“Now let me explain” was what Core said, and all fell silent around, even the sound of the air which was present earlier had gone away. All was still.

“This” Core obviously meant me here “Is the result of my latest experiment” Core vocalized. Those who could frown in the crowd did so, likely wondering why I was here. Myself included.

“I pulled this human from a world without mana” a gasp and clattering of bones could be heard “And like I hypothesized his body at first refused any Mana, both from the natural environment and from me.” More gasps and clattering could be heard, they were clearly having issues staying silent and listening to the explanation.

“I made him read this skill book” A copy of the book I read earlier appeared out of thin air on the table between me and the creatures in front of me “A skill book you may all know I have produced many years ago as another series of experiments”.

“But how?” Calcoph, the undead, asked “The internal mana of all previous subjects resisted the change and forced the subject to either be wiped completely blank, or would even force them to self-destruct!” At this point I didn’t even listen to what it was saying and was far more focused on how this skeleton could talk without any vocal chords. Even though there was something that didn’t have a body which could both talk and speak into my mind.

“As I said, this human’s body refused any mana, which was something I expected and hoped for as I set about to collect him. Because of this particular trait he apparently also had no internal mana to fight against this particular skill book allowing it to apply as any other. And only the minute resistance of mana density was left.” By now the monsters sitting opposed from me began chatting amongst each other, none of which I was able to understand, sadly.

Core remained silent and the group of monsters opposed to me apparently reached a conclusion as they began yelling out what I can only assume to be a cheer of joy. It’s hard to figure out that sort of thing when most of the things in front of you don’t even have vocal chords… Or skin for that matter.

Hornscale stood up, an expression I couldn’t quite read upon his face “Congratulations on your success Master Core” he said, bowing forward somewhat. The others also rose. All of this gave me an immense sense of awkwardness which made me realize one thing which the bone-head had said earlier.

“You could’ve killed me!?” I yelled in surprise, not truly realizing what it entailed at this point in my youthful naivety “You knew that it could kill me and still forced me to read it, what kind of psychopath are you?” I yelled out, anger becoming present in my system as I stood upright.

At this point some more of the absurdness of the situation began hitting me, and in all honesty I’m already sick of telling you how much of a gutless wuss I was back at this point. Tears began streaming down my face and it felt like a chunk was stuck in my throat. Sniffing to try and swallow it back down I said “First… You take me away…” If I were a girl wearing any makeup then by now most of it would’ve been all the way on my chin “From my… family”.

“Then…” my hands now balled into fists while I tried to force the words out of my throat “You blew me through the darkness”. I’m honestly not sure if anyone was even listening, or if I was just expressing my own anger, confusion, and fear “Then… You yelled at… me and dropped me… in a hole” a deep breath, and once more I swallowed to try and force down the chunk in my throat “And then you… Made me do something… That could…’ve… killed me!”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

By now I began to get the feeling that these creatures, these monsters, were looking at me. I don’t know why at the time I thought it was a good idea but I said “And now… You’ve put me on display to these… Monsters. Like I’m… Some kind of farm animal!” and in all honesty by now, after I had said what I did, I expected most, if not all of them to become upset or even angry. But they didn’t. They did not become angry. In fact I could see the largest of them all, the Ogre, making a very saddened expression. I couldn’t read the other’s expressions, save for the underdressed demon, but somehow I knew that I had really disappointed that overly large fellow. Like the face my parents would’ve made when I told them I’d failed my French test, but without the compassionate smile afterwards and them saying “It’s okay, you can try again next time”.

Silence was present in the room, a silence which was painful to me. None of the regular sounds I was used to had been present since I got here, something which only dawned on me in this silence which followed my outburst. I couldn’t hear the buzzing of electricity or electrical devices. I couldn’t hear the chirping of birds, the noises that insects make, or even the grass being blown by the wind. It just wasn’t there, and at this moment I became perfectly aware of this.

Seconds passed, slowly, ever slowly turning into a single minute of deafening silence. And before this minute could become two Rakk, the Ogre, spoke. A deep and slow voice ringing my ears loudly, but not uncomfortably so “How saddening… How human… To scorn others for their appearance”

“I…” I wanted to defend myself, but no words came out of my throat. The chunk that had been stuck in my throat was finally gone there but had sunk to my stomach where it blocked even my thoughts. “I…” I tried again but still nothing more than that single sound slipped away, seemingly blocked by that chunk which simply didn’t want to disappear. The edges of my vision seemed to slowly darken, and yet the expression of disappointment did not seem to lessen, instead it only seemed to become more apparent.

I began to breathe faster, a choking feeling in my throat forcing me to breathe heavier too. My vision darkened further and a sense of icy cold panic began to spread out from my chest. “What if I die… what if I die!?” I thought, my vision now also blurring. The panic now spread further along my body. This combined with my vision darkening which gave the feeling as though the panic was eating my vision, which only made me more uncomfortable and afraid.

My vision was now completely gone, and the icy cold quickly began to spread over my face. I could barely sense it go past my eyes before… I blanked out completely. I had fainted.

…

…

I dreamt that I was at home, with my parents. They scolded me for failing the test, but made me hot chocolate to cheer me up, telling me it was okay and that I would do better next time. I was happy.

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My apoligies for the relatively late post today, things happened IRL. I was kinda busy because of it and unlike usually where I wake up and post, today I woke up and headed out. I havn't started on chapter 7 because of it either, so I can't promise to release it tomorrow, but I'll work on it nonetheless.