'How could Nothing be the origin of anything?'
I did not know, and I did not care. Well, at least not now. The reason was that I did not recognize the zone I was in. Stretched all around me in all directions were snow and trees. The trees were not normal ones; all of them seemed to be cut out of pure onyx. Even the leaves did not rattle with the wind.
'More work for me.' I mumbled.
Remembering the speaker's words, I imbued ether into the ring, and a voice whispered back into my ears.
[Trophy received: Dimensional ring.]
The ring dissolved into white ether particles that flowed towards my spine, specifically the trophy rune gifted by the Akashic records. I directed ether from the ether core into the trophy rune to summon the ring back. Particles of ether gathered around my thumb and materialized into the dimensional ring. Directing the ether towards the ring, I imbued the ether again into the ring.
This time, however, the ring did not dissolve into ether. Instead, a thin, rectangular, grey stick appeared in the air and fell on the snowy ground. Picking the stick up, I pulled on both sides, revealing a silver blade; sunlight reflected on it. Just like I did with the ring the first time, I imbued ether into the sword, and just like the ring, the sword dissolved into white ether particles, and I summoned it again.
Imbuing more ether into the ring, I retrieved a long, black, hooded cloak and wore it, covering every inch of my body flawlessly. As soon as I put it on, the cold Onyx forest wasn't as unbearable anymore.
Lastly, I imbued ether into the sword, turning it into a trophy. Just like the ring, it also dissolved into ether, and I summoned it back.
[Trophy received: Sword.]
I did not imbue ether into the cloak, since it wasn't a trophy, nor was it issued by the academy.
With that, I looked around, chose a random direction, and started walking. It did not matter since in all directions there was the same view. Snow and onyx trees.
As I walked through the onyx trees, I thought about my attributes and flaw. I already knew how many attributes I had. I had three, one of them I already know how they worked, the other two I still haven't figured out.
The attributes were unlike the art abilities named one. The first one was named [One With Nothing] and the description was along the lines of: Nothingness gathers close, folding around you like a mother's arms cradling her child. It was easy to understand. In short, it would be harder for someone to observe me inside the mist of Nothingness.
Weird as it sounds, Nothing is not just the absence of something; it is something in and of itself. There was even an Archon of Nothing. Well, nothing was known about him other than that he existed. Which was ironic since he was literally the Archon of Nothing.
Suddenly, I saw something charging at me from the corner of my eyes. I acted quickly. Unsheathing my sword, I tried to block the attack since I didn't have time to dodge. But as it turns out, I didn't act fast enough since I didn't get to unsheathe the sword fully, when the attack connected, and I was sent flying back, crashing into a tree. Luckily, though, the sword was positioned in a way that the attack connected with it, not my body. Unluckily…
[Trophy destroyed]
The voice of the Akashic Records whispered into my ear.
My heart was filled with pure fear. The weapons issued by the academy were of the dormant rank, so dormant abyssal creatures would not be enough to destroy it. Whatever it was that attacked me was at least stained, since awakened creatures were also incapable of destroying dormant trophies. They were capable of damaging them heavily but not destroying them.
Standing up after my crash with the onyx tree, only to be met with the view of a felidae charging at me full speed. The felidae had pure white fur, with spots of grey on its body; it also had four long tails, instead of one. But most strikingly were its two sharp teeth penetrating from its mouth, pointing downwards.
The creature charged at me with its claws. I managed to dodge, but not fully, and one of its claws managed to cut through my cloak, uniform, and cut my skin, leaving a thankfully shallow wound on my shoulder.
Ether flowed inside my body, from the ether core into the art runes, as I activated the dormant art ability [Mist Veil].
A cloud the color of various shades of grey, from white to black. Formed around me, swallowing both me and the feline.
My back was turned to the stained creature when I dodged, and it tackled me to the ground before the mist could fully form. Usually, I would have been filled with dread. Instead, I felt amused and entertained.
I saw everything clearly. The felidae had its maw open, ready to snap it shut around my neck, killing me instantly. I could even sense it. My hand shot forward, catching the felidae by its lower jaw and one of its unnaturally long fangs, preventing it from killing me. The creature strained itself to close its maw, and I resisted.
Activating [Mist Clad], the mist became slightly thinner. A smile found its way on my face, and I started to pull on the tooth I was holding to prevent the creature from biting my neck to death. I pulled, and pulled, and pulled, pulled. But I was met with incredible resistance. It felt as if I was trying to pull a mountain from the earth. A moveable mountain.
With a snap, the tooth broke off, and the felidae shrieked in pain. Taking my chance, I moved myself under it completely and then moved from under it through the gap between its two left legs. The creature turned to me, claws ready to rip me to shreds. Its eyes were burning with hatred, anger, and madness.
But I was madness incarnate.
Nothing whispered with a promise of eraser and couldn't resist. I didn't want to resist. Who could refuse such a fascinating promise?
I took a step back, and the mist moved with me. I didn't dodge the attack fully. The felidae's claws cut through the black cloak, academic uniform, and my skin, leaving claw mark wounds behind. The wounds were deep. Deep enough for me to pass out from blood loss.
I didn't pay the pain any attention. Due to the attack's momentum, the back of the creature's skull was wide open. I took the chance and plunged the fang into the back of the felidae's skull. Since the teeth belonged to the creature, it was also of the same rank, and with the mist augmenting it, the blade stab was smooth and was met with little to no resistance.
[Stained Beast eliminated: Smilodon fatalis.]
The Smilodon's body began to be consumed by the Nothing. Watching it sent a chill through my body. The grin on my face widened, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh, a wild, insane, harrowing, mad laugh.
"Who's next?"
It was time to hunt.