As they entered the castle, the two looked around, and then Dehji said, "This place is huge."
"It is."
"Do you know where your essence is?"
"Let me see ... it looks like it's right in front of us."
"Well, let's go then."
Dehji and Gen started heading toward the essence, and halfway there, Dehji asked, "Gen, do you know what this black mist is? Is it part of your essence?"
Gen then looked around and saw that in various parts of the castle, there was a black mist, and then said, "Yes, I have an idea about what it is, and it's probably part of my essence."
"Got it. So it's okay if I end up touching it, right?"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Why?"
"When we find my other essence, you'll understand."
They then continued on the same path for a while until they came to a huge double door.
Gen closed his eyes, and after opening them, he said, "She's in there."
"Ok, let's go then."
"Easy there, Dehji, let me open the door."
"What's the difference?"
"You'll understand soon enough, now, trust me, and let me open it."
"Ok, go ahead, do the honors."
Gen then approached and opened the door.
As he opened it, a large amount of black mist came out of it. It was about to touch Dehji when suddenly it stopped and began to gather in a place in the middle of it. After it had gathered almost completely, you could see Gen sucking the mist in and concentrating it into a ball in the middle of his hands.
After he finished doing this, Gen had the sphere follow him and said, "Let's go inside."
"Hey, Gen, this black mist doesn't give me the impression of having anything to do with the essence of the spear."
"Just come with me, Dehji."
"..."
The two then entered the room, and upon seeing what was in the middle of it, Dehji's mouth dropped open and said, "Gen! What's that?"
"That's my spear essence."
In the middle of the room was a young woman. She had long white hair and was hanging upright by several black lines that made something like a large spider web around her.
Dehji then asked, "Is that your essence? What happened to it?"
"It's sealed."
"Sealed? Who sealed it?"
"I needed to seal it."
"It was you who sealed her? That doesn't make sense. Why would you seal your essence?"
"I had my reasons, but anyway, do you think you can do something about it?"
"Let me see."
Dehji then started to go towards one of the black lines. Upon seeing this, Gen asked, "What are you doing, Dehji?"
"I need to take a closer look at these lines to see if I can help her."
"No Dehji! Don't go near those lines."
"Why do you say that? Aren't you the one who sealed her? That means these lines are under your control, right?"
"Get down, Dehji!"
Dehji got a bad feeling after hearing this and decided to follow Gen's lead by ducking.
Right after he bent down, a black line went over his head, and then Dehji rolled over and asked, "What was that, Gen? Wasn't the seal yours? Why is it attacking me? Is this some joke? If it is, it's in very bad taste."
"Dehji, just be quiet and let me handle this first."
Gen then saw the black line going toward Dehji again and then closed his eyes. He reached out his hand toward the line, and it came to a stop. He then took the sphere of mist he had made and handed it to the black line. Upon receiving the sphere, the line calmed down and returned to its previous position.
Seeing this, Dehji asked, "Gen! What was that? Why was that black line following me?"
"The function of all these black lines is to seal essences. It probably recognized that you were one and tried to seal you in."
Dehji then said, "Okay, I get that part. Now, why are they out of your control?"
"Dehji, I can't go into details. There's too much at stake. If I end up saying more than I should, I can ruin everything."
"... Tsc! Okay, but when all this is over, you'll have to explain everything to me."
"Ok, and what do you think? Is there anything you can do?"
"Unfortunately not. These lines almost sealed me. Imagine trying to get someone out of them."
"Got it. No problem, I already have a solution for that. I just wanted to see if there was an easier way."
"You already have a solution? And what is it?"
"Take a guess."
"You can't tell me."
"Exactly."
"That sucks."
"Hahaha, I'm sorry, Dehji, it's very complicated for me too."
"I understand, no problem."
Dehji then said, "Well, I guess we have nothing more to do here. Let's go. You've been standing in the desert long enough. We better hurry."
"Wait, Dehji, I want to stop somewhere else before I leave."
"And where is this other place?"
"At my other essence's house."
"Your other essence? You have another essence?"
"Yes. How could I seal this one without having another one."
"That makes sense. Well, let's go then."
"Okay, just give me a minute.".
Gen then approached the edge of the area with the black lines. He looked at the young woman inside and clenched his fists as he saw her.
He then said, "I know it must be horrible for you to be trapped like this, but I promise you that I will not rest until I release you from there. So hang in there a little longer, and believe me."
Gen then stood still for a while and, after some time, turned to leave.
When he was about to leave, he heard a female voice say, "I know. I'll be here waiting for you."
Gen then smiled and said to Dehji, "Let's go."
Dehji also heard the voice but decided not to say anything about it and then said, "Let's get out of here. Where is your other essence?"
"Let me see ... it's to our left."
"Ok, let's go then."
The two then left the castle, and Gen began to teleport them towards his other essence.
After some time teleporting, Gen and Dehji saw a vast terrain in the distance, which was not possible to see the end of, filled with the same black fog they had seen in the castle.
Gen then said, "We're here."
"I can see it, but can I go in there? There's no danger of being sealed in, right?"
"No, there's no danger here. Just come with me."
Dehji then entered the area with black fog together with Gen, but when the two stepped in, their vision suddenly changed, and they realized they were already in an unknown room.
Dehji then started looking around and said, "Where are we?"
"Don't worry. It seems Eli noticed we were coming and decided to meet us."
"Eli? Who's Eli?"
"I'm Eli.", exclaimed a voice.
Dehji jumped back a little and started looking around, searching for where the voice was coming from until he found it. On their side was a table with three chairs around it, and on one of them sat a man.
He had long black hair that went down to his waist, which was also covering his face. He was tied to the chair on which he was sitting, with only his mouth free.
Eli then said, "Sit down."
Dehji then looked in Gen's direction, and Gen signaled that it was okay.
The two then approached the table, sat down, and Eli said, "Gen, I know you already sat down, but if you could."
"Sure.", Gen replied and walked over to Eli, brushing his hair out of his face.
Eli then said, "Thanks, that's much better."
"Anytime."
"Well, how can I help you, Gen?"
"I don't need help, Eli. I just came to see if you were okay."
"Well, other than the fact that now I'm stuck in this chair, everything is fine."
"Good. Ah, that's Dehji. He's the essence of those ruins I told you about."
"Nice to meet you, Dehji, my name is Eli."
"Nice to meet you. What is your essence? Mine is that of the 'Endless'."
"Conceptual hmm. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what mine is, but it's no different than yours."
"Is it conceptual too? What level is it on?"
"Draw your conclusions."
Gen then said, "Well, even though it's been a short time, we need to go Eli."
"I know, Gen, no problem."
"Bye then. And Eli, I-"
"I know, Gen. You don't have to say anything. I'll always be here waiting for you."
"Thank you"
Gen then stood up from the chair next to Dehji, and the two of them walked out from inside the area with the black mist.
As they exited, Gen asked, "How do I get out of here, Dehji?"
"Same as the teleport, just think about getting out."
"Okay."
Gen then closed his eyes and thought, 'I want to go back to the outside world.'
He then felt his consciousness being pulled out of him and beginning to spread throughout his body until, in a moment, he woke up in the middle of the desert.
He then said, "I'm back. It worked, Dehji."
"Of course it did, but now what? Where are we going?"
"We're going to the town I was living in before I came here, but before we go there, we'd better stop in a nearby town."
"Okay, do you know the way?"
"Unfortunately not."
"Then how are we going to find it?", "Hmm .... Ah! I know!"