The Regressed NoBody

Park Jiyoung

My head turned backwards in Jiwoo’s direction, as he responded back to Ryuya with a weary sigh, with a tinge of annoyance over his face. Beside me, Amelia’s enthusiastic banter about the tour was somewhat annoying to me—but some points I responded back to which I found genuinely interesting—, but nonetheless, I was still giving effort to hold the conversation steady with her.

But in that moment, I turned my head backward and saw Jiwoo standing. Surprise and panic bled out from his face, as he snapped his head in all directions—as if searching for something.

All eyes in the auditorium turned in his direction, as his face darkened from the frown which had made its way up his face. I hurried up from my seat and quickly asked.

“What’s wrong, Jiwoo?” For him to make such a panicked expression, something must have happened.

But the hair at the back of my neck stood, as Jiwoo lifted his head and looked upward at the ceiling of the auditorium, and said something with his voice low—but rasp enough for the people around him to decipher what he had said.

“Run!”

In that moment, a vivid glow of red began to emanate from above us, as the space above us shattered like glass, making my ears to ring under the force with which the wind was rattling.

I quickly tried to rush to him, but in that moment, I lost touch with my senses, as darkness enveloped my vision.

My head began to split as my insides lurched with nausea. My eyes fluttered open as I found myself laying on cold hard cobblestone. It took me a long moment to calm myself, but, I corrected my breathing and found my senses coming back to me as I relaxed.

I quickly shot to my feet and withdrew my sword from the inside of my dimensional ring, and held it close.

But upon focusing, I saw Ryuya and the others also getting up from the floor.

“Where the hell are we?” Ryuya grounded, rubbing the back of his head, as he snapped his head left to right. Beside him, Amelia and Han Shu-hui also got up and began to peer around the enormous hall like room which we had just been transported into.

I saw a timid boy laying on all four on the floor as he looked like he could vomit right now. His ash-brown hair were ruffled as his face looked sickly and pale.

My attention turned to Lucas for a drifting second, as he frowned getting up to his feet. He wrinkled his nose as he looked around the hall like room with a sharp frown which hinted panic.

But I quickly snapped my head around, searching amongst the other students, looking for Jiwoo. I felt a wave of panic shroud my mind, as I couldn’t find Jiwoo among the crowd of students here with us.

Where was he? I thought. Maybe he wasn’t transported here with us. But aside from that what are we supposed to do? There aren’t even any Instructors here either.

What would Jiwoo do in this kind of situation? I thought. Searching for an answer. But our situation looked too gloomy. And if we were in a dungeon, just what kind of dungeon and what rank was it?

I walked closer to Ryuya and spoke. “Try to gather everyone here, and lets first account to on how many of us are here exactly.”

Ryuya nodded his head firmly and quickly went ahead in the direction of the metallic doors which were mounted at furthest end of this hall with Amelia right beside him. The metallic doors were locked, as rust and mould grew over them.

I whipped my head around and saw that there was another pair of metallic doors at the other end of this hall, which was led up to by a steep flight of stairs. Many big pillars were aligned against the walls of this hall which were either broken or had many cracks and tears.

I walked closer to the staircase and carefully made my way upwards. I circulated my mana and formed a thin rough barrier like surface under the heel of my foot to better allow me to ascend the stairs.

After a quick ascend, I walked closer to the metallic doors, and they were opened—pushed to the side. The entrance had a broken pillar with countless scars and tears on its surface, mounted on the side.

But outside those doors was a tunnel like passageway—wide—with a wide rift open on the right side. With lanterns hung along the cobblestone wall on the left which made an eerie atmosphere there. The purple fire illuminated the surroundings of the passage.

But I heard a loud shout come from behind me. I whipped my body around and hurried back to the hall. There I saw the students arguing with Ryuya. I descended the steep flight of stairs and saw that Kale Triden—a youth whom I think was among the top hundred ranks like Jiwoo—firmly gripping on the collar of Ryuya’s uniform.

His face looked to have a mixture of fear and panic, as his blue eyes bore into Ryuya’s eyes.

Ryuya grabbed his arm by his wrist and gripped it hard which caused the youth’s grip to loosen over his collar. His face twisted into a frown as he backed off a few steps.

“Then is it my fault that we are stuck inside here?” Kale sputtered, as he bickered like a child.

“Calm down,” I glared at him, as I walked closer to Ryuya and Amelia. “What good would it do for us to bicker like this? We need to find a way out of here, aside from childishly bickering amongst ourselves!”

Amelia walked closer to me and spoke. “Jiyoung, did you find anything?”

I shook my head as I answered. “No, there is a passageway on the other side of those doors,” I pointed at the doors on the other end. “But I think leaving from here without any plan or strategy will be either detrimental or life threatening.”

Amelia’s brows furrowed, as she too gazed at the metallic doors on the other side of the hall.

“Have you counted how many people are here?” I asked.

“With all of us...there are a total of sixty-three people here!”

But just as things couldn’t get any worse, I heard a painful screech come from the west side of the hall. I saw a student—with short brown hair and dark brown eyes—whose body was half swallowed—waist down by a python monster which was at least fifteen meters long.

The obsidian skinned python began to swallow the youth entirely, as the student struggled for his life, pushing, punching doing whatever it took to free himself from the monster's grasp.

I lunged in his direction and withdrew my sword as I severed the python’s body in half. With a quick step forward, I also severed its head in a quick sweep.

I gestured a hand at the youth and he took it, as he wheezed out of the python’s mouth groaning and crying like a child.

Tears rolling down his face, as he went on all four.

But my eyes went wide for a moment as I saw a wide gap in the wall hidden behind the broken pieces of the pillars.

“Everyone draw your weapons,” I shouted, as I took the youth by his arm and dragged him to the centre of the hall.

In only a few seconds the entire hall was filled with python mana beasts which were each of different size. But no smaller than seven metres. But they endlessly came out of the gap in the wall.

Ryuya withdrew his sword and inched closer to Amelia who was ready to chant and conjure a spell. Han Shu-hui took a battle ready stance. Lucas wielded his short swords as his frowned widened.

Then the horde of obsidian pythons began to lung in our direction, their movements unpredictable as they weirdly moved in a zigzagged pattern. I slashed my sword and relentlessly kept on killing mana beast after mana beast.

But their amount was never ending. Two obsidian python lurched in my direction as they wiggled in a random pattern of movement. But quickly surging the mana inside me, I severed their head and rushed to help the weaker students, barely holding on their own.

But from the corner of my eyes, I saw an obsidian python rush in my direction, but two more were already over me from in front.

But as I severed the heads of the ones from in front of me, I twirled around and saw a youth with shoulder length glossy black hair killing the python from behind me.

“I am not too late am I?” He sarcastically said with a wide smirk over his face.

Relief washed over me as the crisp voice of that youth entered my ears. The weight of his presence alone made me certain—assured me—that everything was now going to be alright. But I had now finally come to realize that just how reliant I had become of Jiwoo. That only his presence was enough to stark me into believing that even in this hopeless situation that we were in, everything would be fine.

“Took you long enough,” I jabbed, as I pushed a step forward, killing a python coming at Jiwoo from behind.

“Jiyoung, I want you all to buy me some time until I can open those doors.” He firmly said.

I firmly nodded at him, without requiring any explanation whatsoever. If Jiwoo knew what he was doing then I completely trusted his judgement. Ryuya and Han who were close by, also heard him and went to work.

Jiwoo pushed a path open, as he rushed toward in the direction of the metallic doors. We all scattered around the doors, guarding Jiwoo as well as waiting, and killing the python lunging in our direction.

Seo Jiwoo

After a quick dash, I reached for the metallic doors mounted at the end of the hall. I activated Mind’s Eye and snapped my head up and down the doors as I searched for a gap or trigger like the doors from before.

But stopping after a few seconds, I stepped forward and touched the area where there was a gap—big and wide enough for my hand to enter—in the middle of the doors, which was hidden by moss.

I cleared the moss and inserted my hand and looked around the door, on how the mechanism reacted to the release of my mana. This time I released a weak pulse following a strong pulse of mana—how to doors from before had unlocked, just to check.

There were a total of three place in the doors where mana was sustained—where the locks triggers were. The first lock in the doors clanked open, as a rattling noise of metal clanking against each other echoed in my ears.

But this time the doors weren’t opening. The other two triggers were still locked. Panic tried bled out of me, but I suppressed it down. Again, I watched how the trigger reacted to weak and strong pulses of mana.

But from behind me, I heard loud desperate shouts emerge. I turned my head backward for a moment of breaking my attention away from the doors and saw that some mana beasts had wrapped some students in their tight grasp, crushing them.

Some had been poisoned, and some struggling, barely able to dodge their attacks, or fight back.

Sweat profusely rolled down my temples as I again began to push mana in big and small amounts. If the mana output levels could be measured from the valve of one to ten, then I needed the right combination for successfully opening this entrance.

But just as I released another pulse of mana, the second lock of the doors clanked open. A mixture of relief and impatience plastered over my face as I began to coalesce the mana around my fingers to make its way toward the third and final lock.

But from my side, I saw a python make its way toward me from a gap in our formation which the other had taken keeping close to the door. I shot my left hand toward it, as wind mana began to coalesce above my glove, which created a glowing translucent arrow of wind.

The arrow collided with the python’s body and caused it to go crashing into a broken pillar a few feet away.

But under the abundance of wind mana around my hands and control, I hurriedly channelled my mana and give in a quick pulse, but I saw some of the wind particles also moving closer to lock. With a sharp clank my brows knitted momentarily.

But upon closer inspection, I saw that the particles of wind were coalesced around the third trigger. Then could it be that the final lock trigger’s with a certain mana element. The constant release of mana isn’t triggering the mechanism. I thought, as I watched the particles of mana hovering in the air around me.

I pulled the particles of wind closer, as they coalesced around my fingers. Then with a quick release, the wind mana went deeper into the lock mechanism, I tried a few times of sending the particles of wind mana into the mechanism, but it ultimately unlocked the third lock.

The metallic doors screeched against the floor as they pushed open causing the floor beneath my feet to tremble. Everyone was baffled momentarily under the screech of the doors opening, as I whipped my body around and shouted. “Everyone inside the doors.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to the entrance, as they dodged the constant attack of the countless pythons’

I stepped forward into the hall, as student after student went ahead exiting this one.

Some students were still close to reaching the doors as they dodged attack after attack from the mana beasts.

I firmed my grip around the sheath and handle, and took in a deep breath as I pulled my body into a stance. The mana around me—the wind particles—rushed to my side, as I manipulated them and released my sword from the grasp of the sheath and performed a horizontal slash. The wind mana rushed along side my blade, as it made the air to shake violently, and caused my arm to momentarily go numb under the force of the swing.

The burst of mana and the force of my swing combined made a forceful and sharp gust to make its way toward all the monsters in a thirty meter radius.

The bodies and heads of the pythons severed and rolled and writhed over the floor as the last of the students exited the hall, and among them I also saw Claire safely on the other side.

[You Have Levelled Up]

“Jiwoo,” Jiyoung called out, as I rushed toward the doors which were closing in on themselves, as I saw a window pop open in front of me, indicating my level increase. The mana beasts which were still remaining were rushing in my direction.

The doors closed with a tight thud as the floor shook, as I withdrew bleak star into the sheath and sat down, resting my head against the enormous doors, as I took deep breaths and massaged my right arm gently.

I looked above at the others who were standing in front of me with expressions of despair, panic and dread. Some were taking potions to calm their nerves, some for injury purposes.

I calmed my breathing, as I slowly stood up on to my feet and walked closer to Jiyoung and Ryuya.

“Jiwoo, thank goodness you are alright,” Ryuya said as he placed his hand over my shoulder and gave me a friendly and worried smile.

“You know, you should be more worried for Amelia and not me,” I scoffed as I shot my friend a wide smug to lighten the mood.

Ryuya’s grip over my shoulder increased as the veins over his forehead bugled in annoyance. “Oh, is that so, then it would have been better if one of those python had swallowed you whole. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with that shit sarcasm of yours! ” He grumbled with an innocent smile over his face, which made me want to reconsider my next choice of words.

“But where were you?” Jiyoung asked, as Ryuya withdrew his arm and looked at me.

“I don’t know, but I think I was transported into a different room of this dungeon which was a short walk away from the previous one,” I said as I saw Claire walking closer in our direction.

I walked a step closer, and spoke. “Is your foot alright now?”

She gave me a nod, followed which a smile. “ Thanks to you my foot’s all better now.” But I felt Jiyoung’s eyes bore intently into my back from behind, but I shrugged it off. I nodded back as I snapped my head around to look at the enormous hall. ‘Seriously one hall after another,’ I thought in annoyance.

It was similar to the hall from before but this time round, there were countless knight statues inside this hall aligned against the walls. I walked closer to one and tried pressing a finger against its hard surface but stopped. They were just statues.

Some statues were holding axes, some spears, some claymores and some crossbows. But my vision drifted from the statues and on to the enormous wide doors which were mounted on the other end of this hall.

I sighed gazing at the metallic doors. Really, door after door. This dungeon was shit for its unartistic designs. I thought walking closer to the doors.

But as I strode closer, my eyes drifted on to a familiar figure whom I knew and had shared quite the relationship with.

It was Thomas.

Our eyes met for a moment, as he glared at me. But I didn’t respond back. I just acted as if he didn’t exist or wasn’t even there.

Everyone else followed me from behind. Jiyoung and Han beside me, and Derek—the youth with ash-brown hair—behind me. He was holding on to his sword as he timidly walked with a frown over his face.

Soon I came to a halt as I again activated Mind’s Eye to look for the lock mechanism.

But this time around, I saw there were two gaps which were in the doors. And I saw that there were wind mana particles surrounding the lock of the metallic door on my left, and earth mana particles on the door to my right.

‘These door will open with earth and wind mana,’ I mused as I kept looking at the doors. But the problem was, that both holes were not at arms distance that I could insert both of my hands and trigger the lock at the same time. But the bigger issue was that, I could make due with the wind element lock.

But...the problem was with the earth element one. The primary element which I could manipulate the best was wind. As the wind mana was also greatly associated in using the crescent moon style, so I had trained and learnt to control and manipulate wind mana more than any other element, as far as I could manipulate mana. And aside from that, the only other element which I had tried using was fire, but to the bare minimum.

But I think the only elements which I could use were wind and fire—mostly wind—. I could say from a mage’s point of view, I would be considered a dual‐elemental mana wielder.

I observed the particles of red, green, yellow and blue, together with demonic energy hovering in the air. Seriously if only I could also use magic and manipulate mana to conjure spells, that could be a great help. But...

I snapped my head toward where Amelia was standing, as an idea struck me. I walked closer to her and spoke.

“Amelia you are a mage, so what are the primary elements you can manipulate?”

Amelia looked at me for a moment before she answered. “I am a dual-elemental mage so I can only use the fire and earth element. But my control over fire is only so-so, but my more trained and better wielded element is earth.” She mused.

Then if the primary element she was the best at was earth, then that was great news for us.

All the hunters that awaken, and can wield mana, they all have an affinity for a specific element. But regardless, everyone had a different affinity for mana, and depending on the element they were most compatible with they could manipulate it. But for mages they were the closest beings to manipulating all of the elements.

But aside from that, mages and all having an affinity for a certain element have a much easier time absorbing the atmospheric mana which coincides with that element.

I think that’s what the quake head told me. Seriously, if I get back, I would gladly take the augmentation mana manipulation course.

I still needed a lot of training in spite of all my experiences.

But now that I think about it, Adam was an actual anomaly. Even among us humans there has only been a total of two people who come to mind who have been able to manipulate at least three elements at once. One of them being Adam and the other my quack head teacher. And Adam was a triple-elemental with two deviances, having the ability to manipulate both ice and thunder. But even among us humans there has been no one born to have been a quadra‐elemental mana user.

But I feel I am missing something here.

But either way, I shrugged that feeling off, and looked in Amelia’s direction.

“Amelia, I need your help in opening the lock of that door,” I said pointing at the door on the right side.

“Why me?” She asked.

“Because you can use the earth attribute mana, and you’re a mage,” I replied walking closer to the other door.

Then I inserted my hand into the gap and pulled the particles of wind close to my hand, as I pushed mana into the lock to find the right amount to trigger the lock.

“Hmm...Jiwoo,” I heard a timid voice calling out me as I turned my head to my left slightly and saw Derek standing a few feet away from me, as he keenly observed the doors.

“What?” I asked.

“I think you need to r-raise your mana out-put a l-little more than what you are releasing right now. A-And I think the doors will open on the condition if both of the locks are triggered simultaneously.”

I heard the youth in disbelief as I kept looking in his direction with a blank expression over my face.

“I-I-I am sorry, I must have s-startled you because of what I blurted out all of a sudden. I am sorry I was just trying to be of some help. I should have known my place. I—”

Derek kept on blabbering and apologising as he lowered his head and began to step back. But I pulled my hand out of the hole and grabbed the youth and pulled him close.

“Derek can you see them too?” I asked, surprised and confused at the same time. My eyes bore intently into his amethyst eyes as he caught my gaze and shifted his gaze away.

The only way Derek would be able to tell the difference of the amounts of mana I am releasing and at what strengths, if he had a similar ability like Mind’s Eye.

But that was close to impossible, because in my past life I had obtained Mind’s Eye coincidentally inside a dungeon, and there was no skill or ability similar to it. I thought in disbelief. But the possibility was still there of him possessing a similar skill or ability.

“Some times...if I focus,” the youth said timidly as he lifted his head slightly.

“Then can you also see the atmospheric particles of mana and demonic energy?” This time I said in a low whisper, bringing my face close to the youth.

He nodded at me as I firmly held on to his shoulders. If Derek could see the atmospheric mana then his control and understanding of it in my past life finally made sense. Because even my understanding and control had taken a drastic leap after I had began to see the particles and how they reacted to a certain stimuli.

I pulled back as I brought him closer to the door. “Derek, then you do it.” I told the youth as I stepped back, giving him some space to work.

“B-But how could I?” He said turning his head backward as Amelia hesitantly inserted her hand inside the other hole on the right door.

“Derek please, I know it might be too much for anyone else, but...if its you then you can do it.” I assured the youth as he determinedly nodded at me. His eyes burning with a new vigorous fire, but still looking timid and awkward nonetheless.

Then I stepped closer to Amelia, and guided her through my use of Mind’s Eye.

But Derek was right, among the intersecting parts where the locks were, there was a thin gap, or tether like line which connected both of the lock, which I haven’t seen, before Derek had pointed it out.

But the ominous feeling since entering this dungeon within me was increasing by the second.

“Seriously what the hell are these creepy statues anyways, eh?” I vaguely heard two students nudging a knight statues on the left side of the hall.

But just as one of the student’s hand nudged the statue’s surface, the area where the knight’s helmet was—the opening for the eyes—began to emanate a dark yellowish sheen.

But with an earthen cracking noise, the statue began to move as it came to life. The sword in its hand launched at one of the students, and his body was severed into two equally divided pieces, as his blood sprayed all over the floor.

I whipped my body around and launched in the statue’s direction before it could cut the other student.

But I was too late in reaching it as the knight severed the head on the other student, as tears rolled down his cheeks, and his face dropped and rolled over the floor with a loud thud.

Blood sprayed all over the statue as the ground was dyed by a shade of crimson.

A female student screamed as she say this unfold. I withdrew bleak star and lurched at the statue, my sword's pommel collided with the statue, pushing it several feet back. But when things couldn’t get any worse, all of the countless statues which were inside this room slowly came to life one by one.

The heads of the statues turned in my direction, as they lurched at me with unpredictable speed. But firming my grip, I thrust my sword at the area near a knight statue’s sternum.

Under the effects of Mind’s Eye, I was able to inspect that there was a source of mana—the motes of yellow surrounding the statue—sustained—or rather a core like shell—in that particular spot of the statues allowing them to freely move.

The statue in front of me crumbled, as the pommel of my sword dug deep into its sternum.

But the toughness of its body momentarily left my hand numb. With a subtle sharp movement, two Knights were over me, as both vertical slashed their weapons downwards at me—one wielding a claymore, and the other a spear.

My sword drew an arc as I tried to parry their attack, but my arm went numb, as I was pushed back a few steps.

These statues were at least close to that of rank in strength and speed. I turned my head backward for a split second, and I saw fear drowned faces of the students. But among them the only ones keeping themselves together were Ryuya, Lucas, Han, Jiyoung and Amelia.

“Don’t fight them alone, fight in a group of three or four,” I ordered, as I destroyed three more statues. “And target their sternum, there is a source of mana which is allowing them to move.” I added.

Everyone began to fight, as I kept destroying statue after statue. But it wasn’t the same for the others. Despite them fighting in groups against even one statue, they had to exert their full strength.

But I began to hear muffled desperate shouts, as three students died at the hands of those statues.

Sweat profusely dripped from my face, as I kept destroying statues whilst helping the others.

But a wave of panic and fear drowned my heart, as I heard a familiar voice coming from a few feet away from me, in a desperate shout of agony. I weakly turned my head in that direction—sequentially parrying an attack from a knight which was wielding a claymore—, where that voice had emerged from and saw with wide fearful eyes, as Han held on to his right bicep tightly by his other hand. He gnashed his teeth as his arm elbow down—severed—laid over the floor.

Blood gushed out of his severed arm like a stream, as my old friend’s face twisted in an expression of agony. His hair pushed to the side revealing his eyes which were tightly shut into slits, making the area near his eyes entirely white.

“HAN!!!” I shouted, as panic shrouded my mind. The thought of my friend dying in front of my eyes made the bottom part of my stomach to fall.

“Damn it, Derek, Amelia how long?” I roared, my voice booming across the entire room. Smashing my fist coated with mana against the sternum of a statue, my entire arm went numb, as my knuckle began to bled. My voice had came out desperate as I rushed to Han dodging any attacks launched in my direction. Ryuya was by his side, trying to pour a potion inside his mouth but he was unable to.

The pain and agony Han must have been going through send a shiver down my spine, just by seeing his face, as his breathing hardened each passing second, as if it might be his last. His skin was a weak shade of pale. He was losing blood, fast.

I couldn’t let him die. Not in this life. No...I wouldn’t allow it to happen. All the mana inside my body erupted, as I coated my sword, and the black surface of my blade began to emanate a light tinge. I hacked away, destroying statue after statue, but some were being reconstructed. If their source of mana wasn’t destroyed they would keep on being reconstructed.

【You Have Levelled Up】

【You Have Levelled Up】

【You Have Levelled Up】

But in my desperate moment, I heard the loud clanking and rustling of the metallic doors, as they screeched open.

“Toward the doors!” I roared, as I helped the others make their way toward the doors. As everyone reached for them in a desperate stride. I stayed behind, keeping the knight statues distracted from not reaching the doors.

But soon enough, relief washed over me as everyone had finally crossed over to the other side, as the doors were quickly closing on themselves.

“JIWOO!!” Jiyoung desperately shouted.

In that moment, I reached for my skill—leap—but...it was dormant, unusable as of this moment. The skill was there, but unresponsive, not heeding my call—command—for some strange reason. There was more than a forty meter distance from me to the doors.

Panic bled out of my face, as I slightly turned my head in the direction of the doors and saw Jiyoung, whose face displayed a mixture of desperation and dread equally. I pulled my lips into a weak smile, my eyes softened, but the panic over my face had alerted Jiyoung even more, as Ryuya tried to forcefully hold her back from not rushing back.

Then the doors shut closed with a tight clank as the last thing I saw was Jiyoung reaching her hand out to me.