I hate dreaming. No, I don’t hate dreaming, I hate sleeping.

The dread of the dream was worse than the dream itself. And on top of that, the worst part was the beginning of the dream.

As soon as I entered my dream, my memories started disappearing. They didn’t immediately disappear. No, that’d be too good for me.

I could feel my memories as if they were in my hand. One by one, they slowly slipped out of my grasp. There was nothing I could do about it, and I hated that.

Where’s she gonna drop me off this time? I didn’t always end up in the beginning of my dream. In fact, it was quite rare to have the full nightmare.

The longer it was, the bigger the risk was that I somehow ended up changing what happened. I would get there a split second second faster, or I would just end her before she can summon death, avoiding the curse entirely.

That’s why I usually awakened in the middle of the battle. Or like in this case, the end of it.

***

“Ha… Haha,” Her trump card, dead. And now she had to face the man who killed a god. It didn’t matter how gifted she was, because she was facing a wall. No amount of talent could overcome my anger.

My crippled body slowly limped over to her. That damn shard managed to break one of my legs. So much for being on the level of the gods.

She was laying on the ground, looking at me. The reignited fire in her eyes was extinguished once again, and she was back to normal. No more ambition, no more independence, but she knew her sins were unforgivable in my eyes.

“H-Hey!” She was backing off, clearly shocked that I actually managed to destroy her last hope. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t wanna see another friend die like Aqua right?” Now that she mentioned it… this was a lot like that. They both walked into their own deaths.

But she was buying more time for herself by making me think. I felt the urge to end this battle in one move, but something felt wrong. She was quite experienced in dark magic, so she would just curse me if I got close.

The anger… it got worse after I thought about that. My whole body seemed to hate the idea of leaving her alone… I should just kill her with my-

***

God dammit! I shouldn’t have gotten angry about it, but it was so aggravating to have victory slip out of my hands.

It was midnight, but the fire was still roaring. What the hell was this wood made of?

Wait, where was the guard? She was missing. It couldn’t have been bandits. If it were bandits, they would’ve captured all of us. No, she must’ve either not slept, or woken up in the middle of the night.

After a minute of looking around the campfire, I found her footprints, and… blood? Ok, I don’t have an explanation now.

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I cautiously followed her footprints, making sure to amplify the wind with my ability so I wouldn’t be heard. Thankfully, I couldn’t find blood anymore, so she must’ve been alright.

Wait… is that her? I could’ve definitely seen a shadow moving around, so she must’ve been preparing to attack me.

I caught her punch as soon as she launched it.

“Calm down will ya?” I say, as she tries to hit me, only for me to catch her spear. The guard hung her head low in shame. She paused, thinking for half a minute before trying to push me away.

“Why did it have to be the mercenary?” I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

What is she on about? I exploded the canopy above us to let more moonlight through. And… she’s a vampire. No doubt about it, the blood on her mouth, her pale face, it all made sense… hold on, how did she survive the sun?

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do guard, so speak up.”

***

God damn, this town was an utter mess. Homeless people littered the streets, scammers tried selling their cursed artefacts to travellers, and most irritating, the slave market… was still here somehow.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the sword shop.

“Commoner, what is this place?” The girl spoke in her usual pompous tone. “This is no shop worth my time, nor yours, because you are my-”

“Shh. It’s cheaper, and I like rustier swords. The other one’s make it too easy.” I entered the shop without even waiting for her reply. The boy followed me. As soon as he did, the other two started talking. My senses have dulled with age, but I could tell when someone was trying to stir up a plot, or was trying to keep a secret from someone.

The shop had seen worse days. The floor was sturdy, and had no holes in it. The wall was filled top to bottom with different useless swords. Like… who has ever used a rapier in actual combat? It would snap like a twig.

“My old friend, Emmet Mc-” I put my hand over his mouth.

“My companions don’t need to know my surname, and neither do you.” He nods, and I let him go. “Now then, I need the cheapest sword you have”

“I have a free sword this time, but it won’t be easy to get.” I roll my eyes.

“This is no time to joke pal. Do you have it or not?” He brings a map out. From what I could guess with my second grade geography skills, this was a map of…

“The demon steps?” I laugh a little, how was he so poorly educated?

“No you idiot, that’s clearly the Mongolian desert.” This time, the old man laughed.

“Demons of Gri took over that place. So yes, you’re both right. Anyway, the sword’s in there. I got a map, and I'm sick of how ugly it is, so I'm giving it to you.” The boy’s face lit up.

“Take it!” He quickly snatched it out of the old man's hand “A sword in demonic territory must be legendary. You won’t need to use a rust bucket anymore.” I scratch my head. This wasn’t my original plan, but it’ll do.