Unsealing Emptiness

388 A Wild Man.

For the next few days, there was no news of any recruitment from the Royal Army.

While helping them stabilize their inner Core, Ozul began doubting whether the recruitment was really legit.

But there really wasn’t anything noteworthy happening in the Capital, so there seemed to be no other reason for so many cultivators to gather here.

The four of them were holed up in their room all day and night, worrying even the tavern owner who came to check up on them quite a few times. To say that it didn’t bother him, Ozul would be lying, but still, this place was better than the rich hotels; he wouldn’t have heard the things he did there.

They also didn’t have unlimited funds to spend so needlessly.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for long when Ozul heard the shouting of those men from below.

The news of the Imperial Prince recruiting strong people had spread all over the Capital and this time it was official.

Ozul didn’t go running towards the Palace as some people did. He understood it wouldn’t just be first come first serve. No matter the reason, it was still becoming a part of the Royal Army. The selection surely wouldn’t be easy, he thought.

“I will be back,” he told Raven before leaving the room.

.....

Although very useful at times, rumors were often unreliable. He had to confirm on his own.

Walking through the streets like any city folk, Ozul arrived near the royal palace.

As if his life depended on it, one of the guards kept shouting, “The Royal Army Is Recruiting Strong People!...”

Seeing the crowd gathered near the place, he thought about turning around, but he had to get the exact details.

He couldn’t even see the parchments hung over the wall since people were blocking the view. Flying over and reading from above wasn’t a good choice either, at least not right in front of the palace’s entrance.

He struggled quite a bit before taking a clear look at the parchments. It read in clear words that all those who wished to join the banner of the Imperial Palace would just have to register their name.

‘Surely... it would not be so easy?’ Ozul thought skeptically. No matter the reasons, it was still the Royal Army of the Blue Lion Kingdom.

...

The next day Ozul took the gang with him to enroll their names in the Royal Army.

Zier was visibly on edge as he knew their strength wasn’t anything special in this place. Even though he too had reached the Nascent Soul Realm; however, he didn’t see himself inching near the next stage no matter how hard he tried.

“We will be fine, don’t worry,” whispered Blaze from his side. He and Raven were twice these people’s age, so they weren’t nervous.

Just like yesterday, the crowd was overgrowing in front of the palace gates. Only today these people had formed a long line as entered through the gates one by one.

Waiting for their turn, Ozul and the rest also entered through the gates after registering with their names.

As they entered, they could see the well-kept palace in the distance, but they weren’t allowed to wander in that direction. In front of them stood a man with a stout figure. Clad in white silver armor with blue linings, the man watched with a cold gaze as the crowd expanded with time.

No one dared to wander off under his watch.

Ozul could tell the man was at least in the initial stages of the Origin Realm. As for his exact strength, he couldn’t be so sure.

At the moment, that man was the strongest of the Royal Guards present there. The Imperial Prince hadn’t shown his face yet and no one expected him to either. Ozul led his group of four and blended into the crowd. Some people threw obvious smirks in their direction, but except for Zier, none cared for them.

As time passed, some people began to murmur words of complaint, but they didn’t dare to raise their voices. After all, no matter how proud, they were still all in the Nascent Soul Realm at most.

Just when he thought no one present was above the Nascent Soul Realm that he felt yet another aura of someone at the Origin Realm making an entrance.

Turning around, he noticed a man with long hair... No...It would be more accurate to say that he was entirely covered with his hair!

It seemed more like an animal with wild and unkempt hair than a human. Still, his gait and his stature were nothing but human. He had an imposing figure, even comparable to the man standing watch over them.

“Huh?! Got a problem, you fucks?” The man grunted in annoyance as he noticed everyone staring at him. With his outrage, people averted their eyes. The raw pressure exerted by that man’s presence was no joke.

In such a situation, the crowd didn’t know who to fear more. That man from the Royal Army who was most probably a commander under the Imperial Prince or this new guy who seemed to have been raised with the animals and never interacted with humans before.

Humans really were weak against the strong and strong against the weak. At every opportunity, they struggled to not prevail, but look for strong to worship.

The man swept his eyes across the crowd and noticed everyone averting their eyes. He snorted in arrogance before noticing that two of these men still had their eyes on him, gauging his strength as if they could go against him.

One of those men was the commander of the Imperial Prince while the other seemed to be a boy who seemed no older than a teenager. Smirking in the latter’s direction, the man crossed the river and came to stand before Ozul.

“You,” he smirked, brandishing his blade like canine, “why are you so confident, little bug?”

His face blocked the annoying starlight for Ozul as the latter relaxed his facial expressions, “Who said I’m confident?”

Squinting his eyes at the little man before him, the man seemed to contemplate whether he was being genuine or simply messing with him. Feeling no fowl intentions, the man smiled a wild smile again, “I feel like we will get along!”

It was no secret that the group of Ozul seemed to be the weakest around here. After all, they had no presence of Spiritual Essence.

Some of them changed their impression of them after seeing the wild man interact with them. The existence of artifacts that could erase the presence of one’s Spiritual Essence wasn’t a secret after all.

It didn’t take long for the man’s entrance to fade from people’s memories as more and more people poured in from the gates. No little amount of people wanted to join the banner of the Imperial Prince. Most yearned only for resources, however.

Using the Purity to cover his head, Ozul lightly leaned against Raven’s back and took a nap. Standing there doing nothing for so long was no less than torturous for him.

Half a day passed before the drums started beating; whatever it was, it was about to start.

Ozul yawned and stood up straight. It seemed the selection was finally about to start.

The commander who had been keeping watch over the rowdy crowd coughed lightly, but his voice reverberated throughout the place, “All of you present! Starting today, all of you are under the banner of his Highness, The Imperial Prince!”

The crowd cheered, thinking this was their luckiest day.

Only a few looked at each other in confusion,

“Huh...”

Even Ozul seemed dumbfounded at the proclamation. Earlier he had heard that people only needed to register their names, but he didn’t believe it back then.

‘Is the Imperial Prince so desperate?’ he wondered, thinking back to the image of that confident man, ‘There is no way...’

Before he could even finish his thoughts, the royal guards began to hand out silver badges to everyone.

“These bear the mark of the Imperial Prince. With this, you all are recognized as one of the Imperial Guards!” The commander shouted with no emotion in his voice.

The wild man also grunted with displeasure.

The few smart ones looked lost as well. They were ready to give their blood and sweat to get into the royal army, but now they were suddenly a part of it just after standing in the starlight for a few hours? It seemed no less than a dream to them.

Ozul waited for the man to continue. He still didn’t believe things were so simple.

“But since his Highness, the Imperial Prince has granted you all his grace! You also have to repay this kindness! So tonight, we will depart for an expedition to clear the Wild Beasts harassing the northern cities!”

Hearing the word Wild Beasts, everyone halted as their smiles froze.

They had just become a part of the Royal Army, so shouldn’t they be allowed to celebrate for a few days?

Seeing their disappointed faces, the commander’s face held an obvious sneer. Turned out, so many of these no-names thought they could join the Royal Army just because.

Only a few nodded their heads in understanding. This wasn’t just some expedition. This was the test for joining the Royal Army! These people would have been wary if there wasn’t such a test involved. After all, there were no free meals in this world.

The wild man beside Ozul smirked an obvious smile and looked down at Ozul, “You better entertain me, kid!”

On the other hand, Ozul looked at him confused. Why would he entertain him?