Many thoughts filled his mind, but one overpowered the others.
'I can use this to cook the monster's meat!'
He excitedly jumped to his feet, almost losing balance, and ran—tried to run—toward the corpse. He reached inside the beast once more, this time using the notion as a blade to sever some meat. Then, he brought it back to the invisible fire and placed it on the ground as close as he could without burning himself again.
He didn't know how long it would take to cook the meat, so he simply waited until it felt right. Soon, the meat started emitting a tantalizing fragrance that made Astel salivate.
He reached toward the fragrant, alluring steak and grabbed it. Ignoring the fact that it was still incredibly hot, he bit into it. Tasting the juicy, flavorful cooked meat, he felt elated. It was like he was in heaven—except for the fact that he was still completely blind, one of his arms was rendered unusable, and his whole body was weak and exhausted.
Now he just had to find some water and he would truly feel refreshed.
After filling his stomach, he thought about the notion once again.
'Perhaps the fire can destroy it?'
He wasn't willing to try it, though. On the off chance that it couldn't, he would lose it, as his body wouldn't be able to endure the heat to retrieve it. He scratched that thought.
'I should go to sleep. I don't think there's any immediate danger. Even if there was, I'm not in any state to do anything about it.'
He laid down close to the fire to keep himself warm and soon fell asleep.
Astel opened his eyes, his body feeling as if it were in top condition.
'Huh, I guess that's what good rest does to a person.'
He laughed out loud a little—then he heard a sound, as if in response to his laugh.
He turned to look toward it, not feeling anything in particular. It wasn't exactly odd, but something felt… different.
Then he heard another sound, this time closer, coming from right in front of him. Whatever it was that was making these sounds was approaching. But Astel still felt nothing. He didn't feel as if he was in danger—not yet, at least.
Alarmed, he got up and tried to assume a fighting stance. Then he heard another sound. Whatever the source was, it was right in front of him.
Within the blink of an eye, Astel's head was severed from his body by a mysterious attacker.
Astel woke up in a cold sweat.
'What the hell! I thought I couldn't have dreams… or nightmares.'
It was the first time, ever since he woke up in the desert, that he had a dream. Dreams were usually a sort of vision or warning—a way for the unconscious mind to alert the conscious that something bad would happen.
But how could a part of the mind see the future?
Astel didn't know. He had heard theories that dreams were a sort of message from the collective subconscious. He didn't know much about that—only hearing some people mention it back when he was still in school. He didn't even know whether it existed or was just a theory. It didn't matter.
What mattered was that he had a dream… that he would die to some invisible foe.
He had to get out of this place before that happened. But how?
He was trapped deep underground, without light, and his body was in no condition to move about. Still, he had to think of a way out. Then he remembered the notion that he found.
Perhaps that's the key to getting out of here.
If he was lucky enough, it would inherit the space-shifting ability of the reptilian monster.
But how was he going to break it and absorb it?
He had no idea. He tried hitting it against the walls of this place. He tried striking the dead beast's body. He even tried breaking it with his teeth. But nothing worked. It felt unbreakable.
He didn't know how much time he had before the invisible killer found him and ended him, but he knew he couldn't waste any time.
Astel quickly separated some meat from the dead beast's body and cooked it. Then he left it on the ground a little further from the fire, trying to dry it as much as possible without burning it. In the meantime, he searched for another way out. Maybe he would find some sort of hidden staircase—or any form of exit.
Astel spent hours going from wall to wall, searching for anything he could use. He was already on the last wall before returning back to the beginning. Every other entrance to other rooms was blocked by either sand, rocks, or a combination of both.
He went over every bump, every hole on the wall, but he didn't find anything.
Disappointed, he made his way back to the fire. He already had a small pile of something that resembled meat jerky prepared for his departure.
He couldn't rest, knowing that falling asleep could mean death.
He was tired—but also bored.
'When is this killer coming? I have no way to escape, so I might as well welcome him when he comes.'
He sighed—then he heard a sound in the distance.
It sounded familiar. It was almost the same sound he had heard in his dream.
'Finally!'
He was both happy that the enemy finally appeared and terrified by its arrival. What if he was really going to die?
There was only one way to find out.
He packed all the dried meat into his bag and took out the single dark scale.
'Let's hope this works.'
He had thought of a way to destroy the notion—granting him its power, which would hopefully let him escape, or kill the adversary. Astel would use the scale as a sort of hidden shield. He hoped that the monster would target his neck as it did in his dream. And he also hoped that the scale would protect him from that single strike.
His survival was in the hands of the gods—if they even existed. He would only be allowed to live to see another day if Lady Luck allowed it.
He placed the scale inside his crude clothes, against his neck on the side of his mangled arm.
All he had to do was wait, as he did in the dream.
Soon, he heard the sound again… and again—each time a little bit closer.
It was almost time.
He assumed a battle stance, just as he had in the dream, hoping it would lead to the same attack from his invisible opponent.
Then he heard another sound.
'It's close.'
Astel grit his teeth and closed his eyes.
The next sequence of events happened within the blink of an eye.
Astel felt the creature's presence for a heartbeat—felt the voices grow louder, and the pressure on his body increase. He felt something strike his neck. The strike was incredibly fast.
But he didn't die.
Instead, he felt a stream of energy enter his body and settle in his mind.
As soon as Astel felt the notion settle, he manifested its power.
The world turned dark around him—even darker than before. He opened his eyes but couldn't see a thing. It was as if his eyes were still closed. He couldn't hear the voices anymore, and he was under no external pressure.
'Did I succeed? Or am I dead again?'
He felt his surroundings, which now seemed incredibly vivid. He could feel almost everything in a large area around him. He felt every shadow and every bit of darkness nearby—almost replacing sight, but not quite.
It was… different.
He felt his energy being drained, so he focused on a spot of darkness far away from him—and then he disappeared.
Light assaulted his eyes as he slowly adjusted to it.
He was outside, under a rock formation in the endless, sunless desert.
He did it.
He had survived.