5

Chapter 5

The young man stood staring up at the dark sky. He had seen plenty of strange sights in his life, but nothing was half as weird as the view he now found himself gazing upon as he waited for something to happen.

From what he could understand, it seemed that there was some sort of barrier blocking off the entrance to the Spirit World. Or at least, it seemed that way. But no matter how hard he tried to push his way through, he couldn't force his way through. Every time he managed to slip inside it, it would close up behind him immediately, making him instantly return to the outside world. Even the simplest of spells and attacks that had previously been easily enough for him to handle seemed unable to penetrate the invisible barrier surrounding the area. All he could manage was to try to open it and slip through, only for it to shut itself right back up again as soon as he left. If he tried to use any magic, it would disappear in a flash just as abruptly, forcing him to drop back down to Earth in frustration. It didn't help matters that the barrier was keeping him from getting too close to where anyone else was. With the lack of a safe zone between where he was and those who would be coming to find him, he knew he had no choice but to wait. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to wait for too long, however; it wasn't very nice for someone's neck to be broken.

As for the human in front of him, he had no idea whether or not he should trust this mysterious guy. The way the strange creature had acted, it almost felt like he was threatening him and his friends in some manner. Perhaps he was some sort of thief, or maybe he was just a crazy person that wanted to steal his stuff, although if that was the case, he was certainly being awfully persistent and aggressive. He was already trying to attack his friends when they weren't expecting it. So far, however, he had failed to attack either of them, even if the boy still didn't know exactly what had caused the beast to suddenly stop in its tracks.

His thoughts were interrupted when a faint sound suddenly came drifting into his ears, followed by another noise shortly afterwards. He tilted his head a little, trying to hear the noises that were echoing from beyond the wall. They sounded like footsteps, and they didn't seem to be coming closer to him at all, at first. Instead, they sounded almost distant... as if they belonged to someone completely different.

"Hey!" suddenly shouted a familiar voice. The boy's eyes widened as he realized it was his friend. "What the heck is wrong with you?! You keep spacing out and you're making me worried! Are you okay?!" he cried anxiously. The boy remained silent for a moment before finally whispering, "…sorry,"

"Are you kidding me? Don't apologize! You scared me out of my freaking mind! Don't you ever think you can run away like that, idiot!" he yelled in anger. "What were you thinking?!"

"...I don't know…" he whispered, averting his gaze from his friend in shame.

"Don't apologize! I'm telling you not to apologize! What the hell were you thinking, trying to sneak off into a dangerous place like this?! You're lucky I'm here to help you!"

He flinched at the outburst and lowered his head slightly. His hands started to tremble as tears began falling from his face. He could feel the pain beginning to spread through his body, spreading throughout every nerve ending as the feeling intensified and worsened with each passing second. He closed his eyes tightly, trying desperately to block out the horrible feeling within him as his knees buckled under his weight, causing him to fall to the ground in exhaustion.

"Hey! You better listen to me and start listening to everything I say!" His companion called angrily.

Still shaking lightly, he kept his eyes tightly shut as he heard a loud rustling sound and the soft sounds of boots walking over to him.