I, of course, woke up with a start. And while I dislike doing that anyway, today was far worse.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Melly, looking at me. Her eyes, they had… concern, right? Right!? But… I, I can’t look at her. I just, I can’t forget the hatred I saw. What, what if she looked at me with those eyes? I, she wouldn’t! Never! But… what if… what if, she did?

I, I can’t, not now, at least. So, as she started to say something, I cut her off.

“Morning. How wa-”

“Bad!”

“Oh, do y-”

“No! Go away!” I shouted while taking my blanket and diving off the bed to hide.

“Eli? What’s wr-”

“Go away!” I shouted again. I’m sorry! I just, I can’t see you right now. I’m sorry.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon th-.”

“Don’t! Just leave!” I kept pushing.

“Okay. Call me if you need anything.” I had to stop myself from rejecting her.

Haa, it’s okay, everything will be fine. I just… need some time alone. Once I’ve calmed down, I’ll make it up to her.

Oh, I just realized that I kicked her out of her own room… In her pajamas… Haa, I feel like such a brat. She has to be, be… dis, disappoint, ed… I, I need to stop. Melly is nice! She will understand! Besides, I can actually talk now! I can make it up to her!

I then spent the next few minutes worrying and trying to calm down, before being interrupted by a knock.

“Don’t come in!” I shouted, still hiding behind the bed.

“Eli, do you want any food? I can bring some here.” Melly asked.

“NO!” Look, she’s so nice! She wouldn’t hate me for this… right?

AH! I need to stop! IT, WASN'T, REAL! Okay?

A few hours later, I heard another knock. “Eli, it’s time for lunch. You should eat something.”

“NO!” I, I’m not ready yet. I need to fully prepare myself first! I won’t let the nightmare win!

“I’ll bring you something then.”

“NO!” Please, just leave me alone. I know that I’m being spoiled, just, please, leave me alone.

A few minutes later, I heard another knock.

“I brought you some food. Can I enter?” Why!? I said no!?

“No.”

“Okay. I’ll just leave it here then.” Haa, I am hungry, but getting the food would involve opening the door. I can’t though. What if like the dream everything gets worse once I leave my room? I can’t deal with that yet!

I was luckily left alone again for another few hours, before once again, there was a knock on my door.

“Eli? Are you there?” I was asked, this time by Rapunzel.

“No.” there was a pause. Haa, I feel like an idiot.

“Can we come in? We want to help you.”

“No.” I refuse. I’m not ready yet. Almost though.

“Okay. We will be waiting here then.” Uh, please don’t.

After a few minutes without them doing anything, I called out. “Are you still there?”

“Yes.” Oh, they are waiting.

After a few more minutes, I asked again. “Still there?”

“Yes.” Huh.

I did that two more times before finally giving up. I, well, I’m a lot better than I was earlier, but am I ready? What, what if they’re annoyed from waiting? I, I, Haa, okay.

“Uh, you can come in now,” I say nervously.

“Okay, we are coming in.” She responded, before opening the door.

Huh, they are all here. “Uh, hello?” I say, still hiding behind the bed. I’m still nervous, but so far it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.

“Are you okay?” Melly asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe?”

“What happened? Was there a problem with your nightmare?”

“Haa, yes. Yes, there was.”

“What happened?” She asks while getting closer.

“Wait!” I shouted. “Haa, I, I’m not ready yet.”

“Okay, I’ll stay over here. So, what changed?”

“Everyone hated me.” I started.

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

“Isn’t that fairly normal for your nightmares?”

“Yes, but this time was different. Normally, everyone hates me because I brought the dragon. This time… This time I was the dragon. Before it was a mistake, a misunderstanding. I always felt distant from the hatred, as if I would be fine once I explained everything. Not this time. This time, the hate was firmly directed towards me.”

“But, even then, it would be a false hatred.” She argued.

“Yes. It was like that, at first. Sadly, I just, I couldn’t. They, they just kept coming, kept trapping me, kept, forcing me to, to… to kill them. I tried not to! I really did! But Accidents started happening, and they got better at trapping me, and, and I couldn’t heal! I was stuck. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I had to, I was forced! It just, being hit hurt too much for me to ignore.”

“It’s okay Eli, you didn't mean to hurt them. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know! I know… It’s just, as I tried to escape the city, the people's words, their curses and hatred, it all started to become… real.”

“They weren’t though, it was just a dream.”

“I know! I know… it’s just... my actions, they fit their words. I felt like, like I was the monster they claimed I was. Especially after hours of hearing them tell me that...”

“Hours? Eli, how long did your nightmare last?” Greg asked.

“Um, almost as long as I was asleep. So, several hours.” I answered. Haa, it was soo loong! It felt like it would never end.

“You were being chased and berated for hours!?” Melly exclaimed.

“Yeah, though I wouldn’t have really cared normally. I mean, it’s just a dream after all, why would I care about what some imaginary strangers think? The problem was, basically everyone was somebody I at least recognized. It, hearing people I knew curse me, seeing their sheer hatred… it hurt.”

“Oh, but, what about us? What did we do?”

“Haa, unlike every other time, you guys were against me as well.”

“That’s why you wanted to be alone,” Melly said in realization.

“Yeah. I know it was just a dream, but, if, what if, you, for whatever reason, looked at me even remotely similarly? I, I couldn’t. It would be too much.” I cried. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t risk it.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” Melly comforted.

“Haa, thank you for waiting. I just, I needed some time to calm down.”

“While I regret to bring this up, as I would rather wait until you have fully calmed down, I believe that checking how your mana is fairing is of utmost importance. We need to know whether your dragon mana is capable of another such nightmare. As well as to determine how your natural mana fared during your distress.” Greg informed me.

“Ah, yeah, you’re right. I spent most of the dream actively resisting it. Haa, I really hope that I haven’t screwed myself over at the last moment.” That would be, just depressing, wouldn’t it. “Haa, can you guys check for me?” I asked weakly. I almost don’t actually want to know.

“If you would do the honors, Rapunzel.” Greg requested. Hmm?

“Of course. Excuse me, Eli.” She accepted. “Whenever you’re ready.” She smiled. Ah, I probably don’t look the best right now. Haa, it’s just been one thing after another. When will I get a break!

Oh! “Um, why were you asked, specifically?” Greg’s request felt fairly odd.

“Oh yeah, you weren’t there.” She says in realization. Ah, I missed something. That makes me kinda sad. “Part of what I gained from the dragon was a better mana sense.”

“What! That’s amazing!” After all, your mana sense affects basically everything that involves mana in small yet vital ways! Sadly, it is quite rare for someone to have a noticeable proficiency with it, as while it is something we can train, and, as far as we know, doesn’t actually have an upper limit to how much you can improve it, its growth is ridiculously slow. So, having the eye give her a substantial improvement is quite advantageous. Though, I didn’t think a dragon of all creatures would provide you something like that. Hmm, maybe it’s because of its core?

“It is.” She agreed with a smile. Yeah, improving your perception of mana is quite useful for everyone.

“That’s good.” I smiled. Ah, I’m happy for her. She was quite disappointed with her monster ascension, even though she knew logically that it was the best option. It’s nice that at least something is going better than expected. “Haa, do it.”

“Okay.” She responded, once again infusing me with a dangerous amount of her mana. It was still easily defeated though.

“You know, that amount of mana would be dangerous to anyone else,” I advised.

“I know, but, as you said, you are a special case. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to figure anything out if I didn’t use this much mana.”

“True… So, how, haa, how is it?” I nervously asked.

“Well, it’s not the best.” Oh… “But! It could be much worse! While another dream or two like that would be too much, right now you are fine.”

“Oh.”

“Uh, well…” Rapunzel muttered nervously.

“It will be okay, Eli. Right?” Melly added, looking at Greg for help.

“Indeed. The core likely can not sustain such actions, or it would have done so earlier. Also, dealing with it once should make the next time easier.” Hansen theorized.

“Right!” Melly agreed. “So, don’t worry too much. Everything will be fine.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Hansen’s words do make sense. All I need to do is be prepared. And, well, It might not be the worst for the dragon mana to win. It isn’t preferable, but considering that they are likely to combine anyway… “Thank you, everyone.” I smiled. Well, I wanted to add something, but I’m afraid I’ll jinx it with anything I say.

So, I instead stretched, before asking. “So, did I miss anything?”

“Only the Cardinal worrying about you,” Rapunzel reported.

“Oh, not Samuel?” I jokingly asked.

“Yeah. He, for some reason, seemed to think that we should just leave you alone.” Ah, he misunderstood me! Haa. I’m glad he’s trying to understand me, though.

“I see. Well, in a sense, he was right.” I shrugged.

“If you say so. Anyway, did you just spend all day stressing about your dream?” Melly asked in worry.

“No, not at all!” I rejected. “While that might have resolved my issue quicker, I’ve been stressed recently so I should actually relax. As a direct result, I decided to spend today reading.

“Ah. That’s good.” Melly sighed in relief. “ I was worried…”

“That I was lost in misery? Don’t worry, while growing up, I’ve seen many people struggle with various issues. And, while ignoring the issue helps temporarily, and directly dealing with your issue is scary and stressful, working on it bit by bit while taking reasonable breaks tends to work the best. At least, that’s what works for me, everyone deals with stuff differently.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a healthy way to deal with things.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. “Though sadly I haven’t had much time to really do that.”

“So, what are your plans now?” She asked, moving past my confession with a frown.

“I was just going to keep on reading, I haven’t really had the chance to do that much as of late.”

“Don’t you read all the time though?”

“To learn magic. This is different, I’m reading for enjoyment. Like, I’m currently reading about the advances of naval technology and how it has made sea travel possible, despite the many powerful monsters that live in the sea.”

“I… see... Well, have fun then. Ah, are you going to, join us for dinner?”

“Will do, and yeah, sure.”

“Okay! See you then.” Melly waved as she left.

“We shall not disturb your reading any longer, Eli. Please rest well.” Greg said.

“See you at dinner,” Rapunzel added. Hansen just nodded.

“See you later.” Now, back to my reading…