Chapter 10: Apologize
"I just used a bigger grenade, putting it simply." (Dream)
"Hmm..." (Riddick)
Riddick stood there and pondered. The weapons of war that Dream used were capable of utter destruction. And he brought them out from nowhere and was capable of using all of them. Not to mention, those weapons didn't use a speck of mana. What if there were even stronger weapons? What if Dream could supplement those weapons with mana?
Everyone watched Riddick as he stared at Dream. After a minute of thinking, he finally spoke up.
"Let's go home. There's nothing for us here. After you fully recover, Boy, you can stay with us and we can continue training. In exchange, I want you to teach my daughters how to use those weapons of yours. Is that fine?" (Riddick)
"Yes. It is." (Dream)
Dream was perfectly fine with this arrangement. He could teach somebody about things from his world and he got to stay with them. It was a win win in his book. Not to mention the people he was teaching were two supermodels.
After they went home, Dream went to his room. He first wanted to check something.
'Status!'
>|Profile|< |Inventory| |Summon Catalog|
<Name: Dream
Species: Human Male
Titles: [Origin Seeker]
Class: (unassigned)
Level: 38
Stats: Strength- F Agility- F
Stamina- F Magic- F+
Passive Skills: [Visualization]Lvl. 25, [Savant] Lvl. 32,
[Copycat] Lvl. 8, [Awareness]Lvl. 28
Active Skills: [Summons From Another World], [Shooting] Lvl. 43,
[Erase Prescence] Lvl. 17
"Wot in tarnation?"
Dream looked at his status in surprise. His skills took a big jump in level. His stamina also went up to F while mana went up to F+. He was definitely happy to have more mana.
Considering he went through thousands of rounds, it was no surprise that Shooting leveled up so much. Erase presence was also used through the night when he occasionally wanted to trip up the wolves. Awareness went up when Dream was trying to keep track of everything around him. And using Savant to give him weapons helped with its level. He wasn't sure why Copycat went up though. He wasn't even totally sure what it did. Visualization, however, was probably from the weapons he thought up.
Whenever dream gave a command to Savant, he would think about the weapon or gear he wanted and an image would appear in his head. That's what probably did it.
Besides that, he began to get curious about his stats. He still wasn't sure about how he compared to others. So he decided to call someone that would give him the best insight.
"LUNA!"
"Ah!" (Luna)
Dream heard a yelp from the kitchen. He realized he was a bit louder than he needed to be. He was so used to yelling like that while talking to people in his house from Earth.
"What happened?!" (Luna)
Luna quickly made her way to his room and popped through the door. Dream spoke to her.
"Whats your agility?" (Dream)
"Huh?"
"Your agility."
"....The stat is E-. Why?"
"E-?! Damn, that's high..."
Dream cursed a bit and began realizing he had no hope in winning a fight against her.
"What's your agility?" (Luna)
"I just hit F. What's your magic?"
"I'm at F. What's yours?"
"I'm also at F."
"Oh, nice."
"Hey, do you know about any magic techniques?"
"Techniques? Like skills? I could probably teach you a few things. What were you looking to learn?"
"I just wanted to know about how to absorb mana faster rather than just waiting. Do you have anything for that?"
"Mana absorption? Like drawing in mana to yourself?Hmm... Iris recovers mana by taking it from the enemy. I actually don't really have to worry about mine. Dad said my body is more naturally attuned to the environment and can absorb mana quicker. The higher the density, the faster I absorb. So I don't really have any techniques for that. Sorry..."
"No It's fine. I just wanted an example if there was one. I actually already think I know of a way. If I come up with a way, then I could teach you."
"Ok! It never hurt to have more skills. Thanks!"
"No problem. I'll already be teaching you about my weapons. Oh! Tonight during dinner I'll have another treat for you guys."
"Really? Is it a different kind of candy?"
"No It's something totally different. You'll see. And one more thing..."
"What's up?"
"Where's your sister?"
"...Uh..."
Luna hesitated but still gave an answer.
"She's in her room. She's been kind of sad since you left. She might just need some time to collect herse-"
"She's blaming herself for something she doesn't need to. I'll talk to her."
"...Ok."
Luna didn't protest because Dream was probably right.
Dream left his room and focused on his [Awareness] skill to find Iris. And two doors down, he felt a gloomy aura.
He walked over and knocked on the door
*knock* *knock*
"Can I come in Scarlet?"
"..."
"I know you're in there. I'm not that weak. (anymore)"
"...what do you want."
*click*
"Wha?.."
Dream opened the door and walked in when he heard her, not giving a care for courtesy.
"I didn't say to come in!"
"Well, you didn't say not to! And I'm not talking through a door."
"...Whatever. So what do you want?"
Dream walked in and closed the door behind him. Iris' room was unlit and she was lying on some blankets on the floor. The room wasn't really adorned by anything. It did have a coffee table over to the side with a jug of water on it, but that was it.
"Wow, no wonder you're sad. I would be sad too if I stayed in such a depressing room all the time."
"Shut up! It's my room! And It's not like you're room has anything!"
"Believe me, I plan to change that. Anyway, I have something for you. I'm gonna give it to Luna and your dad as well, but since I'm here I'll give it to you first."
"...What is it?"
"Well I need you to get up first."
"Why?!"
"Just get up! It goes on the floor!"
"...Fine!"
Iris reluctantly got up and moved away. Dream then went over and picked up the blankets.
"What are you doing with those?!"
"Stop yapping and watch!"
Dream shut her up spoke to Savant.
'Savant. King size mattress with memory foam'
[Confirmed]
Moments later, a clean white mattress appeared on the floor. Dream then put the blankets on top and told Iris
"It's a bed from my world. And one of the best you can get. I didn't even have one. Go ahead and lay on it."
"..."
Iris quietly walked over to the mattress and bent down. She put her hand on it and pressed into it. When she did, her eyes opened wide.
"What is this? It pushes down when I press on it..."
"It's meant for you to lay on it so lay on it."
"Alright! I got it!"
Iris got annoyed but still crawled on top. She then slowly laid down on top of her blankets and was overcome with comfort
"*deep breath*"
She took a long deep breath as her body was cradled by the memory foam. She had never been on something so soft and comfortable and got totally immersed. Until...
"hup... *thud*"
"Ah! What the hell are you doing?!"
Dream plopped down on an empty part and Iris went a little airborne from the bounce, startling her.
"What? I just wanted to lay down too. These are really comfortable you know?"
"Well go get your own! And don't fall on it like that!"
"Well I'm in here right now so I'll use it for a bit. It's big enough."
"That doesn't matter! It's a bed and I don't want you in mine!"
"Ouch. Well, I'll get out of your hair once I apologize."
"..."
"I went a little overboard with how I yelled at you. I was a little on edge since I'm never gonna see anyone I know ever again and I took it out on you. Then I left without apologizing. I got plenty of punishment from those wolves, but I still need to tell you personally. I'm sorry."
"..."
Iris stayed silent. She was surprised because she thought he would try and warn her again. She didn't think he would apologize. She knows that she probably wouldn't in his shoes.
"...I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have insulted your world like that. I wouldn't have made you mad if I didn't say that. It was my fault you got hurt and could've died. I didn't think about what you were feeling. I made you feel despair..."
"Despair? Where did you see that?"
Dream was confused. Where did she pick up on that? Could she sense emotions? But he had really only been pissed off and a bit sad. He didn't feel despair.
"Me and Luna have an innate ability to sense the state of souls. I had seen it deep down when you were yelling. If you don't mind me asking, how did you die in your world?"
"..."
Dream went quiet. He was deciding if he should tell her. It isn't exactly something he's proud of. But he decided getting it off his chest could be good.
"I gave up..."
"Gave up?"
"I gave up on living life. One night, I decided to end myself. Partly because I hated myself, but I also wanted to know if there was life after death. My curiosity and lack of care for my own life led to that. That's actually how I got my title."
"...Oh...You have a title?"
"Ya. It's called [Origin Seeker]."
"Hmm. I actually have one too. It's called [Daughter of the Void]."
"Interesting. Does that mean Luna is the daughter of the light?"
"No. She's the [Daughter of the Moon]."
"Oh. Very interesting."
"Yea... And hey... I really am very sorry. I hope you can forgive me..."
"I will forgive you if you let me do one thing."
"W-what is it?"
Iris stuttered as she got nervous. She was worried he would ask for something outrageous.
"You let me call you Scarlet."
"..."
Dream looked her dead in the eye as he said that. Although he was being serious, Iris' face went stupid when she heard that.
"T-That?! What's with you and not saying my name?! Is Iris not good enough?!"
"Iris is a good name but I want to call you Scarlet! It's something only I have. Nobody else calls you that and it'll make it easy to call you out. Plus I pretty much already decided to call you that for your snide remark when we met."
"Wha... Ugh! Whatever! Fine! Anything else you want while you rip me off?!"
"Yes. Stand up."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
"I hate you..."
She said that but she still stood up. It was time for Dream to seal the deal.
"Come here."
"Wha- eek!"
Iris startled as Dream grabbed and pulled her into a bear hug.
"Wh-Why... What are you doing?"
"It's called a hug. Never got one? That's kinda sad."
"I know what it is!"
"Then quiet down and hug me back. I can get sad too, you know?"
"I- ugh..."
Iris grunted but eventually stopped resisting and put her arms around Dream.
They stayed like that for a minute or so until Dream threw out another long-shot request.
"Let me pet your fur."
"No!"
And with that, they separated. Dream laughed as he backed off.
"Hehe alright. I guess I'll go give Luna and your dad their bed. I'm gonna be livening up this boring wood house in the future. Maybe I'll find something for your room."
"I don't need anything! Just go!"
"Alright, alright."
Dream opened the door and walked out, leaving Iris to her embarrassment. He wasn't kidding about changing the house though. This place was unbelievably bland. That and he wanted his electronics.
He called Luna next and put the mattress in her room, then called Riddick to do the same. Riddick actually had a bed, but how could it be better than his? They swapped it out.
Come evening time, they gathered in the dining room and had dinner. It was meat and fruit, as usual. But thankfully, Dream made up for the blandness during dessert.
"Behold! Ice Cream!"
"Ice?" (Luna)
"Cream?" (Riddick)
"Yes! And spoons! For eating with."
Dream pulled out a gallon tub of moose tracks ice cream. He handed them spoons and showed them how to eat it.
"Just scoop it."
"Ohhh...This is amazing!" (Luna)
"It's really cold." (Iris)
"...A very interesting food." (Riddick)
All three gave their comments and started eating. And once they took their first bites, they ate even faster. This was the reason he brought out a gallon. They were a family of pigs.
After half an hour, the tub was gone.
"That was really good Dream." (Luna)
"Uh-huh." (Iris)
"It isn't alcohol. Why are you girls sprawled out?" (Riddick)
"It was just that good." (Luna)
"Uh-huh" (Iris)
"Well get up. We got another early day tomorrow."
After moving them along, everyone called it a night and went to sleep.