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A wide smile spreading across his face, Free moved closer to the Dawn, his nose now touching hers.

Free could feel her body shaking, her rapid breath, and even the cold sensation of her pale skin.

Her silky snow-white hair fell forward, brushing against Free's cheeks, but neither of them moved.

Additionally, both of their faces remained confident, no blushes or feeling of embarrassment even crossing their minds.

Long gashes of blood dripped from Free's clenched hand, coloring the bland-yellow sand, but the searing pain barely affected him.

With their noses rubbing against each other, their lips a finger's length away, Free squeezed the sword even harder.

"Why don't you tell me what crystals are, Dawn? It's just a simple question."

As Dawn's body trembled, causing Free's to as well due to their proximity, she...lessened her grip on the hilt, causing the sword to dig against Free's neck.

"Upsetting a friend is a small price to pay for getting rid of 1/8 of my potential competition, you know?"

Purposely letting out a sigh, causing a gust of his...somehow minty air to rush at Dawn's face, Free also slightly released his grip on the sword, allowing the sword to retract back toward Dawn.

"I'll tell you what I saw in my dream in exchange."

Instantly, a response came.

"How did you find an end crystal?"

Shaking his head, Free simply smiled and said.

"You know how we were put into pairs inside the dream? What if an end crystal could take not one, but two people?"

That was the only logical conclusion Free could come to, considering both of them had been touched by a crystal last night.

Dawn seemed...rather unsurprised, as she simply blinked, and silently paused for a moment before ordering.

"Continue."

Hearing her response, Free smiled and took a deep breath.

So she was put into a pair as well.

Leaving out the first parts of his dream, where he had been placed in a void of blood and crashed down toward the floor, Free explained his dinner scene with Dagr, of course, leaving out Dagr's name and his nickname.

Slowly removing his right hand from the sword, heaps of blood falling downward like rain pouring out of the sky, Free questioned.

"I assume you had a familiar experience."

Surprisingly, Dawn answered in a quiet whisper.

"A brunch."

Retracting her sword completely and holding it by her side, with the iron tip facing the sand, Dawn continued.

"Crystals are obtained by finding a constellation's end."

Pausing and stepping backward, finally creating distance between the two, Dawn asked.

"Do you know what a rainbow is?"

Raising his hand, Free considered wiping the blood off his hand on his white collared shirt, but hesitated upon seeing Dawn's expression go dark.

"Don't you dare."

Sighing, Free gazed up at the sky and answered.

"A holographic semi-circle with all kinds of colors, right?"

Nodding her head, Dawn continued.

"Something like that. Of course, we can no longer see them, though."

Pausing, she pointed at the sky, not at any specific star but a group of them.

"Instead, we see constellations, or pictures formed by dozens or even hundreds of stars."

"You can find a crystal once you walk the entire path of a constellation."

Nodding his head, Free chose his words carefully before asking.

"But...what about different types of crystals?"

Sighing as if she were expecting an answer like that, Dawn shortly replied.

"No idea. More details could be useful, though."

"*PFFT*"

Chuckling, Free smiled and turned to the sky.

Finally, some good news

Space Crystals...Free wasn't sure how they would help him, but it was the only option.

Following the stars in a constellation doesn't require any strength or weapons, unlike killing a darkness beast.

Seeing Free's focus, Dawn sighed and turned around, in the direction of their village.

"We should head back."

Immediatly, Free's expression broke as he confusedly gazed at the back of Dawn's white hair.

"Are you insane?"

Sure, she might be fine. After all, she was an Eclipser, so she was just technically doing her job.

But, me?

He had not only broken all the town's rules by leaving the orphanage, but also fought and tried to kill an essential Lunite who protected the town.

How the hell was he supposed to step foot back in that town?

Oh, my bad guys!

... Speaking of that Lunite, what happened to him?

Was he...dead?

Pausing for a moment, as Dawn began strolling toward the down, Free suddenly spit out.

"If...a person flies to the sky like that bear beastfrom earlier...are they dead?"

Doing a complete 180, Dawn looked at Free, her eyes wide.

"You saw a Lunite!? What did he look like!? Did he have a s-"

Interrupting her mid-sentence, Free waved his hands frantically and said.

"Answer the question first."

Perhaps, hurried by her curiosity, she immediatly replied.

"Under the full moon, all Lunites are pulled up into the moon and into the Origin Realm unwillingly. So, no, that Lunite did not die."

...am I supposed to be relieved or worried?

On one hand, Free hadn't killed a town's Lunite, but alternatively...that Lunite was now probably to chase him across the ends of the earth to kill him.

Either way, the town is off limits.

Thankful for the information... no matter how it was gathered, Free smiled and said.

"You can tell Eva I'm sa-"

"Tell her yourself."

"I really can't."

"Why? Are you scared of some punishment or being found out? Just say you snuck out and hid in a dune to escape the moon."

Turning back around, as if expecting Free to follow her like a dog, Dawn continued.

"I can vouch for you if you'd like."

Letting out a dry cough, Free remained still before answering.

"See...it's not the punishment. There's this powerful guy who doesn't like me very much in town."

Rolling her eyes with a forced grim expression, Dawn immediatly responded.

"Are you being bullied?"