The Extra's Dimensional Library

The rays of sun poured through the window of the room and onto Raze's face. His eyes twitched and slowly opened, like his mind was rebooting after a long rest. The first thing he saw was the ceiling, his ceiling, the ceiling of his own room.

He stared for a few seconds, silent, unmoving, letting his thoughts settle into place.

'I'm alive.' He thought it once… then muttered it aloud "I'm alive. I survived."

The memories of what happened before he blacked out came rushing back, the fight against Eliath, the final move that nearly wiped them all out, and his reckless decision to stand against Eliath's attack. He almost died. But somehow, he'd made it, and not only that, he was back home in Ribest and on his own bed.

He tried to sit up.

Instant pain stabbed through his body.

"Argh—!" he groaned, falling back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling again. "Fuck… fuck…"

He pressed his palm to his forehead, rubbing slowly.

"This is my room," he muttered. "How did I get here?"

If he was back here, that meant someone had brought them back from that town. Which also meant somebody had come to save them, or they somehow survived. He didn't know what happened after he blacked out, but he hoped in his heart that they all made it out, that none of them had been harmed in the process.

A tinge of regret and guilt crept into his mind. After all, the one who pushed them to search the manor was him. He was the one who wanted to look into it, and his curiosity brought them the danger that came.

But even then… he didn't fully regret it. In fact, he knew he would make the same decision again and again. Because they uncovered something hiding right under the nose of the Vermilion Kingdom, a demonic beast walking freely among humans. There was no greater discovery than that.

Still… he had done enough exploration for now.

He was alive. He was here. And for now, he just wanted to rest. After confirming everyone was fine, that's exactly what he planned to do.

Click. Click.

The door to his room suddenly opened, and Elaine walked in, holding a tray with a bowl of warm water and a rag. The moment she saw him awake, her eyes widened in shock. She hurried to the table, dropped the tray, and immediately rushed to his side.

"Young master!" she cried, dropping to her knees beside the bed and grabbing his hand.

"Hey, Elaine." Raze smiled lightly, looking at her shocked and worried face. "You seem surprised to see me awake."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I thought something had happened to you. Nobody knew when you would wake up," she whispered. "Even the mage that came to treat you said she could only heal the physical wounds… but she had no idea when you would regain consciousness."

Another tear fell onto the bed.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," Raze said with a grin. "It's me. There's no way I can freaking die that easily."

She gave him that look, the one she always gave him whenever he did something insane. But then her expression softened, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Ouch—ouch—ouch—ouch—!" he yelled.

Elaine gasped and let go instantly, panicking that she might have hurt him. Then Raze chuckled.

"I'm joking."

She puffed her cheeks in anger and punched his arm with a small, playful hit.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered.

"Me too," he replied softly. "I wouldn't want to die now. There's so much I'd leave behind if I did."

"So what happened?" Raze asked.

Elaine shifted back from the bed slightly. She cleaned the tear from her eyes; she already knew what Raze was asking about.

"You were brought here by one of the Captains of the Knight Chapters four days ago. He brought you, Gavin, and Ella back. All of you were bruised up and injured badly… but nothing too life-threatening. Aside from you, that is," she said.

"So it was Mark… he was the one that saved us then," Raze muttered.

"I heard it was a demonic beast," Elaine said.

"You heard right," Raze replied.

She paused for a moment, her face turning dark. Then she looked at him.

"You are lucky to be alive then," she said.

"Definitely. Fighting against that demonic beast showed me that there is so much I don't understand yet… their very essence of being. I knew demonic beasts existed, but that being the first time I met one, it's definitely not an experience I will forget," Raze said.

Elaine looked at him. "But somehow, I know now this will not be the last time you meet one… and that scares me," she said.

"Don't jinx me," Raze said with a choked smile. "But surely, this will definitely not be the last time I see a demonic beast. Now I'm curious. Curious about them as a whole," he said.

Her face shifted into a frown.

"Don't be," she spoke sharply.

"Huh?" Raze asked.

She quickly shook her head. "No, I mean, don't go looking for trouble. Demonic beasts are dangerous," she said, then got to her feet.

"You should rest a bit more before you start moving around. I know you want to. I'm very sure the next few days are going to be busy for you. After all, Lady Rose will be arriving soon, and she will want to talk to you, i believe a lot was discovered from that town that you were in, something to do with abominations," Elaine said, then walked out of the room.

She shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it. She took a deep breath.

"Why did it have ti be now… why is it happening like this? " she muttered under her breath, then walked away with a dark expression, as if worried about something.