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"U-urgh…" Dustinel groaned as he stirred in his sleep.

He was currently at the edge that separated unconsciousness from consciousness, though being ignorant of the fact himself. In this moment of being in a limbo of thoughts and sensations, the Elf felt like he was in a trance.

Within this state, he saw several of his Elven brethren. He watched how they had been degraded by his current master. He powerlessly witnessed their enslavement with the inability to intervene.

Fear was a shackle, and Dustinel was its greatest prisoner.

'I… I…' He found himself thinking in his dream—unable to wake, but unable to maintain his mental construct.

Soon, he found that everything around him collapsed, and he was buried in utter darkness. He tried crying for help as he descended into the pitch-black night, but no one heard him. No one could hear him because his voice couldn't be heard.

He opened his lips and flapped his gums, but nothing came forth.

At this point, several hands belonging to the darkness reached out for him and pulled him further in. He tried and tried, yet nothing could be heard.

Not until he finally found himself drowning in a murky pool of pungent darkness. Immersed in this pool of blackness, Dustinel felt his eyes bulging and his insides corrupted. Gurgling the stinky liquid and the terribly chilly waters, the Elf had had enough.

"ARGHHHHHHHH!!!"

His voice ascended far into the air as he raised his body upward, finally breaking free from the darkness… as well as his dream.

In short, Dustinel was awake.

"Haa… haaa…"

The Elf was drenched in his own sweat, smelling the pungent odor emanating from his drenched body. The place he found himself in was chilly—a sharp contrast to his warm home and soft bed.

"Where… am I?" Dustinel looked around him.

He was surrounded by rocks, in what seemed like a cave. There didn't seem to be any way out since everywhere was pitch black, and even with his Magic Eye, he found what would have been the entrance to be completely sealed.

"I'm trapped? But how? Why?"

The confused Elf found a gap in his memories, and he didn't remember anything beyond his usual stroll meant to clear his mind and decide on the appropriate actions to take concerning the problems affecting the Mine and Mill productivity.

Despite his justified confusion, Dustinel could still think of a bunch of reasons why he would be stuck in his current predicament.

For one, the enslaved Elves could have kidnapped him with malicious intent. Considering how he was siding with the Chief, it was possible that they would want to vent their frustrations on him.

'But aren't they worried about what the Chief would do? Besides, why would they do such a thing now?'

His Elven brethren must have despised him for so long, so why would they choose to make their move at such a sensitive moment? After all…

"The inspectors are coming tomorrow…" Dustinel murmured.

Their imminent appearance was one of the reasons why the Elf Chief has been on the edge lately. Even a tyrant like him had superiors, and they wouldn't be happy with the way productivity was going.

'This is literally the worst time!'

Dustinel groaned as he tiredly stood from his position. His regal attire had been stained by dirt and sweat, and he smelled unpleasant, but he still managed to stand. His eyes glowed green as he slowly walked in the direction of the sealed entrance.

'I have to get out of here… and fast!'

The Chief needed to see results before the Inspectors arrived. If he didn't, then Dustinel was bound to receive the backlash for everything. The last thing the frail Elf wanted was punishment.

He used the earthen wall around him as support while navigating through the narrow cave-like structure. The floor was cold, and so was the earthen surface. Judging from the low temperature alone, Dustinel concluded that it was most likely late at night.

'The Elves should be resting back home. I should be able to escape without interference if I act now.'

Of course, there was the possibility that the Elf workers had nothing to do with this, and it was instead the Elf Chief that was responsible for his current situation. Dustinel knew quite well that his boss was currently dissatisfied with him.

'Is it possible that…?' If that was indeed the case, there would be guards waiting for him outside, and escape would be unthinkable.

There was a third option though—and that was a third party.

'There was an intruder alarm earlier, wasn't there? But there's no way they could have invaded so deep into our settlement. The illusory effects of the barrier were still active the last I, urgh—' Dustinel felt a loud pounding in his head.

He was missing a portion of his memories, so it was possible that intruders had managed to take him prisoner. Once he considered his three options, Dustinel didn't know which to subscribe to.

The first was the best, in terms of his survival, but it made the least sense. The second was quite possible, but the Elf Chief still needed him and wouldn't get rid of someone as talented as himself so quickly—at least not without a replacement.

'But the Chief has been shown to act rashly many times. Damn it…'

The last option, which also seemed far-fetched, was the one about the intruders. Dustinel found it unbelievable that any race could penetrate their barrier and capture him even with the illusions and guards that were sent.

Sure, security measures had thinned out quite considerably since they needed more manpower to work the mines and harvest wood, but still…

'Could it be demons? No way! Surely, they understand that… urgh!'

Dustinel felt his head pounding more. It wasn't just his head, but his entire body ached. He had thought it was a consequence of sleeping on a cold, hard surface for too long, so he ignored it. However, the Elf found that it was reaching the point of notice.

'I'm burning up? A fever?' He finally realized why he had sweat a lot despite being in a chilly place.

He couldn't confirm his suspicion yet, but Dustinel realized he was probably sick. It was all the more reason why he had to escape as soon as possible.

'I'll risk it. Anything to leave!'

*

*

*

>BOOOOOMMMM!!!<

A loud explosion caused the blocked entrance to turn into nothing but flying debris and a passable space—enough for an adult male to pass through.

"Huff… Kuff!!!" Dustinel coughed heavily, making his way out of the cave as the smoke and rising dust leaked out to the open space he walked into.

He moved as quickly as he could to escape the ascending dust, closing his eyes and pushing his body to get a whiff of fresh air. Unfortunately, he moved a bit too fast.

"G-garh!"

Destinel tripped and fell on the barren, rocky surface of the floor. It was just as cold as the cave floor, and the frail Elf felt the impact of his fall—down to his bones.

"O-ouch…" He groaned, nearly in tears as he recoiled from the pain and shock.

His vision blurred as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Just as he had suspected, it was dark out. The night sky spread as far as his blurry vision could detect, and he saw the brilliant illumination of the moon and stars.

Dustinel wasn't too distracted by these things, however, that he didn't notice the fact that he wasn't surrounded by trees or shrubs. The Elf Sanctuary had trees in every direction one looked, yet here he was staring at the vast night sky.

Yet… yet…

… There was no forest?

"I'm not in the Elf Sanctuary?" Dustinel asked himself, half in disbelief, half in fear.

Unknown to him, this was merely the start.

"Correct."

'W-wha—?!' Dustinel's eyes bulged the moment he heard a voice answer his barely audible inquisition.

He suddenly felt paralyzed as his vision focused on an apparition in front of him. It was a person. A person was a distance from him!

'H-how…? I didn't detect anyone!'

The person in front of him had black hair, and his outfit was a bit strange, compared to what Dustinel was used to. The person appeared to be no more than a young man, yet something about him oozed maturity.

The most important aspect of the person, however, was his ears.

'N-not an Elf? Then an intruder!' So his third theory was correct, after all.

Dustinel had feared this outcome, but it was too late to wish things weren't the way they were. The heaving Elf remained on the ground, trying his hardest to analyze the situation and think of the most ideal solution to his problem.

"It seems you've finally awoken…" The young man didn't wait for him to complete his thought, thus beginning to approach his target.

Dustinel felt his body throb as the stranger began taking steps toward him. It was at this point that the Elf knew he had to take action soon, or else…

'It looks like I'll have to fight my way through this one!'