The moment I opened my eyes, everything around me had disappeared.
The underground river was gone. The enormous sapphire flower was nowhere to be seen, and even the soft blue light that had illuminated the sanctuary had vanished. All that remained was endless darkness.
No matter how far I looked, I couldn't see anything. I couldn't even see my own body. I could still feel the weight of my shell, the movement of my limbs, and even the slow flow of my breathing, yet my eyes showed me absolutely nothing.
"...Where am I?"
For a brief moment, I thought I had entered Primal Repose again. The feeling of endless darkness was somewhat similar, but after calming myself, I immediately noticed the difference.
During Primal Repose, I couldn't feel my body at all. My consciousness simply drifted through the endless void. Here, however, I could clearly feel every part of myself. I simply couldn't see anything.
"...And the System hasn't appeared either."
Not a single notification.
No blue panels.
Nothing.
After standing there for a while, I decided there was no point remaining still. Thinking alone wouldn't get me anywhere. I cautiously stepped forward, only for my shell to collide with something solid. The impact wasn't strong, but it was enough to stop me completely.
Frowning, I slowly stretched one foreleg forward. My claw touched something hard. It was smooth, cold, and completely solid. I slowly tried another direction, then another, but the result never changed. Every direction was blocked by the same solid surface. I couldn't see what was stopping me, but whatever surrounded me had completely sealed every possible way out.
"...This feels just like that barrier outside."
I ran my claw across the surface again, trying to find even the slightest opening, crack, or unevenness, but there was nothing. Every part of it felt identical.
A sigh escaped my mouth.
"What exactly is this place...?"
The darkness remained silent for several breaths before an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed through the empty space.
It wasn't mechanical like the System, nor did it resemble the old skull's voice. It sounded ancient, carrying a calmness that felt as though it had existed for countless years.
"Those who seek the path with their eyes shall never find it."
The voice disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only silence behind. No matter how long I waited, nothing else followed. Whoever—or whatever—had spoken those words had no intention of saying anything more.
I frowned and raised my voice into the endless darkness, asking, "Who are you? What did you mean by that? And why am I here?" My voice echoed briefly before being swallowed by the endless silence. No answer came. The darkness remained exactly the same, as though no one had ever spoken. I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
"...Seriously? You say one sentence and disappear? What kind of joke is this..." I waited for a while longer, hoping that ancient voice would speak again, but nothing happened. Letting out a slow sigh, I had no choice but to replay those words inside my mind.
"...Those who seek the path with their eyes shall never find it..."
I quietly repeated the sentence to myself, trying to understand what it actually meant. The more I thought about it, the stranger it sounded. It didn't sound like a warning, nor did it seem meant to frighten me. If anything, it felt like a hint... or perhaps a riddle.
But... a riddle for what?
I frowned. If it really wanted to give me a hint, couldn't it have said something that actually made sense? I couldn't see anything here in the first place. Whether my eyes were open or closed changed absolutely nothing. There was only endless darkness.
I remained silent for a while, replaying those words over and over inside my head, but no matter how much I thought about them, I couldn't understand what they were trying to tell me. It almost felt as though whoever left this behind expected me to already know the answer.
"...Forget it."
I slowly let out a breath. Thinking about it any longer wasn't going to get me out of here.
What can I use now?
The System?
No. It hadn't appeared ever since I arrived here.
My skills...
My first thought was Earth Sense. A faint glimmer of hope rose inside me. Without wasting another second, I tried to activate it.
No response. The hope that had just surfaced quietly faded away.
I focused, waiting for the familiar sensation to spread through my surroundings, but nothing happened. Even after trying again with greater concentration, the result remained the same.
There wasn't even the slightest response.
Frowning, I relied on my own senses instead. I tried feeling through my claws, listening with my ears, searching with my sense of smell, even trusting my instincts, but everything remained completely silent. It wasn't that my senses had disappeared. It felt as though this place had isolated them from everything outside.
I remained silent for a moment before another thought crossed my mind.
Qi Veil Art...
Even without the System, I could still feel Beast Qi steadily circulating through my meridians. The newly awakened water attribute had already merged into that flow, moving just as naturally as the Qi itself.
If Earth Sense wouldn't respond... then what if I did it myself?
Earth Sense had always allowed me to perceive my surroundings through my senses. If I manually circulated Beast Qi through my claws, ears, nose, and every sensory part of my body using Qi Veil Art's precise control...
...Could I recreate what Earth Sense normally did?
It was only a guess.
But right now...
It was the only thing I had left to try.
Taking a slow breath, I gradually circulated the Qi throughout my body. Instead of forcing it into a single place, I let it spread through every sensory part I could control—my claws, ears, nose, shell, even the tiny scales around my neck.
Qi Veil Art had already reached Perfection, so guiding the flow wasn't difficult. The real challenge was maintaining absolute control while spreading it through every sensory point at once. At first, nothing changed. I couldn't hear anything, smell anything, or feel anything beyond my own body.
Even after several minutes of maintaining the circulation, the surroundings remained completely silent. For a moment, I wondered if I had misunderstood the meaning behind those words, but that thought quickly disappeared. If stopping now solved nothing, then there was only one thing left to do.
I continued circulating the Qi while calming my breathing further, allowing my mind to settle completely. Gradually, the sensation inside my body became clearer than before, and for the first time, I felt something that didn't belong to me.
It was a thread.
No...
A strand so unbelievably thin it was almost impossible to notice. Countless silver-blue particles seemed woven into a single delicate filament that drifted silently through the darkness. It didn't resemble ordinary Qi. It felt more like a materialized law than energy.
Was this the path that voice had been talking about?
I carefully extended my perception toward it, afraid that even the slightest disturbance would make it disappear.
The instant my consciousness touched the strand, it trembled gently.
Then it shattered.
The slender filament dissolved into countless silver-blue particles that drifted through the darkness before rushing toward me. They passed straight through my body without meeting the slightest resistance.
For the briefest moment...
Nothing happened.
Then—
"AAAGHHHH!!"
The scream tore out of my throat before I could even react.
A searing pain exploded through my head.
It felt as though something had grabbed both of my ears and was slowly ripping them away from my body. With every heartbeat, the pain grew even worse, until it felt as though my entire head would split apart. Warm blood began pouring down the sides of my neck, soaking my scales.
"S-Stop...!"
I desperately raised my claws, trying to grab whatever was tearing them apart, but I couldn't stop it.
The pressure continued building until both ears were violently torn away from my head.
Blood splattered across my neck as the pain exploded through my mind..
"AAAGHHHHH—!"
"...."
The next instant...
I was standing in the same endless darkness.
"...What...?"