'The cosmos is what makes every living being in the universe, or that is the notion at least. If it truly did make every living being, then why am I being rejected?' but before Ares could continue his thoughts, an impregnable echo cut him off.
"Oooooo"
Immediately, despite the pain, Ares tried to move his head to see the direction of the voice. There he said a modest shadow right below him and moving towards his direction. However, Ares knew this was due to perspective, the thing coming towards him was many times larger than himself.
*Shake*
Ares tried moving his limbs but every part of his body was in an intense state of pain from being the high stress or being torn apart.
Gritting his teeth, Ares knew he had to form the 1st Layer, even if it may be unorthodox.
Suddenly Ares, instead of trying to fuse the energy, tried to gather every bit of the cosmos's energy from his surroundings and capture them like a net using his energy.
*Hhhhhzzz*
The cosmos' energy tried to fight back with unseen intensity towards Ares's energy as if it were a deadly disease. Due to this unexpected struggle, Ares had to significantly lower the amount of energy he gathered from his surroundings. In seconds, Ares who had trapped the energy to the best of his current abilities began to make a spherical shape using the said energy. This process came surprisingly easy as the cosmos' energy stuck to each other like glue the moment they touched one another.
In no time, a special shape was made using the cosmos's energy which was held together by an outer layer of Ares's energy.
Ares, whose bloodied figure was currently floating over the currents of water, had his eyes closed as he tried to hold the energy ball together that threatened to burst any second. Although the cosmos' energy is stuck together easily, that doesn't mean it doesn't affect the surroundings in any way. Currently, Ares is putting his whole mental fortitude into trying to keep his 'net' of energy together as the dense cosmos's energy tries to break it apart.
"OOOOOOO"
The shadow under Ares began coming closer to his figure which could be seen as both its shadow became larger and the echo became more clamorous.
Ares then began to condense the ball of energy which was currently a meter in radius to the best of his ability.
*HHZZZZZZ*
The cosmos's energy continued to fight back which seemed to break Ares's body indirectly as blood came out of his closed eyes, nose, ears, and every orifice.
Ares tried to condense the energy to its utmost limits but seeing the small ripples spreading around him, he knew he couldn't waste any more time. So suddenly Ares quickly opened his eyes and began to move the ball of energy toward his body as if it was some sort of injection.
"SHHAAAAAA"
Just as the ball object began moving towards Ares's body a beast—about 5 meters in length, the 1-meter dorsal fin on top of its body, teeth that numbered in the hundreds, and a huge rostrum nearly half its size—swallowed his body and object whole causing a sudden jerk which made him lose concentration.
Suddenly the 'net' Ares had created to keep the trapped cosmos's energy in place was removed—and as if a dam had broken—the cosmos' energy erupted and began to spread out instantaneously.
Ares felt his mind numb, but even so, his half-closed eyes saw the energy shine more brightly than anything he had ever seen. Something that seemed out of reach, yet at the same time, something breathtaking to the naked eye.
He felt an emotion never felt before taking place in his heart as he gazed at the lustrous light that shone in the darkness of the beast's body. He felt a near instinct telling him something profound yet comical to many.
'Corrupt.' was the word Ares thought as he shut his eyes. In no time, the bright energy let out a thunderous roar throughout the lake.
*BOOOOM*
****
"Lord Foere! You're back!"
A middle-aged man ran towards Foere who had made it back to the slave port.
"Yes... have you disposed of the rest of the bodies?
"Yes sir!"
"Good. What about the casualties?"
"34 guards and 1 team leader are dead, Vensee has also been found dead in the torture room. The reamaining are injured with burn marks or sword slashes. As for the slaves..."
"Don't bother counting. It's a waste of time. Vensee dying will be troublesome though..." Foere quickly interrupted the man as he made his way towards his office.
*Creak*
Foere opened his office and saw paper littered all over the floor with furniture that seemed to be barely hanging on.
"Tch" Foere snorted, then waved his hand causing a gust of wind to engulf the entire room which began to put back the paper and furniture to their previous positions.
'So this is Wind Aura...' the man behind Foere thought as he saw the wind moving under Foere's will.
"I would punish all of you for simply losing to a child. However considering that we're short-handed and that child was abnormal, I will let this go." Foere said as he sat on his chair and grabbed a piece of paper and pen.
The man, who watched Foere writing something down on a piece, hesitated before asking a question that had been bugging his find mind.
"Lord Foere, if I may ask, what was that boy, thing? From what I saw he had unseen levels of talent. A talent so terrifying that it could even rival her. Should we report this to the manager?"
"No, I doubt the manager would care about someone already dead. Also, don't even try to compare her talents with a nobody like that boy." Suddenly Foere's eyes bore a cold glint as he finished writing and handed the piece of paper to the man in front of him.
"Give this to the association as compensation for losing Vensee. Also, ask them for new guards, and if possible, a new team leader." under Foere's instructions, the man quickly left the room.
Foere then let out a deep sighed when the man left the room but looked at the newspaper on his desk and began reading. Soon, however, something caught his attention and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"She truly is amazing. A talent that makes even foes be filled in awe, the start of a new era huh..." he smirked while standing up and walking towards a window in his office that gave a clear view of the lake surrounding the slave port.
He then looked and saw small ivory pieces of fluff falling from the sky in a soundless manner.
"It seems winter is coming," he said in a wry tone.