Zyrus had theorized an entire physical cultivation system based on the Void refinement. The curse of oblivion was the result of his completion of 'World Essence' realm.

The first realm he named was World Resonance. As the name suggested, in this stage one had to resonate with the world’s energy. It could be anything – mana, spiritual qi, and even talents like devour. What mattered here was the ability to absorb energy from the environment, and by extension, the world.

The second realm was World Essence. It was a process storing the world’s energy in their body and forming the ‘Essence’. Once again, this essence can be anything. Mana stored in one’s heart, Spiritual qi stored in the dantian, or cosmic energy stored by his talent.

He had reached this stage long ago. But what it did was just that – storing the energy. Releasing it was another matter altogether. There were many ways to achieve that, like simply bursting it out via an attack or channeling it via a skill. He learned from the manual that most optimum use of this essence was done via the power of laws.

The first two stages were similar for all physical cultivation methods. In ‘Void Body Refinement Technique,’ the martial artists used their stored essence in tandem with the void laws to expand their acupoints. Those who used the law of wind could make themselves lighter and more aerodynamic, those who practiced the law of fire can temper their flesh and bones with flames…there were various ways of using it.

“How are you unaffected?”

“Heh, You’re just weak.”

*Baaaam*

What replied Zyrus was a club on his head. It was too fast for him to see, much less dodge. But just like before, he was unaffected by the giant’s attack.

[Arcane lance]

Dozens of flickering blue spears pierced the giant’s calves. Twilight Crusher had the power to pierce through the giant’s defense.

*Smaash*

Nonetheless, Zyrus’s attacks were futile. The arcane lances were like toothpicks stuck on the giant’s body. They were unable to do anything besides annoying the club-wielding monster.

‘Fortunately, he can’t harm me either…. not as long as the plains of Ilios exist,’

Zyrus grinned as he endured another of the giant’s blows without moving an inch. He wasn’t following the Void Body Refinement Technique. He didn’t use the world essence, or to be specific, the cosmic energy from his talent to expand his acupoints.

There were 99 points from which the cosmic energy entered his body. Zyrus referenced the technique written on the manual and used his void laws on those 99 points on the surface of his body.

“Argh– Take this you vermin!” the giant growled and used an unknown energy to surround his club. The wooden club adorned with metallic spikes was now glowing with a silver halo.

*Crrrash*

“Hahaha…didn’t I tell you? You’re just weak,”

The entire garden caved in by a few feet, but still, Zyrus remained unaffected. ‘Curse of Oblivion: Quantum Erasure’ used the principle of quantum field theory on the surface of Zyrus’s body. According to that theory, the universe is made up of various fields.

The electromagnetic field, nuclear orbits, Higgs field…all of them were examples of that. The lowest energy state of these fields was the quantum vacuum. But even that ‘field’ wasn’t completely empty.

The quantum vacuum is also filled with fluctuations made by virtual particles. They pop in and out of existence without any predetermined order, just like the Heisenberg’s principle.

Zyrus used this as a base to create his fourth curse. He used the cosmic energy stored within him along with abyssal mana to create 99 quantum vacuums. These fields were manifested by erasing his mana, and in turn, they would erase anything that came in contact with them.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

These fields created virtual particles to counter the field created by the enemy’s attack. It didn’t matter whether it was a physical attack or a magical one. Quantum erasure had the power to nullify an attack at the smallest level.

*Buuuuuuuuuu*

*RIIIIIIINNNGGGG*

The giant didn't understand all this, but he knew that he didn’t have the strength to kill the intruder. Thus, he called for backup.

‘It’s been five minutes and 40 seconds….’

Zyrus frowned and stood before the 33 desert plains. The opposing giant guard wasn’t a moron. He had also noticed that Zyrus was drawing power from the deserts to block his attacks.

It didn’t matter whether he understood the intricacies of Zyrus’s curse. As long as he severed the connection between the two, his club would smash the Zyrus into meat paste.

Of course, knowing that didn’t mean that he could put it into practice.

“Just you wait!”

*Baaam*

Zyrus didn’t bother replying and channeled all his energy. All of his void skills were double-edged swords. There was a reason why his authority was named as ‘13 Curses of Void’ after all.

He named this skill the Curse of Oblivion because it could send both himself and his enemy into oblivion. One wrong move and he himself would be turned into a quantum vacuum.

The laws of void were dangerous beyond compare. Using them on your body was akin to suicide.

‘But with great risks comes greater rewards,’

The skill he was using was just a surface-level technique, and yet its power was unparalleled in defense. Zyrus was sure that he could create at least 3 more curses with the martial arts method he had created.

“What is that creature?”

“Bloody hell! Have you ruined the farm? Do you want to starve the entire western square?”

15 giants wearing golden armor and shiny weapons entered the farm. The once spacious area was now cramped with an oppressive aura, and the foot-long Zyrus was the center of it all.

‘Just a minute left…looks like I made it,’

The mana being supplied to him via the plains of Ilios was running out. However, the ghouls and his summons had finished their job.

The monsters were dead, the corpses were collected, and the armadillo-like monster was also dealt with.

“Enough Blabbering, catch that first,” the leading giant ordered his clamoring subordinates.

Alas, it was too late.

Zyrus grabbed the glowing parchment in his pocket, and vanished alongside his ghouls and summons.

…

‘Huff…Huff..that was exhausting,’

Zyrus massaged his temples while he jogged towards the main entrance. He was so mentally exhausted that even his horns were aching. Thankfully, his recovery rates did their jobs in the meantime. He managed to gather his wits by the time he arrived at the reception counter.

‘She’ll dry my pockets if I’m not sharp enough,’

“Hmm…were you thinking something rude?”

“Of course not.”

“If you say so. Anyway, what’d you want?” the receptionist asked after tallying his contribution points. He was almost done with the contracted mission, so the amount was rather generous.

“Transfer medallions, 5 of them.”

“I see. Do you want anything el-, oh, never mind. You have 5 points left,” the elf shooed him away with disinterested eyes.

Zyrus tucked the five small medallions in his pocket and exited the tower. No one had told him how to go back to the sanctuary, but he had figured that out all the same.

He closed his eyes and perceived the laws that governed this place. He didn’t have the mastery to influence the nature’s laws, but this place was different.

The laws here were ‘alive’.

‘Return me to the sanctuary,’

There was no response. Nothing changed except the sounds around him had disappeared.

‘As I thought….’

Zyrus opened his eyes and surveyed the tent he was in. As he had predicted, he was once again back to the sanctuary.

It had been a while since he was away. In the eyes of the players, he was training in his tent for all this time. While strange, it wasn’t unexpected. No one had the free time to gossip about their leader.

*Flap*

The leather parting gave way to brilliant sunlight. The familiar salty wind and dry soli greeted him once again.

“Humans sure are amazing,” Zyrus muttered as he looked around the campsite. Or rather, it should be called a military outpost.

Brick walls surrounded a city from all sides. Mud houses, stone roads, and carts driven by goat-like monsters were reflected in his eyes. It had been no more than three years, but his was the only tent that remained on this whole island.

The hill he was staying on was the highest vantage point. Zyrus overlooked the entire area with a surge of pride.

This was the city built on his knowledge. It might look like a random village in the medieval era, but Zyrus knew that the whole area would awaken like a beast at a moment’s notice. Hundreds of formations and soldier deployment were taken into account. The city had the capacity to defend against ten times their numbers despite the brick walls and feeble houses.

This was the power of mana.

He needed to get up to date with everything that’d happened in the past three years. Zyrus caressed the flag that had grown in his absence and opened the 'Flag march'.

How many resources were gathered? How strong was their army? How many ships did they have? These were just the most basic questions that were answered by the tab.

Using the system might give him an idea, but it was nowhere near enough to draw a clear picture.

‘It’s time I held a proper meeting,’

Zyrus clicked on the message icon and executed one of the authorities he had as the leader.

[Zyrus Wymar has ordered for Muster]

[All players not on a task are to gather at the nearby conquered territory]

[Time remaining– 06:00:00]

200,000 players received the golden text at the same instance.