Chapter 121 Reunion [1]

'Let's see how well my body can hide the fact that I'm cultivating with void mana...'

Lloyd closed his eyes and activated the void rune inside his mana core. It took less than a second for him to feel his mana being tainted by the void rune, and in the next moment, he began to circulate it around his body.

He knew that due to his nature as a void walker, he would never be able to cultivate the same way others did with normal mana, and after remembering the runes, he had on his skin when you used [Aspect of Void], he understood something else too.

This whole time he was trying so hard to appeal to his human side and his human cultivation, but even after everything that had happened, it was hard to accept that he was no longer human, and the same could be said for his body.

The skin on the outside is a shell, and it is considered nothing but a shell or another piece of material. It cracks like any other armor or weapon, and to temporarily enhance his body, Lloyd had to use an ability that temporarily inscribed a rune on his shell.

Of course, Lloyd had no idea what it would mean for him if he were to break away from his shell, and Null didn't seem very willing to tell him if his silence were to say anything about his opinion on the matter, but that was a problem for another day.

The reason normal mana didn't do it is the same reason as to why Lloyd feels at home when he goes through a teleportation procedure, or even a portal. Void walkers live in the void.

They sustain themselves off the void's energy, and they have evolved that way, too, replacing their need for mana with their new need for void energy.

As Lloyd sat crosslegged in the library and felt the void-tainted mana course through him, he felt whatever was below his shell squirm in nourishment and excitement.

It was a feeling of relaxation and invigoration that channeled itself into his body, and for once, he could feel a significant increase in cultivation. However, he quickly stopped himself when he felt something else.

"Shit... Even though it doesn't break down my cells and recreate them, the still seem to seep through my shell." Lloyd thought with a frown before another idea came to him.

Putting all the books back to where he found them, he returned to his room and sat in the lotus position on the floor before closing his eyes.

The shadow under him began to slowly expand, before his body suddenly sunk in, and the size of the shadow shrunk again.

His roommate was already asleep, but Lloyd didn't want to risk it, so he blocked the mana flow from entering or leaving his shadow.

'This will take longer, but it should be the safest way. I can use the mana I already have in my core to cultivate my body; when I run out, I leave and absorb some normal mana, taint it again and return to my shadow realm.' Lloyd thought.

Closing his eyes again, Lloyd circulated his void mana throughout his body until he was done with it.

However, there was a problem. He didn't know whether it was due to the fact that he had really advanced mana vessels to circulate the mana around his body, or the fact that void mana was used a lot faster than normal mana. Still, he could feel his body siphoning his mana away in less than 30 minutes.

When Lloyd was finally done with the amount of mana he had left that wasn't powering his [Shadow movement] ability, he simply looked into the abyss before furrowing his brows.

He had gotten two forms of mana cultivation. Body and core were the two options, but he didn't understand how it would work later on. He'd be forced to create his first seals in the second commandment, but he didn't understand how exactly he was supposed to do so.

Would he need 10 topaz seals on both his core and his body to reach the amethyst seal, or did he just have to have 10 in total like everyone else? And when he reached the third commandment, you usually solidify your choice of cultivation by either entering the third commandment by creating an iron body, or an iron core.

What were his advantaged over others? Or has he already found his advantages over others? People with body cultivation usually pursued a martial art or a martial style directed toward their elemental affinities, like an elemental monk or a magic swordsman.

They use their bodies to conjure their abilities, techniques, and skills. A mage would manipulate the elements around them to create a spell or activate an ability. However, while they both have their advantages, they are usually about equal in power since one is much better at long-range explosive high, powered battles, and the other is really good at close combat.

Lloyd left his shadow for a few minutes to replenish his mana reserves before diving in again to do the same. Still, he knew such a method wouldn't hold up for long, especially not after he reaches the second commandment since his void walker attributes should only increase the stronger he gets.

The only way for him to properly cultivate was to either kill something, or to get it straight from the source.

'I haven't had a void walk in a while, huh...' Lloyd thought while going up for mana again. He repeated this cycle a few more times until he saw the sun finally come up, and since it was a Saturday now, his roommate only woke up at about 10am.

"Can't believe you're already awake... Again. It's the weekend. Can't you chill a little?" Jay asked with a sigh.

"I'm trying to catch up to you, monsters. At the rate you're going at, Jay, I don't even think we're gonna be in the same class next term." Lloyd replied, not bothering to open his eyes.

He was replenishing the mana he had used in the shadow realm. While it would have been considered a long task that could possibly take another half an hour at complete concentration, for Lloyd, it barely took him a couple of minutes due to the sheet absurd amount of mana channels he had in his body.

"You want to go out for breakfast. Me and some of my friends from class are going to go and eat." Jay offered.

"Nah, I'm good." Lloyd replied, yet this time Jay wasn't going to have no for an answer.

Throughout the entire week, people of all social classes have been either trying to butter him up or beat his ass. Due to his good looks, all the women from powerful families have been trying to get with him, while all the guys have been either trying to beat him up or join his friend's circle.

However, when it came to Lloyd, he was one of the very few exceptions. He didn't butter up to Jay due to his Dreamweaver class despite being his roommate, and he didn't treat him any different from how he would treat other people.

Hell, both of them weren't even technically friends since Lloyd never bothered to talk to Jay outside of their dorms. Seeing this, Jay felt the need to change the situation, which was why he walked up to Lloyd, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and dragged him to the canteen with him.

It was a little awkward since they weren't close enough for Jay to do such a thing, but since Lloyd hadn't eaten anything in a week, he didn't mind eating. Plus, this way, he didn't have to use his legs to get to the canteen since Jay dragged him around.

"You know you can use your legs now, right?" Jay asked.

"Eh... Its a lot more convenient to have you drag me around everywhere." Lloyd shrugged, causing Jay to sigh in annoyance.

Lloyd finally decided to stand when they got to the vending machine.

Jay quickly tapped the screen a few times to choose his food option before getting his food on a tray and stepping back. When Lloyd looked at his food option, he could not help but widen his eyes at the fact that the food was free, or at least the recommended amount was. If anyone wanted more food or less healthy options, they would have to pay using military points, something no one in the first year of the academy had.

Lloyd quickly got whatever tasted the nicest before following Jay to his table and sitting down, not bothering to look at the rest of the people on the table who were staring at him weirdly.

"Why is this bastard sitting with us." A girl with dull golden eyes and black hair complained, her voice oozing with annoyance.

"Luna is right. Why did you bring this commoner here!?" A girl with blonde hair and fiery eyes asked out of anger rather than annoyance.

"Haley, be nice." A boy with dark brown hair and a muscular build tried to calm the blonde girl down.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Beliar! I am calm. I just don't like it when commoners try to mingle with us." She harrumphed.

"You know I'm from a lower-middle class family, right?" Beliar asked while scratching the back of his neck.

"Still not a commoner." She spoke, yet this time her voice was a little quieter.

'Are they dating?' Lloyd asked himself while looking between the blonde-haired girl and the dark brown-haired boy.

While Lloyd didn't want to bother looking up, when he heard several familiar voices, his curiosity got the better of him.

On the table sat 5 of the final 6 students who fought against their instructor Rachel Kim, including him.

"Lloyd is my roommate. I brought him along since this guy never leaves his room..." Jay narrowed his eyes at Lloyd with a mix of pity and disappointment.

"When was the last time you touched grass bro?" Jay asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe three weeks?" Lloyd answered while putting a piece of omelet in his mouth.

It tasted really good, but Lloyd missed the good old days when he could feel full or at least digest food properly instead of disintegrating it the moment it went through his through.

"It was more of a... Nevermind." Jay sighed.

Lloyd continued to eat his breakfast in silence while thinking about random things, from the color of his hands to how he was going to get void energy to cultivate his core.

'Maybe I can taint the mana with void energy and circulate it around my core for a bit until I can finally kill something?' Lloyd thought, but quickly threw the idea away.

The core was a delicate thing that should not be damaged no matter what. While he was a void walker, and his core was quite different from others due to its location and mana channels, it was still a core, and he was unwilling to risk it.

The rest of the people at the table talked about random things, but they all had their 'thing,' per se. Haley was loud and angry at everyone but Beliar, who she seemed to be flirting with, Beliar was always humble and nice, but he clearly had another side to him when he fought, which became more than evident when he remembered back to him fighting against their instructor.

Jay was neutral regarding many things, but he was clearly the life of the table, while Luna felt like the most normal out of them despite her frequent monotone voice and emotionless polite smiles.

Lloyd didn't mind this. He spoke occasionally but was always shut down by either Luna or Haley, who both seemed to have something against him.

Yet, the harmony quickly broke when he heard a familiar voice call for his name.

"Lloyd?"

Looking around, Lloyd saw a petite bronze-skinned girl with black hair and brown eyes looking at him with a wry grin on her face.

"Fatima?"