"How about we warm you up? You're still cold under the blanket," She chuckled, losing the suspicion and giving me room to be comfortable with where she stood, allowing me to shift out of bed and…
"Damn, you're hella tall," I muttered, sweating as the young woman approached me, her height essentially being as tall as mine. Well, actually, my hair that kind of stood up gave me an inch so honestly she might just straight up be taller than me.
"No, you're just short," She chuckled, quickly crouching down to light the fireplace with a snap of her fingers.
From those slender white fingers of hers, a smark appeared. It wasn't much, but it still landed on the pile of wood coated with a layer of wood shavings. With this much fuel, the spark couldn't help but set alight, blowing across the entire fireplace and warming up the cabin an instant.
I didn't want to admit it, but the fireplace was comforting. Almost a bit too comforting as if she wanted me to let my guard down. I had no clue how the kind of people here acted and where exactly we were in the first place, so I made sure to keep my guard up and withstand the feeling of drowsiness washing through my body.
Crackle… Crack… CRACK
At least an hour had passed with both of us sitting in front of the fireplace. In comparison to me who was a bit uncomfortable, the young woman was completely different. Somehow, without even the slightest touch of awkwardness, she was resting her head on my shoulder, drifting in and out of sleep.
I had to admit, she was pretty cute, but… I've never been in a situation like this before. So, the only thing I could do was just sit here, frozen in place while sweat poured down from my face and scalp.
"Orion… I need your guidance…" I smiled, a single tear down my face as I looked up at the wooden ceiling.
The rain had completely stopped, leaving the damp coldness to envelop our cabin. If I wasn't right next to this campfire, I probably would have just died by now or at least fainted. Maybe it was because we were so high up or maybe this region was especially chilly, but that didn't change the fact that I couldn't escape this current situation.
"Mmm… You're… still here?" Noah slowly lifted her eyes.
"Y-Yeah… I mean, you still haven't told me where I am. You haven't informed me as to-"
"My bad, my bad," She chuckled, slowly sitting up and wiping the drool from the side of her mouth. A small blush flushed my lower cheeks and as I turned away, Noah saw me and widely smiled. "Anyways, you're currently in the Lochness Kingdom otherwise known as the Kingdom of Oceans. This piece of land you're on right now is only technically within its jurisdiction as the kingdom is pretty much entirely underwater."
"Yeah, we're on an island, aren't we? I thought it might've been some illusion magic, but no matter how hard I tried to find a way out, the circles I was taking was only because of my own stupidity, huh?"
"Well… not quite. There is illusion magic and I'm sure you were in it. And this is an island but not as small as you saw. You were definitely caught in the illusion magic, and you want to know how I'm aware of that?" The woman smiled yet for some reason it felt different. It was creepy the way the ends of her lips twisted upwards and her eyes almost closed all the way with excitement. "Because I am this island." I think you should take a look at
A shiver shot down my spine as she spoke those words. Goosebumps erupted from my skin and with an instinctive rise to my feet, I frantically looked around. I felt the presence of so many powerful beings surrounding the wooden cabin that it felt like a chain had wrapped itself around me.
I was restricted. Something was locking me down and beginning to suck the mana from out of my body. That whirling pool of mana, almost like it was the center or hub of my magic was being drained. The very pits of it were being sucked out by a massive straw whose body had been covered by the lips of an all-powerful being.
"What a fool you are to come here… not only are you no stronger than a toddler, but you have the mindset of one as well." The woman's starry pupils began to expand within their sockets, nearly covering two-thirds of her eyes. "And you love me, don't you? What a pity?"
[You have been inflicted with Mana Drain]
[Mana Drain has been upgraded to Life Essence Drain]
I didn't even need an explanation to know that was bad. I had to escape somehow otherwise I was going to die. I needed to do something yet the mana and life essence draining from my body forced me to be unable to even wield any kind of skill. And after panicking and going through all of the pinpoints of my status, I got to the very last part of my equipment tab.
[Blessed Dark Spear]
A spear covered in white and black light erupted out of nowhere, its handle forming in the center of my closing palm. For a second, the woman glanced at it, almost smirking with an arrogant tone that asked if this was really all I could do, but…
VWOOP… BOOOOOOM
[Absorbed Dark Energy will be released via Mana]
In one large explosion that blinded the entire cabin with a bright black light, everything was torn to shreds. A massive crater had formed in the center of the island top and all that was left was me, torn and tattered to shreds with blood dripping from seemingly hundreds of lacerations crossing my entire body.
In a feeble attempt to get up, I coughed up a mouthful of blood and felt my entire body go limp. Yet, just as I was about to smile with victory, the young woman appeared in my vision once more, her smile stretching across her face.
"Noah, that's enough."
