It wasn’t long before someone burst into my room, sword drawn.

I need to run! They, they’re going to kill me! I… I don’t care. I just closed my eyes and, haa, accepted my fate.

Instead of a sword, though, I got a hug. “Wha?”

“Eli! What’s wrong!?” Melly asks.

“I, I’m not going to die?” I mutter.

“What do you mean? Is something wrong? Do you need help!?”

I look at my arms, but they are back to normal. “Was it a hallucination, or…”

“Eli, speak to me. What happened?” Melly continues.

“Hero. Where’s the Hero!” I shout. He would know. He has to!

“He’s making our breakfast,” Rapunzel responds.

“Why do you need the Hero?” Melly asks.

“I… need to know. What was that? Was, was it real? He should know. He can tell me what, what just happened.” I say as I start crying. Please, please be fake. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to be a monster.

I quickly get up and barge out the door. “Eli!?” I hear, but I just ignore them. I’m sorry. I have to know, was, was it real? Could it become real?

It didn’t take me long to reach the kitchen despite running there barefoot. Ah, thinking about it made my feet hurt. “Whatever, where’s the Hero?” I ask one of the chefs, who just points in surprise. Ah, there he is.

“Hero,” I call out.

“Hmm? What do you need, Eli? Don’t you want to get dressed first?” He joked.

Arg! He, he has to know! Haa, calm, calm. I, need to ask, but, but I have so many questions. What happened? Was it real? Could it be?

“Am I a monster?” Was what I ended up asking instead.

“Hahaha!” He. He laughed. He’s laughing at me. I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR YOUR JOKES!

I put my hand on his face, and for a brief moment, I saw fear in his eyes.

I then did the only thing I could: infused a frankly dangerous amount of mana into him. “AAHH!” He screamed. I-I just leaned against a nearby counter as I lost all of my strength from shock.

“Eli? What was that!” Melly asks. What was that, indeed? Oh, I used Hansen’s word. Haa, I’m out of it. Today sucks. Can I get a do-over?

“Eli, did you perhaps infuse the Hero with your mana?” Greg asked.

“Yes, she did!” The Hero shouts. Hmm, it still looks like it’s hurting him.

“Why did you do that, Elizabeth?” Rapunzel questions. Ah, no nickname. I hope it’s not like with the Hero. That would, that would be heartbreaking. Ah, I’m crying again at the sheer possibility.

“Haa, today is just… bad.”

“Elizabeth, just because you are having a bad day doesn’t mean you can hurt the Hero.” Rapunzel scolds.

“He deserved it, though!” I shouted.

“I doubt that.” The Hero denied.

“Youuuu. FF-AH! Haa, I. Am. Mad. At. You!” He’s really angering me.

“Elizabeth, calm down.” Not Melly too… I’m in the, well, I’m not in the wrong!

“Haa, fine, it is my fault, but she overreacted!” He argued.

“Do you want another dose?” I say, releasing some mana across my hand menacingly.

My threat doesn’t last long, though, as Melly grabs my arms so I can’t do anything. And, as we learned the other day, even with buffs, I can’t escape.

“Haa, that hurt. Okay, you are not a monster.” Oh! But, then? “You don’t have to be so shocked. What even happened?” He asks. Arg, he knows. He has to. Yet…

“Why do I have to say it?” I don’t want to talk about it. I just want answers!

“Why wouldn’t you?” He smiles.

“Haa, fine. But later, and in private.” I really don’t want to bring up another problem with everyone. I’m not a pity generator!

“Sounds good. Why don’t you get ready? Food will be done soon, after all. And remember, no matter what happens, you aren’t a monster.” Haa, that’s so relieving.

“Haa, you’re right. I’ll be back soon.” I say, gently freeing myself from Melly’s grip. I then casually walked back to my room. Some went to follow but were stopped by the Hero, saying. “Give her some time.”

Haa, my feet hurt.

______

By the time I got back, I was, well, not exactly calm, but I was able to hold off my worries decently well. Especially since I would soon be eating a grander meal than usual in farewell. Haa, even without his cooking, the Hero’s presence is relieving, like everything will just work out. Hopefully, he has a solution for… whatever my issues are.

We ate the delicious breakfast surprisingly peacefully. There were also several people joining us, including Samuel and Cardinal Caitlyn. Ah, they couldn’t resist a good meal from the Hero. I’m glad I didn’t ruin the meal.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The Hero led me to my room, followed by our entire party. And Samuel. And even Cardinal Caitlyn!

“Um.” What’s going on?

“As you asked, later and in private.” He smiled in amusement.

“This is not what I meant.”

“But it’s better like this.” His smile grows.

“It seems you forgot about earlier.” I threaten.

“Elizabeth Michael!” The Cardinal yells.

“But!”

“No. You already went too far. Don’t do it again.” She demands angrily.

“Why?” I start to cry. Why is everyone against me? What did I do wrong? It, It’s just like last night. It’s happening again! Why!? I didn’t do anything! I didn’t… I’m good… I’m, not a monster…

“Enough!” The Hero shouts. “Especially you, Cardinal.”

“What! I was defending you.” She exclaims in shock.

“Yeah, she went a bit too far, but only slightly. Now, before anyone says anything else, we should listen to her story.” He declares.

“While we don’t know why she attacked the Hero, she isn’t that sort of person. She also woke up screaming, so something must have happened. Before we pass judgment, we should at least hear about what happened.” Rapunzel argued.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Do I have to?” I ask.

“If you don’t want to be punished.” The Cardinal informs.

“Fair, I’ll take the punishment instead.” I declare.

“Why? Were you so in the wrong that you decided to accept the punishment?” Samuel asks.

“No. I’d just rather be stabbed than tell everyone,” I declare firmly. “Without any pain techniques,” I add. I didn’t use one in the ‘dream,’ so this could help me understand what happened. Especially as I’ve never been stabbed before, so I really shouldn’t know what it feels like.

“Why are you so firm about this?” He continued.

“I don’t want to keep generating pity. I’m more than just a convenient tool to bring everyone closer!”

“You ar-” Melly started, before getting cut off by the Hero.

“Miss Michael, I recommend that you tell us.” Does he really think that would work?

“Why should I? To increase our bond? Improve our growth? You just want to use me!” Everyone was shocked at that. Also, it seems that not everyone knows what I’m talking about.

“Even for that reason, you should tell us.” I just glared. “Though, that’s not the main reason to tell everyone. Everyone cares about you and wants to help. Besides, you can’t handle this on your own.”

“Why do you say that? I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“Then why’d you ask me for help?”

“I just wanted to know what was happening. I didn’t need… haa, fine.” I reluctantly acceded. I doubt I could win an argument with him anyway. I just, why can’t I do anything on my own!? I mean, I already need protection as a support! I wanted to, at the very least, be able to take care of myself outside of combat.

“Haa, so, when I woke up, I thought I saw scales on my arm, so I was wondering if I was turning into a dragon or something,” I say surprisingly blankly. “I then tried to ask the Hero about it, but he just laughed at me.” I glare.

“While I understand why you would be worried, that doesn’t excuse your actions.” Cardinal Caitlyn reported.

“Yeah, all you did was ask if you were a monster. That’s not a lot to go on either.” Rapunzel added.

“If that was all it was.” The Hero added.

“Was it?” Melly asked. Before I could deny it, she continued. “I mean, Eli isn’t the sort of person that would hurt someone just for laughing. She’s way too polite to do that. And her screaming and then rushing out like that definitely wasn’t normal, either. So, Eli, please tell us what happened. Seeing you suffer alone hurts me too,” She worries.

“I,” I, I can’t hide this from Melly, not when she’s so worried. “Okay, fine! Last night I had a, nightmare? But it was too vivid, too, too real. It wasn’t until I woke up that I realized I had been asleep. But then, part of it seemed to have physically manifested. So, I panicked.”

“What sort of nightmare scared you so much?” Melly asked.

“Haa, so…”

______

After describing it, everyone had a different expression than previously. Guilt. Guilt for blaming me when I was in such a state of panic. Guilt that they all opposed me, just like in the dream. Guilt because of what the Hero just said.

“That was all caused by the core.” He commented plainly.

Are you kidding me!? You forced this upon me. I am going through all of this because of you! Because of the Hero! ARG! I. Need, To, Stop! Blaming everybody! I’m fine! I will be fine.

I will make sure of it.

“Why do you believe her core was the cause?” Greg asked.

“Because, unlike demon cores, hers had a proper will. Even when destroyed, some of its shattered intent should still remain to influence things. Not to mention when the dragon's will still partially lives.” Oh.

“That seems undesirable. Potentially even harmful.” Yeah, I agree, Greg.

“Correct, but that’s just the cost of power.” But I didn’t even really want it in the first place!

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Melly asks.

“Make sure that Eli is in a decent state of mind and that she keeps training. Things will get a lot better once she doesn't need to worry about the power of her mana.”

“That’s it? Nothing else?”

“Other than that, you should avoid using mental spells; I recommend that you don’t resist, don’t accept, and just observe. It’s trying to wear down your will, don’t let it.”

“Don’t resist? Why?” I ask.

“Because resisting is tiring. While the dragon only has so much energy, so do you. So, reduce your battles and increase your recovery. With that, you should be fine.”

“I see. That does make some sense.” Though I don’t know how much I really can just sit and watch. I also don’t really understand what resisting entails. What does running away count as? At least I’m pretty sure I know what accepting is, and I definitely don’t plan on doing that.

“Well, since that’s been taken care of, I believe it is time for me to leave.” The Hero announced.

“Right now? Even though the Saintess just went through that?” Samuel asked.

“I had originally planned to leave slightly earlier, but then this happened. Also, as I’m using a Gate, it would be quite rude to delay much further.”

“Is that so? I apologize. I wish you luck then.”

As we started to head to the Gate to see him off (and hopefully see the Gate opening), I thought of something.

“Did you wait to leave until today because you knew this would happen?”

“Why would you think that, Eli? It’s just a coincidence. If he knew, I’m sure he would have waited until later to leave.” Melly said. Well, she doesn't seem suspicious of the Hero, at least in this way. Actually, I’m probably alone in my suspicions; everyone else seems to think the Gods are guiding him.

“Well, partially.” He says. I knew it! “I figured that if something was going to happen, it would have happened by today. And it did.” He says smugly. Sure, you thought something might happen.

“What if it did happen later, though?” Rapunzel asks.

“Then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue for Eli. A delay means that the dragon needed that much more time to gather enough energy to act. The longer it took, the weaker the will should be.”

“Huh, I guess that makes sense.” I accept.

“Indeed.”

“So, a stronger will would be capable of gathering energy faster. Interesting.” Greg said. “I understand why you were not worried in that case.”

“Though, if you knew Eli would have difficulties, why did you laugh at her?” Melly asks. Yeah!

“Well, she ran up to me in her pajamas, got lost in thought, then asked if she was a monster. Who would be able to take her seriously?”

“Yeah, you deserved it. Sorry for doubting you, Eli.” Melly apologized.

“It’s fine. I probably did use too much mana anyway.”

Everyone else also apologized. Sure, I likely went too far, but I was panicking! The Hero was just unlucky that he provoked me. It also makes sense from my point of view since I’m confident that he knew. Wait, if he knew, why did he provoke me?

“Was it o-” I start to ask.

“We’re here.” The Hero cuts me off.

“Aw, it’s already open.” I pout. It was obvious that he purposely cut me off. You can’t avoid this forever!

“Well, It’s time for me to go.” He reports.

“Farewell, Hero, may your journey be successful,” Greg says.

“Goodbye, for now, Hero. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.” Rapunzel promises.

“See you later, Hero,” Melly adds.

“May you enjoy your travels.” Hansen follows.

“Have fun.” I finished.

“Remember that you can always go to the church should you require anything.” Cardinal Caitlyn advises.

“Thank you, everyone. I’ll be back before you know it.” He says before walking through the Gate.

“I wonder what he plans on doing?” Rapunzel ponders.

“Indeed.”

“Well, it might be for the best that we don’t know.” I sigh.

“You might be right.” Rapunzel joins my sigh.

“Well, I guess I should get back to training,” I say.

“Are you sure?” Melly asks.

“Yeah. The only way I can deal with the core is to keep on training. Besides, anything else would probably just stress me out instead.”

“Sadly, you’re probably right. Good luck. If you ever need help, feel free to ask.”

“I will. So, shall we go, Samuel? Unless you have to do something, of course.”

“Don’t worry, I’m quite free. Let us resume your training.” He agrees with a smile.

Once we entered our training room, Samuel asked me a question. “How do you want to handle your vein situation? Specifically, how often do you want to use your density reduction technique?”

“I have options?”

“Yes, the more often you use it, the less strain on your veins, and the less growth you will experience. In exchange, your core should also empower you slower. Meanwhile, using your technique less will increase your vein growth and your core empowerment.”

“I see. What do you think I should do?”

“I believe you should use it as much as possible, as delaying both should give you more time overall.”

“Or my core will outgrow my veins and leave me trapped.”

“Maybe. While I personally believe delaying is your best option, neither choice will give you too much time, even in ideal situations. You will be cutting it close regardless.”

“That’s problematic. Hmm, I’ll reduce my usage of my density technique to the minimum. Considering how fast my core is fusing with me, I don’t think delaying will give me as much time as growing my veins would.” I decided instead.

“That may very well be true, though only time will tell.” He accepted.

“At least this way, I can immediately start increasing my limit as soon as I learn my spell. Most importantly, though, the more I cast my vein spell, the more familiar with them I should be, so I should be able to grow just a bit faster.” I reason.

“That’s a fair point. Both options should be fairly close anyway, so let’s go with your idea.”