“Grastel, are you ready?” Namrick asked ready to leave the room.

“Yes, just a second!” I said as I finished tying my shoes. Damn him, always waking me up from the best dreams.

“I failed…” Ellin said while writing something in her journal. Curious.

“You’ve just woken up, what could you possibly have failed?” I asked her while I stood up, ready for breakfast. I nodded to Namrick.

She sighed and joined us as we walked toward the main hall.

“Spirit walking.” She grumbled.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you start learning it just a few days ago? Give it some time,” I continued. “Besides, who knows… Allen might be swindling you!” I said jokingly, showing her my signature grin.

“Shut up!” She said. “Spirit walking is my dream!”

Dreams. I too used to have lots of them, but life has only taught me disappointment.

Well, maybe not always. I think I'm doing pretty well at the moment, I even feel I might become someone decent.

We climbed the stairs down the hall, I took my seat and called out to Klark, the innkeeper. “Hey mister, we’re ready for breakfast!”

“Coming!” The innkeeper said, appearing from the kitchen door with our breakfast in hand. “You guys are always early.”

Ellin and Namrick sat down as well and we started eating.

“Allen?” Asked Ellin, looking at the stairs.

“I knocked at his door, as usual, he’ll be here soon,” Namrick answered.

“Ah, sorry guys! I have to do a quick errand, could you watch the place for a dozen Respites? I know I can trust you.” The innkeeper asked us.

“Sure!” Namrick nodded.

“Thanks! I’ll be back soon.” He thanked us and left in a rush.

“Ellin, are you coming to spar with us later?” I asked.

“No, sorry. I’m paying a visit to the Val Ferdias mansion. I think Edward is back from the training,” She smiled. “His father sent for me, but he didn’t specify the reason. I think he’s still afraid that someone could hurt him.” She added, slumping her shoulders a little.

“I see. Next time, then.” Namrick said looking outside the window with a faraway look.

I heard footsteps coming from the stairs and turned to see Allen. I waved at him, he almost waved back but his hand got stuck staunching a yawn.

“Morning…” He said, looking at us with a tired face while taking a seat.

“Morning.” We replied.

“Ah… are we alone?” He asked looking around.

“Yes,” Ellin replied. “The innkeeper just left for an errand. He’ll be back shortly. Do you want some milk?” She asked him after having filled my own. I took a swig.

“Yes, thanks. Ah… by the way, Violet knows my secret.” He said casually, like it was nothing of importance.

What the heck!? I choked on the milk, half of it coming out from my nose.

*COUGH*

Namrick and Ellin almost seemed to freeze in place.

*COUGH COUGH*

“Whaaat?!” We all said in unison. Or would have had if I hadn’t been fighting a coughing fit.

“Weren’t you afraid of being taken to pieces if other mages found out? Why did you tell her?!” Ellin exclaimed, staring at Allen wide-eyed.

Namrick had a surprised expression but quickly resumed munching his breakfast.

“Yes. But I didn’t tell her,” Allen said, his eyes narrowing. “It was Taldinann!” He added with a scowl. “I don’t know how she got there so quickly, but he sang like a bird. He told her all of it! Yesterday, when she told me she knew, I almost thought I had reached a bad end.”

“Yesterday? But then… why didn’t you tell us?!” She asked him. “Why keep us in the dark?”

“I just didn’t find the right moment.” He said while shrugging his shoulders.

“You had all day!” She complained. She was right.

I stopped my coughs and agreed. “She’s right.”

“I had more important things in my mind. Which is why I’m telling you now. Do you really want me to make a big fuss for all the minor details?”

“Minor details?!” Namrick said, narrowing his eyes. “That sounds pretty major if you ask me!” He crossed his arms on the table.

Thankfully for Allen, he was sitting in front of Namrick so he couldn’t receive the usual shoulder punches.

“Even at the temple… you said nothing until the next day. Don’t you trust us?” Ellin added, with a saddened face.

Yeah, that was a low blow. He should have told us immediately he had been tortured. Or soul-tortured. Whatever that was called.

Allen frowned. “Of course I trust you guys! But it wasn’t urgent news so there was no need for my friends to lose sleep over it. I’m a grownup, I can take care of myself.” He said and attacked his own slice of bread. “Besides, Violet promised me she’ll make sure no one ends up experimenting on me.”

An uncomfortable silence came down.

I actually understood Allen… I too didn’t like to weigh down my friends with my own problems, if possible.

Hmm, there was something I wanted to ask him.

“What were you up last night? We heard you laughing,” I asked him before taking a bite from my slice of bread and butter. You woke me up!

Allen grinned. “Right, sorry about that. I had just finished working on something important.”

Namrick smiled. “Another feature for your…”

“Silver box?” I finished with a grin.

Allen grinned and shook his head. “No,” he said showing us the back of his right hand.

“There’s nothing there, Allen,” I stated. Did he forget his ring? He probably did.

Ellin frowned and spoke. “Did you forg–” But she was cut short.

“MIMETIC MODE OFF!” Allen exclaimed.

His adamantium ring appeared on his finger.

"..."

I sniffed. “Well… a great party trick, I guess,” I said wryly, looking at Namrick for support. He glanced back at me and raised an eyebrow at Allen.

“No… you guys don’t get it,” Allen said waving his fingers. “This is the silver cube’s successor. The All-Ring!” A satisfied smug stamped on his face.

I rolled my eyes. Great, double the silver boxes double the smug.

“Give me your rings later, I’ll make use of my time with Grohm to upgrade them,” He said. “Now that I have Proxy Magic I can do all kind of fun stuff, you’ll see.”

“Allen?” Ellin leaned forward.

“Yes?”

“I almost did it…” She began.

“You did what?” He asked, confused.

“Spirit walking.”

“Oh?” Allen said. “Well, I didn’t notice anything while I watched over you guys… maybe I missed your attempt?”

“… Creepy,” I said with a frown. Does he peep on people all night long?

“Creepy indeed! Everyone looks bald! But don’t worry, you guys have bright spirits, I can’t even make out your features.” Allen inclined his head and looked out the window. “After a while, I got bored and took a stroll around the city, I attempted to cross the Academy’s walls and I got zapped back into my dream.”

“I had a lucid dream but… I wasn’t in control... and woke up, I failed.” She said, playing with her hands.

Allen looked at her for a few seconds. “Ahhh, I see,” He said, with a knowing smile. “You dreamed lewd things!”

Ellin’s eyes went round. “E-Eeeeeh?!” She blushed a deep red.

That reaction… He got it right?! I raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry Ellin, it’s perfectly normal. Everyone becomes a sex-starved bunny when they become fully lucid and realize they can do anything they want.” Allen said, nodding slowly.

She hid her face under her hands to cover the embarrassment and muttered. “N-No!”

Anything you want… I’m almost tempted to try it as well, but honestly, brothels are probably less demanding in terms of effort.

I eavesdropped when Ellin went inside Allen’s room to get her lesson, wondering what all the fuss was about, and from what I heard learning these lucid dream things required way too much effort.

At least I confirmed they weren’t doing anything improper. I trust Allen… but Ellin’s a pretty girl. It never hurts to be double sure, especially since she’s so unwary. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tries to exploit her good nature.

I hope she learns fast how the real world works. Namrick too… he's not a fool but once you start talking about swords and swordsmen he turns into one. I truly don’t know how they would have kept going without me.

“Grastel, are you sure you don’t want to try?” Allen asked me, grinning.

I shook my head. “No thanks, I’m not such a loser that I would seek that kind of comfort in my dreams,” I said to tease him.

He scowled. “It’s more than that,” He looked at Namrick. " Namrick? You could practice your swordsmanship while you dream. Imagine it!"

Namrick’s eyes sparkled for a moment, but then he too shook his head. “No, I prefer my dreams to stay as they are, but thanks for the offer.” He raised his arms in surrender.

Allen shook his head, disappointed. “You have the chance to reclaim some of the time spent sleeping but you won’t even try… fine, as you wish.”

He turned back to Ellin.

“In any case, the fact you had a lucid dream so soon is encouraging. You just need more practice in controlling your dreams. I’ll add my lucid dreaming app to your ring. It checks when you enter the REM phase and sends a telepathic reminder while raising your awareness, nothing overly complicated.” He grinned and continued. “Then, when you get good at it you’ll be able to have all the dream sex you want without waking up in the middle of the actIOuMHPf–” Allen’s face was hit by a loaf of bread. Courtesy of Ellin.

“Shut up! Shut up!” She yelled, blushing again. “I only care about spirit walking! Idiot!”

Both me and Namrick were grinning.

“So there’s a shortcut? Can’t you just use that app thing, whatever that is? Why waste time learning?” I asked. If there was a magic tool that does it all for you maybe I could make an attempt after all.

“Ha! It’s not so easy,” Allen said, picking up the loaf. “Without the basics, even if you became aware, you’d wake up, lose lucidity or simply forget about the dream altogether. Besides, it consumes mana.” He pointed at Ellin. " Ellin is a magician so she has higher mana recovery, you don’t." He concluded with a shrug.

No luck, then.

“I give up then,” I said with finality.

Namrick looked at me. “We should invest our time in sparring, instead.” He said. “That’s what will keep us alive on the battlefield.”

I nodded in agreement. “Indeed. You should join us sometime.”

“But, I’m busy. Besides, I already had some experience during the recruit training and out battles.” He said with annoyance.

“That’s not enough, they only taught you basic moves. In any case, if you don’t keep practicing you’ll get rusty.” Namrick said with a stern face. He was right.

“But… I’m a blasted magician! Every time I swing my mace around I’m embarrassing my profession.” Allen complained.

Namrick was about to say something when the front door banged open, Klark rushed inside with a worried look on his face. He was panting hard. He looked at us and said.

“I… I just heard. Noirdant… Noirdant has fallen!”

The smile fell from our faces.