CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dream Walker
----------------------------------------
WARNING! Members of the Pantheon have noticed your ritual!
“Bloody hell!”
Sweat dripped down Bram’s brow.
“We’re not ready for their attention…”
He tried to rise from the chamber’s cold stone floor, but Rowan wrapped her hand around his and pulled him back into her arms.
“Worry not, My Prince.” She intertwined her fingers with his fingers. “They cannot see us…”
ALERT! Phoebus’ gaze has turned to the Atlan Imperium.
Bram’s free hand flew to his sword’s hilt, which he realized a second later was a foolish act. For what could bastion-forged steel do against the sun god?
“Don’t be afraid,” Rowan whispered into Bram’s ear. “They cannot hear us…”
ALERT! June’s gaze has drifted to Lotharin.
“They cannot smell us…”
Her breath tickled his skin.
ALERT! Pallas’ gaze is fixed on Sundermount.
“They cannot touch us…”
Her lips pressed against his neck, drawing out the anxiety from Bram’s body along with the blood she sipped from him.
A moan escaped the prince’s lips.
He wasn’t sure how long she fed, but eventually, her lips parted from his neck and the pleasure he felt from her touch vanished.
In his mind, he wanted her to keep going, to sate her hunger by taking more of his blood in that blissful way that set him afire…but Bram didn’t say this aloud. He couldn’t. Control of his senses was returning to him, and with it came the embarrassment of one who’d overindulged in a drug in which he alone could partake.
When Rowan pulled away from Bram, her cheeks showed a rosy tinge. She looked full of life unlike a minute ago when the ordeal of her sorcery had sapped her complexion of color.
“And even if they knew where to look…”
Rowan’s gaze drifted lazily away from Bram’s flushed face toward the chamber entrance. Long moments passed by without anything or anyone arriving to disturb their vigil…not even a passing breeze.
“…They would do nothing.”
She rose from the ground where she sat next to him. Then she laughed. It was laughter of a girlish sort but with a hint of malice in its echo.
“The gods are impotent without their champions,” Rowan scoffed. “We need not worry about an encounter…not yet.”
Hers was quite the declaration considering that three of the most prominent members of the pantheon ruling High Heaven—the Sun God Phoebus, June, Mother of Life, and Pallas, Keeper of Knowledge—had turned their attention to the mortal world. ‘She Who Knows’ had even pinpointed the mountain from which Rowan had cast sorcery potent enough to break the fundamental laws of two worlds. Yet despite this blatant flouting of their rules and the distortion it caused to the fabric of the world they governed; the gods did nothing. Rowan’s claim proved true.
Still, the pantheon showing interest in the mortal world was so rare that mortals who witnessed their portents in the heavens were left with their mouths agape while feeling a sense of wonder, confusion, and even fear striking through them… Meanwhile, the two rulebreakers who’d drawn the gods’ gazes cared not for their attention. Bram, whose mind was still recovering from the trickster’s bite, and Rowan, who was busy inspecting the item she’d just acquired from another world.
“I expected something more glamorous.” She sounded disappointed. “Perhaps one of those moving pictures I saw in your visions…”
Rowan eyed the metal cylinder in her hand with confusion flitting across her face.
“‘Tis cold to the touch…” she observed. “Perhaps it’s a weapon of some sort?”
“I don’t think it’s a weapon…” Bram blinked. Once, twice, and then a third time to ensure his mind was his. Only then did he decide to speak again. “It looks more like one of the ever-heating flasks we keep our tea in.”
“A drink then…?”
Rowan shook the cylinder, causing the sound of sloshing liquid to reach their ears.
“I wouldn’t—”
She pierced its top with her nail—and a frothy brown liquid exploded out of it to splash across her face.
“—do that,” Bram finished lamely.
The otherworldly knowledge he gleaned from his dreams proved accurate this time too because he knew that one should never shake liquid trapped in a container lest they wished to be doused in it, though he didn’t understand why this reaction could occur within so tiny a thing.
To her credit, Rowan didn’t fly into a tantrum like most of the highborn ladies of the Imperium would have if they suffered from such a mishap. Instead, she brushed her finger against the bead of brown liquid sliding down her cheek and then pressed it to her lips.
“It’s sweet,” she whispered.
“Is it?” Bram asked curiously, though it may not have been the beverage’s taste but the way she tasted it that caught the prince’s interest.
To his secret delight, she offered to let him try it in the same way she’d done. Funnily enough, it was in this compromising position—Bram pressing his lips against Rowan’s outstretched finger—that they were in when they felt the wind stir.
“Um, should I come back later?” came a familiar voice.
He appeared nearby as if spat out by starlight, with bits of stardust still clinging to his body.
“Good evening, Hajime,” said Rowan who disentangled herself from Bram’s side.
With an apologetic glance at Bram, Hajime greeted Rowan back with, “K-Kombanwa!”
“I didn’t expect you to return without my summoning you…nor fully clothed.” Curiosity flashed on Rowan’s face. “Interesting…very interesting.”
Hajime hadn’t arrived on Aarde like a newborn babe this time. Instead, he wore the same loose-fitting shirt and trousers they’d given him before.
Bram recalled that when Hajime left Aarde the previous night, the Loom had asked him if he wanted to save his progress. Hajime’s current state must’ve been what the system meant, and if so, then this solved one of the issues Bram had been concerned with when he first met Hajime. Starting over on Aarde after dying once seemed a harsh enough challenge, but to lose all of one’s things when returning to Earth and then coming back to Aarde without one’s hard-earned loot seemed a hellish endeavor even for Bram.
A new concern grew on the prince’s mind though; the fact that the otherworlder appeared unbidden, and so close to where he and the trickster were too.
What if she or I had been taking a bath? he wondered. What if we were both in the same—
Bram knew better than to finish that thought especially since Rowan could sometimes glean his thoughts through his emotions.
“To be able to record the state of your last visit”—Rowan’s fingers brushed the fabric of Hajime’s shirt—“means the Loom is more than a simple tool for training… ‘Tis powerful, this strange sorcery.”
Rowan cast a sideways glance at Bram.
“A pity it doesn’t work the same with you, my prince,” she said.
“Most likely because I’m not a soul plucked from another world,” he replied, desperately trying not to think green-minded thoughts now that her gaze was on him and failing miserably. Bram cleared his throat and quickly turned the spotlight back on Hajime, “What were you doing before coming here?”
“Um,” Hajime’s brow creased, “I think I just closed my eyes…”
The otherworlder recounted the moments before his soul was whisked away to Aarde, explaining to them how he had the most awkward conversation with his friends, who, with a lot of convincing and copious amounts of alcohol, finally agreed to sleep in his apartment so that they too might visit the new world he’d allegedly visited.
“I don’t think they believed me even after they dozed off,” Hajime admitted. Then, in an undertone, added, “They were just drunk enough to play along…”
Concerned that Aarde and Earth time weren’t synchronized like he first believed, Hajime lay down and shut his eyes thirty minutes before the schedule he’d planned with Rowan the night before.
“I was worried that I dreamed all of this…” His gaze drifted to the round depression at the center of the summoning chamber. Wonder and relief filled his face. “I’m happy this place isn’t a dream…”
“You returned here thanks to wish fulfillment…” One of Bram’s eyebrows hitched upward. “Is that even possible…?”
“Not usually.” Rowan’s expression turned contemplative. “Without a summoning from our side, a conduit to allow the transfer of a soul would be necessary.”
Bram nodded.
They’d already explained to Hajime last night that they wished to use the virtual reality device he called the ‘Visionary II’ for the totem that would allow otherworlders’ souls to travel to Aarde.
“But we’ve yet to establish the link between the Loom, the ritual, and the Earther’s device,” Bram reiterated. “So, how is Hajime here?”
The prince couldn’t help feeling anxious. His new companion’s unscheduled arrival awakened a possibility he didn’t expect; they might not have full control of the otherworlders’ comings and goings.
But, while Bram worried over this possibility, curiosity was alight in Rowan’s eyes. “I suspect Hajime could be a dream walker.”
“Bloody hell,” the prince whispered.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Dream walkers were sorcerers who could enter the dreams of others to reshape their dreamscape, influence minds, or even harm the dreamer. There were even accounts of powerful dream walkers crossing into other realms through the dreaming. Tales of such people were plentiful, for there were famous sorcerers in Imperium history who claimed to possess this rare trait.
“The touch of magic may have awakened Hajime’s latent talent, allowing him to travel to Aarde since he wished to visit us again in his dreams.” Rowan looked delighted. “If I guessed right, our new friend has great potential for sorcery.”
Hajime, who’d been inspecting the two beasts sacrificed to summon a single can of soda to Aarde, looked up now, his cheeks flaring red in embarrassment.
“Iie,” he nervously swatted his hand in the air, “I-I’m not special… This is just…”
Bram guessed Hajime was about to say ‘coincidence’ but stopped himself.
His curiosity also ignited, Bram asked, “What sort of potential are we talking about?”
“Do you recall the sorcery I used at the cave’s entrance?” Rowan replied.
Bram’s eyes widened. “The Transmutation Arts…you think Hajime can use it?”
As far as Bram knew, no modern sorcerer had yet learned this lost sorcery.
“A dream walker’s ability to reshape the dreaming is similar in theory to the power of reshaping matter to one’s will,” she explained.
A part of Bram couldn’t help but feel jealous of Hajime’s potential, though his envy was quickly stifled by delight because if they trained him right then Hajime could become a powerful second fang for the prince to bite his enemies with.
“Let’s find out.”
Bram pulled up Hajime’s status using his authority as the Loom’s chief administrator.
STATUS NAME: Hajime Hideo Miyamoto RACE: Human (Earth) LEVEL: 1 JOB: Not yet determined
Bram frowned.
He’d been stuck with the administrator job, but it seemed Hajime would be allowed a choice.
AFFILIATION: [Bastille Shire] TITLE: [Lead Game Designer] [???]
“There.”
Bram clicked on the suspicious title but found only a single phrase in its details.
Unknown… May be revealed once user’s potential has blossomed…
So, even the Loom isn’t all-knowing… This thought made Bram grin.
“Interesting,” Rowan said as she looked at Hajime’s status from over Bram’s shoulder.
“Um, isn’t this…invasion of privacy?” Hajime complained.
He too was looking at his status from over Bram’s other shoulder.
“No,” Bram and Rowan answered, with Rowan adding, “Shall we see what else the Loom thinks of his potential?”
Hajime’s brow creased. “Let’s not…please.”
He was outvoted.
HEALTH POINTS (HP): 90 MAGIC POINTS (MP): 300 STAMINA POINTS (SP): 80 FATIGUE: 8%
“I guess I’m the only one in two worlds without talent for magic,” Bram chuckled ironically.
Rowan giggled at his self-deprecating humor. “I told you he has potential.”
Hajime looked on with embarrassment. “Eh…”
STRENGTH: 8 DEXTERITY: 9 CONSTITUTION: 9 INTELLIGENCE: 30 WISDOM: 14 WILLPOWER: 17
Bram frowned at the sight of Hajime’s poor physical traits. “Your lack of training is glaringly obvious.”
“I-I’m a game designer. I didn’t have time for the gym,” Hajime protested, though his voice faltered by the end.
“Work isn’t an excuse for poor health. There should be a balance,” Bram insisted.
Inwardly, he couldn’t help chuckling. Until recently, his life was the opposite of Hajime’s; training his body until he coughed out blood but living idly while hiding from his responsibilities in the Sovereign’s court.
“I’ll speak to Ser Anthony about training you on your next visit,” Bram promised.
From his weak, “Hai,” it was clear Hajime wasn’t as enthusiastic as Bram when it came to building one’s muscles.
ACTIVE ABILITIES: N/A PASSIVE ABILITIES: [Programming Lv.1] [Keen Mind Lv.1] [Gift of Tongues Lv.1]
Bram and Rowan shared a look.
“It takes time to groom potential into talent,” she insisted.
Hajime’s other two passives were the reason for his high mental trait scores. Programming even allowed him to fiddle with some of the Loom’s features, assuming the prince gave him access.
“These abilities make it clear. Hajime should train as a sorcerer,” Rowan proclaimed.
Bram agreed.
When they first met, he thought Hajime looked the part of a sorcerer who spent too much time with his nose buried in books. It’s why the prince brought it with him tonight, his gift to the otherworlder.
Bram walked back to where he sat earlier and procured the item lying next to his lute. It was a box. Nestled within it was a wand; thirteen inches long, made of pale wood from an ancient oak, with decorative magical inscriptions carved throughout its surface.
“Beginner sorcerers use wands instead of staffs.” Bram pressed the wand into Hajime’s hands. “And while staves have their arcane focuses attached to their tips, a wand’s focus lies within the wood.”
Bram gazed fondly at the wand he’d given away.
“This wand’s focus is a royal griffin’s feather,” he revealed.
Bram didn’t say it aloud, but the wand had been his; a gift from the Sovereign back when she was still optimistic about his potential.
“Arigatou gozaimasu,” Hajime said, bowing his head. When it came up a moment later, delight replaced his initial embarrassment. “I’ll try to be worthy of it…”
“I believe you will be,” Bram said encouragingly.
The Loom seemed to agree. Because, as Hajime raised the wand—the runes on its surface suddenly lit up in a dull glow—notifications arrived for him that he was quick to share with his new employers.
ALERT! You have received [Young Griffin’s Wand]. This is a magic item that requires attunement to wield properly.
Bram explained to Hajime that attuning to his new wand meant forging a bond with the magic item. This was often achieved through practicing with the item in a practical setting or by studying the item’s inner workings and gaining an understanding of its enchantment. Both methods took time…a lot of time. And, until he attuned to it, the capabilities of the Young Griffin’s Wand would be weakened.
Speaking of its capabilities…
Would you like to register this item with the Loom?
Last night, after the Loom was bonded to Hajime’s soul, he’d been asked if he wanted to register his new clothes with the system. He’d clicked on [YES], of course, resulting in his clothes receiving statuses of their own though these statuses were nothing special. This time was different.
The Loom’s All-Seeing Eye appeared over the wand in Hajime’s hand. It glowed, blinking repeatedly, until, a few seconds later, a new message appeared.
ITEM: Young Griffin’s Wand DESCRIPTION: A wind-elemental wand made of top-quality materials whose arcane focus is a griffin’s feather plucked from Brightcloud, the personal steed of Sovereign Johanna Barbara of House Attilan. This ornate wand was the Sovereign’s present to the seventh prince on his seventh naming day, though the prince lacked the talent to use it properly. BOONS: +2 to Intelligence, +20 Magic, +5% spell damage, 2.5% increased magic regeneration speed.
Bram’s brow creased. “There was no need to mention this last part…”
He was surprised by how accurate the item’s description was because only the wand smith who’d forged it should’ve known all the wand’s boons. Bram didn’t since he never managed to attune to the wand.
ALERT! You have yet to attune to [Griffin’s Wand]. Most of its boons will be locked until the attunement process is completed.
“Sugoi,” Hajime whistled. “The Loom has a built-in item feature.”
Rowan cast a sideways glance at Bram. “Has it ever done this before?”
“Not for me,” he admitted.
To be fair, the prince had only recently been given access to the system’s tools, and with everything that’s happened, he’s barely had the chance to truly explore this strange sorcery of his.
Meanwhile, Hajime spent a long moment inspecting the item window and he had thoughts on its makeup. “It’s lacking some information. Rarity, attack power, and others. We’ll need to rework this. Maybe give the feature an update.”
‘Ping!’
A new notification arrived for Hajime.
The potential to wield powerful magic lies within you… Would you like to become an [Arcane Novice]?
[YES] [NO]
“W-What should I do?” he asked.
“Say yes,” Rowan answered. “You’ll need it to help our prince secure sacrifices for your friends’ summoning.”
Hajime’s brow creased. “S-Sacrifices?”
Taking his cue from Rowan, Bram patted Hajime on the shoulder. “Your new job arrived right on time. Rowan needs to prepare a new summoning ritual. So, you get to join me in hunting the beasts that’ll fuel that ritual.”
Again, Hajime’s gaze drifted to the two carcasses at the edge of the Rowan’s circle. They were red grizzlies that were larger than the one used for his summoning.
“Come on.” Sensing the otherworlder’s desire to flee, the prince wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “It’ll be fun.”
While Bram half-dragged Hajime toward the chamber’s entrance, Hajime’s eyes widened with worry. “Ee~~eh?!”