Chapter 36 The Offer [1]

"How long do you think these guys are gonna take? I have a feeling that they might just break the record this time." A man exclaimed with excitement.

"Break the record? Don't be ridiculous. If any group is about to break the world record, it will not be those guys. Did you see them? A bunch of nerds, narcs, and wimps who can barely carry their weapons!

Instead of wasting their time here, they should go to the military to do some combat training and make themselves useful!" The lieutenant cried out in annoyance and anger, forcing the man next to him to quiet down and hope that the lieutenant would calm down.

"What about Null?" A voice came from behind and made both individuals look back, yet when they saw who it was, they could not help but widen their eyes in surprise.

"Principal Relworth! What are you doing here?" The lieutenant asked, his voice now calm without a semblance of anger in his eyes.

Principal Relworth was a tall man, towering over the lieutenant at the height of 6ft 5. If his size was not enough for anyone to spot him, even from a mile away, his snow-white hair and silver-cyan eyes were simply the cherries on top.

"I was told by one of my associates that someone I am looking to recruit into my academy could be found here. I am simply waiting for that person to show up." The principal chuckled while the other two tensed up.

"You mean, you're looking for Null?" The lieutenant asked.

"Yes, precisely." The principal let out a welcoming smile, yet the lieutenant could not help but feel like he was being taunted.

One of the main reasons the military 'hosted' these events alongside the adventurer's association was because it helped them recruit individuals that would usually overlook.

Now that Null had shown up, the lieutenant was planning on recruiting him after the raid, but it seemed like he now had competition.

"Well, either way, they won't be coming out for at least a few more hours at least. If we are unlucky, we might have a dungeon break on our hands- Huh?" The man standing to the lieutenant's side frowned before looking at the dungeon gate that was beginning to shift and morph.

"What is it?" The principal asked with narrowed eyes.

"It just felt like the dungeon was about to-."

*FWOOOOOHM*

As if on queue with the man's words, the dungeon imploded into itself before the sound of faint cracks entered the ears of everyone in ears. Instantly, they all panicked, thinking it was a dungeon break of some kind and that they had miscalculated, yet their fear quickly turned into awe.

Men and women of different sizes and ages began to appear where the dungeon used to be.

Every single one of them seemed to carry a different armor style and equipment, yet despite how different they all were, there was one thing that united them.

"Hey, why are they out so early?" The lieutenant asked, yet no one answered, as if the answer was obvious from the very start.

After all, the people's expressions already said it all.

Fear and confusion. That's the feeling that every single of them exuded.

"I'd like my payment?" A man draped in black clothing from top to bottom asked, his voice muffled by the mask he wore, yet his eyes seemed to shine even brighter despite being suppressed by a mask.

"Y-Yes! Of course sir." The receptionist stuttered before taking out a small sum and pushing it forward towards Null.

"I have a few bodies too. Where should I put them?" Null asked.

"J-Just transfer them to this storage ring if you don't mind." The receptionist replied before handing over a pitch-black ring that Null promptly used to store all the bodies of the creatures he killed.

"The money will be transferred to you within the next 3 minutes." The receptionist bowed before leaving as quickly as he could.

Without skipping a beat, Null ignored everyone around him and created a pathway by releasing his killing intent and forcing everyone to move out of his way.

Yet, before he could completely leave-

"Mr. Null. I would like to give you the privilege of joining the military-"

"Not interested." Null cut off the lieutenant before he could get another word out, and despite the lieutenant's large body blocking his way, Null simply used [Presence Concealment] to move around him instantly.

Before the lieutenant could turn around and retrieve back whatever was left of his broken pride, Null was completely gone, and as if that wasn't bad enough, Principal Relworth seemed to have disappeared as well.

***

Null continued walking for a few minutes, yet instead of removing his mask in a random alleyway and going straight home, he decided to take a wrong turn.

Null continued to walk like this for over 15 minutes, continuously taking wrong turns left, right and center.

Eventually, Null finally turned into a dark alleyway and walked a few meters before his Presence disappeared.

"What do you want?" Null asked in a deep and spine-chilling voice.

"Impressive. I can count on one hand the number of times I had been found out while tailing someone." The man with snow-white hair chuckled with his hands up.

"Why are you following me?" Null asked.

"Well, I want to recruit you to my academy. You would be a great addition, and I am almost certain you would acclimate well with your classmates. Don't you think so, Mr. Elrod?"

"..."

"..."

"Mr. Elrod?" Null asked with confusion in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd, but while your genuine confusion might have made anyone else rethink their points, I am certain my sources are correct." Principal Relworth explained, yet instead of being bombarded with questions like he had expected, he found a blade resting upon his neck.

"You do know that I am in the third commandment, correct?" He chuckled.

"I am aware." Null replied.

"Then why bother?"

"..."

"You're lucky that lieutenant let you run off like that. If he really wanted to, he could have caught you in an instant." The principal explained.

"And am I correct to assume that you stopped him?"

"Correct."

"How did you get my real name?" Null finally asked.

"Ugh! Finally, you're asking some real questions." The principal sighed before continuing-

"You don't really put much effort into hiding your true identity. Had my right-hand woman follow you around for a bit." He explained.

"And now you're blackmailing me into joining your academy?" Null tilted his head to the right in genuine curiosity.

"No, no! Of course not. I just had to ensure I wasn't recruiting a complete stranger. Anyway, I am saying that if you do happen to join an academy, you might as well join ours.

We have several celebrity students who would rather keep their identities secret, and if you join, you might just be one of them!" The principal explained with a fervor that made Null feel like this was an advertisement.

"Okay? Is that all?" Null asked with a voice much colder than before.

​

"Just, consider my offer. We have facilities for people just like you who do not want the government watching their every move. We have facilities that would hide your abilities from the public while encouraging you to become stronger."

"Sure, sure. I'll think about it. Now leave before I throw a harassment lawsuit at your academy." Null sneered, making the principal sigh in disappointment.

"I really hope you consider it properly." He muttered before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Null took his mask off without skipping a beat before entering his shadow and leaving the area.

Returning home, Null had immediately gone upstairs to get some sleep before waking up and training under Zack's father.

No one saw him as he entered the house, nor did they feel his Presence. Of course, they might have felt his Presence if they were specifically looking for him, but since they weren't, he had nothing to worry about as the combination of his Void Walker physique, as well as his [Presence Concealment] ability, made it extremely hard for most to even spot him walking across the street, let alone entering their house.

The next day, Lloyd and Zack trained with Benjamin before they came out to have dinner, just to train to the point where Zack was puking his guts out, and Lloyd was sweating buckets.

Lloyd never really understood why; as a void walker, he still felt like vomiting. He also never understood why his body did things that were so human-like. An example is sneezing, coughing, and sweating, followed closely by the sound of his heartbeat and the need to breathe.

Lloyd knew he could hold his breath for an infinite amount of time, yet despite his lack of lungs, it always felt right to breathe. As if it was the right thing to do.

Maybe it's the final bits of humanity left him that tried their hardest to stay attached; Lloyd would tell himself, but in reality, not even he knew.

Lloyd and Zack continued training together while the rest of the family chose to use this week to spend more time together.

Lloyd's father, Noah, also chipped into the training wherever he saw necessary, something that only served to make the exercise harder, but at the same time, it was to carve Lloyd and Zack into the best shape they could be before the entrance ceremony of all the different academies.

2 hours in the training room was equal to 1 hour on the outside, so before Lloyd and Zack knew it, they had spent a little under a week training.

Of course, Lloyd continued to go into different dungeons while making a name for himself, yet he did that in the hours they weren't in the training room.

"Remind me, will you. Why can't we just sleep in the training room?"

"For the hundredth time, Zack, because it has been strictly advised against by the company who made the damn thing." Lloyd sighed before sitting down at the dinner table with Zack doing the same right beside him.

"I mean... It can't be that bad, right?" Zack replied with a chuckle.

"They say those who spend a night in there start to go crazy. They lose it by night 2, and their minds turn to mush by night three." Elana whispered with a sense of terror in her voice that caused Zack to shiver to his core while Lloyd and Delly laughed to his dismay.

Before long, The two families ate their breakfast, and washed their dishes before packing their things and heading for the door, yet just before they could leave, everyone looked towards Lloyd and Zack with longing eyes of worry and pride.

pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "What?" Lloyd asked with a confused tilt of the head.

"Make sure to take care of yourselves, okay. I know you two might not get into the same academies, but if you do, make sure to take care of each other, too, okay? Don't worry us too much." Layla gave a warm smile to both of them.

"Show 'em who their fighting and make sure they remember your names, alright?" Noah asked, making Zack agree with a burst of laughter in between his words.

"Sure." Lloyd replied with an almost stoic tone.

"Nervous much?" Elana asked with a smug grin on her face, causing Lloyd to scratch his cheek in embarrassment. Yet, despite his seemingly embarrassed and nervous state, Lloyd's "heartbeat" stayed the same throughout the entire conversation while his mind played static as if he was thinking of nothing at all... As if his mind was completely empty of any thoughts.

His "heart" felt cold, while his emotions didn't show a single spark. It was as if his mindscape was completely empty. As if he was hollow from the inside out.

And Layla felt every minute detail of it as it slowly ate at her mind, heart, and very soul.

As if Lloyd's darker emotions were poison to those who felt them. An interior that should never be uncovered.