Void [35]

Jin-Woo nodded. He expected some mindboggling reveal, but the information made sense, lining up with what the Necromancer already knew.

The voice he heard when he first used Umbra Control was Ashborn's. It became even clearer when he remembered that the voice, he heard clearly said that it became the first Black Wizard. Fanzer telling him about the story of where Sovereigns came from only assisted that idea.

His Black Wizard titles seemed to be leading to that conclusion as well, only for the suspense to be skipped over for a simplistic reveal.

However, the simplistic nature of Ashborn's introduction did very little to dissuade the many questions Jin-Woo had amassed. Yogumunt mentioned him many, many times, and Jin-Woo genuinely couldn't tell if Ashborn was friends with Yogumunt or not.

And yet, all those questions—and the many more than Jin-Woo knew he had—just seemed a bit irrelevant.

"Will there be a time when we can talk again?" Jin-Woo asked, and Ashborn shrugged.

"Honestly, there seem to be a lot of restrictions that stop us from speaking. But… we should be able to hold a conversation together soon enough, yes," Ashborn nodded.

Jin-Woo let out a small sigh of relief. "Good, because the number of questions I have is just ridiculous. I was gonna go insane if none of them could be answered later."

The Necromancer walked towards the door, pushing it open to reveal a white abyss on the other side, the exit.

Before he stepped through, Jin-Woo looked back, his eyebrows furrowed, "Ah, just one, actually."

"Huh?"

"You're like… hundreds of years old, right?"

Ashborn blinked, opening his mouth before closing it. "I mean, technically, yeah…?"

"You don't talk like it."

Ashborn held his finger up, seeming abruptly insulted before putting it down. "That's… that's a decent point. Listen, I can see the world through your eyes, I haven't just been sitting here in my old, antiquated ways."

Jin-Woo opened his mouth, then decided to close it. "There seem to be many, many privacy problems with that, but I'm gonna ignore that for right now. Wish me luck."

As Jin-Woo started walking through the giant door, he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He heard Ashborn behind him, saying, "Good luck."

-----

Jin-Woo opened his eyes to see Kanae smiling at him. A quick glance around showed a pile of bodies that was certainly not there before, a sign of Kanae's hard work. More importantly though, Kanae was extremely bloody.

Even a quick glance showed gashes in her body that weren't there just a bit earlier.

"Kanae, you're—" Jin-Woo tried to get up, but pain shot through him, his broken bones screaming out at him. He let out an annoyed huff. "You're injured."

Kanae laughed. "I'm also blind, if we're gonna say the obvious."

She looked unbothered, but Jin-Woo could tell she was pushed to her limits. He looked at his hands, taking a deep breath. He started rising from his spot, bearing the pain.

With a thought, he activated Player's Body, using the gift given by his first quest. New energy swept through his body, his bones shifting and fixing. A notification appeared in the corner of his eye, confirming what he felt.

[Player's Body has been activated. All major injuries have been resolved.]

"Alright," Jin-Woo huffed. "Do you remember if any of these monsters were Healers?"

Kanae shook her head, trying to hide a wince as she stood up. Blood flowed from her wounds.

Jin-Woo tsked. "Damn, okay. First, we need to find you something to heal with. No monsters who can heal, no allies around us, and…."

As Jin-Woo's voice faded, Kanae chuckled. "I've lived through worse."

Despite her words though, she began shivering. The cold was getting to her.

"You should stop lying. More importantly, do normal potions even work for you?" Jin-Woo asked, remembering his personal experiences with them.

Kanae shrugged. "Somewhat. I usually have to take twice as many for anywhere near the same effect as everyone else."

Jin-Woo blinked. He stared at the Hunter. Her condition was becoming worse by the moment. "I've got an idea, but you'll have to trust me."

Kanae eyebrows rose. "Well, it's not like this situation can really get much worse, can it? What's the idea?"

Jin-Woo chuckled nervously. "I'm gonna put you into my… subspace."

Kanae let out a sigh that morphed into a laugh. "I thought I was used to crazy, but this is something new. Can I ask why?"

"Well, to put it simply, Mana of Death potions—which would be poison to normal people—works on me while normal potions don't. My subspace is filled with Mana of Death, and that has a decent chance of helping you," Jin-Woo explained, causing Kanae to let out a soft coo.

"That sounds convenient."

"For this one specific situation, yes, I agree," Jin-Woo nodded.

"Well, should I go to sleep or something? I can't imagine being awake in a subspace could be very comfortable."

Jin-Woo nodded, "That would be a good idea. There's no telling how time would act in my subspace, so being conscious is a risk it would be better to avoid."

Kanae let out a small sigh before sitting down and taking a few deep breaths. However, before she went to sleep, she gave Jin-Woo a small smile.

"You look good like that."

"Huh?"

"That look in your eyes. That must've been some life-changing sleep, because you look like you've figured everything out. You look good."

Jin-Woo blinked. He tried to ignore the blood rushing to his cheeks. "Ah, got it."

Kanae spent a few more seconds taking in the sight before closing her eyes. Surprisingly enough, after a few more deep breaths, Jin-Woo could hear her softly snoring.

He blinked again. "I hope to one day have the ability to go to sleep that quickly."

Shaking his head, Jin-Woo got to business. Picking the Japanese Hunter up carefully, he opened his Inventory and slowly put the woman into it, feet first. He didn't know what he expected, but the process was fast and smooth enough to allow him to let out a sigh of built-up anticipation.

Sung looked around, seeing plenty of monster corpses scattered about. He couldn't see the souls of the monsters, but he knew they were there. It was like a gnawing sixth sense, constantly telling him what he already knew.

His skills were still restricted by Yogumunt's skills, so he couldn't bring the summons back like he wanted to.

"Well, not in this condition anyway," Jin-Woo groaned, closing his eyes and focusing.

'This isn't anything new. I can do this fairly easily if I focus. The skill restricting me is made of mana, so if I can just focus….' Jin-Woo gathered Mana of Death in the palms of his hands, allowing the energy to naturally and calmly come to him.

It was his first time trying something like this, so he wanted plenty of mana in the process, but he didn't let that disturb him, activating Umbra Control to keep his reserves high. With Elder Werewolf's Vitality assisting him, Umbra Control was quite easy to maintain, so Jin-Woo ignored the costs entirely.

His mana flowed over his body, but he didn't allow it to empower him like Umbra Aura. Instead, he allowed it to protect him, absorbing any negative effects from the inside or outside. After a moment, a notification he hadn't ever seen appeared.

[Through covering the body with mana, you have created the new skill, "Umbra Shade."]

He relaxed a little bit, activating his newest skill. Once he did, a nigh-invisible aura covered his body, and promptly cut off his connection with Yogumunt's skills. He could immediately feel a sense of freedom as he took a fresh deep breath. A slew of notifications appeared before him.

[Yogumunt's Combination skill: External Soul Binding has now been disconnected by Umbra Shade.]

[Soul Fusion and Soul Extraction can now be used again.]

[Soul Revival can be used on this target.]

The same Soul Revival notification appeared all over the place, over the bodies of the fallen monsters. Jin-Woo nodded to himself before closing his eyes.

'Before anyone else, I need those two,' he took a deep breath.

Truly, he had no ideas about the Void. He didn't know what it was, or what it would do to him if he reached out for it, but he didn't fear it regardless. He had a feeling that it wouldn't tear him asunder, like it may've for others who attempted the same thing.

He bent down to the ground and activated every Umbra skill he could.

A plume of dark energy rose from Jin-Woo. It engulfed him entirely, leaving him in a black orb. He ignored the notifications appearing, keeping himself focused on his task. He pooled his mana in one spot, allowing it to spin like a Gate.

After a few minutes, he could feel a Gate of sorts opening. Within that Gate was an immense, indescribable darkness. And as soon as he opened it, he could feel an almighty presence looking at him.

Its power felt like divine death, like an endless soothing sleep. Jin-Woo went still under the sight of such a presence, but when the feeling didn't fade, he continued.

Whether or not he was being watched, he still had a job to do. He gazed into the Gate, expanding his senses into it. It was quite hard to feel anything within the darkness, but he could feel two familiar mana signatures, even though they were being smothered by other mana.

He could barely see them standing together, not quite on-guard or relaxed. They seemed to be extremely cautious. Upon seeing him, they both met his golden eyes with theirs. Tempest's tail wagged.

Despite the danger possibly associated with it, Jin-Woo didn't hesitate to jab his hands into the Void, reaching out to his Summons.

As soon as he touched the infinite darkness, he could nearly see where Igris and Tempest were standing. Before he thought his Summons were standing on thin air, but now he could see that the darkness was gathered more densely underneath them.

That dense mana extended beyond them, and it wasn't very hard for Jin-Woo to gather what form it made.

It was a giant body.

And Igris and Tempest were standing in the palm of its hand.

Jin-Woo looked up to see two massive suns staring down at him. No, rather, they weren't suns, they were golden eyes. They didn't shine like suns, nor did they illuminate the darkness. They just floated there, staring down at Jin-Woo.

Even the emotion carried within the eyes was hard for Jin-Woo to read.

Jin-Woo didn't keep eye contact, reaching out for Tempest and Igris.

"Come on, we've got work to do. I need you both."

One surprisingly easy pull away, Igris and Tempest emerged from the Void. Jin-Woo let out a sigh as he stood back up, the orb of darkness and Gate vanishing as he looked at his Summons. They looked… different, stronger.

A quick use of Observation confirmed his thoughts.

[Igris | Lv. 1]

[Rank: Captain]

[Tempest | Lv. 1]

[Rank: Captain]

Both summons surpassed the Elite Knight Rank, and just looking at them, Jin-Woo was positive that they'd both be strong enough to handle average A-Rank Hunters. He felt like he was forgetting something important until he let out a sigh.

"I feel like I've got a thousand things to manage…. Okay, first thing's first, Fanzer and Ichigo. Everything comes after that," Jin-Woo shook his head, keeping himself on track. "Arise!"

The slumbering souls of the nearby monsters rose from their corpses. None of them fought against Jin-Woo's call to action.

It was 30 hyakki, 67 ice bears, nine yetis, and 75 kitsune. The summons couldn't even approach Jin-Woo before he started giving orders.

"Tempest will lead the ice bears and kitsune, Igris will lead the hyakki. Spread out and find my friends. The yeti squad will stay with me. If you find them and they're alright, come back to me immediately. If not, do everything in your power to find them. Go!" He was confident and decisive, and his summons followed his orders without hesitation.

Jin-Woo let out a small sigh as his summons started moving elsewhere, leaving him with only the yetis. He finally gave attention to the bunch of screens in front of him.

[You have received the new title, "The Void's Child."]

[The Void's Child]

Obtained by reaching into the Void and surviving to tell the tale. The Void welcomes you into its familiar warmth. Mana of Death smiles upon you.

100% Increase in Umbra and Void Skill Efficiency.

50% Decrease in Skill Cost.

[Due to no other options available, you have received the skill, "Soul Empowerment."]

[Soul Empowerment | Lv. 1]

A soul is a fragile thing, and when it's brought back from death, some of the soul's essence is often lost in the process. With this skill, the soul can be restored through various means. Or the soul can be discarded completely by absorbing it into the user.

Allows for summons to be leveled up through additionally added mana.

Allows for summons to be absorbed into the user, granting varying numbers of status points. Summons will disappear if this option is chosen.

Jin-Woo glanced over the screens, staring at his newest title.

The Void's Child was immensely useful. A 50% decrease in most of his skills could allow him to fight for twice as long, but he was more entranced by the description of the skill.

"The Void…." Jin-Woo absentmindedly repeated. The two golden orbs looking down on him wasn't… scary to him. He didn't feel unwelcomed, and he didn't feel endangered. After all, it did welcome him inside.

He sighed for a moment before equipping the title. To an extent, Black Wizard was good, but it was more desirable in battles of larger scales where his Summons could fight against several other enemies. With just Yogumunt to fight, he decided The Void's Child would be more valuable.

The title didn't give any immediate physical effects, but it did make Jin-Woo feel stronger, due to Umbra Aura's efficiency being dramatically increased in an instant.

He allowed the change to settled in a little bit before swiping the screens away and activating Soul Mimicry.

After glancing over the familiar screens, he chose Igris and looked over his skills. As expected, only Ruinous Dawn and Longsword Proficiency were there. He debated with himself for a moment before choosing Ruinous Dawn.

With the confirmation his first slot was changed, he looked at his second slot.

Tempest certainly had more skills than Igris. Black Lightning, Sprint, and a new skill appeared. The new skill proved to be just what Jin-Woo was hoping for. He clicked it and made a confirmation.

Then, just to confirm what he was getting into, he pulled up the skills, looking over them with intrigued eyes.

[Ruinous Dawn | Lv. 1 | MP: 2000]

A skill copied from one of Yogumunt's Failed Constructs. Despite the Construct being a failure, the power behind this skill was undeniable. Although it's been recreated to fit Mana of Death instead of Mana of Life, the skill is still the same, allowing for extremely dense mana to be added to weapons.

Increase Slashing Damage by 500%.

If Strength is below 500, decrease movement speed by 30%.

[Wolf Deity's Coat| Lv. 1 | MP: 500]

A skill that allows the user to dawn the invisible coat of a wolf deity. While it cannot yet compare to the coat of the monster it was inspired by, it is a good start.

The armor's strength, durability, and duration increase with Intelligence and Vitality.

Additional 300 MP used per minute.

For a moment, he thought that using Soul Mimicry and Soul Fusion would cancel out the effect of the former, since he had access to his summons' skills through Soul Fusion anyways. Instead, it actually increased the quality of the skills, since they were layered over one another.

Shaking the thoughts aside, Jin-Woo took a deep breath, then another, and then one more.

Then he activated every single one of his available skills, equipping The Void's Child as his title. His power soared before he dashed through the forest, his few remaining Summons falling into shadows to follow him.