All sound disappeared. There was no more light, no more life. However I could still feel the bear's fur.
But then, even that warmth disappeared. The bear vanished, I couldn't feel its body anymore.
I was floating. Neither in the sky, nor in water. It was a complete void.
'Am I dead now?'
It wasn't as I expected death to be. Besides, I was still conscious.
I felt empty, as if my mind was filled with purposeless thoughts.
I was sure that a lot of time had already passed.
'What should I do now?'
There was nothing I could do. I couldn't move nor could I use my abilities.
I felt deprived of everything. As if anything I'd try would end up being meaningless.
I spent a lot of time thinking like that.
'Is it over now?'
...
But then I heard a familiar ding!
[Sanity over 50%, test successful. You have been ejected of the Trial.]
As soon as I read the system message, my thoughts became clearer, my mind no longer fuzzy, and all my bloodlust disappeared.
As if the pieces of a puzzle coming back to place, my memories regained all their meanings.
'Ah... I remember now. I had forgotten about the 'Sanity' percentage. It was somewhat low last I checked, I was lucky this time... I never would have thought that the drop in sanity would have made me so forgetful...'
And Ivan... the red glint in his eyes was quite pronounced. So even if he manages to enter the mouth, I'm not sure he'll be ejected...
However Alexei will survive without a doubt. It seemed to me that he could manage himself pretty well.
Now...
I'm regretful about what happened to Cinza. His body was in shambles and he seemed pretty weak in itself. Strangely, even if he was supposed to be a complete stranger to me, my heart stung whenever I thought of him being dead.
Emerging from my thoughts, the space around me started to feel heavier. The world spun and light reappeared. I closed my eyes so as not to feel dizzy, then as soon as my feet touched the ground, I reopened them.
I thrust my arms forward and opened them wide, as if welcoming the world. I looked around, absorbing everything good this world had to offer onto my very own being.
The starry sky illuminated the moonless night. The air was fresh and the sweet(?) scent of blood invaded my nostrils— wait, blood?
I looked down at my body.
Oh right, I was still covered in it from the animals (and humans) I slaughtered back in there.
Anyway, freedom. What a great thing that was.
I really pitied those who were locked up.
***
Regaining my consciousness, I slowly opened my eyes. However it didn't take long for the pain to come back. My arm was still broken and I lost a lot of blood. It also seems that Rebecca had left me here. Though I was grateful that she had at least brought me far from the monster: The shrieking was more distant now.
Withstanding the pain, I forced myself to stand up. I had to keep the blood circulation in my legs so that I could run away in case of any unforeseen situation.
Now how do I leave this place? Well in fact I had already an idea in mind, but before I could try it out, Rebecca appeared right in front of me. That was quite an unfortunate timing.
Actually, escaping from here was, in theory, quite easy. Fairies can manipulate space, which means teleportation is possible, or at least something that can help me leave this place. And when my gene had evolved to level two, the system had kindly imprinted on my mind the use of some new abilities, and one in particular that seemed perfect for my current situation.
I call it dimension broker. It is not actual teleportation, however it allows me to rip the fabric of space to move in between different planes of existence.
Although it does sound abstract with that kind of explanation, I believe it to be the perfect ability to escape.
Since the Shepherd's domain - the scenario - was, in a sense, a different world, then with the dimension broker I could hypothetically break the barrier between this world and Nebula, then go through that hole to leave.
And that was what I was about to try out.
So I lifted my left arm, then extending my fingers, I concentrated on the space around me.
Then it converged. It bent, it cracked, before covering my left arm like a cloth. A cloth that I could control and shape at will.
I sharpened it and gave it the form of a blade. The process took about a whole minute and was quite tiring. When i felt that the blade was ready, I sliced the air. Or at least, I tried. There was a lot of resistance, further indicated by a crackling sound and small shards of space falling apart. It looked like shattered glass
I applied more force onto my arm, however, simply bending the space almost consumed all my energy. It was hard, but l couldn't give up now. All my efforts until now would have been wasted.
I used my broken right arm to push the left one, forcing myself to do it regardless of the pain.
I gritted my teeth, I pushed harder.
It hurt, it hurt like hell.
Barely conscious, I did my best pouring all my strength on my arms.
The finally, I could see it. A hole was forming itself already. Still too small for a human to go through, but still.
'I can do it.'
I put all my weight into one last push, squeezing all my remaining energy for that single slice, until—
It was complete.
Then I passed through the hole, or more like I stumbled, almost out of strength.
Since this domain was connected to Nebula, fortunately, there was no need to travel between planes. So I found myself where I had been, before the Shepherd threw us inside his own chaotic hell.
The hole in space behind me slowly closed up, then everything went back to normal, as if nothing had happened. It was night, it was refreshing.
And I collapsed. Using the dimension broker took quite a toll on my already broken, exhausted body. I was totally emptied now. Forcibly bending and breaking space is way too hard.
But... I survived, even though I was weak, I went out from hell, alive. And a little plus as I also broke free from the Federation, which was actually my main goal for now.
'At least I hope I won't serve as a monster's meal now...'
And with that last thought, my consciousness drifted away... again.
*
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[A/N]
Finally out of this place, Phew! Though I'm not sure things would end just with that…
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you continue enjoying my work!
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