What.

What.

What.

What?

What just happened?

My eyes darted back and forth from the now slumped and unconscious body before me.

Red blood was seeping through the back of Karl's head and I could for the first time in forever, get a clear view of him.

He had curly ginger hair that had been grown out shaggily.

He was lanky, skinny, and unusually bony for a man with his clothing attire.

Fancy leather and crocodile boots were plastered over his figure as he lay by the wall, silent and suffocated.

Before attempting to get closer I formed 2 sources of world energy for insurance whilst my thoughts contained dancing haywire.

Staying in the same position for a week had been amazingly awful. My mental state had reached such a low that it seemed like I was never awake due to the repeating scene that went through 23 hours of my day.

All it took was one innocent pop for all to go downhill.

I flopped my way over to Karl's body, my legs and arms were banded together by a thick, strangely smooth, and elusive black substance which I had discovered was far from fun.

As I rolled over to Karl I stared straight into his eyes fiercely.

Alright.

It's thinking time.

I need to get out of here.

And only Karl has the teleportation magic.

Therefore I should.

Befriend Karl?

No that's optimistic. I did just blast his head in.

Threaten.

I need to threaten Karl.

Then I get the teleportation magic, grab Audra and run.

Alright.

Simple.

I lifted my head despite the strain from my arms and chest and brought up as much force as I could before preparing to smash down immediately.

Up and down.

Up and down.

Up and down.

One more for good luck.

Bang.

My head went slightly numb from the impact and a small sound coursed through the room bluntly.

Staring into my eyes were two-half open maroon slits.

He was waking.

I waited patiently as I used the time to prepare a third source of world-energy world energy.

I tightened it as much as possible as it would be essential very soon.

"Eh?"

A tired and confuddled voice emerged from the waking and still ground-born Karl.

His ginger-hair swayed as his eyes began to take in the light of the room.

I cleared my throat as silently as possible.

"Eeeeh?"

Karl's eyes zoomed in on me.

It seemed as though he wasn't scared at all.

"Don't move."

My voice was flat and calm.

"What are you talking abou-."

Bang.

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An air blast imploded right behind Karl.

it's power changed the atmosphere immensely and air trails were swirling and widening with every passing second.

Karl's arms began moving backward as his legs paddled fearfully.

"Stop."

I rose my hand. Or at least tried to.

I made it seem as though I was on the edge of clicking.

I didn't really need to, but it would be good if he assumed I was in possession of an incantationless trigger-type of wind magic.

"Undo my bindings."

Karl nodded rapidly as his fingers fumbled.

He soon touched a golden-black locket.

It's ruins were a pale and bleached white and it was small enough to fit inside a teacup with room to spare.

It had a dark-green centre with a clear transparency.

As his finger pressed down, I felt the black restraints covering me soon melt senselessly.

When the last of their remains hit the floor I stood up swiftly whilst stretching my body, whilst keeping my right hand in a cricking position.

Karl looked at me strangely as I did my basic stretches.

I noticed his eyes were getting off-centered so I brought his attention back to the room.

"Can you get me out?"

Our eyes met hesitantly.

I sensed a sort of approving or rather obeying gaze to my question.

I took the answer as a yes before proceeding to the next question at the top of my priorities.

"Have you seen a small girl, of noble descent with Auburn hair?"

His eyes went across the room anxiously, he was still by the wall, now caressing his hair slowly.

"Well. Have you?"

My voice now became slightly irritated.

His mouth quivered a bit before he managed to produce a suitable answer.

"W-well we get a lot of girls like that so I may not have acknowledged her appearance but there's a high chance..."

He scratched his chin.

A high chance.

That's good.

"Take me there."

His expression said it all.

He looked as if I had just asked him the most unbelievable question.

"To the Sector with the Young Noble Descent Girls."

I shook my right hand a bit in front of his face.

"Come on."

I needed to use every chance to assert my power, I had already grown doubtful and untrustful due to his seemingly relaxed nature.

He seemed to be slow.

Had he already called for help without my knowledge?

"Oh."

I lowered my head to meet with his.

"And if you even dare think of sending me somewhere else..."

I snapped my fingers once.

Bang.

A faint hissing sound came from the walls as the second of my sources thoroughly blasted the wall right behind Karl.

Karl nodded meekly before lowering his freckle-filled face and fiddling with his gadget.

Oh?

It seemed like he was either setting the coordinates now or that he had previously had a different location in mind.

Nevertheless, it was probably in my best interests to have done that little stunt.

I gathered another 2 sources of world energy before I gave the go-signal.

He fiddled once more before an invigorating sense rushed up me.

It felt like high-quantities high quantities of sugar were being pumped through my bloodstream as a faint purple light coated our bodies.

Even wiggling my fingers a little bit felt slow and clunky.

A rapid gust of wind flourished upwards before our bodies felt weak and vulnerable.

So many emotions rammed me down during the process that I had hardly realized that we had finished the procedure.

I kept my right hand clenched and clear in front of Karl as I examined the situation.

The room was entirely white tiles and the only light sources were half-fixed chandeliers of white crystals.

The scarce tables that had settled down were infested by nails and wrenched planks.

Any sign of life was completely non-existent as we stood alone in the cafeteria.

I looked at Karl whose hands were shaking oddly rapidly.

"Something wrong?"

I broke a chunk off of the sour mood.

"Sorry."

Sorry.

Something felt wrong.

I instantly shook my head from side to side as my eyes darted across my surroundings.

I had already begun preparing 10 sources of world energy simultaneously whilst Karl merely stood there stoically.

A strong hissing sound soon permeated all around us.

And deathly, haunting, and vicious green gas began to seep from the ceiling.

I reached out for Karl, only to realize that he had disappeared under a veil of gas.

Knowing my experience with gas I instantly formed 4 materializations.

I made a small triangle with a decently-well sized lid.

Soon I was covered in an air-tight barrier.

I prayed that they would remove the gas soon, I would soon run out of air and inevitably fall.

It was in that moment that it felt like the swirling gas stopped for a moment.

And it was just me.

Wow.

So it all went wrong again?

Did I really think I was doing something?

I soon watched as the sea of green rose and with it, every single way I could die.

It felt as though the hope was getting cloudier and further from me as I felt the air become thinner within my confined space.

Fwoosh.

There was no mighty gale or final gust.

Just a soft fwoosh sound and the surroundings cleared.

The corrupting green had been washed away with but a spell.

I now realized that there stood 4 men.

1 wore a mage robe and 3 adventurer clothes.

Though the clothing standards might be different in this World, I was confident they weren't just anybody.

It looked as though the mage had done the spell and the adventurers would protect him.

I prepared 7 sources of world energy around me.

I wasn't in the right state of mind.

If they got close to me I wouldn't be able to defend against them, move for move.

At most I could just send my world-energy sources rampant and pray for strong impacts.

I was too deep in my thoughts to see the black-robed mage holding out a wrinkled and experienced hand.

Before I knew it, all the sound in my ears had vanished, tracelessly.

And then all smell in my nostrils ceased to exist.

Finally, my sense of touch was gone.

The mage withdrew his sodden hand slowly.

Well. This fight just got a whole lot tougher.

I had no blade, merely my world energy and my lightning.

Though, I found I had been using my lightning less and less lately.

Probably due to the fact that there was simply not enough time in a battle for it, and the fact that it used outrageous supplies of world energy.

Anyways, I prepared my best unconfident combat stand whilst I eyed them all closely.

A swordsman, an assassin, and a Brute.

Respectively wielding a long sword, two short and refined daggers, and a big chunky hammer.

I could almost feel the qualities of the blades from an invisible aura that sent chills through my spine.

Ah.

This is going to get rough.

And so I watched as intently as I could.

My sight was almost all I had right now. My consciousness felt like it was on a thin frame that I myself was holding up with two dehydrated and fatigued hands.

Apart from taste.

But who used taste in a battle?

I carefully aimed 3 world-energy sources right by the magician.

The second he tried a thing he would be out cold.

The same could be said for the warriors if they dared get close.

As long as they weren't too crazy strong then I should be good.

That's right.

This battle is easy.

Nothing can go wrong.

I can win this.

I can win.