Lucen looked at the place where Umbrosith stood before he disappeared.
"Huh! Is that what I think it is?" Lucen ran towards there with surprise.
"Void cores, and a lot of them," he exclaimed.
I guess you would be paying my debt faster than I thought, Azarith said with a calm tone.
"Yeah," Lucen said, his eyes barely leaving the void cores.
After several minutes of counting, Lucen looked up with a victorious smile.
"A thousand void cores," Lucen whispered in excitement.
This is enough for me to take care of my sister's expenses for 2 months, he thought.
Hm hm, Azarith cleared his throat as if telling him; It seems you are forgetting something.
"I remember you," Lucen said, smiling at Azarith's greedy attitude.
"How do I give them to you?" Lucen asked.
Just think about accessing your soul realm, Azarith said.
Lucen nodded, and thought about his soul realm.
Like a crack tearing in space, a blue ripple stabilized beside him.
Lucen chuckled in disbelief as he watched the ripple stabilize.
"If it was this easy to open the soul realm, why can't everyone just open it? Why do they have to wait till they reach tier 7?" he asked as he threw the void cores in gently.
Your case is special. Only those who've experienced their soul realm can recreate it. Most don't get that chance before Tier 7.
As Lucen threw the last one in, the crack disappeared into nothing.
"You never did say what you're planning to do with them."
Let's just say it is a shortcut to increase your rank, Azarith said with a smirk.
"Shortcut? How is that possible."
You don't need to know that, just know that the more void cores you give me, the faster you rank up, he said.
Lucen blinked at his words.
In the history of Noctherion, nothing has been found about Void cores, so we started using it as a currency after 200 years of the void beings invasion.
With how little your world understands, it's no surprise you never figured it out. Even we primordials spent thousands of years just to unravel this mystery.
"Which mystery?"
You see, void cores are comparable to legendary tier resources, and when absorbed in the right way, can enhance the cultivation of other world natives.
"Really. If I told the Emperor, this could increase the strength of humans, and probably relieve the tension of the humans against the void beings."
You really thought about that? Azarith asked with a grunt.
"Yeah, what is it?" Lucen asked with furrowed brows.
Do you know what they will do with you if they know you have such a secret, they might lock you, then use the knowledge for themselves. Have you thought this through?
"I really didn't think about this," Lucen said with a hushed tone.
"Do you suggest I don't tell anyone about it," Lucen asked.
Not that. You could tell a few trusted people as long as you bind them with a celernal vow.
"A celernal vow," Lucen whispered, his voice barely audible.
"I would think about that, first, I need to use it for myself."
Lucen opened the soul realm again, and put 370 cores there.
"Use these for now, my sister comes first."
Lucen looked around, then looked towards where his classmates had retreated to.
"I should follow them, there is a chance I meet them."
As Lucen took a step, Causcrum latched to his feet as a boot.
He was propelled so fast that he hit a tree in his path.
"Ouch. Can you at least tell me when you transform," he groaned.
He removed his face, and ran off into the distance, following the tracks he saw on the road.
Good thing they left footprints.
Meanwhile, David's group arrived at the checkpoint.
I can't even go outside to get help, I don't have sufficient void cores.
"I want to go outside the tower to get help," David yelled to the group.
"But I only have 5 void cores, and short of the other 5 required to use the portal."
"Does anyone have void cores? let's donate it so we can go out to get help."
"Huh? You expect us to believe you?" a boy asked.
"He just wants to escape and leave us stranded." a girl said loudly, her tone laced with ferocity.
"You all should calm down, I never asked you to give them to me. You can give someone else, and let that person go," David said.
"No, who would agree to such a stupid suggestion," Mark barked.
The people started bickering, all of them saying different things.
But what it all led to was to hold their void cores for themselves.
As David heard the final word, his expression flickered, a cold light passing through it.
"You all know that he is in that situation because of us, don't you?"
"We know, and we have even given him our heartfelt salute."
"That was all I needed to hear," David said with a voice that sent chills down everyone's spine.
They don't even think of his sacrifice as anything.
His sword materialised in his hands, a sword that burned with blue fire.
I told you there was no other option but to kill them, Vyrex's voice boomed in his mind with a cunning smile.
But David did not respond. Remember this, Lucen. I killed my first human because of you, that was the only thought in his head.
Even now, he waited for someone to step up. No one did.
As the thought flashed, his muscles bulged. "Soul fire", he said as he swung his sword, releasing several slashes at the group in front.
He easily decimated them, killing them without a scratch on their body.
"Wait, we accept."
"Take my void cores"
Those were the screams that fell from the students as they met their end.
As the screams stopped, and the dust settled, only David stood.
The rest were perfectly fine corpses of his previous classmates, and the void cores that fell after they died.