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I limp away from the unconscious Jux. The damage I sustained already healed but the pain still lingers. I hold my side as I go deeper into the library. The standing bookshelves are useful as supports.

Why didn’t you finish him off?

“I let you out like you wanted, shut up.” although I hear its voice in my head, I can only communicate through spoken words. There’s some kind of barrier between the two of us.

You didn’t release the seal… 

“I released enough of it,” I respond.

Not even a tenth of it… I could end them all for you.

“I know you can,” I say. “That’s why I won’t release more.” the more I release of a seal, the more powerful he’ll become. If I release the entire seal, then I might be the one who it ends. I have a hard enough time controlling it as it was before that desperate move back there. I’ll make do with what it can give me right now.

“I need power,” I need whatever it can spare. “Else I won’t be able to take down any more of them.”

Then unseal-

“No!” I roar. “You’ll stay like that! If you don’t want to die as I go down there to fight, then lend me what you have now.”

Are you some sort of idiot?

I draw a deep breath. This is the first time I’ve ever heard it speak to me like this. Every other time was simply a temptation. It always stuck with the approach of, “Offer them what they want, and they’ll accept sooner or later.” Except, what it offers isn’t always what I want…

The seal locks my power away. Break it and I’ll help you rid the world of those down there.

“Heh.” I start to laugh. “Hahahaha. And then what? I know what kind of malice you have for people. If I let you out, I might as well go out and destroy half the city myself.” Letting it out was the same as using the sword.

Both would only end in disaster.

“Are you going to help me?” I ask. I wait for a response. Eventually, I tire of the silence and push off toward the staircase leading down.

You’re going to fight, despite how weak you are?

“I am.” I answer, “Who’s going to stop me from fighting?”

Your own weakness of course… If you go down there now, without my help, then you’re only dooming your goals. It’d be quite sad to see your friend, Henry, in the afterlife only to tell him you couldn’t protect the city after killing him.

For some odd reason, I start scratching my chest. I scratch it as if there’s a bug hiding under my skin. “I won’t die,” I mutter, my anger slowly growing. “I’ll avenge him. If you think that what you’re doing is going to anger me to a point where you get control, you need to rethink your plans.”

Why are you scratching your chest so violently then?

“I’m preparing for the day I’m going to tear you out and crush you,” I say, trying to calm myself a bit. Although I told it I wouldn’t get to the point I’d lose control, it’s pushing me pretty close to the line.

Ah, so you’re going to use your hands I assume? They seem to be good for killing things. For that crushing, you’re so eager about.

I see my chest heaving up and down. I look to find my hand lodged in the wall. My fingers are all a knuckle deep. My arms are shaking.

Struck a nerve did I? You’re far too easy to anger my dear… host.

I fight against his control with everything I have. I manage to push him back for a bit and catch my breath. I know I shouldn’t be angry or listen to him at all but whenever he speaks, it just irritates me.

So, instead of focusing on the monster, I continue down the stairs. The sooner I get down there and start fighting, the sooner I’ll have my mind off it. I’ll defeat them and I’ll force them to answer me about Krestfall.

I take the last step and look into the room. Rune sits in the furthest corner channeling his mana into a scroll. Before I can do anything, a mace slams into my stomach. “Guh!” I clutch the man hit me as he raises his mace to finish the job.

I teleport away, near the middle of the room, and Illuant ambushes me. He kicks me to the wall and stabs me through the chest. He pulls out for another strike but I catch it an inch away from my heart.

I push his weapon away and send a jab. The blow only manages to stagger him but allows me enough time bring out a knife and lunge with it.

An enormous force pushes me out of the way. Laying on the ground, I’m in a slight daze. What just hit me?

“Illuant!” Havel screams, “Aim for his heart right away!”

“I did!” he yells back, “He dodged just a bit and I had to go again! And I would’ve been fine without your help.”

“Go get Jux, that fool. He’s far too soft on children. I’ll deal with our friend over here,” Just as he says that I see the blurry outline of a metal object and roll over an inch. “You really won’t die will you?”

He picks me up by my clothes and throws me against the wall. He starts to choke me, lifting me higher and higher. I try and teleport away but I can’t if he’s holding me like this. I’m already losing oxygen, everything’s shutting down. He brings his mace up and swings at my head.

“…”

It hits. I feel a chunk of skin tear off and bones break. I can’t hear anything except for a loud ring in my ear. My head recoils back and I see the smashed wall that acted as a slight barrier for the impact.

“The wall saved you that time,” he comments, “How about another one? Will you withstand this?”

I have no time to answer him as my vision fades to black…

Finally. a voice murmurs.

I feel a warmth wash over me. My eyes are open again, but everything’s still black. Only my body emits a faint glow, just enough for me to push back some of the darkness. I don’t know where I am but it’s not such a bad place.

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Aisha strained her voice to yell but she was stopped with a well-timed kick to the stomach. She writhed in agony. Never before had she experienced anything near those levels of physical pain. Truly, she was a pampered noble.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She attempted to yell again.

“Watch your tongue,” the bandit said, holding a knife to her throat. “If you make any sound I’ll slit your throat and have you bleed out like a pig.” Aisha immediately closed her mouth. “That’s good.”

He bent down and started groping around. Aisha felt sick to the point of puking. Her first instinct was the bat his hand away but the knife to her throat made her think otherwise.

“Huh? You don’t have much on you at all. Except for-hmmm? What’s this?” he pulled out her gift. “Looks like you can send messages back and forth. Quite an item you have here. I suppose I’ll hold on to it for you.”

“Give it back!” she screamed.

“Shut up!” he pressed it closer and a small stream of blood flowed out. “Anymore and I’ll kill you. All you need to do is be a good girl and come with me quietly.” with his free hand, he reached into the back of his pocket and pull out a scroll of his own.

Aisha waited for him to start writing. If he were to start writing a message, she might just be able to break away and call for help yet, he seemed to be using it to cast a spell.  Was he unable to use spells without the help of items like that?

‘Help’ she silently called out. She knew it was pathetic of her to always call for help but she wasn’t ready to stand on her own two feet just yet. Despite being captured before, and with all the terror that came with it, Aisha couldn’t find it in herself to fight just yet.

‘Perhaps,’ she once thought, ‘Going with Rainen on a quest would calm me down. If anything goes wrong, then he’ll be there for me.’

However, whenever she tried to push him toward a more dangerous quest, he’d always refuse. He never wanted to put her in danger. The quests they did together were fun enough for Aisha, but she knew she had to gain some experience fighting sooner or later.

The kidnapper finally finished with the scroll and pulled out a glowing green ball. He used the scroll for a paralyze spell.

He aimed it at her and right as he shot, he missed. Rather, he was interrupted. The dog from earlier helped Aisha. It tugged at the kidnapper’s arm, trying to yank him off of her. It worked. In that slight moment, where the knife left her neck, she ran.

Yet, she couldn’t turn the corner, not while the dog was still fighting the man. A glance back showed her a nasty scene. Blood ran from the dog’s shoulder where two stab wounds were inflicted. The dog, however, still fought.

Unable to run away with a guilt-free conscience now, Aisha loosened a fireball. Her heart dropped as she realized what she just did. A more precise spell, such as a lightning bolt, would have been a much better option. If the spell did hit, it was likely to clip the dog.

To Aisha’s relief, and terror, the kidnapper was able to toss the dog aside and jump out of the way. The fireball missed. She no longer had time to worry about the dog anymore. Hopefully, someone else could help it. The kidnapper started running toward her.

Aisha retraced the path she took to get to the dorm room. Follow the road until a familiar alleyway, take it, go down a few more, and then get to the square. The plan worked wonderfully until she realized she had taken a wrong turn.

In all that running she did, she spotted almost no one. She glanced around, searching for assistance. It was definitely cold out, colder than she expected. Everyone must have gone home already.

She hoped it wasn’t true. As she turned another corner, she slipped. Hurriedly looking behind her, Aisha let loose another fireball at the kidnapper. He dodged. Aisha crawled on all fours, doing her best to scurry away.

“Quit moving!” he yelled, getting closer.

She dug through all her memories of the magic training she was given. ‘One of these, one of these have to have a use!’ healing spells, dozens of them, all useless during this situation. As a noble, she was expected to stand back and have other people protect her. Healing spells were taught if she were injured in a situation.

Finally, a spell popped into mind. “[Earth Wall]!” a chunk of earth rose from the ground and blocked the entrance to the alleyway. Aisha used the wall to stand back up and started running again.

She heard the earth wall shatter behind her. The wall broke into what she could hear as hundreds of little stones.

Finally, Aisha stumbled upon someone she knew. “Hilda!” she cried out in relief. “I’m being chased.”

“I can see that miss. Leave it to me.” Hilda unfastened a hidden dagger from her boot and pointed it at the kidnapper. “Stop,” she commanded. “Turn yourself in or I will punish you for attempting to kidnap Lady Aisha.”

He snorted. “I can take on a servant.” he waved his own blade around, trying to intimidate her. “I might be a hired hand but I can handle myself with a little knife or two.”

“Lady Aisha,” Hilda whispered to me. “Did he harm you?”

She nodded, indicating to the trickle of blood on her neck.

“Then he shall suffer my wrath.”

“I’ll go first then!” he lunged at Hilda.

She frowned, “For one such as yourself, I would think not of trading steel.” she pushed Aisha behind her and said, “Trap my enemies in a cage of stone, and hold them until they begin to rot! [Earth Prison]!”

Without any warning, the ground jutted out and trapped the kidnapper between dozens of stones. A piece of the earth coiled up both legs to hold him in place.

“T-thank you, H-Hilda.” Aisha stammered, embarrassed that she ran away earlier. “I’m sorry.”

Hilda sighed, “It is quite all right Lady Aisha. Contrary to the way we, of the lower classes, were raised, you of the noble class have a much more difficult time with freedom.” she flashed Aisha a smile and she smiled back. “However, I should hope you do not leave my sight without a guard accompanying you again.”

Aisha’s smile turned sour but she had no ground to complain.

“Let us-”

“Damn you.” the kidnapper frowned. “I guess my brother and I won’t be getting paid for this.” his little bag where he kept his scrolls was glowing.

“Get behind me!” Hilda commanded. She threw up a barrier and braced herself.

Black smoke poured out from the bag and crawled up the man. It entered through his nose, mouth, and ears. “I’ll remember that red hair of yours.” In a matter of seconds, nothing was left of him.

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Author's Note: Everything's a bit late so this will be an apology. The first chapter of my Re fiction, unedited Please discuss it in the comment section of this chapter. Also leave a review if you want to. They moved the ratings and reviews up so it's easier to see on the fiction page just scroll down.