Chapter 442: (436) 6.50. Have You Heard the Word?

With a groan, Vin opened his eyes, rubbing at them as he forced himself into a sitting position. His body was tired and heavy, similar to how he’d felt coming out of his own dream journey a few weeks back. The bright light of the sun bearing down on him made it difficult to tell what was going on for a few seconds, but his vision adjusted soon enough, and he blinked as he realized there was a small storm of pixies floating just a few feet to the side of him. It didn’t take long to realize they were all checking up on Fria and ensuring she was okay, and he snorted as he turned toward Lumel.“I don’t feel great,” she groaned, struggling to raise her back off the cloth she’d been lying on. Her arms nearly gave out, but Vin caught her before she could fall, supporting her and ensuring she didn’t hurt herself.

“Don’t worry, that’s only natural. When I came out of my own dream journey, Fria warned me that the length of sleep really takes a toll on a person’s body.”

“And unlike you with your unnaturally high endurance attribute for a mage, Lumel seems to fit the archetype a bit better,” Fred snorted, drifting down to peer more carefully at her. “How do you feel?”

“Like someone coated my body in iron,” Lumel muttered, thanking Vin as he held the waterskin up to her mouth.

“Wait… How did you manage to keep from drying out all this time?” Vin asked, the thought only just having occurred to him. While he knew she had a magical amulet that allowed her to survive on the surface, she still needed to soak for a little bit each night to keep herself healthy.

“We’ve been taking care of that,” Fred explained, motioning to the small river off to the side of their temporary camp. “It’s not easy lugging enough water over to drench her every day, but we’re not about to let anyone die on our account. Though I’m glad we don’t need to worry about that anymore. Toughest year of my life.”

“” Vin and Lumel shouted simultaneously, sharing a look of horror with one another. Vin had known Lumel’s dream journey had taken longer than his own, but a That would mean the waves were over, and he’d missed the final three. If Terra had fallen or any lives had been lost because he hadn’t been there to help…

“Nah, I’m just screwing with you two,” Fred said, pixie dust cascading off of him in waves as he laughed harder than Vin had ever seen from the tiny man. “It’s only been about a month in total since the start of Lumel’s dream journey. Twelve days since Vin went into the journey to help. I imagine most of that time was spent by Lumel trying to figure out the spells and get dream mana to listen to her.”

Vin let out a sigh of relief, his heart pounding as he fought the urge to flick Fred out of the air like he’d seen Shia and Alka do to Scule time and time again. Twelve days lost wasn’t exactly great with all that he had to do, but he’d make the decision to do what he’d done again in a heartbeat. Lumel quite literally could have been trapped in that labyrinth forever, separated from her dream guide as she had been.

Not to mention he didn’t get for all his time spent in Lumel’s subconscious.

Sleeping increased to lvl 18! 1,800 exp gained.

Sleeping increased to lvl 19! 1,900 exp gained.

Level up! Adventurer of the Arcane lvl 51!

+3 Attribute points to spend.

Sleeping increased to lvl 20! 2,000 exp gained.

New dreamscape completed! 25,000 exp gained.

“Huh. I got experience for exploring your dreamscape,” Vin admitted. “And a whole lot of it. I wonder why that’s the case. I didn’t get any for my own.”

“If I had to guess, I’d assume it’s because there was actual risk involved with exploring mine, and the decision to enter my dream journey was entirely voluntary,” Lumel offered, pursing her lips as she tried to sit up with her own power. Her core gave out almost instantly, and she flopped back against him once more, giving him a sheepish smile. “Few things are more unpredictable or scary than another person’s dreams, and you could have died if you weren’t careful. If it weren’t for your divine boon, you have, in fact.”

“That makes sense. I’m just glad we got you out of there in one piece.”

“One very tired, piece,” Lumel admitted, sighing as she leaned her head against him. “Part of me feels like it’s not fair that I’m this tired after sleeping for a month, but I’m just happy to be awake again. Could you help me get back to the apartment? I think I’m going to need some time to recover. I’ve never regretted the lack of points I put into endurance until this very moment.”

With a nod, Vin pushed himself to his feet, cradling the weakened pulmon in his arms as she wrapped her own arms around his neck and nestled into his chest. He glanced up to find Fred grinning widely at him, and Vin rolled his eyes.

“What? You’ve never seen two lifemates before?”

“Hey, don’t mind me. I was just recalling a specific dream a certain explorer may have gone through during his own dream journey. Glad to see that’s not going to be a problem.”

Clearing his throat, Vin turned away, hoping Lumel couldn’t see how red his face was getting. “Anyway, thank you guys for all that you did. Both keeping Lumel hydrated and coming to get me when she needed help. I really appreciate it.”

“Thank you for helping get my sister out of there,” Fred shot back, his smile turning more genuine as he bowed in mid-air. “Consider yourself a friend of the pixies, for what it’s worth. Officially that means you and your people are welcome to seek refuge with us whenever you need, though seeing as you sort of already did that with the orcs and beastkin…” Fred shrugged, as if that said all there was about that.

“Speaking of, where are the two of them anyway?” Vin asked, glancing around at the plains surrounding them. “I’ve been so busy, I forgot to check in with them.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“They’re doing fine. We’re closer to the center of the fragment right now, and understandably, they decided to create their new settlement more toward the northern edge. About as far from the rankers as they could possibly get. Oh, and they asked to be left alone for a bit so that they could at least get the foundation of their new settlement set up without outside interference. Maybe hold off on checking up on them for now.”

“Ah. Yeah, that makes sense,” Vin said, noting how Lumel’s weak grip tightened around his neck for a moment before her muscles gave out once more. “Well, I should get Lumel to safety so she can rest. You guys take it easy! I’ll be back sooner or later to check on the others!”

“Looking forward to it!” Fred said, turning and trying to force his way through the swarm of pixies around his sister.

With that, Vin headed off toward the dungeon, eager to get Lumel back to their apartment so the weary pulmon could recover her strength. As he ran, he felt her giggle against him and press her face closer against his chest.

“Lifemate…” she murmured, letting out a happy sigh as she closed her eyes. “…I like hearing you say it.”

“Once you’re recovered, you really need to give me a full crash course on pulmon culture and exactly what it is I actually agreed to,” Vin teased, spotting the dungeon up ahead and slowing to a stop at the entrance. “Got enough energy in you for a Mass Dimensional Shift? I can probably run through the monsters easily enough, but no sense risking any injuries if we don’t have to.”

“Yeah… one second.” Scrunching up her eyes, Lumel cast, and the two of them warped directly to the corridor leading to the Underside. Nodding his thanks, Vin carried them through, continuing back toward Terra. Lumel looked like she was barely holding onto consciousness at this point from sheer fatigue, so rather than bother her with conversation, Vin pulled up his interface, tossing his three new points into focus and magic and taking a look at where he was with his latest level up.

Vinnie Stone

Adventurer of the Arcane: Lvl 51

Titles: Human Vessel (Lesser), Common Ally (Minor), Survivor, Epic Monster Slayer, Spell Weaver

Exp. 1,303,660/1,326,000

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 30

Endurance: 77

Vigor: 25

Focus: 83

Magic: 82

Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points: 1

Passive Points: 0

Class Ability: Beyond the Veil

Vows/Boons: Vow of Benevolence/Grace of Gods (Boon)

Capstone: Runic Recalibration, Flexible Formations, Friend of Mana

Passives: Mental Map, Polyglot, Distance Runner, Threat Detection, Iron Mind, Mana Well, Artifact Extraordinaire, Magical Adept, Spell Builder

Skills: Tracking lvl 12, Manacraft, Introspection lvl 20, Dungeoneering lvl 16, Total Resistance lvl 20, Running lvl 19, Cartography lvl 12, Drawing lvl 12, Swimming lvl 17, Sleeping lvl 20

Tier 0 Spells: Sense Stone (earth), Sense Life (life), Sense Magic (neutral), Sense Curse (curse), Sense Air (air), Sense Dimensions (spatial), Sense Vibrations (vibration), Sense Death (death), Sense Fire (fire), Sense Water (water), Sense Soul (soul), Sense Gravity (gravity), Sense Dream (dream)

Tier 1 Spells: Renewal (life), Entangle (nature), Replenish (nature), Light (light), Summon Stone (earth), Concealment (neutral), Familiar Pheromones (nature), Whispering Wind (air), Create Water (water), Isolate Dimension (spatial), Tremorsense (vibration), Decay (death), Neutralize Poison (life), Detect Truth (soul), Create Flame (fire), Enhance Gravity (gravity), Create Air (air), Slow Fall (air), Protection from Fire (fire), Extinguish (fire), Still Wind (air), Firm Water (water), Vibrate (vibration), Create Dream (dream), Dream Mark (dream), Soul Mark (soul)

Tier 2 Spells: Stone Shot (earth), Stone Wall (earth), Stone Shape (earth), Stone Furniture (earth), False Life (death), Dimensional Sheath (spatial), Aqua Sphere (water), Redirect Gravity (gravity), Fireball (fire), Create Cloud (air), Magic Lock (spatial), Self Destruct (fire), Replenishing Breath (air), Warmth (fire), Mage Hand (gravity), Tremorsight (vibration), Dream Walk (dream), Comprehend Languages (neutral), Wind Wall (air)

Tier 3 Spells: Binding (spatial)

His interface was beyond crowded at this point, and part of him hoped the structure would change again after hitting level 60 and reaching his next prestige. He already had a pretty firm grasp on all the spells he knew, he really didn’t need to see them listed out like this every time he opened his interface.

Dismissing his interface, he let Lumel rest as he ran, only bothering her for one more Mass Dimensional Shift to get them through the forest dungeon on the Earthers’ fragment without incident. But as they neared Terra’s outer wall and Vin glanced down to ask if she wanted to try warping them straight to their apartment, he realized Lumel had finally fallen asleep. The already fragile pulmon looked even more delicate cradled within his arms, and Vin couldn’t help but give her a warm smile as he tightened his hold on her. He was looking forward to that pulmon-culture lesson in the near future.

Walking up to Terra’s outer wall, Vin blinked as he realized there was only a single guard stationed there as opposed to the usual two. Abby kept two guards stationed at the main entrance, and he’d never once seen an exception to that rule. Curious, Vin approached the lone guard, realizing he actually recognized them.

“Hey, Greg. How are things?” Vin asked, getting a yelp from the soft-faced guard as the man looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. Greg was one of the few remaining members of the very first wave, somehow having survived this long despite the fact that he didn’t seem to take leveling or improving himself all that seriously. Vin still felt a little bad about scaring the man by breaking into his apartment when he, Spur, and Phil had gone to arrest Abby for the murders of Patty and Kyle, but that had been months ago, and he could only hope Greg was over it.

“Things are fine!” Greg said a tad too quickly, sweating for some reason as he stared at Vin with wide eyes. “Nothing wrong here, , we’re good! good, I mean! Great, even!”

“…Okay,” Vin said slowly, raising an eyebrow as he looked the pudgy guard over. He knew that the majority of Terra viewed him as something of a mythical figure at this point, despite his best efforts, but he’d thought the other first wavers at least understood he was just a person like anyone else. Something about the way Greg looked at him, almost with a hint of fear in his eyes for some reason, didn’t sit well with Vin. But as much as he wanted to stand there and grill the man, Lumel moaned softly in her sleep as she shifted within his arms, and Vin remembered his current priorities.

Get Lumel to bed first, figure out what the hell was going on.

“Go on a magical dream journey for less than two weeks, and some other crazy crap happens,” Vin muttered to himself as he turned and headed into town. “It never fails, I can’t go on lengthy adventure without… everyone… freaking…”

Vin slowed to a stop barely a few dozen feet into Terra, his eyes going wide and his mouth falling open as he slowly spun in a circle, taking in the scene around him. All around him, staring at him from practically every angle…

Was him.

Posters of him, admittedly rather well-drawn ones at that, were plastered to the walls of the buildings and even the interior of the outer wall itself. They depicted him from the waist up, holding up a glowing blue fist high above his head as he stared stoically up and at an angle, as though he were challenging the heavens themselves. The surprise of seeing his own image was so jarring, it took him a moment to even realize the posters had text as well. ‘The Roamer’ was written in large, blocky letters above his head, and below his image, the posters read, ‘Join his cause!”

Vin tried and failed to swallow for a moment, barely able to comprehend what he was seeing. He knew Spur and the council had joked plenty often about people worshiping him after everything he’d done, but this was something else. From the way the poster was depicted, it made it look as though Vin were running for office and someone was trying to help him collect votes, or someone had all but started a cult in his name while he’d been gone.

And Vin wasn’t running for office.