The Dreamer's Epilogue-Chapter 16: Unboxing

Chapter 16 – Unboxing

Emrys looked around the room he was in. It was small, made of rocks that could split his skin if he was not careful enough.

He sat on a makeshift bed made with wood and big grayed leaves. There was no decoration adorning the walls or even the room in totality.

Emrys didn’t even expect it. They were simple tribesmen, after all.

"And now we are tasked to protect them for one whole week." He muttered, brows furrowed.

He never could have expected that a day like this would come.

Well, he never expected either that Earth would be destroyed. Yet it happened, and here he was sitting, trying to not think about it.

It was heavy on his shoulders, as if a mountain was placed atop his head, threatening to crush him if he was not too careful.

However, Emrys didn’t want to drown himself in sadness by thinking about how his world ended, making it a simple memory for those who survived.

Emrys sighed tiredly, leaning his back against the wall of the room. He winced, a sharp tip of rock poking his back.

He suppressed a curse, shifting his position a bit, and began to rethink everything that happened since the beginning of the tutorial.

Nothing much occurred.

After the system explained to them the content of the quest, the pale-skinned tribesmen — who called themselves Tistis — showed them respectively their rooms, saying it was already night.

Emrys and his two companions — an old male so old it was astonishing he was still alive, and a female around his own age with her annoying hound — were unable to say anything else but accept.

’It’s not going to be easy.’ Emrys thought, closing his eyes, ’don’t even get me started about protecting them for one week, the first hurdle is to make them willing to be protected by us.’

From their attitudes, they didn’t look so enthusiastic to have them here. Or rather, they were not confident in them.

And that was only the first issue.

’The second is the key...’

Who among them would keep the key?

Emrys had more confidence in himself than the others. So, obviously, he would wish to keep the key with him.

The other two would probably think the same.

’And we can be sure some other groups will try to take our own key. In other words, we should not be only worried about monsters outside.’

All of these thoughts spiraled dizzyingly into the mind of Emrys, causing his eyebrows to knit together harder and harder.

And the worst thing was that he didn’t even have a sk—!

DING!!!

Emrys’s thoughts halted abruptly. He snapped his eyes open, looking at the familiar interface flashing annoyingly bright in front of him.

He groaned.

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Damn Dude, You Have A Gift?]

[We don’t know if we should congratulate you or already ponder about how miserably you will die. You have obtained a Gift. But a Gift can be a Curse, too. Did you know that? It doesn’t matter. As a Gift Holder, you are among the rarest and most coveted people in both the Tower and Premier. You deserve some rewards for being niche.]

[Rewards: Lightning Body (Special Skill – Mortal Self rank); GeumGeum Perception (Passive Skill – Mortal Self rank); Mark of Unknown (Special Item)]

Emrys’s eyes lit up in joy, a deep, open smile smearing his face. He completely ignored the snarky comments about the Gift.

’Finally!’

Without further hesitation, he summoned his inventory, wanting to look at everything he had.

The panels flickered into existence.

[Inventory]

[Weapon Ticket, Token of Gold, Alchemy Token, Mark of Unknown (Mortal Self rank), Lightning Body, Rock Crash (Skill, Unranked), GeumGeum Perception, Chosen Tattoo (Special Item), Enhancement Potion (Mortal Self rank)]

Emrys examined them seriously.

The Weapon Ticket was an item he could use to obtain a random weapon. According to the description, it would be the weapon that would fit him the most.

Alchemy Token was a token he could use once he was in Premier. With it, Emrys would have an easier time getting into the Alchemy Organization.

For the enhancement, it was a potion that would increase his attributes. Emrys was delighted.

It only left the Token of Gold, the three new skills, and the two special items.

Emrys summoned their descriptions, curious.

[Chosen Tattoo (Special Item): Every tattoo has a meaning. And with meaning came power and responsibility. With this item, you can choose a Tattoo for yourself. It could be within the Hall of Tattoos of The Tower or your own. Choose wisely. Once done, it would never disappear.]

Emrys’s eyebrows knitted, lips pressed into a tight line of confusion. He sighed and looked at the last one,

[Mark of Unknown (Special Item): Marks are important in the Tower and Premier. Only through them can you enter into the Ascended Houses and compete for the position of Champion. With this Mark, you can see which Ascended House corresponds to your nature. The moment you activate it to know, you will be considered a participant in the competition. Choose wisely.]

’Yes, hell no.’ Emrys rolled his eyes, storing away the Mark.

Competition? Champion? Ascended Houses?

He was just trying to survive right now, not to seek death.

In the end, the two special items were things he couldn’t use yet.

It left only the Token of Gold.

’Do I need to use it now?’ Emrys wondered. He would have wished to wait, hoping he would get an upgrade of the Token, if it was possible.

But he also didn’t want to keep himself away from help in his current situation.

Decision made, Emrys used first the Weapon Ticket by injecting his own GeumGeum inside. The manipulation of the essence was as natural as controlling a limb, though it was awkward for now; like a baby trying to learn how to walk.

The ticket glowed a subtle purple light, then exploded into a fog of purple. The fog gathered itself, condensed until a weapon was formed out of it.

It was a needle.

The needle was long, the size of a normal sword, fully black, with only a purple tattered cloth wrapped around the top for Emrys to hold on. It was at Mortal-Self rank.

Emrys tilted his head in interest, taking the weapon in his hand. It felt strangely weird yet comfortable.

He swung it downward, seeing the air visibly parting away.

He smiled.

At the same time, he gulped down the enhancement potion. It tasted like rotten banana. Still, the potion increased his attributes quite a bit: all his stats increased by two except for perception and charm, which went up by three.

He had only three skill slots, but Emrys decided to take the risk and use Lightning Body and GeumGeum Perception as two of them.

The skills seemed good enough.

Lightning Body made his body flooded by lightning, causing it to be faster and stronger.

GeumGeum Perception was a passive skill that made him more perceptive to the very essence of GeumGeum around him. It would help a lot in using skills.

Absorbing all of this, Emrys was quite flabbergasted by all this power. Just days ago he was a simple student who was mourning his father and sulking at his stepmother.

Now here he was, mingling with power he had only seen in games and novels and anime and movies.

Emrys didn’t know what to think, but he became inwardly afraid about how fast he was adapting to all of this.

It was like his brain was furiously trying to make him aware of his new reality, trying to take some things as normal or needed.

Just like Océane killing that man.

Unexpectedly, his mind went back to Oceane and his stepmother. They were the two only beings he had left and that he had come to care for.

And Emrys didn’t want to think about the possibility of his stepmother being dead.

She must not.

Oceane, too, he must find her.

Sighing, Emrys felt his throat tighten, wondering about how the future would look for him.

However,

’Not the future. Neither the past. Only the present, Emrys. For now, only the present matters.’

Gathering himself, Emrys used his Token of Gold.

DING!

—End of Chapter 16—