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"Oh, give yourself some credit, little elf," Akira replied with a sinister grin. "You might surprise yourself."

Resigned to her fate, Inara met Akira\'s gaze. "Bring it on. What\'s the worst that can happen?" she said, steeling herself for the inevitable. At least she wouldn\'t end up as a plaything for the elites and nobles out there.

Akira\'s grin widened as she circled Inara, her eyes gleaming with dark amusement. "Alright, little elf, let\'s see how sharp your mind truly is." She paused, savoring the tension in the air. "Here\'s your riddle:

"I am a prisoner without a cage,

A shadow without a sun.

I am the echo of what was,

Yet the start of what\'s begun.

What am I?"

Akira\'s voice was smooth, almost soothing, but there was a wicked edge to her words. She watched Inara closely, eager to see how the elf would respond. "Answer carefully," Akira added, her tone laced with mockery. "Your life might depend on it."

Inara furrowed her brow, trying to focus through the fear that gnawed at her insides. The riddle twisted in her mind, its words circling like vultures. She took a deep breath and spoke cautiously.

"Is it...a dream?" she ventured.

Akira\'s grin turned into a sneer, her eyes narrowing with amusement. "Wrong, little elf. A dream is fleeting, and though it can linger, it\'s far from the echo of what was."

Inara frowned, trying to think harder. She closed her eyes, replaying the riddle in her mind. "Maybe it\'s...a ghost?" she offered, though doubt crept into her voice.

Akira let out a soft, mocking laugh. "You disappoint me. A ghost is bound by death, a mere shadow of a life once lived. It doesn\'t begin anything new."

Frustration gnawed at Inara. She was running out of ideas, and the pressure was mounting. Desperation laced her next guess. "Time?" she asked, though she was almost certain it was wrong.

Akira rolled her eyes, her expression one of boredom now. "Time is ever-present, little elf. It\'s not confined, and certainly not an echo of what was."

Inara felt the sting of each failure, her mind racing as she tried to find an answer that made sense. But the more she thought about it, the more the words of the riddle tangled in her head. She bit her lip, on the brink of giving up, when something clicked.

Inara\'s eyes lit up as she thought she had finally grasped the riddle\'s meaning. "It\'s... a memory!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with hope. "Memories can be echoes of the past and can sometimes influence the future, right?"

Akira\'s expression darkened, her amusement giving way to frustration. She clenched her jaw, and the flicker of irritation in her eyes was unmistakable. "Enough," she hissed, cutting Inara off before she could continue. "Just shut it."

Inara flinched at the venom in Akira\'s voice, realizing her mistake too late. The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy with the weight of Inara\'s failure and Akira\'s rising anger. Akira\'s once playful demeanor had shifted, and the air seemed to thrum with a dangerous energy.

Akira stepped closer, her grin now a mere baring of teeth. "You were never going to get it, were you?" she said, her voice low and menacing. "I was expecting a challenge, a little bit of fun. But you\'ve disappointed me, little elf."

Inara swallowed hard, the cold grip of fear tightening around her heart. Akira had toyed with her, dangled hope just out of reach, only to snatch it away in the end. The realization that she had failed—completely and utterly—was almost too much to bear.

Akira\'s eyes flashed as she continued, "A thought, Inara. That was the answer. A thought can be a prisoner of the mind, an echo of the past, and the beginning of something new. But you... you never stood a chance, did you?"

The cruel truth in Akira\'s words hit Inara like a blow, and she knew that whatever came next, it would be far from merciful.

Akira sighed, her frustration simmering down as she looked at Inara with a mix of pity and mild amusement. "Well, I suppose I should\'ve expected as much from you," she said, her voice softer but still laced with condescension. "But I\'m feeling generous today, so let\'s give you one more chance, shall we?"

Inara, still reeling from the harsh realization of her previous failure, nodded weakly. She knew she had no choice but to play along, even though every fiber of her being told her that this was a lost cause.

Akira\'s lips curled into a smirk, the sinister glint returning to her eyes. "Alright, little elf, here\'s an easier one for you:

When is a door not a door?"

Inara blinked, her mind racing to grasp the simplicity of the riddle. It was a stark contrast to the previous one, and the sudden shift caught her off guard. She hesitated, trying to think it through.

Akira tapped her foot impatiently, her gaze never leaving Inara\'s face. "Come on, now. Surely, this one isn\'t beyond you."

Inara bit her lip, trying to connect the dots. The answer seemed to be on the tip of her tongue, but the pressure made it hard to think clearly. Finally, she ventured a guess, her voice shaky. "Is it... when it\'s open?"

Akira\'s eyes narrowed, and a slow, mocking chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh, dear. You really are hopeless, aren\'t you?" she sneered. "No, Inara. A door is not a door when it\'s..."

"Ajar"

Akira and Inara both turned as a strikingly handsome man stepped into view. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders, and his eyes, a brilliant gold like the sun, radiated with an air of undeniable confidence and power.

"Well, well, ladies," he said with a charming smile, his voice smooth and assured. "Allow me to introduce myself—Adams Albert. Your future."

Akira frowned when she looked at the man and found out that she could not read his cultivation level which is likely to happen given that she is already at the peak of this Realm\'s cultivation level.

"You\'re not a monster or a beast, which means you\'re from the outside world, just like this little elf here. Am I right?" Said Akira slowly getting into a fighting stance.

"Yes and I am here for her and you" said Adams with his smile still on.

Akira\'s eyes narrowed dangerously as Adams stood before her, unshaken and confident. Her lips curled back into a feral snarl, revealing sharp teeth as her hands twisted into claws, deadly and gleaming.

Without a word, she lunged at him, her claws aimed straight for his throat. The speed and ferocity of her attack were almost too fast to follow, a blur of dark motion and lethal intent. But just as her claws were about to tear through him, Adams remained perfectly still, a serene smile on his face.

Akira\'s momentum carried her forward, and to her shock, she passed right through Adams as if he were nothing more than a wisp of smoke. She spun around, claws still extended, bewilderment flashing across her features.

"What... what are you?" Akira hissed, her confidence shaken for the first time. The predator in her suddenly found herself unsure, her prey slipping away like a phantom.

"I just don\'t get it with you foxes and that damn riddle, \'when is a door not a door\'. It is like that\'s your favorite riddle, I don\'t know" said Adams completely ignoring her question.

Adams said this because he remembered back in his homeworld where he watched a TV series where a fox spirit also asked this same riddle continuously to the point he almost got tired of it and now he has heard the same riddle and it is also from a fox.

"And also, Inara got the first riddle correct:

-"I am a prisoner without a cage":A memory is bound within the mind, unable to leave but not physically confined.

- "A shadow without a sun":A memory is like a shadow of the past, existing without the need for light or reality.

- "I am the echo of what was":Memories are echoes of past events.

- "Yet the start of what\'s begun": Memories also influence the present and future, shaping actions and decisions.

So I supposed she is free to walk away now, isn\'t it?"

"Who did hell do you think you are to interfere with my business?" Akira asked growing frustrated with Adams and wanting to gut him so badly but knew she could not as he is impervious to her attacks.

Adams simply smiled and looked at Inara who is rooted to the ground with fear and said, "like I said earlier, I am your future."