When I woke up, I felt cold. I opened my eyes cautiously and found myself in a dark space with an old woman meditating not too far from me.

I tried to get up but stopped midway, as felt a sharp sting coming from my left thumb that was covered in bandages. I carefully laid back down. My body was really sore. The injuries I had received on the second nights hadn't healed yet, and Angus had made everything even worse.

"Why did you treat my thumb? Better yet, why am I even alive." I asked Amelia.

Amelia opened her eyes but stayed in the meditating position, "You're just a desperate child, who is driven by his fear of death. Killing you would be horrible of us. I figured if we let you get out of this ruin alive, no harm would be caused to anyone."

I rose into a sitting position, in order to look Amelia in the eye, "If the armor had worked, I would have killed your grandson and you. You do realize that, right? Would I still be just a desperate child then?"

Amelia met my gaze calmly, "Of course you would have. One deed does not shape the nature of your character. Well, there was never a chance of the armor working, so you could have never killed us."

"What? The armor doesn't work anymore?"

"No, it's in good enough shape to work maybe once or twice, but you could never use it in your current state of mind."

"So you did know. You said you didn't know whether the condition of the armor was linked to the body or the mind, but now you say that it's linked to the mind. You're a filthy liar."

"There's no need to be angry."

"No need to be angry? Yes there is! There is a damn good reason!" I stood up and yelled. Still, Amelia remained calm as if she was untouchable. "You know what's going to happen to me. You act as if I'm going to be fine in the next ruin. You act like I'm in no serious danger, but you know that's not true. I'm not strong enough. How do you expect me to survive when you're keeping me from evolving. You have to let me out of this place. You have to let me out! Do you hear me?! I'm going to die!" I said as I banged on the invisible barrier that was between us.

"Calm down. You have a much better shot at surviving, if you stay here, than if you go out there."

"Yeah, maybe for a couple of hours, but what about a day or two. What should I do when I come across something too strong for me to handle? Thank you for keeping me alive to get killed by the thing?! You aren't the one who's keeping me from dying, you're the one who's going to get me killed."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I won't let you out. What happens in the next ruin is your responsibility. I am just ensuring that you get there alive." Amelia said and closed her eyes.

I seethed at her carefree attitude and started hitting the barrier as hard as I could in my current state.

"You can't do this! You know I'll die! You will be responsible for my death! Do you hear me?! Let me out!"

I kept yelling, but it had no effect. Amelia simply sat there quietly, completely unbothered by me.

***

I had tried everything, but nothing worked. I was trapped and could not get into Amelia's death.

There were only a couple of hours left before I was going to be transported, it was useless to try anything anymore.

I was sitting with my back against the barrier, when something woke me up from my thoughts.

"Akir, what do you want from life?"

It was Amelia's voice coming from behind.

I had given up on getting out of the pocket dimension, so I had no interest in talking, but I decided to answer anyway.

"Happiness." I said as I gazed at the nothingness before me.

"What is happiness to you?"

I pondered a little before answering, "Happiness is being satisfied with your life."

"Satisfied? That's a hard goal to achieve for humans. We always want something more. Do you have any idea of what would make you satisfied?"

"Freedom."

"And what would you do with that freedom?"

"Whatever I want."

"Hah, such an obvious answer."

"There's no need to make things complicated. Life is often very straightforward."

"Life is straightforward? I didn't know I could disagree with a statement this much. What makes you think life is straightforward."

"Life never apologizes to anyone. If life doesn't like you, it's not afraid to let you know. Isn't that as straightforward as it can get?"

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"What about the people who, on one day, get everything they want, and lose everything the next day? Did life like them or not?"

"It could be both. Have you ever seen a married couple?"

"You say some pretty humorous things so seriously that I don't know if you're joking or not."

"I don't make jokes. If something I say seems like a joke, it's because reality itself is a joke."

"You are a pretty empty person, you know. It seems like your desires take up all the space in your mind, leaving no space for a personality."

"My desires are enough. I don't need a favorite color to function."

"Oh right, you also have that attitude of yours. I guess those two can carry you through life, but are you sure you want to look at life with such gray eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if you stay unhappy even after you achieve freedom."

"My attitude is what life shaped it into. My attitude reflects reality. I have no desire to have a good attitude if it's just a lie."

"Good or bad attitudes reflect reality. It's all about how you view the world."

"Well, it's hard to see the mountains from a ravine. How I view the world is because of the way it shows itself to me."

"Maybe you need to stop accepting only the sight that is before you and seek what the world refuses to show you."

"So I should change my attitude to something that doesn't go according to my experiences, so that I can see the good in the world?"

"Exactly."

"What are you, an idiot? You think people can just change their world views on command. People think like they think because of the things they've experienced."

"I'm not trying to command you. I'm simply trying to lead you in the right direction. If you don't want my life advice, then don't take it."

"..." I stopped the conversation that turned out to be a complete waste of time.

***

After a few hours of waiting in silence, Amelia stood up and started doing something, and soon I found myself in the cave again.

I also found Angus a few meters away looking down on me with a sneer. I ignored him and gazed up at the roof of the cave.

I expected to be transported very soon, so I didn't really care about what happened here anymore.

"Akir." Amelia addressed me.

I looked behind me and there stood Amelia with a black pentagon shaped object in her hands.

"What now?" I asked as I stood up.

Amelia then handed me the armor, "Here, take it. You can attach it to your chest."

"Huh? Why are you-"

"I don't know if you'll be able to use it or not, but it's useless here, so take it."

"But how can I fulfill the condition?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that it concerns the wielder's psyche."

"Is there anything else you decided to not tell me about."

"I'm sure you'll ignore this, but I'll say it anyway. There is nothing at the top. Everything you don't have when you get there is everything you won't have when you are there."

"The top? What are you talking about?" I asked as a message played inside my head.

[Nights survived: 3/3]

[You will now be transported]

Then, I suddenly found myself alone, standing in the middle of a huge white room.

***

POV: Angus

In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

I didn't protest when grandma gave the armor to Akir, but I didn't understand her decision at all.

"Why did you give him the armor? I thought you treasured that thing." I asked grandma, who was still processing Akir's disappearance.

She turned to me and smiled softly, "Why did you bring him here?"

I furrowed my brows in thought. I had never really questioned why I did it. I just did it.

I met grandma's gaze after I thought of an answer, "I thought it's something I should have done. The guy didn't seem aggressive, and was pretty pathetic just laying there, so I brought him here to be treated."

"Exactly, it was something you should have done. Akir is just a little confused about what he should do because he hasn't seen much kindness during his life."

"So you decided to show it to him." I concluded. "But what if he can't fulfill the condition? Wouldn't the armor go to waste?"

"It would, and there's a good possibility for that to happen. Nevertheless, I have faith that he will fulfill it. I just hope that if he does, it won't be for the wrong reason."