Return
Taking a break from banging his head against the glass table, Loki looked up and gave her a double thumbs-up.
Dawn simply sighed.
At this point, watching him put on this act was exhausting.
It was so exhausting that Dawn's eyelids slowly started to sink, blurring her vision.
Falling forward, not having enough energy to hold up her head, Dawn muttered, her vision rapidly turning black.
"What a useless first dream."
On the other side of the table, Loki's body had already frozen, his eyes suddenly bursting open as Dawn's words echoed.
In a quiet voice, he simply muttered back, a wide smile still on his face.
"G-good night."
...
...
...
*WHOOSH*
As a gust of wind passed by him, Free's eyes flickered open...only to immediately shut a moment later.
His arm surged forward, grasping his returned black hair, and... began aggressively pulling his hair from out of his scalp.
"AHHH!"
Waves of nausea and pain surged through Free's pain, blocking him from forming any thought, and loud non-existent sounds burst through his ears, sending shockwaves through his body.
*BANG*
*BANG*
MAKE IT STOP.
MAKE IT STOP.
Free wanted to yell out, scream in pain, but he couldn't even get his vocal cords to vibrate.
His mouth opened and closed every second, taking in short breaths of air like a panting dog.
As clumps of onyx-black hair flew backward, intensely pulled out by Free's hands, countless red bloody spots appeared on his scalp.
Rolling to the left and right on the sand, like someone attempting a "Stop, drop, and roll" to put out a fire on themselves, Free bit down on his tongue.
The metallic taste of the blood temporarily overwhelmed his taste buds, and for a moment, Free received relief.
No longer did he feel a burning pain in his head...just the pain from the receptors in his nervous system that had been set off from his tongue biting.
And...as Free braced himself for the return of his headache...nothing happened.
Slowly sitting up, his two bloody hands behind him, Free gazed down at his body, immediatly noticing that all the fire damage had been negated.
The white collared shirt and formal pants that he had been wearing during the dream had also transferred over, making up for his burned clothes.
The mask was nowhere to be seen, though.
It seemed that touching the crystal...had somehow healed him, physically.
The mental strain of walking through burning hot flames three times was still there.
Using his two hands to boost himself upward, Free stood up and gazed upward at the moon...or lack of a moon.
It was the New Moon...the lunar cycle had been reset.
As reality set in, Free sighed and leaned backward.
Thankfully, he had not been returned to the exact place where he had found the crystal.
If that happened...that Lunite most likely would have been there, waiting to kill him.
Additionally, Free did know where he was, recognizing the sand color and dune sizes of the area.
There was just one problem.
What now?
I can't go back there...
Even though Free had already claimed a crystal, the town would still be against him.
After all, he had gone against all their orders and rules.
But...that was the only place he knew.
Taking a deep breath, Free gazed at his two bloody palms, hoping for anything.
He had officially become a second-stage Eclipser, with an end crystal, so surely, something would change.
And...sure enough, as Free concentrated, a holographic blue screen suddenly appeared before him.
-*-
[Name: Free]
[Crystalite: Blood-Red]
[Stage: Second-Stage Eclipser]
[Lunar Phase: New Moon]
---> Space Crystals [0/100]
[Relics: (N/A)]
[Comets: (N/A)]
[Stars: (Harbringer of Violence), (Freedom Chaser), (???)]
---> [HOV]: Those who have accepted the blood-red moon as theirs are naturally predisposed toward a more violent nature.
---> [FC]: In a world filled with wealth-obsessed and reputation-wanting individuals, you seek the most simple, yet presumptuous goal. This goal will drive you into endless pain and despair, yet you persevere on, into the depths of the night.
[Module: (N/A)]
-*-
After scanning the system menu for a couple of seconds, Free sighed and looked away, watching the holagram disappear from the corner of his eyes.
All of that...for this measly screen?
He had burned himself alive, not once, not twice, not even three times, but at least four...for this!?
Free was outraged!
He didn't even receive any hints on how to access his powers as a Lunite from the preliminary dream dinner with Dagr.
All he had become was a human who was slightly more violent and wanted freedom.
Oh, wait, I still have this shitty full-white suit that is going to get stained and ruined in less than an hour!
How was he supposed to navigate the dangers of his dream in this state?
Gazing at the only possibilities for improvement on his menu, Free sighed.
It seemed his only ways of advancing were gaining relics, when he couldn't even touch a darkness monster without dying, and receiving...blood crystals?
What are those?
Perhaps that was his way to success!
*WHOOSH*
At that moment, Free suddenly felt a single gust of wind brush against his body, which was very odd...
The sand on the dune nearest to him didn't ripple, either.
Just one small gust...nothing more? Not even a breeze?
Unfortunately, due to the lack of a moon in the sky, only small stars faintly lit up the desert, so much of the area around Free was covered in darkness.
What if another Eclipser is here...?
Shaking his head, Free quickly dismissed the thought.
He had only seen one end crystal streaking through the sky, and the odds of two appearing in this small area of the world would be insanely low.
Gazing at the desert before him, which seemed to stretch on forever, Free sighed.
He had to find someone...who could recognize his worth.
According to the voice in the dream, there were only 8 Blood Moon Eclipsers in the world, and he was one of them.
If with the right people, he should be a highly valuable commodity.
This also came with the risk of being used, but Free didn't care.
Solving his mysterious dream was all that mattered right now.