He was confused and terrified by what had caused the lines to become like this
and what had brought them here.
The sight sent tremors through his heart.
Then he looked around, searching for the rock he had placed in the beginning.
He was terrified, yet he steeled his heart.
His legs had gone numb from confusion, yet he still took a step forward.
Even though anyone in this situation would be terrified beyond their wits,
don't get me wrong—
he too was terrified beyond his wits.
Yet he pulled himself together because he had no one to rely on besides himself.
He took another step and said to himself:
"In this world of humans, the only one a person can truly depend on is himself.
Friends, family, and the people we claim to depend on are merely external factors.
To move forward in this world, a person can only rely on himself.
If he himself does not wish to move forward, then no matter how many external factors exist,
they are merely filling a broken pot.
only he truly knows how to achieve it.
Because only he has walked his own path.
So that is how I walk alone."
Satya took another step forward.
Now his heart was calm, like the surface of a mirror-like pond.
He took another step.
"For my goals, everything is merely a tool to achieve them,
or a distraction that must be removed.
So these trees and lines are nothing but distractions stealing my attention from my goals.
Therefore, I shall thoroughly remove them."
With that, he steeled his heart and sharpened his mind and will to go against reality itself.
Then he began imagining a fire powerful enough to burn the entire tree.
He imagined it so intensely that he seemed like a lunatic.
It was as though he was making reality itself false while turning his imagination into truth.
Then he spoke words that sounded like a symphony of nature.
"Kasthagni
A voice echoed throughout the surroundings,
the words clear and pure, as if spoken by the tongue of the gods themselves
Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent,
just like the eerie silence of that night.
There was no sound,
no rustling of leaves.
Something seemed to ripple through the fabric of reality itself.
Then suddenly, a giant fire erupted upon the tree,
The fire seemed unstable.
Satya had been prepared to start a forest fire with this spell alone,
because he had ignited the fire within a dense cluster of trees.
Yet his magic was insufficient, so he could only managed to set a single tree ablaze—
one connected to the others.
But his calculations were proven wrong.
The moment the fire appeared, all the surrounding trees moved away,
and something other than reality itself began resisting his magic.
{I walk through the dark, utter despair
The fire burning in my heart guides my path
Towards the road of a solitary soul
The path of despair, yet also bliss
Only I know how to truly experience it}
He willed himself to become stronger than ever.
Even though he was filled with fear and confusion, he still pushed forward. Even though something was resisting his magic and synchronizing with reality itself to oppose him more effectively, did that truly matter to him?
No, it did not.
Because if he wished to burn a tree, then he would do so with all his heart.
That was what he had learned in this world. That was what the magic of this world meant to him.
It meant going against reality itself. It meant resisting the norms imposed upon him by the world.
So he willed it into existence, yet his will seemed insufficient.
And yet, at the same time, it was sufficient.
Sufficient enough to ignite the wood.
The magical fire he created caused the actual tree to catch fire. At that moment, it was no longer merely his magic resisting reality— it had become a natural phenomenon.
Reality resisted his magic, but it could not resist real fire.
Even so, Satya continued pouring his will into the flames, because he knew that if he stopped now, the fire would not become large enough to consume the entire tree.
So, for several moments—which felt like an eternity spent resisting both reality and the strange will aiding it— he endured.
Even as his magical flames weakened with every passing second, an ambitious light filled his eyes, because the tree had finally caught enough real fire to burn itself to the ground.
Now, all he needed to do was wait.
"It is a bit unfortunate that I could not burn more trees,"
Satya muttered to himself, for he had no companions to speak with.
Then, as he watched the burning tree, he unconsciously recited a poem:
{ I am a lone phoenix burning through the heavenly sky,
Burning with a fire that sets my heart ablaze.
Now I burn this forest that traps me with these flames,
So it may become nothing more than a distant desire.}
There was no sound of wind anymore. No tranquility of nature remained around him.
It was too quiet.
Yet Satya was strangely calm, because he was finally hearing something real— something aligned with reality itself:
the sound of that tree burning.
That burning tree marked the beginning of his escape from this nightmare of a forest.
There was no other sound, yet it was the loudest sound he had ever heard.
As Satya watched the tree burn, he began organizing everything he knew about the forest.
"Remove every unnecessary thought. Focus only on the facts," Satya told himself.
First of all, this forest was abnormal— but even an idiot could figure that out.
So he needed something more.
The strangest thing about the forest was the constant feeling of something moving unseen, hidden from sight.
Maybe the trees themselves were moving or perhaps the ground beneath him was shifting.
He could support this suspicion through the chopped trees, the markings, and the rock from the beginning of his journey repeatedly appearing near him despite the distance he had traveled.
And there seemed to be a pattern.
If he was not mistaken, he kept seeing the same surroundings and objects over and over again.
That could only mean two things:
Either the forest was moving in a pattern that only showed him familiar places, or the entire forest was revolving around him.
Because from the distance he had traveled, there should have been changes in terrain by now— yet there were none.
He was not seeing anything new.
"I don't know which possibility is correct," Satya muttered.
"But if either possibility is true… then ....this forest wants to trap me here forever."
Then, quietly, he spoke once more:
{ Resisting the symphony of nature and reality,
I force them to bend according to my will.
Even though I am but a tiny insect before them,
I shall remain unchanged for eternity.}