Aaron gritted his teeth, pushing through the crippling fear that threatened to freeze him on the spot.
'I have to set an example or we might not survive this.' Aaron thought, brandishing his sword as lightning tendrils sparkled around him. 'Fuck… that thing is really nasty looking.'
The void creature was like what most knew--a giant ball of nastiness mixed with spine-chilling aura. Then there were the many tendrils the size of a man's arm whipping around it.
The void creature had a dark aura emanating from it and from its dark and piercing gaze, the creature meant business.
Aaron looked over his shoulders, noticing how his comrades were frozen in place. He couldn't see their expressions behind their helm, but he could imagine it.
"This should wake you up!" Muttering those words, Aaron charged in first, the void creature responding in kind.
Aaron lunged forward, his lightning tendrils sparkling throughout the cavern. He quickly met the creature mid-lunge, aiming to impale it with his momentum.
SCREECH…!!!
The void creature would have sneered if it could. With a swing of its many tendrils, they clashed with the sword.
"You wish!" Aaron bellowed, parrying the tendrils with expert movements. With a swing of his blade, he slashed through the tendrils that came at him, evading those he couldn't.
With each swing of his sword, sparks of lightning echoed through the cavern, the loud nose more than enough to snap his comrades out of their reverie.
"Aaron!" Yvonne exclaimed in panic, turning to face the others. "Come on, we have to help him!"
Aaron ignored the call of his comrades, focusing on closing in on the creature. Cutting through its tendrils was useless since they regenerated after some time.
'Fuck!' Aaron gritted his teeth. 'The tendrils are heavier than I thought!'
Aaron sidestepped a lunge of a tendril, cutting through another. Unfortunately for him, he missed one, delaying his reaction.
The tendril came from his left, swinging with the force of a mountain.
'Shit!' Aaron panicked for a moment, rushing to bring his sword to parry the tendril.
BANG…!!
"Mm!" Aaron groaned as he was sent flying, skidding across the cavern floors until he came to a stop several hundred meters away.
"Shit!" The others exclaimed, closing in on the void creatures from different points.
Branson leapt from his position, brandishing his spear gleaming with his abilities. It lit up the space for a moment, drawing the creature's attention.
At that point, Branson hurled his spear at the creature. The void creatures responded in mind, sending multiple tendrils to stop the spear.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The spear tore through the tendrils, closing in on the void creature. At the same time, Yvonne and the others closed in on the other tendrils, slashing and cutting through the tendrils.
Aaron, who recovered swiftly from the strike, gritted his teeth as he dashed forward once more, his sword and body burning with lightning tendrils.
He didn't need to give his comrades any instructions since the combination of moves they made was to create an opening.
BOOM…!!!
The spear made it to the giant ball of nastiness, tearing a hole in the creature. The creature let out a deafening screech of agony, creating an opening for Aaron, Johnson and Rachel.
There was a reason hunters generally hunted in groups, and despite the boost Manastorm produced, the students needed to conserve their mana.
Aaron closed in with another lunge, bypassing the many tendrils swinging around randomly. Rachel and Johnson took the side, their weapons gleaming with the light of their abilities.
"Finish it!" Aaron roared, swiftly tearing through the void creature.
With another screech of pain, the void creature made its last move. The dark aura around it pulsed dangerously, condensing to release an outward blast.
Fortunately for the team, they didn't delay, tearing through the creature as soon as Aaron appeared on the other side.
BOOM…!
The void creature exploded in a rain of black flesh and blood, spraying its pieces on the students.
"Eww…" A collective shrill of disgust from the girls made the boys chuckle.
"Whew…" Branson sighed as he landed on the ground, sitting on his buttocks for a breather. "That was something."
"Yeah, I'll say." Johnson nodded, mirroring Branson. "But this could have gone far worse had we not pushed through our fears." His gaze shifted to Aaron.
"Yeah…" Rachel utilized the self-cleaning function of the suit, cleansing herself from the pieces of flesh. "Thanks, Aaron."
"Don't mention it." Aaron replied, his gaze focused on the spot where the creature exploded. The core lay there gleaming with magical and void energy. Unfortunately or fortunately, he wasn't moved by its presence.
"Instructor Alexander was right. Fear will keep us alive, but only by pushing through will we become what we aspire to be. This was a valuable experience."
...
Alex smiled knowingly, appreciating Aaron and his new friends taking his advice to heart.
'Unfortunately, not all teams are doing so well.' His senses on the other teams revealed some poor performance. 'Some froze for too long, thinking of abandoning their teammates.
'Had it not been for the suits, they would be dead many times over. Not everyone has the heart to face void creatures.'
Had Alex not sent a reminder to some of these students, they would have run away without a second thought.
It was disappointing to see, but also understandable. Seeing your life flash before your eyes was no simple thing.
Not everyone could snap out of overwhelming fear. Much less, pushing through that fear to fight instead of running.
'There's a lot of work to do with these students.' Alex began to make some plans. 'Since the issue is void creatures, making them face more of them will help with that useless fear.'
His gaze turned upwards, penetrating the atmosphere to outer space, going farther and farther back. Still, his observations brought back the same results.
'What the hell is that?' Alex furrowed his brows in confusion. 'Space seems to be wobbling for no reason, and it seems to be growing, albeit extremely slow.'
What he was seeing and sensing began not long ago and was incredibly faint, almost non-existent. But his senses did not miss the small changes.
Something seemed to be happening and Alex wasn't sure what it was. But one thing was for certain.
Whatever it was, he intended to find out and possibly put an end to it.
His gaze shifted to another direction within the empire, focusing on an isolated space. In there was Ross, crossed-legged in the void and cultivating. He had been there for some time now, his resolve unshaken.
'Little by little, buddy.' Alex smiled. 'In the meantime…' He waved his hand, strengthening the space against whatever was happening.