Spectators in Their Own Bodies

Once Rufus was feeling slightly better, he got up and stretched his arms. The rest of the party followed suit. Ai alone remained asleep, her skin beginning to adopt a deathlike pallor. Rufus had to shake her to get any reaction.

“Huh? What–?” Ai was in a bit of a daze, but her eyes soon sharpened, glaring at him.

“Don’t be like that, we have a quest to complete. It’s only a bit more to the crates.”

Ai scratched her head in annoyance, but ultimately got up. “Ugh, whatever.”

The party began its trek across the chamber.

Even after resting, each of them were bogged down by the dense mana permeating throughout the environment. Throbbing headaches, breathing difficulties, sluggish movements – they all grew substantially worse with each step. Their minds slowly clouded over, requiring them to concentrate more deeply to make any motion.

In the midst of it all, the proctor walked forward without a care in the world. If the party could think clearly, they might notice how the dense mana around him was repelled, as if pushed aside by his own. However, the most he received was a bit of irritation from Aster, her current struggles treated like an afterthought. Not that the proctor cared.

The density of the mana continued to increase exponentially.

“Ugh. This can’t just be the mana density! What’s going on?!” Rufus struggled to say. It was a miracle he could talk at all. Aster could barely make a whisper, and Emma couldn’t speak at all. That left…

“We’re basically experiencing mana exhaustion without exhausting our mana. If we stop moving, we might never make it out of here,” Ai spoke clearly, but she was struggling just as much as the others. Though, it was due to a lack of physical stamina; her larger mana reserves somewhat mitigated the symptoms.

They continued onward.

It took five minutes for them to reach the halfway point. Up to that, all of them had somehow managed to keep pace. Even Emma, a human, although she was barely conscious. But the mana density only kept growing, paying no heed to its victims.

First was Emma, being the weakest among the group. Her hesitant yet sure steps turned almost zombie-like, staggering forward in small shuffle steps. Then, Rufus and Aster began to fall behind. Ai was fine for a bit longer, but she soon began to succumb to the mana’s influence.

It was impossible to speak. If someone did, only the proctor would hear. The party was completely focused on the crates and nothing else. If their concentration wavered for a second, they would collapse, and there would be no one to save them. Whether it was resilience, willpower, or pure stubbornness, they continued to push forward.

To each of the party members, it felt like they were playing a game or watching a drama in slow motion. Sitting in the seats of a theater, the character moved, spurred by an emotion the viewers couldn’t discern. The tension built with each step taken towards the crates. Had a few minutes passed? Or was it a few hours? The incoming climax was simply that enticing: something would happen once the character touched the crates.

The distance closed until the crates were within arm’s reach. A hand reached towards its objective, and the ensuing ensemble rang out, ready to reveal the secret hiding just out of reach. The suspense had everyone hanging on the edge of their seats – some had already fallen out.

And then, they touched a crate.