Something about that island was definitely not right. Out of curiosity, I tried to use my teleportation stone, but I failed. It felt like the island was draining my mana and because I wasn’t able to adapt to it, I had the wrong mana output and failed on almost every other magic I attempted too.

“Cough. Cough.”(Takeshi)

The second one to wake up was none other than Takeshi. Watching him choke out water was unsightly. I waited until he finished.

“Wha… Where are we?”(Takeshi)

“I have no idea.”(Me)

“Probably not the spirit’s continent.”(Takeshi)

“No.”(Me)

“Sigh.”(Takeshi)

He needed a short break to catch his breath.

“What I can tell you though, is that this island is really strange.”(Me)

“Huh? Why so?”(Takeshi)

“I feel like it is draining my mana.”(Me)

“Wow, you’re right. Haha. I can’t focus at all.”(Takeshi)

“I can use some smaller types of magic, but I probably won’t be able to get anything serious out.”(Me)

Takeshi too, looked around to check our situation.

“Hmm. Let’s wake the others first.”(Takeshi)

It took some time to wake the others, without the usage of magic. I wanted to wake Hiro by kicking him, but Takeshi stopped me and told me to watch from the side. I don’t know how long it took him, but it felt like an eternity until everyone was more or less awake.

In my opinion, my way of waking them would have been a lot more efficient. As soon as they finished choking water too, the others looked around and realised our situation as well.

Sakura panicked a bit at the beginning. Due to her mana draining, she felt extremely weak and couldn’t even stand up properly. Takeshi comforted her and she calmed down a bit.

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“We should go exploring as soon as possible.”(Hiro)

“It would be the best thing to do right now, but I think it’s better for Sakura to wait here.”(Hayate)

“I told you she’d be a nuisance.”(Me)

My comment was unnecessary and I received one disgusting look from every person present.

“I’ll wait here with her.”(Takeshi)

It was obvious that he’d play the hero, as long as Sakura was involved.

“Ok, then I’ll go with Hayate and Hikaru can go alone.”(Hiro)

“Wait what?”(Me)

Everyone agreed and no one was interested in my opinion. As always. I feel like those decisions we made were not democratic ones.

“Fine.”(Me)

I had nothing to fear, while the other two could come across some problems when going alone. It was the most rational decision, so I was fine with it.

“We’ll take the beach, you get that spooky jungle.”(Hayate)

“I… Sigh. I’ll get you back for all of this later. Just wait.”(Me)

“Haha.”(Hayate)

I would have only wasted my breath by arguing with them. The two of them started going right, while I went to the forest. We decided to be back before it gets dark. Takeshi and Sakura would wait for us to return. In worst case, Takeshi would be able to hold out until one of us returns.

From afar, the trees looked like normal trees, but when I stood in front of them, they seemed a lot bigger than normal ones. They also gave an intimidating pressure. I didn’t care though.

“Sigh. Let’s see what surprises you have for me.”(Me)

I entered the forest. In order not to get lost, I sometimes put my mark on some of the trees. Rune magic had many positive aspects if used correctly. I could roughly feel where I put my marks down, so I more or less knew how to go straight ahead, without getting lost.

I noticed the next strange thing, as soon as I entered the forest. There were no sounds.

“Hello.”(Me)

I checked if this was some kind of magic, but it seemed like there was just nothing that would make any sound. So no animals and no wind. Without a certain goal in mind, I left quite a distance behind me.

Soon, I came to realise something. That island was extremely huge. I have wandered without a break and I felt like I haven’t even seen half of it. I moved slower than normal, because the mana draining feeling was exhausting and it felt like I was burning twice the amount of stamina, but I still moved fast.

“Finally. Rocks!”(Me)

I finally caught a glimpse of something else except trees and plants. I could see a big mountain range right in front of me. I didn’t have any problems climbing up. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to utilize any magic with the element of wind, so it took more than just a few jumps. I had to actually climb up.

The first thing I noticed while climbing up was my mana slowly stabilizing. I felt full of energy as soon as I reached the top.

“This…” (Me)

When I looked down from the mountain range and saw what unfolded in front of me I couldn’t help but be shocked. In front of me, death could be felt and seen everywhere. Burnt down trees, skeletons of animals and grey earth. Even when I focused all of my senses to their fullest capacities, I couldn’t feel any remaining life.

I marked the top of the mountain range I was at and jumped down from it. Coming down was an easier feat than going up. Perhaps, because I could support myself with wind magic again. I kept going forward for quite some time.

“This island is surely strange.”(Me)

I was alone and the habit of talking to myself unfolded itself again. However, it was a unique island. My mana was drained outside of the mountain range, but I had no idea where it actually went. It felt like it was flowing to the centre of the island, but this was a dead land, so where did it go?

I don’t know how much time passed, but it was still day, or at least the sun was still up, until I came across it.

“First a mana draining forest, followed by a wasteland. What now? A house full of ghosts?”(Me)

In the middle of the wasteland stood a single building.