The Dreamer

The Dreamer

Christopher waited for a while before the Woman came back carrying a card.

"Here sir. This card contains the remaining coins and can be used to transfer whatever payment you need the next time you come to our establishment." She said, her tone a lot more respectful than last time.

Christopher smiled and nodded.

"I'll make sure to come back here whenever I need something else." He said before stepping out.

When he left, the woman looked up and wiped her brows.

"I feel like I dodged a bullet there." She said with a sigh and stared at Christopher's back.

***

Christopher walked for a bit and made sure no one was following him or watching him through his sixth sense before he entered his dimension.

By the time he entered, the Obscure Mask and Abyss Snake Body Armour had already been enhanced.

<Name:Jormungandr's Mantle< p>

Rank: Purple (Evolvable)

Affinity: Poison, Darkness

Abilities→

Description: An Armor forged from the scales of the mysterious and Legendary creature famed for its size and near impenetrable scales that could rival fully grown dragons. And with the passive effect of poison it gives off, enemies will think twice before even attempting to attack.>

<Name: Mask of the Dreamer< p>

Rank: Purple (Evolvable)

Affinity: Illusion, Light, Dream

Abilities→

Description: What is Real and what isn't? Where is the line between dream and reality drawn? This Mask treads upon that thin line as whoever wears it appears like a dream to those who they don't want to be seen by, making them question and doubt their own sanity.> Christopher stared at the mask that seemed to flicker in and out of existence and the green and black mass that reminded him of a certain Symbiote back on Earth.

"Frickin beautiful." Christopher said as he picked up the mask in one hand and the green and black mass in the other.

When he picked up the mass, something similar to what one would see in a sci-fi movie occurred as the mass moved as if it were made from Nano machines.

It wrapped around his hand before suddenly covering his entire body. Christopher watched as it rippled across his body as at the moment, it seemed like it was a constantly changing suit that constantly shifted and changed.

Christopher had a thought, and to his amazement, the suit suddenly changed its appearance and turned into a fit he'd had on his mind.

Pure black pants and a fitting long sleeve shirt that hugged his muscles, and then a coat formed over his shoulders and stopped at the back of his knees.

"Interesting. It changes according to my desires. Though it doesn't seem to have an ego like Scarlet." Christopher muttered.

He then stared at the Mask that seemed like it didn't even exist in his hand before putting it on his face. The moment he put it on, his entire figure seemed to turn hazy and blurry like he wasn't really there.

"Perfect." He said, and even his voice was watery and distorted making it impossible to pinpoint even his gender, though you could clearly tell through his body. Then again most people wouldn't even be able to properly see him as like the system described, he'd appear like a dream to most.

"That should be enough preparation. Let's do this." Christopher said and exited the dimension.

***

The adventurers guild was actually very calm unlike what most would expect. The bar to become an adventurer was actually quite high, being at the yellow rank which most people never reached in their lives.

And so, most adventurers were more reserved and didn't cause a huge ruckus. And the guild building which was actually the headquarters as it was located in the capital was very clean and neat.

It was multiple stories tall with the ground floor being the common room where the adventurers gathered to take on missions.

The place was quite full and people were moving about, some were sitting on tables and chatting while others were moving with their party mates to take on missions. It was crowded, but not rowdy. And everyone there was quite observant as they frequently took on missions and were quite experienced.

And despite that, hardly anyone noticed when Christopher entered the building and made his way to the counter. In fact, not even the Receptionist noticed that he was right in front of her until he called out.

"Hello." The same distorted voice entered her ears causing her to look up. She blinked a few times to make sure that the person she was talking to was actually there.

"Y- Yes?" She managed to regain her bearings and asked.

Her voice also attracted the attention of those nearby, some were a little confused because they didn't notice anyone go to the counter, so who was she talking to?

So when they saw Christopher's figure who appeared like a ghost that wasn't even there, they were both shocked and confused, with most of them thinking, when did he get there?

And this was only because Christopher had decided to lessen the effects of the mask. Otherwise, the moment anyone looked away, they would forget he was even there.

"I'd like to register as an adventurer." Christopher said and the receptionist blinked.

"Y-Yes. Would you mind telling me what your rank is? The minimum rank for registration is yellow." She stared at him feeling like he'd disappear if she even blinked.

"Rank? I'm at the Red Rank." He said simply.

Everyone who heard this paused for a moment before sucking in a breath of cold air. He had to be bluffing, right?

The receptionist was equally shocked and said with uncertainty.

"Do you mind releasing a small bit of your aura sir? Words alone cannot confirm this." She said and Christopher nodded.

"Understandable, brace yourself." The moment he said that, he released a small bit of his aura which had the density of one at the Red rank.

Despite it only being a little bit, everyone in the room felt an unbelievable sense of oppression. Almost as if an ancient beast had decided to wake up as none of them dared to move even a muscle, as despite there being no malicious intent, they all felt like moving would mean death.

But, as quickly as it came. The aura vanished.

"Is that sufficient?" Christopher asked and the receptionist who was soaked in sweat nodded her head briskly.

"Y- Yes. P- Please fill out this form." She said not daring to look at Christopher.

He nodded and took the form and pen the woman handed him.

It told him to fill out his name, rank, and position.

Christopher thought for a bit and put red in the rank area and damage dealer in the position area, and as for his name. He decided to stay true to his mask.

Dreamer

Satisfied, he returned the form back to the woman.

She read it over and nodded.

"Please wait a moment sir." She said and went inside. A few seconds later, she came back with a black and red card and Handed it to Christopher.

"Congratulations Sir Dreamer. You are now an adventurer. You can take on Red Rank missions and below and are expected to take on a mission once every two weeks. That is unless a mission you took previously has a long duration. And you will give 5% of whatever you earn from your missions." The receptionist said with a smile and Christopher nodded.

"Thank you." He said and walked away.

Still, the room was silent as everyone watched Christopher walk over to the board where the missions were posted and looked for Red Rank missions.

He looked for a while before seeing something that satisfied him.

'Clear Blue Rank Undead dungeon. Party is advised if taken by blue ranks. Seems doable.' He thought and decided to touch it.

When he did, the card in his other hand glowed and at the bottom of his information, it suddenly displayed.

Mission ongoing

Duration: 1 week

Location:XXX

'Okay, that's probably everything I needed to do.' He thought and left the building under everyone's incredulous gazes.

Immediately he left, he activated the mask's full power and a moment later, it seemed to everyone else that he just vanished, causing them to question whether or not they actually saw him.

'There's no need for me to go immediately, the place isn't that far. Guess I'll explore the city for a little bit. Who knows, I might find something interesting.' He thought and smiled behind the mask. The capital was the most important place in the whole Empire and there were naturally a whole lot of things to see.

Getting stronger was a priority, but there's be no point if that was all he did. He still needed to have a life outside that and enjoy himself from time to time. Otherwise, what else would he do?

'Getting back to Joan?' He thought absentmindedly.

However, the instant he had that thought, he felt a pang of pain in his heart so sharp he nearly stumbled. He stopped walking and put his hand on his chest where his heart was and sighed bitterly.

'I had been trying my best not to think about it. But I failed in the end.' He thought. His mind went back to the scene of her seemingly having a nice time with that stranger after lying to him.

But how could someone like that cheat, and yet show such genuine emotion when he was about to die? He couldn't understand no matter how much he thought about it. But, there was one thing he was sure of.

'System, what are the chances of me being able to get back to my home world?' He asked and removed his hand from his chest and kept walking.

<At the moment, such a task is impossible.> It replied.

'At the moment?' He enquired.

<As long as the Master gets strong enough, such a task is not impossible.> It explained.

'So it all boils down to strength huh? Fine then.' He thought.

"Guess I'll get a hell of a lot stronger then." His eyes blazed with an intense fire as he now knew his primary goal. Above all else, find Joan.