Echoes of Hollow

Changing clothes and leaving the room, Hye found himself in the midst of a chaotic corridor.

"What do you mean, it’ll be fine?!" exclaimed a woman, with a very angry expression, raising her voice in front of a nurse. "We have to get out of here now!"

People were trembling in the corners of the corridors, nurses trying to calm them down, and everywhere, cracks caused by Samael’s momentary fury.

"Please understand, we’ve already checked and found no irregularities in the building. But don’t worry, the Hunters' Association has been called, and they will send people to conduct a more detailed assessment of this location and the surroundings."

Getting into the long car, compared to the others parked around, with dark paint and windows, Hye felt his throat close as he took one last look at the place. It was a reaction caused by Alyia’s brief presence, obviously. Guilt or shame? He couldn’t say. Although he was feeling something, it was impossible to distinguish them from each other, and even harder to say that he truly cared about what happened to those people.

With the windows closed, he was left with no view but the thoughtful faces of Samantha and the woman in front of him. Meanwhile, his system was being called, revealing the various notifications that had accumulated while he was unconscious, as well as his new status and level.

[Alert!]

[The two days of hibernation have ended]

'Huh? So I was out cold for two days..?'

[Alert!]

[As punishment for not completing the daily missions for two consecutive days, the remaining points will be deleted]

'The remaining points... it’s a better punishment than having to go to that desert...'

[Name: Lucas Santos de Oliveira

Level: 309

Status

Strength: 1,143

Endurance: 1,143

Agility: 1,143

Skills

Void (??)

Invisible Steps (active)

Electrokinesis (active)

Pyrokinesis (active)

Fusion (active)

Poison Resistance (passive)

Complete Recovery (active??) +]

"What are the hunter rankings according to the levels?"

"The rankings...?" Samantha said with a thoughtful expression. "Well, from level 1 to 49 is rank E, from 60 to 110 is rank D, from 125 to 160 is rank C, from 175 to 210 is rank B, from 230 to 280 is rank A, and from level 300 and up are considered rank S. Since the system doesn’t have its own ranking, this one was created based on whether the hunter of the next rank could handle a boss from a lower-ranked dungeon, even if alone."

"So rank A hunters can handle a rank B dungeon alone?"

"In theory, yes, but only if you’re considering just the levels. However, in a dungeon, level alone isn’t enough. Your skills and ability to handle different situations also count a lot."

"I see... so it would be rank S..."

"What..?"

"I was talking about my rank. Considering the ranking you mentioned, mine would be rank S."

"I see, so it was really above rank A."

Looking at Samantha, Hye realized she had definitely misunderstood something. Probably about his level progression. In her mind, she might think he should have been at least rank A when they entered the dungeon, and after climbing the floors, he reached rank S.

Sighing, he turned back to the notifications. It’s better not to say anything; there’s no reason to.

[Alert!]

[All Servants have been fully synchronized with the Void]

[Alert!]

[As they were previously placed there, the Servants cannot leave the Void without permission]

"Oh, right, and what about the wolves? What are we going to do with them? They can’t just be thrown into society."

"Wolves...?" the woman questioned, pulling the cup away from her mouth, confused.

"Yes, the ones I spoke to you about earlier."

"Oh, yes, the werewolves. Your aunt has already found a location; the last two days have been quite busy, and you should really thank her, especially for handling the reporters."

'Reporters...?'

A large-scale event with hundreds of dead and only two survivors would obviously attract many reporters. However, unlike what should have happened, his departure from the hospital was quite smooth. Something that only someone powerful enough, like a general director of a global business group, could achieve.

"Thank you."

"What are you talking about...?"

Opening the dark window beside her, Samantha turned to look outside, and as the wind tousled her hair and cars passed quickly, for some reason, probably because she had almost never heard such a genuine thank you from him before, she truly felt happy with that simple word, making a small smile appear.

"You know I don’t like reporters..."

The rest of the trip was silent, with Samantha observing the road, Hye trying to understand his [Void] ability but finding nothing out, ending up questioning if it really was just a storage space, and the small bottle beside the woman gradually emptying.

"Ms. Pyrdesh," said the driver, "we’ve arrived."

"Already? You’re getting faster, Tom."

"Thank you for the compliment, ma’am."

Leaving the car, they were surrounded by trees, and a long staircase ascended up the mountain.

"Shall we?" she said, taking the first step.

On the first step everything was normal, but on the second, Hye quickly realized something was wrong. Looking back, dozens of steps had already passed.

'Spatial distortion, something relatively simple, but quite useful if used correctly.'

As he continued looking down, his next step caused an immediate advance of hundreds of other steps.

'They’re basically two interconnected points, right?'

'Not exactly. In this case, space is, let’s say, skipped according to your will. If you hadn’t had even the slightest desire to advance more quickly to the middle of the stairs, your steps would have continued normally. For example, now you wanted to reach the end, so look back.'

With no more stairs in sight, a vast flat field stretched before his eyes. In the distance, a predominantly white house could be seen.

'Now, this space does function more like two interconnected points than the previous one.'

His feet moved, and contrary to what his eyes saw, after a single step, the house was right in front of him, so close. Raising his eyebrows slightly, Hye couldn’t help but be impressed.

Passing through the white door, a certain sense of frustration couldn’t be avoided. It was a nice house, yes, but given the path he had to take to get there, he certainly expected more.

"Stop! I’ve already told you not to touch my..."

Looking to the side, Hye unexpectedly saw a familiar face in a strange, or rather, perhaps amusing situation? Arguing with a child over a control.

"Oh, damn..."