A breath pushed through Arian's ribs, uneven and loud. Speech came only after effort, each word dragged forward. The air between sentences trembled slightly. His voice broke the quiet like something brittle. Sound emerged again - slow, strained, necessary.
"…I'm truly in your debt, Mr. Benjamin."
Into his thoughts came the image of the shopkeeper's quiet smile - Benjamin motionless by the register, lids lowered, face softened, proposing lessons in reading, in grasping spells… despite their meeting only moments before.
And now -
Fingers curled tight, Arian pressed his palms into rigid knots.
What you showed me will not be lost.
Above the table, her fingers began to lift. Across the space between them, the movement unfolded without sound.
A glow of deep red began to form within her hand.
A brightness, narrow yet intense, appears - shaped as if drawn by stillness. From silence it emerges, a thread of radiance held taut. Not wide, but focused, cutting through without sound. As though clarity itself had taken form, motionless at first, then advancing. Light behaves here unlike elsewhere: not spreading, but aiming.
A sudden stillness filled Arian's chest. His lungs paused without warning. Air refused to move. The moment stretched, thin and sharp. Silence answered where sound should have been.
Fire awaits her next move.
Thoughts rushed through his head without pause.
Imagine mana escaping. The gate - unseen, silent - opens within you. From that moment onward, energy drifts outward. Not gone, but shifting. Beyond reach now, like breath lost to air. A quiet release begins here.
Inside his mind, Benjamin's words kept returning. Sentences formed again without invitation. Thought circled the same quiet phrase. Repetition made it stick. Echoes did not fade quickly.
Arian closed his eyelids with force. He pressed them together without pause. Tightness held across his face. His gaze stayed hidden beneath still skin.
Sure. Attempting it now.
Inside his imagination, he pictured it.
Deep inside his chest - something like a door.
A heavy gate.
Following that, a vast shape moved, liquid in motion.
Mana.
Filled completely, energy moved through every part of him.
Open.
A whisper of movement crossed his thoughts. The hinge groaned forward, inch by reluctant inch.
Frost spread through the air. A chill moved across the surface.
Arian advanced the picture beyond its prior state.
Suddenly -
Everything disappeared.
His senses vanished.
He couldn't smell.
Far-off sounds of traffic failed to reach his ears.
He couldn't see.
Yet the absence of light did not define it.
Not true darkness.
That sensation resembled closing your eyes while attempting to view beyond - just a dim, persistent weight stayed behind.
A strange emptiness.
Arian stiffened.
A heavy force pressed upon him, as though unseen fingers tightened slowly from all sides.
"Tch…!"
Footsteps faltered, yet he remained upright. The effort showed in his clenched jaw.
"…Damn it…"
What emerged was a voice tight with effort.
"Mr. Benjamin… you never said I'd be affected by this too!"
Strength increased within that instant.
The pressure.
The silence.
The suffocating emptiness.
Then slowly -
It faded.
Breath returned, filling his chest once more.
Sound reached him before anything else.
After that came the feeling in his skin.
Then his sight.
Quick blinks followed as Arian saw clearly again.
Yet a shift occurred.
Fog vanished, leaving only silence in its wake.
However -
In silence, beyond the narrow passage between buildings, a young female remained within a dense veil of dark fog. A heavy haze surrounded her form without motion or sound.
The mist curled about her form, moving as if breathed by unseen lungs.
Dense.
Heavy.
Stillness held her, every motion now hesitant, caught between confusion and the weight of sudden change. The air around her seemed heavier, each breath a pause in time, as though clarity refused to come. Slowly, her body responded less, frozen by an unseen force pulling at thought. Understanding slipped away, distant like echoes fading down a long hall. What had occurred remained unclear, wrapped in silence that stretched too far.
Arian's eyes widened.
"…It worked."
Now the fog had no hold on him.
Yet within it, she remained confined.
Fog brought by Havoc took more than breath - it removed sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. What Benjamin spoke of was not theory. Those within its reach found themselves empty of perception. Passage through it left only hollow awareness. Not one sense remained when the gray veil passed. His words carried weight because others had vanished into silence after encountering it. The mist did not warn. It simply acted.
Sight.
Hearing.
Smell.
Touch.
All gone.
And right now -
Nothing reached her awareness.
Faster began Arian's heartbeat.
"This… this is my chance."
On trembling limbs, he rose despite the ache moving across his shoulder and down into his legs.
Shaking moved through him. A tremor ran along his frame.
His breathing ragged.
Yet indifference marked his response.
A second look came toward the dark mist twisting around her. The air moved without wind, circling close. Shadows stretched beyond their source, pulled by unseen edges. Her outline blurred into the haze like smoke meeting night. Stillness held even as motion filled the space. What remained was neither storm nor silence, but something shaped between.
After that, his gaze shifted to the wide road just past the narrow passage.
"…This is my chance to escape."
Arian was already stepping, though thought lagged behind. Movement came first, awareness after.
He ran.
Out into the tight passage he rushed, each footfall rebounding off stone walls while air scraped his throat with every pull of breath.
"Finally…!" he gasped between breaths. "I'm going to escape her!"
A quiet light stirred within his chest, though nothing had changed. A fragile warmth where none had been before.
Behind him, a look came across his face. A moment passed before he turned back.
Inside the thinning dark cloud, the girl remained, attempting to stand. Though weak, movement came slowly. A faint shape within the haze resisted falling again. Rising proved difficult under such weight. There, in the dimness, effort continued without sound.
Now her steps took more time. She moved with less speed than before.
But then -
Once more, she lifted her hand into the air.
Arian's heart froze.
"No way…!"
Crimson light started gathering within her hand.
The light returns, just as fatal. Still it shines with identical force.
The force once ripping through barriers... then bodies.
Yet at the moment light began pooling -
It flickered.
The light trembled.
And then -
It disappeared.
The fingers lay still beneath her gaze. A quiet moment passed without sound. Her eyes remained fixed on the skin and bone. Nothing moved but time.
"…What?"
Arian blinked.
"…Wait."
His mind raced.
"Don't tell me…"
A hush settled over his words, pace dipping just a fraction. Unbelief seeped through each syllable like mist beneath a door.
"…She can't use her magic?"
A whisper of an idea had just arrived when her gaze locked onto him.
And suddenly -
She moved.
Not with magic.
Yet defined by sheer velocity.
Forward she moved, swift as a released bowstring.
A sudden stillness gripped Arian's face. His pupils expanded sharply under the weight of what he saw.
"Damn it!"
"She's fast - !"
Each step echoed sharply on the pavement while she followed behind. The sound broke through silence just before dawn arrived. Running faster did not change what was already set in motion.
They drew closer without delay.
"She's going to catch me!"
A sudden burst of motion came from Arian, pushing through despite the ache lodged deep in his injured shoulder. Not stopping mattered more than comfort now, each step drawn out under pressure. Forward meant survival, even when every muscle resisted. The ground blurred beneath him, will overpowering injury. Speed returned not by choice but necessity, breath sharp and unrelenting.
Forth came a broader path where the lane had led. The way widened without warning, stretching forward under open sky.
From nowhere, they sprinted past crowds, leaving puzzled faces in their wake.
Arian's breath became ragged.
Burning was what his legs seemed to feel.
Yet onward he moved.
A bit further remains
Then suddenly -
THUD!
A force struck his back without warning.
The impact drove him down against the cold surface of the rock. A sudden motion left his body sprawled where it fell. There, on the unyielding floor, he lay without movement. Weight pressed into solid earth beneath. The fall ended in stillness.
"Agh - !"
Into him came a sudden emptiness where breath had been.
He had no time to respond before it happened
A heavy mass settled above his body.
The girl.
He found himself on the ground before realizing what happened.
Above him stretched endless blue, where clouds drifted without hurry. Motionless, he rested upon the ground, eyes fixed upward. Stillness held his body, yet thoughts moved behind still eyes. The air carried warmth, though shadows began to stretch. Time passed, marked only by breath and shifting light.
The next moment -
SMACK!
A sudden strike landed on his cheekbone. The force shifted his head sideways. Impact echoed through the quiet space.
Heat burst along the side of his face.
SMACK!
Another punch.
Then another.
Down came her fists, once more, then still again. The motion repeated without pause. Each strike followed the last in relentless sequence. Again she brought them downward. Still they fell.
Lifting his arms took what little strength he had left. A feeble barrier formed between him and the blow.
"Stop - !"
A second blow landed on his chin. Yet another hit reached his lower face. His jaw took the force once more.
"I don't know who you are!"
he shouted desperately.
"What do you want from me?!"
Still moving, her fists stayed in motion.
Blood spilled into his mouth.
"What did I do?"
"Who are you?! I really don't know!"
Fire filled her gaze. The look held anger without sound.
"Shut up."
SMACK!
Another punch.
Arian's vision blurred.
"I'm telling you the truth!" he cried. "I don't know! I don't know anything!"
A sharp sound broke from his throat when the next strike struck. Each blow arrived without pause, yet this one split something loose inside him.
"I just came to this wor - "
Midway through his words, silence took hold
Everything disappeared.
The street.
The girl.
The sky.
All of it disappeared.
In an instant.
Arian fell, meeting an endless stretch of white. The ground received him without sound. Light spread where motion had been. Stillness followed the drop. Space opened around his form. Silence filled the area after the fall. White covered everything nearby.
White extended without limit, in all directions it went on forever.
Empty air settled between them. Stillness took hold without warning.
Then -
A voice.
Cold.
Familiar.
The sound returned, familiar from earlier moments.
It was the voice heard at his initial passing.
"Fool."
A sound lingered, spreading across the empty brightness. Stillness followed, broken only by that single utterance repeating without origin.
Arian's eyes widened.
"You…!"
Suddenly -
An intense pressure burst through his chest without warning.
"Agh - !"
A hollowness spread where warmth once sat. Silence followed the sharpness. The air grew still, though nothing moved.
His body convulsed.
A sudden rush of blood rose into his throat.
Arian fell to the pale earth, his body expelling thick streams of crimson fluid. Blood spilled heavily across the surface beneath him. The air stilled as red spread in uneven patterns. His breath came slow, broken by each spasm. Ground and garment soaked through without resistance.
A stain began where color met cloth. The whiteness shifted under spreading movement. Across it traveled a hue once contained. What had been clean now held trace of flow.
Again.
And again.
Blood filled his throat, spilling out in thick waves. A gasp broke loose when the flow surged again.
"What… is… happening…?"
Shaking moved through his fingers where they touched the soil.
A second utterance emerged. The words returned once more.
Calm.
Uncaring.
"Your debt remains unpaid."
Arian tried to breathe.
Yet the discomfort intensified steadily.
Then -
Suddenly -
Everything vanished.
The white world disappeared.
The pain.
The blood.
The voice.
All gone.
Then again, just afterward -
Open flew Arian's eyes.
He was back.
Here again, within tangible existence.
Back on the street.
Remains stretched out, facing upward.
And above him -
The girl.
A second strike landed on his face, driven by her clenched hand.
Blood appeared without warning at Arian's lips. It spilled forward, sudden and thick.
A quantity far from minor -
A terrifying amount.
Out came the fluid, forced by pressure too great to contain. Violent coughs shook him, breath caught while crimson seeped down his jaw, pooling on cold rock beneath. From within surged what no vessel could keep. A stream ran slow then faster, staining grey ground dark. Each spasm brought more, unasked, inevitable. The mouth opened without warning, releasing weight grown unbearable. Wetness traced a path where skin met air. Stone absorbed what flesh rejected.
" - Ghh…!"
He seemed to be bringing up blood. Blood appeared in what he expelled.
Warm.
Endless.
His vision trembled.
What… what just happened…?
Just now, he was in another place entirely.
That white world.
That voice.
Fool.
Inside his mind, the word lingered - soft, distant, almost gone.
A sharp pain flared across his ribs, as if an unseen force ripped outward. From within, heat spread steadily. The sensation lingered longer than expected. Breathing grew uneven. Each inhale pulled tighter. Something deep shifted without warning. Then silence followed, abrupt.
A second surge of blood rose through his throat.
Arian exhaled sharply, a fresh stain spreading beneath. Then came another spasm, dark droplets marking the earth once more.
A moment passed before the girl above him reacted - her stillness sharp, broken only by surprise at what had shifted so fast.
Yet once more, her face hardened into fury.
Down went her hands, fast, toward his neck.
Her hand closed around his neck.
Hard.
A sudden stillness gripped her hands, knuckles pale under pressure.
"Die."
Low came her voice.
Cold.
"Die."
The pressure in her hand increased steadily.
"Die."
A gasp escaped him when breath ceased to reach Arian's chest. His body reacted before thought could follow. Silence pressed harder than sound ever did.
From trembling fingers rose a feeble grip on her wrists, pressing outward. Resistance shaped each slow motion as he sought distance. Her stance held firm beneath the quiet struggle. Movement paused just before surrender took hold.
Yet the power within him grew less each moment.
Shaking spread through his arms, slow at first. Weakness followed, settling deep. Motion stopped without warning. Strength vanished like smoke.
Into the quiet space between them she moved, those red eyes fixed - filled with loathing. Her gaze did not waver, sharp as a blade held at dawn.
"Die, die, die, die - !"
Fingers pressed hard, sinking into the flesh of his neck. Deepening pressure came without warning. Throat tightened under relentless grip. Breath strained through narrowing passage. Force held steady, unyielding in its reach.
The edges of Arian's sight started fading. Darkness crept inward slowly.
Floating specks moved through his vision.
Fear filled his chest as breath refused to come.
Weight settled into his limbs, slow and certain.
Colder.
The grip on her wrists began to ease. Gradually, his fingers uncurled.
His thoughts drifted.
Thus ends the matter.
The world outside grew quiet. A hush settled where noise once moved. Silence took the space left behind.
The noise from far-off voices faded away.
Stillness settled across everything. Silence filled each space where sound once moved.
Am I Dying Again?
His eyelids drooped.
The resistance within his frame came to an end.
The final trace of power drained through his hands.
Father…
Slowly, everything started to fade away.
Yet close to when night took hold entirely -
The grip around his neck stopped without warning.
Her fingers loosened, drawing back slowly.
"…What?"
Her voice sounded confused.
Sound reached Arian faintly.
Blurry was how his vision had become.
Even then, his body no longer reacted. Despite everything, movement ceased entirely.
Yet a slight sense of her shifting away brushed his awareness.
Something in his manner seemed different now.
"…What is this…?"
Now her voice carried a note of hesitation.
Beyond knowing her meaning, Arian lost awareness. Before comprehension came, his mind had already faded.
The final image he viewed -
High up, there appeared the sky over the town.
Then -
Nothing.