It was a simple room. The wooden walls had darkened in several places with age. Pale yellow sunlight streamed through the window in front of the room, falling softly across the table. The room was almost completely silent, broken only by the irregular sound of Raijin's breathing.
A bed stood beside the table, and Raijin lay unconscious on it. Sofiya was sitting beside the bed, her head resting against its edge.
Suddenly, a groan escaped Raijin's lips.
"Uhh… Uhh…"
Sofiya's eyes immediately opened. She looked toward Raijin in alarm.
Raijin's eyes were tightly shut, as if a child were closing his eyes to escape something terrifying. His body was drenched in sweat, and his head kept turning from side to side, as though he were resisting something that no one else in the room could see. His breathing would sometimes become rapid, then suddenly slow down so much that Sofiya feared he might stop breathing altogether. Tiny beads of sweat had gathered on his forehead. At times, his fingers would clutch the blanket tightly, only to suddenly loosen again.
Sofiya had tried waking him several times, but every time Raijin would mumble a few unclear words before sinking back into the same restless state.
"Raijin…"
Sofiya gently shook his shoulder.
Suddenly, Raijin's eyes snapped open in panic.
"Sofiya… Ishan… Kade!"
The moment they heard his voice, hurried footsteps came from outside, and the next second, Ishan and Kade entered the room.
"What happened? Is everything alright?" Ishan asked anxiously.
At that very moment, Raijin suddenly sat upright. He grabbed his head with both hands and groaned in pain. His fingers dug so tightly into his hair, as if he were trying to force the pain inside his head out.
All three of them stared at him.
Sofiya immediately sat beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Raijin, calm down… What happened to you?"
Raijin took several deep breaths and struggled to steady himself.
"Yes… I'm fine. It's just a slight headache."
After a few moments, he looked around the room before turning toward Sofiya.
"What are you doing here in my room?"
For a moment, Sofiya simply stared at him. Then both anger and concern appeared in her eyes.
"You're worried about what I'm doing here? You should worry about yourself instead. You've been unconscious for three whole days."
Raijin's eyebrows tightened.
"Three days…?"
He could hardly believe it. He had thought he had only been unconscious for a few hours.
Was I seeing something during that time?
The question crossed his mind, but no answer came.
The memories of those three days seemed trapped behind a locked door. He could almost feel his mind standing in front of that door, unable to open it.
Sofiya let out a heavy breath.
"I… I had to come here every day to check on you."
Every day, she had changed his water, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and listened to his breathing to make sure he was alright. Ishan and Kade had also come to check on him several times, but Sofiya had hardly ever stayed away from him for long.
She herself did not know why she had been doing it.
Perhaps because Raijin had saved their lives twice.
Or perhaps because she was afraid that if she left him alone and something happened to him, she would never be able to forgive herself.
Raijin lowered his head.
"My head already hurts… Could you be quiet for a while?"
Sofiya glared at him but said nothing.
Just then
Drip… Drip… Drip…
Raijin turned his head to the left.
A few drops of water were falling onto the mattress.
He looked up.
"Is my room leaking?"
He thought for a moment.
"No… This is the second floor. There are still two floors above us. And it isn't even raining."
Drip…
Another drop fell.
Raijin blinked.
Tears were streaming down Sofiya's face. She wiped them away with her sleeve and said,
"Are you an idiot? We're the ones who should be apologizing… for putting your life in danger."
Raijin frowned.
"For putting my life in danger? What are you talking about?"
I don't remember anything.
Ishan and Kade exchanged glances. Neither of them understood why Raijin remembered nothing.
Eventually, they quietly left the room.
Silence returned.
Sofiya asked softly,
"Do you really not remember anything?"
"No. I don't remember anything."
Sofiya took a deep breath.
"I, Ishan, and Kade were fighting a Toto Saurus. We had already defeated one—that was our mission. But then eight more Toto Sauruses appeared. We were surrounded from all sides."
"Toto Saurus…"
The moment Raijin heard the name, his eyebrows tightened.
For an instant, a blurred silhouette of a girl flashed through his mind.
Then it disappeared.
He grabbed his head.
"Did you remember something?" Sofiya asked.
Raijin kept his eyes closed for a few moments.
"No."
Sofiya continued.
"You were passing by that area. When you heard our voices… you jumped into the battlefield without thinking."
Raijin remained silent.
"So… that happened to me?"
"Yes."
Sofiya's voice became quieter.
"And that's why you're here."
She fell silent for a moment before continuing.
"I'm sorry. If we had been more careful, this wouldn't have happened…"
She clenched her hands tightly.
"If you hadn't been there…"
She could not finish the sentence.
"We probably wouldn't be here today."
Raijin looked at her. For the first time, he could clearly see that Sofiya wasn't simply offering a formal thank-you.
She genuinely blamed herself.
"It's alright," Raijin said calmly. "I should have been more careful too."
Sofiya looked at him.
"Thank you… from the bottom of my heart, for saving our lives again. And please take a little care of yourself too."
There was a faint warmth in her voice now.
Raijin lowered his gaze.
"Thank you… for taking care of me."
Sofiya's face turned slightly red.
For a few moments, the atmosphere in the room became quiet and lighter.
Then Sofiya said,
"You saved our…"
She suddenly stopped.
Raijin looked at her.
"What happened?"
Sofiya became completely still.
Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, but it seemed as though she was no longer looking at Raijin at all.
The temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
Raijin saw a faint mist escape with his breath.
The window was closed.
Yet the curtain slowly began to move.
Sofiya's deep green eyes suddenly became completely still. There was no trace of life or emotion left in them.
She slowly raised her head.
The face was the same.
The eyes were the same.
The body was the same.
But for the first time, Raijin felt—
The person in front of him was not Sofiya.
Before Raijin could say anything, a calm voice came from Sofiya's lips.
"I have sealed your powers for now."
Raijin's eyebrows tightened.
"My powers…?"
"Don't try to use them yet."
"Why?"
For a few moments, there was no answer.
Then the voice spoke.
"Because your body isn't ready to handle them yet."
Raijin's gaze remained fixed on her eyes.
"And some of your memories…"
A brief pause.
"They are sealed as well."
Raijin's eyes widened.
"My memories?"
"They will return."
The voice remained completely calm.
"But not all at once."
"Slowly."
"When your mind and body become capable of accepting them."
Before Raijin could understand anything, the strange stillness in Sofiya's eyes slowly disappeared.
For a few moments, she continued looking at Raijin. Then she placed a hand against her forehead and let out a very faint breath, as if speaking to herself—
"I'm such an idiot…"
Raijin looked at her in confusion.
The voice came again.
"There was no need for me to come here for so long."
A brief pause.
"He won't remember it anyway."
Her fingers slowly moved down from her forehead.
"Sleeping too much isn't good either…"
Then she whispered,
"I shouldn't have come here."
The next moment, everything in the room returned to normal.
The cold air disappeared.
The curtain stopped moving.
Sofiya's eyes returned to normal.
Raijin stared at her in shock.
"What… was that?"
At that moment, the door opened and Ishan and Kade entered.
Sofiya blinked several times.
"Raijin…?"
She asked softly,
"What happened?"
Raijin looked at her.
"Nothing."
Sofiya stared at him for a few moments. There was a faint confusion on her face as well, as though she herself did not understand what she had been about to say moments ago.
She shook her head and tried to compose herself.
Raijin looked around the room.
The same bed.
The same table.
The same window.
And yet he could not shake the feeling that something extremely important had just passed before him.
He tried to grasp it.
But every time he did, the thought slipped away.
Ishan stood silently for a few moments. He seemed to have a lot to say, but could not find the words.
Eventually, he took a deep breath.
"I'm not good at saying things like this…"
He looked at Raijin.
"But I want to say it today."
Raijin quietly looked at him.
"Thank you for saving our lives again. I don't know what I can do for you. It may not be much, but whenever you need us… just say the word."
Ishan's voice became serious.
"I don't know about the others, but I would even give my life for you."
He let out a quiet breath.
"This life owes you a debt. You've saved our lives not once, but twice. It might sound a little strange, but I mean every word of it."
A faint smile appeared on Raijin's face.
"It's alright. It was my duty."
The moment he said that, another wave of pain struck his head.
He placed a hand against his forehead.
"Leave me alone for a while. I want to rest."
"Alright," Sofiya said. "There's food on the table. Make sure you eat it."
The three of them began to leave.
Before stepping through the door, Kade stopped.
"I went to the Guild before coming here. The Guild Master said that once you wake up, you should meet him."
With that, he left as well.
The door closed.
Raijin slowly lay back down on the bed.
The room became quiet again.
But there was no peace inside him.
He closed his eyes.
My powers…
He tried to remember the conversation that had just taken place.
First, he remembered Sofiya's face.
Then her voice.
Then a few words—
"Your…"
After that, everything became blurred.
Raijin frowned.
"What am I forgetting?"
He tried to think again.
But the harder he tried to remember, the farther that conversation seemed to drift from his consciousness.
As if someone had drawn a white curtain across his mind.
"My powers…"
He whispered again.
Suddenly, a tremor ran through his entire body.
A powerful pressure rose inside his chest.
An unfamiliar warning surfaced from within him—
"Don't think about it."
Raijin's breath caught.
It felt as though his mind wanted to move forward, but some invisible force of will inside him was forcibly holding it back.
As if thinking about it any further would cause his body to tear itself apart from within.
Thump… Thump... Thump…
His heartbeat echoed throughout the room.
Raijin suddenly opened his eyes.
There was no one in the room.
And yet he could clearly feel it—
There was something inside him that he desperately needed to know about.
As if a vital part of his soul was slowly slipping away from him… and he himself was falling downward into a dark, endless abyss.