It was dark.
Darkness embraced every inch of my surroundings.
I could hardly hear or see a thing.
'Where is this...?'
I looked around .
Still, it was dark. Regardless of how much I looked, all I saw was darkness.
'What is going on?'
I tried to speak, but I found my voice stuck inside of throat. Regardless of how much I tried to speak, my mouth refused to open.
Moving my body, I pressed my hand forward where I felt sothing.
It was smooth to the touch, with hints of warmth. I knocked several tis with my knuckle, "Tok, Tok―!', and each knock felt rather light.
'Wood...?'
That appeared to be the case as I tapped again.
Tok, Tok-!
I stopped when I realized it did nothing. I then ran my hand around and tried to get a feel of my surroundings. It was to my shock that I realized that I was trapped on all sides.
I didn't panic imdiately and continued to run my hand around the area I was in. Because of how dark it was, I found it hard to properly feel everything.
Still, I tried to map my surroundings in my mind.
Trying to fully understand my circumstances and the spacing that I had. As my hand traced to my left, I stopped.
'Nothing.'
The space was completely empty.
Or at least, it felt empty.
Tok, tok-!
Knocking on the wall facing my left, my brows jumped up in surprise. The sound... It was a little different compared to the other walls.
It sounded a lot less hollow and a lot more firm.
.... It didn't feel like it was made out of wood.
'How strange...'
I knocked on it several more tis but soon stopped when I realized it was leading nowhere.
I wasn't panicked. If this was really made out of wood, then it was as easy as tearing a piece of paper for .
While it was true that I was a mage, my physical capabilities were far above that of a regular person, and without a second thought, I punched the wall ahead of .
Bang-!
A loud bang resounded as my fist connected with the wall.
The sound was rather loud, but outside of that... nothing happened.
'Eh...?'
I blinked my eyes several tis.
'How does this make sense?'
Feeling the wooden surface before , I was stunned to see that it was still smooth. Not even
a hint of a scratch or dent. This was especially so for the area where I had punched.
That was also incredibly smooth...
'What's going on?'
I still didn't panic, lowering my head as I started to ponder over my situation.
'If that doesn't work, then I can try sothing else.'
Bringing my hand forward, I tried to cast a small spell.
I went for the chains, but...
Tzzz-!
To my shock, the magic circle that I wanted to form shattered in less than a fraction of a second.
Stunned, I could only blankly stare at the darkness as I imagined my empty hand in my mind.
But that wasn't the part that I was focused on. No, that didn't matter to .
What mattered to was the fact that...
'Gone.'
I hardly had any mana within .
It was only extrely minuscule, but that was it.
'My physical body seems to have regressed, and practically all of my mana is gone...'
What kind of fucked up situation was this?
My frown tightened as I desperately held onto my composure.
Touching the side of the space, I repeatedly knocked on all sides, hoping to find so sort of
clue to my situation, but that proved to be aningless as even the hours passed, my situation remained the sa.
11
....."
The darkness continued to embrace every part of my body, but it felt stifling.
With the passing of ti, I started to feel suffocated.
The space was small, and I was trapped, unable to get out of the space or scream for help.
'What's going on...?'
I was sure that I had used the third leaf on Kiera, but what was up with this situation? It made
no sense.
Lost in my thoughts, I continued to wait.
Sothing was bound to happen, right...?
I continued to convince myself that that was the case, but...
".....
Nothing.
Even as the hours continued to pass, I remained stuck in the dark with no way out.
I was confined within a small space, stuck and alone.
My breathing beca shorter, and my head started to feel light. From ti to ti, I'd knock around to feel for sothing that could get out of this space, but it was all to no avail.
It suddenly started to grow hot.
Sweat trickled down the side of my face, and breathing beca more and more difficult.
11
......
My mind remained firm under the circumstances.
I continued to remain calm and just waited patiently. I had experienced far worse in the past.
This much I could handle.
But there was also a limit to how much I could handle.
Ten hours.
...At about the tenth hour, my legs started to cramp.
"....!"
The pain made flinch.
Whatever groan that was about to co out of my mouth, halted just before it could. For
so reason, my body continued to refuse to make a single sound.
It was as though it was afraid of making any noise.
But what about the knocking?
Ti continued to pass.
At the fifteenth hour, my other leg cramped and my neck strained.
Yet again, nothing escaped my lips.
I could only silently endure the pain.
'....I've been through worse.'
Despite the agony that I was in, my mind remained firm.
At least, I tried to keep it firm.
I could feel that it was slowly starting to crumble.
And this beca especially apparent as ti continued to tick, finally reaching the twenty-
four-hour mark.
""
I hadn't slept a wink.
I tried, but the discomfort that I was in made it impossible for to sleep.
'I need to get out.'
By now, desperation was slowly starting to sink into the depths of my mind. I was both
ntally and physically exhausted.
The space was tight, and I was running out of oxygen.
'Out... I need to get out...'
I was desperate to see the light.
It was only my imagination, but it felt as though the walls were closing in on from all
sides.
My breathing grew more shallow, and thoughts of escape were the only ones that ran through
my mind.
I no longer cared about the situation.
....I just wanted to be free from this prison.
It was taking a ntal toll on .
Tok! Tok-
I continued to knock, but it was to no avail.
'Why...? Why is this vision not ending?'
My lips trembled as I bit into them. It was there that I realized that my lips were dry, and so
was my mouth.
'W-ater.'
My mind finally registered the fact that I was both hungry and thirsty.
The sense of desperation I felt heightened at the realization as I desperately ran my hands
around the small space I was confined in.
Having done the sa thing over a hundred tis, I pretty much had the entire space mapped
out in my mind.
I knew what I was doing was aningless, but I had to do sothing.
....I had to do sothing to get out of this space.
Thump!
Soon, my left arm grew limp.
I had lost all of my energy. The hunger and thirst were starting to get to . I could hardly
think as my mind was like a fog.
'...G-get out.'
The only thoughts that ran through my mind were thoughts about escaping.
I wanted to get out of this: space.
I felt so claustrophobic.
It was also then that I felt sothing in my pocket. It was a small box, and as I reached out for
it, my mind montarily blanked.
I started to rember what brought here and my grip on the box tightened.
Lifting the cap open, I slowly removed a long and soft object. It was cylindrical in space, and a
familiar sll of tobacco lingered in the air.
I felt my stomach churn at the sll as the cigarette slipped from my fingers, falling on the
ground beneath .
Tak-
Having grown accustod to the dark, I knew exactly where the cigarette fell with just the
sound it made.
My hand trembled as I reached out for it.
I could still not see a thing, but my mind appeared to fill in the blanks for as I saw my hand
with the cigarette in hand.
The sight made my heart skip a beat.
||
||
It had been a long ti...
Swallowing my saliva, I brought my hand toward the tip of the cigarette. While I couldn't use
mana to create a spell, it wasn't hard for to create a small spark to light up the cigarette.
My hand stopped right at the tip of the cigarette.
""
I licked my lips but only felt pain.
Then...
Snap-!
Sparks flew, and a floating red circle appeared before .
For the first ti in a long ti, I finally saw light. Even if it was due to sothing that I detested, I couldn't help but keep my gaze locked onto the floating red circle. The glowing tip of the cigarette, flickered and pulsed, entracing into the sight.
A sharp and acrid sll followed suit as my nose scrunched up. On any normal occasion, I would've gagged, but this ti, I didn't.
I just continued to stare at the only source of light within this prison of darkness.
...There was sothing about the sll and light that brought comfort in this dark space.
It made want to laugh.
A cigarette of all things...
'Haha.'
I would've never expected the sll to ever bring comfort, but here I was, relishing the
sensations that it brought.
I thought about getting a little taste but stopped myself.
'This is enough.'
.... Even if I wasn't disgusted by the idea, I just didn't feel like it. I was different than the of
the
past.
I didn't need to use it to help escape my reality.
All I needed it for was the light that it brought .
And so,
Snap-
The mont one cigarette finished, I'd lit up another one and just emptily stare at the
floating red circle. The light it provided was extrely dim, and while I tried to get a better
look at my surroundings, it was of no use.
In the end, I was just left with no choice but to remain seated where I was.
Unlike before, I felt much calr.
I continued to light up one cigarette after another.
Snap, snap, snap-
By now, its scent had already spread through every corner of the space, and it was all that I
could sll.
It wasn't a pleasant sll, but within the darkness and suffocating confines of the space, it
felt extrely comforting, distracting from all the bad thoughts.
I was starting to beco addicted to it.
'Huh...?'
Reaching out for another cigarette, my heart dropped when I realized it was the last one.
Before I knew it, I ended up using all the cigarettes available.
....And still, nothing happened.
11
Closing my eyes, I rested my head back.
Snap!
I didn't think twice before lighting the last cigarette.
Tzz!
A red circle floated before .
Entranced, I kept my eyes firmly locked onto it.
'What do I do? How can I get out of this space? I don't understand... What's with this situation?'
Questions flooded my mind as I started to think about what would happen once the cigarette finished, but as ti passed, the quieter my mind beca.
I just focused on relishing the comfort the light brought .
I knew that I didn't have much ti.
With ti, the circle dimd.
As I watched it happen, my heart sank deeper and deeper into my body.
What was I going to do after it was gone? What was I-
Clank!
It was all of a sudden when I heard a loud sound my head sprang up. Looking back, the space I
was in shook as I heard what appeared to be the muffled sound of conversations happening
outside of whatever I was caged in.
To Tok-
I rapidly tapped onto the box, trying my best to get them to notice .
'Hello!? Anybody there?'
Clank!
It didn't seem like they could hear , but the shaking continued.
Despite the agony that accompanied each movent, I turned my body toward the direction
of the sound. Soon, I saw a thin, long white line seeping into the darkness that surrounded
.
It was a thin line that grew wider with each second, allowing for the light to fully invade the
space.
My eyes squinted with pain as I struggled to keep them open, and...
"There's soone here!"
"We've found her!"
Several faces appeared before .
I couldn't quite see their features due to the light, but I couldn't care less. I was finally going
to be out.
I was finally...
"Here, co with ."
11
My body stopped as they reached out for the space beside .
I realized sothing.
They... weren't looking at .
Turning my head, in the area where I thought there was a wall blocking , I saw a young
figure. Her frail body trembled uncontrollably, and her white hair seed to cling to her gaunt face. She was shivering so violently that it was almost painful to watch, and my own body froze.
Most unsettling were her ruby-red eyes.
They were locked on the tip of my cigarette, following its every movent with a haunting, desperate fixation.
Her hands reached out for it, but no words ca out of her mouth as the figures dragged her
away.
I stood frozen on the spot for a brief mont before darkness returned as the doors to the
cabinet closed.
It was then that I understood.
"Oh, I see."
My voice returned then, but I no longer had any words to use.
"...."
In the silence, I sat alone in the space.
Just , and the ashes that lingered in the air.
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