The Author's POV

'How long has it been?'

I wondered to myself as I dully stared upwards.

By now, all I could see within my vision was empty darkness. Nevertheless, I continued to keep my focus on my body.

As long as I could move my body...

'The body strengthening method requires me to suffer quite a bit in order to practice it, and at the moment it is of no use to me. However, the very first part of the exercise does not require me to do anything of the sort, since all I need to do is feel my muscles in order to feel the nerve connections to my body which might actually be able to solve my paralyzing problem...'

Focusing my attention on the muscles of my body, I shut my eyes and thought about the martial manual Han Yufei had given me.

With the aid of the chip inside of my head, I was able to somewhat recall most of the most important points of the first technique, body hardening.

'This is my only hope.'

There was only one goal I had at the moment, and that was to move my body again.

Only that way could I figure out what was actually happening to me.

'Now that I think about it, what exactly happened?'

My memories were hazy since all I could recall at the moment was seeing the portal swallow me up with Jin. Everything was sort of a blur as, after that, I had no recollections of anything.

Actually, thinking about it, there was indeed something else.

'I do faintly remember having my body carried somewhere. Did I perhaps pass out during the incident and got taken prisoner by the demons?'

Suddenly, different scenarios began to appear in my mind as my heart slowly sank.

'If that's truly the case, it makes sense as to why I'm here and my mana is sealed.'

Not only that but to have also taken my dimensional space…

The situation was a lot more precarious than I had originally thought.

'What happened to Jin?'

When my thoughts paused there, I suddenly recalled that Jin was beside me right before everything happened, and my eyes immediately darted to my right and left.

I was only able to see darkness at the moment.

I didn't give up though.

As I closed my eyes, I tried to focus on my hearing to see if there was anyone else nearby.

'If I can hear his breathing…'

Drip— Drip—

After a few minutes, I realized I was all alone inside of this space as the only sound I could hear was the sound of the liquid dripping from the side of the room. Its rhythmical drops messed up my concentration several times as my face contorted.

Struggling to hear for the next minute, I eventually gave up.

'Fuck, just what in the world is happening?'

I became frustrated once again as I stopped whatever I was doing and concentrated on practicing the art Han Yufei had taught me.

An impending sense of danger washed over me.

***

"Ugh…"

Jin's mind was currently in a haze at the moment as he could hardly think straight. While his stomach churned, his head throbbed.

"...Where am I?"

tired voice echoed out. Opening his eyes, all that he saw within

which he was able to quickly adjust himself to as he had long been

"Hm?"

that found that he was unable to move

mind immediately became alert. However, that

"Ren! Kevin!"

top of his lungs as he

him as he

drugged

do to me!? Let me go this

once again shouted as he lied in his

get mad if they didn't let him

till I get out of here! I'll fucking

loud shouts he let out were greeted with silence, as he felt his anger

"Bastards!"

his neck protruded and his face reddened. He could even feel

no response...forcing Jin to calm down and stare

his eyes a couple of times, he took

"Haaa...haa…"

wait

as he finally calmed down and observed the area

inside of what appeared to be a

the corner, there was a small

Drip— Drip—

of the water falling

knit of his

'What's going on?'

"Huh? My mana?"

then that he suddenly took notice of the fact that there was no mana inside of his body. Closing his eyes to see if there was something wrong, he realized that he truly couldn't feel

his dimensional ring on

instantly rang inside of

This…

pull. Maybe not for Ren, but knowing Kevin well, Jin knew that something was up

go

that this perhaps

stopped speaking and

not, the first thing I need to do is

***

'I can feel something.'

a small electric current flow through

eyes, I repeated the same thing and I felt my arm reconnect with me. It wasn't long before I could finally fully feel my senses grow back as I slowly raised my hand

as I waved my hand in

working! I cant finally move my

face as I took notice

"Thank god..."

murmured d

but instead of being annoyed by the thought, I was happy as I closed my eyes

of my mind as I focused all of my attention

as

"Ugh."

the process was anything but easy as a weird tingling sensation circulated around my

but I felt as though a thousand feathers were tingling

'This sucks.'

myself as I fell in and out of

adjusting to the darkness around me, enabling me to get a rough idea

in a small room. The size shouldn't be too big considering the sound coming from the water dripping from

of my thoughts, I heard an unexpected rustic metallic

Clank—!

"Ukh!"

a weird mucus-like substance fall all

"What's this!?"