Echoes of Hollow

Chapter 9: Chapter 7



Kneeling before his own bed, Hye found himself in a dilemma. Sitting on the bed, radiating unparalleled beauty yet clearly in a foul mood, was a woman with black hair just grazing her shoulders.

"Are you telling me you lost your phone?" the woman asked, her tone firm.

"Yes..."

"You know I'm not going to believe that excuse, Lucas."

Lucas—a name Hye rarely heard from his aunt's lips, even though it was his given name, the one on his birth certificate. She only used that name when she was truly angry, or, as in this case and most others, worried.

"...You can stand up now."

Hye wasn't kneeling in front of his aunt out of fear or guilt; he knew that. Like his sister, she was fully aware of his "condition," his difficulty in feeling emotions had become almost normal for her. Respect, the foundation of his upbringing, was what he was demonstrating.

"Aunt..." Hye didn't stand up; on the contrary, he lowered his head. To his aunt, that seemed strange, and for a brief moment, she considered the possibility that he was embarrassed. She dismissed that absurd notion with a small smile and a shake of her head. "..can I ask you a question?"

"You won't stay here, don't insist."

"No, it's not that." Hye hesitated. All these years had shown it to be impossible, yet Samantha found it hard to believe it wasn't out of fear or simple hesitation. Which, in itself, would be a grand thing in her perception. "...Where should I take someone on a first date?"

"..What...?"

***************

"An S-rank portal? In Korea?" Lior asked as he lay on Alyia's lap. "That's impossible, especially right now."

"Not exactly," replied Yang Kai, sitting on the other couch. Leaning forward, he looked at Lior. "...After all, you two are here."

"What? No, but I..." Lior froze. For a brief moment, his eyes met his sister's, and that was enough to make him fall silent. "...When did this portal appear?"

"When? According to the Korean association, it was three days ago."

"Three days...?" Lior quickly glanced at Alyia again. That was the exact day she had arrived in South Korea. "I imagine you’ve already completed the dungeon. So, what exactly do you need?"

"Teodoro, I need you to bring him here."

"What? Why?"

"Although I sensed the dungeon's appearance on that day, I could only come to Korea today... but the dungeon's already been closed."

Lior looked at his sister again. "Don’t even think about it. Closing dungeons wasn’t one of the reasons I came here," she responded, without giving him a chance to even ask.

"Of course..." he muttered. "But looking for men was..."

"What actually happened was the dungeon shifted from E-rank to S-rank. I went to the location, and I could tell that the mana density was far beyond what any A-rank dungeon could produce. In some cases, maybe ten times more."

"If it wasn’t you or me, maybe it was one of the others?" Lior replied, scratching his reddened ear. "Daniel loves to leave Europe and visit other places."

"No, that was the first thing I considered as well, but there were two survivors from the dungeon, which was originally supposed to be a test for new hunters."

"A test? You guys are still using that method?"

"I don’t control all the Asian associations. Politicians are annoying. They say spending so many mana stones for a simple test would be a massive waste. Anyway, one of the survivors is out of the question. Even though he was in charge of the association's test, he's now with the Twins guild, and I don’t want complications. They said he isn’t well enough for an interrogation."

"An interrogation?" Lior smiled. "The way you say it, it sounds like they committed a crime."

"The other one isn’t in any guild, and he’s the one who gave a statement about what happened in the dungeon."

"So, you already have a statement. Why do you need Teodoro then?"

"Bugbears. He said the monsters in the dungeon were bugbears."

"D-rank monsters? Completing an S-rank dungeon would give him a lot of visibility and fame. Why would he lie about that?"

"I can’t say. S-rank dungeons aren’t common, and they’re the most dangerous so far. What I want is to know exactly what the monsters in the dungeon were... even if it's without his consent."

"...And what's this hunter's name?"

"Lucas," Yang Kai replied. "Lucas Santos de Oliveira. According to the association’s records, son of the late S-rank hunters Maicon Santos de Oliveira and Carolina Santos de Oliveira."

For a brief moment, Lior felt like his hair was about to be ripped from his head. He quickly stood up and looked at Alyia. "Sorry, it was an accident..." she said, smiling softly.

"Shall we?" Lior said, his tone slightly irritated. "You know where he lives, right? Or is he going to the association?"

"No, we're going to his house. But what about Teodoro? Aren’t you going to call him?"

"I already spoke with him. He’s meeting us there."

As Lior left the apartment, followed by Yang Kai, a voice echoed in his mind. Alyia’s voice.

'This is quite the unexpected coincidence.'

'What are you talking about?' Lior responded.

'I didn’t think you’d meet him so quickly.'

'Wait... You’re saying that...'

'Since you're going to see him in person, I won’t need to explain. But don’t forget—use your eyes well when you look at him.'

***************

"Ma'am, I... I'm going to need to extend my stay in Korea a little longer."

Covering her mouth with one hand, Samantha struggled to contain her joy, her smile.

"What? No, why? You too, Sam?" responded the voice on the phone.

"I'll be back in a week at the most, I promise. Other than the week of my daughter's birthday, I won't ask for any more time off for the entire year."

"What? No, you don't have to go that far. But tell me, is everything okay? Do you need anything?" asked the voice, now sounding concerned.

"No... I don’t need anything else." Samantha couldn't hold it in any longer. A smile spread across her face, and tears welled up in her eyes. Tears of joy.

"Damn... I knew I'd heard that surname before," Lior whispered, sweating nervously. "Santos de Oliveira is my aunt’s assistant’s last name!"

"Why are you acting like this?" asked Yang Kai, with a tone of indifference. "She’s just an assistant."

"You don’t understand," Lior replied, his tone and expression dead serious. "She loves that woman more than us. And also..."

"And also?"

"And also, apparently, she doesn’t like hunters very much," answered the young man emerging behind Lior. His hair, alternating between two colors—black and white—perfectly matched his eyes, which shared the same peculiar duality.

Both remained hidden beside the wall of a convenience store.

"Exactly! One of the conditions for her working with my aunt is that she doesn’t directly interact with hunters, unless it’s absolutely necessary, of course."

Lior discreetly glanced out and nearly locked eyes with Samantha before quickly retreating behind the wall with impressive speed. "Did you fly here, Teodoro?" he asked after hiding again.

"No, I swam here. Of course, I flew! You didn’t tell me she’d be here!"

"You guys are overreacting. We just need to go in and talk to Lucas, she doesn’t matter."

Yang Kai started walking confidently toward the building, but Lior swiftly pulled him back behind the wall.

"You don't get it," Lior said, his look and tone leaving no doubt that this was no joke. "If that woman says you’re not meeting him, you’re not meeting him. And there’s nothing you or I can do about it. At my aunt’s request, even Alyia has never spoken to her directly. When that woman is around, Alyia doesn’t even get close. Do you understand now?"

Yang Kai nodded. Faced with the expressions on their faces, he didn’t dare argue. "So, what do we do?" he asked, clearly nervous.

"Suppress your mana," Lior said.

"What? But why?"

"She definitely sensed Teodoro’s arrival. If you go in the way you are now, you won’t even make it past the gate."

"Is she a hunter?"

"A high-level one," Teodoro answered. "Aunt said she might be rank A, or maybe higher. From what I’ve seen, she’s definitely above that."

"Listen to me," Lior said, drawing Yang Kai’s attention. "Don't let even a trace of mana leak out. Walk past her naturally, and once you’re upstairs, open the window."

"But wait. Won't she recognize me? You guys might not realize this, but I'm pretty famous. Globally."

Lior and Teodoro exchanged glances. They barely held back their laughter as they answered in complete sync, "Nooo. Absolutely not."

Yang Kai walked toward the building. Moments ago, his confidence was unshakable, but now his hands were sweating. He passed by Samantha, who seemed excited as she looked at something on her smartphone.

"Excuse me," he froze upon hearing her voice. "Could you help me for a moment?"

Yang Kai turned around. He couldn’t decide what was more surprising about the situation: the fact that she stopped him just to ask for advice on men’s haircuts and clothes, or that she did so while speaking perfect Mandarin, without him even mentioning that he was Chinese.

'Wait... she's speaking Mandarin! She recognized me!?'

His mind was in total chaos during their conversation. But that didn’t stop him from doing his best to try to help her. It seemed really important to her.

"Thank you, thank you so much, and sorry for wasting your time."

As he entered the glass doors of the building, he let out an involuntary sigh. It was definitely because of the way those two had been acting. Yes, that must be it, he tried to convince himself.

"Excuse me," the voice came again.

Yang Kai turned back hesitantly, only to see her bowing to him. "I apologize for my lack of manners," she said. "I shouldn’t have spoken to you in Mandarin without asking first. The last time I came to Asia was to visit China, so I guess I’m still used to speaking Chinese day-to-day."

"It’s all right," he replied. "Don’t worry, it’s no problem."

A smile on his face, but anxiety in his heart, Yang Kai rushed to the elevator the moment he got the chance.

"Nice to meet you, I’m Yang Kai from the Hunter Association," he said as soon as Hye opened the door to his apartment. "Can we talk for a moment?"

After entering the apartment, Yang Kai walked straight to the large dark glass window. The window opened when he pushed it aside. "Excuse the lack of manners, but I need to open your window for a moment."

"Phew! I thought I was going to die of a heart attack watching you talk to her for so long," said Lior, sitting on the large gray couch in the center of the room.

"Yeah," agreed Teodoro, seated right next to him. "I was almost biting my nails."

Hye sat down in the armchair to the left while Yang Kai closed the window.

These people were strong, Hye knew that. He couldn’t even see them enter through the window; they were too fast for his eyes to follow.

But were they with the association? If so, why were they here? For the portal? He had already been questioned about that before... And... why were those two looking at him like that?

"Is it him?" Teodoro whispered.

"She said it is..." Lior replied, his voice too soft for an ordinary person to hear, even if they were right beside him.

"...He’s handsome."

"Yes... very. But... are you seeing what I’m seeing?"

"Absolutely. It’s impossible not to. He doesn’t have a single drop of mana."

"He doesn’t, or..." Lior suddenly appeared beside Hye, strangely starting to circle him. "We just can’t see it...? Samantha seems to be just as skilled as him at hiding her mana. Maybe it's a family thing...?"

"Could be."

"What are you guys doing?" Yang Kai asked, moving toward the center of the room. "Sorry about these two, we’re here for—"

"No, wait," Lior interrupted, standing in front of Hye.

"How do you do that?" he asked. His eyes could see many things, even truths in some cases. But why now could he see absolutely nothing? "How do you hide your mana so perfectly? It doesn’t even seem like you have any."

"What are you talking about? That’s not why we’re here."

Yang Kai tried to refocus on his original mission that brought him all the way from China. But Hye’s response left even him surprised and curious.

"Mana..? What’s that?"

Life energy. The universal energy. The purest and most powerful energy that exists. Can someone live without it?

If you don’t have it, are you even alive?

The fact is, even the smallest insects have a certain amount of mana.

Babies? If you could sense mana at a certain level, you could even tell when a woman is pregnant before any machine could.

"You’re an Awakened, right?" Teodoro asked, shoving Lior aside and approaching Hye. "What does your system say? How much mana do you have?"

Not just Teodoro and Lior, but Yang Kai too. All three of them waited eagerly for the response of the one who had energy that not even an angel’s eyes could see.

"Strength, agility, and endurance. There’s nothing like mana in my stats."

"What? That’s impossible!" Yang Kai declared.

"No, it’s not," Teodoro smiled.

[Level: 150

Status

Strength: 330

Agility: 330

Endurance: 330]

He could see it, Hye was telling the truth.

Those were the only stats in his system.

However, how could someone without mana possess and use an ability?

The Nephilim walked to the back of Hye’s armchair. "I’m curious as to how that’s possible, and I’d like to see for myself, but I need your permission."

"My permission?"

Something felt off. Alyia wasn’t there at that moment, so why was Hye feeling so nervous, so unsettled?

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

"What am I planning to do?" Teodoro took a step back. His clothes started moving, and his body was enveloped in a white glow.

Suddenly, more than just beautiful, a magnificent pair of white wings appeared on his back. Their radiant, dazzling feathers could both captivate and destroy anyone who looked at them. "Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to read your soul. If your girlfriend were here, it wouldn’t even be necessary, but I doubt she’d want to do that..."

"My girlfriend..?" Now Hye understood why the sensations felt so familiar. In the end, they were connected somehow. "You know Alyia?"

"...She’s my sister. And the blond guy’s too." Teodoro stepped closer to Hye and placed his hands on his head. Smiling, he asked, "So, will you give me your permission? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt at all."

"Hey, wait. That’s not why we’re here. We came for—"

"Oh, please, an S-rank dungeon is nothing compared to the fact that he simply has no mana. That’s impossible. Now, don’t interrupt me!"

What is mana? Is it really that incredible? That important? Hye wanted to know. Was this curiosity another facet of emotions? Beyond that, there was something even more important: finding the source of the "voice."

'If he does this, will he be able to find it? Is that possible...?' Hye wondered.

In any case, it didn’t matter. None of this mattered. What did matter was that, without making a gesture or uttering a word, in his mind, he said yes—and that was more than enough for the Nephilim.

'What is this?'

Upon entering Hye’s soul, projecting his consciousness through a small piece of his own soul, Teodoro saw nothing—nothing but the purest blackness, the purest darkness.

'Is this his soul? Or am I still far from it?'

No matter how far he wandered, how much he searched, the Nephilim found nothing.

No soul, no energy.

Focusing and concentrating to his limit, he expanded the consciousness of his soul within that space.

The answer he found?

A meaningless and futile search, for there was nothing beyond what his eyes could already see—a void so vast that, without realizing it, from the very moment he set foot in that place, his soul had begun to be gradually eradicated.

Looking at his hands, which were in constant disintegration, Teodoro could do nothing but smile. He had no other choice, for even if he tried, that part of his consciousness no longer responded to him. All that remained was to wait for total destruction.

"In...credible..."

An Irregular. A Nephilim. And the second strongest man alive.

Who would believe that someone like that would faint after merely gazing at the consciousness of a mere beginner hunter? Even having seen the scene with their own eyes, not even Lior and Yang Kai could believe it.


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