You know that feeling when you are just waking up, but you do not want to wake up, so you simply refuse to open your eyes?
Aiden was rather worried about whatever dream he had just had.
The party going wrong.
The princess killing Kaelen.
The princess about to kill everyone else.
Then the players arguing while everything hurt so much.
However, as he shifted slightly, he felt the comfort of the duke's nice sheets beneath him.
That had to mean it was only a dream.
He must have just been worried about the party.
After all, there was no way that—
"He just twitched! HE'S WAKING UP!"
The voice sounded strangely like Jax.
Aiden let out a quiet groan.
He squinted one eye open while the other remained closed and glanced around the room.
Sure enough, he was in his room at the duke's house.
To his surprise, Jax was standing on the bed, staring down at him with a relieved expression.
Around the room, Selene, Thalia, and Liora were all lying in different spots, and they seemed to be waking up too.
"What are you doi—"
Aiden was cut off by sudden pulses of pain rushing through him.
He winced and gritted his teeth.
As he doubled over, Jax and the others huddled around him.
Aiden looked down and saw that he was covered in bandages from head to toe.
"What happened to me?" he hissed, trying not to scream from the pain.
The others looked between each other.
Then Jax spoke.
"We have no idea," he said. "All we know is that when the princess's knight attacked, you suddenly fell to the ground, covered in dozens of bleeding wounds."
Jax's ears twitched.
"Then this fullblood cat beastkin with paralyzed legs saved us. Said something about being from something called the Red Man's Troupe and that we were under his guard."
Aiden looked at the others in bewilderment.
Then it dawned on him.
What he had thought must have been a dream because of its absurdity may have actually happened.
He turned to his system.
The summit window had closed, but the normal notifications were still there.
Your soul meets the requirements to attend the summit.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
Your contract with Mr. Lee protects your soul.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
Your contract with Mr. Lee protects your soul.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
Your contract with Mr. Lee protects your soul.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
Your contract with Mr. Lee protects your soul.
Your contract with Mr. Lee has eroded due to the amount of damage sustained.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
Your mana has been used to protect your soul.
Warning:
Your soul is not durable enough.
You lack the mana to protect your soul.
Your body has been cannibalized to provide enough mana to protect your soul.
The summit has ended.
Time will begin to flow normally.
Your memories of the summit shall be lost due to your current lack of requirements.
Your skill Fragmented Will (E) has activated and preserved your memories.
Due to the strain, Fragmented Will (E) will become dormant for ten days.
Seeing that last message, Aiden quickly opened his general system.
Aiden Hallowcreek
Age: 23
Class:
Alchemist — Lv. 12
XP:
14,811 / 23,000
HP:
32 / 32
MP:
82 / 82
Stats:
Str: 10
Dex: 22
Con: 13
Int: 30
Wis: 21
Cha: 0
Soul Skill:
Alchemy Attunement (D)
Passive
Increases your success rate with alchemical mixtures and allows you to feel minor fluctuations in potion consistency, improving the stability of mixtures.
Skills:
Quick Brew (E)
Passive
You quickly toss together ingredients to make potions with lesser effects on the fly.
Potioner's Harvesting Guide (E)
Passive
You have a chance to obtain items used in potions more often than others when searching.
Liquid Crystal Consolidation (E)
10 MP
You channel your mana to gather the liquid crystal in the air into a liquid state and pour it into a vial.
Herbal Extracts (E)
Passive
Gain the ability to create concentrated extracts from herbs, making potions more potent.
Potions using these extracts have increased effects, providing stronger support for healing, endurance, or resistance.
Fragmented Will (E)
Unavailable until the countdown ends.
6 days, 12 hours, 34 minutes remaining.
Passive
Your mind begins to split under pressure to protect itself.
While under intense emotional or mental strain, you may subconsciously form a mental fragment, a sliver of your will that acts independently.
The fragment may whisper suggestions, make minor decisions in your place, or retain key memories if you are compromised.
Silver Tongue (E)
Passive
Your voice is one that can soothe or lie with ease.
You are better at persuading people and can lie more convincingly.
Advanced Brewing (E)
Passive
You can now combine up to three ingredients in a single potion, creating complex effects with layered benefits, such as healing combined with poison resistance.
Potions crafted this way are significantly more potent and can support various allies' needs.
Accel Thought (E)
Passive
Your brain runs faster than most, allowing you to perceive and react to things you normally would not be able to.
Basic Spearmanship (E)
Passive
Your understanding of spear use allows you to be more accurate and put more force behind your spear.
Ballroom Dancing (E)
Passive
Your understanding of dancing gives you a moderate bonus when performing a ballroom dance.
The announcement had said Fragmented Will would be dormant for ten days.
But the timer was already down to day seven.
Aiden looked to Selene.
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked worriedly.
Selene gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's been three days," she said. "After the princess thing, the duke and duchess let us stay at their home while you recovered."
The others nodded.
Thalia stepped in.
"On the bright side, the fullblood who saved us stayed as well," she said. "He even said he was willing to help us."
At that, Aiden tensed.
He immediately winced and curled in on himself as pain shot through him.
Once the worst of it faded, he looked around the room.
"Y-You mean he's still here?" Aiden asked. "Where?"
The others exchanged concerned looks.
Aiden turned to Jax with an intentional stare.
Jax looked back at him.
Aiden mouthed the secret word.
Orion.
Jax's expression shifted.
Concern.
Surprise.
Then determination.
He turned to the others.
"He's been in bed for three days straight," Jax said. "If one of you can find a wheelchair, I'll take him to see Victor while you all let our hosts know he's okay."
The others looked at Jax in confusion.
Only Selene seemed to sense that something was going on.
She nodded and led the other two out.
Jax walked over to a small chair.
Standing behind it on two legs, he wheeled it over.
Despite the intense pain it caused, Aiden moved himself into the chair and took a moment to simply breathe and recover.
"I don't know what exactly happened to give you those injuries," Jax said as he began wheeling Aiden down the hallway, "but whatever it was must have been a hell of a thing for you to use the emergency save."
The emergency save was something they had made back when it had just been Aiden and Jax for a month, alone against the ash spirits.
It had been set up because Jax insisted that friends always needed a secret handshake.
Or, at the very least, a secret bail-me-out-of-jail password.
Aiden had agreed to the password.
Jax had made it Orion.
The name of his brother.
It was meant only for dire situations where no questions should be asked and help was needed immediately.
At the time, Aiden had been annoyed by the whole process. He had only wanted Jax to leave and get away from his home with all that adventuring talk.
Now he was extremely thankful he had given in.
"Honestly," Aiden said with a faint chuckle, "even if you say you will, I doubt what happened will be very believable."
Jax wheeled him into a garden area.
It looked the same as it had when they confronted Kaelen.
However, there was now a new figure looking over the garden.
They were large, around four feet tall, with a body about ten feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.
They had a white fur coat, with red tints near the paws and the end of the tail.
From the waist back, however, they were strange.
Their legs shifted from delicate fur to large blue crystals, with small grooves and runes carved into them. Somehow, the crystalline limbs moved like regular legs despite their inorganic nature, the runes glowing in increments as they did as if being the source of the movement.
The figure seemed to be looking at a line of flowers.
When they noticed Aiden and Jax approaching, they turned with a small, polite, and mischievous smile.
"Ah," the figure said, walking over. "So it seems sleeping beauty has finally woken up."
Their smile widened.
"That's purrrrrrfect."
For a moment, Aiden had a small hope that this was not what he thought it was.
Then he glanced down and saw a small system screen.
Your soul stirs.
That message said everything he needed to know.
Aiden looked back up at the figure.
"It is a pleasurrrrrrrrre to meet you," the fullblood said. "My name is Victorrrr, and I will be seeing what I can do to get you up to snuff."