That kid was always a wonder to me. He spoke less than needed, sometimes preferring to just use bodily movements. But I liked him. Maybe because he was like Mr. Frank and Amy in a way, staying silent a good majority of the time. even more so for Mr Frank. I rarely hear him speak at all, and when he does speak, it is like he was made the center of the entire room. Everyone waiting for his every word with bated breath.

Enough about Mr Frank.

I gazed down into the abyss, and it made me feel like it was staring back at me. I didn't look away, knowing that that was where I was needed. It was time to make good on my promise.

…

The beacon of light that extended to the sky vanished, along with its travelers. The boy looked longingly at the way out of there. Yet he already knew, he couldn't. He was an enigma. A being seemingly trapped there for all of eternity. As if the gods cursed him to dwell there to soothe their rage.

For months he has already tried escaping. Whether it was taking an entirely different route, passing from shadow to shadow, or even trying to use the portal for himself. And yet despite all that, he was still here. Yet it all changed when he came.

The first time the boy saw him was when he was on the verge of death. He had as always, trying to find some way to escape. When he accidentally noticed someone walking in the dark the same as him. Seemingly lost the same as him and lonely and in pain the same as him.

As the person crumbled to the floor, he leaped out of his shadow and caught him. Worried that he might lose company so fast, he dashed out of there as he hopped from shadow to shadow like a creature of the night. In a sense, he was a creature of the night since he resided in a dark and damp place. The difference was that he was human.

The boy thought. He wasn't sure he was _fully _human. Simply because there was something that tethered him to this place. Making him unable to have any contact with outsiders. And now for the longest time, he had visitors.

The person was weird, the boy thought. He woke up calmly and didn't seem afraid of him who was creeping into the dark. He even approached him unafraid. It was strange to the boy.

All his life entrapped in that secluded area, he may not have encountered any outsiders, but he knew of them through one medium, books. At the moment when he woke up, he found himself surrounded by mountains of books. All of it differed from genre to genre, some were historical, some of it was about magic, and some of it was just fictional stories. Basing his knowledge and comparing it with that person, made the boy think that the person he rescued was dumber than he was.

Of course, the boy was still vigilant, knowing that some villains like to pretend to be dumber than a rat, to leap on their prey like a cat. And yet the more he observed him, the more he was sure about one thing. That person was more naive than himself who was cut out of contact with people for almost a decade.

The boy wondered how that was even possible but it was. So he relaxed and started interacting with him slowly. At first, it was simply bringing him food, to sticking close to him by grabbing the hem of his robe. The person he knew was named Cosmo didn't seem disturbed by his actions. He instead accepted it and moved on.

Things changed again when that evil woman came. The boy thought that that person was the person he was running away from, and that person was the reason why he was so injured. At that moment, he decided upon himself that he must take care of it to protect his dumb friend. As he was about to end him, Cosmo stepped up at the last minute.

It turned out that she was his friend. The boy accepted it right away, believing every word that came from Cosmo. As the boy had faith that Cosmo was too innocent and dumb to know how to lie. Yet despite that, he didn't like that lady. She was mean to Cosmo. And thus mean to him.

But now, despite him standing in front of the used portal for a few minutes, it felt like a dream. A fleeting dream that could have been the reality of his life. He liked Cosmo. He was trustworthy, and he was kind. It felt like it was a relationship described in the books he read. He felt like he was Cosmo's big brother. And now his naive little brother was out there in the dangerous world where he couldn't protect him.

The boy sighed, turning his back and making his way back to the cave. He still believed in him though. He believed that he would come back for him one day. And it was the day when he would protect his little brother. He had to. Someone had to.

The boy came back to his cave. It was empty. The fireplace that once burned bright was snuffed out. It was cold. It was dark. It was damp. And the worst of all, it was lonely.

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The boy summoned his [Lexicon], its bindings creased with its pages tanning and foxing. He turned it to a specific page and looked closely at it. He was delaying this transformation, knowing that he might not know how long he would be under. And it was unsafe, he couldn't just enter into it without protection. But the loneliness was worse. And somehow, someway, instincts told him that his little brother would protect him if danger ever arose in his slumber.

Determined in his belief and decision, the body chanted.

“[Tegmine Abyssi]”

The quiet atmosphere was broken. The cave started shaking and cracking. A crevice was created between the boy's feet. The boy didn't seem surprised, knowing that the phenomenon was more intense than the last time. A dark aura oozed from him like a dam bursting, enveloping the surrounding area and creating a space of his own. It started transforming the cave, making the cave's color turn pitch black as dark veins started popping out of it.

A silk-like cocoon then started encroaching on the boy from the feet up. The boy sighed, knowing that the process would at least double the previous time. He only hoped that he would be awake when Cosmo arrived. The last thing the boy saw as he was being wrapped in a cocoon, was the crumbling darkness of the cave. The shivering cold. And the only inhabitant of it was himself.

He closed his eyes, hoping that one day it would never be like this again.

…

“Come on, where are you, kid.”

Cosmo said as he dashed through the trees, trying to look for him. He already arrived at the unknown forest for hours now, and he still couldn't find him. He tried looking for the cave where they dwelt, but it was seemingly gone. It was like it didn't even exist in the first place. He looked across the cave, and yet there was no trace of even anyone residing in it.

It was strange. Cosmo thought that maybe he just left, but he knew that it was unlikely. He somewhat knew that the boy could leave unless the portal allowed him to. And judging from the way the boy didn't even join them, he can't even use it. The situation was puzzling, to say the least.

He halted his steps, traces of lightning sparking his feet. He felt that something was wrong. He listened closely and noticed that the one buzzing insect went quiet. The wind even seemed to have stilled. It was then that he felt a chill down his spine.

ROOOOOOOOOR!

Cosmo knew that roar. He knew it too well. He almost got eaten by it once. He leaped into the trees, perching on top of one. He looked west and saw that someone big was prying its way out of the narrow ridges COsmos once walked. Cosmo saw one of its arms trying to break the cliff, and it did. Its claw broke away a small part of the cliff, letting him see its slit eyes through the darkness. It seemed to have seen him from such a long distance, as it glared at at him in pure rage and roared.

Dang it, why was it here? I'm already busy as it is and an overgrown lizard is trying to make it even harder for me. Well, I have time. The cliff I know from experience was supernaturally tough, as the monster could only thrash and roar in rage for now. But I would rather not wait for it to utterly break its way in. Let's just not.

I moved again with {Lightning Movement}, upping my mana output as I started looking everywhere. I cast {Life Detection} as much as possible, and from what I can gleam, all life seemed to have left a few minutes go. It was then that I heard another roar. Not again.

I didn't have to look, knowing that it was coming from the south of the forest. It seemed to be even as big and even as bad as the previous monster. Why is it that every time I go anywhere, a monster the size of a city comes following me? I'm not even big enough to clean its teeth.

There was still no sign on him. And just as I was about to try another way, Mr Lucius appeared.

He appeared in front of me, in full business attire as if he was attending an important meeting. His hair swayed gently against the wind but there was no wind blowing. His scarlet eyes looked at me and said.

“What do we do when one way isn't working?”

“…Try another way.”

“How do we do that?”

“By trying a method that does something entirely different from the thing that wasn't working.”

“Good. Now how do we do that in this situation.”

“No idea.”

“Weren't you about to try another way just now?”

“Yeah. I plan to go around the forest even faster. Seemed to be a good plan just before you appeared.”

It was then that I realized that it was a dumb plan. Mr Lucius didn't even react and summoned my [Lexicon] from me. He flipped through the pages, looking for a specific spell, when he stopped and pointed to a specific spell.

He turned it to me and I saw that it was a complicated spell. It even required a full incantation when I didn't even need to chant any spells I knew. Yet as the roars strengthened in the distance, it seemed that I had no choice.

“[The Dimension folds and break as i will it, space is my eternal ally for it becomes my enemy, it will be no more.]”

I stopped cast, as I looked at Mr. Lucius and saw the smug smile on his face. It seemed that he was proud of it. He did make it himself. I looked back at the [Lexicon] and continued.

“Let me see what cannot be seen, feel what cannot be felt, and know what cannot be known.”

The space around me started shifting, my eyes seemingly changing as I could see more of what was in front of me. I could see the mana flowing in the air, things that were usually hidden from a normal vision were now seen. I finished the spell as it seemed that it was going to be fun on what was next.

“[Oculus spacialis.]”

The raging air then stilled. I leaped from my position and scanned every corner of the earth. It was then that I saw something peculiar when I looked to the palace where the cave once was. Something was wrapped around it. It was like a cocoon.