The familiar smell or burning wood and flesh surged into his olfactory as Ryusei desperately struggled to fight his way through the blackness that completely hindered his vision. He felt his heart begin to race in a panic as he felt his legs charge forward, step by step, but never getting any closer to escaping the darkness. He remembered it being cold, his fingers numbing from the frigid bite of the winter air. He remembered this place… even if he couldn’t see it. It was all so familiar, as if these sensory stimuli had been burned into his memory. He was home.

With that realization the darkness would start to fade, as if slowly opening his eyes from a deep sleep rays of light began to creep into his vision. He would close his fingers into his hands, feeling what felt like dirt and rocks into his hand raising his head up to find himself laying on the ground. He could feel his head ringing with pain as he attempted to orientate himself with his surroundings, but as he tried to sit up his sight would become blurry, and his balance would begin to be thrown off as if the earth itself was tilting. With what little strength he could muster he would roll himself onto his back, unable to make out his surroundings and instead looking skyward. This new view however, would grant him no solace and it would only take a moment after adjusting himself into this new position for the sky itself to begin spinning, making him dizzy even though he knew he was lying perfectly still. Slowly he could feel his consciousness beginning to fade away again, as the darkness once again began to creep into his vision, blacking out the outside world. He wanted to fight it and resist the darkness coming over him, but his body was just so heavy and the darkness was warm, soothing his seemingly frozen limbs. It would only be a matter of time before complete nothingness washed over him yet again.

An immeasurable amount of time seemed to pass as he felt his body falling into the darkness, floating in an endless see of empty black space. Most people would likely have been terrified by ordeal, and he was… at least he once was. He knew this feeling all too well, like he had lived it one hundred times before, but still he could not pinpoint exactly where he knew it from. His body was limp and devoid of strength and even his mind felt woefully sluggish. He struggled to mold even the most basic thoughts into focus and mostly operated off of feeling alone. Perhaps if he could focus his feelings into coherent thoughts he would be able to determine just where he had experienced this all-consuming, but strangely familiar and comforting darkness before. But the longer he remained afloat in the black space, the less and less important that seemed to become, eventually fading out of his mind entirely, leaving nothing but thoughtless and empty time passing by.

---

513~

[Training Spd E-0 > E-1: 75/75]
[Training Spd E-1 > E-2: 150/150]
[Training Spd E-2 > E-3: 225/225]
[Training Spd E-3 > D-0: 63/300]