There had been a story about humans with red eyes and white hair. They were the features of a lost kingdom of the past and the only way to know a royal, was the odd differences with the rest of the humans. They were born from a powerful lineage of mages. That was what was told and what she knew of it.
It wasn't long till he was thrown into another space. All of a sudden, everything seemed to rush over his head creating whirlwind of forsaken souls and tyranny. All of her explanation and words were thrown into chaos. Nothing was heard. Nothing was seen. Cold rushed over his skin, crawling deep into his soul. He felt as if two demon eyes were watching him from afar. It was near yet so far away. There was a voice that whispered to him strange words and then everything turned into naught.
Stephan could feel his eyes opening but everything was dark. There was nothing. The eyes always relied on external light to gaze in front of them. There was no source of it. He couldn't see anything, not even his flailing hands. He thought of her and how she was able to find him every time. For a moment, his mouth let out a burst of air in the form of a sigh but it seen froze. Darkness was frigid.
In the midst of darkness, he felt the cool feeling of water, something gritty and dry. Despite the water, he was dry. He had swum in the past. It wouldn't be so different now. His arms waved in half-circles into unknown direction.
[The comedy has gone too far and the test has been disturbed. Return to before the death race.]
The voice of the system resounded in his head, haunting him like a ghost. He never thought he would miss such an annoying bug. He closed his eyes, trying to pull himself from that darkness. In all the stories he read before, the protagonist always found a way to break through darkness with the strength of his mind. He tried so hard but gave up in the end. He let out an exasperated sigh. What happened again?
In the midst of that darkness, he realized something. He was never the protagonist of the world. Masmoenia was much bigger and terrifying. There was no thing as protagonist; everyone had a unique story he could tell. Even her, he was confident she had an interesting tale to tell him. He didn't have a clear goal but he had to keep moving forward. What if he chose to go to the end of his journey, so that he would meet her in person and learn of her story or the stories she held in her heart over a cup of tea?
She didn't tell him about the way to break that poison and regain Maddock's strength. However, if he got rid of the poison then he would return to how Maddock truly looked like. He would be hunted again. They would never let him live. Before he would ever have the chance to understand the world, he would be thrown to the abysses of death. For now, his minor goal would be to reach the end of that test so that he would meet her again throughout the journey and learn of how to get rid of the poison. She said there was an artifact at the end of it; the eye of the Beholder.
"Alright! Let's make her my goal until I find something worthy to call my goal. It's not like I have a choice; I am deep in this mess," he shrugged.
There was him waiting and then the next moment, he felt as if he was choking. He was able to breath under that mysterious water that enveloped him, so how come he choked at the moment? It was blasphemous, profane and irreverent. At least, let him have heads-ups when something changed around him.
[Transfer complete. Prepare to land prior to the death race.]
[Error]
[System suspended temporarily because of the unfamiliarity of the space.]
[Error]
[System rebooting.]
[System blocked.]
[Unable to safely reboot. Retry in familiarity on environment.]
Stephan didn't understand what just happened and it didn't matter. Focusing on the minor goal was a must, three days ago, he wouldn't be with Aurora yet. Did he have to find her? Not exactly, it was better to keep going with the quest and finish it quickly. There would be no point in meeting her again. He had to admit; he was slightly afraid of her craziness.
As usual, since he landed on that test, the choking sensation didn't go away but instead, there were some voices. They were all familiar. His arms tried to swim, thinking he was still in the water. However, his hands touched something soft. He squeezed it a few times, feeling it quite real. It looked like breasts but they weren't Aurora's. He opened his eyes and was welcomed by a heavy sight.
The witch Soprana was sitting on him as he was lying on the ground, apparently sleeping. His hands grabbed her ass a moment ago. It wasn't the feel of breasts but of ass. Her eyes were watching him, a wide grin over her face, as he wiped his hands on the grass. Oh hell! She was heavy.
"Do you like the sight? We were worried about you. You fainted suddenly and we had to camp here."
He took a deep breath but his lungs couldn't work properly since she was weighting on him. "Get of me," his voice came out like a whisper.
"What did you say?" a hand on her ear to listen to him better.
"But get off me, you stinking witch. You will kill me. You are so heavy."
Never ever tell a woman she was heavy.
The next moment, she punched him on the head and took out her wand, summoning the tree roots from the ground to hang him from his feet. Prior to death race, they were in Revampirina. However, it didn't look like they were there yet.
"Where are we?"
"Did she punch you so hard that you forgot where we are, human Stephan?"