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Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 24

Author: Blue_Rat

ch24

The darkness had retreated from Kazuki’s vision and the world lit up in his eyes. Looking left, right, up, down, and everywhere else, there was not a thing that could hide from his sight.

Kazuki stumbled back a few steps. He could barely believe what was happening. He could see about half of what he originally could in the sunlight and just this alone had left him awed. The feeling of having his sight restored was unimaginable right now. To go so long without something as basic as vision, Kazuki now had a new appreciation for those less fortunate. He had only experienced absolute darkness for around 3 months but it was an experience he never wished to go through ever again. The fact that there were people who lived their everyday lives like this, Kazuki felt for them deeply.

Taking in his surroundings, the world was brand new to him. Looking far and wide, Kazuki could see many things. Barren lands, frosted rocky terrain, valleys, and even mountains. One thing that left him feeling troubled was the fact that there was a multitude of forest expanding in the distance. Some of which resembled the carnivorous trees he was aware of while others were different.

(If things are like this, I may encounter problems whilst traveling along the river. I planned to travel along it until I could sense the carnivorous forest but if there are this many similar forests around here, it could be the same upriver. If there are many of them it may be difficult to find my path past the river.)

Kazuki examined the silver powder in his hand and wondered how this was possible. He could feel the dark energy gently moving around his eyes.

(After trying some of this glowing powder, there was a feeling of energy moving around my eyes, how strange. I thought the concentration and pureness of this dark energy meant it couldn’t be used. I tried it myself many a time and thought my failings had proved it already but the contents of this rock say otherwise. The porcs seem to use it all the time. Are they aware that the powder inside the rocks has this effect or is it a natural thing to them? The energy moved on its own around my eyes but what if?…)

Kazuki shut his eyes and once more his world became black. Though he now did not worry as he knew the darkness would fade the moment he reopened his eyes.

Sensing his body, he carefully observed the dark energy moving around his eyes. He could feel it swirling about. After observing it for a while, he found that it was moving in a set pattern. Focusing on it further, he found that the movement of the energy was flowing along with his blood. The blood that flowed from the main artery in his eye along with the main vein was coated in the dark energy. The energy was moving through his eyes as blood would.

Kazuki tried to separate the dark energy from his blood but like always, the dark energy clung to his blood and everywhere else like glue. He then tried to block the flow of blood but that only stole his own vision and harmed him. After healing himself, he tried to redirect the blood flow. His blood pulled backward and receded from his eye. Again he lost vision from said eye until the blood returned.

He was doing everything he could think of to try and discover how this dark energy worked. If he could figure out how it worked here, the chances of him escaping would increase severalfold.

He then increased the blood to his eyes and found that when he opened his eyes the level of light grew brighter and brighter.

(So more blood to the area increases the effect and less takes my vision. How does this help though?)

Kazuki then changed the direction of the blood once again and sent it to his ears to see if it could increase his sense of hearing.

…

Failure.

He then tried other parts of his body but in the end, nothing else worked.

(So this powder only works for the eyes and nothing more. My problem with this dark energy is multiple. It suppresses my physical strength, it weighs me down and it makes it so none of my magic can work. Not only that, it clings to every fiber of my being and can’t be removed even if I use my ki, the godly aura, or my own aura. My ancient hand signs do nothing and my talismans can’t properly activate because of it, yet with this powdery substance, the dark energy moves. I can’t figure this shit out at all. If I could just move the dark energy things wouldn’t be so fucking hard but no. It resists me to no end and doesn’t listen. What is so special about this powder that allows it to move the dark energy in my blood!? Even the blood thing is just a guess and could be wrong. The two may have nothing to do with the other and I’m just thinking nonsense. Damn this is so confusing.)

Kazuki felt he was on the verge of something but he couldn’t pinpoint it. The mystery behind the dark energy, it’s suppression. He was missing something but he didn’t know what.

*Grrrrrrr*

A rumble escaped from his stomach. Suddenly all eyes looked in Kazuki’s direction. The porcupines were curious as to what the noise was but once they saw it came from Kazuki, they quickly lost interest and went back to porcupine type shit.

(I should try and find something to eat. It shouldn’t be as difficult now that I can see in this darkness.)

Just as he thought that the light around him began to fade slowly and everything was growing dark.

(What? What’s happeneing? Why is everything going black again?)

As the light was quickly disappearing, Kazuki quickly took the rest of the muddy smelling powder and downed it in one go.

The dark energy in his eyes began to move again and the darkness that was enveloping the world once more brightened and he could see once more, clear as day.

Looking at the porcs lying around, he wondered why the effects stopped for him and not for them.

(Could it be because I didn’t consume enough of this silver powder? Those porcs ate more than a dozen rocks each but I only had part of one.)

Kazuki looked at the shattered fragments of the rock on the ground. There were traces of glowing powder at his feet. When he broke the rock in his hand, a lot of the silver powder fell to the ground. Technically he probably only consumed around half of a single rock powder. Compare that to the amount the porcs ate, Kazuki had consumed something like a snack’s worth. Everyone knows you’ll need to eat 15 minutes later as a snack just isn’t filling.

(I need to get more of these before the light fades once more.)

Kazuki didn’t waste any time. Turning around he raced back towards the river. Since he had left marks in the ground as well as had left Azirian blood behind, and even had a map, the way back was so easy to follow even a monkey could find its way back. Running back, Kazuki covered quite a few miles until he finally reached the river bank. As soon as he arrived he was surprised to see little specks of silver light glowing on hundreds of rocks.

(Those smooth surfaces, those are the rocks the porcs eat.)

Now that he could actually see in this darkness, Kazuki was able to see tiny traces and dots of glowing silver on top of the rocks. The dots were so tiny and small that when he was surrounded by darkness, he couldn’t make out the small light emanating from them. Now that he had eaten some of the silver powder, his eyes were almost as good as when he was in daylight. Above the Abyssal trench, Kazuki could see an ant moving from miles away. Now that his vision was returned, he could make out which rocks contained the silver powder and which did not.

Not only that, he could see through the river and even clearly make out its bottom. Right now there were 3 crocodiles swimming around in it, along with hundreds of fish he’d never seen before. A line of drool began to spill down his chin.

(FOOOOOOD!)

*Grrrumble*

Kazuki shook the thought away and set his priorities. First, he needed more silver powder so he would not suddenly go blind. After that, he’d immediately go fishing. Step one and step two, simple and easy.

Kazuki excitedly gathered nearly a hundred rocks all at once and began breaking them open. Sure enough, the ones that had the tiny silver glowing dots upon them all had that powder in them. Taking his broken ruler, he expanded one of the chambers within it and filled it with the powder. He also consumed more of the silver powder right there and then to keep his sight going. Just as he was on the verge of celebrating.

*FWap Fwap……BANG!*

The ground broke not too far away and once again…It appeared.