(Weird, I remember being sucked into that black... something before losing consciousness. Then why do I feel like I am floating in some kind of liquid?) (Arin)

Such thoughts run through my head as I slowly regain my consciousness. Though I'm not sure what is going on, as somehow my whole body feels ticklish. As I open my eyes, I find myself in a white void. There was nothing else as far as the eye can see.

(Did I die?) (Arin)

As I am thinking that, I can hear my own voice reverberating inside this space. Definitely weird. Not understanding what is happening I crouch down and try to touch my body. I can see it and it is here, yet it feels so far away, could it be that I became a ghost?!?

"Not exactly, but not far off." (???)

Suddenly, an unknown voice can be heard as I try to look into the direction it came from. What appears before my eyes is an unnatural amount of steam, rising from the ground as it slowly takes on a form. First, there are two red glowing eyes in the mist, staring at me as if they could see through my soul. Somehow though, I have yet to feel uncomfortable. What appears next is a maw with sharp teeth and very deadly looking canines. Next, the fog started to form a head and slowly form the body which totally looks like a fox... with nine tails. I've never seen such a fox with such white fur and crimson-gold lines along it, reminiscent of flames. There it stood before me, at least 2 meters in height and about 5 to 6 meters in length, tails not included. Honestly, if I had some paper and crayons now, I would love to make a sketch of this.

"Thanks for the Compliment, but what you see before you is no more than a mental image of who I once was." (???)

NO WAY, that fox just spoke to me!! And wait, why can I hear my thoughts resound...?!

"hahaha" (???)

The white fox in front of me started to laugh in a female voice, making my heart calm down.

But still, who is she? I never had a dream as realistic as this.

"Hmm, well you could say that this is a dream, yet it isn't. Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Lumi, or at least what remains of the fox by the name of Lumi. It's nice to meet you Arin." (Lumi)

(Huh? How does she know my name?)

"Hahaha, one question at the time, I'll answer as much as I can. For starters, you are not dead. At the moment, we are inside your mind, so that is why I can hear whatever you are thinking. Oh, and don't fear for your Body, it's just in some kind of sleep state. You'll wake up eventually." (Lumi)

So I am not dead? I'm relieved, as I didn't want to die just yet... Huh, tears? Did I really feel that relieved...?

"It's fine, you're alright. You don't need to fear, at the moment you are perfectly safe." (Lumi)

Feeling the weight on my heart get lighter, I use my arm to remove the rest of the tears and face the white fox who is standing patiently in front of me. I don't know where she came from, but I believe she means well, she gives off a calming feeling just like Maria back in the orphanage...

WAIT, THE ORPHANAGE, where am I, what happened to this weird black hole, where are the others!?!

Growing frantic, the fox takes on a human form and hugs me tightly. At first, I didn't believe it, but man she is even stronger than Markus.

Sitting on her lap, she pats my head to calm me down. After what I believe to be about 5 minutes, she finally starts to explain.

"You needn't worry for now, it would only make everything worse. As for your friends, I haven't sensed anybody else in a ten-kilometer radius aside from you, so I guess they ended up somewhere else" (Lumi)

"As for you, what you experienced seems to be a clash between dimensions, you and your friends were practically sucked into this dimension against your will" (Lumi)

Sucked into another dimension? That makes no sense, it shouldn't be possible. Anna told me about such things from the comics she reads, but that is not real.. is it?

"Sadly your situation is real, as for the exact circumstance behind it, I don't know. But why don't we just calm down for now and I will tell you about me and a little more about the circumstance you're in. How does that sound?" (Lumi)

"Mhmm" (Arin)

Nodding my head while still thinking of what occurred until now, I start to listen to what Lumi has to tell. She began with where we are right now and who she is. It seems this worlds name is Treia and it is probably a few times larger than earth. How do I know this? It seems she read my memories before and already started to look into it. Actually, I want her to stop watching my memories as doing that gives me an uncomfortable feeling.

Well anyway, it seems there are at least 5 known great continents out there and many smaller states and islands. To her time it was still the great war era, but by now it seems to be the age of humans. I don't know the details, but it seems that Lumi was actually the heir of the great white-fox clan which was active a little more than 10 000 years ago. She herself was born about 8 thousand years ago and was completely surrounded by war, as her clan slowly died away because of the human invaders. It seems that the humans were after the eradication of the royal family because they were the only ones with space, time and illusion Attributes. Many of the nobles can use space attribute and a few higher ranked foxes can still use illusions aside from their birth-element. But aside from them, most of the fox-clan's people could only use their birth-element or none at all. Magic seems to exist, but when I asked her about it, she told me that that would be quite complicated to explain and would answer that at a later date. Hearing time and space, as well as how desperate the humans were, I believe it must have been a rare trait? I can't tell, but I'm sure I'll understand it sooner or later if I keep listening to her.

As the humans managed to invade deep into the territory, many started to flee, even Lumi was sent away by her parents as they tried to buy her time to run away. I was jealous of her having parents, but having to go through something like this... I don't know which is worse. She herself died when she was running away from them and caught up in a pincer attack which heavily wounded her. In her last moment, she used Magic to collapse the Ground beneath her and her attackers, falling into the cavern beneath, killing all the attackers and... herself.

"Then how come you are talking to me right now? Are you something like a ghost?" (Arin)

"Not exactly, I am what you could call an Echo. A construct of all the knowledge and memories of the fox once called Lumi. As for the reason we can talk, let's continue the story because otherwise you would just get confused." (Lumi)

I nod understandingly as she keeps explaining.

It seems that her clan/kind go into the category of intelligent monsters in the books of the humans. I was actually quite shocked hearing this as everything I could see was a nicely clothed, white-haired, young woman with gold-crimson eyes that seemed to glow like a light in the darkness. But the reason for that seems to be simple, her kind, upon death, consumes all mana inside the body and formes it into a crystal. She mentioned that this part would be important, so I listened closely. Normally a crystal of her kind would be about 50 cm in length and about 20 cm in width and broadness. It seems that that would classify as an Emporer-Crystal, the best kind one could get from "monsters".

Normally, once the Magic Power leaves the Corpse, it starts to decay and fall apart, but that wasn't the case here. If I understood her right, it seems that her dead body ended up right inside a dragon-vain which is actually just pure Magic Power flowing through the ground. Where it comes from, not even she knows. Only that those veins are active for long periods of time before slowly fading away. What this has to do with me, I don't really understand, but it seems to explain her circumstance so it involves me too, kinda...

"Actually, my body should have been void of Magic Power long ago, but because I ended up in the Dragon-Vein, it kept replenishing the lost Magic-Power of my physical body which continued to feed mana to the crystal." (Lumi)

"So your body was like converter for the Magic-Power of the Dragon-Vain into mana for the crystal. But what did that do?" (Arin)

Answering my question she said that the crystal of her's kept growing until it was the size of 2 meters in height and 80 cm in both length and broadness. Hearing her description I left my mouth hanging, she told me that an Emperor-class crystal was the greatest, how come it resulted in such growth?

"Fufu, you face looks funny you know? You should close your mouth because I am not jet finished with the best part." (Lumi)

Laughing at my reaction she rubs my head, which feels somehow weird since it is not my real body, but at the same time feels insanely comfortable. Nearly melting in her Arms I have to keep myself together or I won't hear what she says.

Hearing her chime like voice, I listen to every word she says. Following her description, there exists god tier crystal that only appears after killing, well, a divine being. Personally, I don't like the name God, feels kinda bossy. However, those crystals at most reach a size of 1 meter in height, so what does that make her? Universe-Class? She just laughs and explains to me for now, why she ended up that way.

Just as she was about to start explaining however, the whole space suddenly turns golden in Color and collapses occasionally. A sharp pain runs through my body as though I am hit with needles all around.

Sweating profusely I gnash my teeth. Honestly, I am scared, the pain is unbearable and my brain feels like it is about to explode. Just as I was about to see black, a pair of powerful, yet slender arms pull me into their embrace and a calming silver light envelops me. The pain doesn't go away, yet there is now a second, more comfortable feeling surrounding me. Hearing my beating heart, I listen to the soft sound of Lumi who tries to calm me down. We stayed like this for some time, which felt like an eternity.

After the pain faded, so did that comfortable feeling. Looking behind me there was Lumi, gazing into my eyes with a completely tranquil gaze.

"It seems it began earlier than estimated, well, I don't have much time left, so I'll convert all my knowledge and important memories to you. This way you should have it easier to adapt and live in this new world. I hope you'll have a good life from now on." (Lumi)

"Wait, what are you talking about? I don't understand you! Why would you do this for me, and what connection do I have with you?!?" (Arin)

Shocked by her previews words, I shouted at her.

At first, she becomes wide-eyed, probably because I never really shouted since we met, but gathers herself again rather quickly. As the space around us starts to change colors rapidly she opens her mouth once more.

"The answer is simple. You fell through the dimensional hole and ended up directly inside my crystal. The chances for that to happen is at least 1 to, I don't know, infinity?!" (Lumi)

Stunned by her sudden explanation I made a funny face. In that case, I somehow ended up transported from my world, directly through dimensions into her crystal? How is that even possible?!?

Before I could think further, the space around us started to crack and open up. Scared by this, I look into the eyes who calmed me down already many times. She just smiled at me and spoke in a whispered Voice:

"I gave you my knowledge and memories, so you will soon understand, but for now, go up to the surface and live your life. Because didn't you want to look for your friends? Anyhow, it was nice speaking with you one last time. I enjoyed my time with you, so I wish you a lot of luck in the future. Have a good life, little Arin." (Lumi)

Saying goodbye one last time, she gives me a warm kiss on my forehead before she starts to fade away. I am still shocked so I couldn't react, but before I could do anything, everything around me collapsed and darkness surrounded me once more.