Chapter 7

Yena ran towards the wall almost stumbling over her feet, surprised at her newfound speed. She dodged and ducked the falling rocks with ease like they were falling in slow motion. Yena jumped over a sudden boulder that appeared in front of her before she finally reached the hole in the wall. The tear in the sub-dimension.

Long tendrils of frantic energy snaked out randomly from the hole which stretched to about the size of a shed door. She felt cold. Chilled to the bone. The thing in front of her reeked of power. Unrestrained and chaotic. As if it was a rabid beast held back by a loose chain, destroying anything it could find within its range. Yena felt unnatural and uncomfortable energy from the swirling hole, which in fact reassured her. If I'm feeling the same feeling that I felt when entering the dungeon, then this is probably the right way right?

She did back off slightly though, at the sheer magnitude of the concentrated power, much more potent than the black doors had felt, and reached out to Zuphaiross regarding her intuition about the similarity between the tear and the dungeon entrance. 'This power…' it trailed off, whatever it was going to say lost in the crashing from a giant piece of ceiling, which drew her attention away from Zupahiross. Time was running out. Yena wasted no more time, before taking a deep breath and stepping into the void.

Her body instantly went numb from the cold, sluggish in responding to her commands to curl up. Her outstretched limbs were massive gusts of wind, layered with undercurrents that pulled in opposite directions, her body caught in the mess, crushing her whilst also pulling her fall all sides. Yena opened her mouth to scream, but all sound was lost in the overwhelming forces. Her eyes were shut tight, yet blinded by flashes of random colours, all changing so fast that yenas mind abandoned intercepting the visual stimulus she was receiving.

'Use your mana shield!' Zuphaiross call was clear in her mind, her panic overridden by its self-assured strength. Yena called out for her mana shield, the etterals command being the only complete coherent thought within her mind, not hearing the words that left her mouth, she screamed for the mana shield again and again.

Suddenly, the pressure weakened, allowing Yena to catch her thoughts, and bring her arms around her head, tucking in her legs: the fetal position, which her mind instinctively went towards, reminding Yena of the purpose of her survival. Life Jinah Jiwoo. She recited the three words over and over, like a mantra, as if she was chanting one of mothers spells.

The multi-coloured flashes intensified after the brief respite they had given to Yena brightening before all she could see through the lids of her tightly shut eyes was a blinding light. A whiteness that was reflecting everything. Yena covered her face with her left arm, which did nothing to help lessen the brightness which lasted for a few seconds, or had it always been there? Yena couldn't remember how long it had been since she had jumped through the rift, how long she had been floating, or am I falling? Is this even light? She mused absently, no longer feeling the pressure on her body. She moved her arms around, or so her mind was telling her, no way of really knowing since she could no longer feel anything. Nothing. No air resistance. No concept of gravity. She could not see anything, nor hear any sound. It's as if my senses have been blocked. Yena thought, clenching her fists, not feeling anything.

'Don't lose your focus Yena.' She snapped out of her meandering thoughts fast, the voice quickly reminding her where she was and what she was doing, her focusing of thoughts and emotions bringing back the forces pulling her limbs. The bright light grew stronger burning Yenas brain, the sudden intensity of the pain making her scream inaudibly. 'That's right anchor yourself with your memories.' Yena didn't understand Zuphaiross but trusted the powerful voice. She thought of home, the reason for her living, her aspirations and dreams, that she had long forgotten, and the whiteness flashed one last time before Yena could feel her limbs once again, her legs supported by some sort of surface, pulling her upright. Standing. How long has it been since I've felt gravity?

She opened her eyes to darkness, which soothed Yena after the eternity of light, trying to move, before she was overcome with sound, smashing into her eardrums. Screams and the flashing arcs of swords being swung: the dry crackling of fire, all bombarded her at once in a cacophony of chaos. She absorbed the madness with all her senses. This is nothing compared to what I've just gone through. Yena looked around and saw shadows through the rolling smoke before her legs gave away beneath her on the stone ground, her body unable to move, every single muscle cramping at once, the pain racking through her body. The sounds around her grew quieter as her vision dimmed.

-Mana shield has reached level 3-

-WARNING MANA HAS REACHED ZERO-

So that's what had happend, “Help,” her voice croaked in the smoky gloom, the last cry of resistance draining the remaining dregs of her energy, as she felt herself slipping away...

Yena opened her eyes groggily to a cream coloured ceiling laced with bright led lights. She turned her head to her right to find Jinah and Jiwoo whispering to each other, their heads lowered and movements agitated.

“When do you think she'll wake up?” Jinah asked in a trembling voice. Jiwoo leaned in, squeezing her sister's hand.

“The doctors said unnie will wake up by tomorrow morning,” she paused gulping “she's only run out of mana apparently, which isn't that bad I've heard.” The room was silent save for the muffled sounds of the city let in through the closed window. Should I let them know that I'm awake? Yena thought, smiling inwardly at finally seeing them. She took a deep breath inducing sharp pains in her throat and chest which made her cough violently.

The twins snapped their heads back in unison at the sudden noise which filled the silence of the room, their worried expressions from seconds ago morphing into surprise, then joy, before being overwhelmed by too many emotions and finally breaking down into relieved sobbing. They rushed at Yena hugging her hard, burning their faces into her shoulders. Yena weakly reciprocated the hug, covering them with her left arm, and tried to speak once again being attacked with her racking cough.

“Get her some water Jinah,” Jiwoo said, using the remote to lift the hospital beds head so that Yena could sit comfortably. She sipped at the room-temperature water from the bottle that Jinah had brought with her and looked at the girls fussing around her. Jiwoo had brought in the doctor who looked between Yena and the papers in his hand with surprise.

“How can you already move?” He asked as Yena stretched her sore limbs bringing blood back into them with movement. “Based on your class it should take much longer for you to wake up.” He said looking away as she got up from the bed and was helped into her coat.

“I've ranked up to C class.” Her words stopped all activity in the room; the twins looked at each other, their mouths agape at the news. The doctor recovered first, quickly scribbling something down onto the file, and pulling out his phone,

“Well, that would make sense then.” He shut the folder and looked at Yena, dropping eye contact at her unblinking black eyes, “you'll need to update your profile then,” he coughed into his fist and pulled out a sheet of paper from the file, “ just fill this in and then you're free to leave,” with that the doctor left her room.

“you...You've ranked up to C class?!” Jinah asked, walking towards Yena, a worried and confused expression painted over her face. She looked at her sister, who had reacted in the same way. “What happened in the dungeon unnie?” Yena took a deep breath, I'm going to have to tell them everything don't I ? Yena thought knowing they won't be satisfied with some half-assed explanation, 'especially since they're the ones that allowed you to pull through with the escape in the first place.'

“You see when I went into the dungeon...”

Azman felt Zuphaiross die. It frowned. Zuphaiross had been linked with Ehzanyc, and if Azman was receiving the death signal, it would mean both of them had died. Azman turned its trajectory around, turning towards the location the signal had come from. It paused for a moment, sending a message directed towards the Kine planets. Azman would need help if both Zuphaiross and Ehzanyc had died...

It didn't bode well that two etterals had fallen.