Wolf didn’t reminisce alone. Wayde stared at his treacherous roommate’s tiny body as it fell into the void. His lips twisted, insanity encroaching on his nonchalant smile. It’s funny how he initially considered his meeting with Wolf fortuitous, yet things ended up like this.

Ever since he was born, Wayde was mocked as a son of a whore. He had no friends and was forced to observe his mother get violated and humiliated, almost suffering the same fate twice.

His benefactor, Mister Hook, saved him, yet Wayde remained alone. His mother ran a respectable bordello, but only prostitutes kept Wayde’s company. They minded the owner’s kid to escape work. However, by then, Wayde no longer needed friends.

He had a pact with Mister Hook. He knew what he needed to do, how to accomplish his goals, and everything his actions entailed. Edwin slapped Wayde with the cold truth. His reality was to either become a two copper whore, or gamble and try to reclaim his birthright, becoming the Duke.

Mister Hook provided Wayde with education, food, and shelter; and Wayde didn’t disappoint. Fueled by rage and hatred, he studied hard to meet the elite class’s requirements. Years ago, during the Mage Academy entrance exam, Wayde met the man who he hoped would be his first trusted ally and genuine friend.

At first, Wayde acted polite and intimate, while remaining guarded. He feared Wolf was an assassin sent after him.

However, Wolf’s random and erratic actions quickly proved that Wayde was being paranoid. In his happiness, Wayde believed he had found a loyal brother. Yet when he entered his loyal brother’s room, worried for his safety, Wayde caught him reading a letter with the seal of the Snarling Wolf.

Wolf hid his orders in a fluster, and Wayde pretended not to notice, but that crest had cast a shadow of doubt about Wolf’s identity. Even his name was Wolf!

As time passed, Wayde noticed a problem with his roommate’s physical development. Even though he concealed it well, Wolf still had his baby teeth. He never experienced a growth spur, his voice never cracked. Voice, weight, height, teeth… Many things were wrong about Wolf, if one paid attention.

These oddities reassured Wayde that he lived with a disguised elf who cheated his way into the human Mage Academy.

There were other clues.

Wolf’s sword was a replica of a famous elven blade. The ring he gave Anna was of elven make, and Wolf said it suited his taste. And worst of all, Anna, the girl he liked, his benefactor’s daughter, fell for it. Wolf infatuated her.

So, Wayde made it his mission to expose the spy. To save Anna from his evil clutches. Since Wolf was so much stronger than him, Wayde didn’t dare act negligent. He thought friendly thoughts, burying his enmity deep within his heart. But that hatred smoldered. It grew into a pyre. Wolf belonged to the race which killed his grandfather, which brought his family to ruin, which made his mother go through hardship. He would never forgive them. He would never forgive Wolf.

To drive a wedge between Wolf and Anna, Wayde mixed lies with truths. He grew up surrounded by women and he knew what was important. He told the truth about unimportant things, but the crucial matters contained traps, disguised as flaws and naivety.

Wayde dragged Wolf to brothels, then sent an anonymous, nearly untraceable letter to Anna, exposing Wolf. When he found out about Mandy, he once again snitched on Wolf. He followed the workings of incompetent fools who harbored ill will against Wolf, trying his best to assist them subtly, never jeopardizing himself.

When his mother received absurd and suspicious news of virgins working in a brothel, he knew it was a ploy against Wolf. So Wayde portrayed the dumb messenger conspirators needed.

Unfortunately, the plan fell flat. It was an utter fiasco, from which Wayde found out elves had captured Sir Archibald Hillman and used him to create a Wolf disguised as a human.

Oddly enough, elves didn’t invest in their tool’s social intelligence. Wolf acted as aptly as a four-year-old child. He fell for Wayde’s plots time and time again, never questioning him after ruining the nobles who plotted against him.

However, Wayde wasn’t made of stone. Over the years, Wolf sold him a bunch of brotherly favors. He tutored him, bought him the potions he needed to stay in the elite class. But in Wayde’s dreams, a feminine voice whispered in his ear.

“He wishes to lower your guard.” Following those words, Wayde drank a potion Wolf gave him. He woke up soaked in sweat; his teeth clattered as he recalled the vivid sensation of choking and the agony of poison melting his body.

“He will betray you.” And a dagger sank into Wayde’s kidney. He woke up screaming from the stabbing pain.

“He is setting you up like a puppet.” And Wayde experienced despair and humiliation as strings mired his body and limbs. He relived his childhood nightmares, becoming a man-whore directed by an elf laughing above.

Initially, Wayde attributed it to paranoia. But then, the assassination incident happened. Even during the event, Wayde saw Wolf glancing towards his tree, following the invisible assassin with his gaze.

But in his dreams, the scene extended. While Wayde couldn’t see him, Wolf killed the Monster Beast with ease, then slashed himself to appear heroic, like he took one hit to save his friend.

Then, the alluring voice spoke of Annabelle.

“She was your betrothed, your future duchess,” darkness whispered, showing Wolf and Anna, her head between his legs, his hand helping her keep rhythm. “He tempered with her memories. He wants to take what is yours. As we speak, he is in your future wife’s bedroom, soiling her mouth…”

And when Wayde finally gained Northshield… “You established order in his chaotic lands. He made you Duke to get you out of the picture. You will sink into debt, and he will steal your hard work while removing you from Anna’s side. He is jealous…”

Whenever Wayde felt grateful for Wolf’s actions, that venomous tongue whispered poison straight into his soul, twisting his emotions.

Jumbled memories and shards of dreams mixed with reality flashed through Wayde’s mind. Insults and injuries, real or imaginary, strained Wayde’s psyche. But watching the diminutive manling, who used to be his roommate and could have been his friend, thrash his limbs while falling, made those oppressive mountains grow lighter, until they disappeared along with Wolf.

“Huff,” After laughing his heart out, Wayde exhaled deeply, feeling free for the first time in his life. That voice was correct. He really entered the rift, defenseless, his form fully exposed. It’s only a shame I couldn’t record it as evidence. But maybe it’s for the best if he dies a hero and I mourn him.

Wayde then shuddered. What if she can’t close the rift?

Do not doubt me, tiny wisp, the seductive whisper echoed in Wayde’s mind. In an hour, when he falls, I will seal this vent. If he approaches any other, I will seal it as well. You have one hundred years to prepare for his return.

The woman paused, and Wayde heard a cheerful laugh. As for your reward, I will teach you how to cultivate your energy. Depending on your effort and ability, you might be the Empire of Human’s strongest warrior in a decade or five. However, if you indulge yourself without putting in effort, you will die a weakling.

Wayde nodded and collapsed as his mind entered a Dreamscape where he lived life after life as a Sword-Sage, hating, fearing and fleeing from the star devouring terrors which were Wolf and his spawn.

***

The spinner of dreams still healed its injury. Two years had passed since Wolf’s outburst frayed it. The candidate breaking the world’s laws surprised it, but the damage was manageable. Easy to fix.

“Finally. He enters a zone where he will struggle to advance his soul until I let him. He will lack the strength to resist, and that obnoxious Skyling will enter torpor. I should slightly speed up the flow of time. That way, he can return on schedule. These observers are weak. They will not sense a seven percent increase and it will buy us enough time.”

It could relax. It could not believe the candidate had such an obsession about his father’s wishes. Fixations were useful, if channeled, but the emotion it needed was hatred, not familial love and attachment.

Those hampered the previous candidates. Tethers needed cutting, not nurturing. Otherwise, the candidate would refuse to leave. But it had plans.

The spinner did what it did best. It plotted, predicted, and orchestrated, setting up a fresh course. The previous incident happened because it was too lax. Because it did not control everything perfectly, to the tiniest detail.

In this new world, manlings had weak souls. They were easier to control, and Monster Beasts were even easier.

“I will throw fools his way. He will hate them and grow disgusted with mankind even more. He needs to prepare for future prosecution, which he avoided here. I will start with Bear Tribe chasing him and fighting him to the death because he destroyed their rift. I have prepared the stragglers from Lion Tribe to take him in, for him to lead them to greatness. Then they will betray their champion, ruining his faith in humanity completely…”

The sad little thing plotted, weaving dreams and rigging rifts to collapse when Wolf neared. It was oblivious that the ridiculous obsession it planted, combined with free will, would create another damaging incident in mere hours.