Igor began to run.

Across the endless and vast land, he ran, fearlessly ran.

He didn't know what to do; all he wanted to do was run.

Running from here to there, and then to another direction.

In this place, Igor couldn't tell east from west; he only knew how to run forward.

He didn't want to think about so many things anymore because he wanted to empty his mind right now. This was a place he couldn't understand, where all his previous knowledge was useless.

He was starting to believe this wasn't the Inner World.

Those running flames, the sparks that shot out, the stones flying, the sword wielded by Nonoa, the dancing embers, Nonoa's white hair... these things kept flying through his mind.

Igor tried to connect these things, but he had no clue.

Foreign, completely a foreign feeling, without a hint of familiarity.

Igor hoped running could solve his problems; he hoped, like before, he could find new inspiration while emptying his thoughts.

Yet none of this existed.

No matter how Igor ran, his mind wouldn't open up, still large swathes of unfamiliarity invading his sensory world.

No matter how Igor ran, everything around him looked the same, he couldn't tell how far he had run or where he was headed.

No matter how Igor ran, he never felt hungry, though his body grew tired; he just didn't feel thirsty…

What kind of place was this, exactly?

Why did the voices within him all go silent at this moment? In the past, whether it was the Spirit Book or other spirits, they would come out to mock or guide him, but now, why was there no sound?

Igor ran, indeed wanting to clear his mind, but no matter how he tried not to think, thoughts kept emerging on their own, preventing his mind from stopping.

Running only lessened his chaotic thoughts…

Igor was now completely confused; he had come to awaken Tobin, but never expected to step into an unfamiliar place.

Where had all his previous confidence gone? Could a little setback defeat him?

Even if this wasn't the Inner World, so what? There had to be a way to solve the problem.

Igor ran, his thoughts simplifying due to the running. He knew this was not the Inner World, but he also knew this wasn't reality because he didn't feel hunger or thirst, and this detail seemed important.

But where exactly was this place, he needed to think hard about it.

He hoped this aimless running could lead him to someone, preferably Nonoa, so he could understand more about what this place was.

Such aimless running felt a bit tiring, but besides running aimlessly, what else could he do? He couldn't do anything!

As Igor was running, he suddenly felt something was off...

He felt the ground quake fiercely...

And he seemed to sense dust rising not far ahead,

Igor looked closely, damn, isn't that Nonoa? Amongst thousands of seekers suddenly turning back... Wait, what's that behind Nonoa?

He saw Nonoa rapidly running towards Igor's direction, with an unbelievable speed, and Igor hesitated to stop, after all, the big creature behind Nonoa wasn't slow either!

Initially feeling secretly thrilled to meet Nonoa again, the excitement hadn't surfaced before being overwhelmed by a huge creature.

That big creature was chasing Nonoa aggressively, stirring up dust.

Igor watched as Nonoa slipped by him without saying a word...

In the next moment, Igor realized, dammit, the gigantic creature was coming right at him on the opposite side of his running direction!

Holy crap, Igor turned and ran, the scene ironically reversed into Igor chasing Nonoa...

After a while, Igor caught up to Nonoa, but they still hadn't managed to shake off the gigantic creature behind them.

"Speak for yourself, you're the troublemaker. Every time I see you, something comes chasing me!" Igor said irritably.

"As if it's all you…" Nonoa started but stopped.

As they ran, talking, the gigantic creature behind pursued closely, leaving them unable to relax.

"I said it wrong, you're not just a troublemaker, you're a curse!" Nonoa couldn't hold back another complaint.

"Why say that? You clearly attracted them!"

"You know crap, you came here, first disturbed the Flame Demon, and now awakened the Vajra, I'm thoroughly impressed with you, where do you find these entities to consistently challenge us?"

"That... No, what do you mean."

"It means nothing, you're just a curse."

Igor's status had now upgraded from a troublemaker to a curse, which displeased him immensely.

"Why do you think these creatures came because of me!"

"Nevermind that, we need to figure out how to deal with the Vajra behind!" Nonoa didn't answer Igor's question.

"Just finish it with one sword strike." Igor said irritably, clearly this guy had skills yet always fled first, it was confusing.

"What do you know, give me Energy, then I can strike!" Nonoa roared.

The uproar caused by this gigantic creature was much bigger than the previous flames, but its speed seemed not as fast as the flames, possibly a bit slower, so Igor and Nonoa could chat happily.

"You keep talking about Energy, what the hell is it?"

"You don't even know that, yet dare to come here!"

"I came here to find Tobin, but I've told you before and you didn't believe me!"

"Who'd believe such a thing, you first disturbed the Flame Demon, now awakened the Vajra, and you say you're here for Tobin, I think you came deliberately to cause chaos."

"What do you mean? What is this place?"

"And you dare come without knowing where this is!"

"Where?"

"This is the Border Realm, you curse!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Border Realm?" Igor was bewildered, not knowing what this place was.

"Are you pretending to be dumb?"

"What?" Igor was puzzled about what this person was saying! He truly hadn't heard anything about the Border Realm, everything here felt strange to him, he initially thought he had entered the Inner World.

"Forget it, looks like there's no counting on you." Nonoa said another inexplicable sentence.

The gigantic creature behind continued to chase them relentlessly, seemingly getting closer.

"Is this thing a Mountain Monster?" Igor couldn't help but glance back, the gigantic creature resembled a stone, with massive movements as it ran.

"Mountain Monster? You're still a child, this creature is a Vajra!"