The two creeped up the stairs, watching out for any remaining thugs or bodyguards. Luckily for them, they all seemed to have either died or ran away.

‘I’m finally free,’ She thought, overjoyed.

Evan too was glad that the whole fiasco was over.

‘I can’t wait to go back to sleep,’ he thought while yawning, but before he could take another step, someone struck him on the head.

The blow would have killed him instantly, if he were a normal child. However, Evan just so happened to have a pentagram construct that constantly leaked mana throughout his bloodstream, strengthening his body for years.

Instead, the blow simply sent him flying several meters away, the Nightmare Lantern knocked away on the ground.

“Evan!” Fel shouted, running towards him, but someone yanked her hair before she could reach him.

“Stop! You are my slave now and I will kill that boy for insulting me!” Claude, the ginger haired noble roared. He slapped her with his free hand before throwing her away.

The floor creaked under the impact of her fall.

‘Ahhh, fuck. It looks like the noble ran away when everyone was getting killed down in the basement.’ Evan thought, ‘Damn that hurts, enhanced physique or not.’

He was alive, barely. The blow had concussed him, leaving him unable to cast spells.

‘Damn it, I can’t fight or run. Third option then, play dead.’

Unfortunately, this only made the noble angrier, making him vent his rage on Evan’s “dead” body.

Evan cried out in pain for the second time in his life.

Normally, this amount of pain wouldn’t have even made Evan flinch.

However, he had already been bludgeoned in the head before, while he was being kidnapped in the middle of the night. Then, Fel had hogged most of the food and water they had found as she had been starving for far longer than he had. Thus, Evan had had to fight with very little food, water and sleep against multiple adults as a three year old with no training whatsoever.

Honestly, he didn’t know how he had survived himself.

Was it luck? Skill? Divine Blessing?

Either way, he was on his last legs when he received yet another head injury, this time more severe, in the past 8 hours.

‘Eyes getting heavy. Maybe I’ll just take a rest-’

…

‘I am weak.’

‘And I am suffering because I am weak.’

‘That’s just a fact.’

‘But then why? Why do other people keep getting hurt because I am weak, even other strong ones like Evan?’

Fel thought as she watched the noble kick the boy over and over again.

‘No, stop. I don’t want to be the weakling again.’

‘Think, Fel. What can I do to save him?’

Just then, the noble gave a particularly nasty kick, sending another wave of creaking through the floor.

‘The floor, the basement ceiling. I got it!’

…

‘Disgrace, fucking disgrace.’

‘This little shit humiliated me in front of those peasants and my own bodyguards.’

‘If he didn’t kill all of them with his magic, I would!’

‘My name is Claude Haughbergnet and I will not stand for this insolence from one of my future subjects.’

‘Hah, what an ordeal.’

‘I suppose I’ll have father clean this up later.’

‘Now, I think I’ll go home and play with that elf slave before going to bed.’

‘Where is she, anyway?’

‘I thought I threw her right here…’

The floor creaked with every step he took as the noble searched for the slave.

Suddenly, just as he had gotten out of range of the boy,

“Bor Nalakh”

The floor blew up beneath him.

…

“Evan, Evan wake up! Please tell me you’re alright!” Fel said, trying her best to hold back her tears.

Her plan had worked.

The weak floor of the warehouse had been damaged after Evan’s display of power with the perverted thug. After the firestorm, the floor had the material strength of paper so Fel’s spell had been enough to break it and send the noble falling back into the basement.

Now though, she was afraid she had waited too long for the noble to leave Evan alone.

‘I have to get him out of here.’

She gently picked him up in a princess carry left the warehouse, hoping she had not been too late.

…

“Evan, Hey Evan. Wake up.”

Evan slowly opened his sleepy eyes. He found himself in bed in a room similar to an apartment unit from Earth and in front of him-

“E-Erin?!”

“Yeah, who else, silly?” Erin giggled.

Erin Hayley, his childhood friend.

She was a 1.78 m tall woman with long black hair and a fringe covering her forehead. Her slim, lithe figure was hidden under the covers on the bed. She looked at him tenderly as Evan was struggling to hold back his tears.

“What’s wrong, Evan? Are you alright?”

“I missed you so much.” Evan said while crying, embracing his childhood friend and losing himself in the sweet scent of her hair.

“I missed you too, dummy.” She whispered before kissing him full on the lips. Doing so revealed that they had been sleeping together naked for some reason.

Evan was almost ready to go right then and there.

Almost.

“This isn’t real, is it?” He asked with a sigh.

“No, no it isn’t.” She replied with doleful eyes. She then waved her hands over the space around her, causing the illusion to subside. The apartment faded out of existence along with the furniture and scenery leaving behind a white room with the bed they were sleeping on and a single door.

Evan sighed again. “This is just a dream, and when I wake up, you’ll be gone.”

“Yeah, you will.” Erin replied, confirming Evan’s suspicions. “But you could always just stay here with me. You could decide never to wake up and stay in this dream forever.”

“No, I mean. I would love to stay with you like in this dream forever, but that’s all it is and all it would ever be if I don’t come back: an evanescent dream. I have to go back, to make it to the real you.”

Erin smiled, “Alright, I’ll be waiting then. Live your best life before coming back to me, okay?”

“Sorry, can’t do that.” Evan said with a shrug of his shoulders. “A life without you, no matter how magical, would never be my best.”

Erin giggled, “When the hell did you get so romantic and cheesy?”

“I’ve been thinking about what to say when I get back. Was it good?” Evan asked, blushing slightly

“Yes, very good.” Erin replied while laughing.

The two stayed together, chatting and laughing together about Evan’s experiences in his new life. After he finished, he got up from the bed.

“Guess I’ll go back now.”

“Yeah, guess you do.”

“Before I leave, thank you, Erin, for always staying with me, pulling me through my depression while you had your stuff to deal with. I promise when I get back, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Deal.” Erin said with a smile. ”Also, take care of that elf girl. She’s lost and needs all the help she can get.”

“I will.” Evan promised with a nod before turning to leave the apartment unit through the door which he assumed would wake him up.

“Go get them, Dead Eyes!” Erin shouted at him.

Evan replied to her by flipping her a certain finger, earning a laugh as the dream slowly faded.

…

“That was beautiful.” A woman said while she wiped her tears. Her wavy, pink hair, tucked behind her long, pointed ears, fell down to her waist and her bangs hid her tear-stained eyes. She wore a dark purple, sleeveless, oriental dress that exposed her long, slender arms and covered her delicate neck. Her soft, pale-white skin had no imperfections whatsoever.

“Yeah, that was.” David replied, quite moved himself.

“No wonder Deo has been acting so smug. You found yourself a monster, David.” She replied, grinning slightly.

“Please don’t remind me, Sera.” David said, whimpering. “Everyone is going to “thank” me for finding someone so special and letting Deo get a last minute bet in before they closed. At least he didn’t get First Blood. Otherwise, I would have to prepare something extra for his reward.”

Seraphine only giggled at David’s complaints. David sighed before saying.

“Well anyway, thanks for doing this Sera. You’re the only one with enough power and permission to do this. I’ll pay this back soon.”

“No problem and you don’t need to do anything. Just don’t try to convince me to talk things over with Him.”

“Oh come on, Sera. Can’t you at least-”

“No!” Sera shouted, releasing a pulse of mana that could have leveled a planet if not for the wards in place. Sera knew how destructive her occasional outburst were and so reinforced the place to withstand them.

“He’s moved on and so have I. If there’s one thing I’ve learned when doing this job is that if you love someone, you have to be willing to let them go.”

David shrugged, “I’m the one who talks and listens to him when he comes in for a drink. As for the last statement, let me give you some advice. The farther you let someone go, the more you have to work to get back until it’s too late. Well thanks anyways, I’ll go now. I have a lot of work to do and I need Sans for his space manipulation abilities.”

David warped away from Sera’s domain, The Spirit Realm. Most respected Inviters like Seraphine and David had their own worlds to take care of. The one Seraphine ruled was the Spirit Realm, where creatures like wisps, elementals, and other spirits were born and lived for most of their lives. Of course some of these creatures are often seen on other worlds like Earth where they became folklore and Javik, the world Evan was in, where they were classified as monsters.

Seraphine sighed, unconsciously fingering a locket around her neck. It contained a picture of herself embracing and kissing a young man with a silver streak with some red near the edges which contrasted with his black hair. His black eyes were slightly bloodshot and sleepy. He wore a heavy black overcoat that covered him entirely with navy blue pants and knee length boots. He was smiling happily, as he held Seraphine in his arms.

‘Maybe David’s right, I should go talk to him… No, he should be the one coming to me. Why should I care what he does? He never cared, so neither will I.’ She thought.

‘Who am I kidding? I care for him, I just want him to care for me like he did before, like how David’s invitee cares for that girl. What was his name again? Maybe I could get him to pass on a message to that blockhead so that he’ll see me.’