Rei lay still, surrounded by the living dead—their empty eyes watching him in eerie silence, their ragged breath rising like mist. The cold stone beneath his feet felt almost warm compared to the chill seeping into his bones from the presence of the undead. Above, on a jagged ledge that jutted out from the crevice's wall, Shane stood like a puppeteer looking down on his performance.
Shane smirked. "You know, you're quite the work. It took me eighteen days to bring you here. You wouldn't drink anything I offered, never walked ahead of me, always cautious, always watching. A real pain, honestly. But you're finally here… trapped."
Rei pushed himself up slowly, his eyes locked on Shane. "I see. So now you'll use earth magic to seal the crevice and trap me for good."
Shane chuckled. "Why do you think I have magic?"
Rei didn't blink. "Don't play dumb. I tested you. Just a flicker of my own magic powder was enough to tell me you had magic power."
"Interesting," Shane murmured, the grin fading. "I didn't expect you to know that much. But if I did have magic, why assume Earth?"
Rei straightened his back, brushing the dust off his cloak. "Because you said 'trapped.' That word choice gave you away. You know I could escape easily if I climbed up. You wouldn't call this a trap unless you knew you'd be sealing the exit… and that means Earth magic."
Shane's expression sharpened, admiration flickering through his eyes. "Your deduction skills are something else."
"That's not all," Rei continued. "You're not here for my possessions. You're not trying to kill me. You're not even after the authority of a manor. No… this is personal. You're trying to teach me a lesson—because of guilt. A past mistake involving your brother. Or sister. Or both."
For the first time, Shane's posture faltered. His smile thinned, sharpened. "How did you know?"
"I left my ore box behind on purpose," Rei replied. "You didn't touch it."
"Maybe I took something. You wouldn't know."
"If you had opened it, you'd be dead," Rei said plainly. "I rigged it. A trap."
Shane let out a dry laugh. "So you tested me."
"More than once. I let myself be vulnerable during monster fights, left my back open. Instead of taking advantage, you protected me—like an older brother might. There's a pattern, Shane. And I follow patterns."
Shane stared down at him, then muttered, "I thought only one person knew me better than I know myself. I guess now it's two."
"You likely had a brother," Rei went on. "You're a mage, yet you use a longsword. That's either to hide your true powers or it's a tribute. A memory. I haven't figured that part out yet… but I will."
Shane chuckled, pulling his jacket tighter around him. "That whispering cloak really doesn't match your level of intelligence."
Rei smirked. "It was a gift. I'm not trading it for anything less than a better one."
"Understandable. I'm something of a scholar myself, you know." Shane took out a green-and-yellow cloak and swept it over his shoulders.
Rei's eyes narrowed. "That's not yours. It belonged to your brother. Or sister."
Shane laughed. "Gods, you just don't stop, do you? Go ahead, tell me how you figured that one out."
Rei didn't flinch. "The magnatar. Its weak point is the belly, not the legs. Yet you attacked its leg. The hound dog you brought? Less effective than a madbark for detecting invisibles. And you slashed treants instead of piercing. Mistakes. Or memories. You're fighting like someone else."
A long silence followed. Then Shane's expression grew cold.
"O Earth," he chanted, his voice low and deep, "I use my authority—grant me my will. Earth Enclosure."
With a rumble, the crevice walls shifted and collapsed, sealing the exit completely. The only way now was forward—or down.
"O Light," Shane continued, raising his arm, "grant your power. Create illusion as I will. Illusion Creation."
The air shimmered. The zombies surrounding Rei shimmered too—and then their forms twisted, faded, and changed. Flesh returned to skin, ragged clothes into worn armor, and their blank eyes became human again. These were undead. but now they looked like they were people—real people.
Rei stared, frozen. "They're… alive? No it's an illusion."
Shane nodded. "You were right. I'm here to teach you a lesson. The lesson to kill."
A cold dread crept up Rei's spine. "Because of the bandits."
"I saw it," Shane said. "I don't know what kind of power you used, but you couldn't kill them. You had every reason to, and you didn't. So I did."
"You killed them for me."
"I had to," Shane growled. "But this world won't always be kind enough to clean up after you. If you can't kill when it counts, you'll die."
Rei's hands curled into fists. "Let me guess. Your brother… he spared someone. Someone and you supported your brother for doing it. And that person killed him."
Shane's face twisted in pain. "Damn right. My brother forgave a murderer. Trusted him. And it cost him his life. So now? I teach the next generation what my brother never learned."
Rei stepped back, shaking his head. "I'm not going to kill anyone. Not now. Not ever."
"Then you'll die here," Shane said quietly. "And maybe that will be the final lesson."
Tenko ran to attack a zombie when Rei said, "Tenko, don't."
Tenko growled angrily at Rei that they are just zombies, nothing more than illusions
Rei said, "No, Tenko, even if they are just Zombies, I don't want you to kill them, you would lose your senses and could never undo what you would see."
Tenko was not worried; he had already killed a man, but he pretended that he cared.
Rei took out 2 hidden daggers and his chaos scepter and said, "Since you already saw my powers, I don't need to hide my sorcery anymore."
Shane said, "Sorcery?"
Rei used a wind bomb, jumped to the ceiling, stuck his daggers hard in the ceiling, and held them to prevent himself from falling. He then used his Earth spell and said, "Earth disclosure." The fissure opened again, but as he tried to go in, Shane threw a dagger at him. Rei sensed the dagger, dodged it, stopped holding the dagger, and landed on the floor.
Rei said, "Looks like I can't get out until he is here. I need to think of another plan."