10 Return to the distant past

"Ah!" Yuri yelps as she fell down the ground with a loud thud.

Thud!

Once Yuri was inside of the space tunnel void, her vision was instantly met with endless nothingness. She feebly tumbled down the ground. Her head and body still throbbing in unbearable misery after she just withstood the full-on force of the space tunnel void's spatial barrier despite having the body of a mere ordinary human.

If only I had the tenacity of a Martial Artist… Then maybe this won't be too painful for me…

"Ugh…" Fighting the urge to vomit, another thought formed in Yuri's head—Where am I?

Yuri darts her head around, there was nothing but herself in this abyssal void. Propping up from the cold ground, she breathed a sigh of relief, "Ah…" Yuri stretches her limbs first before she called out and waved her hand across the air, speaking in an intelligible voice, "Vivian: Starlight Retina."

Upon saying this, a small black floating ball appeared in front of Yuri, its circular form warping into a star as it momentarily blinked in vibrant violet before it bursts into a fit of blazing light, changing Vivian's color into a pearlescent white star as it illuminated the path up ahead with its brilliant warm light.

"Hmm..." Gazing unto the far distance, Yuri could only lament inside her heart. If Hilda was truly just bluffing and a spatial beast has appeared in the later moments, considering how Yuri had no strength nor power to manipulate the vitality and mana of the universe, in that case, she won't be able to defend herself from spatial beasts. Even if she had a 0.1% chance of survival, that small chance wouldn't really suffice the greater danger. The point is—Yuri's death was just too inevitable that even the Gods won't be able to help her from dying.

After realizing this, Yuri could only say one thing to herself — "Fate is indeed cruel." Having said that, Yuri finally had her strength back without having to endure the side effects of the spatial barrier from before as she quietly trudged through the dark path, her only guidance being that of the gleaming white light from Vivian, its star-shaped form floating a good meter up ahead, spreading its luminescent light up to 5 meters forwards, enabling Yuri to see much farther of what was up ahead.

Thump. . . Thump. . .

Half an incense later, after walking for a great while, Yuri felt as if she had been walking for days now when in reality, she had only been walking for ten minutes.

Thump! Thump!

The sound of something bouncing off unto the ground momentarily caught Yuri's attention. Looking down, she halts at the sight of a small stone on top of the flat surface.

A space tunnel void is made to be just like its name, a void.

And what was a void supposed to have?

Nothing.

So why is there a rock here out of all places?

Yuri bents down to pick up the small rock, inspecting the stone in curiosity, "This rock…" She flips the stone around to look. The small stone had several sharp cutting edges, the shape has nothing distinct about it, but its size was the same as a 10-year-old child's palm. Looking at it, Yuri couldn't help but think that there was nothing special about the stone.

Just like who she was, something which isn't special.

But since the small stone has appeared in a place where it shouldn't have existed, then it must have been somewhat related to the space tunnel void. Nonetheless, that was only Yuri's theory, but still… what could be the small stone's real purpose here?

"Hmm?" As she was examining the stone up close, it suddenly reminded her of something from her past.

Ah… That's right.

I remember now.

A rock like this… no… not just a rock. What I remember were kids my age often threw ROCKS like this at me when I was little…

How nostalgic. Upon thinking that, the same small stone that Yuri carefully held in between of her fingers has suddenly emitted a faint glow of yellow light.

"Huh?" Yuri reacted in confusion.

Swish!

At once, as if sensing the imminent danger that was about to unfold, Vivian immediately rushed back to the place where Yuri was still crouched down on the ground, its whole being blaring red as an unfamiliar male voice suddenly resounded from somewhere close to Yuri, exclaiming, "Young Master! Watch out!"

Huh?

At that moment, Yuri was confused about three things.

First, a rock just glowed.

Second, she just found out that a divine-grade magic tool could have its own will since Vivian just acted in response to 'something' without a command from its owner.

And third, to top off all of her already very concerning concerns, an unfamiliar voice has suddenly called her 'Young Master' when she was supposed to be alone inside the space tunnel void!

Yuri shuts her eyes close right after a bright white light blinded her vision. She could only wish for all things to go well once she opened up her eyes again later.

Stradivari Yuri Del Gesù! I command you to wake up!

That was my wish, yet why did the moment I opened my eyes, the scene in front of me have already changed into something quite peculiar?

"Ah…" Yuri voiced out amidst the dizziness. She still wasn't able to grasp what was happening when a strident voice has suddenly thundered beside her ears, "Stop playing dead!"

Receiving a kick just as she opened her eyes, the kick threw her body backward, her head swirling and ears buzzing at the sound of a young boy's voice, exclaiming, "Get back up you lunatic!"

Hearing that, Yuri's eyes gradually cleared up.

Ah? Where am I?

Squinting at the sun's light that slapped Yuri's eyes the moment she woke up. Yuri rolled her small body across the dirt. She thought about getting up, but her short limbs failed to uphold themselves, so she resigned and just silently sat down on the ground, her voice croaking in dehydration as she asked in a small voice, "Where am I?"

This place…

Looking around, a couple of adults that supervised the abuse were only looking at her in disgust and while several kids of the same age silently surround her, an 11-year-old young boy that wore a set of elegant clothes, arrogantly stepped his small foot forwards, snapping his long whip as it cut across Yuri's cheeks.

"Ah!!" Yuri screams at the sudden pain on her left cheek.

As it turns out, she was now in the middle of a relatively busy road, and even though there were both adults and other children that saw her miserable state, they only turned a blind eye at the discrimination of their 'young master' in broad daylight.

"That whip… You…" Yuri turns her head to her left side. There was a small shop with a glass panel situated on that side of the road, so when she turned her head, the sight of her current state immediately greeted her.

"Oh, no…" Yuri muttered. Looking at her own reflection, her own appearance instantly flabbergasted Yuri.

There she saw her own self, but a much smaller version.

This is bad.

That small rock that she found turns out to be made for those people who have encountered its existence inside the space tunnel void to be transported into one's past!

Oh god…

But why must she be transported into this one specific time!

This… This day was the very same day that she almost lost her life!