For Here There is No Light [Mura/A-Rank Exam]

On the very edges of civilization, hidden among the mountains and valleys of Fiore, there exists a single house. Shrouded in darkness that comes from seemingly nowhere, legends, horrible tales of disappearances can all be traced back to this particular location. The House of Lost Souls, while it seems like your average-sized mansion, albeit much gloomier and creepier, is much more than that. Filled with dark spirits of angered demons trapped within by foolish mages, and the despairing ghosts of those lured within, mad from the darkness within, this is a terrifying location for almost any mage or living creature to enter.

A mage with the proper amount of power should instantly recognize the aura of danger, and most would instantly freeze and run at the very sensing of its presence. Once you get too close, you will be inevitably drawn deep into the house, unable to escape its black hole-like gravity.

Within the house, you will instantly see the door slamming shut behind you, blocking off all exit. The only way to get out? Appeasing the demons, demons wronged by hundreds of mages all over the ages. Otherwise, you will be trapped within, another suffering spirit amidst the hundreds. So… Why would any mage wish to come here? While a small amount of jobs might guide you to this location, perhaps to retrieve a lost family member or whatnot, your reason is considerably more…stupid. You see, your capture within the house is due to the restless spirit of VYX, an artificial entity that resides within Sorano’s mind. Determined to make mischief, this cruel creature has taken it upon herself to transport you within the building as you sleep. Now it is up to you to find your way out.

Within the mansion, everything is completely dark. Any light used will illuminate nothing, showing only more darkness ahead and around you. No sound can be heard, except your own voice. The demons and ghosts, if they wish, will speak to your telepathically through your mind. Otherwise, every living being within is in their own pocket of universe, no connection to anyone or anything else. Instead, you must rely on your sense of tough, taste, and smell to make your way through the precarious process of figuring out how to get out.
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TL;DR
- Mura has to get out of the house with only three of his senses.
- There are several ways in which you can succeed - appeasing the demons, killing them all(there are hundreds of them, this one is very unlikely), or a creative way you yourself manage to spin up to get out.
- 4.5k word count
- Character development and plotss!

It was so damn quiet tonight. The shaman didn’t bother, though, as he was already slumbering within his dreams in the middle of the night, nothingness embracing his black vision and his lovely blanket keeping him warm in the autumn night. After having been to the Halloween Party at Julius’, he simply found himself drained for energy and quickly threw himself onto his bed as soon as his clothes were put away. However, it was a fun time that Mura had with Hana and the others, and he wouldn’t say no to yet another invitation if such came to reality. He didn’t think much at the moment, because one wouldn’t drive his mind around during sleep. In slumber, the only thought that counted was the restful emotion that travelled across his depleted body, recovering him slowly until the sun would rise once again…

Was it just him… or was it being a bit too quiet? His thoughts began to make motion and sounds, and his ears began to hear them clearly. He felt conscious again, but why? He was in the middle of such a good dream, so who or what had the nerve to wake him up? It was as if he woke himself up instinctively, or maybe it was a malfunction. Now, confusion began to haunt the young mage’s mind; what was this feeling? Why was everything so silent, so dark? It finally pushed him to the point where he crossed the line and tried to open his eyes slowly, feeling that something must have awaken him in the middle of the night. It wouldn’t look very nice if someone had been intruding his house now, but maybe nobody even approached him? Then again, what else could cause him to wake up? Yet confused, the shaman looked around, feeling so numb from the sleep that he could barely lift an arm. “Ah… Argh…” he moaned tiredly, trying his best to shake off the morning numbs and strains, “…” His feet began shaking, because even though that he clearly felt like opening his eyes, no light entered them. Everything was pitch-black, not even blurred, but completely dark. “What the hell..?” he spoke up in surprise, having a feeling that something must have been covering his eyes. However, when closing them again and holding a hand on his face, he clearly felt his skin, his nose, his eyelids and everything else that indicated that no type of cloth was covering his view. Then, slowly, he opened them and got the same result; darkness. Now, he began shaking even more; was he turning blind? What kind of effect was this, and why did it hit him? “... K-Kyuken,” he called out horribly, “Kyuken…! Kyuken, are you there..?” He got no answer, and it too confused him just as much, since the samurai always used to be on the call in an instant. And whilst his vision never got to return in the span of time that he called for the ghost, Mura began to question all of this… was he dreaming?

WC: 510/4500

He began stretching his arms to find something to hold onto. Having seemingly lost his sense of vision, he was desperate to know if he was still on his bed and all. If he was still at home, he could just jump off the window or something and make his problem known, so that perhaps people could aid him. Maybe those from his guild knew how to deal with this, or maybe they could help him find out. Either way, it was still strange that Kyuken was nowhere to be heard, in which he called: “Kyuken..!!!” No answer. He felt utterly alone now, a new feeling that he had never felt before. On top of that, he couldn’t get in touch with anything when he stretched his arms out, and that led him to think that he might have fallen onto the floor. The bed was pretty smooth and sturdy, so it quickly convinced him that he wasn’t on his bed anymore. He slowly laid a hand on the floor and pushed himself up once he was on his feet, struggling to find the balance to stand up. Without any clairvoyance, it was extremely annoying to feel that he didn’t stand up formally or in the very least a good, vertical position, and it made him want to trip once or twice. “Argh… this isn’t just me,” he mumbled, beginning to stretch his neck over the weird pain over having slept on the floor, … Kyuken’s nowhere, I’m on the floor and my vision is gone… I’d say that someone is up to trouble.

WC: 774/4500

He began walking, his arms stretching everywhere to find out that there was a wall of sorts to his left. It was a relief, finally he had a grab to something that could help his imbalance. However, his thoughts were curious to know what had taken away his sense of vision and brought him to his knees like this. Slowly, he began walking across the specific wall that he was leaning against, trying to find a place to sit down other than the floor. He didn’t speak out again, because despite his lack of sight, he had a feeling that he was on his own. However, not only had he lost his sense of sight, but also that of his hearing. Him being all alone was far from the truth, because whoever had the chance to look around his foothold would surely spot the presences of shadows that roamed in the hallways. Their spirits emitted unforgiveness, pity and fear, but Mura felt only the chilling cold that soon took over him. His tongue, somehow, began tasting the strong taste of dry air that made his mouth feel like growing hair. It was disgusting, but he was too focused on finding a way to get the least amount of clairvoyance. For a guy like him, having no knowledge of the area around him, as in lack of overview, pained him a little.

WC: 1005/4500

“… Huh?” The sword ghost, the dead legend Kyuken had felt quite the eerie presence in Mura’s house during the night. It was as if he had a sixth sense to nightmares, but nothing made him wake up in a bath of sweat yet. As a matter of fact, the spirit was awake right now in the morning, shaking his spirit ball form up and down and to the left and to the right. It was yet another sweet day with lots of things to do, maybe his dear spirit weaver Mura had another adventure awaiting his honed skills to execute different goals. He couldn’t wait…

“Hello, lizard-nis!” the samurai ghost called to wake up the sleepy dragon ghost, “Rise and shine, you bloody creature..!” It took a good amount of minutes for Kyuken to fully wake up Zirconis from his slumber, but the facial expression on the dragon’s face said it all. He wasn’t exactly fond of being woken up like that. “… *yawn*” the dragon let out, “I have half a mind to eat you… if I could.” With a cocking smile, the samurai ghost continued: “You need to stand up, it’s a new day! Mura is going to need our assistance..!” Kyuken’s voice was encouraging and comfortable, but the reply given by the dragon ghost evened it out: “*yawn*… He can take care of himself. Let me sleep a bit longer…” Those words were, honestly, hurting the samurai ghost who knew Mura good enough to know that the shaman always had a good reason to accompany the two spirits. First of all, his strongest magic relied on both Kyuken and Zirconis; no other spirits would suffice in his magic. Otherwise, he would have to rely on his Onmyōdō to deal with problems or magical affairs alone. Despite the hurt heart, Kyuken kept his cocky attitude and pulled Zirconis towards Mura’s bed. “N-No, you’re coming with us too..!” he demanded. The dragon had to go along, despite the obvious force. However, it didn’t take long before they reached Mura’s sheets… only to find him missing. “Now, Mura, if you- wait,” the samurai ghost let out, but the signs and image of no Mura in the bed cut his words off, “… Did he already go!?” the samurai ghost almost screamed. Zirconis was now fully awake and confused to see no Mura in the bed. “I told you, he’s probably just hanging out with Hana or the others… let the man-“ he was about to explain, but Kyuken’s will was too strong to just stand here and let his little shamanistic friend go out alone. As a loyal samurai, Kyuken’s first priority was to keep Mura safe, and thus this would be a sign of his lack of progressiveness.

“Hmh! Maybe he’s already over at the guildhall,” Kyuken suggested, thus pulling Zirconis straight out through the window as if from some kind of action movie, putting the two of them on the street of Magnolia’s outskirts, “Mura, my duty is your company!”

WC: 1508/4500

They had looked around the entire town, but there were no signs of the shaman. Kyuken was looking rather down, and Zirconis was getting worried as well. “Huh… could it be, did someone kidnap him?” the dragon asked, “It doesn’t befit a dull person like him to be kidnapped so easily… this is bad.” Kyuken’s eyes were trickling large drops of tears from the very thought of his dear friend being kidnapped by whoever it could be - from some secret syndicate of anti-wizards to some dark guild, or maybe it was the death lady again - and he almost spazzed out in craziness. That was, until something strange caught the samurai ghost’s attention as he looked at the other direction. Zirconis hadn’t noticed it, but the samurai spirit was suddenly moving out of the town in such a speed that he left the dragon ghost behind. There went a moment of silence, until the dragon ghost noticed Kyuken’s absence, speaking up: “W-Where’d you..?!” In a hurry, the dragon tried his best to catch up to wherever Kyuken was heading at, but what was the deal? Did he catch Mura’s location? How? It all happened so frequently and quickly, and was it even true? Where was Kyuken going in the middle of all of this..?

WC: 1723/4500

Voices shocked him almost shitless. Having heard nothing but his own thoughts and worries, he was taken by surprise by the voices of something else, or rather, someone else as this voice spoke words that he knew and understood fully. The voice had spoken these words in a row: “… It’s never letting me down to watch someone get lost…” The voice was… actually, it was the first time that Mura couldn’t distinguish it by genders, because the voice had something neutral about it that caused him to think that it could be either a male or a female behind this. The reason why he thought like that? What if the voice resembled that of someone that he knew of? Or rather, what if he could, surprisingly, find a way out, and then after an amount of time, pinpoint the voice to a specific person that he either would or would not meet later in his life? Despite not being able to hear his own voice, he began trying to speak, although his words were half-baked and almost ‘soft’: “… Why am I in this situation? What do you want?” The shadows around him began scattering from his words, but he saw not as he was awaiting an answer. The voice took its time, but soon, it began replying: “I’m just bored and decided to have a little fun. You’re not getting out of here, anyway, but you may prove me wrong.” Damn… what kind of mischievous person was this? “Although, if you do make it out of the house… hmh… nah, I doubt that.” Mura was beginning to try and ignore the voice, because despite that he couldn’t really tell its alignment or intention by the mere voice, he felt due to the choice of words that it was some kind of troll. However, this specific individual sounded a tad more serious than the other pranksters that he had met before… also, making him blind? What the hell?

He began worrying… he didn’t get any chances to get the slightest idea of all of this. Bored? Fun? What was fun with this? It made his face cook a little in anger, but sadly, he couldn’t even see the steam. Then again, it suited him not to get so angry, but this was more frustrating. Okay… he had to think properly now… so, by now, he could conclude or assume that someone, whether that someone be human or not, had taken his sight and put him somewhere else than his home. This specific being that was talking to him sounded neutral, but it had a slice of expression in its words that it had a grudge against boredom. The wall began feeling a bit tougher by now as he walked, and he couldn’t hear much else after that. The being tried to hide, eh… well, without his sight, it would obviously be difficult to track down basically anyone. How was he going to escape this madness of an occasion? He could only rely on his thoughts by now…

WC: 2231/4500

He felt that he bumped into something just now. It was short and felt like a smooth substance, tough and sturdy as well. Perhaps something made of iron… at the very least, if anything happened, he knew what to rely on until he showed up. That damn samurai… what took him so long? It could be the case that Mura was trapped in another dimension with no light, or that he was cut off from existence, but merely by instincts, his first idea was to try and summon the samurai spirit. He and Kyuken had a special bond, and he had to depend on his otherworldly companion later. However, it appeared to take longer than expected… so without being able to see or hear anything, what else could the shaman do? This iron thing, though… it emitted something cold and refreshing. It was almost like a fountain that sprayed water everywhere, but what was that doing here? What kind of room was this? He thought and thought, and his thoughts were the only things that he could hear inside himself. Maybe… maybe he died? It was a random thought that passed his mind, but would that even justify everything that had happened? What happened the last time that he died, eh? That couldn’t have been the case. And thus, he simply found himself standing still next to the iron thing, trying to think and think and think as much as possible. If Kyuken was here… then what would the samurai do? His first thought was to cut stuff down and find a way out of here by luck, but that sounded absurd in the shaman’s mind and wasn’t executed anytime soon. Darn… it was getting to him now. Was the previous voice enjoying his frustration? If that was the case, then he should’ve most certainly just kept his calm and advance. However, having a thought that he would use the iron thing, he quickly sent some mana through it, trying to see if it really was metal. And it sure was; as soon as his magic hit it, the substance deformed and reformed as a small iron ball that Mura quickly hid under his clothes. His sword was absent, so holding a piece of metal would suit him if he had to fight his way out. Fight… that didn’t even sound like a choice given the circumstances. Maybe he was just being paranoid, because if it was just some childish being who wanted to play around with him, then why respond violently? He barely knew the being’s ambitions or thoughts, and it only added up to the frustration.

WC: 2669/4500

All of a sudden, his hand flung upwards. If Kyuken was really having this much trouble finding him, then why not make it easier? Focusing all his confused and worried thoughts into one image of his own ambition and objective, mana began overflowing from his body. His eyes were shut despite the lack of need to do so, and his hair began to bristle in reaction to the aura. His magic… if he could cause a beacon, then perhaps Kyuken or someone else could come to his aid. That was what he planned to do, and he kept himself quiet in doing so, because who knew if the mastermind was against this? ”Please don’t…” he tried to say inside, only able to feel the magic flow. His intent was to launch it up into the air, probably breaking through whatever was in the way, and hope that Kyuken would spot it from somewhere. A rather desperate plan, but if it worked, then the reward was massive. He couldn’t see it, though, so he hoped that it too worked… then again, he had to need a medium too, right? He remembered the metallic substance that he gained earlier and grabbed onto it now… now he needed a spirit, too. Wow… the male was beginning to feel too desperate compared to how he felt normally. “Maybe… maybe there are spirits around?” he asked himself as he advanced ever so slowly, trying not to trip on anything. The floor was surprisingly smooth and static, and no obstacles were shown in his way. As he took one step at a time, step by step, he suddenly tripped over and landed his hands on a taller surface. “Argh… is this-“ he asked out again, feeling that it was some kind of staircase given by the feeling of several surfaces that kept advancing upwards per each area. Maybe it led up to the roof! That could be his chance, because if he proved to have gone outside, then it would be easier to come in contact with population and Kyuken and Zirconis. That was why he quickly began taking steps up, using both hands and feet to walk up the staircase. He was being extra careful now, because who knew what awaited him at the top? It also reminded him of the question; who was behind all of this, again? The voice from earlier… could it reappear and fill the crazy silence with colors? Even for someone like Mura, a silence like this one was sickening… but he could still hear his own thoughts. That was good…

He found himself at the top, suddenly. He concluded that given that the space that he crossed over had become flat now. “Phew… no breeze, though,” he mumbled. Was he, by any chance, outside? Maybe he had to walk a little further… he took the chance and moved his hands around the floor to try and find a wall to lean onto. There were none… crap, that would mean that he would rely on the floor alone to locate his position. He took a few steps now, raised up and all, and he trusted in the floor… that was the only thing that he found necessary to do. It did turn out to be a fatal mistake, though, as he suddenly felt like flying… the floor had disappeared under a step, and he dived down extremely fast. “S-Shit..!” he let out and proceeded to soar, but something stepped on his back and forced him down even heavier than the natural result. His face hit the ground a few meters below with a bam, and pain surged through his body for a brief moment…

He slowly grabbed onto something woody, the object that he had gotten from earlier. His entire body was depleting energy, and he felt just like back at the desert. In the middle of the pain, something - or rather, someone - began approaching him with grins lighting up in the shadows; dark beings with bad intentions. “Looks like we got ourselves a new sparring dummy…” some of them had said in amusement, “Or maybe he’s more like a toy… what do you say, guys?!” Before anyone could answer, though, light entered the room and lit up the atmosphere that was so sad and unforgiving a moment earlier. Even Mura could feel it… and it sure felt familiar. It was spiritual energy, wasn’t it? What was going on, was it Kyuken? Zirconis? He knew that he remembered this feeling, this heat that hit his skin, and he began slowly climbing up on his knees with the wooden object on his hand.

WC: 3443/4500

“A-Ah! There you are..!” the familiar voice spoke up, sadly not with Mura’s capability of hearing it, “Mura! What in Midi’s glory happened to you?! You just… you just disappeared in the middle of the night!” Holding onto the overgrown wood from the iron fountain that he stepped into earlier, he was yet cut off from communication with his ghost buddy, and after a while of inspecting, the samurai ghost noticed that. However, instead of trying to lead him out by normal standards, Kyuken went right into Mura’s chest and merged with him. That sight caused some of the demons around to begin stepping back, since they suddenly felt an unexpected amount of magic power emerge. A bluish contour lit his body up, whilst gust rushed around the hallways. Every single demon could feel it, and it caused them all to begin gathering to the room where Mura and Kyuken were found. Simply standing there, despite having suddenly emitted this surprising amount of mana, the demons were still convinced that he couldn’t use his sight or hearing. With those two senses cut off, what could he actually do to stop them? That was why one of them screamed up: “Hey, guuuuys! Remember, he can’t hurt us if he can’t even see us, can he?!” Hearing those words from a fellow demon, the others began nodding and taking those words in, in which they all charged at once… it could have been hundreds, or maybe up in the thousands, of demons that rushed across every hallway, every room and every opening to get him. It looked almost ridiculous… but he knew more about them that they knew about him. And one thing was clear; they were pretty slow for a regular demon. In an instant, Mura found himself above the ground, having dodged two of these crazy beings’ assaults as they instead dashed into each other. Hitting the floor heavily, the shaman landed on the wooden floor a few meters away, suddenly beginning to move his head around as if he… as if he could see. Some of the demons began wondering about it, because first of all; how the hell did he get his sight back? Also, even if he found a way to see again, this room would be darker than the latest dusk and the earliest dawn. What the hell happened to him… other than Kyuken… yes… the spirit! Some began concluding that whatever Kyuken had done had given him vision again. It was half-true, though; yes, it was due to the works of the samurai ghost, but Mura was still blind. Nay, he simply borrowed another person’s vision, and that person was the ancient swordsman that had given him his aid in the time of need.

The next horde jumped upon him, but reacting to their attacks, the shaman concluded that they were quite everywhere as his attack would most likely take some of them down. And thus, it did; a fierce burst of slashes and arcs enveloped the group that had tried to gang up on him, cutting through their bodies and dissolving any bad energy. It was almost frightening for the rest, but seeing their numbers, more and more began dashing in to try and show him the true dominance of this realm. During the chaos, the voice of a specific being echoed once again, laughing even: “Hahahaha! I guess that your brave efforts are in vain when it’s an army against a single boy!” She was, certainly, finding amusement in this, but one wouldn’t let this kill their will. Remember, he couldn’t hear her voice. And that was why he kept attacking, because he felt that it was turning into some kind of eternity wheel; he just assaulted as soon as he felt pain from the demons’ hits. Kyuken, the spirit inside his head, lead him ahead the hordes, and time passed as they both did their best to call it an end to the battle. However, they kept slashing and making their way, but it was an endless and pointless struggle. As he continued, though, the shaman made sure to sharpen his cuts and increase his output in every move that he made, in every impact that he got. Magic power surged out like waves in the ocean, pushing the poor demons away as some of them began losing that sweet confidence that they had earlier. It all began crumbling down with one of them turning his back and running away, screaming: “Argh! Jokes aside, he’s going to kill us all!!!” When the others heard that voice, some of them laughed a little only to be cut in half, and others lost confidence just as well. Some bigger demons stepped forward in the chaos, looking down at the upcoming shaman with eyes closed and aura enveloping him. Mura was relying on Kyuken in every way, he felt at ease and safety when the samurai ghost was leading him to victory. The huge demons didn’t want to play around like the smaller ones, but their feet suddenly got cut off as they lost balance and tripped on top of the other hordes, causing quite the destruction.

The strange entity’s voice from earlier had finally gotten mute. Mura felt like dying, but his body wouldn’t stop moving. It kept forcing its way through the hordes, and if his mind was at ease, then he would’ve noticed by now… but at one point, everything whitened up for his eyes. The boy whose sight had been total blackness for what felt like an eternity suddenly began catching light as a voice called out: “Great, look at what you’ve done! It takes time amassing such huge hordes of demons, and you just wrecked them all into a pool of wounds!” At that moment, he actually got to hear the specific voice, “But it won’t be so easy to kill the game next time, you bet!” And with that, another light flashed pass his eyes, and… here he was. On his bed, almost torn up and everything but still whole and intact. His eyes… they were so tired. “… K-K-Kyu-“ he tried to let out in exhaustion, “Kyu… ken…” His mouth collapsed, and so did his depleted body a moment after… who was this entity? Who was this girl who decided to push him through all of that, just for a single laugh… and why did she have the same voice as Sorano..?

WC: 4517/4500

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