"What''s going on? Who is controlling me?" Rocky said out loud in panic as he could not understand why he was suddenly dancing on strings.


    Suddenly, the world around him changed, the littleughing boy and his father disappeared as Rocky found himself staring at his own reflection in a giant mirror that seemed to stretch till eternity.


    Inside the mirror, he saw a giant version of himself making his smaller body dance using strings, as the giant version of him had a very evil smile stered on his face.


    "What? What is this space? What''s going on?" Rocky wondered, as finally his constraints disappeared and the giant above him dissolved, giving him the freedom to move at will once more.


    "The biggest w you have, Rocky Yadav, is your own perception of yourself. You want to believe that this universe revolves around you, that everything that happens here, happens because of you.


    But you''re wrong, you are too small, too insignificant to be the focal point of the universe" a voice that Rocky recognised to be his own said, as Rocky stared in horror as his reflection through the giant mirror talked back to him.


    "I will help you ovee this w, I will help you fix the toxic mindset that you have, however, the price I demand to fix it….. is your eyes.


    For 3 months, I will take away your vision…. blinding you! so that you may look within yourself rather than looking outside" his reflection said, as Rocky was given his first reward and first penalty.


    "Do you ept?" The entity beyond the mirror asked as it extended its hand towards Rocky as if asking for a handshake.


    "I ept," Rocky said, as almost immediately his vision turned dark.


    His once ck iris turned dull white as Rocky became a blind man.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHA-"


    *ss Shattering*


    *ss Shattering*


    *ss Shattering*


    Rocky heard the entity beyond the mirrorughing like a maniac as he heard sounds of the mirror crashing all around him, as he flinched and braced for debris to fall all over him, but it never did.


    Converted into a blind man, Rocky was left utterly lost and clueless within an empty space, as he did not even have any idea as to where he was supposed to go from here.


    "Hello?"


    "Hello?"


    Rocky said, desperately calling for someone to help him as with the loss of his vision, he struggled to maintain his sense of bnce and direction as the world felt spinning under his feet for no particr reason.


    *Stumble*


    Stumbling to his knees, Rocky fell over as he felt a soft hand holding him from behind his back.


    "Who is it?" Rocky said in panic, his vision loss making him paranoid as his heart rate shot through the roof.


    "It''s me, your guide, Nubi" Said the snake-woman, as she wrapped her hand around Rocky''s shoulders and slowly guided him to the residence hall.


    "So you sacrificed your vision huh? Must be a rough w to remove" Nubi said, as she tried to normally make conversation with Rocky whose breathing had be haggard following the loss of his main sense.


    "Yes" Rocky replied curtly, not having gathered his wits as he still tried toe to terms with the situation he now found himself in.


    "Well, since you''ve lost your eyes I guess you will be mostly dependent on me to take you from ce to ce for a while.


    Have you already been briefed about how you have to spend your life here within this chamber?" Nubi asked, as Rocky slowly replied "N-No"


    "Well, you have to mandatorily climb on the bed from 12 in the midnight till 8am in the morning…. It''s funny that we call it midnight, when it''s actually just the same brightness all around, but it is what it is.


    From 8am to 10am, you have to perform your mandatory weapons training or craftsmanship training, so whatever your primary weapon is, you have to train using it.


    From 10am to 10:30 you have breakfast, which is just usually bread soaked in water, but depending on what sort of penalty you have taken the meal can taste very different.


    From 10:30 to 12 we have the penance session, where you have to stare at the sky above while being in a prayer position on your knees.


    From 12 to 1:30 you have your first punishment session.


    It depends from day to day but it may include things like mercilessly whipping the flesh off your back or making you walk on live burning charcoal.


    You have lunch then for an hour till 2:30, which is bread again, but served with a ss of water instead of being soaked in it.


    Finally from 2:30 till 5 you have the final session of the day which is dedicated to personal training, such as martial arts and then you are free till 12 am, when you must go to bed" Nubi said cheerfully, as Rocky felt his guts wrench inside his stomach when he heard her routine.


    What the fuck was this routine?


    Why were there literal torture sessions involved in it?


    "You will be here to guide and help me right?" Rocky asked Nubi as she patted him on the back and tried to calm him down.


    "Everyone who enters the ancestral hall has me to guide them for 24 hours, after that they''re on their own" she said as Rocky realized that he waspletely fucked.


    Soon after a few minutes of walking, Nubi made Rocky pause as she said "Start counting your steps with me from here, this is the entrance to the main chambers"


    " One….two…" Nubi said, as Rocky felt the texture ofnd he was walking on change slightly the moment he entered the main hall.


    Now a blind man, Rocky was going to have to map out this ce in his head as after 24 hours, Nubi was not going to be around anymore to help him.


    Principal Liam and Leader Nagini had warned him about the dangers of this ce, however, Rocky had still taken the dare to enter.


    —------


    /// A/N - Mass Release Chapter 4/8, halfway there ///