It was probably a month ago when it happened. I still remember the day as clearly as yesterday, when I first arrived at the mansion, and the things that followed.
"Where are you from, Maya?"
"I used to live in Snowspell with my brother, but we moved to the outskirts of Riverdale five years ago."
"What did you do before for a living?"
"I learned to do house chores from my late mother and worked as a maid in a local bar."
"Hmm… I still feel reluctant to give this job to someone this young."
"Please, Miss Ivy! I am confident that I can put my all into it."
"You really want to have this job, huh?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then, for starters, how about you show me how well you can work? On the first floor, you will see a room to the right. It must be quite dusty with how it was left unused for such a long time. Try to clean it to the best of your ability, Maya. I will come back and check on you this evening, okay?"
"I will not let you down, Miss Ivy." I bowed to her as she was leaving.
"And you will find the cleaning equipment in the storage beside it. Put them back once you are done." With a smile, she left.
I need to do my best. Following Miss Ivy's instructions, I checked the room I had to clean, but it wasn't too dirty. Compared to the chores I did at my previous workplace, it was a breeze here.
After completing the work I was assigned, I still had time left. Should I clean other rooms, too? I thought that would make me look more favourable in front of her. From the hallway, I looked at every room in my sight and decided to start with the one in the last corner.
I knocked on the door, but there was no reply. The first floor of the mansion consists of guest rooms, so I was sure I wouldn't be intruding on anyone. I knocked on it again, but was met with another moment of silence. It wasn't locked, so I entered after waiting another long minute.
It was a small room with a bed, a desk, and a few books on the shelf beside it. There was a small painting of a woman hanging on the wall, and a whip just beside that. The glass of water on the wooden table was half full. The mattresses were dishevelled. The room must have been used recently, but the air in it felt oddly stuffy. Even during this time of day, it was very dark here. I opened the curtains and pushed out the windows. The room lit up, and fresh air flowed in. I tied a cloth around my nose and started cleaning.
From rearranging the mattresses to dusting off the shelves and corners, I did it all. While trying to clean the paintings and show pieces of exquisite items, I tried to be even more careful. There were not many things in the room to begin with, so it made my job even easier.
I hummed a tune to the song my brother used to sing during his adventures. While cleaning the table edges, my hand touched a vase in the corner. In my own world of delusions, in one moment of carelessness, I let the blue porcelain vase fall to the ground. The shattering sound replaced my smile with a sense of distraught kicking in. "This can't be happening now of all times!" It was my first day here.
The broken pieces of the expensive vase spread onto the floor. The water in it seeped into the expensive carpet. What should I do? All I ever wanted was to earn money to become less of a burden to my brother, but just because of a silly mistake like this, I can't afford to simply lose this chance when I worked so hard to get here.
While all kinds of regrets flowed into me, the door opened with a creak. I need to apologise to whoever it is. As I hurried through my thoughts, a young boy with golden, silky hair entered the room. His pale white tone, masked by the emotionless glare in his eyes, made me shudder for a second. He looked at the broken vase and then directed his gaze at me, which revealed his glittering golden eyes hidden underneath the mask of no expression. Even with a tender body, he had a regal appearance that I couldn’t describe in words.
In an attempt to correct myself, I fell on my knees before him. "Yo-Young master!" I couldn't look at him. "It's my fault for what happened!" The youngest child in the house. "I had no idea that it was your room! It’s my fault. I am sorry!" Having to apologise on the first day, and that too to the owner of the house, was the worst kind of luck I had.
He just went and sat on the bed. "Are you the one who cleaned in here?" He observed the room while asking that.
"Ye-Yes."
"I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"
"It's my first day."
"You shouldn't be coming in here, you know? Just clean that and leave."
"Wha-What…? Okay!" I cleaned the carpet and picked up the broken pieces of the vase before bowing to him and running to exit the room.
Bam! I fell on my back as someone pushed the door open. The pieces of the vase in my hand spread over the floor once again.
"What are you doing here?" A beautiful young woman with wheat brown hair was standing at the door and asked me with her cold, glinting eyes. Even before I could reply, she continued. "What is this mess?"
"I-I joined new today. I came here to clean the young master’s room." She didn’t know who I was, as it was my first day.
"That's what I am asking. What is this mess? And who said you could come in here as you wish?" The carpet where the vase fell was still a little wet, and the pieces of the vase around me made it look messy.
"I-I’m sorry! I’ll clean it right away!" If I told Miss Ivy's name, she would be in unnecessary trouble because of the mistake I made. And she never gave me permission to enter this room. It was a decision I made on my own. But if I tell her it was me who was responsible for that… I couldn't imagine the consequences.
I started picking up the pieces once again. The woman came close to me as I hurried more. "Are you the one who broke it?" I couldn’t look her in the eyes. If I said yes, I knew they would end up removing me without a second thought. "I am asking you a question here. Look at me."
I slowly lifted my head, only to end up looking into her fierce eyes. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be here. I could only blame my clumsiness. Even then, I need to take the blame for what I did. I can only tell her the truth.
"Y-Ye—"
"I did it." The boy on the bed spoke before I could finish. It made her attention shift to him. "I am the one who broke that. I got in her way while she was dusting off the place. The vase in her hand slipped then. So it’s my fault, Bianca."
Bianca? Isn’t that the name of the head maid? I didn't see it all at first glance, but the maid dress she wore had a different design than mine. It's even different from Miss Ivy's. Even with the same white and black colours, it felt more grand, and the decorative ruffle at her wrists and neck only made it rise one class in the standing. Though, she looked very young compared to Miss Ivy.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me and the young master.
"You know the house rules, right, young master, Ash? Even if this mistake is a simple one, you need to get punished for it." He nodded. "Otherwise, you wouldn’t grow up to be a nice young man who would follow in the footsteps of Sir Nathan, your father."
"I know."
The way they spoke wasn't that of a servant or an owner. She walked near the wall and picked up the black whip hanging on it. "You there. Count the total number of pieces."
"Wh-What?"
"Count the pieces of the vase on the floor. Don’t miss a single one. And close the curtains."
I didn’t understand, but I did what she asked. I counted the number of broken pieces. "Eleven... no, no. It’s twelve." and closed off the windows.
The boy got off the bed and went near the window, facing his back towards us. He removed his loose white shirt and kneeled in front of the window. What's he doing?
"You know, I am doing this for the young master's sake, right? I have the job of raising you. And you know it isn’t an easy one. You must understand that." She went near him, holding the whip in her hands. Her eyes lacked any expression. Her words lacked compassion. But her brows twitched in disgust for a moment before returning to their stern state once again. "Please don’t repeat your mistakes and reflect on them while you suffer for what you have done. It’s the only thing Sir Nathan and I wish for you."
"I understand."
I tried to believe what she said, ignoring the truth that was right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t accept where the situation before me was going. Not as someone who made the mistake but as a fellow human being. The sound of the whip slicing through the air rang out before hitting the boy on the floor. The whip mark appeared as a reddish diagonal slash on his white, pale skin.
"Count them."
"..!?" I didn't hear her simple words as I kept staring at him at that moment.
"Were you born deaf or just stupid that I have to repeat every word for you to understand? Count the slashes until it reaches twelve. Should I repeat it again?" I nodded my head as words failed to come out of my mouth.
Crack!
"T-Two." What am I doing here?
Crack!
"Three." What am I seeing here?
Crack!
"Four." How could he simply accept this situation as nothing?
Crack!
"Five." He was just a kid. What did he do wrong? Is it his fault to take the blame for my mistake? Even if he did, does a broken vase deserve that kind of punishment? Miss Bianca hit him again and again with a monotonous expression on her face. Even her breathing became ragged, but her expression didn't falter.
Crack!
"Six." He will die at this rate.
Crack!
"Seven." Even if someone needs to be punished, shouldn’t that be me? It’s my fault to begin with.
Crack!
"Eight."
Crack!
"Nine." His flesh was ripped off wherever the whip was slashed. Blood dripped from those wounds, drenching his remaining clothes in crimson red. I couldn’t look at it any longer. So, I closed my eyes and counted when I heard the sound of the whip slashing his body. But even that was painful.
Crack!
"Ten." I couldn’t see his expression, but he must be filled with pain. How is he enduring all that?
Crack!
"Eleven." No scream nor a moan of pain came out of his mouth. The dark, silent room only echoed with the whistling noise of air and the heartless numbers that came out of my mouth.
Crack!
"Twe-twelve." I opened my eyes, only to find a bloodied body ready to collapse at any moment. His back, which was filled with slash marks, was fresh and horrifying. Even in the dark, they were too vibrant for me.
"Is it over?" Miss Bianca asked in a casual tone.
"Yes…"
"I hope you have learned your lesson and won’t repeat what happened today, young master."
"...I-I won’t." While trying to put strength in his body, he collapsed, but again, after another moment of struggle, he got up on his feet.
"I’ll take my leave now." She bowed to him and turned to leave. "Were you also born with an eye defect? Can't you see he is bleeding? Hurry up and tend to him." She handed me the whip before exiting the room.
Blood dripped from it. My hands trembled just from holding it. I looked at the boy, who now sat on the bed. He was calm, but his tight fist betrayed the pain he tried to keep for himself.
"Leave."
"But your wounds..." How do I leave him in this state?
"Don’t worry. I heal quickly. And try not to make any more mistakes while you are here. Even if you do, don’t get caught."
The light-hearted tone made with his crisp, dry voice almost made me mistake his current state. The bite mark on his lower lip made it clear how far he went to suppress his pain.
"Leave now." It sounded more like a request than an order.
I kept some hot water and fresh towels beside him and gave him the deepest bows I could. Even if I didn't say it out loud, I wanted him to feel how deeply grateful I was. The evening came, and I left the room as he asked.
It was dark. From the entrance, it was like a long tunnel extended till god knows where. As I constantly walked, it became narrower. If it were someone bigger than me, they would have been stuck here long ago.
I conjured a small flame, enough to light my surroundings. But it was useless. Sparks flew as if to tell me to stop. It happened every time I tried to conjure a fire.
An inflammable red stone was everywhere around me, embedded into the normal rocks of this tunnel. A small spark would have been enough to blow the entire tunnel apart with me in it. I came to know of it early, but as I went further in, the number of stones also increased. And I had no choice but to walk in this blinding darkness.
If it was intentional, whoever did this was very good at their job. I heard some dungeons were created by the Ancients. The people who existed before this era, in an age when the existence of mana came to be known to the world. They were also the ones who created the magic theory and other kinds of things that we still use today. If this is one of the traps set by them, then it looks too natural to be man-made. If not, it just means I was overthinking.
There were other ways to get around it, though. Every form of energy emits light. Big or small. I drew out mana from my core and formed a sphere of pure mana in my palm. Its luminescence was dim, but it was better than nothing.
As I walked for what seemed to be another hour, I reached the end of the tunnel, entering a bigger space. There, I was greeted with sparking colours lighting up the roof of the cave. I could tell what they were at first glance. Mana crystals. The purity of each crystal was determined by its colour.
Purple was the rarest one, and red was the most common. I couldn’t believe I was seeing an entire cave filled with them. Purple, red, blue, and green. A rainbow of colours. Before now, I only saw a few of them with Master Shaka, but here I was, witnessing them on a much grander scale. I was seeing the things I’ve read in books with my own eyes.
A mana crystal mine was right under the forest, and we didn't know. At the opposite end of me, there was another tunnel-like opening, separated by a bridge of rock elevated to my foot level. And to my left and right, it was completely filled with water. A lake of sorts.
In excitement, I walked towards the tunnel. I could hear the sound of water drops falling from the ceiling. With almost no noise, this place was serene. Leaning to one side, I took a handful of water in my palms. It was warm, just like the warmth I feel whenever I circulate mana from my core. It then evaporated immediately. I knew at that moment. It was condensed mana.
The water itself was emitting a dim glow, which could be dismissed as the mere reflection of crystals on the ceiling if not observed carefully. Thus making the sight of this entire underground cave room look otherworldly.
I have read that mana can exist in any state apart from its natural one. It is normally present in the atmosphere in a dispersed gas state, and mana crystals are a good example of mana existing in solid form, and now this—the condensed form of mana.
Mana crystals on the cave ceiling heat up this closed space, and due to an increase in temperature, some of the smaller crystals start to melt down and reach the ground as water droplets.
For this much water to be present here, the process must have continued for many years. I could only assume that no one came here in such a long time, and I was the first to discover it now. If someone really came down here, they wouldn’t have left those mana crystals like that. Even excluding the greedy mages, they are a very precious mineral resource. It could fund an entire village for a year.
As I was thinking, from a distance, I heard a few sounds from the water. I looked in that direction. Living beings can't live in this kind of environment. Unless one can refine it, mana is actually poisonous to the body. The higher its concentration and purity, the more one needs to be able to refine it.
I didn’t know that the books I read to satisfy my curiosity would actually come in handy one day. If I keep on talking about it, the knowledge I have wouldn’t even come close to what Master Shaka says. Though, I don’t know how famous he is in the outside world. I never asked him that.
I looked at the water's surface, where bubbles formed and evaporated instantly. Before my thoughts came out of my mouth, a creature twice the size of me jumped out of the water.
"What in the—!?"
I knew what it was from one look. Its ugly appearance was filled with a rotting stench smell and a close resemblance to a fish, with the limbs of a human and jaws that covered its entire face. A sea monster.
"Krraaaaaah!"
The screech echoed throughout the cave as it opened its wide mouth to rip my head apart in mid-air. I dove and rolled on the ground as the monster fell to the other side of the bridge, vanishing into the water.
I thought that was the end. I narrowed my eyes to get a closer look, but the monster was nowhere. I couldn’t see any more ripples as silence spread over the cave once again. I was relieved for a moment, but as I thought I was safe, the ground beneath me trembled, along with more ripples forming on the surface of the water. They spread throughout the entire body of water.
Ripples became fissures as multiple fins became visible on both sides of the bridge. From every corner, fins the size of an adult's hand rushed towards me. The bridge was narrow, and there were more than twenty at a glance. The tremors under the bridge never ceased. They increased even more, shaking me off balance. The sturdy rock bridge felt more unsafe with each passing second.
I didn’t wait any longer and decided to do what came to mind. From my core, the warm, condensed mana moved freely to both of my hands, conjuring two balls of fire in an instant. I pulled out even more mana to make the fireballs grow bigger.
"Bigger!" A small ember wouldn’t even burn them. Under my efforts, the size of the fireball increased from a small pebble to that of an adult's fist, as the mana inside my body was distributed to both hands.
I heard that monsters were naturally tough due to the environment they grew up in. Even if it is a sea monster that is weak to fire, its scales are harder than rocks. A puny flame will only anger them instead. And the scales of the monsters before me, which revealed a glow of their own, were something akin to the hardest crystal.
"Not enough!" Sweat beads formed over my entire body. Ignoring the immediate fear, I concentrated on the balls of fire. As I reached my limit, I saw the monsters jumping from the water, one after another, as if to catch their only prey. It was like a competition to see who got the first big share.
I was in the centre of it all, the middle of the bridge, with only two paths I could turn to—front and back.
I faced the ceiling and waited until a good number of monsters were atop me. My hands trembled, and I could hear the sound of my heart thumping—as loud as it could—in my ears. My breathing was shallow. If I mess up the timing, I will die. A simple, useless death. When the ceiling was replaced by the lively bodies of monsters, I stood up. Standing firm, I pointed both my hands towards the top and combined the two balls of fire, increasing their size and density. From a crisp red, they turned pale orange, the size of one's head.
With a booming sound, it was released, like a bombarding cannon of fire. The explosion echoed, making another minute tremor and burning both the monsters and me alike. I turned to protect myself, but the trace of fire burned the very air around me, making me feel the intense heat for a second. The back of my clothes burned a little, while the monsters that were caught up in the explosion flew in all directions.
I gritted my teeth, only to fall down from an unknown numbness in my legs. It wasn’t the end. The way around me was cleared, and I got a few seconds from the explosion, but my feet still felt numb. Even so, I pulled myself up from the ground and ran towards the tunnel I came out of. It was the closest to me.
But I was wrong to think I could escape. The remaining ones, along with those that were half-burned, rose from the waters, making their way towards me like hungry canines. Unlike us humans, pain is just another form of sensation for them. A sensation they could completely ignore. I continued running towards the only hope that was soon going to break. Fear neutralises rationality, which keeps us from thinking straight. I knew my end. I knew how useless it was to run, but I still tried.
"Krrr…!"
One monster caught up to me as I tried to dodge to the side, but it bit through the flesh on my shoulder in a single whole bite, but I still ran. The numbness caused by mana exhaustion dissuaded the pain, but the rush of blood that poured out like a blood fountain only made me feel more terror.
I was this close to the tunnel as I dodged one of the claws of the monster. I didn't know how many were behind me. I couldn't dare to look. They weren’t fast on land, but it was enough for me to run for my life.
I felt exhausted. It was pure adrenaline that I was pushing through. I was not even feeling pain at the part where my flesh was missing. It was more like I wasn’t feeling anything anymore. Like those monsters, it was my pure instinct to survive.
"Krrrrrrrrraaaaah!" Another screeching roar, followed by a huge tremor, made me trip to the ground. But my eyes never left the sight of the entrance.
The sea monsters jumped onto the bridge in front of me and ran in my direction with their humanoid limbs as thick as my two feet combined. With the strength in my arms, I got up again and turned back to escape. But it was to no avail. What should I do? A creepy smile formed on my face. A smile of pure distraught.
I looked at my body only to find a few deeper wounds that I didn’t know how I got. The missing pieces of my flesh and the heavy bleeding made me a little dizzy. There was no pain, though. I slapped my cheeks again and again to stay conscious. But there was only a vibration that spread through my skin, yet no sensation or feeling accompanied it. Gritting my teeth once again, I ran towards the tunnel I came from.
"Urgh!" I ran. The only thing I could do. I slid to escape a monster that jumped at me with its jaw wide open, but two more of them caught my left leg and left arm. I felt the pain, but it also felt as if it was not mine. Their teeth sank deep, burning my limbs with their stomach acid. I dragged my feet with their weight in my tired state, squeezing my lungs for a breath of fresh air. I fell to the ground, crawling with my body.
"One more..." Please.
"One final one..." A small spark.
"Come on, dammit!" I tried to squeeze out every bit of mana from my core as I finally reached the tunnel entrance and got up to my knees.
"One last time..." Blood spurted out of my mouth and my nostrils. But tiny ambers flew into my palm. The last hope for my survival. The only hope.
My hands were dangling to my sides at the loss of sensation. While biting the cloth covering my right hand, I pulled it with every bit of strength. My neck felt strained as I lifted my arm as high as I could and fired the wisps of fire into the tunnel, hoping it would work.
My left arm fell to the ground with a thud. Right before my eyes, the monster munched on it. Soon after, my left leg under the knee went into the other monster’s mouth. The deep flesh wounds bled, exposing the tender bone inside. Fear, accompanied by anger, burst out of me.
"Die! Die! Die!" I punched them with my remaining fist and whatever energy I could summon. That hardly made a scratch on their toughened scales.
The only thing that got hurt was my fist. I dropped to the ground on my back. I could see multiple coloured crystals embedded into the cave ceiling. The scene that I saw when I first entered here. It looked like a night sky with added beauty.
The hope only stays like a thread that will eventually break. A monster acts on instinct rather than rationality. It only knows the words prey and predator. Either kill or be killed.
One after another, they jumped onto me, even hurting their own kind. They didn’t see any difference. I am neither their food nor their enemy. Just someone who shouldn’t be here. I could feel the weight on me gradually increasing, crushing my ribs and puncturing my lungs. It became hard to breathe. They tore my skin, and the flesh came out with it. The last-ditch effort became useless. My excitement from an hour ago, the things I learned till now, everything became useless. What a mess.
As I closed my eyes, darkness greeted me. The fresh smell of blood accompanied it. A monster died at the hands of another monster. What a fitting end, huh? How would the people who always loathe and fear me feel when they hear this news? They would be happy, wouldn’t they? How would my father feel? He would probably regret losing a valuable resource. My master would likely... Ah, I will never know what that man thinks.
Hope is another excuse for humans to keep trying. I have been continuously casting spells, even before I entered here. And the mana core of mine was newly formed, with not a single circle around it. What did I expect?
Death is actually more comforting in the end, with nothing but pure, dread-filled silence.
Snap! In this eternal silence, a sudden crackling sound made its way to my ears.
Crack! Imagination? I knew the sound. It was something I heard when I entered the tunnel. I opened my fuzzy eyes. Still dark.
Boooooooooooom! My eardrums rang as I turned to protect my face. A surge of fire rushed out of the tunnel with enough power to turn everything to a crisp.
"Aaaaaaaaaahh!" The continuous burning of my back brought back my senses like a fresh aftertaste. It was literal hell. But the combustion stones worked, bombing up the entire tunnel from start to finish.
With a few more bursting sounds and crumbling rocks, the tunnel fell apart, closing off permanently. Through the blurry sight from my half-opened eyelids, I could see the intestines of roasted monster corpses floating on the water's surface, and for some, even their ashes didn’t survive. The smell of burning meat covered the entire cave. With tremors accompanied by the explosions, a few of the mana crystals crumbled and started to fall off, piercing the bodies of dead and living alike.
I was at the edge, so it didn't affect me, but I wasn’t in a better situation either. Torn off the flesh, burned off skin, drained off blood, and missing limbs. Nothing changed. I was still going to die. I felt relieved for a second, then, with another series of tremors, the rock I was lying on crumbled, taking me along with it as I hung on for my life and fell into the water with a faded consciousness.
