Waking up after being in a VR-Dreamscape was a strange experience for me. As my mind felt rested from sleep at the same time as it is boggled at the fact that it should not feel rested at all. Since I had been so intensively active the entire night while sleeping at the same time. The mental battle waged between these two impressions left me dizzy for just a moment and made me imagine that I saw a flickering purple shape fade out of existence above my head. But that image vanished too quickly as my mind was restored to order. Perfectly rested after a good night's sleep and ready for the day ahead.

I felt the creature I had birthed the moment I got out of the bed. It's primal intelligence raging deep within both my nanites and the recesses of my mind, I smiled at the result as I walked out of my room to pursue breakfast for a change. I didn't need to practice cloaking intensly in the morning any more after all, now that my nights could be freely dedicated to far more rewarding training than the stumbling I did while awake. If my suspicions about this anchored dreamborn were correct as well, then I would not have to purly rely on system skills to defend myself and my NVR from more experienced users. People trying to crack my NVR or intrude upon my thoughts would have a beast stopping them, the pain from scrambling could be transferred to the dreamborn instead and maybe in time I could use it to attack others?

My monster would have to be carefully tamed first of course, despite the stern talking to I had given it after it's birth I could still sence it chafing against it's chains. Bah, ridiculous creature it should know that without me it would not even exist, the power it fed on was mine and it's life was a byproduct of my nanites and my thoughts. Still, beasts are crude things regardless of whether they are born of flesh or of dreams. This one would be easily tamed given time, effort and just the right amount of pain given to it.

It took me little time to find some breakfast in the eatery while at the same time bending the beast in my mind to kneel and obey my will. I find a seat and start eating a sausage with some bread-like rations, while absentmindedly making the dreamborn scream as I make it's ephemeral bones break. The meat and rations are much better tasting than their normal counterparts in my world. I finish my meal just as I manage to make the beast still and I reward it by projecting the sense of contentment I received from my meal. 

With that done I can finally take a look at the notification that I noticed was laying in wait for me while I ate. Using the NVR to do simple tasks was one thing, but I have now learned to make notifications wait before I make them appear. It is far easier than being swarmed with unwanted boxes with their arbitrary messages for me. 

NOTE: You have anchored a minor dreamborn to your soul and nvr system, this might have several effects upon your future development. Maintaining a dreamborn while awake requires a constant stream of mana. Your mana capacity is reduced by 10% - Your Instinct + VR-Dreamscape Manipulation levels. Current reduction: 10%-3%= 7% percent of your mana capacity is spent maintaining your anchored dreamborn.

Note: Permanently Anchoring a Dreamborn to one's Interface and Soul will have several consequences, you may also only maintain a number of anchored Dreamborn up to your VR-Dreamscape Manipulation level. Quantity can be exchanged for quality as well as you can sacrifice slots to make your currently anchored dreamborn into more powerful ones. 

I balk at the anchor it would put on my immediate magical capacity, but such a short term sacrifice will be worth it for the long term gain that I will get from this protection. Oneiromancers can summon armies of "Actors" to protect their minds from intrusion even when they are awake, and as I have noted these Dreamborn seem to be far more tangible and powerful than mere dream automata. I am not overly worried by the consequences having such chained subordinate minds linked to my soul, can potentially have on me in the future. Pain and Sacrifice are what creates true power and success, that is what the other magic users never manage to understand.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Wizards believe that long hours at academies and libraries constitute sacrifice, but at the same time balk at the thought of losing an arm to gain greater power. Sorcerers are entitled brats who were born with their magic and would not know sacrifice even if it plucked their eyes out of their skull. Clerics and their ilk who gain power from faith don't sacrifice, they just give and receive. Sacrifice cannot be easy and faith at the end of the day is just that: easy.

I blink and shake my head to regain my concentration, those people are not in this world and are therefore no longer relevant to my situation. What is next? Am I going to start muttering about Goblins and other vermin? My thoughts have to be reserved to be focused on the relevant tasks at hand, not going over old wounds and meaningless rants. It is unbecoming of me to let myself be distracted by the past.

I wish I could smack my past self because later when I sat down in Namatha's office for her therapy session with me, she asked me to do just that. "We have talked about the events leading up to you being thrust into galactic life, but today I thought it would be relevant to go deeper into your past. If you permit me to do that mind you, can we talk about your life before you came here, Glyphnax?" Namatha asks me with the calm and court smile that I have come to expect when I am in this room.

This line of questioning troubles me for reasons that are hard to describe. On the surface level, it contains the issues that I mostly deal with when I talk to Namatha, to what extent can she pierce my ability to lie? I know that she has talents beyond what a normal being can have, because of her NVR. But she has been rather secretive about it and I have to be cautious. However, there are also deeper reasons than the merely practical ones for why I want to hold back. In the back of my mind, there is a void and that void have threatened to consume my resolve for years, it is when the past is brought up that it tends to grow to consume my very being. 

If I begin to talk about the things I have experienced, even in an allegorical form that void might consume me. I do in the end after several seconds of silence, decide to tell Namatha at least some aspects of my past. "I was meant to be a slave, that was the purpose of my birth. The haruspices had predicted my creation would lead to the ultimate slave of one of the most powerful people back where I lived. From my conception and onwards I lived to serve my owner and while that position gave me power, it took as much as it gave to me. Each moment was meant to further his interests and while the chains loosened, they never disappeared and I was forged to this purpose."

Namatha watches me with a compassionate expression as she indicates with her hand that I am free to continue. "I had creatures sent after me as a mere babe, had my most treasured items and associates taken from me or put to the sword, my mind pushed and prodded to make it shaped to become the slave they wanted me to be." I clench my hands into fists as my thoughts race back through the centuries and the cold tidal wave of the void rises up to consume my thoughts. 

"There Glyphnax, I think that is enough of the general overview. Now, I want you to describe and recall only one of these horrible events from your past. Specifically, you are to think about them and then describe the thoughts and emotions to associate with that event." Her warm voice carries through the room and I feel her almost lean into my thoughts and push the void back. It is an irrational feeling as I know she just said some words, yet I feel they help me center myself and I proceed to do as instructed.

We spent a good hour discussing one of the events from my past, where I was forced to confront the void once again. However, this time I had two guiding hands helping me look past that experience and fight against the dark anchors threatening to drag my mind into oblivion. The warm and kind healing provided by the therapeutic exercise, and the animalistic fury of my dreamborn which seemed to be able to attack the void in my soul directly. It was this last development that left me the most surprised after the session, how the dreamborn not only could serve as a defense against external threats. But also a means for me to fight my own inner demons and purge myself of the flaws and weaknesses that are shackling me.