Zenon remained still for a solid minute, not daring to blink or breathe.
His brain - already tired of running for almost ten hours - was trying to work as efficiently as it could to understand just what the Voice said. His thoughts only revolved around one word though,
'Supreme… Supreme… It said Supreme right? Was it Supreme? Did I hear wrong?'
Taking a deep breath, Zenon summoned his Soul Runes, carrying all of his personal information. He looked at the top and began reading each section carefully.
Name: [Zenon // Void Bringer]
Elemental Soul: Unseen Void
Elemental Soul Tier: Supreme
Zenon's jaw dropped when he reached the last line. His finger left mid-air still pointing at the word written right next to his Tier. It wasn't fake, it actually happened.
"Oh my… Fucking hell! I actually got a Supreme Tier?! How in the hell did I do it?! Yeah!" Zenon threw his head backward and shouted as hard as he could while clutching his fists.
This truly changed everything! He was expecting to only last for some hours and receive a Prophet Soul, the Fourth-Tier, at most, which was already a big deal! The average after all was the Unseen Soul, the lowest of the seven Tiers!
But the fact that he got a Supreme Soul, the Seventh-Tier, was something unheard of! This very notation - Supreme - was so rare that it lived in those fantasy books about the Layers but nothing else!
Even the Layer Beasts, fearsome monsters and beings living inside the Layers, won't drop a Supreme weapon because they belong to the Seventh Layer! How could any Enlightened know of the label Supreme if they haven't faced anything close to it?!
The strongest Layer Beast that was ever killed, by the leader of the Fire Keepers nonetheless, was a Ninth-Rank Aware. Meaning, this Layer Beast carried nine green eyes, signaling its monstrous strength coming from the depths of the Fourth Layer and the manipulation of his surroundings which almost sent the leader into a never-ending dream!
And the strongest Layer Beasts possible could have up to fourteen violet eyes, being the kings of the Seventh Layer and with complete manipulation of reality!
"This is such a game changer… I may need to rethink how I'm going to live now."
But how could he not? If he were to announce that he has lasted for almost ten hours inside the Awakening, and has even achieved a Supreme Soul, he'd become the most wanted Unseen in all of the globe!
He would be desired by everyone! But… now that he thought about it, this could become a problem.
Not only was he the carrier of a Lineage belonging to Fire's enemy, but now he had to deal with being the wielder of a Seventh-Tier Soul. He just had to avoid those Runes readers... Luckily they only work for Unseens and nothing else.
'I can just bullshit my way through. There's nothing better than having power without others knowing.'
"Your Elemental Soul is overflowing with energy. The void is tempting to escape through its surface and become one with its master!"
Zenon looked at the violet sphere behind him. The first thing he noticed was the tiny cracks it had around its surface and how violently it was shaking. Suddenly, the sphere completely broke and flew all the way to the sky while sending a wave of pain all over Zenon's body.
"Agh!" Gritting his teeth, Zenon kneeled on the ground while clutching his chest firmly.
It burnt. Burnt hotter than anything he has experienced yet. Why did everything have to burn inside this damned place?! Could it be a cold massage?!
Eventually, the hotness subdued, leaving way for a chilling coldness to take over his body, making him subconsciously shiver. After some minutes of this constant change of temperatures, the Voice talked again.
"The void has integrated with you. It has deemed you worthy of using its power and will let you use its ability!"
"Awakening Elemental Ability…"
"Elemental Ability Unlocked: Void Sense."
Without wasting a single moment, Zenon looked at his Runes yet again, which now showed new lines under the last one.
Elemental Ability: [Void Sense]
Elemental Ability Description: [Open your eyes to find the true power and deliverance, and remember, the void will always help you.]
Zenon re-read the description all over again at least ten times. Well, the way the message was delivered could be way… way better than just a vague explanation.
Nonetheless, Zenon decided to try it out. He made his Runes disappear and was greeted by a peculiar scenario.
'What... what the hell are these?'
Zenon's entire vision was filled with strange, very thin veils of purple material. They gracefully floated with no wind that could push them but rather, their will.
Wait, those things must be incorporeal and immaterial, how could they have a will?
He moved forward and tried to grab any of those veils floating in the air, but every time he got close to one, they moved backward, as if they were respecting his personal space. He even began to run behind one of them but to no avail. They were adamant about escaping from him.
Feeling somewhat frustrated, Zenon recalled the last part of the description. Perhaps this was the void supposed to help him? Might as well try it out.
Zenon tried to command the thin veils to form a dagger in front of him, but they seemed not to care. He tried different weapons but no matter how easy they were, the Void didn't seem to do much.
He spent an entire minute trying different things, but it seemed like it did nothing. Out of pure annoyance, Zenon asked those thin veils to come towards him. When he did, all those veils he could see, instantly wrapped around his right hand.
'Huh?! W-What?!'
This reaction was not achieved by the sudden movement, but rather by the increase of power that Zenon felt. It was as if the Void was empowering his entire hand, but how?
Zenon looked at it in amazement, as it turned a very slim purple but felt empowered with it. Quickly realizing what this meant, Zenon's frustration quickly turned into yet more joy.
His strength increased from this!
"Oh, my… this is something interesting!"
He made them move toward his legs and could run faster. He moved them to his ears and felt as if nothing could escape his hearing. He moved it towards his tongue and he could even taste the air!
In a shout of ecstasy, Zenon finally noticed the purple star hanging over the sky. Now it seems to have calmed down. But this time... it didn't feel right. After all, that star was his soul but it looked different.
It's supposed that once you Awaken, a bright sun would take over the place you'd call Soul and act as one. It was supposed to be a lively bright color, not this... mesmerizing purple.
Perhaps it was a peculiar attribute of having a Void Element? He was grateful for it not to be complete darkness and instead a visible purple color.
Not only that, he could have sworn to see something move inside.
He moved the void to his eyes and was able to see more clearly but, how could you properly see a star? It was straight-up impossible. Nonetheless, he tried and managed to see a pattern of thin links form only to disappear the very next instant.
Too uncanny.
Nonetheless, this Ability will come in handy! First of all, he thought he was going to get a physical-based Ability as the average got. Hell, even a utility Ability would be great already, but not this! It completely blew away his expectations!
Not only could he empower his body and strength, but he could also improve his senses in case he needed to analyze something better! It was like being a swordsman but having the ability to support your teammates!
The only downside was constantly dealing with the thin purple veils floating around… he'll get used to it. Somehow…
Just as he wanted to continue testing things out…
"The depths of your Soul are raging. The Familiar inside is desiring to be freed of its eternal slumber!"
"Void Bringer! Greet your Familiar throughout your journey!"
Suddenly, the entire world trembled, literally.
Zenon managed not to fall to the ground by sheer luck as he watched the sea rage toward the shore, threatening to take him to the deep ocean. His Soul seemed to expect something as well, as it moved right on top of the rising ocean.
After a minute of pure and constant earthquakes, the trembling suddenly stopped. Then, the entire sea began to rise. It raised so much that Zenon had to take some steps backward even though he was a hundred meters away from the shore!
Then, from the depths of the ocean, something begins to appear.
*Screech!!*
Out of nowhere, a gigantic dragon-like creature appeared from the ocean. His body was similar to that of a snake with light-blue scales wrapping its entire body. Its body moved forward and backward, but that wasn't the worst part.
Its head had two lifeless white eyes and two big horns that went upward. Its teeth moved between the inside of his mouth and the outside, and its tongue made a hissing sound that drilled into Zenon's mind.
'Is this-?!?!'
"Be proud Void Bringer! Be proud of being chosen by such a powerful creature that the Universe itself fears!"
"Void Bringer! Greet the Leviathan!"