After spending two years inside my room, I took my first step outside. Stepping into the hallway, the atmosphere felt completely different from the familiar feeling of my room. The unfamiliarity of the hallway made it seem like a whole different world that I had no prior knowledge of.
As I attempted to run down the hallway, I stumbled forward, unable to bear the intense pain that surged throughout my body. Attempting to stand up, I found that I lacked the strength to do so. In that moment, I decided to cast a self-healing spell to alleviate my pain.
Chanting the incantation for the basic healing spell, "Healing light, mend my wounds, Ease my pain, make me whole again," I harnessed the mana within me and directed it towards my wounds. While the spell was only a basic one, it managed to alleviate some of the pain, providing a slight sense of relief.
"Don't come any closer! My brother will kill you if you do!"
As I slowly made my way downstairs, I could hear my sister's desperate struggle against the creature. Time was of the essence, so I tried to run to her aid, but unfortunately, my body betrayed me and I stumbled and slid down a few steps.
However, I quickly realized that perhaps luck was on my side, as I ended up descending the stairs faster than I would have otherwise. But there was no time for jokes or lightheartedness.
I continued to walk, my pace slow and limping due to the pain that still wracked my body. The burns on my skin were still fresh, and I could feel the agony of every step I took. I tried to ignore the pain and focused on getting outside.
When I finally got outside, I could see the creature towering over my little sister, its jaws wide open, ready to bite her.
"Ha!" Tessia was trying to defend herself, but she was clearly outmatched.
I could feel my rage boiling within me. No one, not even this beast, would harm my sister.
I gathered the remaining mana within me and unleashed it towards the creature.
"Grrrkkk!!!"
The force of my attack had sent the monster flying, giving me enough time to grab Tessia and run for safety. She was hurt, her arm badly injured, but at least she was alive.
"Tessia!" I called out.
"Brother!" She responded with relief in her voice.
Without hesitation, I immediately ran towards Tessia, and when I saw her arm, I gritted my teeth. She was injured because I wasn't strong enough to protect her. I knew I had to act fast and cast a basic healing magic on her wounds.
"By the power of nature and the energy of life, I call upon the forces of healing to mend this wounded flesh. Restore what is broken and make whole again, from the inside out, from the skin to the bone. So mote it be." I recited, focusing my energy on the spell.
There was a bright green light that enveloped Tessia's body, and I could see the wound on her arm stop bleeding only slightly.
"Are you okay now? Does it still hurt?" I asked her, concerned about her well-being.
"I-I'm fine now, brother," she responded weakly. Then she looked at my body, which was covered in burns. "H-How about you, brother? Are you really okay?!" she asked, her voice sounding concerned and her eyes getting teary.
"I'm fine. I already cast a self-healing magic, so it doesn't hurt anymore," I lied. I didn't want her to worry about me when she was already hurt.
But I knew that I wasn't fine, not really. The pain was stinging, and I could barely feel the pelting rain as my whole body was numb.
"Let's go back inside!"
I suggested, knowing that the searing heat and the coldness of the rain were making all my wounds hurt. I couldn't stand here any longer. Besides, the sooner we got out of here, the lesser the chance that the vision I had seen would become true.
I grabbed Tessia by the hand, and before I could turn back— "Gah—!!!"
Something hit me in the chest, and I felt my ribs break in an instant. I was sent flying and crashed into the wall of our house. The impact was too much for me to handle, and I couldn't even catch my breath.
"Brother!" Tessia cried out, her voice sounding far away. I wanted to get up, to move towards her, but I couldn't even catch my breath. The metallic sound ringing in my ears only added to the chaos, and I could feel myself starting to lose consciousness.
"T...Tessia..." I mumbled, my lips barely moving.
I looked towards Tessia, but my blurring vision made it hard for me to see, and the hard rain was not making it any easier either.
Blood filled my mouth, and I could taste the bitterness of it on my tongue. I tried to stand, to will myself to move, but everything was spinning. Was I floating, or sinking? I couldn't even tell anymore.
In that moment, I knew that I had to get to Tessia. I had to protect her, no matter what. But as soon as I had that thought, everything went dark.
***
'Huh? Where am I? What happened to me, for that matter?'
When I opened my eyes, or at least I thought I did, all I could see was darkness. It felt as if I was floating in an endless sea of blackness, unable to move or do anything. I couldn't remember how I got here or what had happened to me. Everything was a blur, and my mind felt foggy.
As I slowly tried to recall what had happened, memories of a recent struggle against a monster flooded back into my mind. My heart started racing as the adrenaline rush from the battle and fear and panic from our attempted escape washed over me. I remembered how I had cast a healing spell on Tessia's arm, and how she had looked at me with concern when she saw my burns. But then, everything went dark, and I found myself in this strange place, unable to move.
Desperately, I tried to call out for Tessia, but my voice was silent, and the darkness around me seemed to swallow up any sound I made. I felt helpless and alone in this void. I wondered where Tessia was and whether she was okay. Was she also trapped in this dark place? My thoughts raced as I struggled to make sense of my situation.
Suddenly, a faint light appeared in the distance, and I watched as it grew brighter and closer until it filled my vision. At first, I couldn't make out what it was, but as it got closer, I saw the familiar figure of the black-haired girl who had appeared in my previous dream. Her face was so close to mine that our noses almost touched, and I instinctively took a step back, but there was nowhere to go.
The white space around us seemed to stretch out infinitely in all directions, giving me the sense that I was in a void without any edges or boundaries. I tried to speak, but no words came out. The girl smiled at me, seemingly understanding my confusion and fear.
"Hello, and welcome again," she said, her voice echoing around us. "Looks like you're quite in a pinch."
I remained silent, still trying to process everything that was happening.
I had thought the dream that I had seen three days ago was just that—a dream, or a nightmare, as I'd like to call it. But this dream was very vivid, and when I first arrived in this white space, I had thought that I was dead and had entered the afterlife.
Now, I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. Maybe the struggle that Tessia and I had just experienced was the dream, and this white space was reality. But if that was the case, did it mean that I was dead?
My mind was racing with questions, and I couldn't make sense of anything. The girl seemed to understand my confusion and calmly spoke to me.
"Relax, Leon. As I said before, this is a place within you. A place where everything, even the things you've tried to forget, reside. This is the place that makes you who you are. As for what was happening outside of this place, well, that was reality. You were truly being attacked by a Lizardman."
'If that's the case, then please let me out of here. I have to get to Tessia. I have to protect her,' I thought to myself, fully aware that this girl could read my mind.
"How efficient of you, Leon, to just think your words rather than saying them," she sighed. "But unfortunately, I cannot let you out of this place."
'Why not?' I asked in my mind.
"Because, my dear Leon, you're dead," she replied, her voice sounding both solemn and matter-of-fact.