You have met The Chained Entity who smiles at his own pitiful state. Or the foolish chained entity for short.

972 exp gained from the encounter.

I grabbed the blue translucent message and threw it at a wall where it harmlessly shattered to nothing.

That bastard was still chasing that bad end of his, even after being given hope.

Was this route bound to fail just because he was being stubborn?

I'd made so much progress.

Going back. I could do things differently.

But...

I knew that it would never be this good.

The only one who would be interested in helping a powerless person like me, trapped in that tiny cage was him.

When I mentioned the favor he owed me, he tilted his head.

Eyes staring, stiff.

I didn't mention it was from another life.

Surprise, surprise.

He knew that.

It wasn't exactly a favor from him.

But it was a favor, freely given.

That was enough for him to make a choice.

When he touched the cage. It started shaking, pulling itself apart as it peeled around me.

Heavy steel chains rattled in the air, pulled taut by paper spikes that twisted in opposite directions before the links finally snapped apart.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Reckless was the only thing I could call it. Even though it looked like courage when I was younger.

Such recklessness should have gotten him killed.

But it didn't.

No one I Feared showed up.

They all owed him favors.

Small or not.

And more so.

This did not count as a favor.

They would not have won.

They said it blatantly when I asked, many years later.

I could not understand why they trembled so.

As if what they saw was the visage of a monster, hiding in the closet.

Those unwilling to listen, those unwilling to spare a child. Those guilty of tying the noose over my neck.

They all fell down that day. Their bodies covered from my view, as all I glimpsed was arms and legs, hands and shoes.

All lying still on the floor.

I felt around my finger for a scratch I made on that day. A foolish way for me to never forget what I swore.

Forgetful and young as I was, I did not want my words to fade. To be light enough to mix and submerge into the sands of time.

Little by little, my blurry eyes grew less dim. Little by little, the sores and pains started to fade.

Life was looking good. For the moment.

But?

But that was not the case for them.

Quite the opposite.

And in the end.

They sent me away,

Slowly leaning back into their own grave.

Still.

I know he did not speak of what I looked like to him.

It was not needed. His every thought echoed his perspective.

For me, he was currently tying a noose around one of his hands.

Bloodless and frail.

While the other was writing and his feet were walking. Despite being dangled in the air.

A corpse, a walking.

An apt description.

I watched my numbers uselessly tick up, a few too many resources spent, making that impression.

While excessively tiring, it wasn't costly.

Just right, to match the madness of the chained fool.

The energy drain forced me to sit down. Take deep breaths, and support my light headed form as I leaned back on a wall.

Breath in, then out.

Then stop for a while.

Breath in, and then out.

And repeat, once again.

I rapped my fingers on my face. Thinking of something which would be enough to break them out of their mold.

There was no world in which he would give up his path so easily. He had a destination in mind. One worth being chained up and slowly crumbling away for.

I eventually gave up, tired. Too tired. Sure I could down a bunch of fatigue resistant potions, on the dot.

But stiming myself up was off the table.

The irony. When such sound advice came from the one who blatantly disregarded it.

I waited by the roadside and watched the sun slowly descend under the clouds. What a mundane sight.

Not fit for the eyes of someone who couldn't care less.

Not fit for me.