Chapter 89: Using Abyss Energy for the first time! Did she see it?
If Oliver went out with his new Rank-1 status, the clan would not let him leave without getting information out of him.
He felt the espera running through him, a warm, pulsating energy that seemed to resonate with his very core.
He fell into thought about how he could hide his espera or somehow suppress it to not be on the level of Rank-1.
It was fine to reveal that he had a good amount of espera, but suddenly showing himself as Rank-1 would be too reckless.
And also dangerous… The clan might see him as a threat or a pawn to be used, neither of which he could afford.
‘Hmm…’
He calmly thought about various things. He remembered how the clan guardian had no reaction to the Abyss energy.
‘Abyss energy is closely related to the void element…’
He looked up at the fading pitch-black clouds with a knowing glance.
A normal exorcist would find their senses blocked due to the presence of the void element.
‘I should try doing that…’
The clan guardian observed him from the side. She suddenly saw him looking at the void clouds, and afterward, he did something unexpected.
He started to suppress his espera by drawing in all the espera that was being released from his body back into himself.
Her eyes widened as she saw that the espera slowly entering his body was suddenly disappearing…
No, disappearing would be the wrong word. Espera cannot disappear like that; he was blocking her probing through some means.
She realized he was either employing an advanced technique, or something beyond ordinary suppression.
She increased her force to look into him, but the results remained the same. It was as if he had a wall inside him and all the espera was on the other side of the wall.
She was only able to sense the bits and pieces of espera left outside the wall, or the amount he most probably left outside for others to feel intentionally in order to cheat his rank.
Right now, she felt that he was no longer a Rank-1 exorcist but instead had slightly above-average espera like others.
‘What did he do?’ she wondered.
She felt that he was definitely not using an espera-suppressing technique or another concealing technique; it would not have been able to escape her brute force.
He was using something else, and given the earlier phenomenon, she was sure that it had something to do with the void element.
This should be the reason why her senses were unable to breach it.
She felt that this guy was really clever. She had some thoughts about hiding his unnatural espera using artifacts or something, but it seemed unnecessary for her to worry about it in the first place.
She was really curious about his abilities after breaking through to Rank-1… What other secrets could he be hiding?
She fell into thought, it seemed that she would need to arrange something to know more details.
‘It might be a risky move but if it works, not only will I get an overview but also provide him an opportunity to get stronger…’
Oliver, who used the Abyss energy to coat the espera overflowing from his body, was satisfied when he felt his espera reduced to almost an average level.
It would still be a shock to others that he was able to have a boost in espera given his low talent, but it was still somewhat digestible.
After completely covering himself with Abyss energy, he was sure that he had successfully concealed every bit of his leaking espera.
As he thought about it, he found that there were many things he was now able to do thanks to the unknown knowledge he received.
He looked at the cat, who was staring at him with her big eyes and blank expression.
He nodded; it was no problem if the clan guardian came to know about it. She was already aware of many things and was also aware of his earlier breakthrough.
He was also grateful to her since she arrived in time and rescued him. He secretly made a mental note to feed her expensive meat and fish after going back.
Their bond, forged through shared secrets and mutual respect, had grown stronger somewhat.
Both did not know the other’s true intention but still went through together.
His trust in her increased by some points.
He said as he patted her tiny head, “I am now going to the chamber ahead. You go back, Zippy.”
After he said this, he directly left without looking back. He didn’t care if she followed him or not. It was not like he could force her to stop.
From the bushes, he was able to see the head-judge standing guard, continuously observing the sky with a relaxed expression.
It seemed that he was quite stressed out due to the sudden phenomenon, and now that the clouds were slowly fading away, he was more than relieved and seemed delighted.
Oliver noted the shift, wondering how much the head-judge truly understood about what had just happened. Did he know about the cause or what were his speculations about this incident.
He shook his head and slowly went up to the elder who was engrossed in his own world.
He moved to the side and passed by the elder, who was busy staring at the clouds.
Creak!
Opening the door slowly, he entered the chambers. The head-judge seemed to be extremely busy looking at the sky and did not even notice him passing by his side.
Or did he?
It was not that the head-judge was not paying attention; instead, his senses were all around, and he was on guard.
Earlier, the void clouds had blocked his senses, and now that they were fading, his senses were quickly getting restored as well.
While this was happening, Oliver happened to coat himself with the Abyss energy earlier, which made his presence close to nil.
If not for the little bit of espera that he was emitting from his body, he might have truly turned invisible.
Thanks to these circumstances, Oliver easily avoided being detected by the elder.
As he entered the chambers, he saw others present as well, and they also looked at him entering…
The few lower-ranking elders did not ask him much as he quickly stood to the side. They all assumed that the head-judge must have let him in after discussing the situation.
Oliver also saw that Nadia was still meditating in the corner. She was stabilizing her espera after the breakthrough to Rank-1 earlier.
He admired her focus and discipline, she was indeed the most talented in the clan. To be able to break through at such a tender age…
Soon enough, she also opened her eyes and looked around before her eyes landed on Oliver.
Her eyes narrowed; for some reason, in her eyes, he seemed filled with some sort of familiar aura, a blanket of sorts.
She blinked a few times and confirmed that she was not seeing things.
Not only that, but the aura seemed overflowing and dreading, but to her, it gave off a familiar feeling. She wracked her brain, trying to recall where she had sensed such an aura before.
What was it?