The Essence of Void

Without even waiting for the dust to settle, that crazy Demigod runs towards the newly formed crater. Lia is hesitant to approach since there is apparently a lot of heat radiating from the blast zone, but neither that Demigod nor I are affected by it. Although just as I reach the edge of the crater, the crazy one is already running back to me.

"There wasn't a Void Root in this," she says. But before I can say anything she continues, " but have no fear, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan still has a plan, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan always has a plan."

She points up towards the sky again and I have a bad feeling as my eyes follow where she's pointing. Just as I thought, when I look up I see not just one red dot, but three of them falling toward us. Seeing this, I do the only thing a sane person would do, secret technique, run away!

Without wasting a moment, I make a break for it, leaving that crazy old Demigod where she stands. As I reach Lia, without saying a word, I just pick her up over my shoulder and keep running. After I feel we're sufficiently far away, I look back and see one meteor after another crash into the mountain from varying directions.

Looking over towards the city, I can see that some of the guards stationed around the outer wall are panicked while others have a look of resignation on their face. Seems like some of them are used to this insanity... that's probably not a good thing.

"^°´?-*+|#<§-chan~ has obtained the Void Root! one out of four, not the worst," she says, having suddenly appeared behind us.

Turning around, I see her sticking her hand out towards me. I can feel the presence of the Root, but I can't actually see anything that could possibly be it.

"Jeez~ what are you waiting for? Or maybe you want ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan to feed you, hehe~."

"No, I just don't see anything that resembles the Root, although I know it's here."

"Well duh, the Void Root is transparent after all. You'd be a weirdo if you could see it."

I don't even know what to say. She of all people has no right to call anyone a weirdo. I'm sure the look on my face makes my feelings towards her statement clear, but I remain silent and place my hand above hers as I can feel the Root enter my grasp. Much like the previous Roots, I swallow this and begin to absorb the Essence. The process isn't very long and I soon find that unlike the previous ones, the name of this Essence isn't anything fancy and is simply called the Essence of Void.

After fully absorbing the Essence, I begin to feel strange all over my body, but the most notable areas are my lungs, stomach, and liver. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it kind of feels like my organs are rapidly expanding and then condensing. I'm starting to get a little nauseous from the feeling.

In the next moment, I find that the scene has changed again and the three of us have returned to her underground dwelling. Off to the side, I notice Yue shaking underneath the stone table, but I don't pay it much attention as I can feel my food coming back up.

Falling to my knees, it all comes back up, *bleh*.

"Ahh! Not the floor! Assistant, go clean it up."

"Are you talking to me?" Lia asks.

"Ya, who else is the assistant here. ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan's research subject is feeling sick from the changes the power of the Void brought and the silly birdie is scared of the rocks falling from the atmosphere."

"Ehh... even if it is Cory's vomit, it's still disgusting, I don't really want to touch it."

"If you do it, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan will teach you about real magic, not the silly counterfeit that most people on the outside use."

"You know about magic,? I was under the impression that people in Shengdi were unaware of it. And what do you mean real magic?" Lia asks.

"Of course I know about magic, I'm everyone's adorable genius, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan~. Your magic is nothing compared to what a true proper magical girl like ^��´?-*+|#<§-chan can use."

Hearing the conversation, I try to pull myself together, saying, "w-wait, I want... to hear this too... and tell me about... Void."

"Just wait a few hours and you'll be A-OK, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan guarantees. ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan might consider telling you all about magic once that barf gets cleaned up. So don't take too long, or the lovely ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan will get sleepy~."

"What... about the Void?" I say, having mostly recovered.

"You're going to go from the ugly duckling to the beautiful swan, every girl's dream~."

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask.

"Your body is changing. A shame not everyone is on ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan's level of intelligence."

"No shit sherlock. I know my body's changing, but what is actually going on?"

"Pretty soon you'll be able to survive the vacuum of space and withstand high amounts of pressure. And just like hoe people infuse Divine Energy into their attacks, you can do the same with Void Energy. Do you get it now, you've received a free power-up from the greatest, the cutest, and the smartest magical girl in Grauntia, ^°´?-*+|#<§-chan~! Now if I'm not wrong your left arm should be settled, just let me amputate and study it."

"No! We have a deal, no dissecting!" I yell while trying moving back.

"Stingy~! Fine, I'm going to sleep," she says before vanishing from our sight.

"So what now?" Yue asks.

"Since when did you leave the safety of the table?"

"Erase that from your memory and speak about it to no one. And she kinda took the door with her when she left."

"Huh?"

Turning my head, looking back and forth, I'm quick to see that there really isn't a door, what the hell!

"We're probably stuck here until tomorrow," Yue says.

"Wait, let me try something," I say as I try to manipulate the Earth with my newfound powers.

But try as I might, between the horrible feeling in my body and the strange resistance again, I can't open a path for us. *sigh* Guess we just have to wait then.