Chương 437: (430) 6.44. We’ve Been Trying to Reach You…

Vin sat at his desk in his room in Terra, sketching out a map of the latest fragment he'd been wandering through before coming back to town for some much needed rest. His time with the Whisperer and the dwarves of the Burrow had been overall relaxing, and he— Vin recoiled, dropping his pen as he stared down at his journal and realized he'd been just drawing a bunch of hexagons one after another on the page, not adding any real detail.

A quick glance around the room revealed his brand-new staff standing straight up at his side, but not a single other piece of furniture like his bed or dresser. Immediately, Vin realized what was going on, and he got to his feet.

"Fred?" he called out. Grabbing his staff, he blinked as he felt the same thrum of power wash through him the moment he touched it, just as he had the first time.

"Fria? Is something wrong? What's going on?" Thanks to his own experience with dream magic and casting Dream Walk, Vin was easily able to tell he was in a dream. Presumably his own dream, seeing as he was in his own apartment, which meant a dream mage had to have reached out to speak to him. And as far as he knew, Fred and Fria were the only two dream mages who had placed a Dream Mark on him, so that narrowed down the list of culprits pretty considerably.

Sure enough, the door to his room swung open, and Fred flitted through, looking exasperated as he planted his hands on his hips and frowned at him." Finally! I was trying to reach you the past few days, but I couldn't get a hold of you! First you spent an entire night without sleeping, and then you were so tired you didn't even dream! I swear, you have got to..." Fred trailed off, his eyes going wide as they took in the glowing staff in Vin's hands.

Even in his dream, the artifact radiated power, and the pixie drifted back a few inches, looking appropriately wary.

"... What is that? And how is it here in your dreams with you?"

"It's why you haven't been able to reach me the last few days. Shia and I were working on its creation," Vin explained.

"As to the dream bit, it's a bonded artifact. I guess that means it comes with me even in the dreamscape?"

"Hmph," Fred grunted, narrowing his eyes at the staff before shaking his head.

"Wait, that's not important right now! We need you to come over here as fast as you can! Lumel needs your help!"

"She does?!" Vin gasped, his fingers tightening around his staff.

"What happened? I thought she was on a dream journey with Fria!"

"She is, it's what's currently going on within said dream journey that's the problem," Fred explained.

"I told you before there was no real risk to dream journeys beyond the time sink, as dying in a dream just forces you to restart the journey. But that's not entirely true. It's just that normally so long as you have a skilled guide going along to keep you focused, the risk is entirely mitigated. Fria can be flighty, but she's good at what she does, so I don't know what—""Fred, focus!"

Vin snapped, surprising himself by planting his staff against the floor and feeling that foreign sense of sturdiness wash through him once more.

"What happened?"

"It's hard to say for sure… But I'm pretty certain Lumel has gotten lost within her dream journey," Fred admitted, wringing his tiny hands before him and scattering pixie dust all over the floor.

"Something had to have happened to Fria in order for such an event to occur, but it's the only thing that makes sense. It's dangerous to enter into a dream journey that's already in progress, so I can't check for myself what's going on. But Fria and I have a unique bond that we can sort of communicate through regardless of what's going on, and over the past few days she's been sending me feelings of being trapped and helpless.

I think something happened in Lumel's dream that separated the two of them, and now Lumel is stuck. If she can't move forward toward her core or back to the entrance…"

"Then she could theoretically be in there forever," Vin finished, his worry actually lightening up slightly. When Fred appeared out of nowhere, he'd been afraid Lumel was in immediate, physical danger. Lost within her own dreams was less than ideal, obviously, but at least they had plenty of time to solve the problem.

"So how can I help?"

"As I said, entering a dream journey that's already in progress is quite dangerous," Fred repeated, looking relieved that Vin had volunteered his help without hesitation.

"Dreams in a dream journey are far more real and vivid than regular dreams. We guides have ways of keeping ourselves safe throughout the journey, which is why we can't see the portal going deeper on each level, but we need to enter with the dreamer from the start. In order to help her, you'll have to enter the dream journey yourself, but there will be actual risks involved. If you die in her dream, you will die in real life.

The only reason I'm asking this at all is because I recalled your freaky request to have Fria stab you in the heart if you didn't wake up from your own dream journey in time. I take it you have a unique relationship with dying?"

"Yeah, something like that," Vin said, scratching his chin as he thought over what Fred was asking for him.

"... So there's really no other way to get her out of there? I have to go in from the beginning and work my way down?"

"I should be able to get you partway on my own, so you won't have to go through all the dreams she already has," Fred said, his relief quickly morphing into a frown as he narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong? You look like you're having second thoughts. I thought you weren't afraid of death."

"That's not what's bothering me. It's just that, going into her dreams like that without permission… It's a little invasive, you know?" Vin couldn't help but think back to some of his own dreams he'd gone through on his own dream journey. In particular the one where he'd been terrified of Lumel proposing to him. If the actual Lumel had popped in and witnessed that for herself… Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Your girlfriend may never wake up again if you don't help her, and my sister is somehow stuck in there with her!" Fred shouted, the tiny pixie suddenly feeling far larger than his five-inch-height would suggest as he drifted closer and grabbed Vin by the collar.

"Worry about forgiveness after you save the two of them! Now, wake up!" Vin jerked awake as Fred flew up and punched him in the eye, and he cursed under his breath as he rubbed at his undamaged pupil. A tiny fist to the eye was certainly an effective method of waking a person up, and Vin looked around, finding himself back in Shia's house once more. While he still wasn't the biggest fan of invading Lumel's subconscious, Fred had a good point.

He'd rather Lumel be upset with him than her be trapped in a dream while her physical body withered away and died. Grabbing his new staff, Vin promised himself he'd take the time to mess around and figure out what it could do later. Right now, he had a mission he needed to accomplish. Writing a quick note for Shia and scarfing down some food Erik must have left out for them, Vin headed out into the Sacred Forest, making a beeline straight for the dungeon.

It seemed he'd slept through the night, which explained why he felt so rejuvenated and ready to go. As he entered the dungeon and felt the expanded forest space stretch out around him, Vin clicked his tongue as he heard the screeching of fangers swinging down and around him.

"Now is really not the time!" he called out, knowing his complaints wouldn't matter. Sure enough, the first of the fangers launched themselves at him from behind, screaming all the while as it aimed to sink its large teeth into the meat of his neck. Spinning around, Vin slipped back into the comfortable training Alka had drilled into him, bringing his staff around and smashing it into the side of the fanger as he sent it tumbling to the ground.

He admittedly had hoped for the monster to simply blow up or get sent flying off into the distance as the staff pulsed with magic, but as far as he could tell, it had connected with the monster just like any ordinary staff would have. Still, he didn't let his disappointment distract him, and he finished the monster off with a quick Stone Shot before turning and blocking two more of the monsters with a cast of Stone Wall.

After all these weeks, Vin finally felt complete once again as he spun and fought with staff in hand. He hadn't realized just how much he'd been lacking in terms of combat without his staff, and he cursed his own foolishness for putting the need to pick up a replacement so far down on his to-do list. The last of the fangers was finished off with another powerful blow from his staff, and then Vin was off, heading deeper into the forest dungeon, probably moving a bit faster than was safe.

He seriously didn't have time for this. If Lumel needed his help, then he would— A roar was the only warning Vin received at the last second as a Trunkback of all things appeared from behind a particularly thick tree he was running by, the elite monster swinging a fist the size of Vin's entire head straight for his chest. Vin didn't even have time to dodge or summon a Stone Wall to protect himself, and he braced for his divine boon to save his life and keep his ribcage from being caved in.

Yet right before the monster's fist landed, Vin's staff planted itself into the ground almost on its own accord, locking his feet in place as though he himself had grown roots and forcing him to stand straight and tall. The motion was so unexpected and sudden, Vin nearly missed the moment the Trunkback's fist smashed straight into his chest with all the force a magically empowered, nine-foot-tall gorilla could muster.

Only rather than break every rib in his chest, the Trunkback's fist not only came to a dead stop, the monster's hand shattered as though the Trunkback had punched a block of solid steel. Vin and the Trunkback simply stared at one another in shock for a moment, both of them seeming equally surprised by what had just happened. Vin hadn't felt anything more than the lightest of touches, yet the Trunkback's entire hand was absolutely mangled.

Bones were broken and blood dripped down its hand, and the Trunkback roared as it raised its other hand high above its head, preparing to bring it down on Vin's head and squash him like a grape. Vin wanted to leap out of the way, but something kept him from moving. That same powerful sense of innate sturdiness and safety emanated from his staff, and Vin decided to trust in the mana, staring up at his approaching death as the Trunkback's undamaged fist came crashing down.

Smashing into the top of his head and coming to yet another dead stop. Vin grinned as he realized he'd figured out at least one of the staff's main features. He didn't know if this was from the staff incorporating the petrified elderwood door into its own material during construction, or the fact that it had based itself off of the incredibly powerful Tree of Ancients. But one way or another, it seemed if he planted the staff down into the ground, he and it alike became an indestructible, immovable object.

He had a lot of tests he wanted to run on just how immovable they became, but standing up to the physical strength of a Trunkback without budging so much as an inch was a fantastic start.

"I'd love to stay and mess around, but I've got a date I can't be late for," Vin said, raising a hand to cast Stone Shot before frowning as he realized his mana didn't want to cooperate. It took him a moment to realize the problem, and he sighed as soon as it clicked. It seemed with his staff activated in this way, he truly became immovable in more ways than one. His mana refused to shift around and be utilized in any spells so long as he kept his staff planted.

I suppose I should just be happy I can still talk like this, he decided, pleased that he didn't become a literal statue when using the staff's power. With this new information in mind, Vin waited for the Trunkback to try swatting at him once again. As soon as the blow was negated, he pulled the staff from the ground, spinning it and slamming it into the Trunkback's head.

Vin didn't miss how the blow felt a bit more powerful than he thought it should have been, and he followed it up with a few point-blank Stone Shots, finishing the elite monster off easily. Monsters taken care of, Vin continued deeper into the dungeon, reaching the corridor down to the Underside without further delay and racing down it.

He'd be in the pixies' fragment in only a few minutes, and that meant he needed to start mentally preparing himself for whatever he might run into while searching through Lumel's dreams.