Strangely, I didn't feel like I would die.

I somewhat instinctively knew there was something I could use, and it had been resting on one of the slots from the moment I gained this power.

It was the one spell I never replaced no matter the circumstance.

I raised my right arm in the next moment, half-grasping in the air.

I couldn't even see the cube I was supposedly conjuring at that moment. My world was already spinning.

Vision blacking out, sounds fading. I could taste nothing but blood as breathing suddenly became impossible.

I experienced all of this for a fleeting moment.

So this was death?

But then, in the next second, everything returned to normal.

I was back, standing as though nothing had happened. The whispers of death were also gone.

I quickly turned, finishing off my final opponent with yet another vicious middle finger.

That, however, was also my last action.

Darkness truly embraced me this time…

***

Time naturally passed, but as for how long, I wasn't sure.

I've only recovered my consciousness just now, but even simply opening my eyes seemed too tall a task.

I could only lie there and savor the taste of blood on my throat.

I wasn't dead and wasn't dying.

I can even hear the pitter-patter of light footsteps, the labored breathing, the occasional sniffs, and the sounds of bodies being dragged across a stone floor.

That's right…the war…

What happened to the war?

Eha…Acca…

I must at least give them a proper burial. I can't be lying around here.

Unfortunately, my strength was still depleted, and I still couldn't move.

Probably hours passed.

Soon, I heard the light footsteps again, followed by the sound of clunking wood hitting each other and the stone floor.

Right…

How could I even be lying on a stone floor? Wasn't I in the First Hearth?

Whoever was the owner of the light footsteps, they were gone again, and I waited in cold silence for a long time, just lying…

Was I even alive?

After some time, I heard the light footsteps again, followed by the sound of what seemed to be Hide Scrolls hitting the ground and rolling a few centimeters.

There were a lot.

Then, silence again…

Why? Why couldn't I move?

I desperately wanted to, but my body won't let me. This shouldn't be normal…

I'm conscious, but somehow, my body isn't mine to control.

Move, damn it!

I could only inwardly curse, desperately trying to see who was the owner of the light footsteps.

Maybe they could help me if I could just make a sound…

But no matter what I did, nothing happened.

It was as though my body was bound by some supernatural force that prevented me from moving.

After what seemed to be yet another eternity, I felt it…

A small log was placed atop my body

Then, arms—small, thin, quite supple, desperately carrying mine, bending the inner elbow and wrapping it in an angle around the small log.

Based on the size of her hands, the one moving was a young woman.

Relief washed over me.

Perhaps the war was won after I took care of the purple-skinned invaders?

Then, my attention was forcefully shifted as I felt the brush of vines on my skin.

The tiny, cold, trembling hands secured my arms to the log.

Who is this young woman, and what is she doing to me?

I could only speculate in a half-oblivious state, as my other arms were also tied to the log behind me.

It only became more impossible to move.

Nothing much happened after that, just the rustling of what I suspected to be hide scrolls and the light footsteps coming and going every once in a while.

I was stuck in an uncomfortable position for a long time.

Strangely, I didn't feel anything, just the sensation and my half-conscious state.

Was I only hallucinating about the footsteps, the scrolls, the breathing?

But then, after another amount of time, I finally heard something different: a voice.

Acca!

How could I mistake the voice of my own little sister? She was alive?!

The memory of my mother's regret-filled face flashed once, followed by Acca's unmoving figure in her embrace.

So she was alive all along…

That's great…

But what is she saying?

Why is she chanting some sort of incantation that even I, a master of sorcery, could not understand?

Her voice was trembling, yet she carried on.

It even seemed she was crying.

Stop…just help big brother up…

Unfortunately, all I had were but thoughts, and none reached Acca.

She simply continued chanting, one unsettling incantation after another.

Stop…

I don't know what you're doing, but stop…

Then, I felt it, a slight shift in position even though I did not move.

It was as though I was elevated slightly.

What I'm feeling now is not the stone floor, yet still cold nonetheless.

A bit tough, but definitely not as tough as stone.

What the hell is this I'm on?

Light footsteps then sounded once more. Acca was leaving, and I was alone yet again.

It was fine, though, as I've somewhat become used to it.

Waiting another eternity was no big deal. I was probably exaggerating things, anyway.

Soon, I heard footsteps again, but this time, it seemed that Acca returned with company.

Were they tribesmen? Have we really won the war?!

But the other, heavier footsteps seemed to stop a distance away, and only Acca's familiar lightness sounded so close to me.

Then I felt another strange sensation.

I was moving even though I wasn't, and all I could feel were Acca's arms.

How was little her carrying me?

The sensation then changed to tough, muscular arms, and the rate at which I'm moving quickened.

The coldness was now also replaced by warmth.

I was carried for a few dozen minutes, perhaps an hour or so? Only then was I placed down.

This time, I felt the dirt brushing on my feet.

It was very comfortable.

A few minutes later, I heard the sounds of the heavy footsteps walking away, farther and farther still.

The only things I could hear once they were gone were nature.

The breeze, the chirping birds, and the sea.

I couldn't smell, taste, or hear, but I could hear and feel.

The warmth on my skin, and the sensation of the dirt on my feet. I liked it very much.

Time passed.

The warmth eventually turned into cold, but of the comfortable, not-biting kind.

And then, time passed again.

The cold turned to warm and warm to cold after a fixed amount of time. Only the sensation of dirt on my feet remained consistent.

Like so, I waited, and waited…

And waited…