“Orders?” Captain Francis asked me. Run or fight, that was what it boiled down to, and what all my responses had been. If I couldn’t win, then run away. If I could win, or couldn’t escape, then fight. That had worked well so far. But the problem was that I had other people I had to worry about.

“We remain calm and alert. It is best to stay near the store until Michelle recovers as well. Moving and being caught in the wilderness will limit our recovery options. We will move as one unit going forward, and limit distance from each other,” I finally decided.

The answer to this problem came in the simple fact that whatever was killing people and took out Michelle, was hiding. If it could beat me in a straight fight, then it would have already attacked. That was a great relief the moment I realized that. Whatever was out there, was either weaker or about equal to me in stats.

But then I thought of Dharma. Time to clear things up. “Fiyaz, did Dharma ever go near Michelle?” I asked him. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head.

“No. There was always at least six feet, or two meters between them. And the soldiers were nearby as well,” he said. The soldiers in question gave affirmatives at this. The fact there was one survivor was throwing me off a lot more than if there had been no one around.

Now he had run off in a panic. Trying to chase him down in the city was pointless. He was dead for sure. Even if he was a monster or a superhuman in disguise, there was no use worrying about it now. If he showed up again, I would melt him without hesitation. We were taking no chances now that Michelle had been disabled.

I really wished Doctor Katz was around. He would be much better at assessing Michelle’s situation and current state. I leaned down next to her and began inspecting her. Her energy was stable, no curse damage as far as I could tell. Her breathing was a bit weak, but steady. Opening one of her eyelids, her eyes weren’t twitching. I checked her pulse on her neck, steady as well. She was just unconscious, with no apparent damage.

“Prepare a carry pack to put her in. Brace her neck as well,” I ordered. Captain Francis quickly assigned one of his men to the task.

“So, we just wait?” Fiyaz asked me.

“Yes. Panicking won’t help. And running out of the city, won’t help either.” I then explained my reasoning about how whatever was out there, was probably weaker than me. He nodded at that explanation. The minutes ticked by, but there was still no response from Michelle. A neck brace was placed around her neck, and she was put into a carry pack.

Basically, an adult sized backpack. There were risks in using something like this, at high speeds. That was why a neck brace needed to be applied to help stability. Even then, it would be incredibly risky for me to wear in high-speed combat.

“I will take her, once we go,” Captain Francis said, and I nodded gratefully at him.

I purchased a bed and set it up to take a nap on. Michelle was also placed up on a bed as well. I would rest first, and then the rest of the people would take turns resting. This way we could mentally recoup. Michelle would eventually wake up I was sure of that.

I held off on anything more aggressive to wake her up, since I didn’t want to damage or hurt her. I also didn’t think it would work. She had been jostled around pretty heavily and still hadn’t woken up. It was quite concerning, but nothing that wouldn’t be fixed in time I believed.

Inspecting Michelle for what was probably the tenth time, I didn’t see any energy that wasn’t hers. I even checked all around the bed, and her head once again. Nothing that I could see or sense. She was just unconscious.

Giving up, I laid down, and closed my eyes. After getting the couple of hours of rest I needed. I took watch, while Captain Francis, one of his soldiers, and Fiyaz got some rest next. I took to walking around the outside of the pillars looking over the surrounding city. There was definitely something out there.

Captain Francis woke up first, due to his higher stats. The remaining two soldiers were told to get some sleep. It was evening when everyone woke up, rested, but still worried. I checked on Michelle again, and still no response. I frowned at what was happening. There was one thing I could do, but it hit or miss, and risky.

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

The Ritualist had triggered a lucid dream. There had been research done on the subject, but it was difficult to get the repeatability and to test it as a method of attack. High stats should counter such shenanigans. But the fact Michelle hadn’t woken up yet, was making me more and more worried.

I might have to attempt to enter her mind. But the risk was immense. The testing wasn’t pretty. While the dreamer was fine and couldn’t be hurt, as far as we knew, the person entering could be. But there was no tether, connecting Michelle to whatever had done this. That meant there could be a skill, that took her out.

All her skill summoned monsters had turned to dust. She had mentally released them. It wasn’t just a cutting of her tethers to those monsters. Whatever had taken her out, had targeted her mind. Also, entering the dreamscape would leave me incredibly vulnerable. If we were attacked during that period of time, there would be nothing I could do to defend myself.

With how her stats were, I was the only one of our group who could directly overpower her stats, to attempt to enter her dream, or whatever mental reality she was stuck in. It was a very bad idea all around. It wasn’t even considered a valid method of assassination by either me or Clarissa. At best it was a weapon of terror.

“No response from Michelle,” Captain Francis said to me. I could tell the other people were listening while they kept watch. I knew what he was really asking. How long were we going to wait around? I now had four choices. Attempt a dream dive, with huge risks. Keep waiting around for Michelle to recover. Head back to Purgatory. Head deeper into this part of the Systemic Lands and look for another city.

I didn’t want to head back. For one, if this terror followed us back, it would be a disaster. At least out here, it was limited to targeting us. If we returned and it followed us back, and the cities of my empire turned out like this one, it would be a massive disaster.

Pressing forward without information on where cities were, and how far whatever was out there would follow us, was also concerning. It was a gamble, and a poor one in my mind. But I liked it more than retreating.

Staying here was what I had already decided and was the safe choice. It wasn’t a good choice, but it was a safe choice. It kept things firmly in my control. But our situation was not improving. The fact that Michelle had over half a day and was still asleep was my biggest concern. She would eventually need food and water. She could last for a while, but eventually she would need sustenance.

That left the worst option out of all of them. Attempt to interface with her dreams and figure out was wrong with her. Even if I managed to make the connection, the risk to me was massive, and the risk of an attack by a hostile force was also massive. That would have been the moment I would have attacked if I was the enemy doing this.

It was a tricky situation. One with huge consequences and no optimal answer. But Captain Francis was right, we couldn’t keep waiting around. We had about another hour of light left, before the light source went beyond the horizon. I looked at Michelle.

Was she really worth risking my life?

That was an incredibly hard question to answer. While my default for almost everyone would have been no, her competence was the only thing making this a very hard choice. Even Doctor Katz and the rest of the people with me, I would have said no. Clarissa was the only other person alive, that it would have been a tough decision on if I should take the risk.

“I am going to attempt a dream dive to wake up Michelle,” I finally said with a great deal of hesitation. My gut clenched up at the very thought of trying this, with all the horrible things that happened to the few people that had tested this possibility. The Ritualist was truly a mad man to have even thought about poking my dreams.

“Dream dive?” Captain Francis asked me.

“A high-risk procedure. I will be completely vulnerable while I am attempting it. And the risk…the risk is massive. Hopefully, I can jolt her awake,” I replied.

“Are you sure Michael? We can leave her and look for other options,” Captain Francis said. I had thought of that. But it wasn’t like getting injured in the wilderness on Earth. Just getting to a hospital wouldn’t fix whatever had happened to Michelle. We had to fix things ourselves.

If Doctor Katz was here, I would have consulted with him and gotten his feedback on the timing. He might have also known some medical techniques to try to wake her up. I was incredibly stressed out, but there was no other option. We couldn’t afford to Michelle. I couldn’t afford to lose her.

A slightly reclined chair with a headrest was purchased. Captain Francis set up a perimeter. Fiyaz was part of it as well. One person looking each direction, with Captain Francis on patrol. I made sure to tell him, not to disturb my body no matter what. Hopefully I could manage waking her up, without succumbing to massive curse damage and dying horribly.

As I sat in the chair behind Michelle’s head, there was a large amount of hesitation within me to attempt this. If only she wasn’t so good, I cursed mentally to myself. If it was one of these soldiers, I could let them die without getting too worked up over the matter. But her combat skills were not something that could be easily recreated.

The investment into her was immense. I had also saved her over Doctor Katz. If she died, or was incapacitated now, it would feel like a waste. I put on a black cloth head bag and stuffed my ears to try to block out everything around me. I laid back in the chair, closed my eyes, steadied my breathing, and extended a tendril of energy to Michelle’s head.