Ryan woke up in a glowing cavern, the source of the light coming from the many mana-crystals located in the place. He wasn't sure how he ended up in this place.
He tried hard to think, but couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered doing was walking through a desert for weeks.
While the boy was lost in thought, a goblin-like creature with large ears walked out of one of the many passages found in this labyrinth, noticing the boy.
It began drooling and growling as it slowly approached the boy. By now the boy had already taken notice of it. He attempts to pull his spear off his back, not find anything.
[Where'd my spear go?!]
He kept reaching behind him, not feeling it anywhere. He couldn't even find his bag either. He quickly reached into his pocket, pulling out Edward's will.
Ryan sighed a breath of relief, but that didn't last long when the goblin began screeching at the boy, who quickly pocketed the will before covering his ears.
The goblin used this chance to lunge at the boy, who dodged its slash using wind before punching the goblin in the stomach, sending it flying toward a cavern wall.
The goblin quickly stood back up, running to attack the boy once again.
Ryan glared at the goblin, an ominous aura began emanating from him. The goblin became overcome with fear, hallucinating the image of a werewolf, promptly causing it to flee.
Ryan looked at the fleeing goblin confused, wondering why the goblin ran away. In the end, the boy just thought the goblin realized just how strong he was and ran away.
He sighed before walking in the direction the goblin went, hoping to find a way out.
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An hour later…
After fighting many more screeching goblins, the boy managed to find a decently large room with an altar in the center. The boy walked up to the altar, finding a green gem in the center.
He reached out for the gem, feeling drawn to it. The ground began to shake when he made contact with the gem, startling the boy.
[What the hell is happening?!]
A giant arm shot up from the ground, trying to squash Ryan who quickly used wind to fly out of the way. A giant 4-meter-tall stone golem emerged from the ground.
The golem immediately sprinted towards Ryan at a surprising speed, making Ryan panic and quickly run back into the cave. The golem tried to follow after him but couldn't because the cave was too small for it to fit in.
Ryan ran as far as he could, panting once he was a good distance away.
[What the hell is this place?]
He couldn't figure it out, so he decided to just take a different path which led him straight back into the room with the golem.
The golem's eyes grew yellow, shooting a laser beam at Ryan who quickly jumped out of the way. Ryan begins charging up a ball of light, tossing it at the golem who just swats it away, shocking Ryan.
[You've got to be kidding me.]
He tried using wind to blow the golem away, but it didn't do a thing. None of his attacks could damage the golem in the slightest.
The golem's head began spazzing out before a demonic smile suddenly formed on its face. The golem stomped on the ground, causing the whole area to shake before rushing at the teen again.
Ryan tries to use the wind to move out of the way, but the golem gets to him first, backhanding him away into a wall, and embedding him in the wall.
The teen falls onto the ground, coughing up blood. He doesn't have much time to rest however when the golem starts shoots more laser beams from its eyes.
Ryan rolls out of the way, before quickly running towards the entrance back to the cave, the golem keeps shooting its laser eyes. The teen dodges the lasers one last time before quickly running deep into the cave, not looking back.
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He had tried looking for an exit, but no matter where the boy went, he always ended up back at that same altar. In the end, the boy decided to give up for the day, lounging around on a cave wall.
The teen's stomach began growling, which bothered him a lot. He had no food. Ryan tried to just ignore the hunger as well as he could, but in the end, he couldn't take the pain anymore.
He ripped a mana-crystal off of a wall, biting down on it hard and managing to break off a bit of it. He chewed on the mana crystal, which surprisingly didn't taste all too bad.
That is until the disgusting aftertaste followed, which made him want to puke. He wanted to stop, but he didn't have much of an option.
After finishing up his "meal," Ryan decided to practice using his magic for the first time since Edward's training. He sat down, crossed his arms, and fell deep into thought.
He tried, he really did, but nothing came to mind. He wasn't getting any of his interesting ideas this time. Most of his thoughts were him thinking about how lonely he was.
Alone, and trapped in his thoughts for the first time since that day. There was nothing to distract him from thinking about the past.
The past he missed so much.
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Flashback…
"Oi, Ryan. Could you go fetch me some water from the town well?!" A tan-skinned man with blond hair asked while chopping up some ingredients
Ryan was busy reading a magic book, "Give me a sec, Pops"
The middle-aged man slapped the boy's head with a wooden spoon.
"Last time you said that, you kept reading till nightfall. GO NOW!"
Ryan rubbed the back of his head with tears in his eyes, "Did you really have to hit me like that."
The only response he got was a kick to his back which sent him flying out of the house.
The middle-aged man tossed an empty bucket at the boy before slamming the door shut.
Ryan just picked up the bucket and started walking down towards the well.
"That bastard, does he have to kick so hard?" the boy cursed as he walked down the street of the village.
People greeted the boy as he walked by, slowly lifting up his mood. He hummed a cheerful tune as he filled up the bucket with water.
That is until a black-haired teen with scarlet red eyes hugged him from behind, startling the boy.
"Ryan, I missed you so much!" the girl squealed as she hugged the boy tightly.
Ryan started blushing a bit before giving an annoyed look, "Marceline, I just saw you yesterday."
"Yeah, but that's forever ago."
The boy just rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."
Marceline began pouting, "Aw, what's with that annoyed look, I know you missed me too."
Ryan adamantly denied it, but Marceline just ignored it.
The boy just sighed, "I can't chat with you today, I got to bring this bucket of water back home before Pops gets mad."
Ryan tried to shake her off of him, but the girl didn't want to let go. He eventually gave up
"You want to have dinner with us?"
Hearing that, the girl hugged the boy even tighter.
"Of course."
Flashback End…
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He missed living carefree like that. He missed his dad, the villagers, and especially Marceline. Even though he wouldn't admit it at the time, she was his best friend.
But now he had to live with the reality that they were all dead. He thought he would be able to keep those emotions bottled up, but in the end he couldn't
Tears began falling from his eyes as he began thinking about all the bad things that had happened to him within the past 4 months. The death of everyone he cared about, his dad, his best friend, his mentor.
Everyone…