Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 283: The ash that lingers in the air [2]

It was dark.

Darkness embraced every inch of my surroundings.

I could hardly hear or see a thing.

‘Where is this…?’

I looked around me.

Still, it was dark. Regardless of how much I looked, all I saw was darkness.

‘What is going on?’

I tried to speak, but I found my voice stuck inside of throat. Regardless of how much I tried to speak, my mouth refused to open.

“….!”

Moving my body, I pressed my hand forward where I felt something.

It was smooth to the touch, with hints of warmth. I knocked several times with my knuckle, ‘Tok, Tok—!’, and each knock felt rather light.

‘Wood…?’

That appeared to be the case as I tapped again.

Tok, Tok—!

I stopped when I realized it did nothing. I then ran my hand around me and tried to get a feel of my surroundings. It was to my shock that I realized that I was trapped on all sides.

I didn’t panic immediately and continued to run my hand around the area I was in. Because of how dark it was, I found it hard to properly feel everything.

Still, I tried to map my surroundings in my mind.

Trying to fully understand my circumstances and the spacing that I had. As my hand traced to my left, I stopped.

‘Nothing.’

The space was completely empty.

Or at least, it felt empty.

Tok, tok—!

Knocking on the wall facing my left, my brows jumped up in surprise. The sound… It was a little different compared to the other walls.

It sounded a lot less hollow and a lot more firm.

….It didn’t feel like it was made out of wood.

‘How strange…’

I knocked on it several more times but soon stopped when I realized it was leading me nowhere.

I wasn’t panicked. If this was really made out of wood, then it was as easy as tearing a piece of paper for me.

While it was true that I was a mage, my physical capabilities were far above that of a regular person, and without a second thought, I punched the wall ahead of me.

Bang—!

A loud bang resounded as my fist connected with the wall.

The sound was rather loud, but outside of that… nothing happened.

‘Eh…?’

I blinked my eyes several times.

‘How does this make sense?’

Feeling the wooden surface before me, I was stunned to see that it was still smooth. Not even a hint of a scratch or dent. This was especially so for the area where I had punched.

That was also incredibly smooth…

‘What’s going on?’

I still didn’t panic, lowering my head as I started to ponder over my situation.

‘If that doesn’t work, then I can try something else.’

Bringing my hand forward, I tried to cast a small spell.

I went for the chains, but…

Tzzz—!

To my shock, the magic circle that I wanted to form shattered in less than a fraction of a second.

Stunned, I could only blankly stare at the darkness as I imagined my empty hand in my mind.

But that wasn’t the part that I was focused on. No, that didn’t matter to me.

What mattered to me was the fact that…

‘Gone.’

I hardly had any mana within me.

It was only extremely minuscule, but that was it.

‘My physical body seems to have regressed, and practically all of my mana is gone…’

What kind of fucked up situation was this?

My frown tightened as I desperately held onto my composure.

Touching the side of the space, I repeatedly knocked on all sides, hoping to find some sort of clue to my situation, but that proved to be meaningless as even the hours passed, my situation remained the same.

“…..”

The darkness continued to embrace every part of my body, but it felt stifling.

With the passing of time, I started to feel suffocated.

The space was small, and I was trapped, unable to get out of the space or scream for help.

‘What’s going on…?’

I was sure that I had used the third leaf on Kiera, but what was up with this situation? It made no sense.

“…..”

Lost in my thoughts, I continued to wait.

Something was bound to happen, right…?

I continued to convince myself that that was the case, but…

“…..”

Nothing.

Even as the hours continued to pass, I remained stuck in the dark with no way out.

I was confined within a small space, stuck and alone.

My breathing became shorter, and my head started to feel light. From time to time, I’d knock around to feel for something that could get me out of this space, but it was all to no avail.

It suddenly started to grow hot.

Sweat trickled down the side of my face, and breathing became more and more difficult.

“…..”

My mind remained firm under the circumstances.

I continued to remain calm and just waited patiently. I had experienced far worse in the past. This much I could handle.

But there was also a limit to how much I could handle.

Ten hours.

…At about the tenth hour, my legs started to cramp.

“….!”

The pain made me flinch.

Whatever groan that was about to come out of my mouth, halted just before it could. For some reason, my body continued to refuse to make a single sound.

It was as though it was afraid of me making any noise.

But what about the knocking?

.

.

.

Time continued to pass.

At the fifteenth hour, my other leg cramped and my neck strained.

Yet again, nothing escaped my lips.

I could only silently endure the pain.

‘….I’ve been through worse.’

Despite the agony that I was in, my mind remained firm.

At least, I tried to keep it firm.

I could feel that it was slowly starting to crumble.

And this became especially apparent as time continued to tick, finally reaching the twenty-four-hour mark.

“….”

I hadn’t slept a wink.

I tried, but the discomfort that I was in made it impossible for me to sleep.

‘I need to get out.’

By now, desperation was slowly starting to sink into the depths of my mind. I was both mentally and physically exhausted.

The space was tight, and I was running out of oxygen.

‘Out… I need to get out…’

I was desperate to see the light.

It was only my imagination, but it felt as though the walls were closing in on me from all sides.

My breathing grew more shallow, and thoughts of escape were the only ones that ran through my mind.

I no longer cared about the situation.

….I just wanted to be free from this prison.

It was taking a mental toll on me.

Tok! Tok—

I continued to knock, but it was to no avail.

‘Why…? Why is this vision not ending?’

My lips trembled as I bit into them. It was there that I realized that my lips were dry, and so was my mouth.

‘W-ater.’

My mind finally registered the fact that I was both hungry and thirsty.

The sense of desperation I felt heightened at the realization as I desperately ran my hands around the small space I was confined in.

Having done the same thing over a hundred times, I pretty much had the entire space mapped out in my mind.

I knew what I was doing was meaningless, but I had to do something.

….I had to do something to get out of this space.

Thump!

Soon, my left arm grew limp.

I had lost all of my energy. The hunger and thirst were starting to get to me. I could hardly think as my mind was like a fog.

‘….G-get out.’

The only thoughts that ran through my mind were thoughts about escaping.

I wanted to get out of this space.

I felt so claustrophobic.

“….”

It was also then that I felt something in my pocket. It was a small box, and as I reached out for it, my mind momentarily blanked.

I started to remember what brought me here and my grip on the box tightened.

Lifting the cap open, I slowly removed a long and soft object. It was cylindrical in space, and a familiar smell of tobacco lingered in the air.

I felt my stomach churn at the smell as the cigarette slipped from my fingers, falling on the ground beneath me.

Tak—

Having grown accustomed to the dark, I knew exactly where the cigarette fell with just the sound it made.

My hand trembled as I reached out for it.

I could still not see a thing, but my mind appeared to fill in the blanks for me as I saw my hand with the cigarette in hand.

The sight made my heart skip a beat.

“….”

It had been a long time…

Swallowing my saliva, I brought my hand toward the tip of the cigarette. While I couldn’t use mana to create a spell, it wasn’t hard for me to create a small spark to light up the cigarette.

My hand stopped right at the tip of the cigarette.

“….”

I licked my lips but only felt pain.

Then…

Snap—!

Sparks flew, and a floating red circle appeared before me.

For the first time in a long time, I finally saw light. Even if it was due to something that I detested, I couldn’t help but keep my gaze locked onto the floating red circle.

The glowing tip of the cigarette, flickered and pulsed, entracing me into the sight.

A sharp and acrid smell followed suit as my nose scrunched up. On any normal occasion, I would’ve gagged, but this time, I didn’t.

I just continued to stare at the only source of light within this prison of darkness.

…There was something about the smell and light that brought me comfort in this dark space.

It made me want to laugh.

A cigarette of all things…

‘Haha.’

I would’ve never expected the smell to ever bring me comfort, but here I was, relishing the sensations that it brought.

I thought about getting a little taste but stopped myself.

‘This is enough.’

….Even if I wasn’t disgusted by the idea, I just didn’t feel like it. I was different than the me of the past.

I didn’t need to use it to help me escape my reality.

All I needed it for was the light that it brought me.

And so,

Snap—

The moment one cigarette finished, I’d lit up another one and just emptily stare at the floating red circle. The light it provided was extremely dim, and while I tried to get a better look at my surroundings, it was of no use.

In the end, I was just left with no choice but to remain seated where I was.

Unlike before, I felt much calmer.

I continued to light up one cigarette after another.

Snap, snap, snap—

By now, its scent had already spread through every corner of the space, and it was all that I could smell.

It wasn’t a pleasant smell, but within the darkness and suffocating confines of the space, it felt extremely comforting, distracting me from all the bad thoughts.

I was starting to become addicted to it.

‘Huh…?’

Reaching out for another cigarette, my heart dropped when I realized it was the last one.

Before I knew it, I ended up using all the cigarettes available.

….And still, nothing happened.

“…..”

Closing my eyes, I rested my head back.

Snap!

I didn’t think twice before lighting the last cigarette.

Tzz!

A red circle floated before me.

Entranced, I kept my eyes firmly locked onto it.

‘What do I do? How can I get out of this space? I don’t understand… What’s with this situation?’

Questions flooded my mind as I started to think about what would happen once the cigarette finished, but as time passed, the quieter my mind became.

I just focused on relishing the comfort the light brought me.

I knew that I didn’t have much time.

With time, the circle dimmed.

As I watched it happen, my heart sank deeper and deeper into my body.

What was I going to do after it was gone? What was I—

Clank!

It was all of a sudden when I heard a loud sound my head sprang up. Looking back, the space I was in shook as I heard what appeared to be the muffled sound of conversations happening outside of whatever I was caged in.

To Tok—

I rapidly tapped onto the box, trying my best to get them to notice me.

‘Hello!? Anybody there?’

Clank!

It didn’t seem like they could hear me, but the shaking continued.

Despite the agony that accompanied each movement, I turned my body toward the direction of the sound. Soon, I saw a thin, long white line seeping into the darkness that surrounded me.

It was a thin line that grew wider with each second, allowing for the light to fully invade the space.

My eyes squinted with pain as I struggled to keep them open, and…

“There’s someone here!”

“We’ve found her!”

Several faces appeared before me.

I couldn’t quite see their features due to the light, but I couldn’t care less. I was finally going to be out.

I was finally…

“Here, come with me.”

“….”

My body stopped as they reached out for the space beside me.

I realized something.

They… weren’t looking at me.

Turning my head, in the area where I thought there was a wall blocking me, I saw a young figure.

Her frail body trembled uncontrollably, and her white hair seemed to cling to her gaunt face. She was shivering so violently that it was almost painful to watch, and my own body froze.

Most unsettling were her ruby-red eyes.

They were locked on the tip of my cigarette, following its every movement with a haunting, desperate fixation.

Her hands reached out for it, but no words came out of her mouth as the figures dragged her away.

I stood frozen on the spot for a brief moment before darkness returned as the doors to the cabinet closed.

It was then that I understood.

“Oh, I see.”

My voice returned then, but I no longer had any words to use.

“….”

In the silence, I sat alone in the space.

Just me, and the ashes that lingered in the air.

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