I had to move from the spot I was recovering because Casi made quite the ruckus in the canteen and it got worse when all the guards and inmates started to show odd symptoms. It was utter chaos.


    10 minutes ago, my mana started to drain even faster. I don''t think Ted and Gregory are stupid enough to go to layer 1 so I assume they got a [Time ring] on Raishin which is good news. The bad news is that my mana is draining so fast that I will be relatively useless until we get to layer 6 or higher. My shoulder, chest, and back were still hurting but it was way more manageable now. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to fight anything or anyone in this state.


    Starbolt was not doing so hot either, he was low on spirit energy . The clone that went with Gregory and Ted to layer 3 was now keeping an eye out on our way up to layer 5 and was setting frost traps. After that, he ascended the magma vortex and waited on layer 5.


    I sat down on top of a cell looking out on the main plaza of section 9 and ate popcorn while enjoying the chaos. It was free of time dilation so I could watch the chaos in real time. I needed to recover so it’s not like I could do much anyways. The inmates tried the weirdest and funniest ways to alleviate their condition. Some even got irritated and fought each other. They didn''t seem to fight with the intent to kill though. The guards weren''t off any better and it seems in this situation the inmates and the guards were equal. I finished a bag of popcorn and got another one out of my dimensional pocket when I smelled cinnamon and apples.


    “Are you responsible for all this?” A tall beautiful brunette with short wavy hair sat down next to me. She wore a dress that seemed to be themed after autumn, I recognized her as Casi. Yeah


    “You don’t seem to be alarmed or surprised that I located you.” I can’t sense ill intent from you so I didn''t feel the need to hide.


    “My precious chefs from the canteen were talking about this ‘fake Damian’ who ended up being a nicer person and a better cook than the real Damian, someone I personally sent to them, was that you too?” They loved my fish that much, eh?


    “So, it was you, listen, I know this is a strange situation but would you like to become a chef in the canteen? I value good food over who or what, I don’t care if you’re a criminal or broke in the prison to free someone, I value people that can put good food on the table.” Uh, as I told the chefs I’m a mediocre chef at best, I can only do fish and even still I decline. What makes you think I broke in here to save someone?


    “Well, you are quite young so you wouldn''t be a guard, we don''t take visitors and I only know one person that’s your age in this prison and he got here recently. So, I know that you’re not a prisoner or guard which leaves the option that you broke in. I don’t know how you did it but judging by your clothes I’m fairly certain that’s the case.” You don’t seem to have a problem with this though, aren’t you supposed to kick me out, kill me or imprison me?


    “Well yes but my intuition tells me that the boy who got here recently is your friend and that he is the reason you’re here, I don''t care what he did but layer 2 is way too harsh, he shouldn''t even be in this prison in the first place. Personally, I can’t do anything about it but if you could manage to free him, I am willing to turn a blind eye for as much as I’m able to.” Hmm, quite surprising.


    “Unfortunately, I can''t help you save him and I’ll probably be forced to attempt to capture you the next time we meet but for now I just want to have a chat and possibly persuade you to work in my canteen.” I’m sorry, nothing would convince me to work in the canteen, I do have a question though, how old are you?


    “Wow, going for the rude questions, you can’t ask a woman for her age!” Well, a reliable source stated that there have been sightings of you that date to 250 years ago.


    “Interesting, well that might be true, it doesn''t mean that I’m over 250 years old. You see I’m the boss of this layer, Cassiopeia, but this isn’t my real name, it''s a title. I’m a 34-year-old guard that gained enough rank and reputation to be eligible for this position. There aren’t many female guards in this prison and I’m the first person to gain the Cassiopeia title in over 100 years.” She showed me a trinket. “When we gain the title, we get a trinket like this which transforms our bodies and makes us more powerful. It is said that we take the form of the first head guards that have managed the layers in this prison in ancient times. These trinkets also make us immune to time dilation and increased gravity. There are rumors that there was a trinket for every layer but only 4 trinkets have been found in this ancient structure so far.” I appreciate the useful information but why would you tell me this?


    “Well, as I said I secretly hope you succeed in rescuing your friend and it also serves as a warning. The other layer bosses will do their job and even go as far as kill you when they find out.” At that moment I heard something that sounded like telepathy but it seemed that everyone on the layer could hear it.


    “Ok, I''m going to only say this once! Cygnus here, quack! We have an escapee from Layer 2, I suspect that he got help from outside, the escaped prisoner is number 781326354 Raishin Torai, race: human. Guards and inmates alike on layer 1 through layer 4 are acting weird. I can’t get rid of this itch quack! Everyone who is able, look for, and capture the escapee and his associates! Lethal force is allowed, ugh this itch! Quack! Geminga and Cassiopeia what the fuck are you doing?! Get into action, quack!” So far for being discreet…


    “Oh, it seems you’re not alone, but unfortunately you seem to have drawn the attention of Cygnus and Geminga.” Well unfortunately this is quite normal for us. I took more popcorn out of my dimensional pocket and offered some to Casi. She looked at me and took the popcorn with a puzzled look on her face.


    “You don’t seem alarmed, aren’t you supposed to get out of here immediately? They found out you know.” Yeah, I know, but now they did, there’s nothing I can do about it, I’ll just rest here till my friends reach this layer.


    “I see, so this is the mentality required to break into Event Horizon…” I continued chatting with Casi and learned some more about this prison and a bit of its history. It seemed there are a lot of ancient sections in the south wing of layers 1 through 5 that have individuals imprisoned in there from even before the Great Eraser. The south wings seem to have one thing in common and that is to hold races that live long or have a near-infinite lifespan.


    Apparently, Cygnus is supposed to be swan themed but he looks like a duck and talks like a duck. I’d say if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck it''s a duck. Apparently, this will piss him off if I would tell him that. Casi seemed confused when I asked her if he’s made out of metal and if his weakness is crystal chairs. I guess only my buddies would get that reference. I felt quite healthy after a 2-hour chat and recovery but I had to get moving when I sensed that Gregory, Ted, and Raishin had appeared on this layer. Well, it was great having a chat with you but I have to get to work and I assume you have to do so too.


    “Well, I do have to calm down the other sections so I won’t be in your way, I’ll try to take my time.” Casi got up. “I will repeat my warning. Everything from now on is trying to catch or kill you, I will be forced to do the same when we meet again, it was a nice chat but… I hope we won’t meet again.”


    Thank you Casi, it might not have been much to you but you restored some of my faith in humanity. I smelled a wave of cinnamon and apples as she jumped down and went to calm everyone causing mayhem. I do have to say, this poison Gregory gave me seems to slowly increase its effect over time. I went over to another section, raided an abandoned food stall, and tested it for those weird drugs. It seemed to just be normal baked goods and pastries. I raided more abandoned food stalls on my way to meet my buddies. I was standing on a cell eating a cinnamon roll and saw my buddies sneaking around an alley. I threw some baguettes with garlic butter at them while eating some. I love garlic butter.


    What the?! baguettes? And why didn''t I sense anyone?! Hmm, these taste very good! Only one person would do this. Yo Agnis! Sup, I guess you guys are in a hurry, this way!


    I’m so happy to see you! I dodged Raishin.


    I’m happy to see you too but let''s leave this until after we escape, I had the golden opportunity to talk with Casi, she’s hoping we can safely escape but will be forced to assist in capturing us next time we meet. Oh yeah, I met her once she’s quite nice she seemed to be upset that they locked me up in this prison. Ehh, I don’t want to give you more stress Agnis but we kind of managed to draw Cygnus and Geminga’s attention.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I would expect nothing less from you 3. Hey! Normally you’re involved in things like this as well!


    Hmm, what is it Starbolt? Oh, guys, I think playtime is over. We were still heading over toward the exit going to layer 5 when we heard a loud ‘Quack’


    Shit it’s that duck again! Ugh, this Ducker again! You just had to make a duck pun…


    Duck! Yes, yes, we get it, Ted!


    No seriously duck! Ted grabbed our heads and made us duck. Sharp feathers flew over us and punched holes in walls up ahead.


    Phew that was close. How did he find us so fast? You’re not wearing a tracker by any chance?


    What? No of course not! I went through Raishin’s prison clothes and swiped his prison ID card.


    Hey, give that back! I won''t be able to get food without it! If this doesn''t scream tracker then I don’t know what does. You don’t need the food here anyway! I burnt the ID to a crisp and started laying frost traps.


    “Quack!” Do we have any crystal chairs here? Funny that you say that I was thinking the same. The frost traps went off but I didn''t get any mana out of it.


    Hmm, that’s weird, my frost traps didn''t gain me any mana, I could use some. Well about that, you probably won’t like this and this is the reason we don''t want to mess with that guy. Yeh, this Cygnus guy is a frost user.


    Perfect… so there is nothing we can do to him… This duck sucks! Hehe you get it? He sucks mana? Oh, thank you for volunteering to distract him, Ted!


    Nonono! Wait I''m sorry! I will distract him. If I can’t do anything to him with frost magic, he probably can’t do anything to me. Just be careful that he doesn’t drain the mana out of your [Time ring].


    Right... Good call, that would be quite nasty if that happened. Don’t you mean that would suck?


    Raishin, smack him. Raishin smacked him while Gregory blocked some feathers that seemed to home in from a large distance. I haven''t seen what this Cygnus looks like but he has deadly accuracy, don’t tell me he’s a nine-tailed fox too, wait they told me he’s a duck. I made a clone to escort them toward the magma elevator or whatever it’s called. Ted and Gregory would have to figure out how to get it moving to go up. I have a clone on layer 5 so I can just [Shadow swap] to it.


    Teleports get distorted a lot down here but [Shadow swap] works just fine. I activated my Elgards eyes and tried to look for this duck. I found him but couldn''t see him. I remembered that frost magic interferes with my eyes. It seems that frost users will prove to be my worst enemies. But observing an area that I can’t observe tells me exactly where he is but that’s all, nothing about his appearance, not what he’s casting, nothing. But since I''m still quite far I can assault him with ranged attacks.


    I made my frost bow and start shooting [Frost arrows] at him. I heard a loud ‘Quack’ and saw how my arrows got shot down by feathers. The first batch destroyed the feathers but after that, the duck coated them in frost so they canceled each other out. With my fight against Arby, I realized that dark and shadow magic also can be used against frost magic. I created a [Frost walls] to attempt and slow the Duck down. It worked, not by much but between shooting at him from afar and blocking his advance he seemed to slow down.


    “Quack! Stop being obnoxious and show yourself!” Whoa that’s loud, does he have a megaphone? But this was extremely loud, maybe it''s a gigaphone. I wondered if sending a shadow clone at him would be effective, it will resist getting its mana sucked out and disappearing but that might be wishful thinking. I decided to continue sniping the Duck while staying relatively hidden. I slowed him down for about 10 minutes. Ted and Gregory seemed to have gotten the magma elevator going.


    - We got this thing working, are you coming? - - I can [Shadow swap] myself up, go on without me, it will take me 5 minutes to get there so don’t bother waiting. –


    - Ok, be careful. –


    I looked back and saw them slowly ascend. Ignis was fighting off some random guards that I assume tried to hinder them. It is a good thing I left him there. I continued to head over toward the magma elevator because Ignis was getting overwhelmed and I didn’t know what they could do to mess with Ted and Gregory while they were still working hard to go up.


    They were already halfway up. When I arrived to help Ignis, a breeze of apples and cinnamon wafted through, and Cassiopeia appeared.


    Uh oh. She easily dealt with Ignis and focused on me.


    “It’s a shame that we have to meet again like this…” She attempted to sing but I pulled the moisture out of her mouth causing her to cough. This is how I deal with opponents that vocally cast magic or this case a singer who probably imbues her voice with some magic. I don’t think this kind of magic is easy to learn but it is quite overpowered if you can’t manage to block out the sound.


    She tried again and I filled her mouth with water. I can’t continue doing this because it requires a lot of concentration and precision and I''m still a bit tired. I tried to slip her by using [Frozen Ground] but she resisted. I created earplugs made out of snow and plugged my ears. She started singing and the guards started to act weird but I couldn’t hear anything. Unfortunately, the Duck arrived. He wore a strange yellow suit. It looked very weird.


    What the duck? This seemed to annoy the duck and he seemed to be giving me a lecture but again I was wearing earplugs. The guards suddenly started acting differently and seemed to get buffed up and headed over toward me. Meanwhile, the duck seemed to start freezing the magma elevator. Yikes, this is bad. I threw a [Frost disk] at him but he dispelled it without issues. I threw another one that was slightly different and it crashed into him. This grabbed his attention but I was becoming more and more occupied with these guards. They were fast, and their movements were fast but they weren''t using magic.


    I realize that nobody in this prison has been using magic except for these strong bosses and some cooks and Arby. I moved to an area that had time dilation and increased gravity and the guards got slowed down. It didn''t accomplish my goal because the Duck started to freeze the magma elevator again. I kept unfreezing it while throwing [Frost disks] at him. I have actually never thought of how to actually fight a frost user, the only thing I can think of is overloading him with mana but I''m not doing so great mana wise and there''s no guarantee I can make him freeze over with what I throw at him. Besides that, using lost magic, maybe my illusions work on him? I created some layers and used [Confusion] and it seemed to hurt him.


    Unfortunately, the other shatters I have, require too many layers, more than I can lay down at the moment. I seemed to have gained his attention though. I used a 5-layered [Confusion] on him but it didn''t seem to do anything after he shot feathers at me. I shot them down with [Frost arrows]. He made a [Frost wall] and made it hard for me to shoot at him from this position. I was quite far and I didn’t see Casi anymore so I assume she went to do something against the magma elevator. Ted and Greg were 3 quarters up but if I gave this duck breathing room, he would stop the elevator. I formed blades out of frost and dashed toward him.


    This drain on my mana was beginning to take a toll on me so I would have to try and stick to sword fighting and frost magic. I tried to clip the wings of this duck with swords made out of frost but he parried with a chop. His body was covered in frost so I couldn''t see him. I deactivated my Elgards eyes. Never did I think there would be a situation where it would be better to not use them. He was slower than Arby and the androids and his posture gave away what he was doing. I kept parrying his chops and he kept parrying my sword strikes and any attempt to cut his wings off. I realized too late that there was more than one floor boss present. Out of nowhere I felt a kick to my side and got sent flying into the magma. I sent natural energy to my side before I crashed into the small magma pool.


    I activated my eyes again and inspected myself. It seems I broke some ribs. I saw various swans made out of frost approach me. Ignis was nice enough to block them for me while I was getting up but he got destroyed by these [Frost swans]. I jumped away and made a bat out of frost and batted the swans down when they got close to me. The magma rearranged itself and solidified into a fancy bridge that made a path in the magma pool as Casi approached.


    It didn''t seem like she was directly manipulating the magma with magic. I dodged another kick and threw the bat at her. She seemed extremely agile. She missed her kick. I jumped on her leg and tried to kick back but she blocked it with… I don’t know how she blocked it. There is like an air barrier, maybe her voice? I jumped over her and headed over toward the duck on solid ground because he tried to freeze the elevator again. It almost disappeared into the ceiling so I just had to stall for longer. I covered myself in frost and landed a flying kick on the ducks head. He tried to grab me but I left a frost clone in my place. I barely dodged a pressure wave but it did hit the duck.


    The duck seemed to yell at Casi. I don’t think the duck is a big problem at least for me but Casi is a problem, I don''t think I can keep up with this for much longer. My side still hurt. Casi dashed at me the moment I thought about how to deal with her. I made a floaty jump and pulled something out my dimensional pocket. It was one of the books I swiped together with the one that had my gramps in it. I made sure that I didn''t have gramps’ book and threw it at Casi so that it would open up in front of her. It opened and Casi got temporarily trapped inside of the book.


    Phew.


    The duck was shocked and I used this opportunity to take out some Cnidaria seeds and threw it at him. A successful hit! I made 3 [Magma snakes] and sent them to the duck who was fighting to get the jellyfish off his face. I made sure that the magma snakes were quite evasive. The duck was still trying to recover from what just happened. I confirmed that the magma elevator disappeared into the ceiling and used [Shadow swap].