Vincent gradually emerged from within the narrow pathway from where he came from.
'I hate this!' He cursed in his head after once more being covered in spiderwebs, though to a lesser extent than the first time.
Gladly, the water will soon wash away this disgusting stuff anyway, so he felt relieved.
Seeing the small pond that led down, he stepped forward while holding the bag while the other hand held the luminescent stone.
'I will be a bit late, but not much. I hope mother is not worried much.'
With this in mind, he walked towards the entrance pond.
"Auch!"
*Thud*
Vincent suddenly exclaimed as he hit something in front of him, making him let go of the luminescent stone and the bag.
'Damn it! What was that?'
Vincent was about to submerge himself into the pond and leave this place when he suddenly hit something.
But how? Though he saw the wall, it wasn't that close. What did he hit?
Vincent recalled the feeling for the hit.
It was definitely not a rock or soil.
It was… weird.
He picked the luminescent stone that lay nearby and extended his arm ahead of him.
"...?" Vincent's face grimaced in confusion.
There was no wall in front of him. Just as it should be.
'What is going on? Is something wrong with me?' he wondered. Maybe he started to imagine things due to sickness.
Vincent shook his head trying to bring back clarity of mind.
He picked the bag and moved forward towards the pond.
*Thud*
He once again hit something and again let go of the luminescent stone.
Vincent's eyes widened in shock.
This time, he was definitely not imagining things.
He was absolutely sure that the way in front of me was clear, but he still hit something. What?
Thinking about this strange situation, his breathing became rigid as he picked up a luminescent stone again and shone it in front of him once more, but this time he wasn't trying to enter the pond, instead, he slowly extended his hand forward.
As his hand slowly moved, his heart suddenly trembled.
His hand touched something, but he couldn't see it.
It was like a wall, but not really it.
Vincent pushed him towards this invisible wall, but it didn't barge at all. As if he was trying to push an entire mountain.
Vincent blinked with narrowed brows. His breathing started to intensify.
'What is this thing!?'
Vincent tried to use more force, kick it, throw rocks, but to no avail. Everything was repelled back.
Taking a step back, Vincent looked at it with wide eyes. Panic began to grow within him.
He had an idea that might work.
He had no idea what is blocking the entrance, but maybe it was only here? What about the side walls?
With this in mind, he touched the wall to the left.
But the moment his hand was about to touch it, it again was repelled by some invisible force.
His heart skipped a beat as he quickly tried to touch the wall on the right side.
But the same thing happened.
Vincent's body shook as unconsciously took a step back as he finally realised something which made his panic uncontrollable at this point.
'Oh god…'
He was trapped.
…
Meanwhile, several kilometers away, a middle aged woman stood at the village's entrance, looking at the distance waiting for someone as the night gradually covered the sky.
Though her face was calm, a hit of worry started to grow within her heart.
Several hours later, it was already a deep night.
Vanessa still didn't leave, but her calm expression was already gone. Worry filled her heart. But she decided to continue to wait.
Several hours later, the morning arrived and the sun began to rise up.
The birds started chirping, yet Vanessa still didn't go home.
The worry in her heart already turned into panic as she quietly mumbled while looking at the distance.
"Vincent…?"
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice from behind her that made her turn back.
"Auntie Vanessa? You early today," Alisia, who woke up early to collect water and feed the livestock as usual, was surprised to see Vincent's mother standing at the village entrance.
Vanessa looked at her briefly before suddenly sped up towards somewhere, leaving Alisia stunned.
'Calm down. Don't panic. He just took a break somewhere and fell asleep. I will meet him on the way back home. Gladly, he told me where he went.' She tried to comfort herself, but..
With this in mind, she arrived home and after taking a few things hastily left towards the village entrance.
As Vanessa was about to pass the entrance, she spotted a person that was leaning at the gates.
The guard looked at her calmly before speaking with a lazy voice while slowly blocking the entrance.
"You know the rules. To leave the village, you need to get approval from the chief. Show it and then-"
But he didn't manage to finish his sentence as Vanessa, out of nowhere, sent a kick towards his crotch.
The guard's eyes widened and rolled back from the horrendous pain before falling on the ground, unconscious.
Vanessa did pay him any need. She doesn't have the permission to leave and doesn't have time to search for an excuse. She will definitely be punished later on for this, but she couldn't give a shit about the consequences as she ran into the distance.
She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad happened to her son.
Meanwhile, Alisia, who saw everything, blinked as she looked at the disappearing back of Vincent's mother, unable to believe what she just saw.
After the shock had passed, she quickly ran home.
…
Around 4 hours later, Vanessa, with heavy breathing, stood on the shore of a massive lake as her eyes moved from side to side.
She took a deep breath.
"VINCENT!" she shouted with all her might.
"..."
Vanessa waited, hoping to hear some response, but there was only silence mixed with birds chipping and the sound of the passing wind.
"VINCENT!!" she shouted once again, but this time even stronger.
Her heartbeat was racing as she was taking deep breaths, looking around.
'Where are you!?'
Vanessa couldn't just stand still and begin to search the entire corner of the vast shore.
After almost an hour, Vanessa was unable to control her panic.
She searched the entire shore, but was unable to see anything nor anyone.
Vincent only mentioned that his destination was this lake. He didn't say anything specific.
Since she didn't meet him on her way here, Vincent should be somewhere at this lake, unless he lied to her which was absurd.
He never lied to her before and there was no reason to lie to her now.
Suddenly, as she almost finished the entire circle around the lake, her eyes spotted something on the grass.
Quickly arriving, her eyes lit up as she picked a piece of cloth.
Vincent's shirt.
There was also his backpack, bamboo hat and pants.
Vanessa understood something and turned towards the lake.
Without waiting, she tossed the shirt to the side and entered the lake before diving in.
After a minute, with a *splash* Vanessa emerged while gasping for air.
After a brief pause, she dived again.
Hour later.
*Splash*
Vanessa emerged from the water and swimmed towards the shore.
Stepping on the grass with her bare foot, water started dripping down as her clothes and long dark hair stuck to her voluptuous body.
She was unable to find any signs of Vincent which was a good and a bad thing, if you can even say it that way.
Her worry and panic didn't go away as she was unable to find him.
But at least she knew that Vincent definitely entered the lake judging by the left clothes which was somewhat reassuring.
She also didn't find his body which put aside her biggest fear that he might have drowned.
Vanessa knew that her son knew how to swim, so the chances for that were even lower.
But the issue remained.
'Just where are you, son!?'
After half a day, several more people suddenly arrived which Vanessa recognised as some of her neighbours in the village as well as the village guard that she knocked down.
Upon seeing her, rage built up inside him, but he restrained himself.
Vanessa was surprised to see so many people. She knew why they were here, so without waiting for them to speak, she worriedly explained the situation while hiding some important stuff.
After finding the reason for her sudden action, the villagers understood her actions, even the guards who were kicked.
Even though his anger still lingered within him, he helped to search for the missing child with others.
Alisia and Mister Jacob were among them.
Like that, the search began.
Hours had passed.
When the night was approaching, almost all of the villagers went back home, promising to come back tomorrow.
Only two people were left.
Vanessa and Alisia.
"You should go back. It's already late," Vanessa calmly said as she looked at the lake intensely.
"N-No! I'll also stay!" Alisia suddenly exclaimed as she bit her lip. Her heartbeat was rigid. She was fearful that something bad had happened to Vincent.
After all, he is her future… How can she just leave?
Vanessa was somewhat surprised by the strong reaction of this young girl.
She slightly nodded to herself upon looking at her and then spoke in a gentle voice, "You already did everything you can. I can't ask more from you. Your parents will be worrying."
"But I want to-"
"No. You will go back home. Though I wish to stay here, I can't send you back alone, so I'll come with you. Tomorrow, I will come here again. And if you still wanna join, I'll take you as well. Agreed?"
"Then it's a promise!" Alisia felt dejected at first, but Auntie's last words improved her mood.
Vanessa gave one last look at the lake before taking Alisias hand to gradually disappear into the distance towards the village.
…
Time went on.
The sun was high in the sky as lonely clouds slowly drifted within.
The birds' pleasant chirping drifted on the wind.
*Bop*
At this moment, something hit the calm water of the lake before slightly submerging into the water.
A few minutes later, with a *splash* a big fish emerged from the water as it was dragged to the shore.
"Big one!" exclaimed joyfully an old man as he took the hook out of the fish's mouth before placing the fish into the basket as it tried to escape.
"Good harvest today!" thought the old man, but then the joy on his face suddenly went away as he recalled something sad.
"Well, we all will be there one way or another," he mumbled to himself with a sad voice before going back to fishing.
Several hours later the sun was already at the horizon.
The old man stood up and began to pack his stuff.
"With this much fish, there will be enough food for at least several days," the old man was very pleased.
*Splash!*
"!!" The old man, who was about to go back home, got hella frightened from this sudden change as he looked at the lake's shore not far away.
In the water there was standing a tall young looking man with a strong body and long black hair that stuck to his wide shoulders.
He was holding an old bag and a wooden stick.
The young man calmly looked around. Excitement could be seen in his eyes before he spotted the old man not far away.
"..." the both of them looked at each other in silence.
One was shocked to the core while the other was calm, but inwardly overjoyed.
'Finally I got out.'