big sister, but before her eyes, it was the exact opposite.

She approached the three and went to Raven’s side before pulling her sleeve. “Big sister, who is he?” Alda whispered.

Ozul naturally heard her words and moved his eyes between Raven and Alda, ‘Big sister huh...’

“He is the one I told you about,” Raven didn’t hide anything and told her. Looking up at Ozul, she awkwardly introduced Alda as well, “She is Alda...”

Ozul casually nodded his head which didn’t sit right with little Alda. In her mind, only her Big sister had the right to act important before others. Even if he looked more handsome than Blaze, Alda felt threatened by him.

Before she could say anything, Ozul spoke, “Let’s go. It’s time.”

Hearing his words, both Blaze and Raven had their eyes lit up in excitement. This was the day they were waiting for years! On the other hand, Alda had a bad feeling forming inside of her.

“Where? Where are we going, big sister?” she tugged on Raven’s sleeve anxiously.

Only then did Raven realize that after she left, Alda would be alone here in the Sect. Her face formed difficult expressions as she contemplated what to do. She didn’t want to leave her there on her own, but it was also true that she was too weak to tag along.

After a while, as if she had steeled her heart, Raven spoke, “Only I will be leaving, Alda. You will stay here.”

She hadn’t even completed her words when tears started to form around Alda’s eyes as she started sniffling. Before she started crying, Raven put her hand on her head and gently patted her before saying, “You are still weak Alda. When you grow up and become strong, come find me, okay?”

Even after her consoling, Alda didn’t give up. She looked down on the floor and tears couldn’t help but drop on the dry ground.

At the same time, Ozul was looking at this scene, amazed that it was Raven who was consoling another person. He looked at Blaze for questions who could only shrug his shoulders.

‘She really grew up...’ Ozul mused while looking at Raven getting anxious to stop Alda from crying.

Just this much was enough for him to conclude that it was worth sending Raven and Blaze away for so long. Not to mention, he was also satisfied with their progress as Mages.

‘Both are Rank-8 and at the middle stage. And it seems that Blaze is also close to another breakthrough. But it wouldn’t be so easy now since the Elemental Seeds are probably all used up,’ Ozul examined the duo’s bodies.

“Alright. It’s getting late,” Ozul spoke, getting Raven’s attention who looked at Alda before helplessly nodding.

Just as they were about to fly off, a crispy yet feminine voice rang out from above.

“Halt your steps!”

Ozul paused in his steps as he thought, ‘She is fast...’ He had scanned the area before and knew that she wasn’t here before. So it could only mean that she had just arrived.

Unlike the disciples hiding in the distance, the Elders quickly realized who the voice belonged to and widened their eyes in astonishment.

“Sect Leader!”

Before they could even blink, a woman appeareed just a few meters away from Ozul. The onlookers only felt as if she was invisible before and had been standing there all along!

All the members of the Nine Petals Sect bowed their heads to her one by one with an exception of Raven and Blaze.

“Where do you think you are taking the disciples of my Sect?” the Sect Leader ignored everyone else and questioned Ozul.

The Sect Leader was a Rank-9 Mage with Ice as her Element. In all of her life, she hadn’t seen so compatible with any other Element as Blaze was with Ice. And even though Raven didn’t have a natural talent, she made up for it with hard work and smart work. Both of them were geniuses in their own way. If it was someone else, maybe she wouldn’t have intervened personally. However, she couldn’t just sit back and watch in the matter of these two.

“I had allowed your Elders to take them for only for a period of time. And now I am here to take them back,” Ozul didn’t mind explaining to a Rank-9 Mage. He continued after her eyes narrowed, “It’s up to them to decide anyway.”

Following his words, the Sect Leader squinted her eyes at Raven and Blaze, questioning if they agreed to leave with him or not.

The duo didn’t feel anything from the intense stare and casually nodded their heads. Having Ozul at their side gave them enough courage even if they weren’t sure if he was strong enough to defeat her.

The Sect Leader’s eyes darkened after their answer. She asked, “Why?... Did the Nine Petals Sect ever mistreat you?” Though her words weren’t harsh, her icy tone was enough to send chills down everyone’s spine.

Ozul realized that she must have misunderstood and thought that they were disrespecting the Sect. He motioned towards the duo. Raven stepped forward and answered, “It’s not that you ever mistreated us. It’s just that we had only joined temporarily”

“... I see, so you never planned to stay,” although the Sect Leader’s expressions remained the same, her tone noticeably improved. Raven’s answer might have not satisfied her, but now she didn’t think that they were blatantly ridiculing the Sect either.

“Since that’s your decision, we have no right to stop you,” the Sect Leader said before turning towards the Elders, she ordered, “Return back to whatever you were doing.”

Some Elders wanted her to stop the duo, but her icy glare caused them to close their mouths before any words could get out.