My eyes were completely closed after the heavy hit from the sword match in the basement room. I could not feel my body on the stone floor anymore, and everything around my mind became totally silent. I then saw a complete endless void stretching out in every single direction around me. The space was completely dark, with no lights, no walls, no floor, and no ceiling anywhere to be seen. It was an empty place that went on forever and ever without stopping. I stood in the middle of this dark emptiness, looking around at the absolute nothingness that surrounded my frame. There were no sounds at all, and the air felt perfectly still. I then saw a complete endless void that made me feel totally alone for a long time. I looked down at my own feet, but I could not see any solid ground beneath my boots. I just floated in the middle of the deep darkness, wondering where I was and how I had arrived in this strange, empty location after losing my consciousness in the arena.
As I kept looking around the dark emptiness, another figure suddenly appeared in front of my face out of the deep shadows. I looked closely through the dark space and I saw myself again standing right there in the middle of the complete endless void. The other version of me looked completely identical to my own body, standing completely straight with a very serious expression on his face. He did not look tired or hurt at all from the battle we had just went through downstairs. He stood perfectly still on the invisible floor, keeping his arms down by his sides while he stared directly into my eyes with a cold look. I could not move my body or say a single word because I was so surprised to see myself again in this empty place. We stood face to face in the darkness, completely silent for several long moments while the endless space remained totally quiet all around us.
The other version of me did not wait long to speak into the empty space. He looked at my weak frame and he said, "You're pathetic... I'll help you." His voice was very deep, clear, and calm, echoing softly through the large darkness of the complete endless void. He spoke the words directly to my face, letting me know exactly what he thought about my condition after losing the practice match to Chalreth in the basement. And then he walked away from my position, turning his body around and moving straight into the deep shadows of the empty place without saying anything else to me. I watched his shape move further and further away into the darkness until I could not see his form anymore. As soon as he disappeared from my sight, my vision became blurry again in the middle of the void. Everything started to spin around my head, and the deep black color of the empty space began to mix together into a strange, confusing blur that covered my eyes completely.
The dark blur slowly started to go away from my eyes as I began to feel my physical body once again. And when I opened my eyes the whole mansion is gone and everything is in char. The large stone building that we had been staying in was completely destroyed, leaving no high walls, no wooden doors, and no roof above our heads anymore. Everything around my boots was completely black, burnt, and covered in dark soot from a massive explosion. The beautiful polished stone floors were now broken pieces of dark rock, and the large pillars were totally ruined. I stood up slowly, looking at the massive destruction that stretched out in every single direction under the open sky. The air smelled strongly of smoke and burnt wood, and small pieces of black ash were falling down from the sky like dark snow. The entire property was completely changed into a flat area of ruined stones and black char.
I stood in the middle of the black ruins, trying to understand what had happened to our safe base while I was asleep. I looked around the large area of char to find my friends who had been inside the building with me. As I turned my body to the side, I saw Chalreth standing a few paces away from my position in the middle of the broken stones. She was holding herself tightly with her arms wrapped around her own frame, as she looked like hurt and battered from a very long and difficult fight. Her body was shaking slightly, and she looked completely exhausted and in a lot of pain as she stood on the rough ground. She was leaning her weight onto her back foot, using her strength just to stay upright among the burnt ruins of the mansion. Her weapon was held tightly in her hand, but her movements looked very heavy and tired as she watched my frame.
I felt very worried when I saw her standing there in such a terrible condition after our training match. I wanted to help her feel better and find out if she was safe from any more danger in the ruins. I tried to step forward and help her, lifting my boot to walk across the broken pieces of black char toward her position. I extended my hand out into the smoky air to show her that I was friendly and wanted to assist her body. But she did not want me to come any closer to her position on the ground. As soon as I took that first single step, she stepped back away from me in a great hurry, sliding her boots across the burnt stones to keep a safe distance between us. She looked completely terrified of my presence, and she pointed her sword at me right away with a trembling hand to stop my forward movement completely.
She held her sharp metal weapon out in front of her body, directing the point of the blade straight at my chest to keep me away from her frame. She looked at me with a lot of anger and fear in her expression, and she said, "Stay away, you monster!" Her voice was very loud and shook with emotion as she shouted the words across the black ruins of the mansion. I stopped my foot completely on the ground, feeling completely confused by her sudden statement. I did not understand why she was calling me a monster or why she was pointing her sharp sword at my body after we had been practicing nicely downstairs. I kept my hands open and raised them up slightly to show her that I did not want to fight, but she kept her weapon pointed straight at me without moving an inch.
While I was standing there trying to figure out what to do, I heard some familiar sounds coming from another part of the black ruins. I turned my head to look past Chalreth's shoulder, and suddenly I saw the others protected by Zane's barrier magic in the middle of the destroyed area. Alea, Elphyete, Salphy, Celdrich, Tokine, King Nishighi, and King Elfhonse were all standing together in a tight circle a short distance away from us. They were completely safe from the fire and the smoke because a large, glowing wall of energy was surrounding their bodies completely. Zane was standing at the front of the group, holding his hands out to maintain the protective wall around his friends. They were all looking out through the glowing shield, watching my body with very wide eyes and expressions of total disbelief on their faces.
The space right next to me suddenly became very warm, and a bright flash of white light appeared in the middle of the smoky air. And sir Vael appeared right out of nothingness, stepping onto the black stones of the ruined courtyard with a very calm and steady movement. He turned his head slowly to the side, and he looked at me with a very confused and questioning expression on his face. He opened his mouth to speak right away in front of us, and he looked around and said, "What the heck happened while I'm gone for 5 minutes..." Suddenly Chalreth shouted out loud, "There's something wrong with Sogha! After I knocked him out on our spar, he suddenly stood up and pointed his finger at me and exploded the entire mansion! And I've fought him for 4 minutes now!" I explained to everyone that I have no idea what actually happened during that time. I looked down at my hand and at them and said, "sir vael you know that I couldn't possibly have done it that is because I have no mana because it's locked..." Sir Vael just sighed and snapped his fingers cleanly in the air and then everything went back to normal in one fast single moment now.