Nightmare Zone has been cleared!

Mitchel Hedgelore has achieved lucidity.

Myles Chase has regained lucidity.

Classes have been reinstated.

Abilities have been reinstated.

Calculating rewards….

As the stone behemoth finished choking to death and began dissolving back into the aether, Myles felt his mind snap back into place as the dreamscape lost its hold on him.

For a moment, Myles stared at the grinning Mitchel, looked around at the cheering townsfolk that lacked any facial features, then turned and did his best to lose the contents of his stomach into the fountain. His body retched, his stomach turned, and the taste of bile filled his mouth, but nothing came as he tried to purge the unnatural feeling from his system. Even so, it wasn’t enough as he felt the retreating influence still sloshing across his mind and deeper.

Splashing water on his face and then dunking his head for a moment, Myles ran a hand through his hair, hoping it was just blood, oil, or sweat that had reached his scalp. Coming back clean, he brushed harder, but the feeling was deeper than skin and bone.

The more aware he became of it, the more it felt as though something was still coating his mind and thoughts. The feeling moved and lingered like oil on water, separating slowly before dripping down his spine, and sizzling as it was banished by whatever magic he wielded by simply being aware.

The feeling only brought his head back to the safety of the fountain’s basin.

After dry heaving again, he felt Mitchel’s hand on his back, giving him a reassuring presence.

“Oh come on, its breath didn’t smell that bad. Well, better than Lyna’s cooking anyways,” he joked. “Did you push it too far again?”

The link between the two was stronger now, and it wasn’t hard for Myles to tell Mitchel was confused about what was going on, but Myles had a hard time putting it into words. He couldn’t even properly explain it to himself. He just felt wrong.

Of course, Mitchel didn’t feel anything like that. As he pushed further into lucidity as Myles had, it would have probably been more like a fog lifting. It was his dream, his thoughts, his mind, his picture of Myles…

All of that invaded him, took over, and made him react the way Mitchel thought he would. In those moments of combat, Myles felt confident, clever, and determined in a way that just wasn’t who he was. It was like he was a caricature of himself, trapped within his mind, and his best qualities layered with a heaping helping of luck were put in place of everything else.

Was that really how Mitchel saw him?

Is that why he followed him so readily?

It didn’t take long for his lesson in sealed dreamscapes to come back in full force.

I don’t think you understand what I said, Myles. If you go into a dream of someone else, you’re bound by their rules until you either leave or they wake up and release you. In their dreamscape, you have to play by their rules or things get ugly.

Sindra’s words rang true stronger than he could have imagined, and Mitchel thought highly of him! How much uglier would it have gotten if he was able to resist his role? Could he even? What kind of damage would it do to him if the dreamer didn’t like him?

The thought made him remember the list of nearby dreamscapes based on personal connection and how Tail was sitting in the top spot…

Myles’s stomach began to rebel like hornets protecting their nest, and he nearly retched again.

Thankfully, the water of the fountain was still clear, and he took a drink, swishing it before spitting it back out.

“Myles? You okay?” Mitchel asked again. “Do you need something? I’m sure someone here…”

“Just did something stupid again,” Myles admitted.

Mitchel raised a brow and smirked again. “That is sort of your thing, Myles.”

Myles glared. “Not by choice. This was just a lot worse than I thought it would be.”

“Oh, come on, Myles. It could be a lot worse. You could be paralyzed again, your monsters…” he stopped speaking and looked around. “Hey, speaking of them, where are Ashra and Squishy?”

“Last time I saw them, Nod threw me into your dreamscape, so they’re probably waiting for the dreamscape to open. I can’t feel them yet, but as soon as the shell breaks. I think Ashra will come in loud and clear.”

“Nod?”

“My newest monster. I know I mentioned him.”

“The dream ripper, right?” Myles nodded, and Mitchel continued. “Gotcha. Still, it could be worse. We could be dead,” Mitchel said, grinning proudly. “Nice moves by the way. Haven’t seen you do that since the dungeon.”

“Wasn’t intentional,” Myles replied as he stood. “We’re going to have to rethink our plans to awaken everyone like this.”

Mitchel waved his concern off. “Come on, Boss. We did fine. It wasn’t…”

Myles’s glare cut him off. “You were the easiest and safest to awaken, and I felt more violated than I ever have, Mitchel. I feel like there’s oil on my soul and I can’t get it off. What happens when people don’t see me like you or worse, think more of me?”

Mitchel seemed lost, so Myles explained what had happened. His face instantly fell in understanding.

“I can see how that would be a problem.”

“It feels wrong. I know we need to get to them, but we need to know how.”

“Yeah, we can’t just leave everyone. Stronger together, right?”

Myles nodded.

They wouldn’t abandon them, but there had to be something they could do.

Combat Analyzed - Bonus Awarded for LV 7: Nightmare City Center Cleared

Treasure Distribution has been set to Need before Greed.

Assigned Treasure:

Myles Chase

20 Essence of Nightmares

Bridge Key Upgrade

Soul Dew: Dream Weaver

Mitchel Hedgelore

20 Essence of Nightmares

Draft of Opaline Strength

Upper Crust

Bridge Key

Class Update!

For successfully invoking the power of your baking prowess and magic while you were under the influence of another, you have unlocked a new Class Path for the Journeymen rank [The Path of the Proof] and the Class Path Talent - Weight of Proof.

How many paths are there for me? Myles asked himself before skimming the rest of the items as he considered how close he must be getting to Journeymen before noticing the last item on his list.

He’d gotten a Soul Dew.

Not just a Soul Dew. A Soul Dew for something other than his Class or what his Class was now anyway.

Soul Dew

Value: Priceless

Grandmaster Enhancement Item - Potion (Soul Elixir)

Class: Dream Weaver

Description: A small vial of Smokey white, gently glowing liquid.

Detail: Soul Dew, first discovered by an [Oracle] during the Age of Trials, is the condensed essence of a Soul Node, otherwise known as a Class Skill or a Trait. This unique liquid is produced in one of three ways, but most commonly from distilling a soul’s essence in the process of Soul Break or death.

It has extremely potent mana restoration properties and can serve as a catalyst to unique Class modifications or evolutions based on the Class that condensed the Soul Dew.

When used by a Dream Weaver:

Effect 1: When drunken, increase your mana regeneration, Soul Energy regeneration, and mana pool by 50%.

Effect 2: 10% chance to Manifest a new Skill or Trait.

When used by another Class:

Effect 1: 25% Chance to Manifest a new Class from the current Class(es) in line with Dream Weaver or gain Dream Weaver as a secondary Class.

Effect 2: 50% Chance of modifying a compatible Skill or Trait

Looking at the vial, Myles knew what he would be doing when he woke up, but that was for the waking world.

“Use your Bridge Key,” Myles explains as he took out what he’d earned helping Mitchel out. “It’ll open your dreamscape, and we can go back to my island to meet Sindra.”

He didn’t hear the challenge so much as feel it as a cold wind blew through the streets, but Myles did his best to ignore it as Mitchel replied.

“Does she have a plan?”

“You can be the judge of that,” Myles said as the upgrade materialized into his hand. It wasn’t anything impressive, just a circle of black crystal that seemed more like smoke than something solid. It didn’t glow so much as absorb the light around it to cast a ring of shadow like a candle would light. Other than that, there wasn’t much to it other than its description.

Bridge Key Upgrade

Value: None

Enhancement Item - Upgrade (Bridge Key)

Set Item: One of Six

Description: A fragment of something so much greater than the whole.

Detail: Socket this item into one of the facets to upgrade the capabilities of the Bridge Key.

Upgrade: Travel Time between dreamscape is reduced.

That wasn’t true for the Bridge Key.

Up until now, the bridge key had been smooth on all its faces, but holding the two items together revealed something new. As Myles watched with fascination, the top facet of the cube melted into itself, forming an imprint that looked to be the exact size and shape of the upgrade cylinder.

He thought it might be something more complicated than just putting a round peg into a round hole, but for once, he wasn’t going to complicate the matter.

Inserting the upgrade into the cube, Myles felt strange. The cube glowed once the upgrade was slotted, and a warm sensation passed from his hand to his head in the blink of an eye before the item changed.

Instead of taking up his entire hand, the crystal shrank, taking on a slightly darker appearance. The colors within swam within the cube as wisps of smoky gray and luminescent white fog with just a hint of orange, but the circle was still distinct from the rest of the swimming color. Even with how cleanly the two pieces merged, the cylinder of fog was still a perfectly visible circle on top of the cube’s facet.

The description and name of the item changed as well.

Facet of One

Value: None

Key Item - Dreamscape Key (Somniums Only - Soulbound)

Charges: 0/2

Upgrades: 1/6

Description: A small, unassuming block of crystal used to bridge the gap between the psyche of individuals.

Detail: An item said to be designed by Vul the Farseeing in conjunction with Rani of the Moon to bring peace to those suffering from nightmares and other ailments related to the realm of Somniums. When used while dreaming near another, create a pathway between two sleeping minds that can be traversed. The item recharges after a full day’s rest.

Primary Effect: Created a traversable pathway between the dreams of others.

Secondary Effect: Fast travel between visited dreamscapes. The Soul Energy cost for travel is dependent on connection and distance.

The phrase ‘fast travel’ caught his eye, and Myles grinned. People referred to the teleportation of the Shards of Heaven as fast travel, so, did that mean…

He didn’t have a chance to test it as the shards of the dream world came crashing down.

***

His wake-up call was about as abrupt as they came, and awareness was slow to follow up with its brother, common sense.

All at once, there was shouting, chiming, and a sure sense of utter annoyance as something moved him, pulling pillow and blanket from his warm body and exposing him to the unforgiving cold.

His mind overloaded for a moment, going from his near-empty thoughts to the emotions and thoughts of so many others fogging his mind as a pair of hands, he realized too late, and rolled him out of bed with an ultimatum.

“Wake up, Bright Eyes.”

His response was about as someone could expect.

“Gah!”

Without a worry for the man below, Myles fell out of his bed and crashed into Mitchel who had rolled closer as he slept. A mess of blankets, pillows, a laughing slimekin, a judging Ashra, and what sounded like a laughing Kendra warred for freedom as Mitchel tried to escape. The two only hindered one another, throwing supplies back on the others as Squishy threw more blankets from above.

No one helped him.

***

“Who would have thought?”

Darwin was beside himself as he looked at the seven letters before him. It hadn’t even taken a full day, and they’d all replied! Though the responses became more esoteric to match some of their owners, The [Master of Ceremonies] knew them so well that he could easily tell which letter belonged to who as he carefully fingered the edges of each before breaking the seals.

The first response was a rough, low-quality paper sealed with a deep, blood-red waxed hammer. Kia no doubt. The woman loved simplicity, and what said simple more than a regular old letter? Without mincing words, the woman agreed to visit as long as he didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Oh Kia, you know me better than that,” he snickered before setting it aside. It was Darwin, after all. Of course, he had to make a scene out of it! If she expected anything less, it was her own fault.

Setting Kia’s response aside, the second was the cleanest paper Darwin had ever seen, and that included the desks of royalty. The envelope was whiter than the clouds on a summer day, whiter during the snow of Frostfall, and whiter even than the Shards of Heaven. Standing out like a sore thumb, the letter was sealed with what looked like a glimmering black ‘crystal’.

This was, without a doubt, Quill’s work.

If there was any doubt about his old Running mate’s work, the seal moved and danced when it thought he wasn’t looking. He too was coming and expected the inside scoop on the Runners. He wanted the first pick of any that emerged for his little project in the royal archives.

With a smile that came as purely as the paper, Darwin folded the note back into the envelope and said a small prayer for the man.

“Never lose that sense of adventure, Quill.”

The third was a strong paper, more wood than writing material, and a silver wax family crest of a shield and helm. Dalf’s family crest made for an excellent wax stamp. Breaking it open revealed a longer letter than he’d expected. A short hello, a quick summary of how he and his family had been, the pride of his nephew taking up the shield, requests for some of the smoked meat Darwin’s region was famous for, and a list of drinks that went with different meals he was hoping to have, all very expensive and some were even toxic to people that didn’t have the proper Traits for poison resistance.

If it had simply said, see you soon. It wouldn’t be Dalf. He might appear stoic and stalwart to the outside world, but he was a good man that he owed a drink. Maybe he would have to put in an order from home to repay some of that debt.

He pushed the thought away as he continued down the line. There was no time for that now.

The fourth… well, it couldn’t be called a letter so much as a puzzle box that more than likely held the reply. It probably meant Nyeban was coming, but it would keep him up at night until he solved it. A week should be plenty of time for that.

The fifth was simply a candle, but Darwin knew this trick well enough. Lighting the wick, the shadows danced as Noir’s mastery of shadows communicated with a recording of all things!

“You son of a twice-drunk, thrice-high, sket-spreading mimic, if you think I’m not coming for you after…”

Darwin snuffed out the candle and moved on. For Noir, a simple yes would have been enough.

The sixth was a coin whose surface moved of its own accord as if possessed which it more than likely was knowing the wanna-be [Necromancer]. Ris was an odd one even to this day.

Taking the coin, he snapped it to release the spirit trapped within. The small wisp of a soul confirmed his attendance and conveyed Ris’s desire to be able to perform rights for his fallen brothers and sisters of the Seventh Run.

Thinking on it, the next caravan would be going in sooner rather than later, but the dungeon had a bit of a policy against old Runners. The Overseer might allow it if he were under proper guard though.

Darwin made a note to ask later mostly as an excuse for the company.

The last…

The last he set far away from the others as it glimmered with an ever-growing heat haze. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a letter, but it was more than likely a bomb and a pretty big one at that knowing Embertail’s Skill conversion ratios. Hopefully, the fox had forgiven his little… transgression, and the show of heat and light was just a result of her infusing a friendly, non-violent reply into the paper as a show of good faith. For all he knew, opening it would put on a light show!

The air crackled as lightning shot from the paper and arced onto the gold lining of the table, melting the point of connection out of place with the rest of the table.

Classic, Embertail.

“Raes, I have a job for you. I need to go begin making plans.”

The ball of light shimmered into existence and seemed to pale as it felt the well of mana nearby.

Darwin, being Darwin, clicked his tongue at the fae.

“Oh, it’s not that bad. It’s just an overly-friendly letter. You’ve seen worse in your tenure here.” A few flashes responded to his words which Darwin brushed off. “It’s fine. If you need me, which I’m sure you won’t, I’ll be over here working on the menu. We’re going to have maple barbeque pork, and I need to figure out what the best drinks and side dishes would work best. To make everyone happy. Rais’s kind doesn’t eat meat, after all, and I’m nothing if not a gracious host.”

Raes couldn’t help but notice just how far the other table was from them before they went to work slowly unraveling the threads of the many, many traps and spell contingencies entwined in the dragon silk envelope.