5 Why so trusting?

"Why so trusting?"

"These rabbits are lightning-fast. Be careful when dealing with them. Frieda! John! Circle and flank them. We need to finish them in one big attack to conserve energy…"

Similar commands of sorts echoed throughout the forest ahead as Videl spotted multiple figures moving in and out of the forest individually or in teams wearing all kinds of flashy clothing and amour with a variety of weapons ranging from daggers to handguns.

For a cultivation community, guns were a new thing to her. Nearly every single novel she had read made use of ancient weapons like swords, spears, shields and the likes. It was her first-time seeing guns in the picture.

Ignoring the crowd gathered at what looked like the entrance of the forest, Brandon led Videl straight into the forest on a completely isolated path where the screeches of fleeing beats and yells of sweaty cultivators couldn't reach them.

"Here we are. This should do just fine for a while. Here put this on first then we'll talk about a weapon."

Brandon handed what looked like a leather armor that had seemingly appeared out of thin air to Videl to wear over her clothing. It was black in color, cardboard thin, very flexible and cool to touch.

"Was that a space ring? What rank is it?", Videl had read numerous books and had absorbed a lot of information. The space ring was a storage device that could contain mostly non-living things at low qualities with extremely rare ones capable of storing living things. Each quality belonged to identified grades ranging from bronze to platinum.

"Yes, it is. The Black-gold grade rank-5 and here is yours, a silver grade rank-3. As a newbie to this, you are to be given a bronze grade rank-1 space ring but this silver graded one is a gift from me. I also left a better suit in there and pills to help you consolidate your cultivation."

As far as she knew, there were six major grades for categorizing most things and space rings were no different. Each major grade had 5 minor ranks from 1 to 5. The major grades were bronze, copper, silver, gold, black gold, and platinum. The difference between each grade was the amount of space it had and the duration of preservation.

Bronze grade rings had diameters of about 10m to 30m with each successive rank increasing in space of about 20m to 50m. A bronze grade ring could keep raw meat fresh for at most 2 weeks whereas the platinum grade rings could keep them fresh for a whole year.

There also existed a grade above the platinum grade called the legendary grade which had diameters of at least 5000m and could preserve meat for at least 10years. But this wasn't why they were classified as legendary grade. It was because of their ability to store living things.

Hearing that she had been given a gift the size of a whole stadium to put on her finger was a mind-blowing event for her and all Videl could do was gape.

Looking at the silly girl with that dumb expression on her face, Brandon felt a sense of accomplishment.

*cough cough* "Pay attention. The first lesson that I'm going to teach you is how to sense and manipulate the essence energy around you. As you may already know, essence energy is energy that is found in nature. Some even call it natural energy.

Right now, you only have access to the energy within your body called the soul energy which isn't enough at your level. Unfortunately, the only energy that you can use is your soul energy and can barely cause a vibration to natural energy.

Technically, your body can only utilize and cannot properly store essence energy hence the soul acts as a container for the energy.

Moving energy from your soul outside is easier than from the outside into your soul. What we'll be doing for the next week would be to move energy from the outside into your soul and making it your own.

Natural energy in its normal state is violent and attributeless hence trying to absorb it in this state is blatant suicide. Within the ring is a note on a meditation formula that should help you with the absorption of natural ene---."

"Erm… not to be rude but you lost me at the soul thingy, I mean I did read a bit about it in the library but it was just looked like some voodoo mumbo jumbo to me"

"…" (Brandon)

"…" (Videl)

"…*sign*We got a long week ahead of us. Come on, let's go deeper. By the way, I'm curious about something. Can I ask a question?"

"I'll try my best to answer"

"How come you don't seem suspicious of me? You're not guarded against me as someone you just met. I find that strange"

"Well, to be honest, and I by no means mean any disrespect, I do not trust you neither do I hold you in suspicion. Apart from the natural strength males possess over females, you have extra and it would be illogical to oppose you. That doesn't mean I'll give in on a whim"

"…Makes sense. Calculative type I see. Not bad. Ok let's get going then"

Brandon moved ahead of Videl leading them deeper into the forest until they vanished from view.

"Was that 'the Beast'? Is he picking up chicks again? Damn, this one is hot. Wish I could've seen her face though"

"Shush. If he hears you call him that you're in helluva trouble. I heard from some others that she's a new girl. They say she is some freak or something, I'm not sure. One thing is certain though. We're warned to stay as far away from her as possible."

"Eh? Such a beautiful thing? Hmph! Probably just someone pulling your leg to keep her to himself"

"No, I swear upon my uncle Jay. I'm telling the truth. She is some sort of anomaly like those death scythes but not one"

"Huh? Is she or is she not? You don't even have an uncle!"

"All I'm saying is stay away from her"

A group of individuals bumped into Videl and Brandon duo as they came out of the forest from hunting. Conversations of such sort were usually very normal such that although the duo heard them, they decided to ignore for their reasons.

************************

True darkness they say has no rules and no meaning. It's just an insatiable monster seeking to devour everything in sight. No beginning and no end, cold and heartless, a terror and a nightmare, such a monster. It is a void that can never be filled, completely unknown to the mortal man. And nothing is scarier than the unknown.

In this very void, where you couldn't even see your fingers in front of your face, 4 distinct voices could be made out amidst the chaos of the void.

"Oi! Did you guys feel that." (voice 1)

*sssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* (voice 4)

"Feel what?" (voice 2)

"That tremor you dolt!" (voice 3)

"Mean much? I felt it, I just wanted to be sure. It barely lasted for a second, it happens every day ya know?" (voice 2)

"Ugh…. Dumb as always. This time was different. It was eerie and bizarre and even gave me chills. I'm telling you something is not right. The void is chaotic and dark, yes but this time it even gave me a nasty feeling. Like the Lucifer has escaped his seal or something" (voice 1)

"That bad…. It must be awful to keep you on edge like this. We should check it out just to be on the safe side. I'll gather the rest. Keep me updated should anything happen." (voice 3)

"What should I do?" (voice 2)

"Go…play in the…the void somewhere. We'll call you when we need you" (voice 1)

"Hmph! Meanie" (voice 2)

The first voice in the void seemed to belong to an old person whereas the third belonged to a middle-aged Uncle. As for the second voice, it sounded like that of a child whereas the fourth voice was only a slither-like echo. It wasn't loud but when one heard it, it was crystal clear like the sound of dripping water on a silent night.

As abruptly as the conversation began, the same way it ended leaving only the echo of the fourth voice traveling along with the turbulence in the void. No light, only chilling darkness and endless violent void storms, unbending and unyielding, the absolute opposite of the light.