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I was sleeping in a flower field. A beautiful woman was stroking my hair. Still drowsy, I opened my eyes. She had beautiful red hair and a gorgeous face. I felt that I should recognize her but sleep was still gripping me tightly. I smiled at her and she returned it. Happy, I snuggled closer to her hoping to go back to sleep.

“Wake up sleepyhead. Mama's waiting.” I felt her breath on my ear as she whispered to me.

I woke up right away. I knew that voice.

“Whose mama?” I asked as I stared at Maron. I thought I finished my evolution but it looked like I was still on the path.

“Yours, of course.”

“Of course.” I nodded before catching up to what she was actually saying. I looked around in panic expecting to see my real mother but Maron and I were all alone.

“Where's my mother?”

“Here, of course.” She pointed at herself.

“Huh?”

“When you became a mara, you also became my son.”

“How is that making sense?” I was freaking out. A psycho Jessica Rabbit with a superiority complex bordering on stupidity was my mom? My real mother looked like a walk in the park next to her.

“Well, it's your fault. The only way for spirits to have children is through the spirit evolution. When we reach a certain age we're sent to the evolution path to wait for someone to become our child. You pass my trial so your mine. Now, let's talk about your future.” She said with a serene smile.

“My future? Wait a damn minute! You call that an explanation? I want to know why you are my mother.”

She let a deep sigh. “You're really not bright, are you? The Evolution path is a special dimension that represent your internal self. All spirits of age have been called to this dimension for you. You pass their trial, accept their race and you become their child. Easy as pea.”

“There's nothing easy about it. I got beaten twice and you tried to kill me.”

“No one said the spirits called wanted to have children. We were brought there only because we were of age and no one could leave until you chose a race. Basically we had to wait for you. Do you know how annoying it is to be transported to another plane without notice and to wait around for a snot-nosed kid like you to make his mind?”

“It's not my fault.”

“If you said so. Now do you get it?” I had more questions but I was sure I wouldn't like the answers. “Now about your future. You need to free the rest of the family.”

You have received a quest!

Save your family

Your entire family had been imprisoned. You need to save them.

Difficulty: SS+

Requirements:

Be a mara

Be a member of the Dreamweaver family.

Rewards: Respect from your family.

Quest cannot be refused.

You have accepted the quest.

I read in shock. When I absorbed all this information, I screamed. I received an impossible quest again. I wasn't even level 5 and I already had two SS+ quests.

SS+ was the highest level for a quest. The difficulty ranking went that way from the easiest to the more difficult: E, E+, D, D+, C, C+, B, B+, A, A+, S, S+, SS, SS+. I couldn't complete a level E quest without getting killed and transformed into another race, what would happen to me with a SS+ quest?

A slap to my face woke me from my depressing thoughts.

“Sweetie, calm down.” She was creeping me out with the endearments.

“You gave me an impossible quest!”

“Don't worry. It's not impossible. You're my son, you can do it.”

I had many objections to what she said but I kept them silent.

“And how am I going to do that? I'm level 4, you know?”

“Check your stats and skills.”

“Status”

Status[quart=Character name,Alignment]Everheart Dreamweaver,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]4 (10%),None[/quart][quart=Title,Race]None,Mara[/quart][quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Health,Mana]250,1250[/quart][quart=Fear,Sadism]280,140[/quart] [quart=Strength,Agility]23,34[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Intellect]32,44[/quart][quart=Willpower,Charm]20,20[/quart][quart=Vitality,Affinity to Nature]30,0%[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0,100[/quart][quart=Attack,Defense]3,2[/quart]Magic resistance100You are invisible until summoned. No one can touch you nor hear you.

I was a little bummed that my infinite stats disappeared but when I recalled all the bad luck I had recently, it could have been worse.

“Skills!”

Human form [active] Level Max

You can take on a human form whenever you want.

All stats and skills will be updated after the change.

- 50 to all stats.

No mana cost.

Racial skill cannot be deleted.

Temptation[passive] Beginner level 1 0%

With your word and charm you tempt your prey.

10% chance of success.

Racial skill cannot be deleted

Temptation devourer [passive] Beginner level 1 0%

You gain stats when your prey gives in to temptation.

+ 4 intellect

+3 wisdom

+ 5 strength

+10 fear

+2 agility

Racial skill cannot be deleted.

Fear conversion [active] Beginner level 1 0%

You can convert your fear into any stats you wish.

Limit:10 minutes

Racial skill cannot be deleted.

Twisted temptation [active] Beginner level 1 0%

You create illusions to tempt your prey

The higher the level the further and bigger the illusion can be.

100 mana per second.

Dream field [locked]

Float [Active] Intermediate lvl 2 3%

You are able to float above the ground.

Speed: 90 miles per hour

Height: Six feet above the ground

10 mana per second

Touch [Active] Intermediate lvl 2 10%

You are able to touch things and people in the material and immaterial world with your body.

20 mana per second.

Reading comprehension Beginner Lvl 5 67%

Increases the speed of your reading and of your understanding of the material

5% per level at beginner stage

Magic mastery [active] Beginner Lvl 2 17%

The higher the skill the more complex the spell one is able to cast.

Mana consumption depends on the spell used.

Magic comprehension [passive] Beginner Lvl 3 57%

The more you know about magic the less mana you need to cast a spell.

Sword Mastery Beginner lvl 2 54%

Increases attack power with a sword

+10 % per level

Dagger Mastery Beginner lvl 2 43%

Increases attack power with a dagger

+10 % pr level at beginner

Archery Mastery Beginner lvl 1 31%

Increases attack power with a bow

+10 % pr level

Identify [active] Beginner lvl 2 10%

You can gain information on an object.

10% chance of success.

The higher the level the more information you get.

100 mana

Gardening mastery Beginner lvl 2 67%

The higher the skill the more complex garden can be created.

Cry of the damned [Active] Beginner level 1 0%

A cry filled with anger, sadness and regret.

Effects on enemies:

Stunned for 10 seconds

- 20 fighting spirit

10 mana per minute

I stood shocked as I looked at my skills. With the racial skills alone, I could become overpowered fast. I jumped up and down in joy. I chose to ignore the human form skill. It was stupid. Who would want that kind of penalty? With a minus 50 in all stats, there was no way that I was going to use it.

“Now, you see. You can do it.”

I calmed down but I still had a huge grin on my face.

“What's the dream field skill? And why is it locked?”

“It's a specialized skill for our race. It let us enter and use our power in dreamland.”

“What's our race.”

“Mara. We are spirits of temptation. We become stronger by tempting our prey. People gives us several names: nightmare, incubus, Santa. It all depends on how each individual use his power. Personally, I prefer not to limit myself.” She explained smugly.

“What's the common point between Santa and a nightmare?” I asked in a dubious tone.

“Desire. Santa gives away presents to children tempting them into wishing for more and a nightmare twist a situation and make people desire things they wouldn't normally. It all came down to making people wish for something, dangling it in front of them and letting them get it to fuel our power. Now that you get it, we need to talk about the quest.”

To sum up the situation with the family, they pissed off a lot of people from pretty much every race existing and in revenge, they got imprisoned. Maron being the only one who was not officially a nightmare was spared and now, she wanted me to go around and free the others.

“Nope. No way, I'm not doing something so troublesome.”

“I am your mother and I tell you to do it!”

“First of all, you're not my mom and secondly, why don't you do it yourself?”

“I don't have a physical body anymore. I can't move on my own in the mortal plane.”

I looked at her with suspicion. “What happen to your physical body?”

“I might have been cursed for something I've done but you don't have to worry about that. You are going to grow stronger and then, free us.”

I laughed. It was either laughter or tears. We were still on the evolution path so she couldn't lie. She actually believed what she was saying. She looked at me like I lost my mind.

“How do I leave this place?” The best solution I had was to leave and forget I had ever heard something.

“You just have to will it and put power behind your words.”

“I want to leave this place.” All of a sudden, I felt extremely tired and I fell to the grown unconscious.

*******

I moaned in pleasure at the softness surrounding me. I was floating in space when someone nudged me.

“Let me sleep.” I swapped my hand in annoyance to get rid of this person. I regretted it immediately as a wave of tiredness engulfed me. My hand was too heavy. I sank back into the soft bed I was on. However, I jumped in fright when a tongue licked my face. Awake, I came face to face with a wolf who licked me again while four others snuggled closer.

Three questions popped up in my mind. Where was I? Why was I in the middle of a wolf pile? And how come they could touch me? The last thing I remembered was the pop-up that announced the end of my evolution. I looked around trying to get my bearings.

After looking closely at the wolves I recognized them. They were the ones I saved from my classmates. All five of them snuggled around me. I sighed in relief, if they were there, then, it meant that I was back near Soren town. But the reason why I was in a cave with them still eluded me.

“Status”, I shouted to confirm my evolution.

Status[quart=Character name,Alignment]Everheart Dreamweaver,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]4 (10%),None[/quart][quart=Title,Race]None,Mara[/quart][quart=Fame,Infamy]0,0[/quart][quart=Health,Mana]250,1250[/quart][quart=Fear,Sadism]230,90[/quart] [quart=Strength,Agility]-27,-16[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Intellect]-18,-6[/quart][quart=Willpower,Charm]-30,-30[/quart][quart=Vitality,Affinity to Nature]10,0%[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]0,50[/quart][quart=Attack,Defense]3,2[/quart]Magic resistance50

My mouth hung open. It was a nightmare. I couldn't be human. I went through a spirit evolution. I was supposed to be a mara not a human. I was even weaker than before my evolution. I had stats in the negatives. I didn't know they could be that way. I was freaking out. Until I remembered the human form skill. I might have activated it without noticing.

“Skills!”

True form [Active] Level max

You can take on your true form whenever you want.

All stats and skills will be updated following the change.

No mana cost.

Racial skill cannot be deleted.

“True form!” I shouted. I didn't bother looking at the rest of the skills.

Black smoke came out of my body. I looked at my hands mesmerized. I could feel them but they were not there. When I tried to move my fingers, tendrils of smoke moved.

Whines pulled me out of my trance. The wolves were sniffing and looking around making noise. They couldn't see me. I tried to touch them but the smoke went right through their body. I used my touch skill and it worked. They yelped in surprise and looked for who touched them.

I checked my stats and skills, they were the same as I remmembered.

“Human Form!”

The wolves yelped in surprise as I reappeared in front of them. I fell to the ground exhausted. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Even standing was too much for this form. The wolves came at me and snuggled.

I stroked their fur, deep in thought. Now that the more urgent questions were answered, I puzzled over their attachment to me. I knew that I saved them but I had been invisible, they couldn't know that it was me.

I didn't reach any conclusion. From what I knew, animals in the game didn't behave like their counterparts in real life. Their current behavior could mean anything and nothing for all I knew. The softness of their fur was lulling me back to sleep. A window suddenly appeared in front of me.

Do you wish to register pets?

“Yes.”, I replied. From what I knew, pets contract didn't just happened. You had to gained their trust and they had to wish to be yours. I didn't do anything but I chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

A golden light showered us and a link appeared between the five wolves and I.

Hakubi, Madarao, Amidamaru, Hashimaru, Abudabi have been registered as your pets.

I regretted my decision immediately. I should have remembered that the world was out to get me.

“Poor little one. He's ugly and weak. We have to protect him from harm.”, the one who licked me earlier said.

“True. He's so pathetic that just standing tired him.”

“It's our duty to protect him now.”

“I can hear you, you know.” I interrupted their little chat. They all gave me pitying looks. “Don't look at me like that!”

“You don't have to worry. We'll take care of everything.” Abudabi said as she licked my face again.

I ignored that statement and asked the questions that plagued me since I woke up here.

“Why are we in a cave?”

“It's the den.” She didn't say anything else like I was supposed to understand whatever she meant.

“And?”

“And?”

“Explain what's a den is.”

“It's our home.”

“Okay. So how did I come here?”

“Of course, we brought you.”, she replied like it was an evidence.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked as she wasn't forthcoming with the information

“You're pack.” They all nodded like it answered everything. Just talking to them was getting me more tired than I was.

“ Sweetie, don't question things too much.” A feminine voice resonated inside the cave.

“Maron!” I recognized the voice.

“Oh! didn't I told you? I can't move on my own but with our mother/ child link I can go everywhere with you.” She appeared in front of me.

Too much. It was too much for me. I logged out not sure if I ever wanted to play again.

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